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nBryce’s wailing woke up Sean and Maria.

nBryce took the opportunity to complain and act coquettishly to the two of them.

n“Dad! Look at how Quinn make my hair wet!”

nMaria quickly took a large towel and draped it over Bryce’s head, helping him dry his hair.

n“What’s going on? You’ll catch a cold if you don’t dry yourself.”

n“It’s all because of Quinn and Lauren! Both of them set me up together.”

n“Mom, this is just a small fight between us!” Quinn quickly refuted.

n“A small fight? Alright, Quinn, don’t move.”

nThen, Bryce found the leftover balloons from last year’s New Year decoration. They were all filled with water.

nSo, he and Quinn had a water balloon battle in the small garden.

nBryce spent his time studying every day, so he treasured this rare opportunity to come out for some fresh air. So, Quinn was beaten to a pulp and completely drenched.

nHis plan had also ended in failure.

nIn the evening, the weather started to turn cold and the wind started to blow. The doors and windows of the small villa had to be tightly shut to keep out the cold.

nDue to the temperature, they planned to have a hotpot tonight.

nAs the main culprit of this afternoon’s water balloon incident, Quinn was sent to the kitchen to wash the vegetables and prepare the ingredients for the hotpot.

nOn the other hand, the rest of them huddled comfortably on the sofa watching television.

nLooking at Quinn in the kitchen, Lauren suddenly felt a little touched and ashamed.

nThis time, Quinn’s plan was to get her and Bryce on good terms, but now, he was the only one being punished.

nIt didn’t seem fair.

nTherefore, Lauren slowly moved down the sofa.

n“Where are you going?”

nFranklin held onto her hand.

n“I want to help Quinn. I pity him. He’s washing the vegetables all by himself.”

nFranklin let go of Lauren’s hand. “Alright, go ahead.”

n“Lauren is really empathetic,” Maria said with a smile.

nLauren carried a small stool to the kitchen and stepped on it.

nQuinn turned to look at Lauren who suddenly appeared beside him. “Why are you here?”

nThe water in the villa was warm, so their hands would not freeze when washing the vegetables.

nLauren took a piece of cabbage and broke it into small pieces.

n“I’m here to help you! I had a part in this afternoon’s plan. If the plan fails, I can’t let you be punished alone.”

nQuinn laughed when he heard this.

nThere were still water droplets on his hands when he washed the vegetables. He flicked a few drops of water onto Lauren’s face.

nLauren did not show any signs of weakness. She picked up the water from the basin and splashed it onto Quinn’s face. Quinn immediately begged for mercy.

n“Alright, alright. Thanks to today, I’ve already become scared of wter.”

nLauren then withdrew her hand. Because of this little fight, Quinn felt that washing the vegetables was no longer so boring.

nLauren and Quinn chatted about almost everything under the sky.

nSuddenly, Lauren said, “Quinn, when Dad went to buy vegetables today, he bought beef and mutton that weren’t fat. He knows that you pay attention to your figure, so he specially didn’t buy fat meat.”

nWhen Lauren said the word ‘dad’, her voice was very soft and a little unnatural.

nHowever, Quinn was too busy paying attention to the content of this sentence and didn’t notice Lauren’s reaction.

nWhen he heard Lauren’s words, he stopped washing the vegetables and froze for a moment.

n“How could it be for me? He hates my job so much that he won’t care about me.”

n“Of course not. He doesn’t hate you at all. He actually loves you very much. It’s just that he doesn’t know how to express it.”

nSpeaking of which, Quinn seemed a little angry. Even when he was washing the vegetables, he used too much strength and splashed the water all over the place.

nLauren silently raised her hand to wipe the water droplets off her face.

nShe knew that Quinn was a paper tiger. Although he looked very angry on the surface, he wouldn’t actually do anything, therefore, she continued to persuade him, “Look, when you first saw me, you hated me too. But after you got along with me, you must have realized that I am good in every aspect, which me a perfect child. That’s why you changed your opinion and start playing with me, right?”

nWhen Lauren said this, she praised herself from head to toe, and this made Quinn chuckle.

n“You praise yourself along the way even while trying to enlighten me. You’re really something!”

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