Chapter 48 Who does Xixi call "Mom"?
The three children became friends after their initial misunderstanding, and quickly forgot about the little incident amidst the adults' teasing.
My younger cousin's name is Chen Xiaobao. He has a chubby face and a rather endearing appearance, but his personality is a bit awkward.
Xi Xi is the youngest of the three children, but she has quite a presence. This is evident in how Chen Yihuan listens to her every word and never goes west when she tells him to go east.
The two brothers fought over a limited edition Transformers toy, but Chen Yihuan gave it to Xixi to play with without batting an eye.
Chen Yihuan's generosity towards Xixi shocked Chen Xiaobao, and the bewildered child stared wide-eyed.
He and his younger cousin had known each other for so long, and they had always fought over toys; it had become a regular occurrence for them.
As a result, his stingy and miserly cousin has suddenly changed his ways.
Chen Xiaobao couldn't help but treat Xixi differently, and happily followed the two kids around.
Xi Xi wasn't very interested in the Transformers. She played with it for a while and then returned it to Chen Yihuan, resting her chin on her hands in boredom.
The two brothers circled around Xixi.
Chen Yihuan: "Xixi, what do you want to play? Your brother will play with you."
Chen Xiaobao quickly added, "I can accompany you too."
Xi Xi shrugged and spread her hands, looking helpless and worried: "I don't know what I want to play either, sigh."
"How about we play Eagle Catches Chicks?"
"No, running around is too dangerous, you're likely to fall."
"Then I'll teach you how to play Egg Waffle Party! It's so much fun, all the kids in my class can play it."
Nowadays, every family has plenty of electronic devices. Egg waffle parties have long been popular among children, and those who haven't played them find it hard to fit in with their friends.
"I don't want to play, and I don't want to study."
Xixi usually likes to watch cartoons on electronic devices and is not interested in video games that do not allow for face-to-face interaction with other children.
"Hmm, how about we play charades?"
Xi Xi shook her head; she was tired of these games from kindergarten.
The two brothers rarely play with girls, and now they were scratching their heads in frustration.
"Ah, I've got it! Do you like riding in cars? I'll take you for a drive."
Chen Yihuan patted his chest like a nouveau riche: "I have more than a dozen cars, you can choose whichever you like, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."
Xi Xi became interested.
Pei Yiyan's rented apartment was small, not only because there was no place to park the stroller, but also because going up and down the stairs was a hassle.
Pei Yiyan didn't buy them because he found it too troublesome; the only large toys in the house were the rocking horse and coin-operated rocking horse brought from Baicao County.
Xi Xi, who loves new experiences, agreed.
The three children came to the room where the strollers were parked. They knew Chen Yihuan had a lot of toys, but they didn't expect there to be so many. The whole room was his parking lot. He was really rich and powerful.
Chen Yihuan originally wanted to invite her to ride in the most expensive luxury car, but unexpectedly, Xixi picked out a pink and blue skateboard after looking around.
Chen Yihuan wanted to persuade her further, but the little girl was very stubborn and wouldn't easily change her mind once she made her choice.
Playing skateboarding requires a certain level of balance, and Xixi has never trained in this area, so she falls on her bottom after only a couple of tries.
The adults were fine, but Chen Yihuan was heartbroken and whimpered. He angrily smacked the skateboard twice to teach it a lesson, which made everyone laugh.
Little Chen Yihuan: Hmph, you guys don't know anything! This is the only person in kindergarten who can take me to see my idol!
Finally, Chen Yihuan came up with a brilliant idea: he tied a connecting rope between the skateboard and the luxury car, so that Xixi only needed to sit on the skateboard.
The driving experience is the same.
The children were having a great time playing in the living room downstairs, while Pei Yiyan, worried, went downstairs to check on them:
What's going on here? Is this like taking off your pants to fart?
Wouldn't it be better to just sit in the car?
When they came out again after a while, good heavens, they didn't even need the cart anymore. Chen Yihuan and Chen Xiaobao took turns pulling the cart by hand, working harder than an old ox.
The chubby little girl on the bus clapped her hands and giggled.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, the two brothers became rickshaw pullers in the new era, and even got into a fight over who would pull the rickshaw first.
Pei Yiyan:
Camel Huanzi, Camel Baozi.
At the dinner table, the adults joked about the two brothers pulling a cart. Camel Huanzi retorted, "What do you know? Driving a small cart doesn't show how powerful I am. Only a real man pulls a cart."
Camel Baozi: "That's right, that's right, we're men!"
Camel Huanzi proudly said, "I pull the cart for Xixi. When Xixi is happy, I am happy. We are both happy."
It's a matter of mutual consent, and everyone's happy.
Adults:
After dinner, it was already completely dark. Pei Yiyan told Xixi to go back to her room to take a shower, and took the time to unpack the clothes from his luggage.
Meng Zhi shook her head: 【Have you and Xixi eaten yet?】
Hot water was filled in the bathtub. Pei Yiyan didn't bring the toy chicks and ducks that Xixi was used to, but he took apart a new toy and put it in: a little duck electric shower head.
It can be attached to the tub wall or placed directly in the water, making it very convenient to rinse off bubbles.
After demonstrating how to use it to Xixi, Pei Yiyan left, reminding her not to play for too long.
The little girl readily agreed, but Pei Yiyan knew it would mostly go in one ear and out the other, so he was prepared to clean up the mess.
Two-thirds of the suitcase was filled with children's clothes, so Pei Yiyan only brought two sets of clothes to change into.
He opened the wardrobe door and hung up the children's clothes in categories, from light to dark colors, which was very pleasing to the eye for someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder.
Xi Xi originally wanted to add a few more plush toys, but Pei Yiyan, with his foresight, firmly opposed it.
Sure enough, the room was filled with just as many plush dolls as the one in Baicao County.
Pei Yiyan looked around the bedroom, lay down on the bed, closed his eyes comfortably, and savored the winter vacation of a single father.
He rolled over and placed a Snoopy pillow under his head, and his phone vibrated in his pocket.
Pei Yiyan squinted at the screen.
Meng Zhi shook her head: [Have you and Xixi arrived home safely?]
He stood up, stretched his neck, and typed a message with one hand: "Arrived. Just ate."
[Xixi is taking a bath.]
Meng Zhiyao replied after ten seconds: 【Understood.】
Pei Yiyan waited for a while, but there was no response from the other side.
He tapped his bent fingers on the edge of the bed, seemingly casually, then tapped the screen to send: "What about you?"
The dialog box showed that the other party was typing. Pei Yiyan stared at the six short words that appeared after a long time:
I just ate too.
Is it convenient to video chat?
Pei Yiyan raised an eyebrow slightly.
【Now? 】
Meng Zhi shook her head: [No, could you ask Xixi to video call me after she finishes showering?]
Just for a little while
【】
Pei Yiyan lazily lay back down: [Okay]
Thank you O(∩∩)O
You're welcome.
After the routine conversation ended, Pei Yiyan watched videos for more than ten minutes and found it boring. He called to Xixi in the bathroom to stop playing in the water and hurry up and get dressed.
He calls her every minute, and Xixi is getting really annoyed by her dad's constant calls.
The little boy, wearing a floral-patterned shower cap, trotted out of the bathroom, hands on his hips like a little landlady: "Dad, what are you doing?"
Pei Yiyan leaned to the side, resting his chin on his hand, and put his long index finger to his lips: "Shh, your ginseng whiskers are showing again. Hide them."
Upon hearing this, Xi Xi quickly covered her head, her black bean-like eyes glancing upwards, and stomped her chubby little foot: "Stop!"
The ginseng whiskers suddenly transformed back into soft, obedient hair.
Pei Yiyan got up with relief: "Dad went to take a shower. Give your mom a call, she misses you."
"Okay." Xixi's attention shifted, and she took her father's phone, smiling as she tapped on her mother's profile picture.
Pei Yiyan pushed open the bathroom door, unable to bear the mess on the floor, and expressionlessly rolled up his sleeves to get to work.
In the bedroom, Xixi flitted around like a butterfly: "Mommy, look! Those are all the dolls Grandma prepared for me to sleep with."
"And this is the bed that I sleep in with my dad at night. It's so big and soft, I can jump around on it."
"Next time you come, we can sleep together. Xixi can sleep between you and Daddy."
In the video, Meng Zhi tactfully drinks water, vaguely getting through the situation.
The bathroom door was tightly closed, but the doorknob of the room door was quietly turned and slowly pushed open a crack. A slender figure was about to step in when she suddenly froze.
Zhou Yi, holding the bedtime sweet soup, froze on the spot, unable to believe what she had just heard.
No, she wasn't mistaken, Xixi was calling for her mother!
Zhou Yi was overjoyed, almost dropping the sweet soup she was holding, but she kept a straight face and continued listening, suppressing her excitement.
"Did you have a happy day, my sweetie? Did you miss Mommy?"
"I'm so happy! Grandma made such delicious soup. I miss Mom so much, I want to kiss and hug her. Does Mom miss me?"
Zhou Yi's already straight back became even straighter.
"I missed it, so I couldn't resist calling my sweetheart."
Zhou Yi heard that the voice was extremely sweet, like that of a teenage girl. She wondered if it was Xi Xi's birth mother.
In her guess, Xixi's biological mother should be a mature woman around thirty years old.
Only a woman like this has the ability to raise Xixi to the age of three on her own. As for why she returned the child to the man halfway through, it is very likely that she found a suitable marriage partner and did not want a little burden.
After all, her eldest son is not yet old enough to get a marriage certificate.
So, the girl that Xixi is calling "Mom" now must be Xiaoyan's new girlfriend.
Judging from how familiar Xixi is with the other person, the two children have probably been friends for quite a while. Could they be high school classmates?
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