Qi Youxuan's cheeks were flushed pink when he noticed Ruan Danchen's stare and said, "I looked at the time and thought that it would be late when I arrived, so I brought all these in case I fell asleep."

"..." Ruan Danchen felt speechless at him.

"These are your birthday presents," Qi Chenglin passed a huge plastic bag to Qi Youxuan.

Qi Youxuan stared at the presents with sparkles in his eyes and quickly took out all the boxes in the bag.

Ruan Danchen explained to him, "I bought all these because I wanted to compensate for your birthdays for the past six years. You probably don't play some of these now but I still wanted to get these for you."

Qi Youxuan examined the presents and noticed she really bought all these based on the age groups from one year old to six years old.

The gift for one year old was a pair of pre-walker shoes, and a huge inflatable swimming pool, which was now deflated and folded so it was not space-occupying, as a gift for two years old. The present for three years old was a balance bike, a remote controlled four-wheel drive sports utility vehicle for four years old, an Optimus Prime figure for five years old, and a Lego City set as a present for his current age, six years old.

Qi Youxuan had no clue about pricing but Qi Chenglin was an expert in it, just the Lego set alone cost at least three to four thousand dollars.

Qi Youxuan was extremely interested in the Lego set and he tore the packaging immediately after he thanked Ruan Danchen and started playing with it.

"I'll make supper for you," Ruan Danchen relaxed when she saw Qi Youxuan's interest and happiness in the Lego set and went into the kitchen.

Never would Ruan Danchen imagined that she would ever have a chance to make supper for her own son personally. She initially thought that even if her son was alive, she would be grateful to see him from afar, but now, she could meet face-to-face with her son and even made him supper.

Ruan Danchen closed the door to the kitchen and with red eyes, she turned on the kitchen exhaust hood. Her whimpering sob was drowned by the loud noise the hood made.

She cleared the mucus in her nose and wiped the tears off her cheek, then she boiled the water and threw half a packet of instant noodles inside. She scooped the instant noodles out after they softened up a bit and rinsed it under clean water repeatedly to wash off as much preservatives as she could. Afterwards she put the rinsed noodles into a frying pan and added some seasonings such as soy sauce and some pepper, then she pan-fried the noodles into an attractive looking dish.

Afterwards she made an omelette using the frying pan and wrapped the instant noodles with the omelette. Later, she squeezed some ketchup sauce on it, making a modified version of omurice - an omu-noodle.

Even though she could only cook instant noodles for Qi Youxuan, she still hoped that he can eat a little healthier with it.

Ruan Danchen served the omu-noodle and went back to her bedroom, which she noticed that Qi Youxuan already changed into his pajamas and sleeping on her bed with a teddy bear in his embosom. Qi Chenglin sat alone on the ground playing one of the Lego figures whom Ruan Danchen just gave Qi Youxuan as present.

He heard the sound of Ruan Danchen opening the door and turned towards her. He whispered in fear of waking Qi Youxuan up, "He played for a few minutes before feeling tired, then he went straight to sleep."

"I just finished cooking so you can wake him up for supper now. I'm going to cut some fruits for him," Ruan Danchen took a glance at Qi Youxuan who was sleeping peacefully on the bed, appearing extremely cute.

His chubby little face appeared pinkish and he was very quiet now. His fair and chubby hand resting beside his face which appeared cute to Ruan Danchen.

Qi Chenglin put down the Lego set and stood up while Ruan Danchen returned to the kitchen to cut the fruits.

When she was done with the fruits and went back to the living room, she saw Qi Chenglin sitting at the dining table, eating supper she prepared for Qi Youxuan.

Ruan Danchen became angry and just when she was about to say something, Qi Chenglin said unhappily, "Why did the food you prepared for Youxuan was better and more delicious than the one you prepared for me?"

"Youxuan is a kid. I need to take more caution in preparing his meal. By the way, I prepared this for Youxuan, why did you eat it?" Ruan Danchen had no idea why but whenever she faced Qi Chenglin's questioning, she would always soften up.

"I just mentioned that my appetite wasn't satisfied, so now I'm hungry again," Qi Chenglin stared at Ruan Danchen as if these were all her fault.

To be honest, Qi Youxuan was not in a deep sleep and he kept remembering that Ruan Danchen was making supper for him. He smelled the food fragrance travelling from the living room when he woke up, so he went out of the room and saw Qi Chenglin eating.

"Dad, are you eating my supper?" Qi Youxuan was a bit drowsy, afterall he just woke up, but upon seeing that Qi Chenglin was probably eating his supper, he was now wide awake and in rage.

"You fell asleep, the food wouldn't taste nice if it was left to cool down, that's a waste of food," Qi Chenglin said while picking the last piece of omu-noodle off the plate.

Qi Youxuan became frantic and rushed towards Qi Chenglin. He used up all his strength to pull Qi Chenglin's arm down, trying hard to prevent him from taking the last bite. "Why did you not wake me up? This is mine! Mine! Why did you steal my food? You are so bad! Don't eat it!"

Qi Chenglin gave him a cold stare and Qi Youxuan quickly became fearful of him and stopped shaking his arm, but he stood there, puckering his mouth and staring in despair while Qi Chenglin took down the last bite of the omu-noodle.

Qi Youxuan became more and more sorrowful as he had no idea what kind of father was this who stole his food. He puckered his mouth with tears pooling up in his reddened eyes. When the tears streamed down his cheeks, some of the droplets were stuck on his long eyelashes. This scene was heart-wrenching to Ruan Danchen.

Children's tears were especially crystal clear and each tear droplet from Qi Youxuan made Ruan Danchen felt like her heart was bleeding.

"It's alright, Youxuan, I'll make you another one. I still have half a packet of instant noodles," Ruan Danchen pulled Qi Youxuan to her embosom and wiped the tears off his cheeks.

"Dad, you are a bad person!" Qi Youxuan exclaimed angrily.

Ruan Danchen also gave an angry stare at Qi Chenglin but he just sat there, looking proud and almighty, and did not bother for self-reflection. Qi Chenglin even studied them with mocking eyes with his lips twisted into a humorless smile.

Now Ruan Danchen was furious as she did not know how many times had Qi Chenglin bullied Qi Youxuan, and this made her heart broke.

"I'll make another one for you, be a good boy," Ruan Danchen said.

When Ruan Danchen stood up, she felt her hands grabbed by Qi Youxuan and he said, "I'm going with you this time, I won't fall asleep no matter the circumstances."

"Okay," Ruan Danchen brought Qi Youxuan into the kitchen and both of them ignored Qi Chenglin.

Qi Chenglin stared at the backs of the duo and felt himself at peace looking at them. He shifted his gaze to the empty plate in front of him and smiled, appearing to be in a good mood

Qi Chenglin then stood up, picked up the plate of cut fruits and sat on the couch. He changed to a movie channel and started enjoying the movie while eating the fruits.

Ruan Danchen made another omu-noodle for Qi Youxuan in the kitchen. This time, Qi Youxuan did not take the food out to the living room, he ate it on the spot instead.

"Yummy!" Qi Youxuan gulped down the food with joy and exuberance.

"Slow down, no one is going to steal your food this time," Ruan Danchen was worried that Qi Youxuan's may have gastric problem if he bolted through the food.

"Humph! I hate Dad, I'm not going back with him tonight," Qi Youxuan lifted his head and stared at Ruan Danchen with his dewy and misty eyes which still had a little redness in them, and those eyes softened Ruan Danchen's heart and she would not be able to resist him at all.

"Aunt Ruan, can I sleep over at your place tonight? Dad was being awful today," Qi Youxuan stared at Ruan Danchen with anticipation.

Ruan Danchen was tempted as she really wanted to stay longer with Qi Youxuan. She wanted to tell him bedtime stories and put him to sleep.

"I'll discuss with your father later, let's see if he agrees," Ruan Danchen said.

Qi Youxuan was very excited when he heard this. His cheeks were full as he ate another big mouthful of food and mumbled with unclear voice, "To be honest, my dad is a good man. Normally he was calm and dependable, but at times he may have had a stroke or something and acted capricious."

Ruan Danchen gently stroke Qi Youxuan's soft hair, thinking why was he so cute as he was praising his father despite the fact that he just got bullied by his father just now.

Ruan Danchen fetched herself a glass of water as she felt thirsty chatting with Qi Youxuan.

"Aunt Ruan, do you want to be my stepmother?" Qi Youxuan said suddenly.

Qi Youxuan's question came out of a sudden. Ruan Danchen was about to swallow a mouthful of water and the water ended up entering her windpipe, inducing pain in her throat and causing a choking sensation.

Ruan Danchen coughed repeatedly to relieve the choking sensation. Qi Youxuan saw this and rushed behind her to give her some gentle taps on the back, although it did not help at all.

Ruan Danchen's cough went for quite some time and her face flushed red with tears and nasal mucus expelled out. She took out a tissue paper to wipe her secretions away and drank another sip of water to try and ease the pain, but her trachea still burned.

"Why did you ask this?" Ruan Danchen whispered as her throat was still painful from the choke.

"Because I like you, and you're good to me too, and I think my dad likes you too," Qi Youxuan's face was flushed with pink as he felt embarrassed.

"..." Ruan Danchen stared at him and was at a loss of words. "Nonsense. I believe that you like me, but why do you think that your dad likes me too?"

"Why would he be here if he doesn't like you? He wouldn't randomly go to women's house with that awful temperament," Qi Youxuan said with pride but it was unknown whether he was praising or scolding Qi Chenglin.

"..." Ruan Danchen was at a loss of words. "He came here for the presents that I bought for you, or else I couldn't find any chance to give them to you."

"Aunt Ruan, that's not the case," Qi Youxuan finished the supper. The portion Ruan Danchen prepared for him was not big as she feared health issues may arise if he sleep right after a full stomach. His chubby hands were oily from the food so Ruan Danchen lifted him up to the sink to which he washed his hands and wiped them with clean paper towel.

Qi Youxuan continued. "He usually never chat with women unless it's job-related, and he was always polite to others. My great-grandmother said he definitely likes the woman if he ever talks sarcastically to her. The more sarcastic he talks, the more affection he has for you."

"..." Ruan Danchen was speechless.

"Ha ha. Grandmother Qi really over thought about this," Ruan Danchen let out a dry laugh.

"Why don't you trust me? It was just an excuse for Dad to come here and take my presents, or else why would he still be here after he took my presents? I'm telling you, Aunt Ruan, my great-grandmother said my Dad has a low emotional quotient especially when we were talking about relationship issues. My Dad has never courted any girl since young, and I'm worried sick for him too," Qi Youxuan got irritated and stamped his foot furiously.

"Aunt Ruan, please reconsider this! My Dad is thirty-three years old now, a little too old for you but he is still younger than my uncle, and my aunt doesn't mind the age difference between my uncle and her. To be honest, you're quite fortunate that your future-husband is younger than her husband but my Dad is quite bad-tempered. Well, at least he is handsome, so you can try to just focus on his glamour and ignore his temperament. He is very rich too, you can take over all of his possessions after your marriage with him. By the way, if possible, write my name on some of the possession ownership transfer too," Qi Youxuan felt embarrassed while saying this.

"Besides, all men in the Qi family treat their wives well. Look at how my uncle treat my aunt. Look at how I treat Muran, my Dad will surely-," Qi Youxuan recalled Qi Chenglin's awful temperament and found himself speaking with a guilty conscience. "Anyway, you can teach him when the time comes. If I can act kind to a woman, I'm quite sure that he can too."

"Youxuan, honestly, are you really praising your Dad?" Ruan Danchen could not help but think that Qi Youxuan was exposing all the shortcomings of Qi Chenglin.

"..." Qi Youxuan was at a loss of words.

Qi Youxuan was worried sick when Ruan Danchen still chose not to believe him despite everything he just mentioned.

Why should he do when such a good stepmother was married to another man?

In the end, Ruan Danchen led Qi Youxuan to the living room and he saw Qi Chenglin not only devoured his supper, but also ate all the fruits that was meant for him.

Qi Chenglin was watching a movie while eating all the fruits!

This man really let Qi Youxuan down. He kept mentioning all the good about Qi Chenglin and in the end he just did not portrayed like Qi Youxuan indicated.

Anger started to boil deep in Qi Youxuan's system, as hot as lava. He released Ruan Danchen's hand, went back into her room before erupting in his furious state and crawled up her bed to sleep.

Even though Qi Youxuan was resting his head on his pillow, he could still smell Ruan Danchen's scent on the blanket. The scent had a motherly feel to him and it was pleasant to inhale.

Qi Youxuan grabbed the blanket and put it under his nose for couple attempts at deep inhaling. Soon, he felt his mood lightened up and he closed his eyes with joy and satisfaction.

Qi Chenglin shifted his gaze from the direction Qi Youxuan disappeared into and placed the empty plate in his hand on the coffee table.

Ruan Danchen gave up on the argument of Qi Chenglin stealing food from his son. She noticed that Qi Chenglin was in a good mood so she summoned up her courage and asked, "Young… Young Master Lin, Youxuan wanted to stay over at my place tonight, is it alright for you?"

Qi Chenglin peeked at Ruan Danchen from the corner of his eyes. "You seemed to like him?"

"Yes, I like that kid," Ruan Danchen unconsciously painted a ray of sunshine all over her face whenever she thought of Qi Youxuan. Her grin was especially tender and for a split second everything stopped while Qi Chenglin stared and admired her.

Ruan Danchen noticed Qi Chenglin's persistent stare. Her brain went haywired and recalled what Qi Youxuan mentioned just now.

"I think my Dad likes you too."

A gentle flush of pink had arisen in Ruan Danchen's cheeks when she recalled what Qi Youxuan said. She felt very awkward under Qi Chenglin's gaze.

Qi Chenglin quickly recovered from the blank state of mind but his gaze remained fixated on Ruan Danchen as her cutesy face was flooding his senses now.

She did not know what to think now and did not dare to return his gaze. She kept her head low with face as red as a beetroot.

Qi Chenglin's gaze shifted unconsciously to Ruan Danchen's lips, admiring its tenderness. He recalled the feelings when he kissed her on the night of the wedding party and wanted to relive it again.

Qi Chenglin responded with a mellow but deep voice, with a tinge of hoarseness in it, "Then let him stay over for tonight, I'll instruct the chauffeur to fetch him tomorrow morning."

"Really? That's awesome, thank you so much!" Ruan Danchen looked at him with exhilaration. Suddenly, her hand was grabbed and she was pulled towards the couch before she could react.

Ruan Danchen lost her balance and fell into Qi Chenglin's embosom. He used the opportunity and fell on the couch, his strong and muscular arms wrapping around her waist. Then, he flipped over and put his weight on her.

Ruan Danchen was taken by surprise and let out a soft cry. She noticed his handsome face was getting closer and the next thing she knew, he had slammed his lips to hers and nearly knocked out all wind from her lungs.

His tongue was as demanding as the owner. Ruan Danchen hardly had any moment to react before he pressed his tongue to the seam of her lips and, at her grant of access, delves inside her mouth.

Sparks flew in every direction, and the world was slowly disappearing around Ruan Danchen. She forgot to resist as his kiss obliterated her every thought, causing her body to flush with heat. The heat seems to travel through her veins, warming her.

She felt the buttons on her shirt was unhooked by him while she was still drunk on endorphins. Then, his hands drifted into her shirt and settled there, encircling her and pulling her closer. She was breathless as he showered her with those fiery and demanding kisses, each with its own flicker of warmth. The warmth had now bloomed into a full blown, sweltering heat wave bursting through her pores.

His kisses were demanding and at times soft and gentle. It made Ruan Danchen recall the events that night.

Qi Chenglin worked his way from her tender, smooth lips down to her neck slowly and attempting to run his lips further down.