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“Other babies stop sleeping with their parents before they are even one year old. You are big babies now, so of course you should sleep by yourselves.”
Thankfully, she was sleeping alone and hadn't been kicked out by her parents. Mumu breathed a sigh of relief. "Can't I sleep with Mom every day?"
"If you really, really want to, then you can sleep with us."
He was a little smug when he said "we".
Chu Qinghuai naturally regarded him and Zhong Wan as one.
The child may not stay up late with Zhong, but he absolutely must.
The clever Xiaohe asked, "Dad, why don't you sleep alone?"
He laughed: "Because I'm the dad, and dads are supposed to sleep with moms."
It seems so. All those stories and picture books they listened to before, like the snail family, the pig family, and all sorts of princess and prince stories, in the end, all those protagonists would become mom and dad and live happily ever after.
"You are children, and brave children sleep alone."
Mumu and Xiaohe both shouted, "I am a brave child!"
"Great."
After praising his two daughters, Chu Qinghuai turned his gaze to Cai Cai and asked, "Cai Cai, are you brave?"
“Then Cai Cai is fine too.” He slowly raised his hand.
But deep down, he didn't want to face the lonely night alone.
...
Chu Qinghuai immediately signed a contract with the homeowner. He could move in within a month without even having to tidy up the house. Moreover, out of consideration for his friend, he received a very good rental price. To express his gratitude, he soon... chose a time to invite the two of them to dinner.
With the prospect of moving the children to a new living environment looming, expenses were piling up, and Chu Qinghuai needed to find a new job. Coincidentally, the shop he had his eye on was near the house, but the rent was quite expensive. He hesitated for a long time before finally settling on a location a little further away.
When Zhong Wan found out, she complained to him, "What kind of lousy, out-of-the-way place did you choose? Didn't you say you were going to rent it next to the supermarket?"
"Too expensive."
"It's only 30,000 more expensive, but it's not like we can't earn that much in the future."
Chu Qinghuai said it was fine, "I've already paid the rent, I'll give it a try."
"Whatever you want."
The two often disagree, but they always stop when they are about to start arguing, and each gives in a little.
Zhong Wan has come to terms with it. Anyway, things are not like they were when we couldn't even afford to eat. There is still a high margin for error in our careers. And the two of them don't mess around, so it's impossible for them to create an irreversible situation.
"Once the shop opens, I can bring the kids over, so I won't trouble Sister Lin and the others to take care of them."
Zhong Wan thought it was pretty good. The shop was located very close to the cake shop where she worked, so if time allowed, she could go there at lunchtime to see her child.
"Yes, that's what I think too."
"Once the final payment comes through, you should take care of things like the business license. I've been quite busy lately and might not be able to attend to your needs."
"You don't need to worry about me. But the children haven't been out to play in a long time. Let's take them out for a trip on a slightly free day in a few days."
Zhong Wan readily agreed.
-
Before getting all the necessary permits for their fruit shop, the couple decorated and tidied up their newly rented house. They will move in this Sunday with their three children, meaning that starting tonight, the babies will be sleeping on their own.
Everyone was excited all day, and Zhong Wan indirectly exhausted them by taking them to play in the downstairs game area for a long time before going home for dinner.
Chu Qinghuai cooked a lot of dishes, and the whole family ate their fill, while also gradually adapting to the unfamiliar new environment.
The house was much bigger than the one they lived in. You really do get what you pay for. The balcony was bright, the kitchen and living room were separate, and there were four rooms in total. Finally, they didn't have to worry about being squeezed and falling over if they turned around.
Not only the children, but even Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai were staying in such a big house for the first time. Zhong Wan was a little unaccustomed to mopping the floor at night, and her back ached from bending over for so long.
"Will we be able to buy a house this big in our lifetime?"
She sat on the sofa and asked Chu Qinghuai, who was organizing the children's storybooks. Hearing the question, he replied, "I definitely will."
Back when they lived in a small, run-down house, they never imagined they could buy a small house. You have to have dreams, what if they come true?
Without thinking too much, Zhong Wan mopped the floor from the balcony to the kitchen until it shone, then picked up Xiao He from the sofa and kissed her little face: "I'll give you a bath first today."
The order of bathing each day is rotated. The first one to bathe goes to bed first, and the one who hasn't had their turn yet can watch cartoons for a while longer. So all three children wanted to take a bath last.
"Take a shower and then go to sleep."
Xiao He hugged Zhong Wan's neck and rubbed her eyes; she was indeed sleepy.
Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai planned to tell the three of them the story at the same time, and then carry them back to their own room to sleep.
The children's rooms are equipped with surveillance cameras, and the door locks are fingerprint locks, which fully ensures their safety. The surveillance is very intelligent; it will send a signal to the parents' mobile phones if there is any loud noise, such as crying.
...
"In the end, the little elephant made many good friends, and it gradually accepted its long trunk..."
"Alright, that's all for today's story. Can you all go to sleep now?"
Mumu didn't want to sleep yet, so she leaned against Zhong Wan and asked, "Mommy, why is the elephant's nose so long, and mine so short?"
This question really stumped Zhong Wan. After thinking for a moment, she asked in return, "Then do you want the baby elephant's trunk?"
"No, a long nose is bad, it will make you trip when you walk."
Kids sometimes have really strange thought processes.
"Yes, a long trunk would make it difficult for you to walk, but not for a baby elephant. It needs its trunk to eat and drink; it's an organ it needs, just like our noses."
"I understand."
Zhong Wan patted her hair. "Any more questions? Do Cai Cai and Xiao He have any?"
All three children shook their heads.
"If not, we're going to sleep now. Daddy's making milk. In a bit, Mommy and Daddy will take you to your rooms, and then you can drink your milk and go to sleep by yourselves, okay?"
"good."
They were more adaptable than Zhong Wan had imagined. They were probably very tired, as they lay on the bed with their eyelids barely open and fingers in their mouths.
Zhong Wan gently removed their fingers and carried them one by one to the room.
The three children's rooms have similar styles, all leaning towards a childlike aesthetic. Soft light shines on the cribs, making the babies look like angels lying inside, delicate and soft.
Even someone like Zhong Wan, who never experienced childhood, wants to sleep in children's bedrooms.
...
Cloud-shaped picture frames hang on the wall, and small purple petals dangle from the ends of the Morandi pink star chandelier. The blankets and dolls echo each other, featuring various adorable bear shapes, and the creamy yellow background gives children a warm feeling.
This is Mumu's room. Zhong Wan and Chu Qinghuai also put her to sleep first.
Mumu is the best girl. Zhong Wan covered her with a blanket, gave her the bottle, and gently patted her side. "Can you be okay by yourself, baby?"
She nodded, tilting her head. Since she couldn't speak, she stretched out a hand to wave goodbye to her parents. She was a big girl now and could bravely go to sleep.
Zhong Wan was very pleased, "If you miss your parents, just come and knock on our door."
Without disturbing her daughter, she quickly turned off the light and came out of the room.
Next was Cai Cai, sitting on the bed blinking, bargaining, unwilling to face the long night alone; he didn't want to leave his parents.
Zhong Wan comforted him, "Cai Cai, give it a try! You're the bravest baby, you can definitely do it."
Chu Qinghuai put the straw of the baby bottle into his mouth, "Drink up, we'll stay here with you and leave when you fall asleep."
Cai Cai lay down, letting his mother tuck him in. His eyes didn't want to leave his parents. Chu Qinghuai and Zhong Wan stayed with him for as long as he was awake. A sense of security washed over him, and finally, he couldn't resist the fatigue. He closed his eyes and fell asleep before finishing a bottle of milk.
Zhong Wan did not leave immediately. She waited until Cai Cai, who felt insecure, had fallen asleep for a long time before turning off the last light in the room with Chu Qinghuai.
The last one to be comforted was Xiao He.
Because she was the youngest and often fussed over sleep, Zhong Wan naturally assumed she was the most difficult baby to soothe. However, before the couple even entered the house, she had already fallen asleep from exhaustion.
Chu Qinghuai was still holding a baby bottle in his hand, the warm touch spreading to his palm. He tugged at the corner of his mouth and said, "Should we wake her up now?"
"No." Zhong Wan pulled him away. "Are you stupid? She's sleeping soundly, why would you wake her up?"
"Then you're not going to drink the milk?"
"You can just pour it into your bowl and finish it."
Zhong Wan felt relaxed, knowing she could enjoy a big bed with Chu Qinghuai tonight. However, she couldn't completely let her guard down; the long night had just begun, and who could guarantee that nothing would go wrong?
She dared not sleep, watching Chu Qinghuai go out and come back, and asked him what he had been doing.
"Wash baby bottles."
Zhong Wan beckoned him to sit on the bed, teasingly patting the sheets. Chu Qinghuai slipped on his slippers and sighed, "Finally, it's just the two of us on this bed."
"You seem to really dislike them."
"No, I just don't want to fall out of bed in the middle of the night."
"Okay, now you can roll around and do handstands to your heart's content."
There's definitely some discomfort about having three kids suddenly missing from the bed, but more than that, there's a sense of relief—perhaps the peace and tranquility that every parent longs for.
"You just came over, didn't you hear them crying? They were all sleeping well, weren't they?"
Three video frames appeared on the phone screen, all with black backgrounds. It seemed that everyone was sleeping well, except for Cai Cai, who tossed and turned several times, sometimes pulling at the blanket, sometimes kissing her teddy bear.
"No crying, no crying, you were all very brave."
Zhong Wan felt relieved and increasingly felt that this decision was correct, giving each child enough independent space to think and solve problems independently.
Do babies sometimes cry for their parents in the middle of the night?
Zhong Wan asked Chu Qinghuai to guess.
"It's hard to say."
The parents couldn't bear to leave their children, so they watched the surveillance footage for two hours. When they discovered that the babies had indeed managed to fall asleep on their own, they were overwhelmed with emotion and filled with emotion.
The children are growing up.
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