An Sitong lifted the little cub up: "Cub, your mommy is angry, quickly act cute!"
Following the haphazard guidance from her brothers and sisters, Sui Yan had now mastered the skill of acting cute.
The little cub then hugged Liu Hua's leg: "Mommy mommy~ Sui Yan knows she was wrong! Don't be angry, mommy!"
Seeing the cream smeared on her clothes by the little cub, Liu Hua barely restrained herself from giving these two unreliable companions a beating.
"Stop fooling around! Get out of here!"
"Okay!" The two unreliable companions obediently headed toward the living room in sync.
Ye Wan poked her head out upon hearing the commotion: "What's going on?"
Liu Hua showed her the big bowl and pointed at An Sitong: "I asked her to whip some cream, but instead she and Sui Yan ate it all."
Ye Wan burst out laughing: "Alright, don't be angry, I'll whip it again."
Driven out of the kitchen, An Sitong and Sui Yan squatted obediently in the corner, managing to stay still for a bit. Sui Yan cupped her little face, looking around, then boringly traced circles on the floor with her finger.
"Auntie, I'm so bored."
An Sitong sat cross-legged: "Hmm... does Sui Yan have any fun toys?"
The little cub tugged at the carpet fibers: "Sui Yan has building blocks, a little house, and little cars."
An Sitong sighed: "But I don't know how to play with those. What if I accidentally break Sui Yan's toys?"
The little cub pondered, then her face lit up: "Then why don't we go outside and build a snowman?"
An Sitong stood up, picking up the cub: "Let's go! ... But I don't want to do the work."
The two looked at each other, then shouted in unison: "Xiao Han!"
"Brother!"
Qi Linhan and Sui Yu emerged from some corner with a few others: "What's wrong?"
An Sitong grinned mischievously: "We want to build a snowman outside, want to join?"
Qi Linhan's expression was indifferent: "You don't want to do the work yourself, so you're looking for labor?"
Sui Yu looked puzzled: "What's labor?"
Qi Linhan patted the cub's head: "People who do the work... Let's go get things to build a snowman."
In the end, they also called Ye Anning and Shen Nian, and the girls formed a circle, watching the boys build a snowman.
Liu Hua was helping to cut vegetables in the kitchen when she glimpsed a little ball stealthily creeping in from the corner.
"Sui Yan, what are you up to?" She narrowed her eyes and tapped the knife on the cutting board.
Sui Yan was startled, but stood up nonchalantly: "Mommy, Sui Yan wasn't doing anything."
Xu Yi walked in from outside: "Xiao Hua, the kids are all building a snowman outside, do you want to go take a look?"
Liu Hua raised an eyebrow: "Building a snowman? Sui Yan!"
The little cub, who was about to sneak out, was caught by her collar. She flailed for a moment before realizing: "Mommy mommy! Sui Yan wasn't building a snowman, Auntie asked me to get a carrot for the snowman's nose!"
Liu Hua clenched her fist: "An Auntie?"
The little cub belatedly realized she might have sold out her teammate and weakly lowered her head without a word.
Liu Hua glanced at Xu Yi: "Did you buy Sui Yan chocolate again? Don't give her any more, we'll eat it ourselves."
"It was An Auntie!" Before Liu Hua could finish, the little cub blurted out the answer.
Liu Hua was almost amused by her outburst: "How could you betray your auntie so easily?"
The little cub stated confidently: "Mommy won't hit Auntie anyway!" She had seen it before! Mommy said she would punish Auntie, but they just chatted outside instead!
Liu Hua rolled up her sleeves: "I'll go hit her now."
The little cub was horrified, clinging tightly to her mother's leg: "Mommy, no!"
Clueless, An Sitong leisurely strolled in from outside: "Cub, why is it taking so long to get a carrot?"
"If you can get it yourself, why ask Sui Yan?" Liu Hua pulled the little cub off her leg and rolled her eyes at An Sitong.
An Sitong awkwardly scratched her nose, not daring to say a word.
Seeing no one was paying attention to her, Sui Yan went to the kitchen to get a carrot from Liu Man, then scurried off to find her brother.
Liu Hua watched the little cub's happy back and gestured to An Sitong: "Go call those kids inside, it's too cold out there."
An Sitong readily agreed: "Got it! Sis Hua, I'm on it!"
After having some snacks, the little cubs didn't eat dinner but gathered around the fireplace to roast and open their gifts.
Sui Yan's fair little face was flushed red from the fire as she struggled to pull an extremely large carrot plush toy from the huge box in front of her.
"Ta-da! Sister, look at Sui Yan's super big carrot!"
Ye Anning saw the carrot that was bigger than the little cub and reached out her arms: "Sui Yan, let sister hug your carrot."
Sui Yan obediently carried the carrot plush, bigger than herself, over to her sister: "For you, sister!"
Ye Anning took the carrot and gently squeezed it, savoring the soft plush texture as she contentedly narrowed her eyes.
Sui Yan ran back to her spot and continued opening her presents.
In no time, the little cub exclaimed again: "Wow! A candy castle! Chocolate princess!"
Shen Nian put a little crown from her gift on Sui Yan's head: "Sui Yan is our little princess too!"
Li Yuan eyed the pile of big boxes in front of Sui Yan, then looked at his own stack of medium-sized boxes.
He sighed: "Sui Yan, you have so many gifts."
Sui Yan scratched her head, finally noticing: "Yeah, you're right!"
Sui Yu was fiddling with his new phone, not looking up as he said: "Little Li, you didn't even give Sui Yan a Christmas gift. She spent a long time picking one for you."
Ever since meeting Sui Yan, Little Li felt he was too immature.
He clenched his fist resolutely: "Sui Yan, I'll save money every day from now on and definitely give you a Christmas gift next year!"
Sui Yan was focused on opening her presents, waving her hand: "No need, Brother Li Yuan. Uncle Li and Auntie already gave Sui Yan gifts."
Li Yuan didn't argue, for he had made up his mind!
Glancing over from the dining area, Liu Hua was relieved to see the children gathered in the living room opening gifts.
Her gaze fell on the Christmas tree hung with little gifts in the courtyard and the snowman wrapped in a scarf, and she couldn't help but smile.
This was so nice. Sui Yan must be very happy.
--
Author's note:
The Christmas chapter is finally over. It felt like I've been writing it forever.
