“Where is our mother?”
The little tadpoles swam together to Mother Duck and asked, “Mother Duck, Mother Duck, have you seen our mother? Please tell us, what does our mother look like?”
Mother Duck replied, “Your mother has two big eyes on top of her head and a wide, big mouth. Go find her yourselves!”
The little one in her arms was completely absorbed in the story, his little expression very serious, as if he too was following the tadpoles to find their mother. The little tadpoles’ journey to find their mother was very difficult, but they never gave up. After several failures, the little tadpoles finally found their mother—the Frog. The little guy under the covers clapped his hands excitedly, as if he could really see Mother Frog and the tadpoles playing together in the river.
Chu Ying stroked his soft hair. “Alright, the story is over. Time for our nap now.”
Su Youli: “Mm-hmm.”
Chu Ying watched the little guy close his eyes, then closed her own, a smile still on her lips. No one knew how long had passed. Just as Chu Ying was feeling drowsy and about to fall asleep, a pair of little hands quietly pressed against her belly.
“Youyou found his mother too.”
After saying this, the little one let out a silly chuckle, burrowing his head around, his little feet kicking up excitedly.
Chu Ying felt the spot Youyou had touched was burning hot, tingling, and numb. A wave of sadness washed over her, and her eyes grew warm. Su Youli was a sensitive little one. Feeling his mother move, he looked up and immediately saw that she was crying.
“Mom, why are you crying?”
Chu Ying raised her hand to wipe her tears. “These are happy tears, sweetie.”
The little one climbed up and used his little hands to wipe away the tears on his mother’s face.
“Thank you, Youyou.” Chu Ying smiled.
The little guy shook his head, turning serious. “Youyou should be the one thanking Mom.”
Chu Ying: “?”
The little one burrowed back into his mother’s arms. “Little Dad said Youyou grew in Mom’s belly. Mom gave Youyou life.”
Chu Ying was a bit surprised. Why would Youyou’s foster father tell such a young child about this? The truth was, by the time Su Youli turned three, he had become a “why” machine, peppering his fathers with questions every day. Back then, Su Siwen didn’t yet know that Youyou hadn’t been abandoned by his family but had been stolen by a bad person. He sincerely hoped Youyou would never remember his origins.
Those dark, cold things – it was best if Youyou never knew about them for his whole life. But children are naturally curious about their own bodies and existence. Su Siwen didn’t want the little one to grow up as a child who only remembered hatred. His Youyou was meant to grow into a warm, beautiful, kind, and lovely person, surrounded by the best love in the world—not some unwanted, abandoned baby. Youyou was his and Qin Kun’s whole world.
So, Su Siwen had said to little Su Youyou: “Your mother gave birth to you after a lot, a lot of hard work. You grew inside your mother’s belly. You grew hands, feet, a heart, and this little curly head of yours…”
It was early spring. The sun was shining brightly over Yunshui Street. Su Siwen held Su Youyou on the rocking chair in the yard, and the father and son swayed gently as they looked at the blue sky. Su Youyou had never seen his mother, but in his memory, his mother was the white clouds in the sky, the gentle breeze in spring, carrying the scent of sunshine and flowers. Little Dad had told him that he had stayed in his mother’s belly for a long, long time before he grew into who he was.
“But Youyou has never seen Mom.”
“That’s okay. You still have Dad and Kun Kun. Mom gave birth to you, and Dad and Kun Kun found you in a magical place. That’s how you became our son…”
“Will Mom miss Youyou?”
“…Yes.”
“If Mom can’t see me, will she be sad? Will she cry?”
Su Siwen held his son tighter. He didn’t answer the question, only said, “If Kun Kun and I couldn’t see you, we would be very, very sad. We would cry so much we’d look ugly.”
Su Youyou looked up from his father’s arms. “Dad, don’t cry!”
Chu Ying held the little one in her arms very tightly, her voice choked with sobs. “Your Little Dad was right. Mom missed you so, so much. She missed you every day.”
Su Youyou hadn’t turned out this well for no reason. He was well-behaved, clever, polite, and possessed the purest childlike innocence. She knew this was all thanks to Su Siwen and Qin Kun. Chu Ying remembered the silver hairpin Shen Lin had brought back for her from Yunshui Street, a local specialty—a hand-carved butterfly hairpin. She suddenly wanted to visit Yunshui City, to see that warm little courtyard, to sit under the eaves holding Youyou and listen to the sound of rain dripping from the eaves onto the bluestone slabs.
She also wanted to meet those two kind men and personally express her gratitude to them. Little Su Youli, after touching his mother’s belly and helping her wipe away her tears, rubbed his chubby little hand over his eyes. In the blink of an eye, he was fast asleep. Chu Ying held him and also slept a very sweet nap.
—
At 1:30 in the afternoon, the little one on the bed woke up on time.
“Mom, time to get up!”
The little guy had no morning crankiness. As soon as he woke up, he rubbed his eyes and immediately crawled out of the warm blanket. This put him ahead of at least ninety percent of three-year-olds in the world. Chu Ying didn’t move after waking up. She scooped the little one into her arms and gave him lots of kisses before letting him go.
“Mom, that tickles! Hahaha.” The little one tried to dodge, burrowing under the covers.
Chu Ying played with him in bed for a while before getting up. She picked up the clean clothes folded at the head of the bed to help him change. The little one had already bounced up from the bed in a few quick moves, run to the edge, grabbed his clothes, and put them on himself. Fortunately, Tang Dou had prepared a shirt with a Peter Pan collar for him. The little guy wasn’t very good at doing collars, so Chu Ying helped him with that.
Dressed neatly, with a head of fluffy curls, the little guy stood up straight, his little belly rounding out slightly, revealing a row of neat baby teeth as he looked at his mother. His anticipation was palpable. Chu Ying smiled slightly and praised Youyou with an exaggerated tone.
“Oh my goodness, whose little boy is this? He can dress himself so well at such a young age! What will he be like when he grows up~”
He had to admit that being praised by his mother in such a gentle voice made Su Youli feel like he was floating on air. Yes, he was a very capable little boy. After napping together, the tiny gap between Chu Ying and the little guy had vanished. They had become inseparable from the moment they woke up. Even when Tang Dou reached out to carry him, the little guy refused, insisting on holding his mother’s hand instead.
After his nap, the energetic little one had his cartoon time. Today was different. Today, he had his mother watching cartoons with him. At 4:30, Chu Lan arrived to pick up Chu Ying, as agreed that morning. The little guy was completely immersed in the wonderful world of cartoons and didn’t notice that the person beside him had disappeared.
When he came back to his senses after an episode, he saw Chu Ying with a bag on her arm and his aunt waiting at the door. The little guy tilted his head and gave his mother a puzzled look.
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