Chapter 25: Loving Mommy

Chapter 25: I Love Mommy

Shen Lanxue carried his son back to their class area, while Lu Hechi followed, holding Chu Baobei's hand.

"What exactly happened back there?"

Shen Lanxue asked.

Lu Hechi was about to smooth things over.

It was normal for kids to have squabbles, but a single look from Shen Lanxue shut him right up.

He rubbed his nose.

Man, he's scary.

Shen Yixing was, after all, only a three-year-old, and he explained, eyes red-rimmed and words stumbling out.

It all came down to "the chubby kid was cursing at people."

Chu Baobei stepped forward, fidgeting with her fingers as she spoke:

"He's his daddy's kid, he cursed at me, over and over, and just now he even kicked the castle down, that's why Little Star got into a fight with him."

It took her a good ten minutes to stumble through the whole explanation.

But Shen Lanxue didn't interrupt; he just waited for her to finish, then patted her head and said, "You did awesome."

Chu Baobei gave a shy smile.

Shen Lanxue looked at the two kids, paused, then said, "You two were very brave, but remember, the most important thing about being brave is making sure you don't get hurt, got it?"

Both kids nodded eagerly, heads bobbing like little chicks.

Once he understood what had happened, Shen Lanxue called Song Jiyao.

"What made you think of me all of a sudden?"

Song Jiyao's lazy voice drifted through the phone.

"Help me take care of someone, Liu Dawei from Guangying Media."

Song Jiyao didn't ask why. He just said one word.

"Okay."

"..."

The parent-child event officially kicked off at noon.

Chu Baobei's mom showed up at twelve ten.

She rushed over in a panic, hugged her, and checked her for injuries, letting out a sigh of relief once she confirmed there were none.

"The teacher called mommy and said you got into a fight with a classmate. You scared mommy half to death."

Chu Baobei wrapped her arms around her mom's neck, "It's okay, Little Star protected me and beat up the bad big brother!"

The woman's eyes welled up at that. She hugged her and said, "Mommy's sorry. Mommy shouldn't have sent you to your dad's."

"Do you blame Mommy?"

Chu Baobei shook her head. "I love Mommy."

The woman's tears immediately started streaming down her face.

"Don't worry, baby. Mommy will work hard to earn lots of money, fight in court to get you back. You'll always be Mommy's precious baby."

She calmed herself, wiped her tears, and, guided by Chu Baobei, found Shen Lanxue.

"Sir, thank you for what you did earlier."

Shen Lanxue nodded. "No problem."

The event had three activities total. Shen Yixing was still a bit down during the first two.

By the last one—the parent-child sports meet, where dads had to lead their kids through obstacle courses on the playground—Lu Hechi took the lead and helped Shen Yixing win first place.

The little squabble from earlier was completely forgotten.

Shen Yixing perked up and became lively again.

When the event ended, Shen Yixing reluctantly said goodbye to Chu Baobei at the kindergarten gate.

This time, the little girl didn't say "oh." Instead, she said very seriously, "See you tomorrow!"

On the way back, Shen Yixing fell asleep in the back seat, his breathing even and deep.

Lu Hechi sat in the passenger seat, glancing sideways at Shen Lanxue as he drove.

His expression was still unreadable, but the hand gripping the steering wheel had knuckles white as bone.

Lu Hechi didn't say anything, waiting until they hit a red light at the intersection.

He reached over and gently brushed the back of Shen Lanxue's hand.

Shen Lanxue's fingers twitched, but he didn't pull away.

A few seconds later, Lu Hechi turned his hand over and laced his fingers through Shen Lanxue's from below, holding tight.

His palm was warm.

Lu Hechi rolled down the window, letting the hot summer breeze rush in as the street scenes rolled by.

Lu Hechi hesitated, then said, "Bro, I heard Chu Baobei's mom is fighting a lawsuit for custody of Chu Baobei."

Shen Lanxue was caught off guard and glanced at him. "You want to help her?"

Lu Hechi asked, "Is that okay?"

Shen Lanxue didn't answer right away. After two seconds, he softly hummed in agreement.

As the car pulled into the garage, Shen Yixing rubbed his eyes.

"Daddy... are we home yet?"

"We're here." Lu Hechi unbuckled his seatbelt and turned to look back. "Still sleepy?"

Shen Yixing shook his head, and then nodded: "A little."

Lu Hechi chuckled, opened the car door, and lifted him out of the car seat.

Shen Yixing rested on his shoulder, his little face pressed against Lu Hechi's neck, mumbling: "There was a bad guy today, but Little Star is very happy."

Lu Hechi waited for Shen Lanxue to grab the bags from the trunk, then carried him inside while asking:

"Why's that?"

Shen Yixing said: "Because today Dad and Daddy came to kindergarten with me."

Shen Lanxue followed, glancing at Little Star when he heard that.

He pursed his lips.

Lu Hechi: "Dad and Daddy will come to kindergarten with you from now on too."

Lu Hechi turned back to look at Shen Lanxue after he said that.

"Bro, is that okay?"

Shen Lanxue nodded: "Okay."

He didn't know how long that promise would last, but he'd take it one day at a time.

Dinner was made by Aunt Wang, consisting of light dishes.

Steamed fish, two stir-fried vegetables, and West Lake-style beef soup.

Shen Yixing washed his hands, sat at the table, and ate with his little spoon.

Midway through eating, he suddenly looked up: "Daddy."

Shen Lanxue looked at him questioningly.

"Tomorrow... will that mean brother come to kindergarten again?"

The hand holding his chopsticks paused: "He won't."

His words felt like a promise.

Shen Yixing said "Oh," lowered his head, and kept eating without asking more.

After dinner, it was still early, and Shen Lanxue had work to do.

Taking care of the child was left to Lu Hechi.

He played with Shen Yixing with magnetic toy guns for a while, then went to the garden with a net and crouched by the koi pond.

He scooped out a black clownfish, a small yellow fish, and a little red fish with spots.

He scooped them up and put them back.

The servant watched nervously nearby.

After draining Shen Yixing's energy, Lu Hechi bathed him and changed him into pajamas. Then he tucked the blanket around him and asked: "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Shen Yixing blinked: "I'm not sleepy."

Lu Hechi was speechless.

Shen Yixing: "Dad, can you tell me a story?"

Lu Hechi touched his little face, and instead of telling a twisted version of a fairy tale, he found a children's bedtime book from the bedroom and opened it to read.

He read until his voice was nearly hoarse, and finally Shen Yixing's breathing grew slow and steady.

Lu Hechi returned to their bedroom, completely exhausted.

He found Shen Lanxue and flopped down onto him.

"Bro, you've been working so hard."

Shen Lanxue looked up in confusion: "What's wrong?"

Lu Hechi buried his face in the crook of Shen Lanxue's neck and took a deep breath.

"So this is how exhausting taking care of a kid is. Have I been leaving all of Little Star's care to you this whole time?"

Shen Lanxue looked down: "Mm."

Lu Hechi berated himself without mercy.

"I'm such a jerk!"

Shen Lanxue reached out, touched his right arm, and asked: "Does your hand still hurt?"

Lu Hechi: "..." He felt even worse.