04
"Baby, what are you saying?"
Zhong Wan asked her in confusion, and the next moment she heard Chu Qinghuai's surprised voice: "How come there's a child here!"
"ha?"
Zhong Wan was also surprised. She picked up Mu Mu and went closer to take a look. It really was a child.
The little boy, dressed in dark green overalls, was covered in dirt. His face was a mixture of mud and tears, making him look like a pitiful little kitten. His eyes were swollen from crying, and his thick, fan-like eyelashes were wet. His mouth was slightly open, and he looked extremely insecure.
"Mom, put me down."
Mumu moved her little legs, got off Zhong Wan, ran to the little boy's side, sniffed him from left to right, and asked in surprise, "Are you Little Green Vegetable?"
He nodded fearfully, his nose twitching, but he no longer cried out; he was just silently shedding tears.
As it grew darker, he felt increasingly insecure, hugging himself tightly with his two small arms.
"Mumu, do you know him? Where are his family members?"
Mumu turned her head and said happily, "Mom and Dad, he is your child too!"
"Baby, you can't say things like that."
Zhong Wan's eyelids twitched when she heard this, especially when she saw the pitiful look on the child sitting on the grass, and her heart ached.
She walked in, squatted down, and said with a smile, "Little friend, why are you here all alone? Where are your parents?"
She was fine until she spoke, because the little boy's tears flowed even more as he covered his eyes with his little hands, "The kitten... the kitten hit me, I... I don't have a mommy or daddy."
He had suffered a great injustice, and there were still a few cat hairs stuck to his pants, presumably from the kitten that had run away earlier bumping into him and scaring him.
Seeing the baby crying, Zhong Wan also felt down and quickly wiped away his tears, saying, "Don't cry, don't cry, Auntie will take you to find your mom and dad."
After saying that, she completely forgot about her germaphobia, picked up the child, and gently patted his back.
Zhong Wan bounced the child around and found the child to be incredibly light. The child looked only half a head shorter than Mu Mu, so how could the child be so much lighter?
Seeing this, Chu Qinghuai frowned and reached out his hand, "How about I carry you?"
"No need, you hold Mumu, let's hurry to the police station."
"..."
-
I've been to the police station twice in two days; I don't know if that counts as good luck.
Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai exchanged a glance, both seeing the absurdity in each other's eyes.
"Officer, we've found another child."
Her tone was a little awkward; she really didn't want to treat what happened over the past two days as a coincidence.
"Oh, I see, he's a cute little kid too."
In contrast, the police seemed very calm, even blowing on their tea, as if everything was within their expectations.
"Then I'll ask you to find his family."
Zhong Wan patted the little boy's hair one last time, then stood up as if to leave.
"Wait a moment!"
Zhong Wan stopped, her guesses becoming clearer.
"Look, you're raising one child anyway, and you're raising two anyway, so why not..."
"Officer! Our home isn't a kindergarten!" Zhong Wan couldn't help but raise her voice.
The other party said apologetically, "How can it be a kindergarten? Don't worry, we won't let you work for nothing; you'll receive a subsidy."
"This is not a question of whether or not there are subsidies."
Seeing that Zhong Wan looked uncomfortable, Chu Qinghuai patted her back and interjected, "Officer, don't you think things are strange? Why do we always manage to find children, and why do we have to take them home and raise them ourselves?"
He certainly knew the reason, "I can't say."
He was also very frustrated.
After a brief silence, the police officer waved his hand and said, "You four should go home now. The truth will come out eventually. Sigh, this child is so young and pitiful. It's been hard on you raising him."
What a blatant attempt at moral blackmail!
Everyone stared at the child on Chu Qinghuai's lap. He had cried himself to sleep, his cheeks still bearing dirty marks.
Yes, no one would want to see such a lovely child, full of brokenness and deserving of love, end up on the streets or being abused.
Chu Qinghuai also had a strange thought in his mind: this child should go home with them.
He looked at Zhong Wan, who said, "Then let's go."
The policeman beamed and escorted them to the door, saying, "We'll transfer the money to your accounts in a few days!"
-
Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai each carried a baby. As soon as they arrived home, the little boy woke up and was startled to find himself in an unfamiliar environment. However, when he saw the two adults beside him whom he inexplicably liked, his anxiety disappeared.
Mumu changed her shoes and came over, patted his shoulder, and asked curiously, "Little Green Vegetable, how did you know that my mom, dad, and I would be going there?"
Before the little boy could answer, Zhong Wan looked at the two of them strangely: "Mumu, why do you call your little brother 'Little Green Vegetable'?"
Zhong Wan took the two children to wash their hands and faces. She was puzzled when she heard her daughter calling the new baby "Little Green Vegetable." They should be meeting for the first time, so why were they so familiar with each other?
Mumu poked the little boy's cheek and giggled twice: "Because he's like a little cabbage!"
Zhong Wan thought she was just daydreaming again, so she turned to ask the other child, "What's your name?"
"Cai Cai".
He opened his round, innocent eyes and cautiously asked, "Are you Mom?"
It completely melted Zhong Wan's heart.
How can a little boy look so pure and cute?
Unlike Mu Mu's beauty, he has a soft, fluffy feel, more like a plush toy.
"Yes, I am the mother."
Zhong Wan has come to terms with it. Becoming a mother to two adorable little ones isn't a bad idea. She can just consider it as accumulating parenting experience for the future.
"Your name is Caicai? That's a lovely name, just like Mumu's."
Zhong Wan misheard "Cai Cai" as "Cai Cai", but the child quickly accepted the new name her mother gave her.
...
Before Chu Qinghuai finished preparing dinner for the two children, Zhong Wan took them inside to take a bath.
Because Cai Cai was too dirty, Zhong Wan washed him first, while Mu Mu was taken care of by Chu Qinghuai.
Chu Qinghuai unpacked the new toys he had bought for his daughter and let her sit on a small stool to play with them. "Are you hungry?"
He squatted down and asked her.
Mumu nodded honestly, her hands still exploring the toy.
"The noodles will be ready soon." Thinking of the new child who had come to their home, Chu Qinghuai was more worried than happy. He took the toy from his daughter's hand and said seriously, "Don't play with it yet, I have a question to ask."
Even after her toy was taken away, Mumu still sat up straight with a good temper and asked, "What was it?"
"Did you feel sad because your parents brought a new friend home today?"
"I'm not sad." She didn't understand why her father was asking that question.
"Really? He'll eat with you, play with you, grow up with you, and call me Dad. Aren't you happy at all?"
"No, Dad, I know that Little Green Vegetable is my younger brother."
Chu Qinghuai originally wanted to ask more, but he was touched by his daughter's honest eyes. A faint sense of shame washed over him. He really shouldn't have made assumptions about a child's thoughts so casually. This was not only a misunderstanding of Mumu, but also unfair to the new child.
"Okay, Dad understands. I will take good care of you."
He returned the toy to Mumu, completely unaware that Mumu was genuinely happy that her parents had another child.
-
Two children sat at the dining table eating noodles after taking a bath.
Chu Qinghuai thought that since it was so late, they should eat something light, so he made them vegetable and shrimp noodles.
Mumu sat in her usual spot, with her father's books propping up her bottom. She held the new little spoon she had bought that day, carefully stirring the food in her bowl.
As for Cai Cai, just like Mu Mu yesterday, he doesn't know how to use a spoon. At first, when he saw the noodles in the bowl, he wanted to grab them with his hands to eat. Zhong Wan was surprised and decisively said, "Mom will feed you."
Cai Cai was starving, so he grabbed Zhong Wan's hand and took a big gulp, but only two seconds after it entered his mouth, he pursed his lips and spat it all out, choking on it.
Startled, Zhong Wan quickly grabbed a tissue to wipe his mouth. "What's wrong, baby?"
Chu Qinghuai touched the rim of the bowl with concern and asked in surprise, "It's not hot anymore. I scooped it out after it cooled down."
Mumu, who was sitting next to me, had almost finished her bowl of noodles when she suddenly shouted, "Little Green Vegetable doesn't eat green vegetables!"
At this moment, the two adults still treated the words as childish talk, telling her that little girls should eat more vegetables. Zhong Wan scooped up another spoonful and held it to Cai Cai's mouth, coaxing, "Smack your lips, Daddy's noodles are so delicious."
Unable to resist her mother's charm, Cai Cai opened her mouth wide as if possessed and swallowed the mushy noodles without much chewing.
After taking the first bite, he shook his head and said, "I don't eat vegetables."
Zhong Wan was amused. "So you're a picky eater. Are vegetables really that bad? You just ate them all. Be good, let's have this one last time tonight. Next time, Daddy won't make vegetables that Cai Cai hates, okay?"
She wasn't very sensitive to children's picky eating habits; there are things in the world that children like to eat and things they dislike, which is perfectly normal. But it was too late today, and it wouldn't be appropriate to ask Chu Qinghuai to cook him something else, so she had no choice but to make Cai Cai finish this bowl of vegetable noodles, and she would cook his favorite food tomorrow.
"Little green vegetable, how could you eat green vegetables?"
Mumu rested her chin on her hands, frowning in confusion. She glanced at her parents' backs in the living room and couldn't help but wonder how they could have forgotten this.
At this moment, only the two children were at the dinner table, chatting in hushed tones. Upon hearing Mumu's words, Caicai lowered her eyelids and sighed, "Sister Orange, Caicai can't eat green vegetables."
"..."
Zhong Wan dressed the two children in white t-shirts after their bath; they were her old clothes. The two babies were also covered with the same blanket and snuggled together watching cartoons. Surprisingly, the two, with their similar eyebrows and eyes, really did look like twins.
The moment the thought crossed Zhong Wan's mind, she pulled Chu Qinghuai over to look, "Don't our son and daughter look a lot like twins?"
"Yes, they're all very cute."
"I want to take a picture of it."
Zhong Wan excitedly took out her phone, and just as she was about to record a video, Chu Qinghuai suddenly went over and picked up Cai Cai.
"What's wrong?"
Chu Qinghuai's expression was solemn. He gently grasped Cai Cai's little arm and saw that her fair skin was covered with small red rashes.
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