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The three children fell asleep before even finishing one episode of the cartoon, and there was still a mouthful of milk powder left in Mumu's bottle.
They were huddled together under the same blanket, with Mumu's hand resting on Caicai's stomach. Lin Jiang's heart melted at the sight, and not wanting to disturb them, she tucked the blanket in, turned off the light, and went outside.
Under the blanket, unnoticed by anyone, a round little green vegetable was kicked by a small foot and fell to the ground.
...
Chen Yun played games all night. Afraid of being scolded by his parents, he pretended to have just woken up and even went to the kitchen to boil some eggs. However, he was attracted by strange noises coming from his parents' bedroom, which chased away his sleepiness.
Just as he took a few steps closer, Chen Yu opened the door, his brows furrowed as if he could trap a mosquito. Upon seeing Chen Yun, he waved and said, "You're up just in time, come over here."
"What's wrong?"
Chen Yun was completely bewildered, and his steps were unsteady due to lack of sleep.
The three children were sitting in the middle of the bed, with Cai Cai squeezed in the middle, looking at everyone innocently.
Lin Jiang squatted on the ground, holding a small green vegetable in her hands. She checked under the bed but found nothing. Completely puzzled, she wondered where the vegetable had come from. "My darlings, do you really not remember?"
"I don't remember."
That's the truth. Cai Cai doesn't remember when he conjured up the little green vegetable. He always keeps his mother's words in mind, knowing that it's dangerous to conjure up his true form outside of home. So he doesn't dare to make a sound now, in case his aunt finds out he's the little green vegetable.
His mother said he would be kidnapped as a little monster.
Xiaohe wasn't fully awake, so she ignored what her uncle and aunt were saying. She leaned on her brother's shoulder, closed her eyes, and put on a show of falling asleep instantly.
Mumu stared nervously at the vegetables in her aunt's hand, blinking her big, bright eyes, unsure of what to do.
"That's strange, I haven't bought any vegetables in a long time, where did they come from?"
Lin Jiang and Chen Yu knew that the three children were allergic to green vegetables and oranges, and those two things would definitely not be in the house, so the only possibility was...
They all turned their attention to Chen Yun, who was dazed and waved his hand as he backed away, saying, "It wasn't me, it wasn't me."
This look made her look guilty, so Lin Jiang said helplessly, "Xiao Yun, did you give this to your younger siblings to play with? Why would you buy this out of the blue? They are allergic to vegetables. What if they eat it? Don't do this again."
She complained to her husband, "Honestly, where did you buy these vegetables? They're tiny and don't look appetizing at all."
If Chen Yun weren't so tired, he would definitely have argued with his parents. But he had to go to sleep and didn't have time to explain, so he just took the blame.
The incident involving the little green vegetable had passed since Lin Jiang's family left, and no one had told Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai about it. However, when Zhong Wan came to pick up the children in the afternoon, another strange thing happened.
The three children missed their mother terribly. Whenever they saw Zhong Wan, they wanted to go home with her. Xiao He clung to her and refused to get down, saying, "Mommy, hug me."
Zhong Wan picked her up and left with the children without lingering.
"Did you have fun at your aunt's house?"
Walking down the street, she asked Mumu and Caicai.
Everyone said they were happy.
"Will you stay at Auntie's house again next time?"
Everyone shook their heads, seemingly not used to it. Oh well, this kind of experience is something you only need to go through once. Zhong Wan smiled and said, "Silly baby."
Mu Mu and Cai Cai lively shared their funny stories with her, and Zhong Wan gave them plenty of emotional support, pretending to be very surprised, "Wow, is that so? You guys are really amazing!"
The two children were quite satisfied with the exchange, but Zhong Wan noticed that Xiao He hadn't spoken for a long time, which was not typical of her boisterous personality. She asked, "Why aren't you talking, baby? Are you unhappy?"
"No, I just miss my mom so much."
Xiao He grabbed the corner of her clothes, pouting, and didn't look happy at all.
Zhong Wan thought she was just having a normal mood swings.
...
The weather was warm, and the sky was a clear, deep blue.
Zhong Wan was planning to take the children to the supermarket. It just so happened that Chu Qinghuai would be arriving home tomorrow, and she needed to buy groceries and cook to welcome him.
She pushed a shopping cart and was about to put Xiaohe in it when the other girl refused, her voice trembling with sobs as she whimpered, "No!"
Zhong Wan placed her on the handle of the shopping cart and sat her up, half-hugging her. Thinking that the child was not feeling well, she reached out to touch her forehead but found it was not hot.
"What's wrong, baby? Mommy's going to buy you and your older brother and sister something delicious."
Cai Cai stood to the side and chimed in, "Yes, it's delicious."
Xiao He sniffled and hugged Zhong Wan's neck tightly, clearly saying no.
Zhong Wan asked Mu Mu, "Did your little sister go to sleep last night? What time did you go to bed yesterday?"
Mumu doesn't know how to tell time yet, but she told her mother, "My little sister went to sleep a long time ago. She's the last one to get up today."
Then it's not that you didn't sleep well.
Zhong Wan felt Xiao He's forehead temperature with her own cheek again, but it wasn't hot at all. She asked carefully, "Baby, tell Mommy, where does it hurt?"
Xiao He refused to answer, shaking her head repeatedly, saying she wanted to go home. Just then, Zhong Wan clearly saw two petals fall from the child's hair. They seemed to be alive, even trembling slightly, white with a hint of pink, lying quietly on the ground.
Zhong Wan was stunned. Seeing this supernatural scene in person was still very shocking. It was the first time she had a direct experience of the fact that her baby was a lotus spirit.
"you……"
"Baby." She covered Xiao He's head, looked around to make sure no one was watching, and her eyes reflected worry. "Are you really alright?"
Although she wasn't a spirit, she could still sense something unusual.
Cai Cai squatted down, picked up the petals, spread them in her palm, and tiptoed to hand them to her mother: "These are my little sister's petals."
Zhong Wan refused, telling him to keep it, and asked, "Do you know what happened to your sister? Why did she suddenly start losing little flowers?"
Ever since the three children revealed their true forms in the living room, she had never seen Xiao He's petals again, and she found it hard to accept.
"I didn't know, I have vegetables too." He put his hands behind his back.
"You dropped some vegetables too? Where?"
“Auntie’s house.” Cai Cai stammered as she recounted what had happened that morning. Zhong Wan’s face was grave, and her mind was foggy.
"go home."
She lost interest in shopping at the supermarket and, fearing something might happen to her three children, took a taxi home directly.
Just as they arrived at the door and before they could even take out their keys, Xiaohe squirmed in her mother's arms, looking increasingly uncomfortable. Pale, bitter-smelling petals fell to the ground like rain. Caicai called out, seemingly sensing something was wrong, and touched her little sister's hand: "Are you alright?"
Zhong Wan held Xiao He in her arms, her voice trembling slightly: "Cai Cai, help pick up your sister's petals, and Mu Mu, help Mom take the keys out of her bag."
She did as she was told.
"Can you open the door? Help Mom open the door."
Mu Mu wasn't even as tall as the doorknob. Her right hand was gripping the key, and she was trying to slip it through the crack. Her movements were slow, but Zhong Wan wasn't in a hurry. She encouraged her, "That's right, turn right, that's it."
A door finally opened after two minutes, and Mumu was the first to go in. She felt she had done something great and was very proud.
Zhong Wan led the two children to change their shoes, then covered the back and closed the door. She praised Mu Mu and Cai Cai for being great, and then quickly carried Xiao He to the sofa and took off her coat. At this moment, she noticed that Xiao He's body was a little hot.
Taking care of a sick baby is not an easy task. Zhong Wan had to ignore Mu Mu and Cai Cai for a few minutes. She was anxious and felt apologetic. She took out some biscuits and two bottles of milk from the cabinet and let the two siblings sit in chairs to eat.
"Your little sister has a fever, so Mommy needs to take care of her first. Can you guys play by yourselves for a bit?"
The two clever babies understood what was being said and obediently said yes.
Zhong Wan went to the room to find an ear thermometer and measured Xiao He's temperature at 37.9 degrees Celsius. However, it was not high enough to warrant taking fever-reducing medication. Moreover, given that the child was still shedding flower petals, she didn't dare to take her to the hospital and could only apply a fever-reducing patch to lower the temperature physically.
This strange fever came so suddenly.
She carried Xiao He to the bed, wiped her body quickly, and saw that the sleeping baby's face was rosy and her little mouth was slightly open, showing that she was in great pain. A cold sense of helplessness instantly welled up in her heart, and Zhong Wan desperately hoped that Chu Qinghuai would come back soon.
Exhausted, she walked out of the room. Mumu and Caicai had almost finished eating at the dining table. The two children called out "Mom!" Zhong Wan felt guilty. She was no good mother; she had actually let her children eat cookies to fill their stomachs.
"Are you hungry? Do you want some wontons? I'll make some, okay?"
Chu Qinghuai had left some wontons in the refrigerator from that day, intending to use them as a snack when the children weren't getting enough to eat. She took them all out to thaw and made them her dinner that night.
Mumu and Caicai didn't say whether they were hungry or not, which meant they could eat more. Mumu lay on the table and said, "Mom, you must be hungry too. You should rest."
Zhong Wan felt a warmth in her heart. "Okay, I cooked some wontons. Let's eat together."
It must be said that Mumu's understanding words effectively relieved her fatigue.
She hadn't had a proper chance to hold the two children all day, so she put them on her lap and chatted with them, talking about what they had for lunch. Cai Cai boasted that he had eaten a small bowl of spinach, and Zhong Wan praised him for being so clever.
Mumu was very concerned about her younger sister. After not seeing her for just a few minutes, her eyes were filled with worry. She put her little hand on her chin and asked, "How is Xiaohe?"
"Mommy doesn't know either. By the way, baby, do you know why your sister's petals are falling off?" Zhong Wan thought that the three babies were more or less connected, so she should know some reason, right?
Mu Mu shook her head, though she didn't know.
Even among spirits, there are differences. There are many factors that cause a spirit to reveal its true form. For some little spirits, the lack of spiritual nourishment from their parents can lead to physical discomfort, just like humans losing hair.
Fortunately, Xiao He's condition improved after she slept for a while, and the petals stopped falling off inexplicably. Zhong Wan carried her out for dinner, put two or three wontons in a bowl, cut them into pieces, added some seaweed that she liked, and fed her spoonful by spoonful.
"Is your headache gone? Do you feel any discomfort in your body right now?"
Xiao He was so hungry that she didn't have time to answer her and just shook her head.
Sick children get the privilege of being fed by their parents the whole time, and their mothers can hold them the whole time. Cai Cai was a little envious. Sitting opposite them, she propped her little head up and swayed back and forth, as if talking to herself: "If I'm not feeling well, can my mom feed me?"
Zhong Wan felt heartbroken listening to this, and tapped his cheek with her hand, "You little rascal, you can't say things like that. It makes Mommy very sad if you say such things. You should always be safe and healthy, and everyone should stay healthy."
Cai Cai made a "hmm" sound, seemingly understanding but not quite.
Zhong Wan picked up Cai Cai's water cup from the table and fed him water, saying, "Here, Mom is feeding you now."
Cai Cai wiped the water stains from her mouth, then ran off to play, satisfied.
Sitting on her lap, Xiao He swung her legs and mumbled, "I hope Mom never gets sick. Being sick is so, so, so uncomfortable."
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