Chapter 716
Answers and Decisions
Chapter 716 Answers and Decisions
Hong Xiaoduo went out shopping twice more, and it was already midnight when she got home, even though she was already eager to go back to ancient times.
But for some reason, she still wanted to stay until the full 24 hours were up.
She had been puzzled as to why the thought of going back to ancient times made her happy and excited, but she didn't dwell on the answer.
I pulled up a chair, opened a bottle of champagne, and sat on the balcony, watching the flashing neon lights in the distance and the elderly folks dancing in the open space below.
Lights gradually came on from the windows of the surrounding residential buildings.
Hong Xiaoduo recognized the sounds of arguing coming from upstairs; it was the same residents from before.
Before her parents divorced and before she went to university, she often heard them arguing when she came home on weekends and during winter and summer vacations.
The content is nothing more than conflicts between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, and the husband not standing by his wife's side.
The husband complained that his wife shopped too much online and didn't know how to save money. The wife yelled back, saying that the things she bought weren't even hers, and accused her husband of being incompetent and earning too little, forcing her to buy cheap things online.
Later, they argued over tutoring their child's homework and the child's grades, and each accused the other of neglecting the child.
The argument today seems to stem from my mother-in-law's dementia; she's been causing a ruckus at home and keeps getting lost. My husband also accused me of being impatient with her, complaining about how dirty she is.
Hong Xiaoduo used to get annoyed when she heard them arguing, but not anymore; she listened attentively.
I was thinking, this couple argues so often, and they always argue so fiercely, how come they haven't gotten divorced? Aren't they tired of this kind of life? Haven't they thought about getting a divorce and living a completely different life?
Is it because they lack the courage? Or is it because they want to give their child a complete family? Or perhaps it's because their child hasn't gone to university yet and isn't an adult?
If I get married, will we still argue later on?
Marriage? The moment the word popped into her head, she took out a jade pendant from her bag. Its owner said he knew she had no plans to get married right now, and asked if she could consider him first if she ever wanted to get married in the future!
He also said that he knew her requirements for her husband, which was to be with her for life, to have only her for the rest of his life. He said he swore to God that he could keep his promise.
It means she has accepted him only when she takes it out and wears it.
If she were to agree to marry him, the two of them would have no shortage of money, so they would never quarrel because of financial difficulties.
His princess mother seems like she would also be a fun and kind mother-in-law.
In ancient times, if a man his age had not married, taken a concubine, or had a maidservant, he would truly be considered a rare and good man.
There has never been any criticism or interference regarding what she has done all along.
Thinking about it this way, Hong Xiaoduo suddenly felt that marrying Murong Jing wasn't so bad.
If the feelings between the two fade after marriage, or if he falls in love with someone else and they no longer love each other, then divorce is the only option.
Oh dear, what's the alcohol content of this champagne? Have I drunk too much? Why am I thinking about this?
Hong Xiaoduo felt her face burning. She hurriedly stuffed the jade pendant back into her bag, picked up the empty champagne bottle, and saw that it had an alcohol content of thirteen percent.
But tonight she really wanted to drink, so she got up and went to the liquor cabinet. The liquor on it was still her father's liquor. Hong Xiaoduo picked and chose a bottle of Wuliangye, and then found two snacks to go with it from the snacks she had bought. She continued to drink.
Time passed slowly, and the surroundings gradually quieted down.
She knew she was drunk because everything was blurry. She checked the time; there were still more than two hours left.
To be on the safe side, Hong Xiaoduo planned to enter the space's pod ahead of time. She returned indoors, closed the balcony door, turned off the tap, looked around the house, pulled the switch, and entered the space.
She lay down in the capsule inside the space and glanced at the small bag beside her again, still feeling uneasy. Back in ancient times, after leaving the space, this bag was actually a brocade pouch at her waist, containing the jade pendant given to her by Murong Jing.
She didn't know why she brought this brocade bag back with her.
The other bag, the large bag containing her phone, ID, and wallet, was also brought into the space, but not into the cabin.
Now that I'm in a daze, I'm not going to think about it anymore. I'm trying to open my eyes wide, clicking the "close" button on the control panel, then closing my eyes and waiting. It will automatically start when the time is up.
Tian Shu and the others will definitely be waiting for her to have lunch together.
Xiao Yaoguang actually thought she was in seclusion cultivating and was worried that she would suffer a qi deviation. Thinking of this, Hong Xiaoduo laughed out loud. So sleepy...
She didn't know how much time had passed when she heard the sound of the hatch opening. Hong Xiaoduo slowly opened her eyes and looked at everything in the space. Had she returned to the ancient Fengliang Kingdom?
His mind left the space and he saw the inn room, and he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.
I got off the bed, my body swayed, and I felt a little dizzy.
Oh dear, it's probably an adverse reaction caused by the transmission.
Not knowing if Tian Shu and the others were getting impatient, Hong Xiaoduo walked to the door and was about to remove the latch when she heard Xiao Yaoguang's voice outside: "Shh, don't make a sound, I think I heard footsteps."
“We didn’t say a word, so who made a fuss?” Tianquan said in a low voice.
"What are you two doing? Come back here. Don't interfere with your mother's important business. If you don't listen, I'll hit you with the sole of my shoe." This was Tian Shu's deliberately lowered voice.
Hong Xiaoduo's lips curled up. "Oh ho, your big son's started talking tough now?"
"Don't be afraid, big brother. If he dares to hit us, we'll tell Mother when she comes out and see who she sides with." Yao Guang had become quite bold.
However, she was still relying on Hong Xiaoduo's reputation, not her status as a princess. Without hesitation, Hong Xiaoduo removed the latch and opened the door, whereupon a little maid stumbled in.
"Hey, it's Mother. I told you, I heard footsteps. I don't know how you guys practiced your kung fu, you don't even have this much hearing." Yao Guang was helped up by Hong Xiaoduo and said proudly to the crowd that surged over.
At this point, no one argued with Yao Guang anymore; they all looked at Hong Xiaoduo, and they were all a little nervous.
"Have you had lunch yet? If not, let's eat together?" Hong Xiaoduo asked with a smile, knowing what they were nervous about.
"Everyone's waiting for you to eat together," Fei Yan said.
"Alright, close the door. Tian Shu, find a restaurant with private rooms." Hong Xiaoduo picked up Yao Guang and made the arrangements.
Tian Shu immediately agreed, and soon, everyone, young and old, headed out of the inn.
"How much did you drink? Did you go to a drinking party? Or did you shut yourself in and drink alone?" Quan Jinghuai, walking beside Hong Xiaoduo, couldn't help but ask.
Upon hearing this, Hong Xiaoduo lowered her head and sniffed. It seemed to smell of alcohol. After thinking for a moment, she realized that this time was good. She hadn't expected to temporarily lose some memories after being teleported here for the first time.
She remembered that before she came back, she had been drinking at home and was so drunk that she was seeing double.
Emma, it turns out that the dizziness I felt when I woke up wasn't caused by the teleportation pod, but because I drank too much.
"Well, I only drank a little myself, it wasn't that smelly." Hong Xiaoduo said, then breathed on Yao Guang, making Yao Guang immediately turn her head away from the stench.
"Oh dear, little girl, you actually dislike me." Hong Xiaoduo gently patted Yao Guang a few times, and the little girl giggled.
Laughing and joking, they soon arrived at a restaurant and asked for a private room with a suite. When ordering, Hong Xiaoduo whispered to Tianxuan to order fewer dishes and to bring back a few dishes for herself.
Tianxuan agreed, thinking to herself, "Bringing her back means that Mother did indeed go out, but as for where she went, I don't know."
The dishes were served quickly. Hong Xiaoduo then signaled Tian Shu to close the door and called Tian Xuan to the suite behind the curtain. She went in, took the dishes out of her space, and handed them to Tian Xuan outside the curtain. Tian Xuan then placed them on the table.
Everyone sitting at the table, big and small, was now able to watch this amazing scene with incredible composure.
Hong Xiaoduo returned to the table with the sixth dish she had just taken out of the microwave oven in her space, and introduced them one by one: "This is the homemade beef tenderloin, crispy lamb rolls, Cantonese fish tofu, corn steak, savory tiger prawns, and salmon."
Okay, eat up. See which flavor you like best, and we can try it again next time.
After saying that, he looked at the table and realized something was missing. He remembered that he had forgotten to ask Tianxuan to get the drinks.
Too lazy to get up and go to the suite, she simply pulled out some drinks from her sleeve in front of everyone: "Freshly squeezed coconut juice, coconut water, green grape juice, orange juice, Feiyan, try this cocktail."
"Wuliangye, for the prosperous Year of the Dragon, please have a drink, oh, and there's a cup too."
Quan Jinghuai looked at her with some helplessness, thinking to himself, "She's getting more and more casual now, she's too lazy to even hide it."
"You must be starving while I'm waiting, hurry up and start eating," Hong Xiaoduo and the other children urged after they had finished serving their drinks.
Everyone, young and old, started eating, all heading towards her six dishes.
"Eat slowly, or people will think you've missed several meals." Hong Xiaoduo said, looking at Yao Guang and Tian Quan eating very quickly.
"Just two meals," Yao Guang blurted out, then realized she'd let something slip when she saw her older siblings glaring at her.
Hong Xiaoduo looked at Quan Jinghuai and Fei Yan, wondering what was going on.
"I told everyone I wasn't hungry, so I didn't eat anything," Quan Jinghuai said truthfully.
Just when everyone thought Hong Xiaoduo would criticize them, they saw that she didn't care at all and said, "So you all knew I would prepare good food, so you all emptied your stomachs in advance and waited. You guessed pretty accurately."
Seeing that she didn't blame herself or say anything about what everyone else meant, everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but also felt somewhat surprised.
"Stop looking at me, hurry up and eat. Once we're done eating, we'll set off for Tian Shu's house. I wonder how good their chef is. If he's not good, it's okay, we still have Tian Xuan." Hong Xiaoduo said with a smile.
Hearing her say that, everyone looked at Tian Shu and Tian Xuan, and the two brothers were all smiling.
"This wine is very fragrant, Xiaoduo, would you like some?" Quan Jinghuai asked deliberately.
Hong Xiaoduo knew that her older brother was teasing her on purpose, so she quickly waved her hand and said, "No, it would be troublesome if I got addicted to it."
Everyone laughed when they heard this. Hong Xiaoduo noticed that she was happy to be back here and to see them. She was inexplicably happy and felt very at ease.
It was as if she originally belonged here and was meant to be with them.
Hong Xiaoduo actually noticed that although everyone was happily eating, drinking, and chatting, they were all cautiously observing her from time to time.
She knew why; they cared about her!
It feels so good to be cared for, relied upon, and trusted like this all the time.
They didn't want to leave her, and she, too, couldn't bear to be separated from them.
Suddenly, Hong Xiaoduo seemed to know the answer all at once: why she didn't have that long-lost sense of belonging after returning to the modern world, and why she was unhappy.
Why do I feel excited and eager to return to this place, to be back by their side?
In that instant, Hong Xiaoduo made a fateful decision...
(End of this chapter)