Zhi Xia was also a mother. Although she really wanted to be heartless and not care, seeing this child desperately looking for her and reaching out, after watching him grow up until now, she still felt very reluctant.
Her actions were faster than her thoughts. With almost no hesitation, PingAn was already in her arms.
"PingAn dear, let's not cry..." Zhi Xia coaxed him.
PingAn was indeed controlling his expression. Although he was still gasping unceasingly, he put his arms around Zhi Xia's neck to try to calm himself down as much as possible. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something but didn't know how to pronounce it.
After a long time, he finally spit out a syllable, "Mom... Mom..."
Zhi Xia showed joy first because before today, he still couldn't call anyone.
Pei Yong and Pei Jing also had delighted expressions on their faces. No matter what, the child had finally learned to speak.
He was only 4 years old, an age that couldn't be away from his mother. Adding that no one had truly cared about him these years except Guo Momo, it was normal for him to cry and fuss.
Luckily he was very familiar with Zhi Xia. Also, before Guo Momo left, she had repeatedly told him that when his mom was not around, he must listen to his third granny and could not make trouble, otherwise his mom would not come back. As long as he was obedient, his mom would come back to pick him up after a while.
At that time, he still didn’t understand what it meant. He only thought that as usual, his mom might have something to do and asked him to stay at third granny’s for a while.
But she didn’t bring him here this time. Instead, she disappeared. Those two bad women and dad said they didn’t want him anymore.
That’s impossible. His mom would never abandon him. They must have lied to him.
Seeing him nestled obediently in Zhi Xia’s arms without crying, Pei Yong’s eyes turned sour at this moment. The man in his forties also didn’t feel good.
Living together day and night, the child didn’t show the slightest dependence on his father. Instead, he was so intimate with Zhi Xia.
It can be imagined how failed Pei JianGuo was as a father.
"Zhi Xia, the child has been crying for a long time and his throat is hoarse. Please help comfort him for a while. He kept crying and fussing over there too, didn't really rest well. He must be extremely tired too. So, after he falls asleep, I’ll take him away again ..."
When Pei Yong said this, PingAn's hand holding Zhi Xia’s neck suddenly tightened a little bit. His watery eyes stared warily at Pei Yong.
"PingAn, this is your grandfather, and also a relative who loves you as much as your mother does. PingAn should also love grandpa and be a good boy, okay?"
The reason why PingAn was so against Wang Yue and the others was largely because they always spoke ill of Guo Momo in front of PingAn.
Although Guo Momo temporarily abandoned PingAn and left, it cannot be denied that before this, she was indeed a good mother and the person PingAn relied on most.
Children don't listen to what others say. He only knew that he wouldn’t like anyone who spoke badly of his mom.
Pei Yong also tried to please PingAn with a smile, and this time, he didn’t dodge.
His mom had also mentioned grandpa to him before, saying that although grandpa seldom came back, he had given a lot of money for PingAn to eat and use over the years. Therefore, PingAn should listen to grandpa and be good and obedient, so as not to upset those who loved him, otherwise they would be sad.
Seeing grandpa's expectant gaze, he wanted to comfort him, but he didn’t want to leave third granny’s arms because he was afraid.
"Grandpa came back this time specially to see PingAn. Shouldn't we let grandpa feel sad and spend more time with him?" As if she didn't know Guo Momo had left, Zhi Xia spoke gently with a warm smile as usual. "You see, it’s not easy for grandpa to come back all this way. He walked a long, long way, so how about sleeping with him and your sixth uncle tonight? Otherwise he can't find the basin to wash his face and doesn't know where the toothpaste is. He would be very pitiful if he slept alone at night..."
Pei JianGuo only had one young uncle Pei Jing, but PingAn had five uncles from his dad’s side and one aunt.
Pei Chenyou was of the same age as him, but Pei Chenyou always claimed seniority over PingAn. He liked to tease PingAn and the two little guys had always had a good relationship.
Pei ChenYou had already fallen asleep in the room. When woken up, he was still a little confused, but when he heard PingAn had come, he ran out excitedly.
PingAn's throat was very hoarse, so Zhi Xia made an excuse to feed him some medicine to avoid a sore throat tomorrow. In fact, she gave him some life essence water.
This thing had a fast recovery effect, much more effective than medicine.
In the yard, little Pei ChenYou acted pretentiously like an adult, leading Pei Yong to wash his face and brush his teeth, while telling him where the basin was.
PingAn followed behind them, holding a steaming hot bun that Zhi Xia had just heated up for him from the kitchen.
Back in the room, Zhi Xia yawned wearily.
Pei Jing walked over to help take off her coat. Distressed, he said, "It must be tiring to coax the child. Go lie down quickly and let me massage you."
In the past, Pei Jing was very confident that he would never let his wife suffer. He believed he also had the ability.
But he couldn’t withstand his family always dragging him down.
Pei Yong was much older than him and had always been very good to him. Back then before Pei Jing joined the army, Pei Yong had made a training plan for him to meet the physical standards.
Now with Pei Yong preoccupied by family affairs, he really couldn’t ignore it.
Although she had a very healthy pregnancy in the past, she couldn’t withstand back pain in late term either, so he often massaged her legs too.
In a blink of an eye, it had been several years. Zhi Xia was very comfortable now and happily enjoyed his service.
"By the way, did big brother mention to you how he planned to arrange for PingAn in the future?" Very likely PingAn wouldn't be sent back to Pei JianGuo now. Otherwise that would be no different from handing him to Wang Yue. Besides, he shouldn't have brought the child back now.
"Rushing back anxiously all the way, he didn't even have time to drink water, let alone talk about those things." Pei Jing sighed and said, "But since big brother brought PingAn back today, he probably won't send him back and will likely take him to the troops. Then he can be sent to daycare and at night when big brother is not around, spend some money to ask the military wives to help take care..."
There was another possibility that Pei Yong would retire and return home.
But according to Pei Yong’s seniority after having been in the army for so many years, retiring at this point would be a big loss.
Hearing him say this, Zhi Xia also felt relieved. Luckily he hadn't asked her to help raise PingAn.
It was true that PingAn was very well behaved, and she also felt distressed for him. But Pei JianGuo’s accusations that day were still vivid in her mind, and she really didn’t want to get involved in their affairs anymore.
Seeing Zhi Xia blinking as she fell asleep, Pei Jing also stopped what he was doing.
He turned his head to take out the 1,000 yuan Zhi Xia had given him from the drawer. Afraid to wake up Zhi Xia, he slowly tiptoed out.
In order to get PingAn familiar with Pei Yong as soon as possible, the three of them shared little Pei ChenYou’s room to sleep since the bed was big enough.
The room light had already been turned off. Pei Yong walked out wearing his clothes and happened to see Pei Jing.
“Why aren’t you asleep yet?”
“Big brother, you aren’t asleep either.”
Pei Jing walked over to give him the money while explaining clearly that this money was left by Guo Momo.
