Tang Ziyang jogged over.
Tang Tang eagerly reached out to be held.
Fourth brother!
Hold me, quick!
I want to see you up close!
Tang Ziyang stopped and hesitantly held out his hands.
"You want to hold your little sister?" Su Xiajing asked, a little surprised.
Tang Ziyang was mild-mannered. He never fought or roughhoused with his brothers, and he rarely asked for anything himself.
Everyone was a little surprised that he was so eager to hold Tangtang on their very first meeting.
"Yes."
With his hands outstretched, Tang Ziyang looked anxiously at Su Xiajing. "May I?"
"Of course."
Su Xiajing turned sideways. "But sit down first, Ziyang. It'll be better to hold your little sister sitting down."
He was only five and had never held a baby before. Something could easily go wrong if he didn't know how.
"Okay."
Tang Ziyang obediently sat down and held out his hands again.
Su Xiajing carefully placed Tang Tang in his arms.
With his soft, tiny little sister in his arms, Tang Ziyang went stiff all over. He stared at Tang Tang without blinking, terrified that she might accidentally slip out of his hands.
Tang Tang gently patted Tang Ziyang's face with her chubby little hand.
Fourth brother!
My adorable, precious fourth brother!
You're still such a good person. I'm so glad.
Tang Ziyang: "..."
His little sister's hand was so soft.
Tang Yuan: "..."
A baby barely a month old was calling a five-year-old adorably babyish...
She didn't even know where to begin with that.
Tang Lin: "..."
What did that mean?
Had Little Candy and Ziyang known each other before?
In a past life?
That was too far-fetched.
Sure enough, people's natures take shape when they're little.
Fourth brother was so nice as a grown-up, and he's nice as a little boy too. I like him.
Unlike those two little chubsters, Crybaby and Scaredy-cat. All they do is make a fuss.
Tang Lin: "..."
Crybaby and Scaredy-cat... She couldn't mean the brothers Tang Youzhen and Tang Youhao, could she?
Tang Yuan: "..."
She even knew what the little ones would be like when they grew up?
Amazing!
Tang Ziyang loved being praised and happily touched Tang Tang's face.
His little sister seemed to like him more than her other brothers.
That made him even happier.
"Why is it just the three of you?"
Tang Beichen casually sat down beside Tang Ziyang, his gaze fixed on his daughter.
"Jing'en's on a business trip. She won't be back until this afternoon."
Tang Lin's gaze also settled on Tang Tang and Tang Ziyang, intrigued. "Tang Yuan said she wanted to see Tangtang before everyone else, so we took a detour here."
"I've wanted to see my little niece for ages. I just never had the chance..."
Tang Yuan paused, gently squeezed Tang Tang's little hand, and smiled. "My decision really was a wise one. Coming here was the right call."
If she had suddenly heard Little Candy's thoughts at Grandma's house, she definitely would have attracted everyone's attention. Then she wouldn't have been able to explain herself.
She alone had stumbled upon something this fantastical. If she told anyone, they would surely think she was having a bout of adolescent delusions.
Tang Lin: "..."
It certainly was the right call.
Suddenly hearing a tiny baby's thoughts in the middle of a crowd would have given him quite a fright.
"Tang Tang."
Tang Yuan idly played with Tang Tang's hand while murmuring her name. "Tang Tang, Little Candy. We really were meant to meet."
???
"What do you mean?" Tang Lin asked, baffled. "How were you two meant to meet?"
"Of course we were."
Tang Yuan said with complete seriousness, "Look, Tang Tang's name means candy, and mine sounds like tangyuan, sweet rice balls. In the whole Tang Family, we're the only two named after food. If that isn't fate, what is?"
Most importantly, she was the only one who could hear Little Candy's voice.
This went well beyond an ordinary connection.
The two of them must have been close friends or relatives in their past lives. That was why they had been reborn into the same extended family, so they could remain family in this life.
Tang Tang: So my youngest aunt makes puns on her own name too.
That's pretty funny.
But if we're talking about puns, shouldn't "candy" be Tang Guo?
Tang Tang and the word for candy don't really sound that alike, do they?
Tang Yuan: "..."
Tang Lin: "...You're really stretching it."
"I don't care. Little Candy is still candy."
Tang Yuan retorted with absolute conviction.
Tang Lin: "..."
Tang Tang: "..."
Forget it. I won't argue with a youngster.
Looking at my adorable little fourth brother is more fun anyway.
A five-year-old hasn't grown into his looks yet, so you can't really tell how handsome he'll be. But those chubby cheeks are so cute.
Most importantly, this is the perfect age!
Any older and he'd turn into a sleazeball like that Peacock. Any younger and he'd be like those chubby twins, doing nothing but crying and fussing. So annoying.
Five is best. Cute and sensible, just perfect to admire.
If only fourth brother would smile a little more.
Oh, he's smiling! Fourth brother really smiled!
Seeing Tang Ziyang smile, Tang Tang smiled happily too.
She also took advantage of being a tiny baby to touch her fourth brother's face without restraint.
Your smile is so lovely. Fourth brother, you have to smile more from now on!
Tang Ziyang happily looked up at his father. "My little sister is so cute!"
Looking at her innocent, warmhearted fourth brother, Tang Tang began to worry again.
Your lovely, adorable smile can lift everyone's spirits and make them feel positive. But don't become a gullible sweetheart who always tries to please everyone.
Especially not a people-pleaser who's blinded by love.
After all, not everyone in this world is as kind and trustworthy as you. There are lots of bad people, and they won't stop themselves from swindling you just because you're kind. You really have to be more careful.
The main reason her fourth brother hadn't looked at her strangely like the others was his nature: even after being scammed, if he ran into another scammer on the street asking to borrow money for the fare home, he would still hand over every bit of cash he had.
Even after one girlfriend after another cheated him out of his money and played with his feelings, he could still fall in love again in no time and begin a new relationship.
Because he trusted everyone equally, he naturally wouldn't refuse to acknowledge her as his sister just because she was a country bumpkin.
Thinking of this, Tang Tang grew a little despondent again.
To think she owed being treated normally to those scammers.
She really didn't know whether to be worried or happy.
Tang Tang didn't know how to feel, but Su Xiajing and Tang Beichen, who knew her circumstances, felt their hearts sink.
Oh no. This child's future looked worrying.
Although Tang Lin didn't yet know about Tang Tang's ten reincarnations, her earlier words had given him a vague sense that she might be able to foresee the future.
After hearing all this, he couldn't stay calm at all.
My sweet, kind child is actually going to suffer through all that?
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