I Became the Mother of His Child

"Got wet? Hurt Auntie? What in the world are all these things!"

Song Yuanhuan felt his head was about to explode, but then he thought of how his son, not even three but over two, couldn't yet speak properly. The fact that the little guy remembered the phone number he had told him was frightening enough. Song Yuanhuan calmed himself down with some reassurance.

"Cheng Guang, stop crying for a second, is Mommy there?" Song Yuanhuan instinctively felt it must have been Xu Xiuxiu who was with his son when the call was made.

"Wuwu... Mommy isn't here."

Not there? How could that be! Song Yuanhuan's heart leaped in an instant, "Then who's with Cheng Guang right now?" Song Yuanhuan asked carefully, raising his voice slightly, fearing he might hear something even more terrifying from his precious son on the other end of the line.

Upon hearing the question, Song Chengguang, with tear-blurred eyes, looked at Mrs. Niu holding him, "Granny! And Grandpa." Song Chengguang gave Song Yuanhuan a clear answer.

"Then, Cheng Guang, could you give the phone to Granny? Daddy wants to talk to Granny!" Song Yuanhuan requested with a tone that could not hide his anxiety.

"Oh!" Song Chengguang listened and then held the phone to Granny's ear: "Daddy wants to speak to Granny." Song Chengguang said sadly.

Mrs. Niu took the phone and, after hearing Song Yuanhuan's questions, promptly explained the situation, then spoke a few more words to Song Yuanhuan on the other end of the line, ensuring that she would bring Song Chengguang back home safely before leisurely hanging up the phone. Mrs. Niu was incredulously looking at Song Chengguang in her arms, "You're really something else! It's only now that Granny has come to her senses. Ay! If something had happened today, Granny would have been the criminal!" Mrs. Niu exclaimed in surprise, then, with an air of helplessness, held the little guy and groggily made her way home.

"Granny, Cheng Guang wants to walk by himself." Song Chengguang looked at Mrs. Niu and slowly made his request, wriggling his little body and attempting to get down.

"Alright, walk by yourself." Mrs. Niu, still not completely recovered from the fantastical incident, obliged as soon as the little guy said he wanted to walk on his own, and immediately bent down to set the little one on the ground.

Xu Xiuxiu was boiling water in the kitchen and had just finished making hot water mix with cold water when she walked into the small living room. Planning to give her son a bath first, she did not see Song Chengguang's figure, and with a loud thump in her heart, it went into disarray. She turned around the house like a headless fly before running outside.

"Cheng Guang!" Xu Xiuxiu called out while looking around the yard, then ran to the house's exterior: "Cheng Guang, where have you gone? Don't scare Mommy, okay? Please come out!" Xu Xiuxiu felt like she was going insane, standing at the front door hesitating, not knowing whether to search left or right first, afraid that she might miss him on the other side.

"Cheng Guang..." Xu Xiuxiu hesitated back and forth, ready to run to the left towards the pig-killing Liu family's direction.

"Mommy!" From the right, Song Chengguang coming back with Mrs. Niu saw Xu Xiuxiu at the doorway and then, like a rocket, called out as he ran towards her.

She thought she heard Cheng Guang's voice!

Xu Xiuxiu, with her eyes blurred by tears, stopped the step she was about to take, then turned around incredulously with tears streaming down her face, only to see a small figure darting over and wrapping his arms around her legs, "Mommy." Song Chengguang called out with a smile that sought to please.

"Cheng Guang." Xu Xiuxiu's frantic emotions were somewhat relieved, as she bent down and hugged the little guy tightly.

"Mommy, Cheng Guang called Daddy!" Song Chengguang struggled to look up from Xiuxiu's embrace, angling his small head to show off an expression that said, "I'm so smart, so awesome, so great, you should praise me now."

"You called?" Xu Xiuxiu raised her hand to wipe away the tears on her cheeks haphazardly, then stared at Song Chengguang and repeated, "You called your daddy?" Xu Xiuxiu asked incredulously.

"Mhm." Song Chengguang nodded with a wide grin.

Snap!

The little guy's behind was slapped without warning.

"Mommy!" Song Chengguang looked at Xu Xiuxiu for a moment, then his little face scrunched up suddenly.

Seeing the little guy's aggrieved expression, Xu Xiuxiu still didn't hold back, raising her hand and giving a stern slap to Song Chengguang's bottom, "You ran out of the house without saying a word, do you want to scare mommy to death? I told you not to run around, I told you not to run around!" Xu Xiuxiu scolded the little guy fiercely, her eyes red and teeth clenched, unable to control her emotions, and then she continued to hit the little guy, "Tell me if you dare to run out of the house alone again?" Xu Xiuxiu had repeatedly warned Song Chengguang, forbidding him from going out of the yard without her, the neighborhood was generally harmonious, but still, the little guy was young, and she would watch carefully even when he played with the local kids out of worry.

Her mood had already been off today, having unexpectedly suffered an undeserved calamity, and when she turned around and saw that the little guy had disappeared, her heart really jumped into her throat. The feeling that if something happened to Song Chengguang, she wouldn't survive was glaringly obvious; she truly couldn't bear it, nor dared to imagine what she would do if she lost Song Chengguang. Therefore, Xu Xiuxiu was particularly emotional at the moment.

But Song Chengguang, whose spirits were originally shattered by fright and who had planned to boast to Xu Xiuxiu about finding his dad as a back-up, was instantly overwhelmed by the sight of his crying mother. His small hands grabbed at his little pants, "Wah, mommy I'm sorry, don't cry mommy! Cheng Guang was wrong!" Song Chengguang sobbed miserably on his own, his chubby little hands also lifted to help wipe the tears from Xu Xiuxiu's cheeks.

"Miss Xiu, it was my fault just now; I'd lost it. I took the kid to make a call and had no idea he'd run out on his own. Don't be too hard on the child; he's clever and well-behaved. You should take the child inside quickly! I think his clothes are still wet!" Mrs. Niu, knowing that Xu Xiuxiu was upset, couldn't bear to watch little baby Song Chengguang cry incessantly, so she chimed in to comfort.

"I understand, thank you Mrs. Niu." Xu Xiuxiu picked up the little guy with both arms, expressed her thanks to Mrs. Niu, and then went into the house holding Song Chengguang.

Song Yuanhuan arrived very quickly, most likely having left in a hurry as soon as the phone call from Song Chengguang had been cut off.

By the time he pushed open the door to the house, Xu Xiuxiu and Song Chengguang's emotions had stabilized a great deal. The mother and son had bathed and changed clothes, sitting silently in the living room, each occupying one side of the room, visibly in a mood. Song Chengguang was not his usual cheerful self, the little guy sat on the chair silently, only stretching out his arms dolefully when he saw Song Yuanhuan.

"Daddy." Song Chengguang had not reached out to Song Yuanhuan for a hug for a long time. He usually sought out Xu Xiuxiu, heartlessly too, so seeking a hug today was a rare occurrence.