The sky had become as black as a frozen pool, and suddenly a bolt of lightning streaked across the sky, followed by a deafening rumble of thunder.
Su Xiaoyu, who was lying in bed, was suddenly awakened by the thunder. She opened her round eyes and stared intently at the tree branches outside the window that were swaying precariously in the wind.
Even though the windows were closed, the whistling wind and the pattering rain could still be clearly heard.
Su Xiaoyu's face was pale, and she curled up like a pitiful little animal huddled trembling in the blankets.
With each flash of lightning, she immediately closed her eyes tightly, refusing to open them even if it meant death.
With each rumble of thunder, she couldn't help but shudder in fright.
"Mother."
Su Xiaoyu's weak cries were trembling.
She slowly crawled out of bed, wrapped herself in the blanket, and without even bothering to put on her shoes, she fluttered like a clumsy little duck towards Su Yan's room.
But Su Yan's room was empty.
Another flash of lightning illuminated her pale face.
She suddenly squatted down, hugging her legs tightly with her arms, burying her head in her knees as if that would make her less afraid of thunder.
After the thunder subsided, Su Xiaoyu tentatively raised her head, then wrapped herself in the blanket and ran to each room to look for Su Yan.
There were none in any of the rooms until Su Xiaoyu ran to Bao Han's room.
The door to Bao Han's room was not closed, and Su Xiaoyu could clearly see Su Yan, who was sleeping with Bao Han tightly in her arms, by the light from the window.
Suddenly, her legs felt like they were filled with lead, and she couldn't move an inch.
The blanket that she had been clutching tightly slipped to the ground.
Su Xiaoyu stood there blankly, staring at the mother and child cuddling on the bed.
Her young heart suddenly realized that this was the proper distance between a mother and her child.
Lightning flashed again, and this time, Su Xiaoyu did not dodge.
In an instant, the light illuminated her small face, and what seemed to be fleetingly visible was the glistening tears in her eyes.
Su Xiaoyu didn't know how long she had been standing there; her feet were already ice-cold before she slowly turned around and walked back to her room.
She curled up at the head of the bed again, her little teeth biting her lip tightly, using her last bit of stubbornness to resist the thunder roaring outside the window.
Overwhelmed by this boundless fear, her eyelids grew heavier and heavier until they finally closed weakly.
"Boom!"
"Smack—"
The sound of thunder and the banging of windows suddenly woke Su Yan from her deep sleep.
Looking out the window at the raging wind and rain, Su Yan immediately cried out in alarm, "Xiao Yu!"
She quickly got out of bed and was about to run to Su Xiaoyu's room when she tripped over something just as she was about to leave.
Su Yan looked down and saw that it was Su Xiaoyu's quilt. She frowned, slowly bent down to pick it up, and looked at it for a while. Finally, the sound of the window opening again woke her up.
Su Yan didn't care about the windows anymore and hurriedly ran to Su Xiaoyu's room, where she saw her curled up in a ball.
Su Yan felt a pang of heartache seeing her trembling even in her sleep.
She gently draped the blanket over Su Xiaoyu, afraid that she might wake her up if she touched her too roughly.
Su Yan lay down beside her and wrapped her arms around her.
"This usually fearless female tyrant was actually scared like this by the thunder and rain."
Although her words were teasing, her eyes were full of doting affection.
Looking at Su Xiaoyu like that, it was as if she had instantly returned to the years when the two of them depended on each other for survival abroad.
Su Yan tentatively placed her hand on her back, patting her gently as before, while humming a lullaby intermittently.
This inexplicable warmth eased Su Xiaoyu's brows and made her relax completely. Although the wind and rain were still raging outside, it didn't affect her at all.
Su Xiaoyu had a sweet dream. In her dream, she saw Su Yan holding her hand and running on the grass in the park.
Without Bao Han, and without anyone else, no one could disturb their time together.
Because the dream was so beautiful, Su Xiaoyu's lips began to involuntarily curl upwards.
She didn't know how long she had slept, but Su Xiaoyu groggily opened her eyes. In her hazy state, she subconsciously reached out to touch the spot next to her, only to find it ice-cold.
The cold touch instantly dispelled her sleepiness, and her eyes cleared.
She stared blankly at the seat beside her for a long time before being startled awake by Su Yan's gentle yet ingratiating voice outside the door.
"Hanhan, is Mommy's cooking delicious? Is it your favorite flavor?"
Su Xiaoyu's face grew even colder. She climbed off the bed and walked step by step to the door.
Bao Han was happily eating breakfast at the dining table, while Su Yan sat beside him, looking at him with a blissful expression.
This scene deeply stung Su Xiaoyu's eyes, and she quietly walked to the dining table.
Hearing the noise, Su Yan turned around and saw that she had come out.
"Xiaoyu's awake, time for breakfast!"
She was eager to push the steamed bun in front of Su Xiaoyu, but as soon as her fingers touched it, she suddenly remembered that Su Xiaoyu always ate the sandwiches she made for breakfast.
Su Yan was stunned for a moment, then slapped her forehead.
"Oh no, Xiaoyu, I was so busy making steamed buns for Hanhan this morning that I forgot to prepare a sandwich for you. Why don't you... have a steamed bun instead?"
She looked at Su Xiaoyu with a face full of apology, and her words were somewhat embarrassed.
Su Xiaoyu turned her head and glanced at Bao Han, who was wolfing down his food. "I'm not hungry."
She threw down those three words and turned to get her schoolbag.
Su Yan picked up a steamed bun from the table and chased after her, saying, "Xiaoyu can't skip breakfast. Steamed buns are delicious. Look how well Hanhan is eating."
She earnestly advised, "Xiaoyu, you can't just eat sandwiches. You should learn from Hanhan and not be a picky eater."
Because of her words, Su Xiaoyu looked at Bao Han again, her gaze even more strange.
She didn't even glance at the steamed bun in Su Yan's hand, and said directly, "I want to go to school."
Su Yan was stunned. It was as if she saw Su Xiaoyu, who had closed herself off to her all before.
She didn't know why, but her hand holding the steamed bun started to tremble slightly.
"Okay, if you don't like it, then you don't have to eat it."
She turned to Bao Han and asked, "Hanhan, would you like to go to school with your sister today?"
Neither of the two children was easy to raise, and Bao Han was no easy task either.
Su Yan had to coax and coax Bao Han to go to kindergarten.
Watching Bao Han and Su Xiaoyu walk into the kindergarten, Su Yan suddenly remembered something and anxiously called out to the teacher.
"Teacher, this is Hanhan's medicine. I need you to apply it to him regularly."
The teacher nodded and accepted it with a smile.
"Don't worry, Xiaoyu's mom, we will take good care of the child."
Seeing that the teacher had taken the medicine and was about to leave, Su Yan said urgently, "Teacher, there's one more thing! Xiaoyu didn't eat breakfast this morning. Please keep an eye on her this morning and try to get her to eat something."
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