She called softly,
“Director… I’m back.”
Director Ming poked his head out, wearing reading glasses. When he saw her standing timidly at the door, he immediately fired back:
“Oh? You still remember this place?”
Ming Ming: “……”
She gave a flattering smile.
“Of course I remember.”
Director Ming’s real name was Ming Zhenhua. Over sixty years old now, years of caring for children had worn him down. He looked older than his peers — gray hair and a shiny bald spot.
When she was little, she could only look up at him.
Now, he was actually a little shorter than her.
“Director, you shrank,” she said.
“Watch your mouth. Don’t make me beat you the second I see you,” he snapped, marching over.
“You disappear for years, and the first thing you do is make me angry?”
Just then, Gu Qing came over carrying gift boxes from the trunk.
Ming Ming quickly hid behind him.
Seeing a guest, Director Ming’s expression changed.
“This gentleman is…?”
Gu Qing set the gifts down in the yard and shook his hand.
“Hello, Director Ming. Sorry to visit without much notice. I didn’t have time to prepare properly, so I bought some supplements for you and the teachers, and stationery and toys for the children. Please accept them.”
“Oh, that’s too polite,” Director Ming said quickly.
“You didn’t have to bring anything.”
He glanced between the two.
“Sir, are you here doing charity work at Ming Ming’s request?”
“Of course not,” Ming Ming popped her head out.
“He’s my ugly son-in-law here to meet his father-in-law.”
Director Ming immediately raised a hand, ready to smack her.
Before it landed, she ducked back behind Gu Qing.
“You’ve got a boyfriend now and didn’t even tell me,” he muttered.
Once he learned their relationship, his smile grew more restrained as he studied Gu Qing more carefully.
“Your surname, sir? You look impressive. How did you end up with our Ming Ming?”
Gu Qing ignored the suspicion and answered politely:
“My surname is Gu — Gu Qing. I spent most of my time overseas. I only returned to China in the last two years. I’m not especially capable — I just run a small family company.”
“I met Ming Ming by coincidence,” he said gently while looking at her.
“We got along well, and over time… we ended up together.”
Ming Ming nodded seriously.
“Don’t listen to him being modest. He’s the chairman of Jiangyun Technology Group. Not a small company. He’s on financial interviews all the time. A real entrepreneur.”
Director Ming felt the name was familiar.
He studied Gu Qing carefully and muttered his name.
“You’re… the one from back then…”
Gu Qing nodded with a smile.
“Director Ming has a good memory. I was stuck overseas for many years and couldn’t come back. I wanted to visit two years ago, but my childhood memories were incomplete. I searched for a long time and couldn’t find this place.”
“If not by chance, I wouldn’t have met Ming Ming — and I wouldn’t have returned here.”
Director Ming looked at him meaningfully.
“You’re a loyal and emotional person.”
Then he looked back at Ming Ming, still unconvinced.
“And your family situation…”
“Don’t worry,” Gu Qing said seriously.
“Since returning from overseas, I cleaned things up. The family is stable now. I’m the one in charge. No one will ever hurt Ming Ming.”
Director Ming nodded slowly.
“I hope so.”
Ming Ming, who’d been listening in confusion, finally cut in:
“Wait — what are you two talking about?”
Director Ming brushed her off.
“This isn’t your business. Go play.”
Ming Ming: “……”
She flared up.
“Old man, do you think I’m three?”
She turned to Gu Qing, suspicious.
“You’re talking like you knew him before. You’ve been here?”
Gu Qing just looked at her with a meaningful smile.
She pushed him.
“I’m asking you.”
Director Ming sighed and answered for him.
“When you were five, Gu Qing stayed here for half a year. You played together.”
Ming Ming froze.
“…Wait, what??”
“At the time he was eight or nine.”
Gu Qing nodded.
“I was nine.”
Director Ming sighed.
“Between the two of you, you were both at that age where even dogs hate kids that annoying. You were unbelievable. Thank god he only stayed half a year, or the two of you would’ve flipped this place upside down.”
“You’re exaggerating,” Ming Ming pouted.
“I wasn’t that naughty.”
She still couldn’t remember.
Director Ming ushered them inside as he talked.
“Please. You alone didn’t have that much destructive power. But once he showed up, that kid was quietly evil. Whatever nonsense you wanted to do, he backed you up. Anything you couldn’t pull off, he made possible. I wanted to beat you every time I saw you.”
“…You still do,” Ming Ming muttered.
“Talking back again.”
She lowered her head, trying hard to remember.
Her eyes wandered and landed on Gu Qing’s hopeful expression.
Do I really have to remember?
The pressure was real.
Think… think…
So many bad childhood memories.
Climbing walls. Teasing cats. Breaking roofs. She never listened to the director anyway.
But there was someone…
Someone special.
Who was it?
“Ah!” Ming Ming suddenly slapped her palm.
“I remember.”
Gu Qing’s eyes lit up.
Her expression shifted from realization to hesitation.
She looked at him uncertainly.
“…So you’re that kid who ate fish without eating the ‘soul’?”
Gu Qing: “……”
“As if you ate it,” he said through gritted teeth.
After everything said, he couldn’t help raising his voice.
“You remembered that?!”
Ming Ming thought:
I didn’t want to remember it either.
This is insane.
How are you a real person?!
sarcastisaurus On CFRFGC Chapter 102