Chapter 182 - How about the ball pit?

"Why?" she asked. She was going to take a few days off the same week to visit her parents. She had not visited them since Xiao Yunjie's disappearance. Every year, in order to hide from others, she would bribe the old caretaker with money and alcohol so that he would let her sneak into the cemetery in the middle of the night. 

However, with Xiao Yunjie's disappearance, she could not afford to put aside the money for it, and it had been eating her inside, making her feel guiltier than ever. "There's nothing about that in your schedule," she said with a pout, clearly upset that he did not tell her beforehand.

"It's the death anniversary of my dear friend's parents. It has been a while since I went to visit them, so I figured I might as well go now that I receive an invitation to go to a party there." 

"Invitation?" She tried to think about last week's work, but she did not recall that he received an invitation.

Looking at how serious she was thinking about it, Han Ye chuckled. "It's not an invitation for me, that's why you don't remember me telling you anything about it. They actually invited President Du. As you can foresee now, he won't be free to attend any social events for the next few weeks, and so, it would fall under my duty to attend these kinds of events for him." 

Actually, it was not, but he had to make something up so that she would believe him.  

He then added, "The Fan Family and some of their guests would be going to visit the grave, and at the same night, they would be throwing a party at the old mansion." 

Hearing that her uncle was about to throw a party on the day of her parents' death anniversary, Xiao Lei's fists tightened unconsciously. "A party, huh?" 

He nodded. He waited until he successfully made a turn at a busy junction before saying, "Yeah. I guess they just want to take this opportunity to let everyone know that they are moving into Imperial City and making the company here their new headquarters." 

"They are?" She looked at him with her eyes wide open. She knew that they were expanding into Imperial City, but she had never heard anything about them moving their headquarters over.  

"Yup. In about a month's time. Somewhere around that. They are in the progress now." 

"Great," she muttered quickly. The annoyance in her voice was very apparent since she was too angry to hide them. 

Han Ye could hear it, but he continued to feign ignorance and said, "I'm going to need you to go with me. The party will be a time for me to do expand my network, and I need my assistant there." 

Glancing at her through the rearview mirror, he asked, "You would be free at that time, right?" 

"Are you kidding me? I can visit my parents in broad daylight?! Of course I'd be free!" Xiao Lei thought as her eyes went wide open at the realization that she could pay respect to her parents openly instead of sneaking around like a robber.

A smile then slowly formed at the corners of her mouth as she thought, "I have to put on a disguise, but it won't be a problem..." 

Han Ye smirked when he saw that smile on her face. "So, what's your answer?" 

"For my boss' future business network, of course I'm free. I actually have something to do, but I'll clear it for you." She put on a saintly expression as she smiled at him, as if she was doing him a huge favor instead of the other way round.

"Oh? So now you're doing me a favor?" He laughed softly. "Maybe I should ask someone else..." 

"No, no, no. I'm the best assistant you have!" 

"You're my only assistant," he said while pointing out the piece of fact to her.

"Yeah, so you shouldn't bother other people. Other people's assistants are busy!"

Han Ye chuckled and shook his head. He was glad that he could do something for her. As for the Fan Family party, he had to think of something. 

His eyes narrowed while his grip on the steering wheel tightened as he drove. He had never forgotten about the threat that Fan Chuan said to his mother.

The last time they met, he was still a young boy who had nothing and could easily be threatened by them. 

But now... He wanted to show them that he was not that easily thrown out nowadays... and that his words were more impactful now. 

.....

At the Imperial Mall, Han Ye carried Little Monkey in one arm and Mo Yuan in the other arm. Both of them had woken up from their short nap, but it appeared that they were still in a bad mood. Once he paid for the entrance tickets for the playground, he turned to look at Xiao Lei who was carrying two bags, one purple and one blue, in each of her arms. 

"Are you sure you can handle both of them at once?" 

Xiao Lei nodded. "They can't leave the area anyway. Besides, you said you're going to be nearby?" 

He nodded and pointed at a cafe on the second floor. "I'd be sitting by the window so that I can oversee everything, but if you feel overwhelmed or tired, just give me a call." 

"Yeah, just go," she said as she reached over to take Little Monkey and Mo Yuan from him. 

To his surprise, she managed to carry both of them, as well as the bags, effortlessly. It was as if everything weighed nothing to her. 

"Say bye-bye to your Uncle Han," Xiao Lei said kindly to the kids. 

"Bye, Uncle Han," Mo Yuan said while waving his little hand around. 

"Bye." Little Monkey was feeling a lot worse. 

"Remember, Little Monkey hasn't been out much, so she might have trouble playing with the kids. So you have to pay more attention to her. Everything that she needs is in her bag."

Xiao Lei gave him an exasperated glance before rolling her eyes. She then turned around and walked into the gated playground. 

Han Ye looked at them for a while until Angela called him to let him know that she had arrived. 

"I'm coming up," he said before hanging up. After taking one last glance at those three, he then left.

....

Not long after they went into the playground, Mo Yuan seemed to feel better. Perhaps it was the colorful design of the place or the children that were running around happily, but he soon demanded to be released from Xiao Lei's hug so that he could go and play. 

When Xiao Lei placed him down, he looked up at Little Monkey and asked, "Play?"

"Humph!" Little Monkey turned away from him coldly. 

"Yuan Yuan, go and play. I'll stay here with her," Xiao Lei said with a smile as she gently gave Mo Yuan a nudge. 

Mo Yuan nodded. He was a little wary of Xiao Lei, so he did not wander far off. Instead, he just played at the ball pit that Xiao Lei was sitting next to. 

After a while, Xiao Lei looked down at Little Monkey, who was sitting next to her while holding a stuffed bunny. "Little Monkey, what do you want to play? Do you want to play with the slides?"

The little toddler shook her head and sighed heavily, as if she was burdened by a lot of things in her mind. 

"How about that see-saw? There's a kid waiting for someone to sit opposite her," Xiao Lei asked while pointing at a see-saw where a small boy was pushing himself up and down with his little legs. Even though he was playing by himself, he looked so happy as he jumped up and down.

Little Monkey shook her head as well. 

"How about the ball pit? Look at Yuan Yuan, he's so happy there. You can throw the balls around and swim in it." 

Little Monkey took a quick glance at Yuan Yuan, who seemed to be talking to a few older girls, before a pout appeared on her face. When Xiao Lei looked down at her, Little Monkey's lips were quivering, and she seemed to be on the verge of tears. 

xxx

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