Right Here Waiting For You

The suburban park wasn’t too far from the school. It was only ten minutes away by bus, but Li Yanmo didn’t manage to find the necklace, despite having combed the area specified by Tiantian.

Ning Tiantian’s eyes were filled with disappointment. It wasn’t in the Dinosaur Museum, and they couldn’t find it in the suburban park, either. Where could her necklace possibly be?

“Tiantian, we’ll just get another one made, if it can’t be found.”

“Then it has to be exactly the same!”

Li Yanmo nodded.

Having gotten this out of the way, Ning Tiantian finally broke into a smile. She skipped along the road as she grabbed Li Yanmo’s arm joyfully.

She didn’t have to go back to school, and she was even taking a stroll with Inky. She was so, so, so happy!

It is often said that children have no troubles on their minds because their “troubles” come and go quickly, just like how Tiantian had forgotten her previous worries!

When they arrived at the villa district and saw the luxurious sedan parked in front of her house, the smile disappeared from Ning Tiantian’s face. What replaced her smile, instead, was an expression of fear. She couldn’t help exclaiming, “I’m done for…”

Her parents had turned up as soon as she screwed up. It was no mere coincidence.

It was, indeed, no coincidence. Upon receiving a call from the preschool informing them that Tiantian couldn’t be found at the Dinosaur Museum, her parents had set aside everything immediately and sped home in their car. They were worried out of their wits, having thought something bad had happened to Tiantian.

As soon as the door of the car was opened, Mama Ning descended upon Tiantian, looking disheveled, her eyes red and raw from crying.

“Rascal, see if I don’t beat the daylights out of you.”

“Save me, Inky!”

Ning Tiantian tugged at Li Yanmo’s sleeve and tried to hide behind him, but Mama Ning grabbed hold of her before she could do so. She spanked Ning Tiantian twice on her bottom.

Neither Li Yanmo nor Papa Ning was in time to stop that from happening.

“Waaah!” Tiantian wailed.

Mama Ning continued pounding into Tiantian, prompting Li Yanmo to pull Tiantian into his embrace, shielding her from her blows. He then told Mama Ning, “Tiantian is my wife. I should also be held responsible for her mistakes. If you need to hit someone, let it be me.”

Did Inky just call her… his wife?

Ning Tiantian’s jaw dropped open as she looked up at him in astonishment. For a moment, she had forgotten the pain on her bottom.

“Don’t shield her, Yanmo. She’s not yet married to you, and even if she were, I still have to teach her a lesson!” Mama Ning was about to pull Li Yanmo out of the way.

Papa Ning quickly grabbed her by her waist, saying, “That’s enough, honey. Stop hitting her…”

“You’re not to hit my daughter-in-law,” Mama Li hurried over as soon as she got back. She was, in fact, still carrying her camera equipment. Standing between the children and Mama Ning, she said huffily, “You almost burnt your house down when you were ten. Did your dad give you a beating?! Tiantian is still so little. How could you bear to lay a finger on her?!”

“Did you think I wanted to? She’s my own flesh and blood. Don’t you think it hurts me to do so?” Mama Ning was openly weeping by now. Pointing at Tiantian, she demanded, “Tell me why you ran away from the excursion.”

“Yes…” Li Yanmo was about to explain on Tiantian’s behalf but was interrupted by Mama Ning.

“Yanmo, let Tiantian speak for herself. No matter how young she is, she needs to admit her mistakes and bear the consequences!” Even though Mama Ning sounded especially harsh, one could still hear the hurt in her voice.