Ye Anning walked to the side of the bed and gently shook the little dumpling: "Sui Yan, are you awake?"
Sui Yan did not respond to Ye Anning right away. Instead, she rustled around under the quilt for a bit before poking out her furry little head: "Sis..."
The little girl's voice was a bit hoarse and had a tinge of sobbing.
Ye Anning's heart ached badly. She hugged Sui Yan and gently patted her back: "Don't cry, Sui Yan."
Sui Yan just wanted to cry. The little girl pursed her lips as big teardrops kept rolling down her face, yet she didn't make a sound as she cried.
Qi Linhan held up the cloth doll in front of Sui Yan: "Sui Yan, what's this?"
Sui Yan blankly looked up, and was just about to be overjoyed when she suddenly realized something was wrong.
"This isn't Ti Zi... isn't! Wah..." Sui Yan became even sadder upon seeing it.
The little girl wanted to toss the doll aside, but in the end could not bear to and carefully held it in her arms instead.
Sui Zhi stood at the door. After peeking outside a few times, she opened the door without a sound, allowing the stifled sobs of the little girl to travel out more clearly.
As expected, Liu Hua hurriedly ran over not long after.
Ye Anning took two steps back and gave way to Sui Yan.
Seeing her mother, the little girl hugging the cloth doll and crying did not, as usual, throw herself into her mother's arms. Instead, she simply rolled over with her back facing Liu Hua.
Liu Hua froze for two seconds. Head lowered, she looked at the little one in the quilt, speaking in an indiscernible tone: "Is Sui Yan upset with Mom?"
Sui Yan hugged the cloth doll tightly as tears kept streaming down. She no longer acted coquettishly with Liu Hua, but looked at her very seriously instead: "Ti Zi is Sui Yan's good friend and family too."
The little girl was unusually solemn. Despite the red rims of her eyes and her hoarse voice, she persisted.
Liu Hua gently stroked her daughter's little face: "Sui Yan, Ti Zi is not a puppy, but a wolf. A very dangerous wolf."
Sui Yan wiped her tears and choked out: "But Ti Zi was so good to Sui Yan. It only had Sui Yan as family. Now no one will dote on Ti Zi anymore... Ti Zi is so well behaved. It will also protect Sui Yan!"
Liu Hua fell silent, seemingly lost in thought.
Afraid that her mother would ignore her, Sui Yan kept staring at her.
Liu Hua's eyes dimmed: "Mom chased Ti Zi out of our home. Does Sui Yan hate Mom for it?"
The little girl was taken aback, but very resolutely said: "Sui Yan will never hate Mom."
Liu Hua could not help but chuckle: "If Sui Yan says this, then she's not afraid that Mom will become unscrupulous and never take Ti Zi back home again?"
Sui Yan did not quite understand what "unscrupulous" meant, but she heard her mother say she would never take Ti Zi back home again.
The little girl's gaze instantly darkened, as if she was the one abandoned instead.
Yet Liu Hua still felt bad for her daughter. She sighed: "Mom can promise Sui Yan to take Ti Zi back home."
Sui Yan immediately stared at Liu Hua in stunned disbelief, as if shocked by these words.
Liu Hua suddenly wanted to tease the little girl again: "But Sui Yan must also promise Mom to never eat snacks again in the future."
She bent down to look Sui Yan in the eye: "Can Sui Yan do that?"
She had expected the little girl to at least hesitate, but instead Sui Yan unhesitatingly said: "I can! Sui Yan can do it!"
Liu Hua smiled and gently pinched her daughter's chubby little cheek: "Then Mom will have someone fetch Ti Zi."
"But first we must agree, Ti Zi has to get vaccinated first. And in the future if it hurts Sui Yan or her siblings, we'll have to send Ti Zi to the zoo and never take it back home again," Liu Hua told Sui Yan word for word.
Sui Yan hurriedly wiped her tears clean and resolutely said: "Okay! Sui Yan will teach Ti Zi not to bite people."
Liu Hua patted the little girl's head: "Then let's go downstairs."
She led Sui Yan downstairs, followed by a bunch of children, marching downstairs in full force.
Sui Yan still wanted to sit downstairs and wait for her Ti Zi to be brought home, but when she went downstairs she saw Liu Man hugging a white dumpling standing in the middle of the living room.
Seeing each other, the two little milk dumplings froze for two seconds before rushing towards each other at the same time.
"Ti Zi, wah, ah, wah, wah, wah!"
As soon as Sui Yan hugged Ti Zi, she could not help bawling. The little girl's suppressed emotions for the entire day finally collapsed.
Ti Zi felt so distressed it could die. It wasn't really a wolf pup. Its actual age was over a dozen years old already.
Facing the human infant it cared most about having a breakdown and bawling loudly in front of it... Ti Zi would rather just give it two quick slashes to end it all.
Its two little paws gently held Sui Yan's little face as it nuzzled against the little girl's chin: "Awoo, awoo~"
As Sui Yan cried, upon seeing Ti Zi she became very happy again. Hiccupping through her tears, she haltingly said: "Ti... Ti Zi, you can... can bark now."
Ti Zi's eyes contained a hint of almost kindly radiance. It let out a few more gentle awoos.
So the little girl hugged it and cried even louder.
Her Ti Zi had finally come back.
At first, Liu Hua also felt extreme distress. But later she could not help but pinch the little girl's cheek: "Sui Yan, now that Ti Zi is back you're not allowed to cry anymore."
Sui Yan pouted: "Ti Zi was away from home for so long. What if someone bullied it?"
That would be too frightening! Tears welled up in the little girl's eyes again.
Liu Hua could take no more: "It just got a shot from the neighbor, who could bully it?"
Silence befell the room after she said this.
Sui Yan blinked blankly and broke the silence: "Huh?"
Qi Linhan felt Liu Hua's gaze sweep over him. Seeing Liu Man's guilty expression, he silently took two steps back.
Liu Hua coldly snorted: "Thought I wouldn't find out, huh? You're all learning bad things."
Liu Man let out two dry laughs: "Madam, you didn't say anything when you saw it at the time."
Liu Hua rolled her eyes: "I didn't see anything. Someone else saw and told me."
Liu Man: "..." What a prideful madam!
At this moment, Ti Zi suddenly struggled free from Sui Yan's embrace and slowly walked to Liu Hua, obediently nuzzling against her calf.
The originally unruly wolf pup now had eyes full of docility.
Liu Hua turned her face away: "Acting coy with me is useless. If you bite Sui Yan or the others, I'll still send you away."
Sui Yan sillyly laughed and also ran to Liu Hua's feet, hugging her leg: "Sui Yan knew Mom is the best."
Liu Hua bent down and pinched her daughter's soft little cheek again, laughing scoldingly: "Naughty little kid."
This time the little girl did not refute, even with red-rimmed eyes and tear-stained cheeks. She still foolishly smiled.
Sui Yu and the others also finally relaxed with a sigh of relief. This nerve-wracking matter was perfectly resolved after all.
