{“Lin Wushen, I didn’t force you.” 1}

In the dormitory, after a stormy night, it was a bright and sunny morning.

Bian Yixing was struggling to get out of Song Yuren’s warm little bed. She stretched her limbs flexibly and put on a pair of soft, fluffy cotton socks.

The little one felt particularly happy. She had only heard about her mother’s youthful college days from her mother’s stories, and she never imagined that one day she would be part of her mother’s youth.

Moreover, she was now free from the presence of her present father, and it felt wonderfully liberating.

But Bian Yixing also realized that her current father was not a qualified father, and her mother had not yet become a true mother.

She calmed herself and quietly removed the socks by herself.

As for feelings, even a three-and-a-half-year-old knows they need to be nurtured.

She quietly climbed down from Aunt Song’s small bed and then climbed up another ladder. Before long, the soft and fragrant scent of her mother once again filled her warm, comfortable nose.

Bian Yixing carefully lay down and moved in a little closer.

When Yu Suye opened her eyes, she saw the child who had been placed in someone else’s bed last night now lying at her bedside.

“Be careful.”

This had almost become a natural instinct.

Yu Suye switched hands and moved Bian Yixing to the inner side of her small bed. She pulled back the starry curtain, watching her fall safely into place before she let out a sigh of relief.

After all, she had already received 3,000 yuan from the child’s father. If she didn’t take good care of this boss’s daughter and god forbid something happened to her, she might not be able to escape unscathed from the all-powerful Mr. Bian.

“Su Su, my feet are a little cold.”

Bian Yixing decided to seize the moment and appropriately act weak, letting her mother take over the task of putting on the socks.

Meanwhile, she sat nearby, clumsily observing.

She watched as her mother took her pink bear socks and carefully put them on her, making sure her little feet were snug before tucking them back into the blanket.

The entire motion was smooth and effortless.

It was nothing like the Yu Suye her father had described, who at this time supposedly couldn’t adapt to being a mother.

Bian Yixing couldn’t resist moving closer to the warmth, slipping into her mother’s embrace like a thread finding a gap.

She remembered how her mother, under the heavy pressures of life, had accompanied her father to court again and again. Suddenly, going back in time seemed like such a wonderful thing. At least, for now, her mother was still a carefree university student.

She did long for the boundless care her parents could give her.

But if possible—

She prayed her mother could always remain as carefree and untroubled as she was today.

Realizing that her mother might be gossiped about by her classmates, Bian Yixing didn’t fuss about going to J University’s famous self-service cafeteria. Instead, she lazily stayed in the dorm for a while, snuggling up to her mother’s shoulder. As she connected the image of her mother from the past with the present, she felt as if she cherished her even more.

Early in the morning, Yu Suye’s heart softened with an inexplicable sweetness as this little one snuggled into her arms.

She felt moved by a worldly affection, without any forced pressure or emotional manipulation.

“Do you want some milk?”

She got out of bed, and at that moment, the half-asleep dorm leader finally realized that the child was missing, jumping up in alarm.

“Where’s Xingxing?”

Everyone also began to panic.

Yu Suye: “You squeezed her away.”

The dorm leader looked resentful and complained about taking the child back. “Xingxing wasn’t squeezed away by me, it’s just that someone else took her.”

Yu Suye, fully dressed, urged the little one to wash up as well. “I have a spare toothbrush. I haven’t had the chance to get children’s toothpaste, so I’ll just give you a little bit of fluoride adult toothpaste.”

“Can’t I stay in bed?”

The tip of the child’s nose, which had been red last night, had now turned a light pink, and her face looked even more defined due to her prominent nose.

Her amber eyes twirled in thought, but she was reluctant to get up, though it didn’t seem to be out of laziness.

“Are you sure you don’t want to get up?”

Bian Yixing immediately feared her mother might get angry, so she had to explain, “If I go to the cafeteria with you for breakfast, your classmates will gossip about you.”

At that time, China had just relaxed its second-child policy.

“It’s okay, I can just say you’re my younger sister.”

Bian Yixing was obviously stunned. Her mom claiming to be her “older sister”? Wouldn’t that make everything confusing?

She propped her chin up, falling into a deep thought. Then, Aunt Yu Ren’s mention of the cafeteria breakfast echoed in her ears—

“Xingxing, you’ll regret not going. There are little wontons, fried wontons, shumai, dorayaki, tonggu cakes, sesame balls, purple sweet potatoes… and also soup dumplings.”

Soon enough, the mention of soup dumplings caught all of little Bian Yixing’s attention, and she immediately chose to compromise.

“Susu, big sister, wait for me just a little bit.”