Chapter 114: Nurturing Motherly Love

“Zhuang Zhuang, I’m fine. Mother is fine.”

Xiaoguo wanted Zhuang Zhuang to let go of her, but he misunderstood. He thought that Xiaoguo was feeling unwell and said those words just to assure him. Hence, he pulled her even harder.

Xiaoguo said, “Zhuang Zhuang, please let me go. I won’t hit your head again.”

Xiaoguo was eventually pulled up by Zhuang Zhuang and ended up sitting down on a stool.

“Thank you, son…”

Xiaoguo smiled at Zhuang Zhuang and thanked him.

Zhuang Zhuang smiled shyly. “It’s nothing.”

Fine, take it as encouragement…

Xiaoguo opened and closed her mouth, but no words came. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to say it. But no one can know why her legs had gone numb.

Zhuang Zhuang didn’t speak either while looking at Xiaoguo. His eyes flickered as he looked at her. It looked like he had something to tell her.

Xiaoguo looked at Zhuang Zhuang curiously. “Zhuang Zhuang, what’s wrong?”

Zhuang Zhuang took out a neatly folded piece of paper and handed it to Xiaoguo.

Xiaoguo unfolded it. A handsome man’s face appeared on the paper.

Xiaoguo did not recognize him at first glance. She just thought that he was quite handsome, and looked like an actor.

She wanted to ask Zhuang Zhuang who this was, but when she looked up, she saw Zhuang Zhuang looking at her excitedly. “Mother, is this Father?”

The word “father” was too unfamiliar to him. It took him a while to spit out the word.

Xiaoguo was stunned. “Was this Jiang Danhe?”

Then, she lowered her head and looked at the person in the painting carefully. It seemed to be the case… those eyes? Xiaoguo looked up at Zhuang Zhuang, they looked so alike…

Xiaoguo had always felt that Zhuang Zhuang took after her, but now, it seems that he resembled Jiang Danhe more.

“Mother, is this really Father?”

Zhuang Zhuang tried to get confirmation again.

Xiaoguo wasn’t too sure. After all, she really couldn’t remember what Jiang Danhe looked like.

“Did Uncle give you this?”

In the end, Xiaoguo decided to ask about the origin of the painting after much hesitation.

“Uncle gave it to me. He said an old lady brought it over.”

As Xiaoguo listened to Zhuang Zhuang’s narration, she thought to herself, “From the old lady? A matchmaker?”

It was possible that the matchmaker had brought Jiang Danhe’s portrait to propose marriage on his behalf.

Xiaoguo saw that the paper was old and tattered. It was even a little yellowed and looked quite worn out. She couldn’t be sure if it was used for matchmaking.

Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo’s expression and guessed that this was really his father.

Carefully taking the portrait from Xiaoguo’s hand, he ran back into the house.

This time, Zhuang Zhuang ran into their bedroom. Curious about what he was going to do, Xiaoguo kicked her feet and realized that they were no longer numb. She got up and walked to the room.

With her hand on the closed door, she hesitated. In the end, she chose not to enter the house. She pushed the door slightly ajar and looked in.

She saw Zhuang Zhuang in front of the mirror. He was holding the portrait in one hand and pinching his face with the other. As he compared the two similar faces in the mirror, he kept smiling to himself.

He seemed to be very satisfied with both faces.

Xiaoguo closed the door gently and went to the kitchen to cook. She didn’t want to disturb Zhuang Zhuang. Since she couldn’t find a father for him, she would let him compare himself against the portrait. This would count as bonding time with his father.

With an indescribable feeling in her heart, Xiaoguo went to the kitchen to prepare lunch. When she was done, Zhuang Zhuang had yet to come out of the house. Xiaoguo put down her chopsticks and walked to the door. She pushed the door slightly and looked inside.

It had been a while, and Zhuang Zhuang was still seated in front of the mirror. He was checking out his reflection and gesturing at the portrait intermittently.

Xiaoguo closed the door, raised her hand, and lowered it again. Finally, she raised her hand again. Thump, thump, thump.

“Zhuang Zhuang, come out and eat.”

“Oh! Coming right up!”

Xiaoguo was surprised to hear such a lively voice. What magical powers did Jiang Danhe’s portrait have?

Xiaoguo returned to the table and scooped out the noodles before setting them on the table.

When Zhuang Zhuang came out, he couldn’t stop smiling. His cheekbones were about to fly out of his face, Xiaoguo felt a tinge of jealousy.

“Mother, the food today is so delicious!”

Zhuang Zhuang had just eaten a mouthful of noodles when he praised Xiaoguo. His facial muscles were so exaggerated that Xiaoguo burst out laughing.

“Alright, let’s eat!”

Xiaoguo picked up a piece of meat for Zhuang Zhuang and placed it in his bowl.

Zhuang Zhuang was eating very well. He would eat anything that was given to him. He was not picky at all and was extremely easy to feed.

At night, Xiaoguo went to take a shower first. She gave Zhuang Zhuang a bath only after she was done.

After carrying him and placing him under the covers, she dried his hair before letting him lie down. She had to use two towels to completely dry his hair.

Before Zhuang Zhuang got into bed, he ran to look in the mirror. After taking a serious look at his face, he smiled in satisfaction.

He lay back in bed and pestered Xiaoguo to tell him a story. Xiaoguo thought for a while and decided to tell him a short story about motherly love.

Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was listening attentively, Xiaoguo felt very happy.

That’s right. It seemed like she had to tell Zhuang Zhuang more stories about motherly love in the future to consolidate her status as a mother.

Poor Zhuang Zhuang was still in his sleep and did not know what Xiaoguo was planning. He lay beside her and slept soundly. From time to time, he would even smile.

Xiaoguo laughed as she watched him. The little fool was quite cute, if one were to ignore the drool dripping from his mouth.

The next day, a woman’s tragic cries could be heard coming from the village. Xiaoguo was startled awake. Her first reaction was to check if Zhuang Zhuang was alarmed.

As expected, Zhuang Zhuang was also spooked. Xiaoguo quickly hugged him and patted his back. When he fell asleep again, Xiaoguo let go of him and listened carefully to the sounds outside.

After a while, Xiaoguo lay down again. She didn’t hear anything again. If Zhuang Zhuang hadn’t been alarmed as well, Xiaoguo would have thought that she was hallucinating.

She continued lying down and fell asleep next to Zhuang Zhuang. She didn’t sleep well yesterday, so she needs a good sleep this morning.

Xiaoguo didn’t know if it was because of the cold weather, but recently she was finding it hard to get out of bed. It was always nice and warm under the covers.

When she opened her eyes again, it was bright outside. The sun was already shining on her butt.

Xiaoguo got up and looked at Zhuang Zhuang. As expected, he was still asleep. Nowadays, all they do all day is eat and sleep.

Zhuang Zhuang had obviously grown rounder on his cheeks and stomach. His arms and legs were much thicker than before. He had also grown taller.

Her current body seemed to be the same as her original body. Once she gained weight, the fats would grow at all the right places.

After coming here, she was eating well and was always in a good mood, so she had gained a lot of weight. Her waist was fine, but she had grown at two specific parts of her body. Her figure had become more rounded and perky.

Xiaoguo was rather helpless about this. As long as she gained weight, she would grow at those parts. She had no choice.

When Xiaoguo was in university, she was really stressed out during the exams, so she relied on eating to relieve her stress. During that period of time, she gained a lot of weight. There was one time when she bumped into a few old ladies while she was passing by the entrance of her neighborhood.

They didn’t speak when Xiaoguo walked by. Once she was further away, they began chattering about her.

Xiaoguo had overheard once. Out of all the things they said, everything was about her chest and her butt.