During the evening, it started to rain, the windows were all closed, and the little one crawled to the window. If not for the glass blocking the way, the little one might have tried to reach out and touch the rain outside.

Yin Yang made a small barrier by the window, so the little one couldn’t open the window or grab the curtains.

"Doudou, do you want to eat some apple puree?" Xu Mumu brought over the prepared apple puree, watching the little one trying to crawl out, almost burst out laughing.

The fragrant apple puree was right in front, and the little one was instantly attracted to it. He often ate this and was exceedingly fond of the taste.

The little one stared intently at the apple puree in mom’s bowl, his bright eyes wide open, reluctant to look away.

Xu Mumu was charmed by the little one’s expression, fed him some with a spoon, and the little one forgot about reaching towards the window.

With his attention captured, Xu Mumu held him on a little blanket, feeding him bit by bit and didn’t overfeed him—only a small half-bowl.

Clearly, the little one wanted more, but Xu Mumu decided not to feed him any more.

As Xu Mumu took the bowl back, a sudden clap of thunder echoed from the sky, followed by the little one’s pitiful cries.

"Don’t cry, Doudou, it’s okay." Xu Mumu was troubled—the thunder was too loud and it scared the little one.

"Waa waa waa." The little one’s cries were so loud, quickly drawing Yin Yang and the others over.

"What happened to Doudou? Why is he crying?" Professor Song was heartbroken.

"He was frightened by the thunder." Xu Mumu said helplessly, soothing the child gently.

Just as the little one was about to stop crying, the thunder came again, and the little one cried even louder.

The house suddenly became chaotic, with the two elderly people bringing various toys to calm the little one, trying to make him stop crying.

Xu Mumu couldn’t comfort the child, so the task fell to Yin Yang.

Yin Yang didn’t often calm the child down, mainly because the child was quite peaceful and cried infrequently, so he lacked experience.

The thunder continued outside, and the little one’s eyes were red and swollen from crying. Xu Mumu felt heartbreakingly distressed, wiping the little one’s face with a damp cloth, but they didn’t succeed in calming him.

Finally, when the thunder began to subside and heavy rain fell, the little one’s cries also gradually subsided.

Xu Mumu collapsed onto the couch, breathing heavily. Next time, she’d watch him more carefully; can’t let him cry like this again—it hurt her head and her heart.

The little one’s eyes were red, his voice a bit hoarse, showing just how heartbroken he had been while crying.

"Finally stopped crying." Professor Song wiped his forehead’s sweat, the little one was still sobbing, having cried for almost half an hour.

"That thunder sure was loud, and the rain heavy too." Professor Jian said with a smile.

"Doudou is still too young. When he’s a bit older, it’ll be fine. Our house doesn’t have great soundproofing; Yin Yang, have someone improve it." Professor Song said calmly, also asking Yin Yang to make the house quieter.

"Alright, Grandpa, I’ll arrange it in a few days." Yin Yang nodded, feeling heartbroken seeing his son scared into crying like this.

After a while of crying, Xu Mumu gave him some more water, and the little one soon fell asleep from exhaustion.

The little one fell asleep, and Xu Mumu gently carried him to bed. The little one grunted twice but didn’t wake up.

Xu Mumu went outside where Yin Yang was tidying up the mess from earlier. They had all used every trick to comfort the little one, and his toys were scattered everywhere.

By the time Xu Mumu went out, Yin Yang and others had already tidied up a lot, and she didn’t need to do anything herself.

The rain persisted heavily, lasting for three or four days straight. Every day, Xu Mumu mainly read books, while Professor Song and others had finished their lectures at school, so they looked after the child at home, letting Xu Mumu relax.

The child was growing day by day; Xu Mumu just felt time flew by, watching him grow daily and then hearing him call "Mommy."

When hearing the child call "Mommy" for the first time, Xu Mumu was completely stunned, stood there for quite a while without reacting, feeling her heart filled.

"Mama, Mama." Ever since he started talking, the little one has been calling for his mom.

"Doudou, Mommy is so happy." Xu Mumu held her son tightly. Doudou, now over a year, finally began to call out. Xu Mumu and Yin Yang have waited eagerly for him to call someone for a long time.

"Mama." The little one, held by mom, didn’t understand what was happening but still let mom hold him obediently.

Now the household only had Madam Chun present, and Xu Mumu eagerly wanted to share her excitement.

After calming down a bit, Xu Mumu changed her clothes, dressed Doudou in new clothes, and took him out.

Xu Mumu held her son’s little hand, strolling leisurely on the way to Yin Yang’s company. Since the little one learned to walk by himself, he refused to be carried and preferred walking on his own.

Throughout the year, not many events happened, and time passed swiftly. The Xu Family was doing quite well, with Xu Minghui and others buying a big house in the neighborhood, and all the younger ones successfully entering their desired universities. Xu Xue also married Xia Chengyuan.

Meanwhile, Huo Qingze was nearing marriage with Yu Xinyao. Next month, they’ll tie the knot, having dated for so long, and Xu Mumu was quite looking forward to their wedding.

Xu Xue and Xia Chengyuan have now started their own company. Xu Xue is still in the food industry, while Xia Chengyuan ventured into the internet.

Everything seemed to be progressing well; perhaps the only discomfort was with Xu Mumu’s sister-in-law Jiang Yuxiu. Although Xu Minghui’s supermarket was on track, the couple wanted a child, but there hasn’t been any news all this time. They have been to the hospital for checkups, both perfectly healthy.

If you ask Xu Mumu, the couple is too eager to have a child, and it’s better to let nature take its course.

Jiang Yuxiu hasn’t shown any progress with her pregnancy. Coupled with being then nagged at by Li Caixia, the stress was quite high, leading to no pregnancy this time.

Xu Mumu had tried advising them several times, but it didn’t help, so she stopped interfering. They’ll come around on their own, and she could only talk to her mother about nagging less.