After the exercise ended, Shen Chi got a two-day leave, and naturally, after his morning run, he came home to see Yaya teasing his wife and leaving her giggling uncontrollably.
He blinked his eyes, somewhat incredulously watching Lin Xiao Guai, who was laughing with tears in her eyes and a misty glow in her pupils, with rosy and tender cheeks, wondering if he was dreaming.
"You’re back." Lin Xiao Guai struggled to sit up, her smile not yet fading, and she said with a little breathiness, "There’s barley porridge in the pot, the buns are also warmed up, and the fried pickled vegetables are in the cupboard."
Shen Chi nodded and entered the kitchen with a somewhat startled look on his face.
"Auntie, is this uncle Little Niangao’s daddy?" Yaya whispered this question while leaning on Lin Xiao Guai’s knees.
Not only did Lin Xiao Guai like Yaya, but Yaya also liked this new Aunt Lin, who was beautiful and gentle, not at all harsh, and would give her tasty food. She was comfortable sharing some thoughts with Aunt Lin that she couldn’t tell her mother.
Lin Xiao Guai nodded and whispered back, "Yes, what do you think?"
Yaya pinched her chin in thought for a while before answering like a little adult, "He’s okay, I guess. But I still think my daddy’s a little better. This uncle is too handsome."
"Is being handsome not good?" Lin Xiao Guai asked with a puzzled face.
"Of course, it is." Yaya asserted as though it were obvious: "My dad looks like a lump of mud, and he still attracted a vixen. Little Niangao’s dad is so good-looking; he’ll surely attract lots and lots of vixens, which isn’t good."
Lin Xiao Guai frowned slightly, "Yaya, where did you hear the term ’vixen’?"
"Grandma said it." Yaya pouted; "But Grandma called my mom the vixen, and she said that the auntie who wears lipstick is a good person, who’d treat me even better than Mom."
"I don’t believe it," she snorted: "Even though Mom doesn’t have money to buy me meat or new clothes, every time we eat sweet potato rice, my bowl is always filled with the yellow-hearted sweet potatoes, while Mom’s bowl is full of white-hearted ones."
"My good friend Xiao Pang said, only your own mom is your mom, any other auntie who marries Daddy is like the queen from Snow White - just terrible. Xiao Pang is really pitiful now; the toys his mom bought him were given away by the auntie at home to their relatives’ kids. His dad doesn’t believe anything he says and just trusts that bad woman."
At last, she said somewhat smugly: "Xiao Pang only told me, the other kids are still foolishly envious because his parents got to divorce."
Lin Xiao Guai felt a bit awkward, thought for a moment, and asked, "Do you like Grandma, Yaya?" She felt having such an elder was definitely harmful and not beneficial to the child.
"Of course, I like her. Every time I visit, Grandma gives me pocket money, makes me new clothes, and cooks me meat." Lin Xiao Guai didn’t have time to frown before Yaya continued, "But Mom and Dad said that Grandma is getting senile now, always being tricked by others. So, we can’t believe what she says. We just need to humor her."
Relieved, Lin Xiao Guai then asked, "Does Grandma like Yaya?"
Yaya nodded, "Of course, she likes me. Grandma says I look just like her when she was young, that we both have a lucky appearance." By the end, she spoke earnestly, "I think everything else Grandma says is confused talk, but this must be absolutely true."
Lin Xiao Guai couldn’t help but laugh out loud, this Yaya!
Shen Chi, who was serving breakfast and had come back to his senses, raised an eyebrow and looked thoughtfully at Yaya.
Perhaps, the change in Wanwan was because of this child?
He glanced at his son with a bit of disdain, the boy who was lying on the carpet playing with blocks; too useless, unable to even make his mom happy, far behind a little girl.
Therefore, Shen Chi was quite friendly toward Yaya, chatting with her while he ate breakfast, and even graciously tore a half a meat bun for her — the reason for not giving a whole one was for fear that Yaya, who had already had breakfast, wouldn’t be able to eat it.
By the time he left, Yaya’s original thoughts had changed; she felt Uncle Shen was definitely the best dad, even better than her own.
"Do you really like that kid?" Shen Chi asked casually, turning on the TV.
Lin Xiao Guai spread out a pair of newly made trousers for inspection, and upon hearing him, she replied, "Of course, Yaya is so interesting."
Before Shen Chi could say anything more, she tossed the trousers to him, "Try these on and see if they fit."
Shen Chi tried them on and not surprisingly, they fit perfectly.
"That saves me the trouble of altering them. I’ll give them a wash and hang them out to dry later," said Lin Xiao Guai, as she folded the trousers neatly to the side.