Cotton Candy
“Wife, what’s wrong?” Gu Sheng stayed by Zhan Aiping’s side, his face full of worry.
Zhan Aiping dry-heaved a few times and finally suppressed the nausea. After vomiting, her throat burned, but her mind felt much clearer.
She calculated the dates. She was experienced now, and her guess was almost certainly right—she was pregnant again. She was going to be a mother again.
“Why are you asking what’s wrong? Isn’t this all your doing, Father of Three?” Zhan Aiping looked at Gu Sheng in amusement. The couple had indeed decided they wanted another child, but they were leaving it to fate. They had only skipped protection once or twice, yet unexpectedly, the third child had come so quickly.
Gu Sheng froze when he once again learned he was going to be a father.
The first thing that flashed through his mind was: the two little brats at home had only recently moved out of the master bedroom to sleep on their own. He had finally enjoyed a few months of alone time with his wife, and now there was another one?
It was only that one time…
For a man, the taste of breaking free was truly wonderful, but… just that one time, and he really became a father of three.
If only his shooting accuracy could be this perfect every time.
Zhan Aiping said, “If you don’t trust this ‘quack doctor’s’ diagnosis, we can go to a proper hospital!”
“I trust you. I do.” Gu Sheng stroked his wife’s head. “Wife, are you silly? Another little brat is coming to climb on top of your head and bully you, yet you’re still this happy?”
Zhan Aiping glanced sideways at him. “Father of Three, are you scared?”
“What do I have to be scared of?”
Zhan Aiping said, “If you’re not scared, then what do I have to be scared of? I’ll have a few more children and annoy you to death.”
Zhan Aiping touched her stomach and made her prediction first. Full of confidence, she said, “There’s some truth to what the ancestors said about two negatives making a positive. This time, we’ll definitely have a soft, sweet little daughter who can sing and dance.”
“If it’s a little girl, we’ll call her Cotton Candy!”
Just thinking of her family’s Little Tangyuan and Cotton Candy forming a sweet little daughter duo made Zhan Aiping extremely happy.
As a mother, she had a strange, almost fated premonition.
Gu Sheng: “…”
Comrade Little Gu could not understand where his wife’s confidence came from.
“Our Cotton Candy will definitely have a singing voice like a golden oriole!” Zhan Aiping excitedly grabbed Gu Sheng’s sleeve, unable to hold back. She already could not wait to see Guobaorou, Little Tangyuan, and Cotton Candy going to primary school.
They would take part in cultural performances, and she, their mother, would sit below the stage and applaud for her children.
If their Cotton Candy had a gift for singing, maybe she could even sing at the Spring Festival Gala one day!
Gu Sheng hesitated. “Wife, you have too much confidence in me.”
“Dragons give birth to dragons, phoenixes give birth to phoenixes, and mice’s sons know how to dig holes.” “A dragon has nine sons, each one different.” “From bad bamboo comes good shoots”… The wisdom of the ancestors was that no matter what outcome appeared, there was always a proverb to explain it.
His Pingping’s singing was already that out of tune, yet she still expected to have a daughter who could sing. Wasn’t she placing all her hopes on him?
“It might not even be a daughter yet. Don’t think so much.”
Zhan Aiping could not help laughing. “The child hasn’t even been born yet. Am I not allowed to have a few sweet dreams in advance?”
“I’m afraid your sweet dreams will shatter and make you sad.”
“It’s all the same. I’ll be happy either way. Whether we have one or not, I’ll be happy. As long as it’s our child, I’ll love them.” Although Zhan Aiping hoped for a daughter who could sing, she did not place too much hope in it. But people had to have dreams.
What if it came true?
“Sister-in-law, you’re pregnant again!” After learning her sister-in-law was pregnant again, Gu Xiangyi was stunned. In the Gu family, she had five older brothers above her, but only her youngest brother stood far ahead of everyone else.
Her second brother had also married, and his wife had just had a child. The northeast was too cold, so he was not bringing his wife back this time, as the child was too young. Her third brother… her third brother was in the navy. He had also married, but he married quickly and divorced even faster, like a tornado at sea. He was already divorced now. In the past two years, her third brother’s only change was going from an older bachelor to an older divorced bachelor.
Her eldest and fourth brothers were still unmarried, yet her youngest brother Gu Sheng was already about to become a father of three.
This speed, this ability—clearly no one could catch up with him.
Zhan Aiping said, “Your brother is very capable.”
Zhan Mingzhao frowned. “Sister, are you alright?”
Seeing Zhan Aiping suffering from vomiting, he was very worried. This was his real older sister. When Zhan Aiping had been pregnant with twins before, he had not been by her side.
Seeing the concern in her younger brother’s eyes, Zhan Aiping felt warm inside. She shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s nothing serious.”
Zhan Mingzhao stepped forward to support her, but Gu Sheng pushed his hand away and wrapped his own arm around his wife. “You just take care of my little sister. Leave your sister to me.”
Gu Xiangyi: “?!”
Zhan Mingzhao said, “Brother-in-law, you must take good care of my sister.”
Gu Sheng said, “Same to you. Take good care of my sister.”
Zhan Aiping: “…” What a tangled relationship.
Zhan Aiping had not yet told the two little brats about her pregnancy. After their big family boarded the train at Spring City, Zhan Aiping solemnly said to Guobaorou and his sister, “You two are going to have a younger brother or sister!”
Gu Xiangyi said, “There’s a little baby in Mum’s tummy.”
The older brother, Guobaorou, accurately seized on one word, and his eyes immediately lit up. “Sister!”
He was going to have a new little sister, and she was still inside Mum’s tummy. Guobaorou turned his gaze toward Zhan Aiping. Their group had bought connected sleeper tickets, just right for the four adults to share one compartment with two upper and lower bunks and no outsiders. It was perfect.
At this moment, the four adults and two children were all sitting on the two lower bunks, with Guobaorou and Little Tangyuan sitting side by side.
“Mum! Sister…” Comrade Guobaorou looked as though a pie had fallen from the sky and hit him on the head. Both shocked and delighted, he stared at his mother’s belly. Was he going to have a new little sister?
This was simply too wonderful!
As the older brother among the twins, Guobaorou understood more than his sister and usually carried himself very much like an elder brother. Although Little Tangyuan did call him “Brother” every day, having a biological younger sister who was taller than him placed a lot of pressure on him as her older brother.
Just from appearance, people thought the two of them looked more like an older sister and younger brother. This was undoubtedly a great blow to little Comrade Guobaorou.
If he was going to have a new younger sister, then this biological sister who was three or four years younger than him surely would not be taller than her older brother!
He could finally be a “proper and rightful” older brother!
“Mum, I want to touch my sister.” Guobaorou raised his little paw, tentatively wanting to touch his mother’s belly.
Zhan Aiping smiled faintly. “Our Brother Youyou must take good care of his younger sister from now on.”
Guobaorou nodded. “Mum, I’ll definitely be a good brother!”
He already could not wait to look after his younger sister.
Seeing his excited little face, Zhan Aiping could not help laughing. She turned to look at Gu Sheng and gave him a look: See? Your son is more excited than you.
Gu Sheng returned a look: Stay calm. The older ginger is still the spiciest.
Guobaorou was extremely excited, but Little Tangyuan beside him became unhappy!
Little Tangyuan reached out and grabbed her brother’s hand, her delicate, pretty little face full of grievance. She loudly emphasised, “Brother is Yuanyuan’s brother!”
“Mine! Mine! Yuanyuan’s brother!”
Guobaorou’s delighted reaction had made Little Tangyuan jealous! She was jealous! She was jealous of the new younger sibling!
Guobaorou hugged his sister in return and comforted her. “You’re all my younger sisters! I’ll definitely be a good brother!”
Little Comrade Guobaorou was very addicted to being an older brother. He wished there were even more younger siblings below him, all gathered around calling him Brother.
Little Tangyuan hummed unhappily a few times. “He’s my brother! My brother!!!…”
Her biological brother, Guobaorou, was usually very good to her. Little Tangyuan did not know many characters, but her brother already knew how to tell stories. He could draw, cut paper for her, fold paper planes and little boats for her. When she could not sleep, her brother would come and coax her… How could her brother become someone else’s brother?
Zhan Aiping touched her daughter’s face. “Yuanyuan, you’re going to be an older sister too.”
Gu Sheng said, “Yuanyuan, you’ll be an older sister. She’ll be your younger sister too.”
Little Tangyuan froze for a moment. She thought about how she would also have a younger sister now. She would no longer be the youngest in the family. She was going to be an older sister!
“I’m the most amazing older sister!”
Zhan Aiping nodded. “Look after your younger sister together with your brother.”
Little Tangyuan nodded. She looked at her brother, Guobaorou. “Brother, I’m your closest younger sister.”
Guobaorou said happily, “I’ll definitely be a good brother!”
The two siblings hugged.
Gu Xiangyi quietly watched them embrace and thought to herself—this brother and sister really have such a good relationship.
She turned her head and stared at Gu Sheng. “Brother, why can’t you learn from your son?”
Gu Sheng lazily wrapped an arm around his wife and said lightly, “How old are you?”
Gu Xiangyi puffed up angrily. “I have more brothers than you!”
Zhan Mingzhao silently said, “I have an older sister. None of you have an older sister.”
Gu Xiangyi: “…”
Gu Sheng: “…”
Zhan Aiping: “?!” She did not have a single older brother or sister. She had lost.
Their group went to the Zhan family first. Zhan Aijia was also at the Zhan home at this time. She had just given birth, and her mother, Zhu Jiaorong, was looking after her during her confinement.
Zhan Aijia had married Lin Gang two years ago, eagerly rushing to become someone’s stepmother—and the stepmother of three boys at that. At first, Zhan Aijia had been excited and passionate, but after raising the children for a while, she finally experienced how difficult it was to be a stepmother, and how terrifying public gossip could be.
What boy was not naughty? Lin Gang had married a wife precisely so Zhan Aijia could become his free nanny and help him look after the children. The three boys caused chaos every day, practically tearing the roof off the house, and not a single one of them was peaceful.
At first, Zhan Aijia had wanted to please her stepsons and get along well with them. In the end, after only a few months, even the surface politeness was gone. Her stepsons revealed their true natures one after another, each better than the last at causing trouble. Today one family came to complain, tomorrow another family came to complain. After finally getting two peaceful days, the schoolteacher came to complain too.
“You’re their mother. If you don’t discipline them, who will? Just because you’re a stepmother, you don’t care about the children?”
“To raise children like this—sure enough, she’s a stepmother!”
“Your children are far too naughty!”
These three boys were simply like grasshoppers in the forest, each jumping around more than the last, each more argumentative than the last. Today the eldest caused trouble, tomorrow the second caused trouble. And she was not their real mother, so she could not discipline them properly… After a few months, she seemed to have aged ten years.
Zhan Aijia endured and endured, and finally endured until she became pregnant. She was going to have her own biological child!
The children at home fought and nearly caused her to miscarry, so Zhan Aijia quarrelled with Lin Gang. She insisted on returning to her maiden home to protect the pregnancy, and Lin Gang could only let her go.
Zhan Aijia returned to the Zhan family home to nurture her pregnancy. She repaired her mother-daughter relationship with Zhu Jiaorong, and the mother and daughter entered a honeymoon period, united against a common enemy.
Now, she and Zhu Jiaorong were once again breathing through the same nostril.
After Zhan Aijia gave birth to a boy, she completely stood in Zhu Jiaorong’s position and looked at the problem from her perspective. She felt that she had finally held her head high. In the Lin family, only the son she gave birth to was the most precious and deserved to enjoy the best treatment, while those three stepsons could go wherever it was coolest and stay there.
Zhan Aijia and Zhu Jiaorong stood on the same front. They hated all stepchildren.
After learning that Zhan Mingzhao had come back this time and even brought a partner with him, they were determined to properly stir up trouble in his marriage plans.
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