I Became the Mother of His Child

When Xu Xiuxiu woke up to prepare breakfast, there was no sign of Song Chengguang in the bedroom. She didn't know if Song Chengguang had really taken Song Yuanhuan's words about exercising to heart, but she anxiously reached out to check the spot where Song Chengguang had been lying. Finding that he must have gotten up early, she instantly panicked.

She feared that after yesterday's incident, the boy might have developed some emotional trauma. Otherwise, why would he have disappeared so early in the morning?

Just as Xu Xiuxiu had searched the house without finding her son and was getting really anxious, Song Yuanming finally came home leisurely with Song Chengguang. Song Chengguang, moving his little short legs, was the first to walk through the door, his right hand clutching a thick jacket, his body clad in a sweat-drenched pajama. Because of the morning run, the little guy's face was still beet-red and his body was sweaty. "Mom, Chengguang and uncle ran several laps outside Dad's school. Isn't that impressive?" he said, his face full of proud and excited expression seeking praise.

"Impressive," Xu Xiuxiu said with a tremble in her voice as she bent down to embrace Song Chengguang.

She absolutely adored Song Chengguang at that moment, but as a mother, she knew that she had indeed spoiled Song Chengguang a bit. Song Yuanhuan, as a father, had his own way of teaching the child; since he had requested that he start exercising, which was harmless and beneficial, she felt painful yet didn't plan to stop it.

"Brother-in-law, I brought breakfast back," Song Yuanming said, also drenched in sweat, but as an adult, after the morning run and seeing breakfast being sold in the alley, he conveniently brought it back, saving Xu Xiuxiu the trouble of making breakfast.

"Give it to me! Both of you go wash your faces and change out of your wet clothes," Xu Xiuxiu said, kissing Song Chengguang's cheek and looking up at Song Yuanming who came in with breakfast, adding, "This winter, both of you running until sweating; if you don't change immediately, you could easily catch a cold."

"Okay, Mom."

"Okay, sister-in-law."

The uncle and nephew both agreed, obviously both very happy; Song Chengguang even bounced joyfully as he went to wash up, which was incredibly cute but also made Xu Xiuxiu's heart sour.

The atmosphere at breakfast was quite nice, but after the excessive exercise in the morning, the uncle and nephew duo ended up crying out that night from limb weakness. Seeing Song Chengguang frowning in pain was amusing to Xu Xiuxiu; she had thought they might give up the idea of morning exercises after experiencing the pain, but it turned out they both had the determination to continue.

However, on the fourth day of their morning run, they unexpectedly encountered Shi Yu, the little tyrant. The two boys already had displeasure towards each other, and without waiting for Song Yuanming to react, they clashed like magnets and fiercely fought. Song Chengguang fought back with resentment from being bullied by Shi Yu, while Shi Yu fought with the resentment of his own father being defeated by the other's father, thinking that since your dad hit my dad, I'll hit you, so neither held back.

Both boys being of similar age and without anyone to intervene, they fought evenly; Song Chengguang landed a punch that knocked out Shi Yu's first ever replaced baby tooth, and Shi Yu's punch brought blood from Song Chengguang's nose. Both honorably ended up with injuries, honorably coming to a draw, both quite disheveled, but still holding on to each other's collars, neither willing to concede, like two little wolves.

"If you can't win, you just call your dad to back you up, you're not a real man…" Shi Yu started, despising Song Chengguang.

"What's wrong with calling my dad to back me up? Your dad still can't beat my dad, and you still come bullying me to make a scene..." Song Chengguang retorted without conceding, hitting right at the sorest spot in Shi Yu's heart.

"Your dad couldn't beat my dad, my dad just didn't bother fighting back, disdaining to argue with a trainee..." Shi Yu exploded, having lost a front tooth, his words were literally blowing out of his mouth, but he still refused to admit defeat, though as someone who saw his dad get thrashed, his words felt somewhat disloyal.

"My dad is really tough, it's your dad who couldn't beat my dad..." Song Chengguang puffed out his cheeks, reached up to wipe his nose with the back of his hand, then his chin was all covered in bloodstains.

"You're talking nonsense." Shi Yu shouted angrily, then with a yell, continued to scuffle with Song Yuanming.

Song Yuanming, watching the kids fight, as an adult, had to pull them apart and ended up getting punched several times himself, including punches thrown by Song Chengguang.

"Everyone stop fighting, if anyone dares not listen, I'll throw you into the ditch—believe it or not," Song Yuanming finally shouted with an adult's authority, managing to quell the situation.

"Hmph."

"Hmph."

After being separated by Song Yuanming, both kids glared at each other and hummed in unison.

After the morning run, Xu Xiuxiu saw Song Chengguang's pitiful state, felt so distressed, strongly requested him to rest at home for a few days, then went to complain to Song Yuanhuan, resulting in Shi Yan Ting, who was the most wronged and troubled, feeling like he had lost another layer of skin.

That guy Song Yuanhuan, upon learning his son and that little rascal Shi Yu fought to a tie, felt quite satisfied, but still ended up giving Shi Yan Ting a thrashing at night using the excuse of sparring. Shi Yan Ting dared not complain, swallowing his teeth in silence; the bruises he had gotten from Song Yuanhuan before had just faded, and now they came back.

Bawling, he implored his son not to cause further trouble, but the little tyrant, Shi Yu, didn't take his words seriously. After encountering Song Chengguang on a morning run and learning that Song Chengguang ran every morning, he also began running daily, rain or shine. The two kids were both very competitive, and although they did not fight again, they began competing over who could run faster and more laps.

Due to his longer training, Shi Yu was noticeably faster and had more stamina than Song Chengguang, one-upping him. Unwilling to accept this, Song Chengguang started getting up earlier every day. When Shi Yu discovered that, he started rising even earlier the next day, both vying ceaselessly, both intent on regaining face.

Xu Xiuxiu found the situation funny yet exasperating, feeling that these two might end up friends despite their fights. Eventually, the two boys indeed transitioned from rivals to close buddies.

Xu Xiuxiu, who adored her children, didn't think it necessary to stop them, and Shi Yu's mother, Yuan Shixiang, who completely let her child run wild, even more so didn't think it was bad. Since learning her son and Song Chengguang had clashed, resulting in less mischief with the military school kids, she wholeheartedly encouraged her son to continue challenging Song Chengguang, then blatantly threw Shi Yan Ting out there as bait for the tiger, Song Yuanhuan.

Shi Yan Ting instantly felt he was living in torment, and his wife didn't think it was shameful for him as an instructor to get beat up; sharing the same thought as their son, that he, an instructor, couldn't beat Song Yuanhuan, a trainee, was the true embarrassment.