Isabel almost had her heart jump out of her chest. Looking at the man’s expression in front of her, it was as if he was about to grab Monkey Junior and throw him out the window at any moment.

Monkey Junior raised his little head, displaying a heroic stance: A soldier can be killed but not humiliated!

In this state, he somewhat resembled the image of that woman from the past. The man’s eyes suddenly deepened, and with a sudden lift of his mouth, he said, "How do you know me? It seems neither your dad nor your mom has forgotten me. They’ve been keeping me in mind, which is why you know of me. Do you think they can shake me off?"

Monkey Junior hadn’t anticipated the man would suddenly turn defensive into offensive, hitting his weak spot instantly. His little face clouded over in anger as his small stubborn mouth squeezed out, "No way—"

The man laughed, finished the water in his cup, wiped his mouth with a napkin, and said to the two little ones, "Hurry and eat, if you don’t finish in three minutes, you won’t get to eat. Anyway, I have a cat here; it’s hungry too and won’t mind whatever you leave behind."

The two kids listened to this and looked over, indeed spotting a lazy cat lying in the corner. Its half-closed eyes looked fiercely at the pitifully small amount of bread on their plates.

Fearing this lazy cat might pounce on their food before the man ordered it, the two little friends quickly stretched out their small paws, grabbing all the bread and stuffing it into their mouths with effort. Not only that, but Monkey Junior picked up the plate and licked it clean of its little bit of butter.

The man silently watched his actions.

After the children finished dinner, the man came over, took away the bowls, plates, and cups, and placed them in the kitchen sink.

Mingli and Isabel finally had time to look around the room they were now living in. It turned out to be less than twenty square meters. Apart from the open kitchen and narrow bathroom, there was only a small living room less than ten square meters, with no actual rooms. An old sofa took up most of the living room space. After washing the dishes, the man came back, moved the table from the middle of the living room, and pointed to the floor, saying to them, "You’ll sleep here tonight?"

"What about you?" Monkey Junior asked.

"I’ll sleep on the sofa." The man seemed not to even think about it as he claimed the only piece of furniture that could be used as a bed.

"This is child abuse!" Monkey Junior protested again. But the man maintained a very clear sense of reason, saying, "How do I know if you’ll be honest sleeping in a bed? What if you fall off the sofa?"

"Get us a bed—"

Before Monkey Junior could finish, the man showed extreme impatience, tossing a blanket directly onto Monkey Junior’s little face, "Just like your dad, long-winded, skilled at charming women, but useless otherwise."

Mingli’s face then flushed red with anger. He, filled with indignation, lay on the floor squeezed into a blanket with Isabel. Truly, as his brother’s book said, relying on others is utterly helpless. But eventually, he couldn’t hold back the words and the longing for home, softly saying to the man, "Wu Zicong, for my mom’s sake, let me call her. She’ll be very worried about me."

Wa Zicong said nothing and merely, after a while, switched off the light on the wall.

The room was instantly plunged into a dreadful darkness.

Isabel’s sobbing could be heard, but after a while, she must have been consoled by Monkey Junior. The two children were indeed tired and soon, the sounds of snoring rose and fell.