When she woke up again, Shen Xiaoyu was woken up by feeling suffocated.
Shi Qiubai was clinging to her like an octopus with her hands and feet, her head pillowed on her shoulder, sleeping deeply.
She carefully lifted her head to look to the side and saw Shen Nian'an had been pushed aside, sleeping alone while hugging her little rabbit, her bottom sticking up in the air.
She didn't know when Shi Qiubai had moved her over there.
She found it somewhat amusing. After lying there for a while and really unable to stay still any longer, she carefully tried to extract her arm from Shi Qiubai's embrace.
But as soon as she moved, Shi Qiubai woke up, whining coquettishly, "Sister, let's sleep a little more."
Seeing that she was awake, Shen Xiaoyu simply pushed away her hands and feet, got up and out of bed. "I'm hungry. I'm getting up to make some food."
Her body had been pressed on all morning, making her hands and feet somewhat numb. She moved her body around and walked into the bathroom.
By the time Shen Xiaoyu had finished making breakfast, the one big and one small person who had been lying in bed finally got up leisurely.
Shen Nian'an hugged her rabbit, rubbing her eyes as she complained, "Mama, she wouldn't let me sleep next to you!"
The person being pointed at spread her hands with an innocent expression. "I never said that. You kept pawing at me instead of sleeping, so I thought you wanted to sleep on the outside and carried you out there."
As Shi Qiubai spoke, she shook her head back and forth. "If I had known you wanted to snuggle against Sister, I would have put you on the other side."
Shen Nian'an gritted her teeth. "It was you, bad person!"
Shen Xiaoyu came out of the kitchen carrying lunch and saw the one big and one small person sitting on the carpet starting to fight again.
She rubbed her temples with a headache. "Alright, come eat first. If you're not going to eat, then go outside and fight!"
After Shen Xiaoyu finished speaking, she ignored them and sat down in her chair to start eating lunch by herself.
Shen Nian'an and Shi Qiubai looked at each other, snorted coldly, and then obediently came to eat.
The little girl had always been well-behaved in this regard. She didn't need to be fed or coaxed, only calling for Shen Xiaoyu's help when she couldn't reach certain dishes. Otherwise, she ate by herself.
Shen Nian'an held her chopsticks, eating slowly while occasionally glancing at Shen Xiaoyu sitting across from her.
"Mama," she called out, her voice as quiet as a mosquito. "I, I want to go see Mommy. Will you come with me?"
Shen Xiaoyu's movements paused, then she nonchalantly served her some food. "I won't go. Let Aunt Qiu take you there."
"Can't you come with me?" Shen Nian'an's little face scrunched up. "Mommy would definitely be very happy to see Mama. And Mommy is still injured. The doctor auntie said Mommy needs to be happy."
Shi Qiubai sitting next to her laughed and bluntly refused. "Of course not! What does your mommy being happy or not have to do with Sister? Or are you, little heartless one, only caring about whether your mommy is happy and completely ignoring Sister's feelings?"
"That's not what I meant!" Shen Nian'an angrily turned to glare at the person next to her. "Bad auntie, can you stop causing trouble?"
Why did she always make trouble every time she talked to Mama? And she still wanted to be her stepmother?
Dream on!
Seeing the little girl so angry her eyes were red, Shi Qiubai quickly coaxed, "Alright, alright, I was just joking with you. Don't be angry. How about this—your mama won't go, but I'll accompany you, okay? Eat your food first. After we finish eating, I'll take you there."
Shen Nian'an looked toward Shen Xiaoyu, seemingly expecting her answer.
But Shen Xiaoyu only served her a bowl of soup, then went along with Shi Qiubai's words: "After eating, let Aunt Shi take you to the hospital."
Shen Nian'an disappointedly withdrew her gaze, poking at the rice in her bowl without much appetite for eating.
However, she also knew that Mama and Mommy didn't have a good relationship, so asking Mama to go to the hospital wouldn't be fair to her either.
Since Mama was unwilling, then forget it.
After eating, Shen Nian'an packed a small bag and waved to Shen Xiaoyu. "Mama, we'll be back soon. Don't be lonely at home by yourself."
Shen Xiaoyu couldn't help but smile. "I know. You two go quickly. Be careful on the road."
"Sister, don't worry." Shi Qiubai blew her a kiss.
Shen Nian'an didn't particularly like this bad auntie who wanted to be her stepmother, but she didn't exactly dislike her either.
Without Shen Xiaoyu present, the two had no audience for their rivalry, so they both quieted down.
They rode in silence all the way. When they reached the hospital, Shi Qiubai escorted Shen Nian'an into the hospital room.
"I'll wait outside for you. Call me when you want to go back."
In the hospital room, Su Huan was lying on the hospital bed. Hearing the sound, she looked toward the door and saw it was Shen Nian'an. Her eyes immediately lit up as she looked expectantly behind her, but she was caught off guard by hearing Shi Qiubai's words and saw no one else.
Shi Qiubai followed Shen Nian'an into the room. Meeting her gaze, she provocatively raised her eyebrows and deliberately said, "Is Senior Su waiting for Sister? Too bad Sister doesn't want to come."
Shen Nian'an put her small backpack on the sofa, then climbed onto a small stool to sit down. She turned back to glare at her, her eyes indicating whether she could please not talk.
Couldn't she see that Mommy was very unhappy?
She comfortingly held Su Huan's hand and defended, "Mama was too busy to come."
"Yes, yes, Sister is busy managing our home." Shi Qiubai casually found a place to sit in the hospital room. "But there's no need to tell Senior Su about our family life, lest Senior Su becomes unhappy hearing it."
Su Huan's gaze instantly became sharp as she coldly swept a glance at Shi Qiubai. Worried that Shen Nian'an would see and be frightened, she quickly composed her emotions and asked gently, "How did you sleep last night? Are you happy being with Mama?"
Shen Nian'an nodded. "I'm very happy being with Mama. Last night..."
She hesitated for a moment, then continued, "I had nightmares last night and slept with Mama."
The little girl didn't mention Shi Qiubai, but even if Mommy heard about it, she probably wouldn't be happy.
A light snort came from behind as someone deliberately reminded, "Nian'an, don't forget that we had a fight on Sister's bed last night."
Understanding her meaning, Su Huan's expression darkened as she looked at Shi Qiubai with eyes like knives, as if she wanted to tear her apart.
But along with that came panic. The two were already living together and now sleeping together—did this mean Shen Xiaoyu would really accept her?
Then what about her?
Could she still win Shen Xiaoyu back?
"Shut up!" Shen Nian'an turned back to glare at her, saying unceremoniously, "I want to chat with Mommy. Auntie, can you go outside and wait for me?"
"No way." Shi Qiubai smiled as she refused. "I'm a celebrity. If I wait outside and get discovered, many people will come, and then your mommy won't be able to rest peacefully. Nian'an, you wouldn't want to see your mommy being harassed by different people every day, would you?"
What she said made sense. Shen Nian'an couldn't say anything to refuse and could only let her cause trouble in the room.
Shen Nian'an chattered away, telling Su Huan many things, but Su Huan was clearly absent-minded, not knowing what she was thinking about. Her face was pale and her spirits weren't good.
Shen Nian'an stopped talking and asked with concern, "Mommy, what's wrong?"
Su Huan came back to her senses and shook her head slightly at her. "I'm fine, probably just didn't sleep well last night."
The little girl said "oh" and carefully took off her shoes to climb onto the bed, obediently nestling into her arms and saying worriedly, "Mommy, you must get better quickly. Otherwise, I'll be scared."
"Alright." Su Huan smiled. "So that you won't worry while you're with Mama, I'll make sure to get better quickly."
"I don't believe you." Shen Nian'an said. "I've decided—I'm going to stay at the hospital to watch you! To prevent you from hurting yourself again."
"No, your mama won't agree."
"Mama will agree." She said. "Mama and the bad auntie are going traveling, and I don't want to go."
"Traveling?" Su Huan's breathing became rapid, her voice suddenly rising. "Just the two of them?"
Shen Nian'an hadn't expected this reaction from her. She nodded blankly. "Yes, yes. Yesterday she even asked if I wanted to go with them. I don't want to go—I want to stay with Mommy."
Su Huan couldn't listen to anything else. Her mind was filled with thoughts of what might happen between the two on their trip, and her face grew paler inch by inch.
Travel could promote feelings between people, but it could also cause two people with mutual feelings to part ways.
If it were someone else, Su Huan wouldn't worry, but this was Shi Qiubai, who had been coveting Shen Xiaoyu for a long time!
A green tea bitch who was good at disguising herself and was two-faced!
She would definitely make Shen Xiaoyu feel incomparable happiness on this trip, then make Shen Xiaoyu's favorable impression of her rise to another level.
If before, Shen Xiaoyu was only with Shi Qiubai because she was angry at her, then after the trip ended, she would discover Shi Qiubai's good qualities.
Su Huan wasn't being self-deprecating. She had been at odds with Shi Qiubai for so long that she felt she understood her well enough.
The hand resting on the blanket clenched into a fist, the back of her hand tightening. The back of her injected hand swelled up as blood flowed backward.
"Mommy! Your hand..." Shen Nian'an cried out in alarm, hurriedly pressing the bedside bell.
She distressedly picked up Su Huan's hand, her eyes reddening with anxiety. "It's bleeding, it's bleeding. It doesn't hurt, Mommy doesn't hurt."
She carefully blew on it, trying to think of ways to reduce Su Huan's pain.
Su Huan seemed unable to feel it, only staring fixedly at Shi Qiubai. Her dark, deep pupils were like an impenetrable black night, ready to devour Shi Qiubai.
Shi Qiubai rested her chin on her hand, looking back leisurely, quite happily raising her eyebrows. "Then we'll trouble Senior Su to take care of Nian'an. We'll bring Nian'an a gift when we come back."
Su Huan clenched her fist tighter, veins bulging on her forehead. Thinking about the uncontrollable developments in the future, her heart grew more and more panicked.
No, she had to calm down. The things she was imagining couldn't possibly happen!
Su Huan took a deep breath, forcibly stabilizing her emotions. Her clenched hand also slowly relaxed.
The nurse quickly arrived, criticized Su Huan, then replaced the needle and had her continue with the IV drip.
Shi Qiubai had long since been asked to leave, and soon only Su Huan and Shen Nian'an, mother and daughter, remained in the hospital room.
This made Shen Nian'an even more unwilling to leave Su Huan alone, insisting on staying by her side to take care of her no matter what.
Su Huan held the little girl's chin with one hand, her thumb gently wiping away the tear tracks on her face. "I'm fine. Don't worry anymore."
She said, "What happened just now was just an accident. I can take care of myself. Don't you always want to be with Mama? Then you must go on this trip when she goes traveling."
"I don't want to go." The little girl hugged her arm that wasn't receiving the IV. "There will be opportunities in the future, but Mommy, I don't want you to keep staying in the hospital."
She didn't like the smell here, and she didn't like the smell on Mommy now either.
"I'll be fine." Su Huan comforted her. "I can only feel at ease and be in a good mood if you're with Mama. Have you forgotten what the doctor auntie told you? When my mood is good, my body will naturally get better too. Maybe by the time you come back, I'll already be discharged."
Shen Nian'an's little face wrinkled with unwillingness.
"Nian'an, please help Mommy by accompanying Mama, okay?" She pleaded with gentle eyes. "Don't let that auntie get close to Mama, and don't let her have time to be alone with Mama."
Shen Nian'an made a sound of understanding, somewhat confused, but she didn't ask why.
After thinking for a while, she slowly nodded. "Alright then, I'll help Mommy watch her, but Mommy must also promise me that you'll definitely be discharged when I come back."
"Alright, I promise you."
Big hand and small hand pinky swore.
Shen Nian'an sighed helplessly. She really couldn't feel at ease.
She spent half the day at the hospital accompanying Su Huan and only returned home with Shi Qiubai in the afternoon.
As soon as she entered the door, she told Shen Xiaoyu the good news: "Mama, I want to go traveling with you!"
Shen Xiaoyu was preparing dinner. Hearing this, she only said "oh" and looked toward Shi Qiubai behind her.
The latter shrugged. Although she didn't know what had happened either—she had only waited outside the hospital room for a while, and when she came out, Shen Nian'an had voluntarily said she wanted to go traveling together.
The result was quite obvious. Su Huan didn't want them to have a romantic getaway, so she deliberately inserted a little light bulb.
The little light bulb had no awareness of this. After speaking, she went back to her room to start packing.
Having experience from the last trip to the amusement park, she was much more skilled this time. After asking Shen Xiaoyu where they were going and understanding the local weather conditions, she began packing clothes by herself.
Summer trip to the seaside—she prepared all summer clothes, including swimwear that she had bought because it looked nice but had never worn.
Shen Nian'an also stuffed several of her small towels inside, then pulled out another suitcase to stuff her toys into.
When Shen Xiaoyu finished cooking and came to check, both suitcases were packed neatly and stuffed full, with almost no room for further arrangement.
She gave Shen Nian'an a thumbs up. "Our baby is so capable! Come, let's go eat."
Shen Nian'an happily went to eat with her.
That night, she still slept with Shen Xiaoyu.
To prevent someone from sneaking into Mommy's room in the middle of the night, she deliberately locked the door from the inside before going to sleep and even used a chair to prop against the door, eliminating any possibility for Shi Qiubai to enter.
Shen Xiaoyu, lying on the bed, watched her busy little figure with mixed feelings of amusement and exasperation.
Her phone showed aggrieved emoticons from Shi Qiubai.
Shi: Sister, I want to sleep with you too! [aggrieved][crying][sad]
Shen Xiaoyu laughingly took a photo of the door and sent it over.
Shen Xiaoyu: We'll talk when you can get in.
Between her romantic interest and her daughter, she naturally chose her daughter.
When sleeping, Shen Xiaoyu deliberately opened her arms to hold Shen Nian'an in her embrace. The big one and small one cuddled together and fell into a deep sleep.
The next day, the three set off for the airport. All along the way, Shen Xiaoyu could feel Shi Qiubai's resentful gaze behind her sunglasses.
Shen Nian'an didn't notice.
She was very excited. This was her first time on an airplane. She twisted and turned in her seat, and after the plane's flight stabilized, she pressed against the window to look at the clouds outside.
Shen Xiaoyu observed Shen Nian'an to prevent any accidents from her excitement.
Shi Qiubai leaned delicately against Shen Xiaoyu's shoulder, covering her lips and coughing lightly a couple of times, sighing.
"Nights without Sister are so cold! So lonely." She took Shen Xiaoyu's hand and placed it on her chest. "Sister, can you feel it? My heart cried all night with no one to comfort it."
The softness under her hand made Shen Xiaoyu's ears turn red. Like a bullied little wife, she scolded this rogue: "Don't move around! There are people here!"
"Where are there people watching us?"
She hooked her hand upward, pulling down the curtain to create a small compartment, blocking all sight lines.
The small compartment originally could only accommodate one person, but Shi Qiubai forcibly squeezed in, saying those words and placing her hand on her body, creating an ambiguous atmosphere that made it an unbearable sight.
She placed Shen Xiaoyu's hand back over her heart. "Sister, please comfort me quickly~ or I'll be sad for another whole night."
She looked pitiful and aggrieved, her eyes slightly raised like a fox wagging its tail to seduce a passing scholar.
Hearing the sound, Shen Nian'an turned back to see Shi Qiubai's 'forced affection.' Anger rose from her heart as she picked up a small toy and threw it at Shi Qiubai's head.
"Don't bully my mama!"
Shi Qiubai cried out and leaned boneless into Shen Xiaoyu's arms, saying delicately, "Sister, my head is so dizzy. I must have gotten a concussion from An'an's throw. I demand that tonight An'an be kicked out and let me sleep with Sister as An'an's compensation to me."
Shen Nian'an was unhappy and hugged Shen Xiaoyu from the other side, her hands mischievously pulling at Shi Qiubai's hands.
"Bad auntie! Stay away from my mama! Mama won't sleep with you!"
"That's not necessarily true." Shi Qiubai rocked happily. "I'm going to be your mommy in the future. Sister, as my wife, will definitely have to sleep with me. Right, Sister~"
She nestled against Shen Xiaoyu's shoulder, blinking her big eyes and looking smugly at Shen Nian'an.
"Impossible! Mama won't like you!" Shen Nian'an pouted and shook Shen Xiaoyu's shoulder. "Mama, isn't that right?"
Mommy was right—the bad auntie was here to steal Mama from her!
She didn't want this bad auntie to be her stepmother anymore!
Shen Xiaoyu leaned back in her chair with a blank stare, as if she had lost her soul and become a puppet.
God! Someone please come save her!
She desperately closed her eyes, wishing she could find something to plug her ears so she wouldn't have to hear their quarreling voices.
Shen Xiaoyu's silence had no effect on dampening their fighting spirit; instead, they quarreled even more fiercely.
Just to avoid affecting others, they kept their voices low, but this couldn't comfort Shen Xiaoyu—she only found it noisy.
The big one and small one went back and forth, childishly competing for favor with words. Seeing that neither could out-argue the other, they again turned their attention to Shen Xiaoyu.
"Sister~"
"Mama~"
Shen Xiaoyu, caught in the middle and pulled back and forth, listened to the quarreling from both sides and suddenly felt that traveling together was really a terrible idea.
It would have been better to stay home. Although the two also quarreled there, she could at least have a space to be quiet, unlike now where there was nowhere to hide.
She sighed deeply. Unable to bear it any longer, she suddenly erupted and gave each of them a bonk on the head.
Finally, the world was quiet.
Until they got off the plane, neither of them made another fuss.
By the time the three reached their hotel, it was already close to evening.
The three found a seaside restaurant and laughed and chatted while eating a seafood feast in a private room, watching the waves dyed red by the sunset.
The little girl had a small appetite. After eating her fill, she took her phone and sat to the side to report her safety to Su Huan.
She opened a video call, smiling as she chatted with the person on the other end. When she mentioned what they were doing now...
Shen Nian'an stole a glance at where Shi Qiubai was sitting. Not seeing her, she immediately pointed her phone toward Shen Xiaoyu.
"We're still eating. Has Mommy eaten?"
The camera only swept by briefly before Shen Xiaoyu took it and pointed it at the seafood feast on the table.
Shen Nian'an pouted unhappily but didn't point the phone at Shen Xiaoyu again, only chattering about things she had seen here.
On the other end of the phone, Su Huan was looking forward to seeing Shen Xiaoyu. Although the image only flashed by, it was enough to comfort her heart.
Su Huan chatted casually with Shen Nian'an, hoping to see Shen Xiaoyu again.
But the camera didn't turn that way again. However, she could hear voices—Shi Qiubai seemed to have returned, noisily complaining to Shen Xiaoyu that she had almost been recognized just now. Fortunately, she was quick-witted and hid in time, or else if fans had seen her, their trip would have been ruined again.
Shen Xiaoyu laughingly told her not to wear such exaggerated makeup tomorrow, as looking so strange would make everyone take a second look, and with too many looks, people would notice something abnormal.
Shi Qiubai said she was making fun of her and started fooling around with her.
Although she couldn't see the scene, Su Huan could imagine the two's current posture. Jealousy completely overturned the jar in her heart. Her tightly clasped fingers were already showing bulging veins, and the suppressed anger was gradually surging up, as if it would explode the next second.
She hurriedly said she needed to eat dinner and hung up the phone as if escaping, afraid that if she waited one more second, Shen Nian'an would see her face twisted with jealousy.
She threw her phone onto the blanket and painfully curled up her body, hugging herself tightly.
She couldn't look! Couldn't listen! Couldn't think!
She couldn't accept Shen Xiaoyu being with someone else. Just thinking about that scene made her heart feel like it was being cut with knives, so painful she couldn't breathe.
Su Huan lay on her side on the bed. The gauze on her wrist was torn off by her, and her fingernails scratched at the wound on her wrist. Blood immediately flowed from her wrist, gradually staining the gauze red, looking particularly terrifying.
Pain spread from her wrist to her entire body, hurting so much that even her heart was convulsing. But this also brought back her nearly collapsed rationality. Gasping roughly, she stared at the marks on her wrist like a spectator watching a play, calmly rewrapping her wrist with gauze.
No, she couldn't let that happen!
Don't be anxious, don't be anxious. Think carefully—there must still be a way.
Su Huan gripped her injured wrist. Her wildly beating heart gradually calmed down, her heartbeat returning to normal.
She couldn't just sit and wait for doom anymore. She had to take the initiative!