Bai Yan said, "Forget it, I feel so silly asking you this question. Qiqi, you should sleep early, I won’t disturb your rest."
After speaking, she wished Lin Qi goodnight and hung up the phone.
Lin Qi frowned slightly but didn’t think too much, planning to invite Bai Yan out for a good chat in a while.
Unknowingly, a week passed.
On this day, Huo Tingdong came back from the company to find Lin Qi playing with Zhouzhou and Yinyin.
She was so focused that she didn’t even notice when he walked up behind her.
Huo Tingdong didn’t hurry to speak, curious about what Lin Qi was so engrossed in, so he followed her gaze and saw that Yinyin in the crib was undertaking a "big project"!
Two pull rings were fixed on the crib.
Yinyin was over five months old. Other children at this age could already turn over and even sit up.
Not to mention other kids, Zhouzhou could already turn over on his own, rolling and crawling in the crib, and to give him more space, the entire living room was carpeted, allowing him to crawl around freely every day.
But Yinyin still lay there contentedly.
So, to help her practice sitting up independently, Lin Qi put a lot of thought into it. She took Momo’s advice and fixed two pull rings on the crib, and Yinyin indeed showed great interest in the pull rings.
Thus, she played with these pull rings every day.
Until this afternoon, Lin Qi had been teaching Yinyin how to use the pull rings to sit up by herself.
Unexpectedly, it actually worked!
Huo Tingdong and Lin Qi held their breath in concentration.
They saw Yinyin excitedly pull on the rings, kick her legs, and with a strong yank, she sat up at a 90-degree angle!
Lin Qi widened her eyes in surprise; this time without her help, Yinyin managed to sit up on her own!
She was overjoyed: "Yinyin, how amazing you are! You can sit up all by yourself!"
Yinyin waved her little fists excitedly, grabbed a stuffed doll by her feet, waved it around, her small mouth opened wide, and smiling at Lin Qi’s praise, her crystal-clear drool dripped onto the soft towel.
Although she didn’t stay sitting for long and soon flopped back down, ending up in a starfish position.
"Hahaha!" Lin Qi was amused by Yinyin’s silly look.
She wiped her drool and suddenly saw Yinyin lifting her head and pointing behind Lin Qi.
Lin Qi turned her head and unexpectedly found Huo Tingdong’s handsome face close, startling her: "Ah... when did you get back?"
Standing suddenly behind her, she was inevitably a little startled, but she quickly recovered.
Immediately following, she excitedly said, "Honey, Yinyin can sit up by herself!"
As she spoke, Yinyin made a movement, flipped over, and lay down in the crib.
Huo Tingdong said reassuringly, "Finally catching up with her brother, before long Yinyin can also practice crawling."
Lin Qi said, "So cute!"
It seemed like the first time she had witnessed the complete growth process of a baby.
Huo Tingdong asked, "Where’s Momo? How long did it take Momo to learn to crawl?"
Lin Qi laughed, "It seemed like it happened overnight."
Raising Momo and taking care of Zhouzhou and Yinyin.
At that time, she was raising Momo alone.
Momo was a premature baby, so his health wasn’t ideal, often needing hospital visits from a young age.
To make ends meet, Lin Qi worked multiple jobs and had to heart-wrenchingly leave Momo home alone.
She lived a hard life back then, also aware that it wasn’t very safe to leave baby Momo home alone.
So she had no choice but to lock Momo in a room by himself, returning at lunchtime to make some supplementary food for Momo, then rushing back to work.
She also left a key with her neighbor, a forty-five-year-old middle-aged woman who had lost her son young and divorced her husband, living alone, mainly babysitting kids.
Lin Qi paid her over a thousand yuan a month, effectively finding Momo half a nanny.
But that aunt indeed took good care of Momo, attending to every detail.
Because she was too busy, things like when Momo learned to sit, crawl, or walk alone all seemed to happen overnight.
She didn’t witness much.
But it’s different with Zhouzhou and Yinyin.
Now, she doesn’t need to struggle for a living, able to accompany the two little ones every day and witness their growth.
Huo Tingdong said, "Han and Momo are about to have a long holiday. I’ve arranged my work today. Didn’t you say during our honeymoon that you wanted to take Han and Momo to the beach?"
Lin Qi was a bit surprised, "To the beach on holiday?"
Huo Tingdong said, "Yes."
Lin Qi: "What about Zhouzhou and Yinyin?"
Huo Tingdong: "Leave them with the nanny."
Such young kids wouldn’t have much fun at the beach.
Since it’s a vacation, they should play well and thoroughly enjoy themselves.
Huo Tingdong planned a five-day holiday and intended to take Momo and Han to try snorkeling, knowing the two little ones would be very interested!
Lin Qi said, "Alright, I don’t mind."
She suddenly thought of something and asked, "Can I bring a friend?"
Lin Qi: "Bai Yan, she also mentioned wanting to go out with me during the holiday, so why not together?"
Huo Tingdong: "Okay, confirm with her then."
Lin Qi called Bai Yan.
As soon as the call connected, Lin Qi asked, "Bai Yan, want to go to the beach for a holiday together?"
Bai Yan was a bit surprised: "The beach?"
Lin Qi: "Yes, to Hubble Island, where I went for my honeymoon with Tingdong before."
Bai Yan: "I remember you telling me about it, the island with the pink sand beach?"
Lin Qi: "Yes, do you have time? If so, let’s go together, with Han and Momo too."
Bai Yan: "... Alright, but a beach trip must be really expensive!"
Lin Qi laughed, "I’ll cover your costs!"
Bai Yan felt a bit embarrassed.
For her, a holiday outing meant domestic travel she could afford, but going abroad made her uneasy!
Even knowing Lin Qi wouldn’t mind, Bai Yan had a strong sense of pride, and despite Lin Qi marrying such a wealthy husband now, she still felt uncomfortable letting Lin Qi always pay.
Bai Yan said, "If you keep paying, I really would feel bad."