Chapter 30
Yun Juan and Yun Shu didn't take Gu Jijing's appearance to heart. From birth until now, their lives had only consisted of their mommy.
The title "daddy" was as foreign to them as Gu Jijing himself. They didn't envy other children for having daddies. instead, they found it strange that other children would like someone who was competing with them for their mommy's affections. So, knowing that Gu Jijing wouldn't bother them anymore, the two children felt the matter was over.
Yun Chuman, however, was still somewhat concerned, not about Gu Jijing himself, but because she felt there was more to the story than met the eye.
Gu Jijing's proposal for her and the children seemed too perfect. Judging from his attitude, perhaps Yun Xinxin and the yet-to-be-seen male lead both had issues.
But she didn't want to question Gu Jijing about it. Accidentally getting involved would be troublesome. It was best to minimize contact.
Therefore, after leaving the coffee shop, despite their differing thoughts, one big and two small were in good spirits.
Seeing it was getting late, Yun Chuman took the two children straight to a nearby shopping mall for lunch. Afterward, they would go to the supermarket inside to buy some fresh fruits, vegetables, and snacks to stock up at home.
Lunch was simple: pan-fried buns.
Yun Juan loved stuffed foods like buns and dumplings, and unusually ate a little more than usual.
Yun Shu's little cat tongue was very sensitive to heat, but happened to like hot food and wouldn't eat it cold. So, she ate her meal with a long face, quite conflicted, and only cheered up again after being fed by Yun Chuman.
After lunch, the two children strolled around the mall again.
Yun Chuman wandered around excitedly, wanting to try everything. She took the two children to try out VR and even took them to a closed, soundproof karaoke room.
Yun Chuman was a terrible singer and usually didn't dare to sing, but thinking that only her two children were with her, she confidently went in and sang a song first.
The machine actually had a scoring system. out of 100, she only got 30 after one song.
"Mommy, why did that song you sing sounded weird," Yun Shu asked innocently, blinking her eyes.
Yun Juan coughed, feeling guilty, and said, "What Mommy did is called an adaptation."
Yun Shu exclaimed admiringly, "Mom, you're so amazing!"
Yun Chuman scratched her head, awkwardly turning her head away to avoid eye contact, and gave a dry laugh, "Haha, it's nothing special."
She stole a glance at the innocent little girl. If the girl had even a kindergarten diploma, she wouldn't have been fooled like this by her and Yun Juan.
After that, she didn't touch the microphone again, spending half an hour listening to the two children sing.
She was surprised to find that Yun Shu's pitch was excellent, and her voice was also pleasant.
Yun Juan, on the other hand, was exactly like herself, completely out of tune. No wonder Yun Juan had been so quick to help her out earlier. they were in the same boat! She hadn't even noticed before that he only hummed and didn't sing!
The one adult and two children played in the mall all afternoon before heading to the supermarket to buy groceries. Afterward, they would go home.
As they passed the third floor, they encountered a mall promotion. A young boy in a light blue T-shirt was enthusiastically shouting through a megaphone, "Kids' Kitchen! Kids' Kitchen! Let your children experience the joy of cooking in a safe environment. It's easy to operate, even kitchen novices can easily get started! Everything is 50% off now, don't miss it!"
Yun Juan and Yun Shu stopped when they heard the words "easy to operate," and their big eyes gazed over curiously.
Yun Chuman also stopped, but she heard the words "safe environment."
"Little Juan, Little Shu, shall we go take a look?" she asked the two children, looking down at them.
The two children's eyes lit up, and they nodded simultaneously, drawing out their "Okay~"
Yun Chuman smiled, took their hands, one on each side, and walked towards the promotion.
When they were about a hundred meters away, the salesman's sharp eyes locked onto them. He darted forward and eagerly said, "This lady looks like a loving mommy. How about a children's kitchen set? It can help develop your child's hands-on skills."
He then looked at the two children and added, "Your two children are so adorable. If they could also be good cooks at such a young age, wouldn't that be the icing on the cake?"
Yun Juan and Yun Shu blushed shyly at the compliment. They tilted their heads, looked at each other mischievously, and winked at each other. This elder brother didn't know they could cook!
Yun Chuman had the same reaction, smiling as she asked, "You don't watch variety shows, do you?"
The salesman shook his head. "I've heard that variety shows are scripted. Since they're all scripted, it's better to watch TV dramas. at least they're more detailed."
"That makes sense," Yun Chuman said, nodding in agreement.
The two children looked up at her, blinking in confusion, wanting to say, "Mommy, we don't have scripts!"
The children's kitchen was a miniature version of the family kitchen, complete with stoves, pots, pans, and various small appliances. It was finely crafted and looks adorable.
But the fact that it was being promoted suggested it wasn't selling well. Besides taking up space and being largely useless, another major reason was its high price.
With their little hands gripping the edge of the table, Yun Juan and Yun Shu stood on tiptoe, tilted their heads back, and blinked their bright puppy eyes, exclaiming in unison, "Wow!"
"Are you sure these are safe?" Yun Chuman asked.
The two children love to cook. Although she usually supervises the fire and knives, the household utensils were too big for them, making injuries a real possibility.
Looking at their adoring gazes, she was interested in buying a children's kitchen. The thought of the two children playing in their miniature kitchen was incredibly cute.
"Of course! All the tools meet safety standards, and stoves like this, being so small, don't need gas. Alcohol blocks will suffice," the salesperson said with a bright smile.
"Little Juan and Little Shu, do you want them?" Yun Chuman asked.
The two children nodded repeatedly. These little tools looked easy to use. Mommy could learn to cook!
Yun Juan mentally compared the prices, looked up and said, "Mom, let's buy them with Little Juan's money!"
Bouncing, Yun Shu raised her hand, "And Little Shu's too! Little Shu has money now!"
The saleswoman assumed they were talking about their New Year's money and smiled foolishly, thinking how well-behaved these two children were, even knowing to use their own savings to buy toys.
Yun Chuman paused, "Little Juan and Little Shu’s money got to be properly saved. I have it here."
Yun Juan and Yun Shu disagreed. This kitchenware set was a gift for their mommy, who was a complete novice in the kitchen. If they used Yun Chuman's money, would it still be a gift?
The two children exchanged a glance and grabbed Yun Chuman's hands. One on each side, they shook her hands back and forth: "Mommy, let's use ours!"
Yun Chuman couldn't resist their pleading and pinched their cheeks, smiling, "Okay, okay, we'll use yours."
Though she said that, she definitely wouldn't touch the two children's money.
A few days ago, Xu Qiuhong from the gallery had happened to get her an illustration job. The workload wasn't heavy, and the price was good. After seeing the painting she had drawn for Yun Shu, the client immediately paid her a deposit.
Yun Juan and Yun Shu watched her pay with sparkling eyes, secretly gave each other a high five, and whispered a "Yay!" Now Mommy wouldn't be unhappy anymore because she couldn't cook!
Yun Chuman was also very satisfied. With a children's kitchen, the two children could play to their hearts' content, so she generously bought the most complete set.
The sales clerk beamed, "Madam, we also offer home delivery! Could you please tell me your home address and contact information? We guarantee this children's kitchen set will be delivered to your doorstep when you arrive."
Yun Chuman readily agreed. carrying the children's kitchen set home would probably exhaust her.
Afterwards, Yun Chuman, Yun Juan, and Yun Shu, both happy about buying kitchenware for each other, walked briskly downstairs to the supermarket.
The sales clerk watched their backs as they occasionally skipped along, thinking that if only a few more customers with such generous spending habits came along, his commission for the month would be more than enough.
At this time, a group of people suddenly gathered in the television section behind him.
The sales clerk, still in a good mood after selling a large item, couldn't resist peeking to see what was going on.
Neatly arranged high-definition televisions of varying sizes were playing the same image, looking rather mesmerizing.
The salesperson, seeing Mo Rongwen on TV, exclaimed in surprise. No wonder so many people were attracted. It was Movie Star Mo! After watching for a while, he chuckled, "This movie star is a real warrior! He actually keeps so many pets!"
The TV was showing the opening sequence of the first episode of "Every Family Has Its Own Affairs," a significantly more polished version than the rough preview.
The opening sequence featured short, interesting clips of each guest, interspersed with small animations.
Mo Rongwen's scene involved being tormented by his furry friends to the point of almost vomiting.
The images on the TV screen changed continuously. A beautiful woman stood in a kitchen, diligently wielding a spatula. Soon, her hair animatedly transformed into an afro, and two children beside her took over the spatula, creating delicious dishes.
"This...this..."
The salesperson's eyes widened in astonishment. Wasn't this the customer who had just come to buy something from him?!
He glanced at the children's kitchen set beside him with a complicated expression, wondering who it was really for. "No wonder they asked if I watched variety shows..."
Yun Chuman and Yun Juan and Yun Shu were unaware that the salesperson had discovered the truth shortly after they left.
When they returned home carrying their bags, the mall staff were already waiting at the entrance, with the large children's kitchen set beside them.
Yun Chuman quickly thanked them and even gave them a bottle of water.
After the staff left, she laboriously carried the kitchenware into the living room. Just as she was about to unpack and set it up with the two children, Xiao Xi called.
"The first episode of 'Every Family Has Its Own Affairs' has premiered! Did you watch it? Did you all forget it officially aired today?!"
Xiao Xi raised her voice, "The second episode is filming the day after tomorrow, you didn't forget that too, did you?"
Yun Chuman scratched her head, remembering their plans for the day after tomorrow: "No, no, Little Juan, Little Shu, and I just got back and were about to turn on the TV."
The two children immediately seconded.
Yun Juan turned on the TV, while Yun Shu waited nearby with the remote, constantly changing channels and turning up the volume.
Xiao Xi, hearing the familiar voice, grumbled twice and let her go: "We'll pick you and the two kids up at 10 a.m. the day after tomorrow. Pack your luggage in advance tomorrow."
Yun Chuman repeatedly assured her before the other party hung up.
"Mommy, come quick! So Elder Brother Mo was injured by Haha before he came to find us!"
Yun Chuman heard Yun Shu's voice and turned to see the two children already sitting obediently on the sofa, swinging their little legs, and watching TV intently.
She checked the time. It was already dinnertime.
After the show ended, it would be time for them to go to bed, so she grabbed some snacks and small cakes they had just bought and went over.
The family of three squeezed onto the sofa, eating snacks and watching TV.
The two children giggled occasionally. When Yun Shu saw herself in the screen, would shyly hide behind Yun Chuman, peeking out with her eyes.
Yun Juan, used to appearing on TV, would tease Yun Shu, "Little Shu's legs are so short!"
Yun Shu poked her head out from under Yun Chuman's arm, pouting, "Elder Brother's legs are short too!"
"But yours look fatter than mine," Yun Juan said, swinging his legs and finishing the last bit of his cheese stick.
Yun Shu retreated back behind Yun Chuman, secretly measuring her legs with her little hands, and sadly realized that they were indeed a little bit short.
Yun Chuman found the siblings even more entertaining than the variety show, and laughed heartily.
Although her attention wasn't on the show, she still noticed the difference between this episode and the pilot episode.
The pilot episode was an hour long, with each of the six guests averaging ten minutes.
The first episode was nearly two hours long, with her and Mo Rongwen's group clearly taking up the majority of the screen time, leaving only a small portion for the other two groups.
She was curious to see what Yun Xinxin was up to, but she only had about ten minutes of screen time, either explaining antiques to the DINK couple or drinking coffee—it was incredibly boring.
Yun Chuman could understand why the production team did this. The other two groups required the post-production to work hard to create humor before piecing together a segment of less than an hour.
After the show ended, it was already quite late.
The two children, though still somewhat buzzing, were yawning constantly. And after having just eaten small cakes, their tummy bulged and they felt even sleepier.
Yun Chuman helped them brush their teeth, gave them a bath, and dressed them in cute bear pajamas.
The two children couldn't stay awake any longer and fell asleep while having their hair dried. Yun Chuman carried them one by one to the bed. She laid on the edge and easily embraced them both.
This close proximity instantly gave her a great sense of security.
Yun Juan instinctively grasped her fingers with his small hands.
Yun Shu, like a kitten, rolled over and rubbed her cheek against her shoulder.
Yun Chuman softly said goodnight and quickly fell asleep.
The next morning, she woke up and, as usual, tiptoed out to do her morning exercises.
As soon as she turned on her phone, she found many missed calls and messages from the previous night.
She habitually put her phone on silent when the two children were sleeping, so she hadn't seen any of them.
Yun Chuman frowned in confusion, starting with the most familiar messages from Xiao Xi and Mo Rongwen.
She opened her chat with Xiao Xi, and immediately saw it filled with exclamation marks. She could feel the other person's excitement even through the screen.
Yun Chuman did a quick sweep and learned that the gist of it. She was saying yesterday's variety show had gone well, even trending on social media. Gaining a huge following overnight, it led to numerous collaboration offers—from variety shows to TV dramas and movies.
However, neither Yun Chuman nor Yun Juan and Yun Shu had an agency or a Weibo account, so many people didn't know how to contact them and instead called Li Rufei, the director of "Every Family Has Its Own Affairs."
Li Rufei worked through the night to select several promising offers and had Xiao Xi forward them to Yun Chuman.
Yun Chuman skimmed through the form and discovered that quite a few were for her, not any less than for her two children.
But she wasn't the original owner of this body, so she crossed off the acting offers without a second thought. She found a few variety shows quite interesting and thought she might look into them later.
There were even more offers for Yun Juan and Yun Shu, including the "Little Chef" competition variety show that Mo Rongwen had mentioned before.
Yun Chuman saved the form and sent a voice message to Xiao Xi: "Thank you, Xiao Xi. Please also thank Director Li for me. Little Juan and little Shu will seriously consider these invitations."
Then she switched the chat interface to Mo Rongwen, expecting a similar message, but the other party only sent three sentences.
【What's going on between you and Gu Jijing? Why are you trending?】
【It's not good to have a scandal at this time. it could easily affect little Juan and little Shu.】
【Gone? Gone! Gone…】
The three messages were sent less than a minute apart.
Yun Chuman thought for a moment and checked Weibo. It was possible for her and Gu Jijing to be trending, after all, their blind date yesterday was so high-profile, many people had seen them.
The trending topic about her and little Juan and little Shu was still there, with related hashtags like #WhatShouldIDoWhenMyKidCanSwimButICan't?#, #Yun Juan&Yun Shu: OurDailyLifeWithOurUselessOldMommy#, and #TheBestExampleOfApproachingSocialAnxiety#. She didn't click on it. Judging by the title, she knew it would definitely contain clips of her being taken care of by the two kids! The comments would probably be mostly just laughter at her.
Yun Chuman tried searching for Gu Jijing, but only business reports popped up.
She didn't even need to think. Gu Jijing was definitely suppressing the trending topics, otherwise they wouldn't have disappeared so quickly and completely.
Yun Chuman felt a little grateful. After all, just as Mo Rongwen said, if she were to be associated with Gu Jijing now, many people would definitely investigate Little Juan and Little Shu's background, which might hurt them.
At this time, Mo Rongwen sent a message: "Am I seeing things? Or am I dreaming from drinking too much last night? But why would I connect you with Gu Jijing?" Yun Chuman scratched her head, remembering that Mo Rongwen genuinely cared for the two children, so she didn't hide anything from him and replied directly: "It's true, Gu Jijing is little Juan and little Shu's biological father, but they're strangers now."
She waited a while, only seeing Mo Rongwen's end repeatedly displaying "typing," but no word came for a long time.
Yun Chuman stopped worrying about it, guessing that Mo Rongwen was imagining a whole drama. Following her usual routine, she found the broadcast exercises and started doing them.
Halfway through, the two children woke up and groggily joined in.
Yun Juan occasionally yawned secretly and his eyes were watery. Still clutching her small blanket, Yun Shu waved her limbs instinctively with her eyes closed.
When it came to making breakfast, it went without saying the children's kitchen she had just bought the night before was used.
Yun Chuman meticulously cleaned and disinfected each kitchen utensil. Two children, wearing pink aprons, stood eagerly beside her.
"Mommy, are you done yet?" Yun Shu had clenched her little chubby hands fists, tiptoed a couple of times, and asked softly.
"Mommy, shall we make some pancakes in a bit?" Yun Juan had already planned out the menu.
"Okay, whatever you want to make."
Yun Chuman responded, speeding up her work. After finishing the last palm-sized frying pan, she said, "Little Juan and Little Shu, come and let’s cook together!"
The two children rushed over, offering her tissues to wipe her sweat.
Yun Chuman sat on the floor, tilting her head slightly to enjoy their service, and asked with a smile, "What should I do in a bit?"
"Mommy will fry pancakes."
Yun Juan washed his hands again, placed the carrots he had already washed on the cutting board, took out the special children's knife, and skillfully shredded them.
"Me? Fry?" Yun Chuman pointed to herself in surprise. Wasn't he afraid she'd turn the pancake into a rock?
"Mom is already tired from sterilizing the kitchen utensils, so elder brother and I will prepare everything. Mommy just needs to fry it."
Yun Shu smilingly took out a large bowl, poured in some flour, added a pinch of salt and an egg, added water, and stirred constantly until it became a batter.
Seeing that the batter was the right consistency, Yun Juan added shredded carrots and some chopped scallions.
The two children walked to Yun Chuman's side, one on each side.
Yun Juan pointed to the small stove: "Mom, light this."
Yun Chuman habitually followed his instructions, placing the alcohol flask under the stove and lighting it with a lighter. The fire quickly grew strong.
Yun Juan placed a small frying pan on it, picked up a small piece of fatty meat and coated the entire pan with the rendered fat.
Yun Chuman humbly asked, "Little Juan, what are you doing?"
"Mommy, this is called seasoning the pan. Then the bottom won't burn," Yun Juan earnestly explained.
Yun Chuman exclaimed "Wow!" and clapped her hands sincerely. She hadn't known any of this. Where did the little kid learn it?
After the little fatty meat was dried and golden brown, Yun Juan took it out.
Yun Shu, who had been waiting nearby, scooped out a small spoonful of batter and poured it evenly onto the pan, saying softly, "Mommy, gently shake the pan."
Yun Chuman obediently pinched the handle of the pan with her fingers and gently shook the palm-sized pan. The batter quickly set, emitting a faint aroma.
Her eyes lit up. At this time, Yun Juan handed her a small spatula. She held the spatula with her other hand, held her breath, and flipped the pancake over, revealing a golden-brown side.
"I...I'm going to succeed?" Yun Chuman was excited. Although it was just a simple pancake, it was the first time she had ever made something edible!
"Mom, you're so amazing!"
Yun Juan and Yun Shu clapped enthusiastically.
With their prompting, Yun Chuman took the pancake out. The outside was slightly browned, the sides crispy, and the inside soft and savory.
Looking at her battle prize, Yun Chuman couldn't resist making two more. She got so carried away that she turned the entire bowl of batter into pancakes.
Yun Shu whispered to Yun Juan, "Elder Brother, Mom's so happy!"
Yun Juan smiled and nodded, replying softly, "Looks like we didn't make a mistake buying this kitchen set. Even Mommy can easily grasp it now."
Yun Chuman, who was about to show off her creation to the two children, froze upon hearing their words. Her lips twitched slightly, and she silently turned and put the stack of small pancakes back.
Only then did she understand why Yun Juan and Yun Shu insisted on buying this children's kitchen set with their own money—it was for her to play with! While feeling heartwarming, she also felt a pang of guilt.
Afterwards, Yun Juan and Yun Shu cooked a small pot of vegetable porridge, which they ate with the vegetable pancakes.
The children's kitchen set wasn't large, just enough for the three of them to eat their fill without feeling overwhelmed.
After breakfast, Yun Chuman helped Yun Juan and Yun Shu pack their luggage for tomorrow.
Having learned from their previous experience, the two children helped even more efficiently, and in no time, Yun Chuman had packed the suitcase.
The two children and the adult lay on the sofa. The sun was blazing outside, while the air conditioner blew cool air into the room.
Bored, Yun Juan and Yun Shu stretched out their chubby little arms. Yun Chuman was almost dozed off when they suddenly said, "Mommy, let's go for a walk."
Yun Chuman snapped out of it. She glanced out the window. It was incredibly hot today. The scenery outside looked distorted by the heat. If she took the two children out, they'd get sunburned!
She pondered for a moment, sat up, took out her sketchbook and pencil from the bedroom, and said, "Little Juan, Little Shu, how about we draw? We won't go out today, we need to rest up for recording the show tomorrow."
Yun Juan's eyes lit up instantly. He jumped off the sofa with a spring in his step, nodding repeatedly, "Okay, okay!"
Yun Shu didn't react as strongly. She yawned, turned around, and lay on the sofa with her chubby little legs dangling in the air and her cheek pressed against her arm. She lazily smiled, "Okay~"
Seeing that she wasn't very interested, Yun Chuman thought for a moment and said, "I said before that I would teach Little Juan to paint, right?"
Yun Juan nodded expectantly, "Yes! I want to learn to paint with Mom!"
"But Mommy won't teach you today. Little Juan, just draw whatever you want, and Mommy will see your skill level," Yun Chuman added. "Can Little Shu be elder brother's model?"
Yun Shu raised her little head and rolled over to the side of the sofa while still lying down. Before Yun Chuman could reach out to catch her, she was already standing steadily on the ground.
She even raised her short, chubby arms high, tilted her chin up, and proudly struck a gymnastic landing pose.
Yun Chuman couldn't resist patting her little head and said, "Little Shu is so amazing. Let's go change our clothes first, and then you can be Elder Brother's model in a little while."
Yun Shu excitedly nodded and ran barefoot to the bedroom.
Yun Chuman stood up. Before following, she recalled to tell Yun Juan to wait a bit.
Turning around, she saw him with a serious expression, staring intently at the sketchbook in front of him, as if the notebook owed him a huge amount of snacks. His chubby little hands gripping the pencil were so tight that his fingertips had turned white.
She paused for a moment, squatted down, and leaned closer to Yun Juan, cheerfully dais, "Oh, what's wrong? Our little Juan can be nervous too."
Yun Shu stopped after taking only a couple of steps, turned around, and raised her voice in surprise, "Elder Brother is nervous? Why are you nervous? Elder Brother is actually nervous!"
Yun Juan blushed and said fiercely, "I’m not!"
However, because the voice was too immature, it lacked a bit of imposing presence, making it look rather fierce in a cute way.
He wrinkled his nose, explaining that he just felt he needed to take his first drawing seriously, not that he was nervous. He told Little Shu and Mommy they were just making things up.
Yun Shu ran back, like a smug little kitten, and stuck her head from Yun Juan's left and right sides.
Yun Juan held back for a long time before his two chubby little hands firmly and accurately pinched his plump cheeks. She frowned and said, "If you don't go change your clothes, I won't use you as a model anymore."
Yun Shu's cheeks were pinched so hard that the flesh on her cheeks gathered together, and her mouth pouted. She said indistinctly, "Gl, glo, hm, num."
It took Yun Chuman a moment to realize that she meant "Going now."
As soon as Yun Juan released her cheek, she ran away on her short legs, afraid that her brother would not let her be a model.
Yun Chuman didn't follow. She patted Yun Juan's little head and asked, "Little Juan, didn't you choose to paint because it is fun? Why do you look so bitter and resentful now?"
Seeing that the little boy looked a bit dazed, she smiled and said, "I'll go help Little Shu change her clothes. Little Juan, can you get ready?"
Yun Juan pursed his lips, looked at her, and nodded vigorously: "En!"
Mommy was right, painting was a fun thing!
He took a deep breath, and his expression visibly relaxed.
Seeing this, Yun Chuman felt relieved and went to the bedroom to find Yun Shu.
"Mom, what should I wear?"
Yun Shu tilted her head back, looking at the colorful clothes in the wardrobe with a puzzled expression.
Considering that this was Yun Juan's first time drawing, Yun Chuman thought it would be better to let Yun Shu do a simpler design. She looked through it and took out an overall short .
When she took Yun Shu out, Yun Juan was already sitting on a stool on the small balcony, holding a pencil and notebook in a very serious manner.
Yun Shu went straight to the white wall of the balcony, sat down on the ground, crossed her short legs, rested her small hands on her cheeks, half-closed her eyes, and tilted her head slightly to face the sunlight outside. Her long eyelashes casted a shadow on the red clouds.
She wore a simple white short-sleeved top and shorts that looked exactly like a pumpkin. She had two little braids in her hair, and she looked like a little pumpkin hiding from the sun under the clouds. She was so cute.
Yun Chuman's eyes lit up, thinking to herself that Yun Shu's expressiveness was indeed very good. She didn't need to be taught at all. She knew how to express herself and her clothes.
Her fingers twitched, wanting to draw her too, but ultimately refrained.
Yun Juan looked at Younger Sister, a hint of amazement flashing in his eyes, and isr last bit of nervousness subsided.
He observed Yun Shu for a while before slowly beginning to move the pencil.
Afraid of disturbing him, Yun Chuman quietly sat down in a place a little further away.
Looking at Yun Shu, who remained in the same position, and then at Yun Juan, who was very serious, it turned out that the perspective of an observer was quite interesting.
Sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, illuminating the adult and two children. The room was quiet except for the soft breathing and the soft scratching of pencil on paper.
Time passed second by second.
Yun Shu had a strong will. Even when her hands and feet were numb, she could endure it and remained still.
Yun Chuman felt distressed for her and would occasionally let her rest for a while when she had the chance, and would also massage her limbs.
Yun Juan remained focused. It took him about two hours before he finally put down his pencil.
He stared blankly at his work, head down, and after a long while, he stammered, "It's...it's finished..."
Yun Shu was relaxing in Yun Chuman's arms when she heard this. She immediately stood up and ran excitedly towards him, saying, "Elder Brother, I want to see!"
Yun Juan subconsciously wanted to hide the drawing behind his back, but after glancing at Yun Shu's expectant face, he held back and handed the drawing over with a less-than-pleasant expression.
The little girl peeked out, and her expression froze the moment she saw the drawing. Her big eyes were filled with disbelief, as if to say, "Is this me?"
Yun Juan stole a glance at her with his face turning bright red.
Yun Chuman looked at the two children with a puzzled expression.
She got up and walked over. As soon as she got close, she could feel Yun Juan's tension. The child's movements were stiff, and he kept glancing at her with his head down.
Yun Chuman became even more curious. She bent down slightly and saw a little girl wearing pumpkin pants drawn in the center of the white paper. Although the lines were messy, the details were very accurate, especially the expression.
However, the proportions were a bit off. The little hands and feet were chubby like steamed buns, and the shading was not done well, making the otherwise well-drawn features looked dirty, especially the red marks on the face, which were originally carefully drawn, but now looked very abrupt.
“I…” Yun Juan pursed his lips and squeezed out a single word.
"Elder Brother, your drawing is amazing! My eyelashes are so long!"
Yun Shu interrupted him, looking at him with surprise and delight. She even brushed her eyelashes with her little hand, then shyly hugged the painting. "Elder Brother, you drew Little Shu so cutely! I love it!"
Yun Juan was stunned. He hadn't expected her to say that.
"Elder Brother, Elder Brother, this is the first drawing you've ever done for me. Can I keep it?" Yun Shu asked expectantly.
Yun Juan was in a dilemma. He felt that his drawing was not good and might become a black mark on his past.
"Elder Brother~ Elder Brother~" Yun Shu pouted and shook his hand, speaking in a soft and coquettish tone.
"All right……"
Yun Juan had no choice but to nod, but seeing how much she cherished it instead of disliking it, he felt a little happy.
"Elder Brother is the best! Little Shu will definitely treasure this painting like a precious gem!" Yun Shu jumped up and down, hugged him, grabbed the drawing, and ran off.
As Yun Juan watched her retreating figure, his gaze gradually fell into sadness. He knew that Little Shu was trying to comfort him, and his nose began to sting.
"You drew very well." Yun Chuman squatted down, leveled with his eyes and patted his little head.
Yun Juan looked at her anxiously yet expectantly: "Really?"
But the next second he said dejectedly, "But my drawing doesn't look like Younger Sister at all. It's not cute at all."
“Isn’t the little pumpkin cute? I think it’s very cute,” Yun Chuman smiled. “Little Juan, do you trust Mommy?”
“Yes.” Yun Juan nodded without hesitation. Of course he believed her.
"Then I can tell you very seriously that you are very talented in drawing. That drawing is not very good because of a lack of technique, but you have captured Little Shu's expression. It is already very impressive for your first drawing."
Yun Chuman wasn't lying. She squeezed Yun Juan's chubby little hand and smiled, "Mommy will teach you a lot of techniques in the future, and then Little Juan will draw an even prettier picture for Little Shu, okay?"
Yun Juan became much more confident after receiving her affirmation.
Yes, he hadn't started learning yet! He'll definitely get better and better in the future!
Yun Juan's eyes lit up, and he nodded vigorously to Yun Chuman: "Yes! I will try my best to learn with Mommy!"
He wanted to draw the cutest Little Shu, and then switch back to that drawing!
During a break in their conversation, Yun Shu ran into her and Yun Juan's bedroom.
She hid under the table between the two small beds, reached her chubby little hands behind the table, felt around a couple of times, and then pulled out a small wooden box.
Yun Shu skillfully opened the combination lock on top, put the drawing in her hand inside, and it was placed on a thick notebook. Scattered around were odds and ends, such as old origami cranes and plastic tube stars.
She swayed her little head as she carefully closed the wooden box and hummed as she put it back in its place, "Treasure, treasure, Little Shu's treasure, it'll be put into the secret treasure chest along with Mommy's and Brother's~"
A note from the author:
Yun Juan and Yun Shu: Today we bought a toy for Mommy with our own money! [Proud.jpg]
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