Luo Shuyan was very happy.

She was a conflicted child. When she was in kindergarten, she found her peers to be childish and the classes to be boring, however, she would easily get excited over field trips organized by the kindergarten. She would decide on what clothes to wear and what snacks to bring along way before the outing!

Thus, after they were done with dinner, she immediately went home and started packing for the trip.

Luo Shuyan owned many dresses. Just as she was about to pick out her most beautiful dress, a very serious question popped up in her mind. ‘Would it be appropriate to wear dresses in Jing City based on the current weather conditions?’

She didn’t have the habit of looking at the weather forecast, and the weather forecast segment had long been broadcasted on the TV today, so she’d missed it.

Luo Tianyuan was watching the financial news report. Suddenly, he heard the footsteps of his adorable daughter. She stood in front of him and blocked his view of the TV.

He saw that his little girl had two dresses in hand. She said with a serious tone, “I have two questions.”

Luo Tianyuan smiled and nodded. “You can ask a hundred questions and Papa would answer them.”

“First off, what is the weather like in Jing City? Should I wear short-sleeved or long-sleeved clothing? And should I put on a jacket?”

Luo Tianyuan happened to have a copy of today’s newspaper published in Jing City. He flipped through it and said, “You can wear short-sleeved clothes in the afternoon. It’ll be better for you to wear long-sleeved clothing in the morning and at night. You don’t have to bring too much with you, Papa will take you shopping when we’re there”

At first, Luo Shuyan hadn’t been anxious about the expenses they’d incur on this trip. However, as soon as she heard her father’s suggestion to bring her shopping, she was immediately alerted of their current situation. “Papa, now I have a third question. But first, about the second question, who will be paying for our expenses for this trip? I’m referring to mine and Shen Yan’s.”

She knew that since her father was representing his company, so the company would cover his train ticket and food expenditures. But what about her and Shen Yan?

Her family was in huge debt at the moment. She would be completely fine if her expenses were covered by the company, but if they had to pay for themselves… Perhaps she should just forget about the trip there and then.

Luo Tianyuan laughed.  “Why is a young child like you worried about such things, huh? Don’t worry, train tickets for children are at half-price. After talking to the company, they agreed that the cost for the train tickets can be reimbursed. Plus, I’ll also get a traveling allowance and an overtime pay for working during the holidays. That’ll be enough to buy many dresses for you.”

Luo Shuyan let out a sigh of relief when she heard that.

He had a point. The company knew about her father’s situation. His parents had passed and he was raising the child by himself. They knew that he couldn’t just leave the child at home alone, so it made perfect sense for them to cover the child’s expenditures as well.

However, when she thought about it, she didn’t understand what the company was thinking! Since the company knew that there were no other adults in the family to take care of her, why did they constantly send her father on company trips all over the country?

Luo Tianyuan was about to laugh when he saw his young daughter’s relieved expression. Though, he was worried that she’d be upset if he did, so he held back from laughing and cleared his throat. “And, what about the third question?”

Luo Shuyan felt better after her doubts were cleared. She recalled what she was here for. She placed the two dresses in front of her and even gave a little twirl. “Papa, should I wear this ruffle dress, or should I go for this two-piece dress instead?”

Before she heard an answer from her father, she continued. “The ruffle dress is nice but the material causes it to feel a little stuffy. It’ll be a little hot, but it looks nice on me.”

“The two-piece dress is comfortable, but isn’t as western-looking.”

“Ah, it’s alright. I’ll bring both along. Who knows, maybe the weather in Jing City won’t be as hot as predicted, and I can wear the two-piece dress on the train.”

She didn’t give Luo Tianyuan a chance to give her an answer. After she answered her own question, she turned around and happily went back to her room to continue to pick out clothes to wear in Jing City.

“…?” Luo Tianyuan expressed.

–

The atmosphere next door wasn’t as peaceful.

Shen Qingruo was deeply conflicted. She knew that her son wanted to go on the trip, and he’d always been a sensible young boy. She knew that he would always put their family’s well-being before whatever his heart desired; he’d barely asked for anything from her.

Even though he was now immersed in his studies, as his mother, she knew how much her son wanted to go on the trip.

But what could she do? It was Jing City… Jing City!

When she left the city years ago, she’d never planned on going back. Even now when she heard of people visiting from Jing City, she couldn’t help but feel anxious. After seven years, she’d finally settled down, and was able to put whatever that had happened in the past. Yet, Luo Tianyuan’s offer brought her back to reality.

Everyone dreamed of living in a big city. She too moved from the rural area to Ning City for her son’s future development.

Her son was smart and she knew that he would spread his wings soon; this city couldn’t hold him back.

While Shen Qingruo was patching up some clothing, she pretended to nonchalantly ask, “Son, do you want to go to Jing City?”

Shen Yan didn’t raise his head, the tip of his pen stopped on the paper he was writing on. “It’s alright, I’m fine with not going too.”

Her heart broke when she heard her son’s answer. She gritted her teeth and had her mind made up.

After so many years, the people who knew her in Jing City must all think that she was dead by now. Jing City is huge, and it was unlikely that they would happen to meet each other. Even if Luo Tianyuan was wealthy, there was still an income gap between him and ‘that man’…

There was no way they would bump into each other. Even if they did, who would suspect that a random child was the son of a ‘dead woman’ like her?