When it was time to eat, everyone began to enjoy the meal.
The adults were toasting and chatting, so they ate slowly. But the children were different; they ate quickly and then wanted to play by themselves.
"Okay, Xiaoqing, you take Shuang'er to play. Be careful and don't go outside the restaurant, understand?" Hu Feiyue instructed.
"Okay, Mom!" Mo Jiaqing took his younger sister Mo Shuang'er's hand, wanting to go play somewhere else.
At this moment, Liu Shengrui, who had already eaten his fill, couldn't hold back any longer. He struggled to jump down from Mo Youyou's arms, shouting that he wanted to play too.
“Let’s play together, let’s be with them,” Liu Shengrui said.
Because Liu Shengrui had a less than pleasant encounter with Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er at the previous family dinner, the two cousins were even a little afraid of their younger brother. When they saw Liu Shengrui coming up, they all showed their resistance.
What if he bullies me again?
Even before dinner, when everyone was playing together, the two of them ignored Liu Shengrui.
Even though Liu Shengrui had already walked up to the two children, Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er remained standing still, showing no sign of welcome.
Hu Feiyue and Lin Qing pretended to be oblivious, as they were still upset about Liu Shengrui bullying their child last time.
Liu Dekai also saw it, and he only felt that Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er did a good job!
Even he had suffered at Liu Shengrui's hands, let alone these two children. The best way was to avoid contact with them, but he wouldn't actually say that out loud.
Mo Youyou couldn't bear to watch. She knew the crux of the problem. She couldn't force the two children, so she had to step in on behalf of her son and try to communicate with Xiaoqing and Shuang'er, letting them play with her son first. Then they would see the changes in Liu Shengrui and change their opinion of him.
Liu Shengrui, feeling isolated, was very unhappy. He stood behind his mother with a timid and aggrieved look, watching Mo Youyou talk to Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er.
"Xiaoqing, Shuang'er, Auntie knows that Xiaorui didn't have a good time playing with you last time, but Xiaorui is all grown up now, and he has a teacher at home teaching him how to get along with other children. So please promise Auntie that you'll give Xiaorui a chance to play with you and see how it goes, okay?"
"Auntie promises that if Xiao Rui continues to be disobedient as before, Auntie will take Xiao Rui away and stop him from bullying you. But if Xiao Rui changes for the better, you can be good brothers and sisters with him again, okay?"
"Come here, Xiao Rui," Mo Youyou beckoned to her son, gesturing for him to come closer. "Xiao Rui, promise Mom you'll play nicely with Xiao Qing and Shuang'er, and you won't bully them. You'll get along well with them, understand?"
Liu Shengrui looked at Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er. He understood what Mo Youyou had said earlier and knew what the situation was like.
"I know," Liu Shengrui nodded, looking innocent and adorable. "Mom, I'll play with my older brother and sister. I like playing with them!"
Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er are both very well-behaved children, without any guile, and they don't understand the art of ostracizing others.
The resistance they showed just now was only due to their instinctive fear and rejection stemming from past experiences. But now, after listening to their aunt's persuasion and hearing Liu Shengrui say he wanted to play with them, the two children softened instantly and nodded in agreement.
“Okay, Auntie.” Mo Jiaqing was very obedient and immediately accepted Mo Youyou’s suggestion.
"And what about you, Shuang'er?" Mo Youyou looked at Mo Shuang'er, who had a somewhat hesitant expression.
The pressure of being watched was immense, and it wasn't just anyone—her aunt who had always been kind to her. So, Mo Shuang'er put aside her previous prejudices and nodded in agreement.
“Shuang’er is willing to play with little Rui,” Mo Shuang’er said.
Solving this problem allowed Mo Youyou to breathe a brief sigh of relief.
"Hey, Xiao Rui, did you hear that? Now your older brother and sister are willing to play with you. Remember to promise Mommy. Now, the three of you hold hands and go play together, okay?" Mo Youyou encouraged.
Liu Shengrui walked up to the two children and reached out his hand to them.
"Hold hands, hold hands." Liu Shengrui waved his hand, looking eager to join them.
Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er still looked somewhat distrustful, but seeing Mo Youyou watching, they had no choice but to place their hands on Liu Shengrui's hands, and their little hands held each other like that.
"My toys are over there, let's go play with them," Mo Jiaqing suggested, thinking that they wouldn't have to hold hands while playing with the toys.
It felt a little strange that the three of them were holding hands so tightly.
"Let's go," Mo Shuang'er said happily.
This is the area where the adults were resting and chatting. There are many toys on the sofa, all brought by the children.
Mo Jiaqing thought that there were so many toys, and he didn't know if Liu Shengrui would fight over them, so he decided to let him choose first.
"Xiao Rui, you're the youngest, so you can choose first," Mo Jiaqing said. He liked the fishing toy himself and kept his eyes on it, thinking that if his younger brother chose the fishing toy, he could wait for his brother to play with it for a while and then they could exchange toys.
“It’s your birthday, you choose first,” Liu Shengrui said.
The three of them were holding hands just now. Because Mo Shuang'er was still a little afraid of Liu Shengrui, her palms became sweaty and sticky within two minutes, and Liu Shengrui, who was holding her hand, naturally felt it.
"Shuang'er, your hands are sweaty." As he spoke, Liu Shengrui took Mo Shuang'er's hand and wiped the sweat from her hands on the hem of his clothes. "This will clean them up."
Mo Shuang'er was startled, but when she saw Liu Shengrui wiping her sweaty hands with his own clothes, she was both surprised and delighted, and felt very apologetic.
"But this way... your clothes will get dirty, I'm so sorry," Mo Shuang'er said sincerely. She should have asked her mother for help instead of getting her brother's clothes dirty.
"It's okay, I can go home and change my clothes," Liu Shengrui said nonchalantly, then turned to Mo Jiaqing, "Xiaoqing, have you chosen your toy?"
"I want to fish with this," Mo Jiaqing said, picking up the fishing toy.
He had witnessed Liu Shengrui wiping Mo Shuang'er's sweaty hands, and he was quite surprised.
Liu Shengrui actually used his clothes to wipe Mo Shuang'er's sweaty hands!
Moreover, Liu Shengrui even let him choose the toys first!
I don't know if he really changed, or if he was just putting on an act for him and Shuang'er at first.
In short, having just started playing together, Mo Jiaqing and Mo Shuang'er were still a little reserved, always cautiously observing Liu Shengrui's every move, constantly on guard. If he did anything wrong, they would immediately run to the other side to find the adults to come and settle things.
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