But upon hearing Xu Xiuxiu's words, Mrs. Song carefully pondered and naturally guessed it was due to her own lack of thoughtfulness. Indeed, this daughter-in-law was indeed capable and virtuous, but looking after three children was challenging enough. Nowadays, children are not raised as casually as in her time; each child is considered precious. Niuniu's temperament was admittedly not very good either. If she left Niuniu to her daughter-in-law, what would she do if something went wrong?

Traveling to the Imperial City by train would take about twenty to thirty hours, right? Could she let Niuniu go alone? Certainly not! Besides, if the school fee in the Imperial City was as Xiuxiu had mentioned, costing thousands of dollars, who would provide that money? Her eldest son didn't have much capability either; he ran a stationery shop outside the county elementary school. Although the business wasn't bad, it merely brought in a few hundred dollars a month. That was considered a lot of money in the village, but the business was successful because Xu Xiuxiu supported it with ideas and strategies—they already owed her a huge favor. Adding more trouble by sending Niuniu over would be totally unreasonable!

The more she thought about it, the clearer Mrs. Song's mind became. She realized she had been very confused. How could she take her daughter-in-law's kindness for granted and squander it?! What if that chilled her daughter-in-law's willingness to help? Thinking of this, Mrs. Song broke out in a cold sweat of guilt.

"Xiuxiu, I was wrong for not thinking things through. I'm getting old, and I don't consider all aspects thoroughly. Just listen, don't take it too seriously." Mrs. Song's tone began to show some remorse, as she really didn't know how to explain herself to Xu Xiuxiu.

"It's okay, Mom! To be honest, I'm not saying I'm unwelcoming to Niuniu coming to the Imperial City. After all, she is my niece, and I'm not a mean-spirited person. But these matters are not trivial. Since I don't have the capability to guarantee everything, I need to make things clear to you to avoid making promises I can't keep, which would end up making me look bad if something goes wrong." Xu Xiuxiu, hearing Mrs. Song say this, felt relieved, knowing that she had convinced Mrs. Song. On the other end of the phone, she also breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Mom knows you're good." Mrs. Song responded earnestly. If she wasn't, her younger son and daughter wouldn't spend their school holidays running to her. They enjoyed her indulgence. If she weren't kind, those kids wouldn't foolishly go to a place that made them uncomfortable. "Well, if there's nothing else, let's leave it at that! Take care of yourself in the Imperial City, take care of the three children and Yuanhuan, that's all. It's getting dark soon, I'm going to head home and start cooking dinner!" Mrs. Song stood in the village shop, glancing up at the quickly setting sun.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. Call me if there's anything." Xu Xiuxiu felt there was nothing more to say and quickly agreed before hanging up.

After hanging up, Mrs. Song sighed and silently went back to her house to start cooking dinner. Although she had discussed it with Xu Xiuxiu, she still couldn't help worrying about it. After dinner, she talked to Father Song about the idea she initially had.

Father Song was not like Mrs. Song; he was a man of clear thought. Upon hearing what his wife had suggested, while smoking a pipe, he gave Mrs. Song a stern look: "I say you're just looking for trouble when you're well-fed. What wild ideas are you having bringing up Niuniu going to the Imperial City? Is that girl a sensible one? It's unnecessary to cause trouble for your daughter-in-law in the Imperial City. Just because your daughter-in-law treats you well, don't get too carried away. Your daughter-in-law knows her boundaries; don't be clueless." Mrs. Song, reminding her, of course, meant it as a gentle reprimand.

Mrs. Song herself felt what she had suggested earlier was inappropriate; Father Song's scolding didn't bother her much: "I'm just concerned about Yuantao being on his own, a grown man leading a lonely life—it's sad! You as a father don't pay enough attention. Normally, you have me, your wife, to take care of your needs—how could you understand his struggles living alone? If it were someone else, they would have already found their son a partner. I didn't bring it up before because of Wang Qinghua causing trouble. Now that woman is out of the picture, and I was thinking of finding someone for Yuantao. He's interested too—finding a woman who understands warmth would be great. Now he runs a stationery shop in the county with a decent income, and finding someone while he's young could still result in having another son." In reality, Mrs. Song's true intent was absolutely to see her eldest son remarry and have another son: "But you know the things Niuniu has been saying and doing; how could I not be worried?" Mrs. Song sighed as she defended herself.

"Enough! A couple of words and you ramble on and on, why don't you talk to Niuniu properly someday? Yuantao surely can't remain unmarried because of her! She's not young anymore, she should understand," Father Song felt that constantly choosing to tolerate this was not a solution, and had he not noticed his eldest granddaughter's temperament becoming increasingly strange?

"Alright, I'll talk to her properly someday." Mrs. Song thought about it and indeed felt it made sense, so she nodded in agreement.

...

After Xu Xiuxiu convinced Mrs. Song over the phone to drop the idea of having Song Tianxin come to the Imperial City, she breathed a sigh of relief. She then went out to pick up the three children from school, having gotten used to timing her departures for their school release days. First to the kindergarten, after picking up the boy and girl twins, turning the corner and walking down two streets would get her to the elementary school, just in time as the elementary school dismissed later than the kindergarten.

"Mom, today the teacher praised big brother, said big brother is smart," said the twins as they walked out of the kindergarten, each holding one of Xu Xiuxiu's hands toward the elementary school, and Little Baby began to chatter about what happened in kindergarten today, especially emphasizing the teacher's praise of Little Moon, exuberantly as if she had been praised herself.

"Really? Little Baby, can you tell Mom why the teacher praised Little Moon?" Xu Xiuxiu coaxed with a smile.

In fact, having just moved to a new kindergarten, she was worried the twins might not adapt well! After all, they were previously at a military school kindergarten, where, due to its proximity, many children were familiar faces. But now, in a new environment with all unfamiliar kids, she was delighted to see them fitting in so quickly and not showing any signs of discomfort.

"The teacher praised big brother because he's the best at counting," Little Baby happily replied to Xu Xiuxiu. "The teacher said none of the other classmates could do it, only big brother knew how."

"Really? Turns out my Little Baby is so incredible!" Xu Xiuxiu exclaimed, turning to praise her younger son, Song Chenhao.

Little Moon shyly and modestly smiled, "Brother had mentioned that problem before, Little Moon remembered it."