Hiiiiiiiiiiiiiii! It’s been long. I’m currently working on stockpiling chapters. Hopefully we can get to daily updates.
He didn’t need an adult to call him. He was very self-disciplined. As soon as they left the room, he first had Brother Xiao Tang take him to wash his hands. Then he obediently let his father lift him onto his high chair, holding chopsticks in one hand and pressing on his small bowl with the other. He was ready to eat!
Seeing Chu Ying’s surprise, Tang Dou explained, “Youyou has already learned to use chopsticks. He’s very good about eating.”
As a mother who had personally raised two sons, Chu Ying could imagine how much effort it must have taken to raise such a well-behaved little boy. The dishes were all served. Because Chu Ying had come, the chef had specially prepared many of her favorite dishes. The little guy was exhausted from the morning’s events. Su Youli didn’t even have the energy to reach out his chopsticks to pick up food like he usually did. He just ate whatever his brothers put in his bowl.
Little Su Youli wore a Stitch bib around his neck. He focused intently on his meal, carefully picking up food, then opening his mouth wide to eat it in one big gulp, chewing quietly with his lips closed. He didn’t smack his lips at all. His round profile showed his chubby cheek bulging slightly with food. He was the perfect model of a child who eats well in this day and age.
In kindergarten, he would be the kind of child teachers loved the most. Even Chu Lan, who had never raised a child and had even initially had some complaints about this little guy, couldn’t help but soften. How could there be such a well-behaved little guy? How could he still be so… elegant after being stolen for three years?
Yes, Chu Ying Lan saw the word “elegant” in a three-year-old’s eating habits. His eating manner was so elegant and lovely that it was probably better than that of the young ladies and gentlemen who had been trained in table etiquette since childhood. The little guy had already finished a small fist-sized amount of rice, along with vegetables, eggs, and meat. He was almost full. When the little guy quietly picked up a napkin to wipe his mouth, Chu Lan suddenly felt she hadn’t had enough of watching.
“You eat so little, no wonder you’re so short.”
Chu Lan, who had been cold-faced since entering, had noticed from the beginning that, logically, the child should be three and a half years old, but he looked so short, so small. She remembered that Shen Yan and Shen Lin were almost 1.1 meters tall at age three. You could tell from a young age that they would be tall when they grew up.
Shen Lin kept signaling her with his eyes, but was ignored. Auntie’s casual remark made the little guy pause in his cake-wiping. Almost instantly, his mouth pouted, and he reached out for Tang Dou to hold him. Tang Dou immediately took the little one, whose self-esteem had been hurt. The moment he was in someone’s arms, the little guy buried his face in Tang Dou’s chest.
No matter what anyone said, he refused to show his face again. Chu Lan was dumbfounded. What happened? He had been so well-behaved just now. She had only stated a fact, hadn’t she? Shen Lin leaned in and lowered his voice. “Youyou was once called a ‘little shorty’ by a brat. He hates it when people say he’s short.”
Chu Lan: “…”
So, did that brat get a proper beating or not! It was her fault. She really didn’t know that little children’s feelings were so fragile. Everyone gathered around to comfort the child. The ‘culprit,’ Chu Lan, felt uneasy. Guilt washed over her like a bucket of cold water. At her age, to have upset her little nephew, and he might even be crying right now. President Chu felt so remorseful. Seeing the little guy’s round, aggrieved-looking back of his head, her heart trembled.
“Auntie was wrong, Auntie was wrong. I shouldn’t have called you a little shorty.” Chu Lan took off her multi-million dollar watch and tried to stuff it into the little guy’s pocket. The little guy wriggled in Brother Xiao Tang’s arms, his voice muffled: “Youyou is not a little shorty.”
The well-behaved little one actually didn’t stay angry for long. When he heard his mother’s voice, he turned his head towards her. Seeing her little son’s flushed face, Chu Ying forgot everything else. She reached out and took her youngest into her arms and went to the living room to soothe him. As she passed her sister, she even glared at her.
The fact that Su Youli wasn’t growing very tall was a matter of great concern to everyone in the family. Chu Ying immediately thought that maybe the experiences from his early childhood had slowed the little guy’s growth compared to his peers. The family dared not talk about it in front of the little guy. They all spoke softly, one by one.
“Youyou is still young. When Youyou grows up, he’ll definitely be as tall as Dad.” Shen Yan praised unconditionally.
Shen Lin ruffled his little curly hair. “Yeah, Youyou, you’ve grown two centimeters in the last two months. You’re this— tall!”
Little Su Youli was an innocent little one. He firmly believed what adults said and was quickly comforted. After eating, the little guy needed to play for a while before his nap. Thinking that he had already played with toys for quite a while, Tang Dou took him to the garden.
“See you later, Mom. See you later, Dad. See you later, Big Brother. See you later, Second Brother…”
The little guy sat in Tang Dou’s arms, waving his little hand to say goodbye to his family. Chu Lan, who was pretending to eat calmly while secretly hoping for a goodbye, told herself she wasn’t waiting for anyone to say hello to her. Hmph.
“…See you later, Auntie.”
Chu Lan’s eyes widened. Suddenly, there was light in her eyes. After the meal, the adults sat down to discuss serious matters. As the adult eldest son, Shen Yan naturally joined his parents. The sixteen-year-old high school student Shen Lin normally wouldn’t have a seat at the table, but relying on his thick skin and shamelessness, he managed to win the right to observe.
Everyone agreed unanimously on where the little guy would live from now on. The reason was that Su Youli was already used to living in the Shen house. Suddenly changing to a new environment would take a lot of time to adjust. Shen Minyan brought up Su Siwen and Qin Kun, who were being treated abroad. His agreement with them also needed to be shared with Chu Ying.
He had thought that Chu Ying, having regained her child after such a loss, would definitely be reluctant to let Youyou go back to Nancheng. Unexpectedly, after hearing him out, Chu Ying was only stunned for a moment before nodding in agreement.
“Everything depends on Youyou’s wishes. As long as he’s happy, he can live wherever he wants, with whomever he wants.”
Although she had never met the little guy’s two foster fathers, probably no one could be more grateful to them than Chu Ying. They had given her youngest son a second chance at life and had raised him so well. She heard their financial situation hadn’t been very good, and Su Siwen had a leg problem. If not for that, they might never have seen Youyou again. When she learned that Shen Minyan had taken ‘strong measures’ to lend them one million yuan for medical treatment, Chu Lan couldn’t help but comment.
“What good is a million? Are you short of a million?”
Shen Minyan didn’t refute her. Unexpectedly, Shen Lin, for once, stood up to explain on his father’s behalf.
“Uncle Qin and Uncle Su didn’t want the money. They only wanted to find Youyou’s real family…”
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