Ayalee: Special birthday treat: 1 full chapter unlocked from each of my translations for everyone to enjoy because it’s my birthday today! Enjoy🎉

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Chapter 41

Recalling the past, Sheng Zexi was filled with guilt.

However, fortunately, everything was now heading in a positive direction.

In addition to wanting to make up for Nuo Nuo, Sheng Zexi also wanted to make amends with Xu Ai. During the three years of the child’s growth, he had also neglected Xu Ai, causing her a lot of pain. How could he compensate her? Sheng Zexi found himself in a dilemma, so he searched online for advice on this matter.

Quickly, he found plenty of answers, and among them, he felt that giving Xu Ai gifts she liked was the most feasible option.

But how should he present the gift? Sheng Zexi was perplexed.

Just when he was agonizing over this issue, the kindergarten assigned a homework task—children were to give their parents a gift.

During class, the teacher explained to the children about the contributions parents made during their growth.

Parents need to cook, do laundry, earn money to buy things, and they save money to send their children to school…

However, some children felt differently and raised their hands to refute the teacher.

“Teacher, my parents don’t do that.”

The teacher encouraged the children to express their opinions: “My parents can’t cook, don’t do laundry, and they don’t spend money for me.”

Other children quickly echoed, “Yes, my parents aren’t like that either.”

The teacher suddenly felt a bit of a headache. Most of the children in their class came from well-off families where everything was taken care of by a nanny, so their lives were naturally far removed from the average person.

Amidst the children’s questioning, Nuo Nuo raised her hand, “My daddy can cook, but my mommy can’t. My daddy can also earn money.”

The previously silent children followed Nuo Nuo’s lead and spoke up, “I have a nanny who cooks, but my mommy can bake cakes.”

“My mommy can also cook.”

“My daddy can earn money.”

“My daddy can also earn money, and my mommy takes me out to play.”

“My daddy can fly an airplane.”

…

The children began to eagerly share what their parents could do. The teacher was very pleased and looked at Nuo Nuo with admiration. She then said to the children, “Our parents have worked hard for us and sacrificed a lot. How about this, children? When you go home, think of a way to make a gift for your daddy or mommy to thank them for all their efforts.”

The teacher said that the gift didn’t have to be given to both parents; it could just be for one. Nuo Nuo felt that her mother had a hard time giving birth to her, so she decided to make a gift for her mother.

Even though they had just quarreled a few days ago, they had already made up the next day.

Nuo Nuo wasn’t the type to hold a grudge against her mother.

She asked Pei Zhen, Ning Yichen, and her deskmate Song Yuxi. Except for Ning Yichen, who wasn’t sure who to give a gift to, the other two felt it should be for their mothers.

Nuo Nuo advised Ning Yichen, “Even though your daddy isn’t at home, you can prepare a gift and then tell him about it.”

Ning Yichen had been worried about this issue, but after getting Nuo Nuo’s suggestion, he found it very useful and nodded approvingly, “You’re absolutely right, Nuo Nuo.”

When she got home that evening, Nuo Nuo told Sheng Zexi about the gift.

Sheng Zexi had already been thinking about it. Now that his daughter had a similar assignment from kindergarten, he had a perfect excuse. However, when he heard that Nuo Nuo wanted to make a gift for her mother and couldn’t let her know, Sheng Zexi’s feelings were a bit complex.

If the teacher asked her to prepare a gift for either parent, couldn’t they prepare it together?

Of course, even though he felt a bit uncomfortable about his daughter’s preferential treatment, Sheng Zexi ultimately buried his feelings and smiled, asking his daughter, “What kind of gift do you want to make for your mommy?”

Nuo Nuo said, “The teacher said our gift needs to be made by ourselves. Daddy, I want to make a pretty little bear for mommy. She’ll definitely like it.”

A bear?

Sheng Zexi thought that the one who would like it should be Nuo Nuo herself. But as a father, he couldn’t easily crush his child’s enthusiasm. So he asked, “What about making a bag instead?”

Nuo Nuo reached out her hand toward her father.

The clever little girl had already figured out that she could use the advanced internet to find the information she needed.

Sheng Zexi handed her the phone.

Nuo Nuo couldn’t type, but she already knew how to use voice commands, so she quickly found the information she needed. She pointed at a video showing a toy made from embroidery and said, “Daddy, I want to make this for mommy.”

Sheng Zexi’s expression was a bit subtle. “This toy looks a little complicated. I think you could choose something else.”

Nuo Nuo shook her head, firmly refusing her father, “Daddy, I just want to make this. If I can’t do it, you can help me. Our kindergarten’s craft assignments are always done together with our parents.”

Sheng Zexi: “…”

She might as well just mold a piece of clay to give to her mommy.

In the end, the embroidery task would definitely fall on his shoulders. Since Sheng Zexi didn’t know how to sew, he immediately declined Nuo Nuo’s suggestion. However, to coax the little one into choosing another gift would require some effort. After searching online, he showed Nuo Nuo a video of a handmade pink rabbit toy and suggested, “How about this one? It’s cuter.”

Nuo Nuo thought the rabbit looked fluffy and decided it was okay since she needed her father’s help. So she agreed, “Okay, let’s make this one. But how do we buy the materials?”

“How to buy the materials?”

This question was simple. The next day, Sheng Zexi arranged for the materials to be purchased. But after receiving the materials, he realized that he seemed to have escaped one problem, only to find out that making this handmade rabbit also required sewing.

As a grown man, how could he sew?

He could only tell Nuo Nuo, “Daddy doesn’t know how to sew, so can we choose another gift?”

Of course, Nuo Nuo was unwilling. The materials had already been bought; wouldn’t it be a waste not to make it?

The little girl, with her innocent and serious expression, said, “Daddy, if we don’t know how, we can learn. The teacher said that when we encounter difficulties, we shouldn’t be afraid of them. When we become strong, even difficulties will be afraid of us.”

Sheng Zexi thought, you’re learning well in kindergarten, but why bring this trouble to your dad?

However, he ultimately couldn’t win against Nuo Nuo, so he reluctantly began to learn how to sew.

In order to prepare a gift for mommy, the father and daughter naturally had to keep it a secret from her. They wanted to give her a surprise, so for several days, Sheng Zexi and Nuo Nuo would sneak into the room together right after school. This made Xu Ai very curious, and one day, she went to Nuo Nuo’s room to ask, “What are you and your Daddy doing?”

When Nuo Nuo saw her mother coming in, she immediately covered up the gift they were making and pushed her mother out. Once they were outside, Nuo Nuo said seriously, “Mommy, this is a secret between Daddy and me. You can’t know about it right now.”

“So you can’t just come into my room, okay, Mommy?”

Even though Nuo Nuo said her mother couldn’t know, Xu Ai had probably guessed that her daughter was preparing something nice for her, so she cooperated.

“Okay, Mommy understands.”

But Nuo Nuo still wasn’t at ease. Considering that her mother rarely went into her father’s room, they decided to move their gift-making to Sheng Zexi’s room. After switching rooms, Nuo Nuo confidently said, “Daddy, we’re making the gift in your room, so Mommy definitely won’t come in.”

Upon hearing his daughter’s words, Sheng Zexi, who was focused on learning how to sew, didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Even the child understood that Xu Ai didn’t like going into his room.

Sheng Zexi had high standards for the things he made; not only did they need to be finished, but they also needed to look good. After spending several hours practicing how to make a nice design, he barely felt satisfied. When Nuo Nuo urged him to start making the rabbit, Sheng Zexi finally began.

Following the tutorial, he cut out the shapes of the rabbit from the fluffy fabric along the outline, then sewed them together, attached the zipper, and used glue to stick on the beads and decorations. Soon, a beautiful little rabbit was completed.

Nuo Nuo was responsible for stuffing it with cotton and pulling up the zipper, and the rabbit was done.

As soon as the rabbit was finished, Nuo Nuo couldn’t wait to present her gift to her mother. With a sweet smile, she told her, “Mommy, I want to tell you that this is a gift from me and Daddy! Our teacher said you’ve worked hard to take care of me as I grew up, so I’m giving you this gift to thank you.”

When Nuo Nuo presented the gift to her mother, Sheng Zexi was upstairs, thinking about how much he had pricked his hands while learning to sew over the past few days. He had worked hard to make the gift for her mother, yet he hadn’t done anything for her himself. Feeling the numerous needle holes in his hands and sighing, he returned to his room.

Xu Ai wasn’t particularly fond of stuffed toys since she was no longer a child, but since it was a gift from Nuo Nuo, she felt very happy. She kissed her adorable little treasure and said, “Thank you, baby. Receiving your gift makes Mommy very happy.”

Feeling satisfied with her mother’s gratitude, Nuo Nuo replied, “Mommy, I feel happy too.”

Xu Ai noticed that the toy needed to be sewn together, so she asked Nuo Nuo, “What did you make, and what did Daddy help you with?”

Nuo Nuo replied, “Daddy helped me sew, and he also helped me attach the other things. I stuffed the cotton and pulled up the zipper.”

So that meant the toy was mostly made by Sheng Zexi? After all, anyone could stuff cotton.

But her little girl was only three years old, and having the idea to give her a nice toy was already impressive. Plus, she had convinced Sheng Zexi to help her, which showed that Nuo Nuo had really put in effort.

Xu Ai praised Nuo Nuo once again, saying, “Our baby is so great.”

Nuo Nuo beamed, revealing a sweet little dimple. Suddenly remembering something, she dashed upstairs. A little while later, she came back with two drawings and said to her mother, “Mommy, I also drew two pictures for you. This is you, and this is Daddy.”

Nuo Nuo’s drawing skills were quite good. Although the people in her drawings were a bit abstract, they were already impressive for her age.

Xu Ai kissed her little treasure again and praised her, “Our Nuo Nuo is so wonderful! Mommy really likes your gift.”

After giving her mother the abstract drawing, Nuo Nuo took the drawing for her father upstairs. She pushed open Sheng Zexi’s door, hiding the drawing behind her back, and said to the father who was sulking alone in the room, “Daddy, I also prepared a gift for you.”

As soon as Sheng Zexi heard this, he felt that all the pricking he had endured over the past few days had not been in vain. “What is the gift?”

Then he saw the abstract drawing that Nuo Nuo had made for him. Of course, the drawing of the vase was fine, but why did the version of himself in the drawing look so fierce with glasses on? Nuo Nuo, are you sure you didn’t secretly recognize another daddy outside?

He began to reflect: had he been too strict with his daughter lately? Surely not.

Sheng Zexi asked, “Why am I wearing glasses?”

Nuo Nuo replied, “Because I think Daddy looks better with glasses on.”

Sheng Zexi: “……”

Where’s the better part?

Of course, this was his daughter’s kind intention, so even if he didn’t want to accept it, he had to.

Later that same night, Xu Ai received another gift, placed on her desk—a beautiful bag, the latest model from LV.

Such an expensive gift definitely wasn’t from Nuo Nuo. The next morning, when she saw Sheng Zexi, Xu Ai asked, “Why did you give me a bag?”

Sheng Zexi, who was tying his tie, replied with confidence, “Nuo Nuo gave you a gift, so of course I can’t fall behind my child. What, don’t you like it?”

Xu Ai certainly couldn’t say she didn’t like it; after all, if she didn’t want it, she could sell it.

“Of course I like it.”