Billionaire's Long Journey of Chasing His Love-Chapter 494 - 427: Never Would Have Thought (Third Update)
Tong Airui was taken aback, "Which thing are you talking about?"
Long Che gave him a glance, "When I went to visit Haotian, you were all nervous and jittery, did you forget so soon?"
Tong Airui chuckled helplessly, "The Queen of Haotian was looking for one of her old servants, so I told Little Mule to stop following up. When people reach a certain age, they tend to dwell on the past. I guess the Queen of Haotian is just in that kind of mood."
Long Che asked solemnly, "Looking for a servant, yet being so secretive about it?"
Tong Airui laughed, "It’s odd, to be fair. She’s doing it behind the Emperor of Haotian’s back. These two are unique in their own way. Dad, you don’t have anything to hide from Mom, do you?"
Long Che chuckled, "I operate with full transparency in front of your mom — three hundred and sixty degrees, no blind spots."
As the father-and-son duo were chatting, Yi Luowa came out from the study holding a photo frame, "Dad, I was looking for a book in your study earlier but found this instead!"
Long Che glanced at it and laughed, "I hid it so well, yet you still managed to find it!"
"What is it?" Tong Airui leaned over, "An IOU! ’Tong Yao hereby owes Long Che three hundred thousand...’ Hahaha, Dad, what were you and Mom up to?"
Long Che took the frame and laughed while reading it aloud, "I used this three hundred thousand to trick your mom into marrying me."
Yi Luowa blinked and sat down beside Long Che with a cheeky grin, "Dad, tell us the story of how you tricked Mom!"
"Your mom is stingy. Once you figure out someone’s weak spot, it’s easy to exploit..."
Long Che saw his wife approaching with a cold expression and quickly laughed awkwardly, halting his narration.
Tong Yao glared at him playfully, snatched the framed IOU, which had already been placed in an album.
"It was because of this three hundred thousand that I invited a wolf into my home. Once your dad got in, he wouldn’t leave. To pay off the debt, I had to serve him like a lord every day. And in return, he fussed over every little thing — this was wrong, that wasn’t right. If he hadn’t injured himself back then, I wouldn’t have married someone like him!"
"Haha... This is definitely worth preserving! Without this, there wouldn’t be Tong Airui, let alone Ziyan and Sangyu." Yi Luowa winked mischievously at her mother-in-law.
Tong Yao feigned annoyance, "What made you dig it up? Bringing back my sad memories."
Yi Luowa laughed, "I thought it was fun, haha... Did you repay the debt? If you haven’t, I’ll help Dad collect it."
"This IOU expired ages ago; I’m not repaying it!" Tong Yao looked at the note and sighed, "So many years have passed in the blink of an eye. Many things from back then have been forgotten, but this still remains."
"A testament to your and Dad’s love story." Yi Luowa stood up with a smile, "Dad, I borrowed two military books from your study. Once I finish reading them, I’ll return them."
Long Che smiled, "Rare to see you enjoy reading; take them and read."
"Rare, you say! I’m a good kid who loves to read!" Yi Luowa walked toward the study with her hands behind her back. "I need to study hard to set a good example for Ziyan and Sangyu."
"Do you believe her?" Long Che teased Tong Yao.
Tong Yao laughed and nodded, "Recently, she has been into reading. I heard her telling Youyou that she’s worried Ziyan and Sangyu will mock her when they’re older, so she’s cramming now."
Yi Luowa pouted as she glanced back at her mother-in-law.
Tong Yao chuckled, "Go get your books!"
Yi Luowa pouted and stepped into the study.
Tong Airui grinned, "She has no choice but to read lately. I enrolled her in an advanced program starting in September. She’s afraid she won’t keep up, so she’s cramming."
Tong Yao frowned slightly, "Isn’t that a bit rushed? She just gave birth a few days ago, and you’re already sending her back to school."
"It’s night school, only three days a week, two hours per session."
Tong Yao looked at Long Che with some concern, "Is Luowa up for it? She just gave birth not long ago."
"Let her try. Being cooped up at home all the time isn’t good for young people." Long Che glanced upstairs at the baby room, "Are those two little ones still asleep?"
Tong Yao rolled her eyes at him, "Yes, they only just went down."
"When they nap, I don’t even know what to do with myself." Long Che glanced at a newspaper briefly before putting it down, "Reading the paper isn’t as fun as staring at Sangyu’s chubby little cheeks! I’ll head upstairs to watch them. By the way, honey, let’s have Sangyu sleep with us tonight."
Tong Yao gave him a playful look, "Sangyu and Ziyan are inseparable. Do you plan to only take Sangyu? Then they’d cry all night!"
Long Che twitched at the corner of his mouth, "Did I say only one? I meant both of them together."
Tong Yao turned to her son, "Is that what your dad said just now?"
Tong Airui rubbed his nose with a laugh but didn’t respond.
Tong Yao sighed, "Long Che, I’m telling you, we keep lecturing Weiyang about treating everyone equally, but you need to do the same. I won’t demand much from you for Lance and Xiaoyudian’s four kids, but Ziyan is our eldest son and grandson. You can’t act like my dad back then. Look at the mess it caused; now, Nuo’er keeps saying he was born to a stepmother."
"If he dares to spout nonsense again, I’ll break his legs!" Long Che grumbled, climbing the stairs, but paused after a few steps, "Have him give me a granddaughter like Sangyu, and I’ll worship him!"
Tong Yao glared at him, "Lower your voice! Aren’t you worried Nuo’er might hear you?"
"Do I care?!" Long Che stomped up the stairs.
Tong Yao waited until he entered the baby room before exhaling deeply, patting her chest, "I was really afraid he was going to bang on your uncle’s door."
Tong Airui put an arm around his mom’s shoulder, laughing, "Dad’s just talking. Honestly, he cares about Tong Aino more than you do. Many of Zhuoyuan’s big decisions were secretly guided by Dad, and Tong Aino knows it."
"He’ll care in one moment and scold in the next. His mouth really is something else."
"We all know what kind of person Dad is; no one takes it seriously. Mom, don’t dwell on it..."
As Tong Airui comforted his mom, he looked up to see his dad dragging Tong Aino out of the baby room by the collar.
Mother and son exchanged a glance before Tong Airui chuckled, "When did Aino sneak in?"
Tong Yao burst out lightly laughing, "I just came downstairs not long ago; back then, he hadn’t entered the baby room yet. I guess he didn’t get far before your dad caught him in there."
"Haha..." Yi Luowa emerged from the study just as Tong Aino was shoved down the stairs by Long Che, making her laugh so hard she almost doubled over.
Tong Aino also cracked up, "I... haha... I just touched Sangyu’s little face when Dad walked in."
Standing upstairs, Long Che glared at him, "Touched? You were clearly pinching! You’re trying to wake Sangyu up!"
Yi Luowa playfully tapped Tong Aino with a book, "Sangyu just fell asleep. If you wake her, she’ll be cranky."
"Don’t bother her while she’s asleep." Tong Aino chuckled as he leaned closer to his mom.
Tong Yao lightly slapped him, "Always teasing! If you make them cry, you don’t even deal with it."
Tong Aino chuckled, rubbing his arm, "Mom, honestly, I love hearing Sangyu cry. When she cries, Ziyan cries too. Listening to them is like hearing a duet."
"Don’t go into the baby room anymore!" Long Che barked from upstairs and then returned to the baby room.
Connie waited until Long Che had gone back inside before gently pushing open the door to come down, "You were teasing the kids again?"
"What do you mean again? I only went this once!" Tong Aino retorted, draping his arm over Connie’s shoulder, "Wife, I can’t play with Sangyu and Ziyan. How about you give me one to play with?"
Connie lowered his hand and chuckled softly, "Maybe when Sangyu and Ziyan are a bit older."
"How old? Ten or eight?" Tong Aino asked irritably.
"Two or three years old will do. Otherwise, Mom will be exhausted."
Tong Yao smiled, "I won’t be tired! You can give me ten or eight kids; I’ll still handle it all. One nanny per child, I’ll just sit back and watch."
Tong Aino chuckled, "Mom doesn’t ask for much. You have five, and my sister-in-law has five. That’ll be enough."
"You do the having if you want them. I’m sticking to just these two!" Tong Airui shot his younger brother a glare. Over the past year, he barely knew how he managed to survive.
Yi Luowa chuckled faintly. At this moment, nobody should mention having kids to her. The mere mention made her entire body ache.
After the twins had their full moon banquet, Mi Chenxuan and Youyou’s wedding was only days away. Ni Lu took Youyou back to S Country since the wedding wasn’t far off, and she still needed to spend a few days there.
After the mother-daughter pair left, Long Che and Tong Yao went to R Country. They stayed for three days before rerouting to S Country to visit their daughter.
Tong Ai Ni was truly blessed—almost three months along and hardly had any morning sickness.
Tong Yao saw her daughter hadn’t lost weight but instead gained quite a bit. She finally felt relieved. After staying the night, the couple hurried back to Xiawu to check on their two children.
But to Tong Yao’s shock, the moment she left, something went wrong with Ai Ni.
