CHAPTER 413: CHAPTER 413: CLEARED MY THROAT

Song Chenhao, taking advantage of Xu Xiuxiu’s recent feelings of guilt, tormented his bad father, Song Yuanhuan, thoroughly. Song Yuanhuan could only helplessly carry breakfast and bear the brunt of Xu Xiuxiu’s disdainful glances. Luckily, at that moment, Little Baby and Song Chengguang also got up, and probably not wanting Song Chengguang and Little Baby to know about the conflict between father and son, they tacitly glossed over it.

After breakfast, Xu Xiuxiu cleaned up and prepared to take the children to school.

"Little Baby, come, let daddy hold you." Just as they walked out of the house, Song Yuanhuan, seeing the vehicles on the street, immediately bent down warily, intending to pick up Little Baby, his indulgent posture seeming particularly natural.

"Cough, cough." When Xu Xiuxiu saw Song Yuanhuan’s instinctive doting on Little Baby, she glanced briefly at Little Moon before clearing her throat to remind him. She was speechless at Song Yuanhuan, who quickly forgot all his promises made to her when facing his daughter. Moreover, she wasn’t demanding or expecting Song Yuanhuan to treat Little Moon well all at once; she only wanted the difference in his treatment toward Little Moon and Little Baby to not be too obvious. Yet, this man still managed to forget from time to time, which was really enough.

Song Yuanhuan’s initial posture of picking up Little Baby froze again at the sound of Xu Xiuxiu clearing her throat. Extremely embarrassed, he turned his head to look at Little Moon, then looked up at Xu Xiuxiu, and then convinced himself to let go of his heartache for his daughter. After all, his daughter wasn’t little anymore, she could walk on her own when he wasn’t around. If that was the case, why spoil her so much?

"Daddy, didn’t you say you were going to hold me? Why aren’t you holding me now?" Meanwhile, Little Baby, used to Song Yuanhuan’s indulgence, was standing with her little arms stretched out, waiting to be picked up by her dad, but saw Song Yuanhuan’s hand reaching out to pick her up retract again, not making a fuss but clearly puzzled.

"Mmm! Daddy’s a bit tired, I’ll hold you when I’m not tired anymore." Song Yuanhuan gently rubbed Little Baby’s hair to comfort her.

"Mmm, Little Baby can walk by herself, but Daddy, you have to take care of yourself! If you wear yourself out, Little Baby will feel sad." Little Baby easily accepted Song Yuanhuan’s excuse of being tired, tilting her head while also reminding him to take care of his health.

"Mmm." Surely his daughter was the best, how considerate! Song Yuanhuan thought, contented.

"Then Daddy, since you’re tired, let Little Baby walk with you!" Little Baby said cheerfully, her chubby little hand grabbing Song Yuanhuan’s large palm.

"Alright, Little Baby can walk with Daddy." Song Yuanhuan responded gently, his expression so soft it seemed almost dewy.

Seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu felt helpless; after all, the father-daughter pair, Little Baby and Song Yuanhuan, just had that kind of perfect harmony!

"Mom, Little Moon will hold your hand." Little Moon looked ahead at the father and daughter already holding hands, feeling a bit left out, then turned her head and shook Xu Xiuxiu’s hand and spoke.

"Okay, thank you, Little Moon." Xu Xiuxiu came to her senses and bent down to praise Little Moon, relieved at Song Yuanhuan’s plan to change, yet when she noticed the young elementary schooler, Song Chengguang, standing beside her, Xu Xiuxiu felt a headache coming on. Ah, at this moment, she keenly realized that having many children at home, the amount of affection parents allocate among their children seemed to be a big issue too!

So, after dropping the kids off at school and on the way home, Xu Xiuxiu brought up the issue with Song Yuanhuan, "Yuanhuan, do you think we should change the way we treat our children? Although Chengguang is the older brother in the boy and girl twins, he’s still very young. He needs our careful protection too. We shouldn’t always instill in him the idea that as the older brother he must always give way to his younger siblings. We also need to let Little Baby and Little Moon know that being young doesn’t mean they can be self-indulgent."

"Our children are so well-behaved! You’re the one overthinking," Song Yuanhuan replied, holding Xu Xiuxiu’s hand and starting to chuckle.

"How can I not overthink? Our three children have different personalities. I’m afraid I might pay attention to one and neglect another. They’re all still young and very sensitive to parental affection!" Xu Xiuxiu knew she tended to worry a lot, but what could she do about it! With three children, there was naturally a lot of energy to expend, unlike other families with only one child. Song Yuanhuan was busy with work, and she was left to worry about the three children all by herself. How could she not be frustrated!

Moreover, the call she received from Mrs. Song the day before had agitated her, and thinking about how Song Tianxin used to be quite well-behaved, she felt that these three children would certainly cause her many headaches in the future. Although she firmly believed her children would not grow awry, their development involved too many occurrences; a moment of negligence could affect their personalities, so she felt it was crucial to remain vigilant.

"Don’t worry! They are all well-behaved!" Song Yuanhuan knew what Xu Xiuxiu was thinking and understood that it stemmed from a mother’s innate worry. So, he didn’t plan on persuading her further. Being thoroughly familiar with their three children with distinctive personalities, he felt Xu Xiuxiu’s worries were unnecessary. Therefore, after taking her home, he comforted her properly and then went straight to the military base.

Xu Xiuxiu stayed at home, pondering over Song Yuanhuan’s words and soon felt she had been overly sensitive these past few days. To alleviate her mood, she decided to make some sweet desserts and cakes to relieve the stress.

Knock, knock, knock—

The morning quietly passed, and just as Xu Xiuxiu had made some green bean cakes and was about to prepare a bowl of noodles for lunch, someone knocked on the door. Wondering, Xu Xiuxiu went to open it, only to find the new neighbor, Hu Meitao, at the door.

"Sister Hu, it’s you! Have you eaten yet? Please, come in and sit for a bit!" Xu Xiuxiu invited her in while glancing at the tired-looking Hu Meitao, then glancing at the calm little boy Hu Meitao was holding, Xu Xiuxiu expressed a hint of confusion.

"Sister Xiu, I won’t come in and sit." Hu Meitao managed a forced smile, "I’m here to ask for a favor. My husband had an accident and is now in the hospital. Both my in-laws live in the countryside, and I’ve just called them; they will soon be arriving in Imperial City. But I need to go to the hospital to look after my husband, who is still in the ICU and needs someone by his side. My Yang Jun is still young, and by nature very shy and timid, so I don’t feel comfortable taking him to the hospital, especially seeing his father like that—it might scare him. But here in Imperial City, I don’t really have any acquaintances, and after thinking it over, I thought of you. Sister, if you have time, could you please look after Yang Jun for one day? I will come back to pick him up tonight." Events had happened so suddenly; if not desperate, Hu Meitao would not have asked for Xu Xiuxiu’s help, a neighbor she had only recently met. It was truly a last resort.