I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 80 - 79: Promotion to Leader

Xu Xiuxiu often kept in touch with her hometown, sending various items home each month, either supplements for the elderly or educational materials and new clothes for the current season to Song Yuanming and Song Yuanyao, who were still in school. Of course, Xu Xiuxiu didn’t forget her uncle’s family either, sending little coats to Niuniu and a floral scarf to Wang Qinghua. Now that she knew her uncle Song Yuantao had mostly recovered and could get out of bed and move around, Xu Xiuxiu went out of her way to buy some calcium supplements from the hospital through her connections and mailed them back.

Even when Song Yuanhuan was on duty, Xu Xiuxiu maintained an optimistic front when contacting her in-laws, only sharing good news. The Song Family’s elderly couple knew their second son’s aloof nature and the strict military discipline that prevented revealing too much. So, they didn’t ask too many questions and would always instruct Xu Xiuxiu to take care of Song Chengguang and herself, and not constantly worry about sending things back home.

Xu Xiuxiu always agreed over the phone with affirmation and continued to send and buy things as usual. The elderly couple of the Song Family were still happy despite the apparent polite disobedience.

Of course, Xu Xiuxiu wasn’t one to play favorites. After sending things to the Song Family, she naturally didn’t forget to mail items to her own parents. The last time she whimsically sent a trench coat to Xu Jingjing, the usually indifferent girl actually took the initiative to call and thank her with a rather courteous attitude, proving that most people can’t resist the allure of gifts.

With Song Yuanhuan’s recent promotion to Lieutenant Colonel, a significant event worth celebrating, it was natural to share the joyful news with the family. The Song Family’s elderly couple were overjoyed to hear of Song Yuanhuan’s promotion, with Mrs. Song even directly inquiring whether he was in charge of more soldiers now and if his monthly salary had increased, along with the regular regiment-level allowances.

Song Yuanhuan, overwhelmed by the questioning on the other end of the call, still honestly answered what needed to be said, until eventually Mrs. Song, reluctant to spend more on the phone bill and complaining about the cost, ended the call.

Sitting in the private rest area of the Sichuan Pavilion branch, Xu Xiuxiu watched Song Yuanhuan hang up the phone, with two drops of cold sweat on his forehead, and couldn’t help but smile.

"How is everyone at home?" Xu Xiuxiu asked immediately after Song Yuanhuan finished the call, lifting her head from a pile of daily cash transaction reports.

"Mm, everything at home is fine, both Mom and Dad are in good health, and they say it’s all thanks to the supplements you send every month. Big brother is also recuperating well; they asked me to pass on their gratitude to you," Song Yuanhuan said, his deep eyes intently fixed on Xu Xiuxiu. He felt both grateful and proud of this woman who had taken care of all the things he hadn’t thought of and had done so appealingly.

"Big brother can walk now? He even answered the phone at the shop?" Xu Xiuxiu was surprised by this news; she never spoke with her uncle Song Yuantao on the phone due to the male-female relationship and always communicated with Song Family’s elderly couple, who mentioned his good recovery but nothing more.

"Mm," Song Yuanhuan slowly nodded.

His brother Song Yuantao’s words from the other end of the phone echoed in his ears, expressing a gratitude he had never experienced before. Song Yuanhuan knew that it was his brother’s injury that had made him see things more clearly. Wang Qinghua was a rather heartless woman, and Song Yuanhuan had seen her true colors—happy to accept gifts but never offering a word of gratitude to Xu Xiuxiu.

After his injury, Song Yuantao’s perception of human warmth and coldness had become much keener. He had bottled up his gratitude for his brother and sister-in-law for several months. Whenever Xu Xiuxiu called home, Wang Qinghua acted as if it was none of her business. Despite wanting to, Song Yuantao was too embarrassed to thank his brother and sister-in-law over the phone at the shop.

Because the first phone in Song Family Village was installed at the village convenience store, whenever someone received a call, the village loudspeaker would broadcast a message, saying which family’s daughter-in-law or son is being called and asking them to come to the convenience store to take the call promptly. That broadcast could be heard by every household in Song Family Village clearly, and those who heard their names would conscientiously go to receive the call. Song Yuantao learned from the broadcast that the caller was his younger brother Song Yuanhuan, so for the first time since his injury, he left home and went to the village convenience store to chat with his brother Song Yuanhuan for a while.

After the call to his family ended, Xu Xiuxiu received Song Yuanhuan’s heartfelt gratitude, but Xu Xiuxiu was someone who couldn’t stand sentimental scenes, so she quickly changed the subject, "What do you think of my branch of Sichuan Pavilion?" Although Xu Xiuxiu still couldn’t quite understand her feelings for Song Yuanhuan, she still looked forward to his evaluation with anticipation.

After all, this was Song Yuanhuan’s first visit to the branch of Sichuan Pavilion.

"The storefront is fresh, and the decor is quite distinctive," Song Yuanhuan said. He had been impressed by her ever since he learned from her that she had opened another Sichuan Pavilion. In fact, he had experienced her capabilities a long time ago, but now that he could truly feel her abilities, the excitement in his heart was altogether something else.

He felt proud, proud that this woman was his wife!

"Hehe." Receiving the compliment, Xu Xiuxiu immediately curved her lips into a silly, proud smile—which was her unique expression when she was happy, starkly different from her usual gentle smile.

Seeing this, Song Yuanhuan’s heart melted into a pool: "The military specially approved two days of leave for me, and they’ve also allocated a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment. Boss, let’s go shopping for some household supplies together!" Song Yuanhuan moved closer to Xu Xiuxiu, placing his hands on her desk.

"Really?" They allocated a two-bedroom, one-living-room apartment? Xu Xiuxiu was quite surprised. Was there such a big difference between the treatment of a deputy regimental-level position and a regimental-level position?

Seeing Xu Xiuxiu’s astonished face, Song Yuanhuan immediately smiled, "The military has long intended to arrange family housing for me, but since you weren’t in Z City before, I didn’t need a two-bedroom apartment for myself, so I gave up the family housing spot to a comrade who needed it. This time, Lieutenant Colonel Sun was promoted and transferred to the S City Military District, and his family housing just became available. The question is, does ’Boss’ mind?" Song Yuanhuan asked, still paying close attention to Xu Xiuxiu.

Mind? Mind what? Mind if the apartment was previously lived in by someone else? Please, don’t overthink it.

Xu Xiuxiu rolled her eyes at Song Yuanhuan, crinkling her nose in complaint, "Wait for me for a while, I need to reconcile these accounts." Xu Xiuxiu didn’t like to leave things halfway; otherwise, the reports would end up a complete mess when she returned to them. It was better to settle everything in one go.

"Sure." Song Yuanhuan nodded, and then sat directly on Xu Xiuxiu’s desk, watching her work.

Xu Xiuxiu’s forehead throbbed furiously, and she lifted her eyelids to glance at Song Yuanhuan. Seeing his determined expression, she resignedly calmed herself down and immersed herself in the pile of reports.