The Useless Stepmom Brings Her Kids to Reality TV Shows to Photograph Them

Chapter 316: Her Friends Must Be Like Her

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Li Zexin and his friends bickered about who would take a picture with the snow rabbit first.

Auntie Huang had finished preparing the hotpot. “Everyone, come in and eat!”

The kids looked at the pictures they had taken on their phones and selected the ones they liked best. They then walked into the house.

When Auntie Huang lifted the lid off the hotpot, steam rose into the air. The broth was boiling, and the aroma was simply irresistible.

“Sister Lin, can I borrow your phone for a while? I want to log into my account and upload this picture,” said Preserved Egg.

“Sure,” said Lin Wan. “Auntie Huang, could you bring the phone that was by the coffee table?”

After the meal, the kids posted their pictures in their WeChat Moments.

They finally returned to their school.

Preserved Egg lay on his bed and propped his head up on his hands. “I’m so envious of you,” he said to Li Zexin.

Li Zexin was reading a book. He knew what his friend was going to say. Preserved Egg had praised Lin Wan to the skies when they made their way back to their dorms.

“Preserved Egg, maybe you can ask your father to find someone too,” said Big Mouth.

Preserved Egg turned over. His hands wrapped on the guardrail of the upper bunk bed. “What if my father doesn’t want anyone else in his life?”

“Then persuade him,” said Chubby Jiang. “Ask him if he feels lonely. We’ll be off to university in another four to five years. He’ll be all alone at home after that.”

Preserved Egg rested his chin on his hand. He was deep in thought. When his mother passed away, his father tried to be there for him at all times. Although Preserved Egg had grandparents, they lived in the countryside. His father had acted both as his mother and his father to take care of him.

Chubby Jiang turned to Li Zexin. “You should help him with this. Maybe Sister

Lin has sisters who are single? Maybe she has friends who are like her.”

“Yes!” Big Mouth chimed in. “I watched the show, but I didn’t hear Sister Lin mention any siblings. The only friends she had on the show were Auntie Xia MO and Auntie Tao Jingyuan… but they’re all married.”

“I’ll ask Ms. Lin when I go home next time,” said Li Zexin. “She is very kind. I know she won’t scold me for this.” Li Zexin genuinely wanted to help his friend. He loved Preserved Egg like his own brother. He wanted him to be happy.

After the kids returned to their schools, Li Yanchen and Lin Wan made a trip to the new villa in the Peach Blossom community.

The snow blanketed everything, and the villa looked magical near the lake.

Lin Wan pressed her fingers on the sensor and the door was unlocked. Li Yanchen turned the lights on the first floor. They went upstairs. They stood on the balcony and looked at the lake below. It seemed frozen.

He lifted Lin Wan into his arms. “Wanwan, the year is almost over. I asked Assistant Qin to find some hotels in the Changrong district. There is a nice place in Xuecheng Village. I’m thinking of planning a trip there for all of us to celebrate New Year’s Eve at the end of this month.”

Lin Wan looked at him. “To the Lin family’s old house?”

“Yeah. I know you said Yang Ruoxi was going to return before Christmas. I was thinking if we could invite all of them for a meal together. We can call Auntie Bao too. We might have to head back to Lan Village on New Year’s Eve, but I wanted to celebrate it with everyone. So, I planned a little early.”

Li Yanchen paused. “This… is the first year of the rest of my life with you. This is also the first time I’ve realized how much I lacked as a father to my kids. I wasn’t home in the past and…” His voice was very soft. He was doing this for himself too.

Lin Wan’s heart went out to him. She understood. She held her face between her hands. ‘What time? I’ll call Xixi and have her invite her father and her grandmother. I’ll give Auntie Bao a call too. It’ll be great if we can all celebrate the New Year together!”

“Y-you think so?”

“Of course, hubby!” said Lin Wan. “You’re so considerate. I’m so lucky to have you in my life. I can die without any regrets now.”

Li Yanchen stopped her with a kiss. “Why mention anything about death? We still have our lives ahead of us! We need to see our children grow up, marry, and have their own families. We can even take time to understand things about parallel worlds, so I can have more babies with you.”

Lin Wan was dizzy with the kiss, but she struggled to break free when he mentioned having babies with her. “Mr. Li, I’ve told you this before. Please don’t pressure me.”

“Alright,” said Li Yanchen. “Only if you want, of course.” “In that case, let’s just drop the matter,” said Lin Wan.

“Am I forgiven, then?”

“Only if you stop talking about it. If you don’t drop the matter, I’ll run away to the master bedroom and lock the door.”

The two of them sat by the bay window for a long time, talking about the children’s studies and future. They then went to sleep.

The next morning, Li Yanchen took a day off from work.

In the middle of December, the schools were trying to cover the syllabus. The students were also busy with their schedules. Li Zexin had no time to return home for English lessons.

Lin Wan went back to the Royal Water Bay Villa since Li Zexin wasn’t going to return for an English session anytime soon.

Lin Wan didn’t know how the ladies of the neighborhood knew that she would be arriving today. As soon as the car arrived at the parking lot, the group of women greeted her.

“Wanwan, you’re finally back! I don’t know what I would have done. I’ve been to your house at least ten times a day to see if you were back.”

“Mrs. Li, when I asked you when you’d be back, you said you didn’t know. Were you planning to surprise us? I saw Auntie Huang drying clothes outside early in the morning today, so I knew you’d be back!”

“Thank you, Mrs. Han, for telling us about it. We were all waiting for you.”

“It’s so cold today. Aren’t you all cold? Come with me to the clubhouse. After we spend some time in the bath and the spa, we’ll feel refreshed,” said Mrs. Zhou.

“Wanwan, should we go? Usually, Mrs. Zhou doesn’t invite us anywhere unless you’re here! We get to take advantage of your presence.” Mrs. Wang chuckled. Mrs. Zhou gasped. “Mrs. Wang, I did invite you before this!”

“Mrs. Zhou did invite us, but only once. But Mrs. Zhou, does that mean we get to enjoy it for free or are you only giving us a discount?” said Mrs. Wang jokingly.

“Mrs.. Wang, don’t act like you lack money!”