Chapter 818: Chapter 612: Thirty-sixth Birthday (Part 1)

August 21st, Friday.

Another day in Beijing with a high-temperature alert.

Su Xiaomeng carried a cake along with some vegetables and fruits as she walked out of the market; the air conditioning gone, she squinted against the glaring sun.

Ah Su was about to open an umbrella when Su Xiaomeng quickly said,

"Don’t bother, let’s just go. An umbrella won’t help."

Ah Su figured she was right. They walked for just about a street and a half before reaching home, both drenched in sweat.

"Mom, wipe your sweat."

Shuangshuang was quick to curry favor, handing a towel to Su Xiaomeng.

Xiao Meng placed the items back in the kitchen for her mother to handle, then turned to thank her daughter.

She was about to give her a hug, but the little girl quickly stepped back.

"What’s wrong?"

"Shuangshuang is wearing a new dress..."

Su Xiaomeng saw that her daughter indeed had on a new dress. A white cotton dress with a light pink belt.

The little girl’s manner of speaking was unusually tactful, wearing a new dress...

It was as if to say, Mom, you’re all sweaty, don’t touch me...

That’s probably what she meant, right?

Su Xiaomeng was quite helpless,

"Alright, Mom will go change clothes."

"Hehe."

Shuangshuang grinned at Su Xiaomeng and then ran off, happily bouncing and jumping around the living room.

In contrast, Prince Huang was quietly sitting on the sofa, fiddling with something. Bai Sixian and Su Chengji tried to sneak a look but were pushed away by the little guy, keeping his activities very secretive and not letting them see.

No one forced Prince Huang to reveal his "privacy."

Su Xiaomeng changed into clean plain clothes, tied her long hair into a simple bun at the back of her head, and brought out a set of camera equipment from the study, setting up the tripod in a corner of the living room.

Bai Sixian was wearing an apron, clearly having started to prepare food.

Seeing Su Xiaomeng getting all the video equipment ready, she came over,

"Going all out, are we?"

"It’s good to relax and document it, isn’t it?"

Su Xiaomeng said while fiddling with Yin Shixiu’s high-tech tool.

Privately, she wanted to film it for Yin Shixiu to see.

Bai Sixian didn’t say anything, her thoughts wandered away.

She thought Su Xiaomeng wanted to preserve these moments for when the children grow up, so that amidst the passage of time, they could always look back on these memories.

At least... she wouldn’t easily forget about Yin Shixiu.

So she had no other intentions,

"You fiddle away; I’ll be in the kitchen. Based on your menu, dinner should be ready by seven... eh..."

Bai Sixian murmured.

Su Xiaomeng chuckled softly.

The menu she gave Bai Sixian naturally included Yin Shixiu’s favorite dishes and snacks.

Luckily, there was a skillful and creative mother at home; otherwise, she’d have to order from a hotel.

Su Xiaomeng studied the camera for a while, then put down the manual and decided to start recording.

The angle covered most of the living room, and the viewfinder zoomed in on Prince Huang curled up on the sofa, busy with some intricate work.

Xiao Meng’s eyes twinkled with a mischievous glint as she zoomed in further, enlarging the picture, finally managing to "spy" on Prince Huang’s "project."

She was surprised—it turned out Prince Huang was folding paper...

But what was this creation meant to be? A dog? A cat?

Su Xiaomeng was about to zoom in to see more clearly when suddenly, Prince Huang looked up, his big eyes staring directly in her direction, gazing right through the lens as if seeing straight through to Su Xiaomeng.

Startled...

Xiao Meng, like a thief caught red-handed, was about to move away in disarray, thinking, could this little guy possibly know what she was up to? Su Xiaomeng, as a mom, you should stay calm, don’t lose your composure.

Hence, Xiao Meng didn’t move.

Then, she saw Prince Huang’s little eyebrows knit together tightly as he hurriedly hid his paper creation in his arms, giving her a look of strong displeasure...

Su Xiaomeng froze in place, now...awkwardness enveloped her.

"Mom wasn’t spying on you."

Su Xiaomeng hurriedly laughed as she tried to explain.

At this, Prince Huang’s eyebrows furrowed tighter instead, averting his gaze and turning his whole body away from Su Xiaomeng.

"..."

The little guy’s actions clearly accused Su Xiaomeng that her words were nothing but a hollow denial.

Deep down, he was even more convinced that his mom had been "spying" on him.

Su Xiaomeng scratched her head, frustrated at her attempt to be clever.

For a moment, she felt a bitter sense of defeat – she couldn’t outsmart Yin Shixiu, and it seemed she couldn’t outsmart her three-year-old son either.

Why must these two pairs of eyes be so intimidating?

Hmph...

Su Xiaomeng could only lament the overpowering genes of her husband.

Once the camera was set up, she pressed the "start recording" button.

Then she walked in front of the camera, smiling at it and saying,

"Today is your thirty-sixth birthday. I wonder if you remembered? You never did in the past, which is nice—I always managed to surprise you successfully!"

Xiao Meng clasped her hands, tilted her head, turned slightly aside, her eyes smiling into crescent moons,

"Can you see? In the kitchen, your mother-in-law is cooking for you, though you won’t be able to taste it. Prince Huang is up to something sneaky; I don’t know what it is, but we might see soon. And Shuang’er, uh, where’s Shuangshuang?"

Su Xiaomeng glanced around and then saw Su Chengji carrying a box, coming over from the side hall with Shuangshuang.

"Mom, we’re going to blow up balloons!"

Su Chengji chuckled, proudly handing the box over to Su Xiaomeng,

"I bought these online—balloons, flowers for decoration, and birthday poppers. Shh... your mom doesn’t know yet."

"Ha... hiding it under the bed for two days and you finally took it out?"

Su Chengji was proudly continuing when Bai Sixian, coming over with a plate of washed fruits, dashed cold water on his parade.

"How did you know I hid it under the bed?!"

Su Chengji looked at Bai Sixian in shock.

Bai Sixian took a breath and decided not to say more, sighing as she went back to the kitchen.

Su Xiaomeng chuckled quietly,

"Dad, after all these years, don’t you think you should have some self-awareness?"

When Xiao Meng was younger, she was quite mischievous, always wanting everything she saw.

Bai Sixian naturally played the ’bad cop’ at home, fearing that indulgence would spoil Su Xiaomeng, making her reckless and unrestrained, so not everything Xiao Meng wanted was granted.

But Su Chengji was famously doting on his daughter, and Xiao Meng was sly, immediately charming and coaxing her dad if her mom refused to buy her something.

Su Chengji would secretly buy it for his daughter and hide it away.

Usually, it would always be discovered by the mom afterward, but it was always Su Chengji to take the blame, while Xiao Meng innocently held on to her cherished item.

Su Chengji sighed softly,

"In these past two years, Dad’s been feeling lonelier... eh..."

"..."

This heartfelt lament from Su Chengji wasn’t false at all.

In the last two years, Su Xiaomeng had grown increasingly mature and steady, gradually distancing herself from her father, known for his naïveté and stagnation.

This sigh really tugged at Su Xiaomeng’s heart, and she was about to say something to comfort her dad when she saw Su Chengji picking up Shuangshuang, his face lighting up with joy, saying,

"Thankfully, Shuang’er’s personality takes after her grandpa; Shuang’er and grandpa are still good friends, aren’t we?"

"Hehehe!"

Su Xiaomeng inwardly felt a thousand stings and immediately regretted her momentary sympathy for her dad.

"Grandpa, you laugh so ugly..."

And then, Shuangshuang pointed at Su Chengji, laughing loudly.

"..."

Su Chengji’s expression stiffened.

With a "pfft," Xiao Meng couldn’t hold in her laughter, quickly adding fuel to the fire,

"Best friends, uh... really are best friends..."

"You little brat! Go blow up balloons!"

Su Chengji said with a mock stern face.

Su Xiaomeng clutched her aching stomach from laughing, moving over to the table to rummage through the box of decorations.

The living room wasn’t overly decorated; just a few colorful balloons tied to the sofa, some streamers hung from the lights, and flowers placed in a vase on the table.