I Became the Mother of His Child

Xu Xiuxiu and Xu Jingjing snapped back to reality when they saw the lively atmosphere in the living room. Their worries dissipated significantly. Seeing the warmth at home did help to ease Xu Xiuxiu's anxiety a bit.

Knock knock knock...

Just then, a rhythmic knocking sound came from the front door.

The adults in the living room were all momentarily startled. With the rain pouring down like this, who could be knocking at the door?

"Mom, someone is knocking." While the adults exchanged surprised glances, not expecting someone to be at the door, Song Chengguang innocently alerted his mother after noticing the adults' conversation.

"I know." Xu Xiuxiu nodded and stepped forward to open the door. Despite her surprise, she wouldn't refuse to open the door to a visitor.

"Sister-in-law, let me do it!" Song Yuanming, for some reason, suddenly felt it was his responsibility as the only man in the house to act. He intercepted Xu Xiuxiu's movement towards the door, quickly got up from the couch, and went to the entryway to open the door for the person outside.

"Sir, ma'am, good day. May I ask whom you are looking for?" Song Yuanming opened the door to find an elderly couple standing outside. They looked quite amiable and emanated a scholarly aura. As a man of letters himself, Song Yuanming instinctively treated them with respect and politely smiled as he asked.

"Young man, it's like this. Your granny and I are residents who live next door." The old man politely informed Song Yuanming of their residence.

"Oh! Hello, what can we do for you?" Following the direction pointed out by the elderly man, Song Yuanming saw their house and politely inquired.

"We wanted to ask if your family has any extra food supplies. If so, could we possibly borrow some? We will return it later, or we can pay for it if necessary." The old man was tactful with his words, which were comfortably explicit. Normally, he could convince himself to make such a request if they were familiar with each other.

But although they were neighbors, they had not interacted much in the past half year. They'd only passed by each other a few times in the corridor. The elderly couple liked their peace and quiet, and with their scholarly pride, they had suffered during the cultural struggles of past years and had seen through many people's hearts. Although life had improved, their desire to interact with neighbors had waned significantly. They had no intention of forming any close relationships.

When Xu Xiuxiu first moved to Hai Chao Garden, she had specifically brought gifts for the neighbors. When she visited the elderly couple, they were distant and didn't seem interested in getting more acquainted. Since then, Xu Xiuxiu had dropped the idea, thinking that neighbors should live in harmony if possible, and comfortably on their own if not.

The elderly couple was pleased with this, but now, due to pressing livelihood issues, they had no choice but to ask for help, and they felt quite embarrassed about it.

They were really here to borrow food? Had things gotten that serious? Xu Xiuxiu stood in the living room but could clearly hear the conversation at the entrance, causing her to feel anxious.

Despite his young age, Song Yuanming was unsure of how to handle the situation. Seeing the kindness of the two seniors, he turned his head to look at Xu Xiuxiu in the living room.

"We are old and the children live away from home now, leaving just the two of us. We don't need much on a daily basis, so we don't stock up a lot. We buy only when needed. But with the heavy rain these past few days, we couldn't go out, and our plan to buy some rice was postponed. Who knew we would run out of food today? Could you possibly spare us some?" The old lady, gentle and wearing glasses, was used to being aloof. On a day like this, asking for help was rare. After speaking, she immediately showed a deep sense of embarrassment.

"Sir, ma'am, I'll have to ask my sister-in-law. She handles these matters in our home." Song Yuanming explained kindly, then turned to Xu Xiuxiu as she approached.

"In that case, sir, ma'am, we are neighbors after all, and helping each other is only right. They say distant relatives are not as good as close neighbors. We're the younger generation, and we might trouble you two in the future, right? Please come in and sit down for a moment! I'll get some rice and other food for you." As Song Yuanming turned to look at her, Xu Xiuxiu approached and, upon hearing the old lady's sincere words, she warmly gestured for the elderly couple to enter.

"Thank you, young lady." The old lady remembered Xu Xiuxiu. Xu Xiuxiu had made a good impression on her since she was the only person who brought food to their house when they moved in. Perhaps sensing their reserved attitude, Xu Xiuxiu no longer visited afterward.

The old lady now felt quite apologetic about it.

"Don't mention it." Xu Xiuxiu kindly helped the old lady to come inside first, while Song Yuanming, standing at the door, quickly offered his arm to help the old man inside as well.

"Jingjing, go pour two cups of tea." Xu Xiuxiu helped the old lady to the couch and then instructed Si Ya nearby.

"Alright." Xu Jingjing immediately turned and walked into the kitchen to make tea.

Once Xu Xiuxiu saw that the old couple was seated on the sofa, she stood up and spoke, "Sir, ma'am, our family is large, and we don't have much food stored. In the city, unlike in the countryside, we buy our grains from outside. We like to eat fresh, so we don't keep too much rice or flour at home. How about this? I can give you twenty pounds of rice and two pounds of flour, would that be okay?" Xu Xiuxiu politely proposed the offer.

Given the heavy rain, it was unrealistic for the elderly folks to go shopping, and with the rain having lasted for several days, many stores had closed. The situation was severe, so sharing with the elderly couple wasn't a big issue as the Xiuxiu family had plenty of food.

"That would be great, thank you!" The old lady immediately nodded, grateful.

For their age, they couldn't eat much. Twenty pounds of rice would last them quite a while.

"Alright then, I'll find a bag and pack this up for you." Xu Xiuxiu nodded and went to a small storage room on the first floor. She noticed several jars of pickled radishes that Aunt Luo had helped to make. In this weather, eating plain rice could be difficult, so she decided to give a jar of the pickled vegetables to the elderly couple, which would make their rice porridge or meals more appetizing.