I Became the Mother of His Child

Xu Xiuxiu and Song Yuanming also hurriedly quickened their pace. When the three of them entered the office, they saw Song Chengguang sitting on the ground next to the stroller. The little guy looked somewhat disheveled, with cotton stuffing being pulled out from his thick coat, and the hood on the back of his coat was hanging skewed on his clothes. Tears covered his face as he looked up at his baby brother and sister in the stroller; the siblings looked at each other and cried wildly, their sobs heart-wrenchingly loud. Little Baby and Little Moon cried so hard they couldn't catch their breath, their little mouths muttering 'brother' repeatedly, their chubby hands tightly grasping Song Chengguang's hand— a truly desolate scene.

If the children's crying hadn't been so pitiful, Xu Xiuxiu might have laughed out loud. It was extremely rare for the three children to cry together like this, and without needing much speculation, it was clear something quite serious must have happened. Judging by Song Chengguang's disheveled state, he likely had a fight with other children. This could be inferred from the several older boys with shaved heads, standing beside him with bowed heads.

"Brother Song, you're finally here," said Song Yuanhuan as he entered the office. A woman standing in front of the few boys, looking somber, immediately showed a relieved expression. She then turned her head to look at the three crying children, her eyes revealing a hint of guilt—undoubtedly, she was Mrs. Yu whom Song Yuanhuan had asked to watch the three children.

"What happened?" Song Yuanhuan asked, frowning, his tone somewhat icy.

"Chengguang got into a tussle with these kids for some reason. I was outside handing over some children to their parents, and these children's parents had something and were going to come late, so I let them play in the office for a while. By the time I returned, they were already fighting fiercely, and it took great effort to separate them. Chengguang then cried and stood in front of his brother and sister like a little lion, refusing to let me get near..." Mrs. Yu explained, clearly distressed.

"Wah, Daddy..." Song Chengguang cried out to Song Yuanhuan.

"Dad..."

"Dad..."

Seeing their brother calling out for Daddy, Little Baby and Little Moon also immediately started crying out in unison. Perhaps because they were frightened by the crying, Song Chengguang seemed to finally see someone to lean on. Eventually, he got up from the ground, called out, and buried himself into Xu Xiuxiu's arms behind Song Yuanhuan, his chubby hands tightly gripping Xu Xiuxiu's legs: "Mommy... Wah!" He lifted his tear-streaked, red and dirty little face, Song Chengguang tried to stop crying, puckered his lips, yet couldn't help but cry even louder.

Song Chengguang was always strong-willed, and he would usually hold back his tears. The little guy had a severe penchant for cleanliness; even if he was sad and crying, he would usually control his emotions appropriately. It was truly rare for him to cry so that his little face turned red, sitting on the ground without any regard for image.

"There, there, don't cry, can you tell Mommy what happened?" Xu Xiuxiu's eyes immediately reddened too. She picked up Song Chengguang, wiping away his tears, which flowed like little rivers down his cheeks, all the while moving towards the stroller to check on Little Baby and Little Moon.

Song Yuanhuan was particularly distressed by Little Baby's crying, and seeing his own daughter crying inconsolably, he lifted her out of the stroller. "Dada..." Little Baby's cherubic voice called out to Song Yuanhuan, her crying became even more desperate when she saw Xu Xiuxiu approaching, then she pitifully stretched out her small hands asking Xu Xiuxiu for a hug.

Obviously frightened, she now wanted only her mother's warm embrace, and not even her most beloved father. Xu Xiuxiu was holding Song Chengguang, and at that moment had no hands free to hold her!

"Second Brother, Second Sister, Little Moon seems to be hurt." Song Yuanming, seeing his brother and sister-in-law each holding a crying child, also walked over to the stroller, intending to softly comfort the crying Little Moon, but then he noticed a small scrape on Little Moon's cheek. Although it wasn't severe, it looked extremely unsettling on her small, tender skin, which infuriated him instantly.

"What?" Song Yuanhuan frowned, instantly adopting an ominous expression.

When Xu Xiuxiu heard this, her calm shattered in an instant. Without fully understanding the situation, she was already heartbroken by the wailing of her three children. Now hearing from Song Yuanming that Little Moon was injured, she became terribly anxious, fearing the worst for Little Moon.

"Wuwu, mama... they're mean, they said, said Dada is a cripple, they cursed Chengguang, they cursed brother and sister, said we are cripple children, that we'll grow up to be cripples like Dada... Wah... Chengguang said it's not true, but they wouldn't listen..." Song Chengguang, with his arms around Xu Xiuxiu's neck and burying his head in her embrace, spoke in a small voice, yet the few adults present heard him clearly.

The adults felt as if doused with cold water, chilled to the core — they couldn't underestimate the malice in little children these days.

Xu Xiuxiu had always firmly believed that Song Yuanhuan's leg would recover. Though he still had some difficulty walking, it was hardly noticeable most of the time if you didn't look closely. And with the existence of the "space", Xu Xiuxiu had some confidence to rely on, not making a big deal out of Song Yuanhuan's leg injury, constantly feeding him the pink fruit and patiently waiting for Song Yuanhuan's complete recovery.

And Song Yuanhuan, from being diagnosed by the doctors, to his recovery now, had also come to believe Xu Xiuxiu's statement that his leg injury would recover, naturally also not making much of it. The matter that the couple had not paid much attention to, unexpectedly caused a huge turmoil among the children.

"They bullied brother and sister, said they would snatch and throw away brother and sister's stroller. Chengguang told them that brother and sister can't walk yet... They said cripple children of course can't walk, and even laughed saying they wanted to see brother and sister crawl for them. Chengguang got very angry and fought with them, mama... Chengguang is not a bad child, Chengguang just wanted to protect his brother and sister... Wuwu." As he spoke, Song Chengguang's emotions collapsed again, and he cried bitterly while clutching Xu Xiuxiu.

What he didn't know was that his sobbing and narrative had turned Xu Xiuxiu's face pale. It took her a long while to calm down, listening to Song Chengguang's tender crying, looking at Little Moon and Little Baby who were also crying miserably, and at the red mark on Little Moon's cheek, her heart felt as if it were being tightly squeezed.

"Chengguang, don't cry! Daddy's leg will get better, he was wounded while saving someone, and that is honorable. Chengguang should be proud because daddy is a big hero. So, don't believe what they said, okay? Chengguang and your brother and sister won't become cripple children." Xu Xiuxiu kissed Song Chengguang's cheek to calm him. "Mama tells you, those who say such vicious words are not good children; they are the bad children, and Chengguang should not believe the words of bad children."