You're threatening me, huh

In the courtyard house,

The three girls had all changed into beautiful outfits.

Li Qingxue stood before them, applying light makeup to their faces.

Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Lin Wanning couldn't help but give Li Qingxue a thumbs-up: "If Qingxue became a makeup artist, she'd definitely be the best!"

Li Qingxue pursed her lips and smiled faintly: "If Long Aotian weren't your manager, I could be your personal makeup artist?"

"That would be amazing."

"Dream on. I have my own ambitions—I want to create my own cosmetics brand. When that happens, I’ll invite my sisters to be my brand ambassadors, and you can be my spokesperson."

"You really know how to make the most of everything," Hu Yuying said, lightly tapping Li Qingxue’s forehead with her finger.

"Exactly! When the time comes, we’ll charge you a hefty endorsement fee!"

"What about your dream, sister?" Li Qingxue asked.

"Dream?" Hu Yuying murmured softly. In the past, her dream had been to earn money—lots and lots of it.

But at some point, that dream had changed, becoming simpler and more ordinary.

It had transformed into the anticipation and joy in a young girl’s heart.

As they spoke, the sound of the front gate opening echoed through the courtyard.

The three girls stepped out of the room, their gazes all drawn to the slowly opening gate.

When they saw Long Aotian pushing his bike inside, they exchanged glances and then spoke in unison: "Welcome home."

The sudden, perfectly synchronized greeting left Long Aotian momentarily stunned. Seeing the three girls dressed up so beautifully, even with light makeup, he racked his brain, desperately trying to remember what special day it was.

But no matter how hard he thought, his mind remained blank.

It didn’t seem like any significant anniversary.

And it wasn’t any of their birthdays either.

Watching Long Aotian’s dumbfounded expression, the three girls couldn’t help but giggle.

Hearing their laughter, Long Aotian swallowed hard but still asked in a small voice, "So… what’s the occasion today?"

"Hmph! How could you forget, Long Aotian?" Li Qingxue huffed, crossing her arms and turning away.

Seeing how quickly Li Qingxue got into character, Lin Wanning suppressed a laugh and looked at Long Aotian with feigned resentment. "Has brother really stopped caring about us so much?"

Long Aotian shot a pleading glance at Hu Yuying.

Hu Yuying rolled her eyes, as if silently telling him, "Figure it out yourself!"

The three of them couldn’t help but stifle their laughter as they watched Long Aotian frown in deep thought.

Their man was so sharp outside, yet so clueless at home—just how much did he trust them?

And it was true. From the very beginning, Long Aotian had never doubted them, no matter what they did…

Finally, Hu Yuying couldn’t resist giving him a hint. "Long-ge, don’t overthink it. Today marks half a year since the three of us started our online store."

Perhaps they were lucky. From the moment Long-ge helped them set up the store,

To sourcing products, trying on clothes, and listing items—

They never had to worry about a thing. This man had taken care of everything for them…

And they seemed to have ridden the wave of what Long-ge called the "golden period"—their store had been doing quite well.

Filled with gratitude, they had dressed up today to treat Long-ge to a fancy dinner.

Hearing this, Long Aotian rubbed his wrists.

"Oh, so you’re teasing me now?"

"Not caring about you, huh?"

Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning immediately hid behind Hu Yuying.

"You can’t bully us!"

"If you dare, sister won’t let you off easy!"

Long Aotian grinned. "And who just rolled their eyes at me?"

Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning froze, then instinctively looked at Hu Yuying.

Hu Yuying bit her lip, realizing she’d been called out too. Her eyes glistened as she looked at Long-ge. "W-what are you going to do?"

Seeing Long-ge raise his hand,

She yelped and, this time, wisely made a run for it.

With their sister fleeing, Li Qingxue and Lin Wanning hesitated for a second before scrambling to follow.

But Long Aotian swiftly caught Li Qingxue, while Lin Wanning shamelessly abandoned her and regrouped with Hu Yuying.

"You were the loudest just now!"

"L-Long Aotian, you can’t bully me! That’s domestic abuse! A-Ying won’t let you get away with it!"

"Oh? Caught red-handed and still threatening me?"

That afternoon, each of the three girls received ten swats on their behinds.

Li Qingxue got twelve—two extra for her bold defiance.

As they walked together later, their eyes met, and they burst into laughter again.

Of course, the three girls then pretended to sulk at Long Aotian.

This was just how they interacted—simple, ordinary, yet filled with happiness.

"We’re here, just up ahead," Hu Yuying said softly.

As the eldest sister and the one who had saved the most money, today’s celebration had been her idea.

She had even picked the place—proof that even the biggest penny-pincher could splurge when it mattered…

Meanwhile, elsewhere—

Xu Shuai and Li Longlong arrived at the hospital.

"You go in first," Li Longlong urged Xu Shuai.

Xu Shuai shook his head. "No, you go ahead."

As they argued, Wang Lijuan and Han Xiaojing arrived as well.

The two men immediately turned their hopeful gazes toward the girls.

Meeting Xu Shuai’s eyes, Wang Lijuan glared at him, and he instantly deflated.

"Huang Fei is your good friend, but does that mean Shen Mengjie isn’t ours?"

On the surface, this situation did seem unfair to Huang Fei—after all, anyone could see how much he cared for Shen Mengjie these past few days. But they just couldn’t bring themselves to say it…

Xu Shuai and Li Longlong scratched their heads, then turned to Han Xiaojing.

Han Xiaojing also shook her head.

In the end, they decided to all go in together.

"What are you all doing out here?" The door suddenly opened, revealing Huang Fei. His voice was hoarse as he spoke.

Li Longlong took a deep breath and blurted out, "Well, there’s something we need to tell you… um, it’s about…"

"Just go in and be with her. She probably needs you more right now."

Huang Fei looked at Wang Lijuan and Han Xiaojing before stepping out of the room.

The two girls gave him an apologetic glance before entering the ward.

"What were you trying to say earlier?"

Xu Shuai and Li Longlong exchanged looks before reluctantly explaining what had happened at school—how Shen Xiu had caused a scene, how Shen Mengjie might be pregnant, and how she had been expelled…

They expected Huang Fei to be shocked—to react with anger upon hearing about Shen Mengjie’s pregnancy and expulsion. But instead, he simply nodded calmly, as if he had already known…

"Where’s Long Aotian?" Huang Fei asked coldly.

......

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