TPW – Chapter 106

As soon as Qiao An got home from school in the afternoon, the very first thing he did after opening the door was to throw down his backpack and dash into the bedroom to find his little sister and mom.

“Mama! Mama! Sister! I have something fun to tell you!”

Laughing and running all the way there, he reached the bedroom only to find it empty. Scratching his head in confusion, he stepped back out.

“An’an, what’s the rush? Mama called you just now and you didn’t even hear.” Qiao Lu gently bounced the baby in her arms. The little one was awake for a rare moment, so Qiao Lu brought her out to bask in the sunset.

Ah! So Mama and Sister were on the balcony. Qiao An immediately turned and ran outside.

“Mama! Was Sister good today? Did she miss me?”

He rushed toward them excitedly, but slowed down abruptly as he approached the balcony door, worried he might bump into them.

“She did, of course she missed you. She didn’t even enjoy her food without seeing you.” Qiao Lu freed a hand to scratch his chin.

Now that they had a second child, they had to take care of the elder one’s feelings too.

“Ah! What should we do then? Oh!” Qiao An suddenly had an idea and shouted, “Mama, you can give Sister a photo of me! The family portrait—we have one with me in it! Oh right, when are we taking another one? We must include Sister in the next one!”

“Still a while to go,” Qiao Lu said with a smile. She glanced at Xu Haizhou, who was carrying a basket of groceries into the kitchen. He put on his apron and began his role as the family chef.

Her heart was full of sweetness. She told her older baby, “Let’s wait until Sister turns one month old, then we’ll take some photos.”

“Okay!” Qiao An grabbed onto the hem of her shirt, following her steps in his little dog slippers, stepping into the living room. “Mama, when will Sister be one month old? How many months is one month?”

“One month is just one month.”

“One month… so how many months left?”

“About ten days.”

“Ah, that’s soon!”

“Yes, it is.”

That night’s dinner was one meat dish and two vegetable dishes. There was a creamy white fish soup sprinkled with fresh green scallions, making it look quite appetizing. Alongside were stir-fried sweet potato leaves and a plate of broccoli.

After dinner, Qiao Lu fed Qiaoqiao milk. The baby fell asleep immediately afterward. Once she was sound asleep, Qiao Lu carried her around the living room for a few laps. Since she couldn’t go out herself, she had Xu Haizhou take Qiao An to the park for a walk, a run, and some basketball.

This was a daily exercise routine in the Xu household—parents and kids exercising together doubled the effect and helped foster a love for physical activity.

Qiao Lu watched father and son head out with reluctance. Before leaving, Qiao An told her to stay home obediently and promised to bring her something tasty when they got back, treating her like a child.

She couldn’t help but laugh aloud.

At six o’clock, she turned on the TV. Playing at the moment was a popular Hong Kong-Taiwan drama from the mainland—“The Bund.”

Qiao An and Xu Haizhou both loved this show. They never missed an episode and even sang the theme song often, humming a line whenever they had nothing to do: “Rushing waves, flowing waves—”

By this time, they should’ve been back from their walk, but there was no sound at the door.

Qiao Lu watched TV absentmindedly. She already knew the whole plot, but watching it earlier with her husband and son had been enjoyable. Watching it alone now felt terribly dull.

Watching TV didn’t compare to watching baby Qiaoqiao. She slept sweetly in her arms, her serene little face and rosy cheeks so endearing. Not even a month old, yet her nose bridge was more defined than many adults’, and her jawline was clearer than Qiao Lu’s entire life plan!

Just from her features alone, one could foresee her beauty in the future.

She had inherited all of her parents’ best features—a definite beauty in the making!

As she watched, Qiao Lu yawned and drifted off on the sofa with her baby in her arms.

She didn’t know how long she slept—felt like a century but was actually just ten minutes.

Qiaoqiao, who had only just had her milk, suddenly started wriggling in Qiao Lu’s arms—squirming and twisting so much that it pulled Qiao Lu out of her sleep.

“What’s wrong, baby?”

Yawning again, still not fully awake.

She glanced at the clock—6:20.

Only ten minutes of sleep. Could the little one be hungry again? But she was just fed twenty minutes ago.

The baby didn’t cry or speak—just twisted around, rubbed against her chest, clearly trying to express something.

Rubbing her eyes, Qiao Lu opened her shirt to feed her again.

But Qiaoqiao didn’t eat—just twisted and opened her mouth as if trying to talk, but no words came out. She kept making little milk-sounding grunts.

“What is it, Qiaoqiao? Missing Daddy? Missing Brother? Little foodie doesn’t want milk now?”

Of course, there was no reply.

Still twisting, the baby refused the food offered to her.

Suddenly, a faint smell of something burning hit her nose. A flash of realization struck her—Qiao Lu jolted fully awake.

Oh no! Before watching TV, she had put a pot of water on the stove!

It must’ve boiled dry by now!

Panicking, she laid Qiaoqiao on the carpet and rushed into the kitchen.

The pot had long since boiled dry. The gas stove was now directly heating an empty pot, charring the base. Another minute and it could’ve burned through the pot!

She filled a basin under the tap and poured the water in.

SIZZLE— a loud hiss erupted, thick smoke billowed out, and Qiao Lu coughed violently, retreating from the kitchen.

At that moment, the sound of a key turning the lock came from the front door.

It opened—three pairs of eyes stared at each other in shock.

The little one saw the smoke behind her mother and gasped, running over: “Mama! What are you doing? So much smoke!”

Smelling the burnt air, Xu Haizhou stepped forward and peeked into the kitchen, then turned to Qiao Lu. “What happened? Something burned?”

Sighing, Qiao Lu put down the enamel basin, walked into the living room, picked Qiaoqiao up from the carpet, gently patted her back, kissed her face, and recounted the whole story to her husband and son.

When she finished, Qiao An stared wide-eyed at his little sister in shock.

Xu Haizhou furrowed his brows tightly and stepped forward to wrap both his wife and daughter in his arms.

“That was really dangerous. If you hadn’t remembered, and with how hot the weather is now, it could’ve easily led to a fire.”

“Sigh, I know. They say pregnancy makes you forgetful for three years—how long have I even been postpartum and my memory’s already going?” Thankfully, there was no major damage, just a small black patch on the stove countertop near the burner. Her beautiful granite… so painful.

Since the gas was turned off, the baby hadn’t fallen asleep again. But now that she was back in Mama’s arms, her little hands waved around, her mouth wide open, making soft ah ah ah noises.

Qiao Lu opened her shirt again. This time, Qiaoqiao happily latched on and started drinking, no resistance at all.

After feeding, she was asleep in two minutes—her red little lips curved in a sweet smile, as if telling Mama not to be afraid.

Heavens—was this fate? Too mysterious.

“Haizhou, Qiaoqiao really is our little lucky star. She must’ve come to repay a favor!”

After hearing the whole story and seeing his daughter’s actions, Xu Haizhou also felt it was unbelievable.

It really was spooky—she’d been sleeping so soundly, suddenly woke up, didn’t cry or drink milk, just fussed enough to save them from what could’ve been a disaster!

“Lucky star?” Qiao An seemed to understand what that meant—probably a star with good fortune?

Mama said Sister was a lucky star, so she was a little star with good luck.

“Mama, what kind of star is An’an then?” If Sister could be a star, why couldn’t he?

“An’an? You are…” Qiao Lu thought hard and said, “You’re a Cute Star!”

“What kind of star is a Cute Star?”

“A Cute Star is the cutest, most lovable star! Everyone loves An’an!”

“Mama, I love Cute Star! I also love Lucky Star! Now our family has two stars!”

“Yes, and both stars are my treasures~”

“Heehee~”

Everything in the world has a soul. Qiao An and Qiao Qiaoqiao were the most precious gifts Heaven had given this couple!