CHAPTER 482: CHAPTER 482: IMMENSELY VAST

"Shi Yu, no spinning the umbrella while playing!" Xu Xiuxiu scolded the mischievous Shi Yu with annoyance.

Shi Yu didn’t listen to Xu Xiuxiu’s words and stop; he kept freely twirling the rain umbrella, laughing in a particularly irritating way, "Auntie, it’s fine, I’m just spinning it a bit for fun. I know my limits." Shi Yu and Song Chengguang, despite having been quietly well-behaved together for years, hadn’t been influenced by Song Yuanhuan’s personality. And Song Chengguang’s character was particularly steadfast; he had been developing into a cool little guy from a young age.

"... " Faced with Shi Yu’s somewhat willful and rogue response, Xu Xiuxiu was left speechless. This damn kid thinks he’s got a point, huh!

"Brother Shi Yu spins the umbrella so fast!" As soon as Shi Yu played, Little Baby was immediately attracted. The two of them happily joined forces, stepping in puddles and spinning their umbrellas together, then completely ignoring any advice, laughing foolishly together, their little feet splashing water with a ’plop, plop’ sound.

What Xu Xiuxiu found amusing was that the usually calm Song Chengguang was now fussing like an old mother, "Little sister, don’t play in the water; your pants are soaked through." Song Chengguang was really anxious! Genuinely anxious, he softly admonished Little Baby, then glared at Shi Yu with clenched teeth.

"Alright! No more playing, Brother Shi Yu. Let’s take a break first." Little Baby had had her fill of stomping in water and obediently decided to take a break.

Seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu also heaved a sigh of relief, but before she could feel completely at ease, the demanding Little Baby turned her head to Xu Xiuxiu, "Mommy, why isn’t daddy back yet? I miss him so much!" Because of the rain, all five of them were holding an umbrella. Little Baby suddenly stopped, turned around, and asked Xu Xiuxiu, her voice heavy with longing. Song Yuanhuan was a total daughter-slave; before Little Baby turned five, whenever they went out, Little Baby never had to walk. Song Yuanhuan would always carry her. On rainy days like this, if Song Yuanhuan was around, he would always come to pick her up, even carrying Little Baby from the school all the way to the car and then from the car back home, never once willing to let his little girl get a drop of rain on her. Although stomping in puddles was fun and enjoyable, now that her clothes were a bit wet and she was feeling uncomfortable, Little Baby suddenly missed her strong father who pampered her like a little princess.

"Yeah! Auntie, when is uncle coming back? I miss uncle too." Shi Yu also rarely spoke up. This kid had grown accustomed to living with their family and was even closer to Song Yuanhuan than to Shi Yan Ting. Xu Xiuxiu had often reminded the couple to consider bringing their own son back home. It wasn’t because they disliked Shi Yu; had they felt that way, Xu Xiuxiu would have disliked him long ago. Rather, she was concerned that the couple would find it difficult and sad that their son was not close to them.

But that couple really had thick skins, especially Yuan Shixiang! Her clothing store had been growing over the years, and thanks to Xu Xiuxiu, she had established a good relationship with the ’Promise’ clothing brand. This made stocking her inventory much easier, and she had already opened several clothing chain stores by now.

So when Xu Xiuxiu reminded them, Yuan Shixiang waved her hand dismissively, "Now I’m successful in my career, my husband is capable, and there are people to help take care of my son, what dissatisfaction could I possibly have?" Yuan Shixiang boasted proudly.

However, she did not completely neglect her son; Yuan Shixiang actually cared for Shi Yu. Otherwise, even with Xu Xiuxiu’s supervision, the child would have been out of control long ago.

Little Baby and Shi Yu’s sudden question caught Xu Xiuxiu off guard, leaving her silent for a moment before she slowly responded, "He went to take care of something very important, and I don’t know when he will be back!" This statement was indeed the truth.

"But what if I miss Daddy?" Little Baby asked with a hint of petulance, her chubby little face all puffed up.

"Mommy misses Daddy too! What should Mommy do?" Xu Xiuxiu blurted out instinctively.

Then Little Baby was struck dumb, Song Chengguang twitched the corners of his mouth, Little Moon pursed her thin lips, and nearby Shi Yu stifled a laugh. The reactions of the four children were similar, yet also distinct, each colored by their own personalities. Xu Xiuxiu felt a bit embarrassed under the gaze of four pairs of large eyes, only realizing what she had said earlier. My goodness! She had actually spoken in front of the children about missing Song Yuanhuan. At her age, she really felt a little embarrassed!

"Mommy, it’s okay. If Daddy’s not here, Little Moon is! Little Moon will protect you." After a brief silence, Little Moon, the little guy with the umbrella, walked over to Xu Xiuxiu and shook her hand lightly, declaring with a determined face, "Mommy, think about Little Moon, don’t think about Daddy!"

Over the years, Little Moon had been trying hard to replace her father’s place in her mother’s heart, always finding opportunities to do so.

"Yeah! And Mommy has us too! From now on, just think about us!" Seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu laughed and nodded, then urged them to hurry home. Chatting on a rainy day while walking on the road wasn’t very appropriate.

At Xu Xiuxiu’s call, the four children obediently nodded their heads and walked home in their rain boots. Although it had been several days since Song Yuanhuan left on his mission, the house was always lively with the children around, especially with the presence of the quite numerous Little Huang Family. The original little earth-yellow dog, Comrade Little Huang, had now even been promoted to grandmother status—a joyful and celebratory achievement.

"Awoo, awoo." Little White and Little Xiao Huang had several little dogs. Having grown accustomed to staying at home, the little dogs were very enthusiastic towards the children, especially Little White. Perhaps due to being particularly close to Little Moon, the other two little White brothers were also especially clingy to Little Moon. Every time Little Moon came home from school, they would eagerly stick to him. The two little dogs each grabbed a slipper to serve Little Moon, creating a scene that was both astonishing and adorably silly.

It had to be said that the Little Huang Family were all clever and had extremely high intelligence, almost as if they were enchanted. This resulted in the house now having an overwhelming number of dogs. But the children all loved them and couldn’t bear to send any away, so Xu Xiuxiu had to specially prepare a large room for the dog family to live in, as even a small balcony seemed quite crowded for them now.

Fortunately, the clever Little Black had been taken to the military by Song Yuanhuan, or it would have been even more crowded. Little Black also seemed to have several descendants, and it was said that he now had a smart and spirited military dog family. Comrade Little Black had even made many contributions to the military and received quite a few certificates of honor—a truly glorious military dog.