Du Miao had been staying at the Song family residence recently and had not returned to the Du family residence in a long time. He had no idea about the earth-shattering changes that had happened to the Du family.
"Ring, ring, ring!!!" The phone rang incessantly.
Du Miao got up from the bed with some difficulty. Song Dan was busy going around to look for medicine every day. He tried to help but could not make any progress no matter how hard he tried. He decided to just stay at home and wait for a miracle to happen on Song Dan's end.
"Hello?" Du Miao asked.
"You still know how to answer the phone! I would have thought that you'd already died!" Du Miao's father, Du Bo, roared down the line.
His voice was so loud that it almost made Du Miao deaf. Du Bo would only call Du Miao for one reason and that was if something had happened to the Du family. However, Du Miao was very sure that it had nothing to do with Du Bo's health. How could a person with such a sonorous voice be sick?n--o/-v)-e(/L-)b--1-.n
"What's wrong?" Du Miao said impatiently.
"Your mother hasn't been feeling well recently and wants to see you. Come back quickly," Du Bo said.
"Are you lying to me again? You used the same reason to trick me into going home the last time. Do you think I'll fall for it again?" Du Miao said disdainfully.
"Whether I'm joking or not, I've said all I need to say," Du Bo said and hung up.
After hanging up the phone, Du Miao squatted down helplessly. He really hated communicating with Du Bo. At work, their relationship was one between superior and subordinate. However, even when they returned home, Du Miao felt like he was still at work.
His mother was the one who brought him up and she was very important to him. In the past, whenever Du Miao did not go home, Du Bo would use the excuse that his mother was not feeling well to trick him into going home. He did not know if she did it on purpose or if she was really feeling unwell.
Du Miao packed his luggage quickly and left a note for Song Dan before returning to the Du family residence. The Du family had worked in the police force for generations. Du Bo was the chief of the police department in the capital. Since Du Miao's younger days, everyone thought that he had joined the police department through the back door. He was not as capable as Xia Wen and Xia Zhe, so he simply accepted the gossip calmly.
Therefore, Du Bo always mentioned Du Miao's various shortcomings to other people. Once, when Du Bo was drunk, he even said that Du Miao was an asshole and a worthless piece of trash. After that, Du Miao decided to behave in the way that Du Bo described.
Du Miao's marriage was also arranged by Du Bo. He did not have any choice at all. However, he was still considered quite lucky. Du Miao's wife was very nice to him and the two of them eventually fell in love with each other after getting married.
"Did you ask me to come back just to watch you play games?" Du Miao stood at the door with his bag and looked at all the women seated around four tables in the house.
"Oh my~ Du Miao is back! You look more handsome than we last saw you. Come, come. Come quickly and let your aunties take a look at you," one of the women said.
Du Miao's mother was called Feng Niao. Her main pastime was to invite a group of her friends to her house to play mahjong. Du Bo did not allow her to go out as and when she liked, so she could only invite everyone to her house.
"Your father tricked you into coming back again? Don't blame him. It's just that I've been coughing recently, so he probably wants to get you to come back and accompany me," Feng Niao explained.
Du Miao did not believe what she said. Feng Niao loved Du Bo very much. Everyone thought of them as a match made in heaven, but being their child was worse than being a stray dog.
"Xiao Du, come and play a round with us later. We haven't played with you for so long!" another auntie said.
"I'm going back to my room," Du Miao said helplessly.
"Head for the study. Your father is waiting for you there," Feng Nian said.
Du Miao dragged his feet as he made his way to the study upstairs. Du Bo was standing by the window and looking at the scenery outside. He did not even turn his head when he heard Du Miao enter the room.
"So you know how to come back," Du Bo said unhappily.
"If you sell this house, then I won't need to come back again," Du Miao said as he sat on the chair.
"Do you know how grave a mistake you have made? How dare you provoke the He family?" Du Bo turned around and questioned angrily.
Du Miao said nonchalantly, "Oh, so he came to look for you. I thought he was just joking. It seems that he's a vengeful person."