Chapter 23: Competing with Blueberry to Be a Good Mom p1
It had been a while since they left the Public Security Brigade’s camp before Zhou Siyan had Mo Li stop the car.
The surrounding bushes were sparse, and the chirping of insects was incessant.
The night was thick and dark, and Xue Yu couldn’t see the specific situation around them.
All three of them got out of the car, with Zhou Siyan still holding Xue Xiaohai.
Suddenly, a difficult problem presented itself—how would the three of them sleep?
Previously, Xue Yu and Zhou Siyan would fold down the back seats, put down a soft cushion, and sleep together.
Now there was Mo Li. The three of them definitely couldn’t squeeze into the car. Not to mention there was also Xue Xiaohai, and the car was piled with toys and clothes Zhou Siyan had bought for the baby.
Xue Yu said, “There’s a tent in the car. I’ll set it up, and Mo Li, you can sleep in the tent. Zhou Siyan and the baby can sleep in the car.”
Mo Li: “Then where will you sleep?”
Zhou Siyan also looked over.
Xue Yu touched her earlobe. Zhou Siyan and Mo Li were both extreme sexual conservatives, and her relationship with them was merely that of long-ago ex-boyfriends.
Zhou Siyan had just given birth. It would definitely not be okay for her to sleep with Mo Li.
Mo Li was still pregnant. It wouldn’t be right for her to sleep in the car with Zhou Siyan in front of Mo Li.
Xue Yu looked down at her shoes, then up at the starless night sky. She might as well just sleep under the car.
Mo Li spoke first. “You sleep in the car with him and take care of the baby.”
Given an out, Xue Yu quickly agreed. “Alright, I have to take care of the baby. Sigh, the circumstances are what they are. We all have to overcome them.”
She quickly got the tent from the trunk and set it up with Mo Li.
Zhou Siyan got into the car with the baby, preparing to feed her again.
After Xue Yu and Mo Li had set up the tent, she quietly told him, “When Zhou Siyan was pregnant, Xue Xiaohai would always act up in his belly and needed me to be close to soothe her. If the baby in your belly acts up, just let me know.”
Mo Li nodded.
Xue Yu brought over a bottle of water. “This water is for washing up. If it’s not enough, let me know.”
“Okay.”
Xue Yu also quickly brushed her teeth, washed her face, hands, and feet, and changed into new socks before getting back into the off-road vehicle.
Zhou Siyan had just taken hot water from the thermos to mix formula for the baby. Xue Yu crawled over to him. “Let me do it. You go wash up first.”
Zhou Siyan mixed the formula, let Xue Yu hold the baby to feed her, and then got out of the car.
Xue Xiaohai had slept all day in the car. After being fed, she was full of energy.
She no longer wanted to be wrapped in the small blanket and crawled out, babbling and grabbing at the little seahorse to play.
The little seahorse loved to play with its little master. It flew back and forth in the car, its tail hooked around a turtle plush toy, swinging it around to tease Xue Xiaohai.
Xue Xiaohai had been in Zhou Siyan’s belly for two years and weighed ten jin at birth. She was very well-developed and could already crawl after just a few days.
She crawled all over the mattress, sometimes chasing the little seahorse, sometimes crawling into Xue Yu’s arms to touch her mother’s face and pull her hair.
Xue Yu held her down, not letting her move. “Xue Xiaohai, what are you doing up in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?”
Zhou Siyan returned from washing up and took the baby, rocking her gently. “I’ll comfort her.”
Zhou Siyan, who considered himself an expert at soothing babies, was now facing a bottleneck.
The baby had been very well-behaved since birth. After he fed her and rocked her in his arms for a bit, she would fall asleep obediently, hugging her little seahorse, not making a fuss. It even made him feel a sense of guilt: the more well-behaved and obedient a child is, the more heart-wrenching it is.
The baby’s good behavior in the first few days had made him mistakenly believe that he was a gifted dad.
But now, he knew that the road of parenting was long and difficult!
When he held her horizontally, she would do a carp-flop in his arms.
When he held her vertically, she would climb onto his shoulder, grabbing his ears and hair.
When he put her on the mattress, she would crawl all over the place, grabbing small toys and chasing the little seahorse.
Xue Yu glanced at her watch. It was almost twelve o’clock. She was so sleepy she could barely keep her eyes open, but the baby showed no signs of sleepiness and was still playing.
“Xue Xiaohai, go to sleep!” Xue Yu scooped up the crawling baby and held her tightly in her arms.
“Sleep!” The baby grinned, mimicking her words.
Xue Yu: “I tried to teach you to talk during the day, but you ignored me and pretended to be mute. Now it’s the middle of the night and time to sleep, and you’re making noise?”
Xue Xiaohai could only speak one word at a time. “Mute, now!”
Xue Yu pinched her cheek. “Please go to sleep, little ancestor.”
Xue Xiaohai: “An!”
Zhou Siyan didn’t believe it. He picked up the baby again and tried to soothe her in his familiar way.
But the baby still wouldn’t sleep. She babbled and babbled, learning to speak, and struggled to grab toys.
“She would fall asleep as soon as I comforted her the past few days. What’s wrong tonight?” Zhou Siyan’s brow furrowed slightly. “Is the baby uncomfortable somewhere?”
Xue Yu snatched the toy the baby had put in her mouth. “Does she look uncomfortable to you?”
She pulled the baby over, laid her flat in the middle of the mattress, and covered her eyes with one hand. “Xue Xiaohai, it’s dark now. Go to sleep.”
The baby’s little hands and feet flailed, and she cried out in dissatisfaction. But soon, she quieted down.
Xue Yu thought she had fallen asleep and let go, but the baby’s eyes were still open.
Xue Xiaohai had discovered a new game. She raised her little hand to cover her eyes, then let go, as if she had discovered a new continent.
Cover her eyes, then let go, laughing with delight.
Playing by herself wasn’t enough. She crawled over, grabbed one of Xue Yu’s fingers, and pulled hard, wanting Xue Yu to cover her eyes.
Xue Yu had no choice but to play with her.
Zhou Siyan let Xue Yu rest for a while and played with the baby himself.
The baby played this simple game of covering her eyes for a full ten minutes.
After ten minutes, she got bored and crawled around again, looking for new toys.
The baby wouldn’t sleep, so naturally, Xue Yu and Zhou Siyan couldn’t either. They yawned and played with the baby.
For the first time, Xue Yu experienced how difficult it was to take care of a child.
She glanced at the time. It was already one in the morning, but the baby was still playing, full of energy, rolling around with her toys.
“You go to sleep. I’ll play with her,” Zhou Siyan said.
“It’s fine. Let’s wait a little longer.”
How could Xue Yu bring herself to sleep? Besides, Xue Xiaohai’s voice was still very loud, and she would shout from time to time, so she couldn’t sleep anyway.
The baby sat on Zhou Siyan’s lap, looked at her mother, then at her father.
She crawled onto Xue Yu, pulled at her collar, and tried to burrow inside, as if looking for milk.
Xue Yu was too tired to resist and said weakly, “Your old mom has no milk. Go drink from your dad. Your dad has big pecs.”
The baby fussed with Xue Yu for a moment, then crawled back to Zhou Siyan.
She had found something new and interesting. She looked at her father’s thick hair, then touched her own little head. Hmm, why is there nothing on my head?
She reached out her little hand and grabbed at her father’s hair, a handful here, a handful there.
Zhou Siyan’s hair instantly became a bird’s nest.
He just kept tilting his head to avoid the baby’s evil claws but didn’t stop her.
Xue Yu pulled the baby’s hand away and pretended to spank her. “Naughty girl, stop torturing your mommy and daddy! Go to sleep, go to sleep, I’m begging you.”
The baby reached out to Xue Yu, wanting to be held, and even made a sound: “Ma~”
“Calling me ‘ma’ is useless. Go to sleep!”
Another hour passed. Xue Yu and Zhou Siyan’s eyes were red from lack of sleep, but the baby was still playing.
During this time, Zhou Siyan had even fed her once. After drinking the milk, the baby was even more energetic.
Xue Yu was exhausted. She chatted with Zhou Siyan intermittently. “And you still want a second child?”
Zhou Siyan rubbed his red eyes. “It’s fine. She’ll probably fall asleep after playing a little longer.”
At that moment, there was a light tap on the car window.
Xue Yu looked over. It was Mo Li. She opened the car door. “Mo Li, it’s so late. Are you not asleep yet?”
Mo Li’s face was flickering in the light. “I saw the light in the car was on for a long time. I thought something had happened, so I came to check.”
He glanced into the car.
Small toys were scattered all over the mattress, the sheet was wrinkled, and the baby was grabbing a few dolls and piling them on the little seahorse, having a great time.
In contrast, the two adults were more haggard than the other, their eyes bloodshot. Zhou Siyan, who was usually very particular about his appearance, had messy hair and was yawning while playing with the baby.
Xue Yu sighed. “Xue Xiaohai won’t sleep in the middle of the night. She just keeps playing. It’s killing me.”
Mo Li said, “Do you want me to take her for a while so you can rest?”
Xue Yu trusted Mo Li, but Zhou Siyan didn’t. He would never let the baby out of his sight.
Zhou Siyan put the baby on his lap. “Xue Yu, go sleep in the tent.”
How could Xue Yu bring herself to go? “No need. I can still manage.”
The baby saw that the car door was open and hummed, then started scratching at Zhou Siyan’s arm, struggling to go out and play.
Zhou Siyan had no choice but to get out of the car with the baby, thinking that a walk outside might make her sleepy.
When the baby saw the tent with its faint yellow light, she got excited again and reached out towards the tent. Zhou Siyan had no choice but to take her into the tent.
The tent was much more spacious than the car. There was an air mattress on the bottom, and the baby crawled around even more happily.
Xue Yu and Mo Li also entered the tent and sat cross-legged, watching the baby crawl everywhere.
The baby crawled to Xue Yu and touched her face. “Ma.”
She wasn’t shy at all and crawled to Mo Li. “Pa.”
Zhou Siyan’s face turned green. He scooped the baby up. “Who are you calling ‘pa’?”
The baby tilted her head. “Pa.”
Xue Yu said, “She doesn’t know what ‘daddy’ and ‘mommy’ are yet. She’s just mimicking.”
Zhou Siyan pinched the baby’s cheek. “I’m your daddy, Xue Xiaohai.”
Xue Xiaohai seemed to be thinking seriously. “Hai.”
Zhou Siyan: “…”
Xue Yu covered her mouth and giggled secretly on the side.
Zhou Siyan continued to say to the baby, “Is Daddy good?”
Xue Xiaohai: “Good.”
Zhou Siyan: “Is Mommy naughty?”
Xue Xiaohai: “Naugh.”
Xue Yu: “Hey, Zhou Siyan, that’s not fair!”
Zhou Siyan smiled and continued to play with the baby.
Mo Li took out a small bottle of water from his backpack in the corner and rolled it on the mattress.
Xue Xiaohai was immediately attracted and crawled after the bottle.
The bottle rolled to Xue Yu’s side. The baby was about to catch it, but Xue Yu quickly rolled the bottle to Zhou Siyan.
The baby continued to chase.
Zhou Siyan then rolled the bottle to Mo Li.
Without a word, the three of them instinctively adjusted their positions into the largest possible triangle, rolling the bottle one after another for the baby to chase.
After a few rounds, seeing that the baby was about to get bored, the three of them added verbal encouragement, laughing and teasing her, encouraging her to keep chasing the water bottle.
Mo Li’s eternally cold face broke into an unpracticed, friendly smile. He held the water bottle and spun it between his fingers. His fingers were slightly longer than average and more flexible, like octopus tentacles.
The water bottle spun in various patterns between his fingers. He beckoned to the baby, encouraging her. “Xiaohai, come to Uncle. Come on.”
The baby happily crawled towards Mo Li.
Mo Li then rolled the water bottle to Xue Yu.
Xue Yu caught the water bottle and tossed it in the air. “Xue Xiaohai, over here, over here! Come to Mommy. If you catch it, it’s yours.”
Just as she was about to catch it, the water bottle was in Zhou Siyan’s hands again.
Zhou Siyan shook the water bottle, making a sound. “Baby, the toy is with Daddy. Come on.”
The three of them played with the baby for half an hour, finally wearing out the little one’s energy.
The baby’s eyelids started to droop. She didn’t want to chase the water bottle anymore.
Zhou Siyan immediately picked up the baby, rocked her gently, and made a shushing gesture to Xue Yu and Mo Li, signaling them to be quiet.
Xue Yu caught the little seahorse that had been floating around and placed it in the baby’s arms.
The baby smacked her lips, her breathing gradually becoming even, and finally fell asleep.
The three of them were visibly relieved. Even work wasn’t this tiring.