I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 61 - 60: Punishment - Washing Clothes

Xu Xiuxiu was limping with her injured foot when she returned to Sichuan Pavilion, and the sky had already darkened. At this moment, Sichuan Pavilion was entering its busiest time of the day, bustling with activity, leaving almost no one free to look after two children.

Zhao Nan was taking care of his younger brother Song Chengguang at the cash register in a well-behaved manner. Occasionally, Song Chengguang would sneak out, but Zhao Nan would quickly bring him back. After a few rounds of this, Song Chengguang finally sat down at the register with a sullen face, muttering disparagingly about his brother, and thinking about his mother.

Although Zhao Nan wanted to rebut his little brother’s complaints, he ended up just squatting quietly beside Song Chengguang. Having squatted for too long, their legs went numb, and they ended up sitting on the floor, looking at each other and letting their brief estrangement dissolve.

When Xu Xiuxiu entered Sichuan Pavilion limping, the first to notice her was Sister Cai Qiufen at the cash register. "Xiuxiu, you’re back? Oh! What happened to your foot? It’s so swollen!" Cai Qiufen asked, watching Xu Xiuxiu’s awkward gait. Her gaze swept over Xu Xiuxiu’s swollen ankle and she exclaimed in surprise, "What happened to you during this trip?"

"It was a minor accident on the road," Xu Xiuxiu replied to Cai Qiufen reluctantly, not intending to elaborate on the earlier incident. "Where are the kids?" Xu Xiuxiu looked around the cash register and did not see Zhao Nan and Song Chengguang.

"They are inside!" Cai Qiufen pointed under the cash register and chuckled, "Zhao Nan is watching them! No worries, they are very well-behaved." Cai Qiufen expressed her fondness for Zhao Nan, the competent older brother, who was really sensible!

"That’s good." Xu Xiuxiu knew that with Zhao Nan, the responsible older brother, Song Chengguang would behave well.

"Auntie." Zhao Nan, who was just tall enough to see over the cash register, stood up quickly upon hearing Xu Xiuxiu’s voice, tiptoeing. Seeing Xu Xiuxiu standing outside the register, he couldn’t help but flash a silly smile, relieved and as if he had been waiting just for her.

He had almost been driven mad by his little brother’s complaints.

"Mom." Song Chengguang also heard the voice. The little guy struggled to get up from the floor and dashed from behind the register, throwing himself at Xu Xiuxiu and wrapping his little fleshy hands possessively around Xu Xiuxiu’s leg, "Mom, I miss you." Song Chengguang looked up with a face so earnest it could melt anyone’s heart.

But Xu Xiuxiu’s face immediately turned pale, biting her lip to keep from crying out when Song Chengguang touched her injured ankle, "Mom misses Chengguang too, honey. Can Chengguang let go of Mom first?" Xu Xiuxiu was sweating coldly but still bent down to console her longing son.

"No, no." Song Chengguang shook his head and tightened his grip around Xu Xiuxiu’s leg.

Hiss—

Xu Xiuxiu couldn’t express the bitter-sweet pain she felt at that moment; she gritted her teeth and picked the little guy up, "Have you guys had dinner?" Xu Xiuxiu looked at Zhao Nan, who was also coming out from under the register, and asked caringly.

"We ate already! Aunt made the meal, and I finished all of mine, but little brother only had a few bites," Zhao Nan replied earnestly, feeling guilty for not ensuring that Song Chengguang ate properly.

Xu Xiuxiu chucklingly ruffled Zhao Nan’s hair, "No worries, Aunt will make some supper when we get home." When Xu Xiuxiu had left the hospital, she had argued for quite a while with a man in a Zhongshan suit about medical expenses and any possible subsequent issues; he insisted on taking responsibility, not allowing Xu Xiuxiu to refuse.

Even with modern attitudes, this was the first time Xu Xiuxiu had encountered someone so determined for compensation after a clear refusal, annoyingly similar to modern-day scamming but with completely reversed roles.

"Nannan, pack your little backpack, we need to head home," Xu Xiuxiu reminded Zhao Nan.

"Alright!" Zhao Nan turned around and ran towards the staff changing room.

"Xiuxiu, your foot injury seems pretty severe. Why don’t you stay for another two hours and let us take you home after work?" Cai Qiufen looked at Xu Xiuxiu cradling Song Chengguang and grimacing in pain, and couldn’t help but speak out of concern. After all, it wasn’t completely safe for an injured adult and two kids to walk home at night.

"It’s fine." Xu Xiuxiu shook her head in refusal. Sichuan Pavilion wasn’t far from home, so it wasn’t necessary to make such a fuss.

Meanwhile, Zhao Nan had readied his backpack and even tried to push out Song Chengguang’s baby stroller but failed to do so after a lot of effort due to his small size.

Cai Qiufen’s sister-in-law saw this, came out from the cashier’s counter to help, and together they pushed the baby stroller to the entrance of Sichuan Pavilion.

"Then, sister-in-law, go ahead with your work! I’ll take the kids home first." Xu Xiuxiu saw a server inside Sichuan Pavilion leading a customer to the cashier’s desk to pay.

Cai Qiufen also noticed the customer who was about to pay, so she quickly told Xu Xiuxiu, "Then, be careful on the way!" and hurried inside Sichuan Pavilion to get busy.

Xu Xiuxiu bent down and stuffed Song Chengguang, who was clinging to her like a sloth, into the baby stroller, "Nannan, let’s go home!"

"Um, Auntie, your foot is injured. Rest a bit, I’ll help you push my brother’s stroller." Zhao Nan knew Xu Xiuxiu had hurt her ankle, so he spoke chivalrously, offering to help.

"That would be great, Nannan!" Xu Xiuxiu nodded in agreement to his offer of help but didn’t let go of the baby stroller; together with Zhao Nan, they pushed it towards home.

Xu Xiuxiu’s ankle sprain was quite severe, so severe that it affected her normal walking, so Xu Xiuxiu simply gave up the idea of going out and stayed home, comfortably looking after the two rambunctious kids.

At noon that day, after Zhao Nan and Song Chengguang had their lunch, both were inexplicably full of energy with no intention to nap. They started playing wildly in the yard and soon enough, both were happily covered in mud.

Seeing this, Xu Xiuxiu was fuming. At that moment, Xu Xiuxiu began to miss having a washing machine, and then took the two naughty boys inside to change their clothes.

"Come on, be good and wash the filthy clothes you’ve spoiled, or else you two are not eating dinner tonight." Xu Xiuxiu sternly placed the washbasin in the yard, filled it with water, and decided to punish the two confused boys.

Zhao Nan frowned, looked at Xu Xiuxiu for a long time, then resignedly began to wash the clothes.

Song Chengguang, dazedly standing next to Zhao Nan, saw Zhao Nan reach out to scrub the clothes they had dirtied. The little guy also squatted down and reached out to scrub. The two rascals washed adeptly, and when they created piles of bubbles, they both chuckled quietly as if in agreement.

The water was very cold, nearing winter.

At first, the two youngsters might have still been in a playful mood, but as their little hands turned bright red from the cold, they began to shoot pitiful glances at Xu Xiuxiu. Xu Xiuxiu hardened her heart and ignored them, determined. Seeing this, Zhao Nan knew Aunt Xiu Xiu wouldn’t go easy and washed the clothes more vigorously.

Song Chengguang, not even two years old and just as clumsy as Zhao Nan, was thoroughly disruptive. Eventually, his small body became unsteady, and he toppled headfirst into the washbasin.