The next morning, Wan Yunting woke up early and went for a run in the small park behind the villa community. When he returned, his second sister-in-law, Wang Chulin, was already up and preparing breakfast in the kitchen. “Third brother is back from his run.”
“Yes, good morning, second sister-in-law.”
Wan Yunting greeted her and said with a smile, “Second sister-in-law, why don’t we hire a helper? It’s quite tiring for you to wake up so early every day to make breakfast.”
“No need, I’m used to waking up early. I consider it my morning exercise,” Wang Chulin replied with a gentle smile.
Wan Yunting smiled and said nothing more. He went upstairs to shower and change before waking Wan'er, as he planned to take her to the prison in the morning to see their eldest sister.
“Come, Wan’er, open your mouth. You have to brush your teeth like this…”
With Wan’er in the bathroom, he taught her how to brush her teeth, then carefully wiped her face with a towel. After finishing, he returned to the room and opened the walk-in closet, asking her what she wanted to wear to see her mother. Wan’er pointed to a beautiful princess dress. “This is a birthday gift Mom bought for me. I want to wear this…”
“Alright, we’ll wear this one.”
Wan Yunting took down the dress and helped her put it on. After styling her hair, he took her downstairs.
“Good morning, brother Yun Ting.”
Wang Mengyao was also awake and dressed for work. Seeing Wan Yunting come down, she greeted him with a warm smile.
“Yes, good morning…”
Wan Yunting felt a bit unaccustomed to Wang Mengyao’s sudden change in demeanor.
“Third brother, I’ve already arranged things at the company. Chu Lin and I will go and see eldest sister together.” Wan Dongming, dressed casually, planned to accompany Wang Chulin to visit their eldest sister at the prison.
“Okay.”
Wan Yunting nodded, then fed Wan’er breakfast. After everyone finished eating, they left together and headed directly to Huadu Prison.
“Third Uncle, where is this?”
Upon arriving at the entrance of Huadu Prison, Wan’er gazed curiously at her surroundings with her big, dark eyes. Since she couldn’t read, she didn’t recognize the prison or understand that it was a place for detaining bad people.
“This is where your mother works,” Wan Yunting lied.
They were currently deceiving Wan’er by telling her her mother was away at work and couldn’t come home often.
Although lying to a child was not ideal, Wan Yunting had no other choice and resorted to such a lie.
At that moment, Ma Zhendong called him, asking Wan Yunting to enter through the north gate.
So, they turned the car around with Wan’er and drove towards the north gate of the prison. There, Ma Zhendong, dressed in plain clothes, had the gate guards temporarily step aside, as he would personally receive Wan Yunting and the others.
“Come, Wan’er, you can get down now.”
Wan Yunting got out of the car, holding Wan’er. Wan Dongming and Wang Chulin also got out and went to shake hands with Ma Zhendong. Wan Yunting pointed to him and smiled at Wan’er, “This is the boss where your mother works.”
This remark made Ma Zhendong laugh, but it wasn't entirely incorrect, as he was the warden.
“Follow me.”
Ma Zhendong led them through the north gate and directly into a building. A room had been prepared in advance, where Wan Manyu was already seated. She wasn’t wearing a prison uniform but the dress she was wearing when she was brought in. Perhaps after much thought during her days in prison, Wan Manyu looked somewhat haggard. Therefore, a female prison guard had even carefully applied makeup to make her look better.
Simultaneously, two female prison guards, dressed in civilian clothes, were accompanying Wan Manyu in the room. Suddenly, the door opened, and Wan Manyu’s body trembled violently. She immediately looked up at Wan Yunting, who entered with Ma Zhendong. He was holding Wan’er…
“Wan’er…”
Upon seeing her daughter, Wan Manyu’s emotions instantly became uncontrollable. Tears streamed down her face involuntarily. Her body trembled slightly, and she tightly pursed her lips, trying her best to suppress the surge of emotion. Wiping away tears, she went forward, “Wan’er…”
“Mom…”
Seeing her mother, Wan’er immediately let go of Wan Yunting’s hand and rushed towards Wan Manyu, crying, “Wuwu, I miss Mommy…”
“Mhm, mhm, Mommy misses you too…”
Wan Manyu knelt on the ground, tightly hugging her daughter. Her red eyes welled up with tears again…
This scene brought tears to Wang Chulin’s eyes, and she turned her head away to secretly wipe them…
Wan Yunting and Wan Dongming stood with Ma Zhendong, not speaking, silently watching the mother and daughter embrace and weep…
“Alright, Wan’er, don’t cry. Mommy is right here,”
After a moment, Wan Manyu finally released her daughter and wiped the tears from her cheeks, smiling. “When I wasn’t home, were you good? Did you eat properly?”
“Mhm, mhm, Wan’er was very good. I ate so much every time,” Wan’er said, gesturing with her hands.
“Mhm, mhm, Wan’er needs to eat a lot so you can grow up quickly, understand…”
Wan Manyu felt immense sadness but suppressed her emotions, forcing herself to maintain a natural, gentle smile, and constantly stroked her daughter’s cheeks and hair…
“Mommy, when are you coming home?” Wan’er asked.
Wan Manyu shook her head slightly and smiled. “Mommy needs to work here and earn money, so I can’t come home for now. You’re living with your second and third uncles now. You need to be good and listen to your second aunt, okay?”
“Mhm, mhm, don’t worry, Mommy, I will be very, very good,” Wan’er said, nodding her little head.
“Good, you’re so good.”
Seeing her daughter’s sensible behavior filled Wan Manyu with guilt, feeling that she had failed her daughter…
“Alright, Wan’er, when your mommy earns enough money, she’ll naturally come home,”
Wan Yunting saw that his eldest sister was about to break down, so he went over, took Wan’er’s hand, and smiled, allowing Wan Manyu to turn around and wipe away a tear. It was a heart-wrenching scene…
“Yunting, you all talk first.”
Ma Zhendong said, then called out the two female prison guards, letting them have fifteen minutes for a family reunion.
After all, this was a special exception Ma Zhendong had made for Wan Yunting under pressure from higher-ups!
“Sister, we bought these for you…”
Meanwhile, Wan Dongming and Wang Chulin had also bought many things for Wan Manyu, which touched her deeply. “Thank you, second brother, Chulin, for taking the trouble to look after Wan’er.”
“Sister, please don’t say that. We all love Wan’er,” Wang Chulin said, going forward and taking Wan Manyu’s hand, smiling gently.
Wan Manyu nodded, but she felt guilty in her heart, feeling she had let down her family…
Before they knew it, fifteen minutes had passed. Wan Manyu continued to instruct Wan’er to be obedient, but her heart was filled with reluctance. Wan’er was equally unwilling to leave her mother and started to cry.
Wan Yunting quickly comforted her, saying, “Don’t cry, Wan’er. Third Uncle will bring you to see Mommy often from now on.”
Wan Manyu suppressed her tears, her emotions overwhelming her, rendering her unable to speak. She could only wave for Wan Yunting and the others to quickly take Wan’er out…
“Let’s go.”
So, Wan Dongming, Wang Chulin, and Wan Yunting led the crying Wan’er out. As soon as the door closed, Wan Manyu, who could no longer hold back, burst into tears…
“Wuwu, Third Uncle, I want Mommy…”
Outside, Wan’er was also crying, leaving Wan Yunting with no solution. Wang Chulin held her and kept comforting her near the car. Wan Yunting and Wan Dongming went to greet Ma Zhendong. He said, “It’s fine. You can bring the child to visit every month. I’ll arrange it.”
Wan Yunting nodded, knowing that Ma Zhendong was taking pressure upon himself to grant him this special treatment. “Thank you, Old Ma. I’ll treat you to drinks sometime.”
“Sure, let’s gather at the old man’s place another day.”
Ma Zhendong waved his hand, telling him not to be so polite, given their close relationship and understanding of Wan Yunting’s family’s difficulties.
After a brief chat with Ma Zhendong, Wan Yunting, Wan Dongming, and Wang Chulin took Wan’er back to the city. Seeing that Wan’er was still crying, Wan Yunting had to keep comforting her, saying, “We’ll go to the amusement park later, and your sister Ke’er will be there too…”