Since giving birth to Liangliang, Zhao Mingyue and her husband had always taken precautions against pregnancy during intercourse. However, even the best-laid plans can go awry. In the spring of her 32nd year, she discovered that she hadn't had her period for two months. Feeling something was wrong, she thought it was because she was too busy with work and had a health problem. She rushed to the hospital for a checkup and found out that she was pregnant.
This result shocked her. Although she had always wanted a daughter, she hadn't acted on this idea because of Shen Xuyue's work. And now, the child had come on its own. And so quietly, more than two months pregnant, with absolutely no pregnancy symptoms. She remembered how strong the symptoms were when she was pregnant with Liangliang.
What to do? She's pregnant, should she keep the baby or not? Logically, she shouldn't keep the child because Liangliang already has a one-child certificate, and Shen Xuyue is a public servant. If she had the child, it would be against regulations and could very likely affect Shen Xuyue's future. But Zhao Mingyue is extremely unwilling to abort the child. In her past life, she couldn't even conceive, and now that she can, she feels guilty about aborting the child.
So she discussed it with Shen Xuyue, who also felt conflicted. It was a matter of national policy, and as a cadre, he had to set an example and couldn't break the law. But honestly, he really wanted another child, especially a girl.
This issue was eventually discussed by the whole family, and they ultimately decided to have the child. Zhao Mingyue went to the hospital and obtained a certificate stating that abortion was not suitable, and got a birth permit. The root cause of this family planning policy lies in the "strength in numbers" encouragement policy of the past. Back then, everyone kept having children, with families having ten or eight, causing a sudden population explosion. Later, even having two children was not allowed, leaving only one child in the family. If that only child thrives, that's fine, but if they die prematurely, the elderly couple left behind have absolutely no hope. In the future, there will be more and more elderly people who have lost their only child in society. Isn't this a social problem?
Zhao Mingyue is getting old, and her health has not been very good due to her busy work over the years. So she handed over her work to her subordinates and only works two days a week, spending the rest of her time taking care of her pregnancy.
Zhao Mingyue hopes to have a daughter. Almost everyone in the family wants a girl because the previous babies were all boys, and everyone wants a girl to love.
Zhao Mingyue worried that her son Liangliang wouldn't accept having another child, fearing it would take away the love and attention from his parents and elders. However, Liangliang didn't show any such reaction. He grew up with Zhuangzhuang and never felt like an only child. Because he was the youngest in the family, everyone always asked him to run errands, and Zhuangzhuang always pushed tasks onto him. So now that he's about to have a little brother or sister, he's very excited: "I want a little brother, so he can be my little follower."
Zhao Mingyue asked cautiously, "What if it's a little girl?"
Liangliang looked at his mother and sighed, "Sigh, the little sister is fine too, but she cries too much."
Zhao Mingyue said, "We can make our little sister laugh often. With a little sister, you'll grow up and become a sensible and capable older brother. We must take good care of and protect our little sister."
Liangliang, acting like a little adult, said, "Of course, I'm the older brother, and I'll definitely take good care of my little sister."
Zhao Mingyue breathed a sigh of relief when she heard her son say that.
The second child seemed to know that its arrival was somewhat untimely, so it was very well-behaved and quiet, causing Zhao Mingyue little suffering. This made Zhao Mingyue's pregnancy very comfortable, and at the end of the year, the little one was finally born amidst everyone's anticipation. The day she was born was a snowy morning. Knowing the weather was too cold and various accidents might occur, Zhao Mingyue went to the hospital well in advance, since money wasn't an issue. Sure enough, it snowed heavily on the day she gave birth; rushing from home to the hospital through the snow would have been incredibly difficult.
Everyone except Liangliang got what they wanted – a healthy baby girl weighing 6.8 pounds. The whole family was overjoyed, finally having a lovely little princess.
The little princess was born at dawn. Her formal name is Shen Muxi, and her nickname is Xue'er. Because it was snowing heavily when she was born, her name is full of the whole family's expectations, hoping that the little princess will be lovely and pure.
Xue'er grew up day by day, and just as everyone had hoped, she became incredibly beautiful and adorable, with a wonderfully cheerful personality. She was always smiling, rarely cried, and would let anyone hold her, becoming everyone's source of joy. Zhuangzhuang and Liangliang had grown up and started to develop their own personalities, so they weren't as close to their grandparents as before. The elderly couple, Mr. and Mrs. Shen, were wondering how to fill the void in their hearts when Xue'er arrived. Now they had something to keep them busy, spending their days enjoying their granddaughter's company, and couldn't be happier.
As her parents grew older, Zhao Mingyue didn't dare trouble them to help take care of the child anymore, so she hired a nanny to help. Before weaning, the child stayed with her; after weaning, the child was left with Mr. and Mrs. Shen, cared for by the nanny. She would still return to the Shen family home in the evenings.
Shen Xuyue is still working in another city. This time, because of the birth of his daughter, Shen Xuyue was transferred to a new job but not promoted. He was transferred to Jinan, Shandong, which is even farther from home. It's a bit of a struggle to go home once a month. But having a little baby at home makes him worry, so he still tries to go home once a month. If he can't make it in time, he takes a plane. Anyway, his family has money, so he doesn't need his company to reimburse his travel expenses.
Xue'er has a good temper, doesn't cry much, and is quite curious. This weekend, Shen's father went out to the park, Shen's mother and the nanny went out to buy groceries, and Liangliang had gotten up early and gone off to play somewhere. Zhao Mingyue was home alone taking care of the child. She needed to use the restroom, so she pulled up a mat and laid it on the floor. Her daughter sat on it. Seven or eight-month-old Xue'er can crawl but can't walk, so it wasn't safe to put her on the bed or sofa. Fortunately, the weather was hot.
When Zhao Mingyue returned home, she found her daughter happily playing with her own poop. When the daughter saw Zhao Mingyue, she reached out and shared her gold with her mother, wanting to play with her. She even made happy "ooh" sounds.
Zhao Mingyue said, both amused and exasperated, "My little darling, you're a girl, how can you be so unrestrained?" She quickly carried her daughter, who was covered in gold dust, to the bathroom to wash her off. In the past two years, they had installed a water heater in their home, which made using water much more convenient.
Xue'er was still having a great time. Zhao Mingyue thought to herself, "This embarrassing incident can be told to my daughter as a joke when she's older. She'll be so ashamed of herself."
As her daughter grew older, Zhao Mingyue noticed that she and her son were quite different. Liangliang could say "daddy" and "mommy" at ten months old, while Xue'er, at one year and two months old, could only make "ooh" sounds and couldn't utter complete words. She thought to herself, "Oh no, could it be because I didn't know I was pregnant early on and took some medicine for a cold and fever that made the baby sick?" She voiced her concerns, and Shen Xuyue laughed and said, "You're overthinking it. It's not unusual for children to start talking late."
Zhao Mingyue couldn't help but worry: "I'm worried that the child might have autism or something."
"Does our daughter look like she has autism?" Shen Xuyue held his daughter, placed Xue'er on his feet and rocked her, making her giggle.
Zhao Mingyue frowned and said, "Then why doesn't she speak? Xue'er, come here, call her Mom."
Xue'er looked at her and exclaimed, "Wow!"
Zhao Mingyue pinched her daughter's mouth: "Good girl, stick your tongue out and show Mommy." She made a sticking-out-of-tongue gesture.
Xue'er stuck out her tongue, seemingly oblivious to anything amiss. Zhao Mingyue said, "I'll take her to the hospital for a checkup sometime to see what's wrong."
The next day, when I mentioned it to my in-laws, my mother-in-law said, "Didn't our Xuyue also start talking when he was almost a year old?"
Father Shen said, "Is that so?"
Chen's mother glared at him: "Back then, all you cared about was work. You didn't pay attention to this at all. Mingyue, don't worry, we'll talk to the child more often when we have free time and teach her. She'll get it soon."
Xue'er, who is a little over one year old, can't speak yet, she can only make "ooh ooh waah" sounds, but she can already walk very fast and is incredibly strong.
Zhao Mingyue's factory had a lot of materials, such as cloth and wires, which were most susceptible to damage by rats, so she kept several cats to catch them. Cats have no restrictions on their freedom and roam around everywhere except when they are fed. As a result, the female cat attracted male cats from outside and had several litters of kittens, which almost became a plague. So Zhao Mingyue caught two of them and took them back to her own yard to keep.
This cat is very docile. Xue'er loves furry animals the most, and she often teases the cat, holding it in her arms and rubbing and pinching it. The cat can't stand it, so sometimes it runs far away and hides.
When Zhao Mingyue returned home that day, she saw her daughter under the pomegranate tree in the yard, head tilted back, hands gripping the trunk. The small tree, only four or five centimeters in diameter, was shaking violently from her shaking, and she kept calling out, "Cat—"
Zhao Mingyue was stunned to hear the word "cat." She never expected that her daughter's first word wouldn't be "Dad" or "Mom," but rather their cat, a stray cat. She quickly went over and saw the tabby cat cowering on a thin branch of the pomegranate tree, unsure how to escape the little devil's clutches. Zhao Mingyue quickly picked up her daughter: "Xue'er, Mommy's holding you. Call me Mommy."
Xue'er turned her head to look at the cat and pointed at it with her finger, saying "cat—" clearly and distinctly.
Zhao Mingyue was on the verge of tears, unsure whether she was crying because her daughter had spoken for the first time or because the first sound she heard was that of a cat. She turned her daughter's face towards her and said, "My dear daughter, call me Mommy, not 'cat,' Mommy."
Xue'er turned to look at her mother and said seriously, "Kitty."
Well, I've been completely defeated by a cat. Looks like I haven't spent enough time with it.
Regardless, at least she started speaking, and Zhao Mingyue was still very happy. Xue'er constantly talked about cats and basically wouldn't accept any other words. If there was one other word she would accept, it would be "brother," but she couldn't say it properly, only "Duoduo." Xue'er didn't like playing with girls her age; she preferred playing with boys, and she was especially clingy to her brother, like a little shadow. Liangliang, however, didn't really like his sister following him around. He would usually just hold her, play with her, and kiss her, but if he had to let this drooling, snotty little tail drag him out to play, he would go crazy.
Unable to play with her older brother, Xue'er had to play with the other boys in the alley. There were a few other children in the alley, ranging in age from two or three to four or five. Xue'er was the youngest, but she was the strongest, at least stronger than the two two- or three-year-old girls. When the children played together, they would simply chase each other, play with toys, or splash in the sand and mud.
Zhao Mingyue usually wouldn't let her daughter play in the mud and sand; it's too dirty for a girl to play in. But she was busy with work, and it was a blessing if she could hold her daughter during her breaks. Xue'er was mainly cared for by a nanny. Chen's mother was getting old, and her legs weren't as strong as they used to be. Her legs would ache if she walked too much. Xue'er couldn't speak clearly, but her little legs were very strong. She walked very fast, and her mother couldn't keep up with her. She had to give up.
So Zhao Mingyue listened to her mother-in-law and nanny complaining every day: Xue'er pushed Nan Nan next door on the butt while playing, or made another little girl cry because of a little boy. She was practically a little devil, completely unrelated to the name Xue'er. The only connection was probably her fair skin, as white as snow, but that probably wouldn't last long. When she got older, she would definitely be a tomboy, wilder than boys, and would get tanned after a while of running around outside.
Zhao Mingyue felt a headache coming on. She was supposed to have a sweet little girl, but her son seemed more like a boy than Liangliang. Shen Xuyue, on the other hand, was quite philosophical about it: "It's alright. Our daughter is brave and won't be bullied. My biggest worry is that she's too docile and will be bullied." A father's feelings for his daughter are completely different from a mother's. They see their daughters as their own possessions, and they can't let her suffer any grievances or be coveted by any other man. No matter what, they find her adorable and perfectly entitled. Even if she's ugly, she's still the cutest, let alone a daughter who is so beautiful.
The men in the family all thought Xue'er was quite normal, especially her father and eldest uncle Shen Qixue. They were both from military backgrounds and couldn't stand seeing delicate and shy girls. They thought Xue'er was the best, showing the spirit of a military family.
This is their only precious princess in the family, so they can't just spoil her rotten and let her do whatever she wants. Zhao Mingyue felt that if they spoiled their daughter too much, she would become unruly and no one would be able to keep her in check. So, among a group of good cops, she, as the mother, had to step forward and play the bad cop. No matter how much everyone spoils her, there must be principles and reason.
It's human nature to seek advantage and avoid harm, especially for children who judge everything based on instinct. So, Zhao Mingyue had hoped to raise a sweet, caring daughter, but this daughter warmed the hearts of everyone else in the family except her. Xue'er was the least close to her. Zhao Mingyue was furious. She had gone through so much to give birth to a daughter, only to find her daughter wasn't close to her at all. What was she going to do?
When Xue'er got a little older, Zhao Mingyue discovered that her daughter was a bit slow-witted. To put it nicely, she was simple-minded; to put it bluntly, she was single-minded and didn't think things through. Whoever she thought was good, she would stick to them and be nice to them wholeheartedly, regardless of whether they were trying to trick her into giving them candy or toys. She would willingly give up her own food and toys and even feel quite pleased with herself.
Zhao Mingyue found it strange. Who did this child take after? Everyone in the family was clever and quick-witted, but her daughter had a smart face but often did stupid things.
Shen Xuyue was not very satisfied with this, fearing that others would coax his daughter away with some benefits, so he instilled in her: "Boys are all bad people, don't be friends with them, and if they ask you to go play, don't go."
Xue'er blinked at her father and said, "But I want to play."
Shen Xuyue said, "You should play with Nannan, not with the boys. All they do is fight and play soccer. What can you do?"
Xue'er said very proudly, "I can do it too!"
Shen Xuyue then deflated.
He said to Zhao Mingyue, "It's all over, it's all over. How can our daughter be so naive? She was easily swayed by just an apple."
Zhao Mingyue said, "The best we can do now is to keep a close watch on her and talk to her about the dangers. We should try our best to provide for her materially, since we're not short of money anyway."
The only solution for her daughter was to raise her with plenty. But materially, she never skimped on her daughter's needs; she always had a better life than her peers. What her daughter lacked most was playmates, yet she didn't like playing with girls. She bought her many Barbie dolls—genuine, expensive ones, each with its own pretty clothes and shoes—but the daughter would just look at them and toss them aside. Instead, she collected her brother's marbles, stickers, slingshot, and Transformers, playing with them with great enthusiasm. Zhao Mingyue felt her daughter was definitely born the wrong gender.
Shen Xuyue suddenly remarked, "Why do I feel a sense of familiarity with my daughter?"
"It would be strange if you didn't know your daughter well." Zhao Mingyue rolled her eyes at him.
Shen Xuyue slapped his forehead: "Song Xiaorui, our Xue'er is just like Song Xiaorui back then, always following boys around. Call our son over, Liangliang, Liangliang, come here."
Liangliang was reading a comic book inside, completely ignoring his father's calls. Shen Xuyue raised his voice: "Comrade Shen Muyang!"
When Liangliang heard his dad call his full name, he knew it was something important, so he quickly put down his book, ran out, and stood at attention: "Here!"
Shen Xuyue looked him up and down: "Comrade Shen Muyang, how old are you this year?"
Liangliang glanced at his mother beside him, puzzled. Zhao Mingyue shrugged, wondering what her husband was up to. She could only answer, "12 years old."
Shen Xuyue nodded: "Yes, she's two years older than Pan Dongzi, so she should be able to handle the task I've assigned to you. Shen Muyang, listen carefully now, I'm entrusting Comrade Shen Muxi, who is also your younger sister Xue'er, to your care. You have to take her with you wherever you go during your free time."
Liangliang immediately deflated: "Huh?! Dad, are you serious? I'm taking my little sister out to play?" His sister is only three years old, and he has to take her everywhere he goes?
Shen Xuyue said, "There's nothing I can do. Your little sister is too naive. She believes everything people say. I'm afraid she'll be tricked. There are so many child traffickers out there these days."
Liangliang was on the verge of tears. He didn't want to have his little sister following him everywhere. His sister couldn't participate in many of his activities, and his friends would eventually distance themselves from him. He looked at his mother pleadingly, "Mom."
Zhao Mingyue looked at her husband helplessly and said, "This is not a good thing. When you played together, Xiao Rui was not much older than everyone else, but Liangliang and Xue'er are more than eight years apart. How could they possibly play together?" People Liangliang's age are playful. What if he forgets about Xue'er while playing and Xue'er runs away? That would be a real problem.
Liangliang nodded vigorously.
Shen Xuyue remained unmoved: "Xue'er is our family's darling. Before she was born, Liangliang promised to take good care of his little sister. Now it's your turn to fulfill your responsibility. Do you agree?"
Liangliang looked distressed; agreeing was one thing, but refusing was another.
The family was in a stalemate when they noticed Xue'er, who had been playing in the yard, coming into the house. As she stepped over the threshold, she said, "Come in, come in!"
The three of them turned around and saw Xue'er dragging a half-meter-tall dog into the house under her arm, excitedly shouting, "Dad, I found a dog!"
Liangliang said, "Isn't that Grandma Su's dog next door?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "Xue'er, let the dog go, or it might bite you."
Shen Xuyue rushed forward and scooped up his daughter, but the little girl wouldn't let go of the dog, almost lifting it up—a big dog weighing thirty or forty pounds! However, he couldn't lift it in the end, and as soon as the dog was free, it barked and ran away.
Shen Xuyue said earnestly, "Xue'er, don't grab other people's dogs, they will bite."
Xue'er reached out and touched Shen Xuyue's face: "Daddy, don't worry, I know it won't bite me. Only puppies bite." The puppy she was referring to was Grandma Su's other Chihuahua, which was fierce and would bite. Clearly, although she was young, she already knew how to distinguish between good and evil.
Zhao Mingyue said, "In short, you can't grab someone else's dog. Even if it doesn't bite, it's still dirty."
Xue'er ignored Zhao Mingyue and went to whisper to her father. The father and daughter chatted very intimately. Zhao Mingyue felt a pang of jealousy. It's true that distance makes the heart grow fonder. Her father only came back once a month, and she was very clingy. She saw her father every day, but they were like two fighting cocks.
Zhao Mingyue finally sighed, "Never mind, Xue'er is old enough to go to kindergarten now. Let's send her to kindergarten."
When Xue'er heard that she was going to kindergarten, she looked unhappy and thought she was going to be sent away. She pouted and pretended to cry, but this child almost never shed tears, so Zhao Mingyue was not afraid of her trick and said, "There are many children in kindergarten, and many older brothers."
Xue'er turned to look at her mother: "Really?"
Zhao Mingyue nodded: "Really."
Liangliang quickly assured her, "It's true, there are lots of kids there, little sister, you'll love kindergarten."
So Xue'er was sent to kindergarten, where she thrived. With her natural strength, she recruited a group of followers and became the boss of the kindergarten.
Of course, Xue'er didn't always make Zhao Mingyue feel bad; the tomboy could be quite adorable at times. For example, once when Xue'er was playing with Zhao Mingyue in the office, a sudden gust of wind arose, dark clouds gathered, and a torrential downpour began. Thunder and lightning roared outside. Xue'er snuggled into Zhao Mingyue's arms, pressing her head tightly against her chest: "Mommy, I'll protect you, don't be afraid."
Zhao Mingyue stroked her daughter's hair: "My sweet baby, with you here, Mommy isn't scared anymore."
The tomboyish Xue'er loved being a boy since she was little. She disliked wearing skirts and preferred pants because skirts were inconvenient for climbing up and down, and people would laugh at her if her underwear was exposed. She also disliked having long hair because it was always being pulled when she fought with others. She also made quite a few funny mistakes, such as trying to urinate standing up like a boy and ending up wetting her pants.
Zhao Mingyue always felt that her daughter was a boy born at the wrong gender. But when Xue'er started preschool, she began to change her gender, wanting to wear dresses and have braids. She wouldn't go to school without dresses and braids.
Zhao Mingyue was greatly surprised. Her daughter used to love going to school and wouldn't want to go home after school, preferring to play with other children. Why had her daughter suddenly changed? She whispered to her daughter, "What's wrong, Xue'er? Why don't you want to go to school?"
Xue'er pouted: "I told you yesterday that I'm going to wear a skirt to school today. I won't go if I don't wear a skirt."
Zhao Mingyue said, "You never used to wear skirts. I bought you some, but you never wore them, so I stopped buying you skirts. Didn't you love wearing your little military uniform?" Most of her clothes were boys' clothes. She liked them, and Zhao Mingyue thought that since she was just a child, there wasn't much difference between genders, so it was fine for her to wear boys' clothes. But now her little darling has started a revolution and doesn't want to wear them anymore.
Xue'er threw the clothes on the ground: "No, this is ugly."
Instead of getting angry, Zhao Mingyue laughed: "Hey, you finally realize this is ugly? Wear it for today, and Mom will buy you a new one. You'll have a dress to wear tomorrow." Her sense of aesthetics has finally awakened; I'm so relieved.
Xue'er picked up the clothes from the ground again. Actually, she really liked them. Her eyes welled up with tears: "Zhang Yuhang said they were ugly. He won't play with me. He only plays with Liu Beibei."
Zhao Mingyue suddenly realized that the girl in the house had a crush on a young man. No wonder she wanted to change her personality. She searched through the wardrobe for a long time before finally finding a pink puff-sleeved blouse. Mao Jianlan had bought it for Children's Day, knowing that Xue'er didn't like wearing skirts, so she bought it specially. Xue'er had always disliked dresses and preferred military attire, so she didn't wear it. "How about wearing this? Aunt Mao bought you a pretty dress."
Xue'er looked at the red dress and finally stopped crying and smiled. Zhao Mingyue looked at her daughter and sighed, "This girl, she wouldn't cry even if she chipped her tooth, but she's crying over a boy who doesn't like the clothes she wears. Girls are so fickle, how will she ever keep anyone? If her dad finds out, he'll have a heart attack."
Xue'er put on her new clothes and looked at herself in the mirror from left to right: "Mom, I want to braid my hair."
Zhao Mingyue looked at her daughter's hair, which was less than an inch long: "Your hair is too short to tie up. We won't cut it anymore. Let it grow out and we can braid it."
"No, I want to tie my hair up, and I want to wear flowers too." Xue'er remembered Liu Beibei in a dress, with a bow in her hair, and holding a doll. Zhang Yuhang was holding her hand like he was leading a little bride, and she couldn't be more envious. She remembered the doll and started rummaging through drawers to find her Barbie doll.
Zhao Mingyue asked, "What are you looking for?"
Xue'er said, "I'm looking for the doll."
Zhao Mingyue said, "Isn't your Transformer on the sofa?"
"I don't want King Kong, I want a Barbie doll." Xue'er was still searching everywhere.
Zhao Mingyue realized: "The Barbie doll has been at Grandma's house for so long. You don't want it anymore, so Grandma probably threw it away a long time ago."
Xue'er pouted, about to cry again.
Zhao Mingyue quickly said, "Don't cry, don't cry. Mom bought it for you when she bought you the dress today."
Xue'er's mind returned to the hair issue: "What about the hair?"
"I'm going out in a bit. I'll buy you two pretty hair clips at the shop, okay?"
"With flowers?"
"Yes, with flowers."
After a whole morning of fussing, I finally got my daughter, who's changed her ways, off to school.
Zhao Mingyue thought her daughter was just having a short-lived interest and would probably stop after a while. But even so, she still happily bought her daughter a dress, leather shoes, and a doll. She was determined not to let go of the opportunity to steer her daughter onto the right path.
Unexpectedly, from then on, Xue'er completely abandoned her tomboyish style and dressed up like a little princess. Zhao Mingyue looked at her princess-like daughter and was moved to tears. She felt that if Xue'er could continue to restrain herself in her words and actions, she would be a perfect little princess.
This was just the beginning. Zhao Mingyue discovered that her daughter was willing to learn to dance and play the piano, because her little rival Liu Beibei could do both, and Liu Beibei was even the lead dancer. In terms of looks, Xue'er was absolutely angelic, but her personality, at the moment, was closer to that of a devil.
Zhao Mingyue quickly enrolled her daughter in dance and piano classes, not expecting her to achieve any great results, but hoping to improve her physique and movements, temper her temperament, and make her more like a girl.
When Shen Xuyue returned, he found his beloved daughter was starting to run wild in a direction he couldn't control. He almost shed a tear of bitterness. His daughter was so young, yet she was already noticing other men; it was simply heartbreaking. He had thought that his daughter shouldn't date until at least after graduating from university, but it turned out that she was still more than a decade away from that deadline.
On this point, Shen Xuyue and Zhao Mingyue disagreed: "No, our daughter is still so young. It's wrong for you not to teach her that this is wrong, but instead to encourage and instigate her. How can that be allowed? Early romantic relationships are wrong."
Zhao Mingyue rolled her eyes at him: "What do you mean by puppy love? She's still very young. It's just a simple liking for a boy. It's a far cry from being in love. What are you so worried about? Besides, this liking is positive and encouraging. Of course I support it. I don't want to see my daughter go further and further down the path of being a tomboy."
Shen Xuyue asked in astonishment, "What tomboy?"
Realizing she had misspoke, Zhao Mingyue tried to cover it up by saying, "She's like a boy. She doesn't know how to dress or make up, she's very outgoing and just like a boy, she has no femininity at all."
"Who says you have to be feminine?" Shen Xuyue said unhappily.
Zhao Mingyue glared at him: "Tch, don't you have any conscience? If I treat you like a man from now on, would you be happy?"
Shen Xuyue turned around, put his arm around his wife's waist, and sighed, "I just think it's too early." He felt as if his precious treasure was about to be taken away.
Zhao Mingyue said, "She's just starting to develop a sense of gender right now, so we need to guide her properly and prevent her from developing into early romantic relationships. Even if she does, it's nothing. What era are we living in? Didn't you go to America? There, kids start kissing before they even start elementary school. Do you think that's wrong?"
Shen Xuyue thought about it and realized that in that environment, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it, but if it were his own daughter, it would be absolutely unacceptable: "Don't even think about it, kissing is absolutely out of the question!"
Zhao Mingyue laughed and said, "Kissing is of course not, but holding hands is still okay. Times are changing, and we parents need to keep up with the times and not be too old-fashioned."
Shen Xuyue sighed. He had always known that daughters were like birds that cannot stay at home once they grew up, but he hadn't expected that he would have to start worrying about this problem before his daughter had even grown up.
Zhao Mingyue said, "You're back. Come with me to pick up Xue'er from get out of class. She has a dance class today at the Children's Palace." 94 years later, the whole country implemented a two-day weekend, and Shen Xuyue finally didn't have to walk home in the dark anymore. Every time he came back, he could spend half a day more with his family.
As Shen Xuyue drove, he asked, "Where's Liangliang?"
Zhao Mingyue said, "I went to play football."
Shen Xuyue said, "Liangliang's personality is too wild, and he's too unbalanced in his studies. Should we send him abroad to study?"
Zhao Mingyue hesitated for a moment: "The child is still too young. Let's wait until he graduates from high school. We also need to see if he wants to study abroad. Even if he does go abroad, I hope he can apply for it himself." As a mother, she really couldn't bear to let her child leave her so far away. She wished he could stay where she could see him. But children will eventually grow up, and she had to let go and let him fly.
Shen Xuyue said, "We can talk to him in advance. He's almost fifteen, and he should be able to make his own decisions about many things."
Zhao Mingyue was actually quite confident in Liangliang. The child had been smart since childhood, had his own opinions, and possessed a very strong sense of self-discipline, a trait he inherited from his parents. "Will you go to America too? With Jingjing?" Jingjing went to the United States to pursue her master's degree after graduating from university, and later continued to pursue her doctorate. She has always been a very hardworking and ambitious child.
Shen Xuyue said, "Jingjing should be back by then, right? Is he going to stay in the US to develop his career?"
"It's not clear yet. Of course, my older sister wants him to come back."
Shen Xuyue suddenly sighed and said, "Looking around, we've grown old."
Zhao Mingyue turned to look at him: "No, you're still very young. In my eyes, you'll always be so young and handsome."
Shen Xuyue smiled and reached out to grasp Zhao Mingyue's hand tightly: "In my eyes, you will always be so beautiful and charming."
The car stopped at the entrance of the Children's Palace. A group of little girls dressed in black dance costumes poured out of the gate. Suddenly, a girl with two braids and pretty hair clips ran out from the crowd and shouted to Shen Xuyue and Zhao Mingyue, "Dad, Mom!" Who else could this adorable little angel be but their daughter?
Shen Xuyue opened his arms, picked up his daughter, tossed her into the air, and caught her firmly: "My dear daughter, let's go home."
Author's Note: This concludes the story. Thank you all for your support and encouragement along the way. See you in my new story.
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