Chapter 1703 As they were walking, Corinne suddenly stopped and turned to look at Joey. "Why are you just standing there, Joey? Calong now. The sun will get very hot now that it's noon!" Joey blinked. For a moment, he was a little disappointed because he thought Corinne had forgotten him. His heart was filled with warmth when he heard Corinne call out to him. He ran toward her while saying, "Yes, Mommy." At the stime, Bryan said, "Could you helppick up the kite? | don't want the rain to damage it!" Joey did as Bryan asked. "Okay! I'll go get the kite." He then said to Corinne, "You can bring Bryan and Christine in. I'll get the kite and cin soon." That kite was a gift from Francine, and he liked it very much as well. He and Bryan had left the kite on the ground earlier when they saw Corinne returning, and the wind had probably blown it sdistance away.
Joey's determination led Corinne to feel he would not leave the yard. She nodded and ushered the two younger ones inside the house.
Once she was inside, she instructed a servant to keep an eye on Joey. The boy went to the yard and searched for the kite by himself. He soon spotted it near the small fence and hurried over to retrieve it.
As he squatted to pick up the kite, he suddenly heard someone talking to him. "Hey there, kid. Would you like to buy sballoons?" Joey stood up with the kite and saw a man holding a bunch of helium balloons on the other side of the small fence. He shook his head and replied, "No, thanks. My mommy bought US a lot of balloons already." The balloon seller smiled upon hearing this, "What a considerate little boy you are! You're quite careful with money for your mother's sake!" Joey, who was always a polite little boy, responded, "Thank you for your kind words, sir. You can ask someone else if they want to buy your balloons. | need to go find my mommy now!" However, the balloon seller called out to him again. "Hold on a second, kid.
| have a few more things to say to you." Joey stopped and turned to look at the balloon seller. He was a little puzzled as to why the man would be so insistent.
The balloon seller beckoned for Joey to ccloser. "Ccloser. Don't be shy! | just want to talk to you." Joey remembered his mother's warnings not to approach any strangers, so he cautiously took a few steps back instead of moving closer. "I'll listen from here. | have good hearing, and | can hear you perfectly well." The balloon seller observed Joey's cautious demeanor and smiled reassuringly. "Don't worry. I'm not a bad person. But | can talk to you from here too if you're comfortable with that." Joey nodded. "Yes, please talk tofrom there." The balloon seller smiled and looked around the yard. "Your family must be quite well-off to live in such a big house. I'm sure they can afford to buy a few more balloons. Or does your family not treat you very well?" Joey frowned and replied, "They do, sir. My grandparents, my aunt, and my mommy are all very kind to me. We don't buy balloons not because we can't afford them, but because we already have so many balloons that it's not fun anymore." The balloon seller narrowed his eyes. "Is that so? But | heard a rumor that you're an adopted child. | almost thought a wealthy family like yours might not be nice to an adopted child like you."