I Became the Mother of His Child

Xu Xiuxiu received Song Chengguang's hopeful little gaze and naturally couldn't bear to refuse the little guy. She just didn't want him to overeat now lest he be unable to eat his meal later: "If you eat your dinner nicely, mommy will reward you with ten big cherries." Xu Xiuxiu nodded, then picked a few plump cherries to pop into Xu Jingjing's mouth. Xu Jingjing opened her mouth dejectedly to instinctively bite the cherries and then chewed and swallowed them whole, pits and all.

Xu Xiuxiu watched with the corners of her eyes twitching; it seemed this girl was not going to be easy to reform anytime soon!

"Alright, Chengguang will definitely eat his dinner well," Song Chengguang said as he immediately stuffed a big cherry into his mouth and then made a resolute expression, while Xu Xiuxiu looked on with an embarrassed face at the scene unfolding beside her, the big and the small causing her to blush with shame.

"By the way, wife, Mother-in-law called my office today to ask if Si Ya had been causing us any trouble." Song Yuanhuan carefully chose his words to report to Xu Xiuxiu, then looked at the little sister-in-law sitting on the sofa with an obviously upset expression and eyes as red as a rabbit's, realizing that the mood was quite awkward due to something that happened before his return. He thus stopped Xu Xiuxiu's preparation to go into the kitchen to cook dinner; he also kicked out the moody Xu Jingjing, who was still insistently wanting to help, and rolled up his sleeves to start making soup for the family.

"Can you actually manage or not? If you can't, I'll do it!" Xu Xiuxiu, lacking confidence, stood at the edge of the kitchen and questioned Song Yuanhuan as she watched him tie the apron on with presumed skills.

She had never actually seen Song Yuanhuan move to cook; this was indeed the first time and she was very uneasy about it.

"Do you really not know if I can do it?" Song Yuanhuan replied to Xu Xiuxiu with a pun, smoothly beginning to chop green peppers in preparation to stir-fry them with pork.

Xu Xiuxiu, hearing Song Yuanhuan's lecherous-sounding words, instantly blushed deep red: "You're always so improper." Muttering to herself, she saw Xu Jingjing sitting on the sofa watching TV with Song Cheng and thus lowered her voice to inquire: "She asked about Si Ya? Did she say anything else?"

Mrs. Xu was the type who'd hate to make phone calls and worry about the expensive phone bills for no reason, and although Xu Village had been connected with a phone line quite early, she seldom took the initiative to make a call herself. On the rare occasions she did call, it was only to quickly check on the situation before hurriedly hanging up. Before, when she took Xu Jingjing to the Military District for a rest, she had called home, and the family knew she wouldn't be at the restaurant during this period; so Mrs. Xu must have had something specific to discuss to have made a special call to Song Yuanhuan.

"Mom said to buy Si Ya a train ticket to send the little lady back to her hometown in the next few days," Song Yuanhuan answered as he continued to skillfully handle the green peppers.

There was indeed something up: "Why? Why would my mom suddenly say to send Si Ya back? Is she missing Si Ya?" Xu Xiuxiu asked with puzzlement.

When Xu Jingjing ran away from home to seek refuge with her sister, their mother hadn't really objected either! Judging by the tone at the time, she had seemed quite concerned about Xu Jingjing's emotional state and even agreed to let Xu Jingjing stay here for a while. So why was it that, in less than a month, she suddenly wanted them to send her back again?

"Mother-in-law said it seems Father-in-law has been feeling unwell recently, and she's too busy taking care of him and doing chores like laundry and cooking. She wants Si Ya to come back and help her out," Song Yuanhuan finished chopping the bell peppers and started processing the meat, a kitchen knife in hand looking quite impressive—without a hint of effeminacy despite being engaged in cooking.

"What's wrong with my dad? Where is he feeling unwell?" Xu Xiuxiu furrowed her brows and continued to ask, "He looked fine when we saw him during the New Year!"

Faced with Xu Xiuxiu's questions, Song Yuanhuan was also troubled, "Mother-in-law didn't specify, but from the bits and pieces she hesitantly mentioned, Father-in-law's discomfort seems to be somewhat related to my eldest sister-in-law. I suspect it's largely because of the issues with Si Ya coming here, and some kind of incident must have happened when Father-in-law and Mother-in-law were communicating with my elder sister-in-law afterward, so Father-in-law ended up getting upset!" Although Song Yuanhuan didn't want Xu Xiuxiu to worry too much about her family and affect her mood during pregnancy, he knew it was impossible to hide it from her, so he was honest with Xu Xiuxiu.

"This has something to do with elder sister too?" Xu Xiuxiu's whole being was instantly not okay, "Why is she involved in everything!" It was maddening.

Xu Xiuxiu vividly remembered what happened during the family visit on the second day of the Lunar New Year. Although Xu Fangfang was her biological sister, their relationship had naturally faded after both of them got married and started their separate families. Their relationship wasn't very close to begin with, so it was normal for them to grow apart. However, Xu Fangfang had meddled in Xu Jingjing's matchmaking, and what she did was particularly disgraceful, dragging Xu Xiuxiu's impression of Xu Fangfang down to rock bottom.

That woman was just out to make trouble and never wanted anyone to be happy!

"Have a talk with Si Ya tonight and see what she thinks. If she still doesn't want to go back, then we'll call home and discuss it further," Song Yuanhuan had spent some time with his sister-in-law these past days and had naturally grown fond of the young girl. Seeing that she was about the same age as his own sister, Song Yuan Yao, he was naturally more inclined towards her.

Although his mother-in-law had spoken, and as a son-in-law, he couldn't simply disobey, he also couldn't bear to force his sister-in-law to leave Z City and return to her hometown against her will. They had to make sure she was willing! And with a proper conversation, he believed the young girl wasn't the kind to be stubborn or difficult—if she knew her father was unwell, she would likely be willing to go back and help take care of him.

"I know," Xu Xiuxiu replied helplessly, glancing back at Xu Jingjing before nodding.

At the dinner table, Song Yuanhuan's first attempt at cooking turned out to be quite good, with the dishes looking and smelling delicious, but Xu Jingjing clearly wasn't in the mood to eat. Her eyes red, the young girl sat at the table, took a few bites without appetite, and then hid herself away in her room.

That night, for the first time since getting pregnant, Xu Xiuxiu stayed up until eight o'clock, while Song Yuanhuan had finished his bath and returned to the room to read—obviously making space for Xu Xiuxiu to have a conversation. Song Chengguang had also been sent to bed early by Song Yuanhuan, so Xu Xiuxiu called Xu Jingjing out, and the two sisters had a talk in the living room.

"Si Ya, your mom called your brother-in-law today," Xu Xiuxiu said, looking at Xu Jingjing, who still had her head down and hadn't snapped out of the Chu Tiangu incident, and went straight to the point somewhat helplessly.

The girl didn't seem to have an interest in anything at the moment, so there was no use in beating around the bush with her.