Only you in my love

Children under five years old usually couldn't articulate their thoughts properly. From other people's perspectives, they would assume that the children were just confused.

"What's wrong?" Michelle stopped removing the fish bones and looked at Van's perplexed expression. "You don't like it? It's okay. You don't have to eat it. It's normal to get sick of eating the same thing too much." "Well, you can eat something else," Leon nodded. "Van, is there anything else that you would like to eat?"

Van shook his head and answered shyly, "I'm just full, Uncle Leon."

Honestly, he didn't eat that much. He only ate about one third of the rice in his bowl, and he managed to drink half of the soup from his other bowl.

He felt a little full already.

Leon didn't force Van to finish his food. Since he didn't need to feed the young boy anymore, he and Michelle could eat their food peacefully.

After a while, Don started to feel full too. So, he took his brother's hand to play with the dog. Nine was staring at a picture.

The wooden photo frame was hung neatly on the wall.

Don pointed at the person in the photo and asked curiously, "Hey, Van, is that Emma in the picture?"

Van raised his head, looked at where Don was pointing, and replied, "Yeah, I think so."

"Wow, Nine, you are so great," Don praised the canine with a toothy grin and hugged it.

The big dog stood between the two children as they admired the photo on the wall. It was as if they were trying to figure out the people in the photo.

It was a lovely scene.

Quickly, Michelle fished out her phone and snapped a photo of them with a warm smile. Then, she walked over and said, "What are you two kids looking at? I want to see it too!"

"Aunt Michelle, that's you, and that's Emma. Who are the other people in the picture?" Don stretched out his hand and pointed at the letters below the photo. "Are these words their names?"

"Yes." Michelle gingerly took the photo down. "The names are aligned with our positions in the picture. As you can see from the farthest left, that's Emma Lin. Then, Michelle He, which is me. Then next to me is my father. As you can see here, the corresponding name here is Adams He, then beside him is my mother, Elaine Yao, followed by my grandma. Her name is...

Eh? Why can't I see the name clearly?" Michelle wiped the frame glass with her hand. However, it quickly became apparent the there was no dirt on the glass. The words written on it were smudged to the point they were unreadable.

The boys were still looking up at her, eager to know. "What's her name?

Don't you know your grandma's name?" While Michelle was introducing the people in the photo to the kids, Leon had quietly walked to her side. Upon seeing her solemn expression, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Michelle genuinely didn't know. "I just realized that I don't know Grandma's name. Mom never told us, and I don't think we asked about it either. My grandparents don't live with us. They live in the countryside because they like how peaceful it is there. We go there to visit them during holidays.

This photo was taken at my grandparents' house during Tomb Sweeping Day. We took pictures with our relatives together. Since there were so many of us, not everyone knew each other. So we printed everyone's name on the photo." Leon listened carefully to her story, so did Van and Don, but no one knew if the boys understood.

"Your grandma's surname should be a compound surname," Leon declared and pointed at the name on the photo. "See? The smudged part is longer than the other names on the photo. It should result in a compound surname." Michelle brought the picture closer to her face, squinting as she inspected it. He was right; the smudged part looked longer than the normal names.

"What is a compound surname?" Surprisingly, it was Van who asked this question and not Don. He did not understand it well.

Fondly, Leon patted Van's little head and explained patiently, "A compound surname is a Chinese surname using more than one character. Hmm. For example, Vicente has a compound surname. His surname is Nangong, which has more characters than ours." He pointed at himself. "My surname is Lu." Then, his extended finger moved from him to the woman beside them. "Michelle's last name is He." He pinched the cheeks of the two boys in front of him. "And lastly, your surname is Shi.

As you can see, all of these surnames have one character. Vicente's surname, Nangong, has more than one, so it's called a compound surname."

Michelle nodded enthusiastically at his explanation. "Yes, he is correct. That's what it means. Do you understand it now?"

For a moment, she sounded like a wife supporting her husband.

Leon explained in detail, and Van instantly understood. Don also quickly understood, and they both answered, "I understand."

"You two are so smart," Michelle praised with a smile.

Leon tilted his head and asked her, "Did I teach the boys well?"

"Yes, of course!" Michelle praised him wholeheartedly. "Leon, you just explained the answer in detail."

With a hint of sparkle in his eyes, Leon asked, smiling, "Am I great?"

"Great? You're more than that. You're awesome! You're amazing, actually!" Michelle answered happily.

"Yeah." Satisfied with her reply, Leon grinned. Then, he murmured softly, "I'll teach you some more things in the future. I'll teach them in great detail, so don't forget to praise me."

His expression looked kind and gentle, but at the same time, he had the same aura of an alluring temptress.

When Michelle met his tender eyes, her heart skipped a beat. There was danger hidden beneath those amber orbs, which were extraordinarily attractive.

Her cheeks turned red, and she couldn't help but nod her head.

The two kids and dog standing next to them suddenly felt as if they were ignored, so they quietly walked away to play somewhere else.

Michelle awkwardly cleared her throat before saying, "I'll ask Mom what my grandma's name is."

"Alright, sure," he replied. Looking at her flustered expression, Leon smiled. He wondered whether she understood what he said or not.

'I don't think she got it. Otherwise, she wouldn't have nodded.

Perhaps she got it. She nodded because she's just obedient,' he pondered as he watched her walk away.

Michelle returned a few minutes later with a disappointed expression. Sighing, she put the photo back to where it belonged.

"Did you get an answer?" Leon asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No." Michelle shook her head. "Mom said she forgot it. But that's odd. How could she forget her mother's name? I always remember my parents' names. When I was a child, the first things I learned were my name and my parents' names!" For her, it didn't make sense that Elaine forgot her mother's name. Leon squinted his eyes for a second. "Ah, well. That's okay. Forget it. Don't overthink about it," he replied with a gentle smile.

"Okay." Then, Michelle rolled up her sleeves and declared, "Leon, you can play with Van and Don. Mom is washing dishes right now, so I need to clean up."

Leon noticed that she wasn't wearing any jewelry.

She wasn't even wearing the bracelet that he gave her.

His expression quickly darkened.

He quickly grabbed her by the wrist, frightening Michelle. The rag in her hand fell to the floor.

"Leon?" Her voice was shaky. She turned to look at the kitchen, and fortunately, her mother didn't see them. She wanted to withdraw her hand, but Leon's grip just tightened. "Ouch!

Leon, what is wrong with you?" Michelle asked, her wrist was starting to sting.

The sudden mood swing caught her off guard. She was confused. He was fine just a minute ago, but now, his gaze was dark and angry.

She had never seen this side of him before.

Michelle was increasingly getting more disconcerted with each second.

"Where is the bracelet that I gave you?" Leon asked with a frown. He thought, 'She wore it so happily on her birthday and told me she wouldn't take it off. So, where is it now?'☐☐☐☐