Chapter 62: Unexpected Excitement

  Unexpectedly, Chu Yan's first impression.

  The house is not very big, with a usable area of around 80 square meters. It has a standard two-bedroom and one-living room layout, with interior decoration featuring a light European style, mainly in white tones. The house is small but cozy.

  Chu Yan was surprised by the cleanliness and tidiness of the room, he knew that girls liked cleanliness, but he didn't expect Jiang Xiao Ran to be so fond of cleanliness.

  Since the first day he met Jiang Xiaoran, he had a clear understanding of this dazed and confused little girl's personality. She was dazed but not careless, with sleepy eyes that seemed to be forever half-asleep. Loving sleep was a given, but people who loved sleeping in were rarely diligent, whereas Jiang Xiaoran was clearly a huge exception.

  This little girl, although she loves to sleep in and eat, but her home is spotless. The living room is simply decorated with a large beige sofa set, in front of which is a glass coffee table. Under the coffee table, there is a neat pile of snacks.

  There is no lack of TVs, refrigerators, and air conditioners, which are reasonably arranged and clean to the extent that Chu Yan feels a little ashamed. In front of the sofa is a 40-inch LCD TV.

  Looking at Jiang Xiaoran who was sleeping soundly on the sofa, Chu Yan couldn't help but take a step forward to carefully appreciate the kitchen, bathroom and bedroom.

  "I really didn't expect that you would spend these years alone like this." Chu Yan said, his gaze falling on the background wall behind the living room LCD TV. On one side of the glass partition on the background wall, a photo frame was placed, and inside the frame was a picture of Jiang Xiaoran with her father and mother. The background seemed to be the Ferris wheel at Nan Shan City's Disneyland.

  Chu Yan knew that Jiang Xiao Ran's father had passed away, her mother remarried into a wealthy family, but he was not clear why Jiang Xiao Ran's mother wanted to remarry, and whether she still cared for Jiang Xiao Ran after the remarriage. However, it seems that this answer has already been revealed. In this house, there is only one photo of Jiang Xiao Ran with her mother, while all the other photos are of her and her father together, which intuitively explains some problems.

  Jiang Xiao Ran will sleep for a while, yesterday's events were a huge blow to her. This kind and naive little girl may have never encountered such things before. Fortunately, the situation has not developed into an irreversible step.

  Holding the key that Jiang Xiao Ran had thrown on the coffee table, Chu Yan opened the door and went downstairs. He wanted to take a walk around this neighborhood to get familiar with the environment as much as possible, because he would definitely be coming here often in the future.

  Most of the residents living in Luofeng Garden Community are elderly people, and there are few young people coming to live here. Because when it was first built, it was positioned as a warm pension residence for the elderly, so the greening and entertainment facilities in the community are very complete, and the necessary life supporting facilities are also very rich.

  Arriving at the supermarket entrance of the residential area, Chu Yan walked into the supermarket with a thought and went straight to the vegetable and meat sales area. He wanted to have lunch here with Jiang Xiao Ran, eating a lunch he had made himself.

  As soon as this idea emerged, it became extremely strong. So after Chuyan bought a piece of beef, a Wuchang fish and some vegetables in the supermarket, he returned to Jiang Xiaoran's home.

  It was almost noon, and Chu Yan looked at Jiang Xiao Ran, who still showed no signs of waking up. He smiled and walked into the kitchen. The vegetables he had bought were already washed, and the Wuchang fish was already marinated. All that was left to do was to start cooking.

  Cover the rice, then Chu Yan opened the gas stove. He hadn't cooked personally for a long time and had a warm smile on his face. The oil in the pot gradually heated up, Chu Yan tied an apron and picked up a spatula beside him.

  As the sizzling sound of vegetables hitting the oil pan, the aroma of scallions and garlic burst forth in an instant. Jiang Xiaoran, who was lying on the sofa in the living room, also slightly moved her small and lovely nose at this moment.

  "Huh? Braised Wuchang fish? Cumin beef? Celery? Mushrooms?" As the aroma from the kitchen grew thicker, Jiang Xiaoran, who was originally sleeping soundly, suddenly opened her eyes. Her nose twitched nonstop as she greedily sniffed the wafting cooking smells in the living room, her saliva almost dripping out. The muttering sounds from her mouth also grew louder and louder.

  "Alright, done! It's been a long time since I've cooked, and I don't know if my skills have deteriorated or not." Chu Yan put the last dish of mushroom stir-fry into the plate, patted his hands to remove the apron, and looked at the four dishes and one soup in front of him, nodding his head in satisfaction.

  "Gulp..." Just as Chu Yan was admiring his own work, a strange sound suddenly came from behind him. He turned around to see that it was Jiang Xiao Ran staring at him with gleaming eyes and drooling, the sound coming from her stomach.

  "Are you awake? Come quickly to help out, big brother will have lunch with you." Chu Yan smiled and carried the dishes to the dining table in the restaurant. Jiang Xiao Ran was still sucking on a strand of beef while carrying the dish, but after putting it in his mouth, this little sleepyhead's eyes suddenly became extremely spirited, those sleepy eyes that were always dazed actually became bright and shining.

  "How is it? How's the taste?" Chu Yan asked with a smile as he ladled half a bowl of kelp soup into Jiang Xiaoran's bowl.

  "Delicious! Big brother! Your cooking is really delicious!!" Jiang Xiao Ran picked up the soup and took a big sip, then quickly answered Chu Yan's question, and then started eating with his head down. No matter what Chu Yan asked, he just nodded in response, as his mouth was busy eating and had no time to speak.

  The meal was eaten warmly, and after the meal, Chu Yan wanted to get up and collect the bowls and chopsticks, but was stopped by Jiang Xiaoran: "Big brother, let me do it. You've worked hard cooking."

  Watching Jiang Xiang laugh and put away the bowls and chopsticks, then busying herself in the kitchen, Chu Yan's smile was full of meaning. A little girl who lived alone had to learn to be independent, self-reliant, and take care of herself first.

  Half an hour later, Jiang Xiao Ran walked out of the kitchen, had a delicious lunch, and after cleaning up the bowls and chopsticks, her eyes returned to that hazy state.

  "Big brother, the dish you made is really delicious." Jiang Xiao Ran sat on the sofa, hugging a cartoon pillow, and after finishing lunch, she usually needed to take a nap, and today should be no exception.

  "If you like, Big Brother will come over and do it for you often." Chu Yan said with a smile to Jiang Xiao Ran, who was smiling cutely on the side, and the two of them started chatting.

  Time flies, and although Jiang Xiao Ran had decided to play hooky for the whole day, Chu Yan also hoped to spend as much time with her as possible. However, a phone call from Mo Xi Yao cut their brief reunion on the sofa short.

  Leaving Luofeng Garden, Chu Yan rushed to Yincang Palm in the first time. Now it's three o'clock in the afternoon, Yincang Palm has been open for an hour. Mo Xiyaoyao is in her office on the third floor, facing a simple-dressed short-haired girl, and next to the girl sits a middle-aged woman with a tense face.

  "Mr. Chu, you're here. General Mo is waiting for you upstairs." Tiena said with a smile as she walked over to him the moment Chu Yan pushed open the door of the Silver Palm Tree. Although in private, she would call Chu Yan "Big Brother Chu" and Mo Xiuyao "Sister Mo", during work hours, she still addressed them more formally.

  Nodding at Tina, Chu Yan stepped up to the third floor. As soon as he entered the office, he saw Mo Xiuyao looking at the two people in front of her with a strange expression that was hard to describe - it was a mix of anger and happiness, with a hint of helplessness and resignation.

  "Who are they?" Chu Yan walked closer to Mo Xiuyao, asking somewhat puzzled, because earlier on the phone Mo Xiuyao only said to hurry over here, without mentioning anything specific.

  "Let me introduce you, this is Zhou Xiaoyu, and that's her mother." After Mo Xiuyao finished introducing them, Chu Yan also looked confused, as if he didn't know these two people at all. Moreover, given Mo Xiuyao's actual situation, the possibility of having any connection with these two was not very high.

  "Who are they?" Chu Yan's inquiry had just come out, and Mo Xiuyao turned the computer monitor on her desk towards Chu Yan, then opened a video in the folder. When Chu Yan's gaze fell on the video, he finally understood who these two people were.

  "What are you two doing here?" Chu Yan was puzzled, Zhou Xiaoyu was the girl who had been locked in the silver palm tree, and her mother was one of the onlookers who didn't know the truth. Because Mo Xiya had shown Chu Yan a video on Fat Luo's phone before, the person crying and begging Mo Xiya to let her go along with a little boy in the video was actually her.

  "I'm sorry!! Really sorry!! I was forced to!! My mom and little brother were caught and locked up, if I didn't do it, he would starve my mom and little brother to death... Mom, little brother are my last relatives, I couldn't lose them... Sorry..." The girl's voice trembled as she stood up from the chair, about to kneel down in front of Mo Xiuyao and Chu Yan, when Chu Yan quickly reached out to stop her.

  "I came here to thank Mr. Mo, the police were originally going to take me away and put me in jail, it was Mr. Mo who pleaded for me that I can stand here today, otherwise my mother and brother would have no one to take care of them! Thank you, really thank you!" Zhou Xiaoyu's emotions were very agitated, tears kept flowing but they were all joyful tears.

  Chu Yan finally understood the ins and outs of things, looking at Zhou Xiaoyu and the middle-aged woman beside her with tears streaming down her face, choking back sobs without saying a word. The string in Chu Yan's heart was lightly plucked.

  "Xiāo Yáo, look?" Chu Yan's words made Xiāo Yáo understand what he meant. She took a glance at Zhou Xiaoyu and finally nodded "Alright, Xiaoyu, stop crying. I'll give you a job so that you can take good care of your mom and little brother. Are you willing?"

  "I... I'm willing!" Upon hearing this, Zhou Xiaoyu burst into tears...