Chapter 3: Chapter 3: 3, Xixi and her aunt

“Big brother, at least make yourself clear!”

“Met him and what?”

Wang Xueru couldn’t help but ask, but just then, the elevator reached her floor, and she watched as the other person got on.

Wang Xueru clenched her fists subconsciously, as she indeed didn’t fully trust her husband because he had cheated before.

But Shen Mingshan had knelt before her, pleading desperately and repeatedly assured her it wouldn’t happen again.

For the sake of keeping her family intact, she had forgiven him.

However, Yang Hao’s words had once again made her suspicious of Shen Mingshan.

In fact, she had recently sensed that something was off with Shen Mingshan; not only was he working overtime frequently, but he also hadn’t touched her much once he was home.

She once read a sentence online: “If someone doesn’t eat at home, it’s because they’ve already eaten outside.”

At the entrance of Holiday International.

Yang Hao mounted his electric bike and continued to take orders.

He had deliberately planted a seed of doubt in Wang Xueru’s mind, now all he had to do was wait for it to slowly germinate and grow.

Yang Hao had been running around delivering orders all afternoon, and it wasn’t until four-thirty that he temporarily stopped working and went to Belle Kindergarten.

He was a bit late, and by the time he arrived, twenty or thirty parents had already gathered at the entrance to pick up their children.

“Yang’s here, how many orders did you deliver today?”

As soon as Yang Hao parked his electric bike, an elderly lady approached him.

“Not even thirty yet.”

His day had been more delayed than usual; generally, by this time, Yang would have delivered at least forty orders. After several months of practice, he had become an experienced delivery guy.

“Yang, have you thought about finding another mother for Xixi?”

The elderly lady asked again. About half a month ago, during a casual chat she had learned about Yang Hao’s divorce. It seemed like she might be trying to introduce him to someone.

“Not planning on it at the moment!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Zhang.”

Yang Hao politely declined. After his marriage to Li Manshu, he really didn’t have any desire to marry again, and even if he did, his current situation wouldn’t allow it.

Not to mention not having a house or a car, he was also in debt by over two hundred thousand yuan, and on top of that, he was a divorced single father.

With his status, he would be at the very bottom of the pecking order in the matchmaking market.

“That’s true, after all, you just divorced; it’s best to take some time.”

“Whenever you’re ready to look for someone, just tell me…”

The elderly lady was Zhang Guilin, and she was there to pick up her grandson from school.

Yang Hao’s precious daughter, Xixi, was classmates with Zhang Guilin’s grandson, which is why they had gotten to know each other from picking up the kids.

While the two were talking, there was a commotion at the entrance of the kindergarten as the teachers walked out with the children.

Yang Hao quickly moved closer and soon identified his precious daughter among the group of kids.

The little girl, clean and white, looked like a porcelain doll.

“Daddy!”

Xixi waved her little hands excitedly upon seeing her dad.

“Xixi, go to daddy.”

The female teacher who had brought the kids out nodded to Xixi.

“Goodbye, Mrs. Qiqi.”

Xixi waved to the teacher and then ran toward her dad.

Yang Hao scooped up his daughter, gently kissing her chubby cheek.

Bankruptcy, divorce, his wife’s betrayal!

In recent times, a succession of blows had come one after another, and Yang Hao’s mood had been very depressed. What kept him going was his beloved daughter.

Whenever he felt like he couldn’t go on, just thinking of Xixi would revive him.

“What did you have for dinner at kindergarten?”

Yang Hao walked with his daughter in his arms, asking her as they went.

“Sweet potatoes, chicken wings, tofu, and carrots…”

Xixi rested her little head on her dad’s shoulder, listing the foods she had for dinner.

Yang Hao nodded, then touched the braided pigtails behind Xixi’s head and asked, “Did your teacher do your hair like this?”

“It was Mrs. Qiqi who did it. She said I look pretty with these braids,” Xixi replied with a soft and pleased tone in her voice.

“Mm, it’s pretty.”

“I’ll do your hair like that tomorrow too.”

As they chatted, the father and daughter had reached the electric scooter. Yang Hao took out a little helmet from under the seat for Xixi, secured it on her, and had her stand on the footboard.

“Stand tight, Xixi.”

“Daddy’s going to start it now.”

“Yay, let’s go!”

Xixi shouted with full enthusiasm.

Yang Hao started the electric scooter, and they quickly returned to the residential area where they were currently renting.

This was a resettlement area, with rents significantly cheaper than those in regular neighborhoods.

He rented a fifty-square-meter one-bedroom apartment that came with all the necessary home appliances for a monthly rent of 1,500 yuan.

In a robust second-tier provincial capital like Jiangcheng, this rent was indeed a bargain.

Upon opening the door, they were greeted with the aroma of meat…

“Wow, it smells delicious!”

“It’s Auntie!”

Xixi first took a deep sniff, then switched to her slippers and ran towards the kitchen.

“Xixi, don’t come in here, there’s a lot of greasy smoke.”

As Xixi was about to dash into the kitchen, a pretty-faced girl half-emerged from inside.

“I knew it was Auntie!”

“I missed Auntie…”

Xixi’s chubby face was filled with a genuine smile, showing her true fondness for the girl in front of her.

“I missed Xixi too, so I came over,” the girl said, blinking at Xixi.

“Manni, aren’t you working today?”

Yang Hao wasn’t surprised to see the girl, as she came by often, especially over the past month, showing up every other day or so.

However, the girl’s current relationship with Yang Hao was somewhat awkward.

Because she was Li Manshu’s younger sister, named Li Manni.

She was a Journalism student at Jiangcheng University, in her senior year. Still, she had started working before the end of the year and had been an intern journalist at the “Jiangcheng Evening News” for several months now.

She had always opposed her sister’s divorce from Yang Hao and firmly supported her brother-in-law.

This was why, even knowing her sister and Yang Hao were divorced, she would still visit her brother-in-law’s house as usual, helping out with cooking and taking care of Xixi.

That’s also why Xixi was very fond of her beautiful aunt.

“I only had one interview this afternoon, and I finished early.”

“Brother-in-law, go wash your hands. Dinner’s about to be ready.”

Li Manni replied and then went back into the kitchen.

Yang Hao took off his work uniform, the shirt underneath soaked in sweat from running around delivering orders for hours on end. Not sweating was simply not an option.

The kangaroo brand uniform was designed to be windproof and warm, and though it wasn’t cold, it was not breathable either, which made the sweat easily soak through his undershirt.

So Yang Hao took off the shirt and put on a fresh, dry one.

By the time he had finished washing up, there were already four dishes on the dining table: braised eel, stir-fried bamboo shoots with pork, tiger skin pork trotters, and stir-fried lotus slices.