LIGHTNOVELONLINE
Chapter 119
Braving the light drizzle, Shang Xi drove her car into the Manting Community and looked towards the dark and spacious underground parking lot.
Finding a good parking spot, she slowly parked the car. "Alright, you can get out now."
Baby Shang undid his seatbelt himself, and when Shang Xi opened the door to get out, the little one mischievously jumped out of the car as well, his small shoes making crisp sounds on the ground.
Whenever Gu Wen was around, he would wait for his father to get out of the car first and then carry him out.
Baby Shang liked indulging his dad too.
But with his mom, he got out by himself, doing many things independently and helping his mom.
Like right now, in the dimly lit parking lot, Shang Xi opened the trunk and took out a large bag of clothes. Baby Shang also came running over, standing on his tiptoes with his small hands grabbing his own big bag of toys and taking it out.
"Oh, you don't need to..." Shang Xi didn't finish before Baby Shang had effortlessly lifted his bag of toys.
"Mom, let me carry your bag of clothes too, I can handle it," he said. After drinking the cold spring water for half a year, his strength had visibly increased.
The weight of these few dozen pounds of clothes and toys was nothing to him.
But although his strength had grown, his small stature was still that of a cub.
With the large bag of clothes dwarfing him, it made him look even smaller. An onlooker might think Shang Xi was abusing the child.
She didn't want to let her son carry the heavy load, even though she knew he could handle it.
Shang Xi didn't use a suitcase for the clothes, thinking the bags could actually hold more.
"I'm strong enough now, Mom," Baby Shang looked up at Shang Xi with a serious expression.
Seeing her son's determined eyes, Shang Xi nodded.
She generally didn't deny her son the things he wanted to do, unless they were truly dangerous.
A sense of participation was important.
"Alright then, just use a little bit of your strength to help Mom." Shang Xi carried one bag in each hand, and Baby Shang ran to the side where she was holding the clothes bag, gripping it with both hands as they walked towards the elevator.
Entering the elevator, they pressed the button for the 6th floor.
Soon, the elevator arrived.
Baby Shang grabbed the bag of clothes and was the first to exit the elevator.
There were only three households on the 6th floor. As soon as Baby Shang exited the elevator, he saw a neighbor, a thin auntie in her thirties waiting for the elevator. She exclaimed, "Oh my, this child is so strong!"
Baby Shang nodded at her, "Hello auntie."
"Hello little one," the woman greeted back.
Shang Xi, carrying the bag of toys, also exchanged greetings with the woman.
Baby Shang had already brought the bag of clothes to the door, standing on his tiptoes to enter the password and open it.
"Mom, hurry up."
"Let me see your hands." Shang Xi walked over and looked at her son's little palms, which were indeed red.
She gently blew on them, "They're all red. If we had a longer way to go, these tender hands would've formed blisters."
"I'm not afraid," Baby Shang pulled his hands back, furrowing his little brows. "They turned red on their own, didn't Mom's hands turn red too?"
After entering the house, mother and son began cleaning.
"Sweetheart, you wipe the tables."
"Okay." Baby Shang took the damp cloth from his mom and started wiping the tables, chairs, and TV cabinet. Then, he changed to a new cloth and wiped the fridge, dining table, and kitchen.
He could easily jump up to reach the higher surfaces.
"Ah!!" Suddenly, a startled cry came from Shang Xi in the bathroom.
"Mom!" Baby Shang's little brows furrowed as he quickly ran over.
"Don't come in!" Shang Xi shouted. "There's a centipede on the mop! I'll... deal with it first." But her voice was trembling.
Baby Shang pursed his lips calmly, putting a bag over his foot before walking in.
Shang Xi swallowed hard, her body tense. "Weird... I just saw it on the mop, but now... where did it go... Quick, close the door! Or it might run into the living room!"
As she was starting to panic, a calm voice came from behind her.
"Mom, I've already stepped on it."
"What?"
Shang Xi's eyes widened as she whipped her head around.
"Under my foot, Mom, you don't need to look," Baby Shang said with a serious expression. "You go out, I'll take care of it."
"You--" Shang Xi froze for a moment, then it dawned on her. Don't treat her son like a regular human cub! This little one hunts and eats rabbits!
She let out a relieved sigh. "Sweetheart, you're so brave!"
"It's nothing to be brave about." Although he said that, the corners of his lips curved up slightly.
"Looks like there might be other bugs in here too. After cleaning up, we should spray some insecticide before leaving."
Finally, Shang Xi put on a mask and grabbed the insecticide. "Sweetheart, you go wait outside first."
Baby Shang obediently went out.
Shang Xi began spraying, spraying, until finally, with a bang, she closed the main door.
The empty flower pots on the balcony would soon welcome their blooms.
On the bustling streets filled with vehicles and pedestrians, Shang Xi asked, "Sweetheart, what would you like to eat?"
Baby Shang countered, "What would you like to eat, Mom?"
Shang Xi blinked her eyes and smiled, "Let's eat rabbit."
Baby Shang's eyes lit up.
So...
Ten minutes later, mother and son appeared in an upscale restaurant, being led by the server to a private dining room.
"Half a roasted whole rabbit, yes, just a little salt, nothing else," Shang Xi ordered.
"And half a rabbit in white cuts, plus..."
"Please wait a moment," the server smiled and nodded before leaving.
Shang Xi looked around the beautiful private room, where they could even watch TV, with various juices and drinks on the table.
She felt a sense of calm and said, "Ah, it's been so long since I last went out to eat with my sweetheart alone."
As the words left her mouth, she paused.
Come to think of it, for the past six months whenever they dined out, Gu Wen was there too.
Where did he go when she was packing their clothes?
The last time he was angry, he said he didn't want her to leave, not just for the cub's sake, but also because of her...
So he probably wouldn't do anything drastic like taking the child away or preventing them from leaving, right?
She felt reassured then.
After the food arrived, Baby Shang happily gnawed on the rabbit meat.
Shang Xi's phone rang, and she glanced at it before answering hesitantly.
"Where are you?" came the deep masculine voice.
Hearing the familiar voice, Baby Shang paused mid-bite.
Noticing her son's reaction, Shang Xi pursed her lips. "We're out eating dinner right now, might come back late."
"What are you going to do after eating?"
"I thought I'd take our son out for a stroll..."
"I'll come over now." The man's voice dropped slightly. "You don't mind, do you?"
Shang Xi looked at her son's little face and responded with a gentle "Mmm."
Then she saw her son's eyes light up as he opened his mouth wide, tearing off a big chunk of rabbit meat and stuffing his little cheeks full.
He hadn't even finished his meal yet.
There was a knock at the door, and a tall man in black entered - a striking alpha male with chiseled features.
Baby Shang stirred, clearly excited to call out "Dad!" but he seemed to think better of it and addressed him calmly, "Dad."
Gu Wen closed the door and walked in.
"Did you eat already? Do you want..." Shang Xi began to ask.
"No need." Gu Wen gave Shang Xi a weighted look before striding towards the cub and taking a seat beside him.
He ran his large hand through the cub's fluffy black hair and asked, "Is it tasty?"
Baby Shang nodded.
Gu Wen took out a handkerchief and wiped the corners of the cub's mouth, saying flatly, "If it's tasty, we'll come again next time."
Baby Shang seemed to freeze for a moment before looking at Shang Xi first.
And...
Next time?
As Gu Wen spoke, he too looked at Shang Xi.
Shang Xi was watched intently by the large and small pairs of eyes - the little one as if hopefully asking if there would be a next time, while the taller one's narrowed gaze seemed to be demanding whether there would be a next time.
She coughed lightly: "Baby Shang wants to eat, so of course we should come often."
Gu Wen pulled back his gaze, reached out and straightened Baby Shang's collar, and said softly: "Did you hear that? Your mom says we can come to eat anytime."
Shang Xi put food into her mouth, not speaking anymore. She wasn't stupid, she could hear what was being said.
However, she didn't object to dining with Gu Wen. They were Baby Shang's parents, and everything was for the child's happiness.
It wasn't that she had moved out of Nanfeng Courtyard, so she and Gu Wen would never interact again. She didn't reject any contact or interactions with the Gu family, they were her son's relatives, relatives who loved him.
They were... relatives she had never had before.
After the meal, as dusk fell, the family of three strolled leisurely on the streets.
Baby Shang suddenly started clinging to Gu Wen.
Either he was being carried by his dad or holding his dad's hand.
It was as if he thought he would never see his dad again.
Making his last farewell.
Baby Shang: Since we're leaving, let dad hold me more, he looks so pitiful (*/ω＼*)
Thank you, my dears, for your support and gifts, I'm touched, woo~
Tomorrow's update. Can't do it today, I spent three hours but couldn't get into the state, my brain is stuck on the story, the more I think about it, the more my head hurts. At this point in the story, I'm a bit confused too. I'm struggling with how to write the best way, some dears want to see a sweet reunion, some want to see the male lead suffer. Well, I'll figure it out. Of course, I'm the kind of author who hopes to write what I want to write. This poor author deeply admires those authors who never get stuck and write hundreds of thousands of words.