Chapter 11: She Only Needed to Enjoy the Joy of Raising Children

He furrowed his brows like a little adult, deep in thought, trying hard to figure it out, but no matter how he thought about it, he just couldn’t understand.

Xiao Bao looked at the fan blowing a steady stream of cool air. The wind was cool, but her heart grew warm, and a glimmer of hope began to sprout inside her heart.

Xi Youyou pinched the children’s cheeks and felt completely delighted.

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After returning to her room, she went straight into the space.

Lately, she had been sleeping inside the space. The space maintained a constant temperature throughout the four seasons, so there was no need for a fan—unlike out there, where it was needed.

This was the true reason she had bought the fan.

Xi Youyou didn’t think much of it. She cheerfully went into the space to take a shower and sleep.

After showering, she lay on the bed with her hands resting behind her head, staring up at the ceiling of the spacious bedroom within the space.

Xi Youyou clicked her tongue.

Wasn’t this life just too good?

Back at the hospital, she used to hear some of her slightly older coworkers complaining about how they had to tutor their kids after work every day, saying it was exhausting, like being worked to death.

Now she had children too, but they were being taken care of by her in-laws. All she had to do was enjoy the pleasures of raising kids.

Wasn’t that simply delightful?

And one more thing—

Her husband hated the Original Owner. Even if he got leave and returned home after a while, he wouldn’t touch her. Most of the time, he stayed at the army base. Plus, there were computers and phones in the space.

Her current life was basically the definition of sweet bliss!

The more she thought about it, the more Xi Youyou felt that life was simply wonderful—and that she had to maintain it this way in the future!

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Meanwhile, on the other side—

Xu Xiu and Jiang Fenglin had the habit of going out for an afternoon stroll. After taking a walk around the neighborhood, they returned home, washed up, and then watched some TV in the main hall.

Their household conditions were quite decent. They basically had all the household appliances one could expect.

This was mainly because Xi Youyou used to love watching TV. At first, she’d go to other people’s homes to watch, but after being turned away twice, she made a huge fuss at home and insisted they buy one.

The two children also wanted to watch. With no other choice, the elderly couple ended up buying a television too.

The black-and-white TV mostly played the news, but occasionally, it would air a good drama series. The elderly couple watched with great interest.

After watching for a while, they started feeling sleepy and returned to their room.

As soon as they entered the room, a refreshing breeze blew toward them. The couple turned to look—there was a fan placed on the cabinet beside their bed. The entire room was cool and breezy, not stuffy and hot like usual.

“Hmm?”

“Why is the fan here?”

“Didn’t your mother take it with her?”

The elderly couple were both surprised.

After Xu Xiu asked, Xiao Bao repeated what Xi Youyou had said: “She said she sleeps alone so it’s not hot. The fan was meant for us to use anyway. There’s four of us sleeping together, it gets really hot.” She repeated Xi Youyou’s words in her soft, childlike voice.

After Xu Xiu heard her, Jiang Fenglin beside her fell into deep thought. No one knew what he was thinking.

Xu Xiu, on the other hand, stepped forward and hugged Xiao Bao. “Since your Mommy said that, then let’s enjoy the fan. It really does get hot at night. You and your brother are always sweating buckets—makes it hard for the two of you to sleep. With the fan blowing, you can sleep now, right?”

Xiao Bao nodded eagerly like a little pecking chick.

Xu Xiu had the two children lie down and gently patted their blankets. In no time, both children had fallen asleep.

The room was soon filled with the sound of even, steady breathing.

“Looks like she really has changed.” Xu Xiu sighed, a hint of embarrassment in her tone. “Earlier today, when she asked us for money to buy a fan, I thought she had achieved her goal and was going to show her true colors.”

She really did feel a bit ashamed!

Jiang Fenglin didn’t say anything, but a doubt lingered in his heart—could it be that Xi Youyou had truly figured things out?

While the possibility was slim, it wasn’t entirely impossible.

“Don’t overthink it!” Xu Xiu gave Jiang Fenglin’s shoulder a pat. “No matter what made her change, the fact is that she has changed. We should stop clinging to her past mistakes! A peaceful home, smiles on the kids’ faces—hasn’t that always been what we hoped for?”

Those two sentences from Xu Xiu spoke directly to Jiang Fenglin’s heart. He had always thought the same.

At their age, who wouldn’t want their children and grandchildren to live happily?

It was just a pity that the things Xi Youyou used to do had them sighing in their sleep night after night.

But now things were different.

“Let’s just get some sleep.”

The two pulled up their blanket and went to bed.

Usually, with four people sleeping together in the summer heat and no fan, it was impossible to sleep well. The children’s hair would stick together from sweat, and everyone would toss and turn through the night.

Waking up in the morning always felt miserable.

They’d shift around all night long.

But with the fan now, they slept comfortably through the entire night. The elderly couple wasn’t disturbed once and finally got a restful sleep.

Xi Youyou as well.

After showering in her private space, she rolled around on the soft, large bed, still not quite over the fact that she had actually transmigrated into a book.

But now, she had come to terms with this new identity.

It was actually kind of fun!

There was air conditioning in the space, so she could sleep however she pleased.

She slept soundly too.

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The next morning—

Xi Youyou got up early to make breakfast.

There was still a bit of minced meat left from yesterday, which she had intentionally saved. That morning, she simmered a pot of lean pork congee and added a bit of fresh green vegetables.

As the lean meat porridge bubbled gently on the stove, Xi Youyou busied herself with prepping the ingredients for that morning’s dishes.

Xu Xiu was the first to enter the kitchen, rolling up her sleeves to help.

When she lifted the lid and saw the bubbling, steaming congee, she took a deep breath. “This meat porridge really does smell delicious.”

“Yesterday afternoon I saved a bit. I added some lean pork, potatoes, and greens. It’s nutritious—let the kids drink more of it.” Xi Youyou said, busying herself with what she was doing and not even glancing at Xu Xiu.

As she ladled out the porridge, Xu Xiu watched her working quickly and efficiently, without the slightest sign of delay.

A warmth rose in Xu Xiu’s heart.

“Come eat quickly. I’ll help you with the rest later!” Xu Xiu called out, summoning the old man and the two children from outside to come in for breakfast.

“Your mommy made a delicious lean pork porridge this morning—eat more of it.” Xu Xiu said while patting both children on the head as they obediently sat down on the chairs by the table.

When they saw the lean pork porridge, the two children swallowed their saliva.

They had clearly caught the scent of the savory aroma.

Jiang Fenglin came into the room, sat down at the table, and began eating. The two little ones also picked up their spoons and started taking big mouthfuls, their eyes glowing like they’d been dipped in honey.

They were happy.

For the past few days, there had been delicious meals every day. Their mother changed things up and made something new for them all the time.

How could they not be happy?

“It’s yummy.”

Xiao Bao was the most enthusiastic, lifting her head and smiling, revealing a neat row of white baby teeth.

The radiant smile on her face made Xi Youyou’s heart tremble slightly.

This—this was exactly the kind of child she wanted to raise.

“I’ll make something different for you again next time.” Xi Youyou sat down to eat with them.

Jiang Fenglin looked at the pot of lean pork porridge, thinking about all the meals Xi Youyou had cooked these past few days.

They used to have meat with every meal, too, but it had never tasted quite this good.

And Xi Youyou had truly changed. In the past, if there had been this much meat in the house, she would’ve eaten it all in one sitting. There was no way she would’ve saved any for the next morning or taken her time with it.

As they sipped the porridge, Xu Xiu suddenly remembered something important.

“Youyou.” she said while holding her bowl: “is it hot where you sleep at night? If it is, why don’t you move into our room and sleep with us?”

“Even laying out a floor mat would be fine.”

“The weather’s hot now, but it won’t be chilly even if you sleep on the floor.”

The heat really did make it hard to fall asleep, and Xu Xiu’s suggestion was well-meant.

But Xi Youyou gave an awkward smile.

If she really agreed to that, how would she sneak into the space at night?

“No, no need.” she waved her hand. “At night, I just open the windows a bit. Since I sleep alone, it’s really not that hot. If it ever gets unbearable, I’ll consider your suggestion, Mom.”

She deflected it with just a few words, and Xu Xiu didn’t press further.

But she and Jiang Fenglin exchanged a glance, and both of them smiled.

She had already responded like this, without a trace of resistance—that was proof that Xi Youyou had truly changed.

Maybe, just maybe, the days ahead for their family would only get better and better.

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