Chapter 37: Falling Foolishly in Love

cretly breathed a sigh of relief but shouted at Shao Junhe with exasperation."Sorry, there was a bit of traffic on the road!" Shao Junhe felt sympathetic towards Li An, who was in a fluster; he knew a...Chapter 37 Falling in Love to the Point of Foolishness

Zhou Guangtao had been very busy these days, with countless things needing his attention. Fortunately, being young and full of vigor, he occasionally showed signs of impatience for quick success. When it came to work, nothing could stop him.

Work, self-interest, scheming—these all eroded Zhou Guangtao's passion. The mundane routine, the tiring days, temporarily quenched the flames of love. Every day his mind was filled with thoughts about company affairs, and he seldom had time to communicate with Yan Luoxi.

At first, every night Yan Luoxi would come home to prepare a loving dinner for Zhou Guangtao.

Tired from her work, she hurriedly took off her high heels and changed clothes, then rushed into the kitchen like a dutiful wife making him food. Worries crept in as she cooked—would there be too much oil, making the dishes taste overly greasy Would there be too much salt, not to Zhou Guangtao’s liking

She was just like any woman lost in love, using her feelings so deeply that it made her foolish.

But most of the meals Yan Luoxi prepared with great care were wasted efforts. Zhou Guangtao was too busy to come back for dinner; over time, Yan Luoxi, exhausted from work, no longer had the heart to be a devoted wife and mother.

After returning from work every day, she went alone to the fast food restaurant downstairs, ordering something like rice with curry or cross-the-bridge noodles to eat quickly. Then she would buy milk, frozen dumplings, or steamed buns for Zhou Guangtao's breakfast at a nearby supermarket.

The early days of Zhou Guangtao and Yan Luoxi starting their business were extremely tough; they barely had time for intimate conversations, let alone idle chit-chat. As soon as they got home and lay down on the bed, they fell asleep without even having time to think about anything.

They were able to fall asleep quickly, but Li An tossed and turned in bed and couldn't sleep.

Ming Zixi truly followed him south without any guilt whatsoever, bringing along Wu Tiantian as well. The Shao siblings and Ruan Weijie also joined the group, returning home in their finery.

These people with no discernment didn't care whether Li An's face was grim or not; they came straight to his residence. It just so happened that Li An’s parents were at home. Li Haonan and his wife warmly welcomed these people into the house, and Ming Zixi and others shamelessly accepted this hospitality and decided to stay temporarily in Li An's home.

If it weren't for his father being at home and fearing another beating on his buttocks, Li An would have shouted loudly and driven away all these idle loafers who lived off the kindness of others and waited to die.

"Second Young Master, Madam is calling you down to eat."

The Li family servant noticed that this living donkey at home was in a bad mood and spoke from behind the door with caution, fearing he might be implicated.

"I know."

Li An frowned. He got out of bed and thought about how he said he was tired upon returning home and went upstairs to rest—his mother must think that he lacks upbringing and didn't chat with those annoying ghosts who seemed like guests.

If he continued to dawdle and not go downstairs, the next person to come and call him would be his father. Under Ming Zixi's embellishment of the story, he might get slapped along with it.

When Li An hobbled down the stairs, he saw that Ming Zixi was sitting on the sofa spouting nonsense as if forming a waterfall, while everyone else listened to him with interest.

When he saw Li An coming down the stairs, Ming Zixi greeted him casually, "Li An, you're awake now. Come sit next to me."

"No thanks, I'm afraid your saliva will splash on me," Li An replied with a nervous expression.

"How do you talk like that!" Gu Xiaobei glared at Li An reproachfully but her eyes were unusually soft. She even reached out her hand to him.

Li An pretended to be an obedient child and leaned into his mother's embrace.

Mom smiled brightly, stroking Li An’s head absentmindedly. Her heart was warm with joy and aching tenderness; she was心疼他這次吃了啞巴虧。翻譯這句話時，我注意到原文中的“她也是心疼的”部分，為了保持一致性並準確傳達情感，這裡直接保留“心疼”，因為這個表達在中文中是固定搭配，而英文中並冇有完全對應的詞組。“心疼”的意思是感到深切的痛苦和憐憫，所以可以譯為 "she was heart-warmingly concerned for him." 但考慮到上下文，更合適的翻譯可能是："She felt deeply for her son who had suffered a silent defeat this time."

“My Li An hasn't been in high spirits lately. Happily, all of you are here now. Please accompany him and play more. You've known each other since childhood; you know his bad temper well, so please give way to him when playing together.”

Relying on the mother who suddenly became kind, Li An felt a sour sensation in his nostrils. Mommy, why did your love come so late What use is it for you to ask them to play with me You should have kept Yan Luo夕 for me! The name "顏落夕" seems to be a specific character or person's name and hence is not translated.

"Auntie Xiaobei, don't worry. Li An is like my own brother; I will definitely stay here and keep him company!" Ming Zixi expressed his intention enthusiastically.

Li An couldn’t help but feel a pang in his heart. Ming Zixi's smile was as harsh to him as summer sunlight, causing him great pain in his eyes.

"Well, Sweetie, why don't you stay here for a few more days There's plenty of space at home. You can live wherever you like and just let the阿姨know if you need anything."

She genuinely liked Wu Tiantian, who was obedient and quiet. Back in her memory-loss days, she had secretly liked Wu Tiantian’s father, which made Li Haonan want to kill someone.

Literally, Li Haonan also quite liked Wu Tiantian. He always wanted a daughter, and Wu Tiantian was exactly the image of a well-behaved and affectionate girl he had in mind. Her father was also Wu Chuang, his former loyal subordinate who was half-rival and half-benefactor. Therefore, Li Haonan felt an extra fondness for Wu Tiantian.

At one point, he even thought about making Wu Chuang his son-in-law and letting Wu Tiantian marry Li An as his wife, but thinking of his unlucky son made him give up on this extravagant wish. If Wu Tiantian were to marry Li An, it would be like putting a flower in the mud.

"Tiantian, treat this place as your home and stay here however long you want!" Li Haonan looked at Wu Tiantian with affection; having another daughter around made everything look better to him.

Li Haonan’s greatest regret in life was that he hadn’t been able to have a daughter with Gu Xiaobei, who got whatever she wanted.

Hearing his parents keep Wu Tiantian at home, Li An felt a sharp crack in his heart. With Wu Tiantian staying here, Shao Meizhuo would definitely find an excuse to come over too; he wouldn't be able to have any peaceful days from now on.

As expected, before his heart could break completely, Shao Meizhuo coquettishly leaned against her mother’s side and pouted, saying in a sweet voice: "Auntie Xiaobei, you're biased! You want Tiantian to live at your house but not me!"

"Yes, both of them can stay. All of you can stay at my place," Gu Xiaobei, who was soft-hearted, couldn’t bear it and said without regard for her son's rolling eyes: "None of you need to go back home. Just live here; there’s plenty of space in the house anyway. You all have to be together every day, so just stay here and avoid the hassle."red gently, casting shadows that highlighted his handsome face and narrow eyes."Aren't doctors supposed to advise against smoking How come he's smoking then" Yan Luoxi stopped in her tracks, standing...