Gabriel leaned against the wall and watched this scene quietly.

For some reason, every time he saw Lan Xiaoling taking care of Yuanbao and Yuanyuan, he couldn't help but have the illusion that they were a family of four.

Gabriel felt ashamed of this thought.

In his restlessness, he reached into his pocket to take out a cigarette, but he forgot that he had quit smoking since he started taking care of Xiaolan.

His hand found nothing, and this made his uneasiness even more unbearable. He simply turned around and was about to leave.

Just then, Yuanyuan called out to him, "Daddy, I want to have breakfast with you."

Gabriel stopped in his tracks again. He looked at his son's expectant eyes with a pang of guilt.

He was not a good man, and even less a good father.

In the face of his son's request, he still heartlessly refused, "Daddy has other things to deal with, so I won't have breakfast."

"Daddy..."

Yuanyuan called out again, but Gabriel still went downstairs without looking back.

Seeing this, Lan Xiaoling quickly stepped forward and hugged Yuanyuan. She stroked his head and soothed him, "Your daddy is busy with work. When he's free, he will definitely have breakfast with you."

Yuanyuan was very sad. His daddy was clearly his biological father, but he still refused to recognize him.

Now he even refused to have breakfast with him. Yuanyuan felt like he had been abandoned.

Lan Xiaoling knew that Gabriel was busy and could only try her best to comfort the child.

But when they went downstairs for breakfast, Yuanyuan was still sad, and Lan Xiaoling couldn't console him no matter how hard she tried. Just as she was about to call Gabriel in a hurry, the man walked in from outside and sat directly beside Yuanyuan.

"Daddy, you didn't leave, did you?"

The moment he saw Gabriel appear, Yuanyuan immediately threw himself into his arms and stopped crying, breaking into a smile.

Gabriel looked at the little guy expressionlessly and said indifferently, "Didn't daddy say that a man shouldn't cry casually?!"

He had originally planned to leave, but he couldn't bear to do so. So he had been standing at the door. If he hadn't heard Yuanyuan's crying, he probably wouldn't have come in.

Upon hearing this, Yuanyuan immediately wiped the tears from his face and obediently buried his head in his breakfast.

Lan Xiaoling served a bowl of millet porridge and placed it in front of Gabriel. She smiled and said, "You should still eat in the morning so that you can have the energy to work for the whole day."

Gabriel looked at the thick and rich millet porridge in front of him and was slightly dazed.

He wasn't lying. Since he started making his way in this society alone, he had never had the habit of eating breakfast. Now that someone had cooked for him and reminded him to have breakfast, he was a bit unaccustomed to it.

Seeing that he didn't move for a long time, Yuanyuan quickly praised his auntie's cooking skills, "Daddy, auntie's cooking is really delicious. Try it quickly." After saying that, he took big mouthfuls of the millet porridge to show that it was delicious.

Seeing this, Gabriel, as if possessed, picked up the spoon and started eating gracefully.

...

At the same time.

Freya entered the ward. Seeing that Xiaolan was awake and tilting her head to look at the scenery outside, she went up and sat down beside her.

"Xiaolan, do you remember me?"

Xiaolan, who was lost in thought, slowly turned her head. However, her clear eyes quickly became dull again.

She looked at Freya and smiled, "Sister, you're my sister."

Freya didn't say anything more. Instead, she grabbed Xiaolan's hand and carefully examined the scar on her wrist.

That was the mark left by Xiaolan's previous attempt to cut her wrist.

The incision was very deep. Even though it had been treated, it still hadn't fully scabbed over.

What surprised Freya was that Xiaolan was supposed to be crazy, but why was the incision so neat?

Could it be...

To prove her thoughts, Freya gently stroked the wound and pretended to say casually, "Xiaolan, let me tell you a story."

Xiaolan just smiled blankly and didn't say anything.

Freya put her hand back on the bed and then continued, "I know a little girl. When she was eight years old, her mother had a car accident. She watched her mother die right in front of her eyes. She thought she could still rely on her father, but after her mother died, her stepmother and stepsister bullied her in various ways, and her father ignored her. When she was twelve years old, she was driven to the countryside by her own biological father."

Having said this, Freya glanced at Xiaolan. Although the other person hid her emotions well, she still saw a flash of something different in Xiaolan's eyes.

She continued, "They say that it's not easy to live under someone else's roof. The girl suffered a lot of humiliation in the countryside. The people who took care of her made her sleep in a doghouse, eat pig food, and made her go up the mountain to gather firewood every day. She worked harder than an ox but ate worse than a dog. Just like that, during a thunderstorm, the girl caught a cold after being caught in the rain all night and fell seriously ill."

Freya looked at Xiaolan again and could clearly see a glimmer of expectation in her eyes. She wanted to hear the rest of the story.

Do you want to know what happened to the girl in the end?" Freya asked Xiaolan.

Xiaolan pursed her lips and then nodded.

Freya smiled and continued the unfinished story, "The people who took care of her found a village doctor to treat the girl. But the girl had a high fever of 41 degrees at that time. The village doctor told them to send the girl to the town hospital immediately. But they said they would just give her some medicine and see. As long as she didn't die, it was okay. Just like that, the girl was left to burn until she became a fool."

Having said this, Freya didn't continue. Instead, she looked at Xiaolan very seriously, "I know you're not a fool because I've also pretended to be a fool before, so I can deeply understand your situation."

When these words were spoken, Xiaolan's body stiffened involuntarily.

But she didn't admit it. She grabbed the pillow beside her and started pulling at it, still looking silly.

Freya knew that if someone pretended to be a fool for a long time, sometimes they would even doubt whether they were normal or not.

It was difficult to make Xiaolan admit that she wasn't a fool all at once, but people had to face reality if they wanted to live.

"My story isn't over yet. Do you still want to hear the rest?"

Freya stood up, went to pour a glass of water on her own, and then sat down and took a sip.

Xiaolan didn't say anything, but Freya understood that she really wanted to know how the girl made a comeback.

Freya didn't make her wait too long. After clearing her throat, she spoke again, "The girl was indeed a fool, and she remained so for a whole year. Later, she somehow recovered, but in order to survive, she kept pretending to be a fool. The girl knew that being weak all the time would only lead to being bullied, so she wanted to become stronger and make those who had bullied and hurt her pay the price. With this belief, she kept improving and strengthening herself."

As she spoke, she put down the water glass and gently held Xiaolan's hand, "I can understand how hard you've worked in the past five years, and I can also feel the pain and humiliation you've endured. But Xiaolan, you're not alone now. The man you were looking for has come back, and your two children also need you."