Pampered By All In Different Planes

Yongning suddenly realized that it seemed like everyone knew her parents—

Back then, she was just a little girl who liked to follow behind her parents and older brother, eating with her little hands and curiously sizing up the new world.

Every time they passed by, uncles, aunties, older brothers, and sisters would look at her mother with eyes full of hot tears and hearts filled with reverence.

She was still young and didn't know the word "reverence," but she could see that many people cried upon seeing her mother.

Then, they would pat her and her brother's hair and say with a sigh, "Xiangsheng and Yongning have both grown up so much!"

One time, she shook her head in confusion and asked, "Sister, do you know who I am?"

The sister smiled, squatted down, and spoke gently.

"You and your brother, we've watched you grow up."

"Your parents are heroes to all of us!"

Back then, little Yongning just nodded as if she understood, and continued to bite into her lollipop.

But in her heart, the word "heroes" had already been planted.

Her brother often told her about the past, saying how extremely difficult things were back then, and that she had encountered better times now.

Whenever he said that, their mother would always laugh and tease her father that her brother was like an old-fashioned little man.

Well, she thought so too.

But seeing how enthusiastically her brother spoke, she had no choice but to rub her numbed legs in distress and pretend to listen attentively to him, while actually, her heart had already flown out to the grandpa selling cotton candy outside, the uncle grilling cold noodles, the sister selling picture books, and the auntie selling dolls.

Before starting school, although her little mind was filled with past events, she ultimately had no concept of it.

Her mother was now a professor at Capital University, and often took her to play at the school. With a little sweet talk from her, she would receive loads of treats and gifts from college students, so much so that her little arms couldn't hold them all.

Yongning bit her finger and thought, it would be fine once she grew up, she could hold even more gifts then.

But then her clever little brain thought that if she grew up, she wouldn't receive as many gifts.

So, it was best to remain the youngest sister.

Yongning was indeed the youngest in the family, she was born after the natural disasters ended, when order started to be restored, and rebuilding commenced. Xiangsheng was right, she had come into a good era.

As the youngest sister in the family, she was undoubtedly the most pampered one.

Before she started school, although she heard from the people around her that she lived in a happy era, she always failed to understand. Despite her brother's exhaustive explanations, in her heart, she would wonder: Were there grandpas selling cotton candy before?

Probably not...

Thinking this, she suddenly felt very distressed—without cotton candy to eat.

It was only when she actually entered school and started attending classes with her classmates that she could really feel how painful the apocalyptic world five years before her birth had been.

Those pictures, the new world built united by everyone's will, and the series of familiar heroes in the textbooks.

Little Yongning blinked, looking at the pictures of her parents, great-grandfather and great-grandmother, her brother, and others in the textbooks.

Even though they were people she knew, their backdrop was not the familiar home she knew, but a broader, stranger land.

The teachers and classmates at school all knew who she was, and they were very kind to her. Even the principal treated her exceptionally well, and without a doubt, little Yongning became the favorite of the school.

But she knew that all the favoritism she received was actually due to her parents' halo, and after that, she became extremely curious about those five difficult years.

When her brother spoke about it again, she listened intently and occasionally asked relevant questions, gaining more and more understanding about it.

During her elementary school break, Su Zhiruan took her to the university where she worked to fetch some things.

Little Yongning held Su Zhiruan's hand and looked up at her, "Mom, the teacher said that Dad, Mom, Great-grandpa, and Great-grandma are all heroes, is that right?"

Su Zhiruan smiled, she squatted down and caressed her daughter's tender cheeks, "Dad and Mom aren't heroes, just parents who love their treasures dearly."

Little Yongning snuggled up to Su Zhiruan.

"If we really have to say it, then it's probably doing just the right thing at the right time," Su Zhiruan hugged her soft and cuddly daughter, planting a kiss on her face.

"Mom, I want to be as amazing as you," her daughter's tender little hands wrapped around Su Zhiruan's arm, her soft, mushy face resting on her shoulder, smelling sweetly of milk.

"Alright, let's go home!" Su Zhiruan put her down, holding her little hand as they walked home.

When Wen Qingyu saw them return, he picked up his daughter with one hand and took Su Zhiruan's hand with the other, "Dinner is ready, try my cooking."

"It smells so good!" Little Yongning always loved to offer praise. She was sincere and enthusiastic like a happy little puppy, immediately turning her gaze to the dining table.

Wen Qingyu also set her down.

He never knew he could be such a doting father — Wen Qingyu deeply loved Su Zhiruan, and their pair of children. His daughter was soft and mushy like a little angel. He felt as if a certain genetic switch had been flipped, and he started buying little dresses, little wings, dolls, and toys, unable to resist spoiling her as if she were a doll.

She was truly the apple of his eye, his pampered little darling.

Wen Xiangsheng grew up to be more and more composed but always showed his somewhat childish yet gentle side in front of his sister; the siblings got along very well.

And Wen Qingyu, the old father, watched his daughter grow up and suddenly turned into Sherlock Holmes—surveying those around them and the children at Yongning School, ensuring no ruffian got near her. As an old father, he was out-of-his-mind worried.

At home, Su Zhiruan watched this bunch of treasures every day, snuggling with her soft, mushy little daughter — life couldn't be more carefree.

Later on, she also encountered her mother and Su Mingzhu.

Su Mingzhu married a rather ugly man, and Su's mother followed her into that family. But the man suppressed Su Mingzhu and her mother at every turn, making their lives quite suffocating.

But that was their own choice; Su Zhiruan just took one look from afar and left.

During her time teaching at Capital University, Su Zhiruan educated many talents, truly an orchard abloom with students far and wide.

Wen Qingyu took over the company left by his parents, expanding and strengthening it.

As their eldest son, Wen Xiangsheng was an excellent student from a young age and was admitted to Capital University, becoming a disciple in Su Zhiruan's lab. It was rare for mother and son to be in the same lab. Xiangsheng was very capable, and with the influence and teaching of Su Zhiruan, he took over her class, becoming the new leader of the lab after Su Zhiruan's departure.

Their daughter Yongning, with her inherently kind heart, decided to take the public service exam to serve the people after learning about the world's hardships. She went to the grassroots, aiding the poor and troubled, bringing the poverty alleviation campaign to its peak. Many people came to know her name.

At the end of her life, Su Zhiruan lay peacefully in bed, with Wen Qingyu by her side.

Nobody spoke, the air was filled with silence.

The flickering tree shadows scattered through the window. Su Zhiruan reached out, her voice still weak, but her face held a gentle smile, "Open the window, please."

Wen Qingyu did as she asked and opened the window.

As the breeze swept in, by the time he returned to the bedside, Su Zhiruan had already closed her eyes for good.

"I will be with you, lifetime after lifetime," he said tenderly, holding her hand.

Outside the door, Xiangsheng and Yongning silently shed tears, biting their lips, refusing to make a sound.

After the wind blew,

The flowers fell.

*

After Su Zhiruan returned, she looked at the additional items around her, completely bemused.