Clearly, his writing has improved.

I remember a few days ago, although he pointed out the shortcomings in my writing, he was equally generous with a "pretty good" comment for my progress and good writing.

Now, all that's left is the phrase "barely acceptable".

That night, Hongxuan lay alone in bed. In the darkness, he pulled the blanket over his head and wanted to cry: "Waaah, Father is such a grown man, how can he still be so petty? Didn't I admit my mistake and accept the punishment seriously? Waaah, he's ignoring me now."

Two days, three days, Hongxuan smiled less and less each day, and became more and more... depressed?! In short, Jiaming looked at her son, who was becoming increasingly strange, and felt a little anxious: Strange, what's wrong with Xuan'er?

On the fourth day, she observed carefully for almost a whole day, until after dinner, and finally discovered and roughly determined the cause.

After dinner, Fourth Master had something to do and wouldn't be back before bed, leaving only the mother and son. This post-dinner digestion time was perfect for the two of them to have a good chat.

After sending Hongtao away, Jiaming hugged Hongxuan in her arms and said softly, "Why does Xuan'er always look so sullen lately?" As she asked, she gently rubbed the little guy's bulging belly.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Hongxuan's eyes instantly dimmed, and he remained silent, turning his head to one side as if trying to avoid her, burying his head in Jiaming's chest.

"Sigh!" Jiaming sighed softly, stroking the little guy's fluffy head with one hand and continuing to rub his little belly with the other, then asked gently, "Is it about your father?"

"Mmm!" the little guy responded with a thick nasal tone.

"Come here!" Jiaming gently dug out the little guy's head from her chest, then picked him up and sat him on her lap. The mother and son faced each other and talked. "If you're unhappy or can't figure something out, you can say it. Otherwise, no one will know what you're thinking."

"And," she said, making a loose circle around Hongxuan with one hand and gently pointing to his chest with the other, "it must hurt here!"

Upon hearing this, Hongxuan suddenly felt a lump in his throat and his eyes welled up with tears. He forced back the tears that were about to fall and nodded heavily.

"If you feel bad, you should talk about it. Once you talk about it, you won't feel bad anymore."

"Really?" The little guy still didn't quite believe it. "But, Father, Father, he, he, hiccup," he said, and then he couldn't help but choke up.

"Don't cry, sweetie," Jiaming said, wiping away his sudden tears with a handkerchief. As she wiped, she continued, "What's wrong with your father? Do you feel like he's still angry with you, that's why you're unhappy?"

Thinking of the master's tense face lately, no wonder Xuan'er misunderstood. She immediately shook her head helplessly and explained, "He's tense because of things happening outside, not because he's angry with you."

Xiao Hongxuan nodded, then shook his head, wiping away the last of his tears with his chubby little hands.

Jiaming blinked. What did this nodding and shaking of the head mean? She couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Sigh, children's minds are so hard to understand.

Then she heard her son's unreadable thoughts: "Even so, Father, does he... not like Xuan'er anymore?"

Oh? So that's what you're concerned about!

Whether that man liked Hongxuan or not, Jiaming didn't really care. After all, there's a way of life for everyone, regardless of who they like. But seeing the longing in Xuan'er's eyes, she couldn't bear to disappoint him; she wanted to see him smile.

Thinking about how good Fourth Master actually was to Hongxuan, she was unwilling to deny it, so she answered very firmly: "No! You're overthinking it."

After thinking about it, I felt I shouldn't let the little guy have too high expectations or too much desire, so I added, "However, he also likes your other older brothers and sisters."

Actually, she was overthinking it. The little guy just cared about his father's love. He was still worried, "But Father punished me..."

"Let me tell you a story!" Jiaming interrupted his worried words.

Hongxuan, who was abruptly interrupted, was somewhat bewildered.

"After you hear that, you'll know whether your father likes you or not."

Hongxuan blinked, pondered for a moment, and nodded.

Two stories: one about strict discipline and the other about spoiling a child. One child became successful, the other fell into poverty. In the end, she concluded, "Your father just felt that this way of educating you was better than spoiling you; it wasn't that he disliked you and was punishing you."

After hearing this, Xiao Hongxuan frowned and sighed like a little adult.

Jiaming was a little frustrated. Could it be that he didn't understand? No way, the little guy always listened to stories like this and understood them perfectly.

“Mother, I understand everything you’re saying. I know Father punishes me for my own good, but please let me finish!” The little girl paused before saying quietly, “The problem is that after Father punished me, he ignores me. He doesn’t help me pick food, doesn’t pat my head, and doesn’t praise me anymore. He never did this when he punished me before. And, and when I try to be cute, he ignores me. He never did this when he was angry before.”

After saying that, she felt even more strongly that her father didn't like her anymore, and the little one felt very sad and wronged. *Sob*, her nose stung again, and her eyes welled up with tears once more.

"Silly boy!" Jiaming poked his forehead with her slender finger and said irritably, "You're overthinking it. If you don't believe me, just wait and see tomorrow."

She didn't try to explain to the little guy anymore. She believed that even if she did, he would still be uneasy. It was better to leave it as it was for now. She thought he wouldn't be so worried after he woke up tomorrow morning.

When Fourth Master returned in the evening, he found Jiaming waiting for him, and there were no other servants in the room.

With no one else around, and seeing the person who had offered to help him take off his coat, Fourth Master no longer held back. His cool voice carried a hint of teasing, "What's wrong with you today? So proactive." He thought to himself, "Is it because I'm busy and feel neglected, so you want to..."

Judging from the voice and the glint in the Fourth Master's deep eyes, Jiaming gave him a playful glare and said speechlessly, "You're overthinking it." Then, fearing that the Fourth Master would be embarrassed or annoyed, she immediately changed the subject, "Actually, it's about Hongxuan."

"Hongxuan! What's wrong with him?" After saying that, he realized that Hongxuan had been smiling less lately and was becoming more and more depressed. Something was definitely wrong, so he changed the subject and asked, "Master has been quite busy lately. What is the reason for this?"

Have you become listless after being punished so many times? But I've been punished before, and I've never been like this.

Jiaming glanced at Fourth Master with a half-smile, then turned around and put down the coat she had just taken off, saying, "It's all because of you, Master. He thought you didn't like him anymore."

The Fourth Master was taken aback upon hearing this, then realized that he had been thinking about how the little guy was getting older and shouldn't be spoiled so much these days, so he had deliberately toned it down. In addition, things hadn't been going well with his official duties lately, so his expression had probably been quite stern. He never expected that this would lead to such a situation.

Knowing the reason, Fourth Master had a solution in mind. "You don't need to worry about this; he'll be back to normal tomorrow."