The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 267: Chapter 267: Feel Bad for Three Seconds, One More Is a Waste

Old Madam Xu and Mr. Xu were beaming. ”The diamond hair clips I prepared for Pingping and An’an are so sparkly—real bling! I’ll give them to you in a bit. I’m going to pick out some more.”

Mr. Xu smiled. ”Why the sudden change of address?”

Ye Feng smiled. ”It happened when I went to pick them up from kindergarten. One thing just led to another, and they made the switch. The girls don’t mind me at all; in fact, they like me a lot.”

Old Madam Xu was relieved. ”That’s good. To be honest, when a woman has children, the man has to come in second. Even if Xiao Rui wanted to marry you, the wedding would have hit a snag if the children rejected you.”

Mr. Xu advised, ”Now that these two children are calling you Dad, you have to take on that responsibility. They’re your children now. Remember, any children you have in the future will be half-siblings to Pingping and An’an. That blood tie will connect them all.”

Ye Feng smiled and nodded. ”Mm, I know.”

Just then, Old Madam Xu received a call from Granny Cai. An auspicious date for the engagement had been chosen: the fourth day of the tenth lunar month. It was a day suitable for weddings, moving house, matchmaking, engagements, buying new clothes, and formalizing alliances.

After hanging up, Old Madam Xu was grinning from ear to ear. ”This is a wonderful date. It gives my sister and me just over a month, which is more than enough time to get everything arranged.”

Ye Feng thought for a moment and asked, ”For our engagement, is there anything that needs to be done on Xiao Rui’s side?”

Old Madam Xu thought for a moment. ”Usually, the parents are expected to be there, but Xiao Rui isn’t on good terms with hers. You should ask her and respect her decision. Aside from that, nothing else is necessary.”

”For the engagement, the Xu family will only be telling our friends and relatives here in the country and inviting them to attend. As for everyone overseas, we’ll invite them for the actual wedding.”

”Grandma, I’m sorry to trouble you with all this,” Ye Feng said with gratitude.

”It’s no trouble at all, I’m delighted to do it!” Old Madam Xu laughed. At her age, she had learned to take things in stride.

It was better to keep things peaceful and happy than to stir up unnecessary drama.

Mr. Xu said to his wife, ”Since Ye Feng is getting engaged, we should have Ye Zheng come.”

Old Madam Xu frowned but eventually nodded. ”Fine, let him come. But don’t let *that woman* come with him. I don’t want to see anyone taking my daughter’s place.”

It wasn’t that Old Madam Xu was resentful, not since they had cleared the air last time. She simply didn’t want to see her.

Ye Zheng’s wife was no longer her daughter. Old Madam Xu just couldn’t bring herself to remain calm when facing the woman who had replaced her child.

Out of sight, out of mind.

At her age, Old Madam Xu had no intention of forcing herself to do anything she didn’t want to. She would act as she pleased.

”Grandma, Grandpa, I’ll handle this. You don’t have to be the bad guys,” Ye Feng volunteered, taking the matter into his own hands.

Mr. Xu and Old Madam Xu exchanged a look and nodded. ”That’s true. He’s your father, after all. However you decide to phrase it, gently or harshly, is a matter between the two of you.”

At noon the next day, Ye Feng called his father, Ye Zheng, to tell him the engagement date. ”Come if you’re free. If not, it doesn’t matter.”

Ye Zheng was happy to hear the news and paid no mind to his son’s tone. ”It’s your engagement. Of course I’ll be there. I’m your father.”

”Just come by yourself. My grandparents can’t stand to see the woman who took my mother’s place. It’s not out of resentment; they simply don’t want the heartache.”

”They’re getting on in years, and I don’t want to make them upset. How you manage that is up to you, but the bottom line is, if you come, you come alone.”

Ye Zheng agreed. ”Alright, I understand.”

’Last time his mother-in-law saw him, she was so furious she fainted.’

’If it weren’t for Ye Feng, they probably wouldn’t even let him attend the wedding.’

’Ye Zheng had no intention of bringing his current wife anyway. It would be a disaster if his mother-in-law fainted again on such an auspicious day.’

’No matter what, Ye Feng was the son he had high hopes for, the son he truly loved.’

’Now that the Xu family was handling Ye Feng’s marriage, his role was simply to attend and cooperate with them as best he could.’

「Han Xiaorui was out at sea again.」

Ye Feng truly felt like Pingping and An’an’s father now.

While Han Xiaorui was away, he would come to Jinshan Bay whenever he was free.

When Ye Feng appeared at the kindergarten gate, Pingping and An’an spotted him and ran over joyfully, shouting, ”Dad!”

Wu Jiao followed alongside, carrying their little backpacks.

Ye Feng took Pingping by one hand and An’an by the other, and the three of them headed home.

Yang Zhigang had just bought some fresh groceries to drop off for Han Xiaorui and happened to see Ye Feng with Pingping and An’an.

”Grandpa! Grandpa!” Pingping and An’an ran to their grandfather. They introduced Ye Feng, saying, ”Grandpa, this is our dad.”

Yang Zhigang was on the verge of tears when he heard his granddaughters’ words.

’He would have loved to have a good son like Ye Feng, but he just wasn’t that lucky, was he?’

’But it was enough that his granddaughters were fortunate enough to have a good father.’

Yang Zhigang only allowed himself to be sad for three seconds. Anything longer was a waste of time and an abuse of his own health.

”Good girls. Are you happy to have a dad now?” Yang Zhigang was a pragmatic man. His good-for-nothing son was on the other side of the world anyway—out of sight, out of mind.

His scoundrel of a son didn’t care about him, so why should he waste any affection on that bastard Yang Jianming?

It was well within his expectations that Han Xiaorui would remarry and that Pingping and An’an would get a stepfather, a new dad.

”We are!” Pingping and An’an said with smiling nods. They pulled whistles made from bottle caps out of their pockets. ”Dad made us toys.”

Those simple words made Yang Zhigang’s eyes sting.

’What child doesn’t wish for a father?’

’Pingping and An’an were just children. Of course they longed for a dad.’

He patted Pingping and An’an on the head and smiled. ”Your dad is a good man. You must listen to him from now on, okay?”

”Okay!” Pingping and An’an nodded.

Yang Zhigang walked with Ye Feng, his expression a complicated mix of emotions, but mostly, he was happy.

”Ye Feng, thank you. Xiao Rui is an adult, so I don’t worry about her. But Pingping and An’an are still so young... I’m entrusting them to you.”

Ye Feng hadn’t been sure how to broach the subject, but since Yang Zhigang had opened the door, he smiled. ”Uncle Yang, I’m serious about Xiao Rui, whether we’re dating or getting married. I accept her, and I accept everything that comes with her.”

”Now that Pingping and An’an call me Dad, they are my children, and I will fulfill my duties as a father. You don’t have to worry; I won’t mistreat them. In the future, Pingping and An’an and any children I have with Xiao Rui will be siblings. They’ll all be blood relatives.”

Hearing this, Yang Zhigang broke into a genuine, heartfelt smile.

’Why were his nephew, Yang Jianguo, and his grandniece, Yang Minmin, so good to Pingping and An’an?’

’Wasn’t it because of their blood ties?’

’Ye Feng valued family ties. Pingping and An’an would have someone to rely on now.’

”Exactly. No need for any more thank-yous. All I’ve ever wanted in this life is for the children to grow up and live happily,” Yang Zhigang said with a laugh. He had always been an easygoing man.

’He knew what to do to get the best outcome.’

’As for that scoundrel son of his, Yang Jianming, he could stay over there and wreak havoc on the foreigners across the ocean!’

’He should never come back. Besides, the old matriarch had already paid him off back in the day!’

Ye Feng smiled. ”Xiao Rui and I will be getting engaged on the fourth day of the tenth lunar month. We’d like to invite you to attend. Of course, if you’d feel awkward and would rather not come, that’s perfectly fine. No pressure.”

Far from being offended, Yang Zhigang was magnanimous, appreciating Ye Feng’s frank and considerate approach.

”I have to be there. Xiao Rui’s parents were the kind of people who would sell their other daughter, Xiao Jing’s, college acceptance letter. Xiao Rui has already cut all ties with her family. So, I will attend the engagement and the wedding as her elder and give her away.”