novelLittle Youjin's Anniversary Party
| ← Ch.474 | Ch.476 → |
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
It was a brisk winter in December and a lively time in the Qi family household.
It was Christmas eve the night before and although the elders of the family do not fancy western holidays, they still celebrated it for the children's sake. The number of children in the family seemed to be growing; there was Qi Youxuan, Little Youjin, on top of the four-month-old child of Qi Chengyue and Cheng Dongge, and an additional unborn child still in Ruan Danchen's womb.
Even the decorations around the house were specially made for the children.
Stickers were scattered and stuck on pretty much every corner in the house by Qi Youjin—there was even a Spider-man sticker stuck on the wall by Qi Youxuan. Piles of toys were scattered around both Little Youjin and Little Xi Cheng's cribs that were arranged side by side against each other.
Since Ruan Danchen was thirty-two weeks pregnant with her unborn child, the elderly Madam Qi prepared an extra crib for her future great grandkid in a separate room. After Ruan Danchen birthed her child, she would then take the crib out and have it placed in the living room with Little Youjin and Little Xicheng.
Since it was Little Youjin's first year old celebration that day, the entire family placed an extremely tall Christmas tree in the living room to commemorate such a special occasion along with celebrating Christmas. The Christmas tree was decorated with loads of lights and streamers, and there was even a tiny little angel placed on the very top of that tree. Placed under that tree was a couple of adorable little boxes of gifts, waiting for the children to open them later.
They were waiting for Little Youjin to be brought over for the anniversary party set up just for him.
Since Ruan Danchen was pregnant, she could not bear the cold; she was also afraid that the cold was freezing Little Youjin and Little Xi Cheng. Although the heater was already on in the house, the elderly Madam Qi proceeded to warm up the house even more by setting the air conditioner to heater mode, causing the internal room temperature of the house to feel exactly like a summer day. Every single person had their shorts on indoors.
Not long after, Qi Chengzhi carried Little Youjin into the room with Song Yu, and Song Donglin and Yu Qianyin following behind them. Not long after they were all seated, both Qi Chenglin's family and Cheng Dongge and his wife entered the room.
Since Cheng Dongge's parents had come a long way from Li City, they were absent yesterday to greet the elders. Qi Chengyue had arranged for them to stay at Dynasty, thus their absence that day. They will be heading to Little Youjin's anniversary party immediately from the guest room to the banquet hall.
Chang Zhiyuan along with the Ruan family would not be present too as they were heading over to Dynasty directly.
Due to the freezing weather outside, Qi Chenglin was worried about his wife, and thus he gave her two extra layers of clothing to keep her warm.
Since Ruan Danchen was thirty-two weeks pregnant at that moment, she felt as if she was a giant ball rolling as she walked.
The instant she entered the room, she was greeted by the lively environment indoors. As she entered the house, she was completely soaked in her sweat, and thus, she proceeded to remove the many layers of clothing, leaving behind only the thin maternity top which instantly relieved her.
The elderly Madam Chang had gone through a serious stroke, in addition to her astoundingly horrible temper, on top of being used and thoroughly betrayed by Chang Jingqiu; and since she was crippled, her daughter-in-law, Liu Xiangwen had completely disregarded her respect, on top of the drastic downfall of Changhe making her temper exponentially worse, hence causing her to unleash her unchained fury upon her caretaker.
Any ailment would undoubtedly cause anyone to lose their temper, hence the doctor's advice to stay calm and ride out the storm. However, the elderly Madam Chang was constantly uptight and upset—it was as if she had become addicted to anger.
Ruan Danchen visited her once before. However, she was greeted by the elderly Madam Chang's coldness and complete ignorance of her presence, thus since then, Ruan Danchen had never once gone back to visit.
Chang Zhiyuan and Mo Yuxin only occasionally visited her since the elderly Madam Chang had a horrible temper and she tends to scold them every time she laid her eyes on them. Hence it was only natural for the married couple to visit her less frequently. They only visited her two to three times a month.
Chang Jinqiu however, was sentenced to five years in prison, and crippled Wang, on the other hand, was also sentenced since he was also involved in kidnapping then raping Liu Ronghua. As for the organization that Chang Jingqiu sought after, since both Chang Jingqiu and crippled Wang were merely an external party in the entire debacle, hence there was no information that crippled Wang could provide.
The only information Chang Jingqiu knew was a person only known as Brother Cheng. However, she ultimately decided to hold on to that piece of information since she had contacted Brother Cheng previously and he had already found a scapegoat, shouldering all the blame for him.
Chang Jingqiu had also known that before Brother Cheng had said anything, and if she dared to even speak anything else about him, she would never live in peace.
Even if Chang Jingqiu was in perfect health, her days in prison would be spent in fear for the squabbles and arguments at night; not to mention she was currently a drug addict. It would be uncertain how horrible she would be treated upon entering prison.
At that moment, the only person she could rely on was herself. Even though she was on friendly terms with Liu Xiangwen in the past, that woman had completely dismissed her existence and Chang Zhiyuan would never spend any time or money to ensure the conditions in her cell would be somewhat better. Chang Jingqiu could only hope Brother Cheng would spare some resources to make her living conditions slightly more bearable and arranged some people for her own safety and protection by the merits of her interesting personality alone.
Even by that fact alone, she was merely a piece of trash. Whoever that was assigned for her safety would be just as worthless and miserable as she was.
However, all Chang Jingqiu could do was bide her time and not rat Brother Cheng out. What misery life in prison was for her, would be a mystery to Ruan Danchen since she had not taken the time to even ask about her wellbeing.
Even more so, Qi Chenglin would never even be bothered to spend an ounce of his energy, time or wealth on a woman like her. He would only ask about her occasionally and he knew how miserable life would undoubtedly be for her since she had never once gone through anything relatively close to being a struggle, hence life in prison would be a living hell for her to bear.
Knowing that woman was having a miserable time made Qi Chenglin extremely relieved.
Since Ruan Danchen was carrying a huge belly at the moment, she found it difficult to sit down, hence, Qi Chenglin immediately placed a pillow behind her seat to support her back.
The instant Little Youjin laid his eyes upon Qi Youxuan as he entered, the toddler's eyes instantly opened wide as he proceeded to swiftly crawl toward Youxuan, trailing behind him.
Little four-month-old Xicheng, however, was seated beside Qi Chengyue gleefully clapping her hands.
"Er Cheng, you should learn from your big bro here. Hurry up and learn to crawl. That way, you'd get to play with us!" Qi Youxuan said while pointing his chubby hands at Xicheng.
"Guu gaa!" Little Xicheng extended both her arms seemingly wanting to join in on their fun.
Cheng Dongge initially wanted to name his daughter Qi Chengyue, so that she could carry his wife's name. However, since it was not appropriate for a lady, hence he decided to name her Xicheng.
However, when Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen visited Qi Chengyue the very next day after she had given birth, Qi Youxuan unexpectedly pointed at his cousin and simply said, "Oh! This is Er Cheng! My dear sister, you will be nicknamed Er Cheng from now!"
It was unfortunate that Little Xicheng still could not grasp the complicated lessons of life. While she was still sound asleep in her mother's embrace, her nickname was already given by Qi Youxuan.
Little Xicheng was wiggling her tiny butt while attempting to stand upright as she grabbed onto the edge of the coffee table. Her tiny, short arms were reaching for the center of the coffee table since she wanted to eat the pear that was placed on top of the table. Sadly, her arms were too short and she could not reach it.
Thus, Qi Youxuan extended his arms to grab a slice of pear for her. Little Xicheng held onto the pear fruit with both her chubby hands, as she felt that the fruit was slightly heavy.
It was difficult for her to take a bite out of the fruit with her tiny baby teeth. After several difficult attempts, she could only bite off the peels from the pear as she suckled on the watery juices from the fruit itself. She smiled widely and looked extremely happy from that bite.
Upon seeing such a messy look on his daughter, Qi Chengzhi became annoyed since his child looked normal only moments ago, and all it took was for her to play along with Qi Youxuan for a mere moment to have made such a mess.
"Is all the preparations for the ceremony later, there shouldn't be any food in the pile right?" Song Yu asked with a concerned voice.
Since there was an ocean of people watching the anniversary ceremony later and Song Yu admitted she tended to be greedy, there should not be any food to tempt the little glutinous kid during the ceremony later. If food was present, this kid would without a doubt be tempted and completely ignore the ceremony planned for him.
Qi Chengzhi nodded seriously and said, "Orders were given already. There'll be no food allowed."
After hearing his reply, Song Yu finally let out a huge sigh of relief. However, she looked at her son with a heartbroken expression as she worried how her son would act in the future.
Thus, everyone got ready and was heading out to Dynasty. She had even arranged a huge table in the actual venue where the ceremony would take place so during the ceremony, every single person would have a clear view from the table.
At this moment, Qi Youxuan was pushing the baby stroller while Little Xicheng was seated in it. She was holding onto a box wrapped in a red piece of paper with the words 'Box of Red Packets' written on it.
It was obvious that Qi Youxuan was the person who wrote those words since they were written in horrible handwriting.
As Qi Youxuan pushed the stroller with Little Xicheng inside, they both stood by the entrance of the elevator, seemingly resembling two guardian deities. Little Xicheng was obviously completely oblivious to what exactly they were doing here, but since she was handed a box to hold onto, she did so without question.
Seeing that it was a rare occasion for her big brother to only bring her out to have fun, and did not bring Little Youjin along with them, she felt the need to live up to the high expectations of fun.
The instant the elevator doors opened, Yan Beicheng was instantly stunned the moment he walked out from Dynasty as he was greeted with Little Xicheng's innocent face staring right back at him while holding onto a tiny box labeled 'Box of Red Packets'.
"Uncle Yan, today just so happens to be Little Youjin's anniversary party, so it's only natural for me to collect some red packets, " Qi Youxuan said while repeatedly blinking as if hinting at him that if he refused to hand him a red packet, he would be bullying an innocent child. Yan Beicheng was completely befuddled at this point.
Thus, Yan Beicheng took out a red packet and placed it in the box. While walking away, he noticed Qi Chengzhi from a distance and proceeded to say, "Say, a red packet after birth, one more when the baby is one month old, another one during Chinese New Year, one more during the baby's hundredth day, and one more during the child's anniversary. We're only two months away from Chinese New Year, I'm pretty sure you're taxing me with red packets every one to two months!"
"Hehe, " Qi Chengzhi chuckled while carrying Little Youjin in his arms. He then said, "Can't blame me for having a son earlier than you."
After saying that, he looked down at his son and said, "Say hi to your uncle Yan. He's giving you money."
Little Youjin gleefully extended his chubby arms at Yan Beicheng and began waving merrily. It was almost as if he was actually greeting him. Every single guest that came after Yan Beicheng did not look too happy.
Since every single person was stopped by Qi Youxuan the instant the elevator's doors opened. It was almost as if they were being ambushed and robbed. They did not look too happy.
Before the ceremony began, Song Yu carried Little Youjin and placed him on top of the huge table. It seemed Little Youjin had indeed become heavier as Song Yu was almost unable to carry the little child up the table.
All around Little Youjin was a book, a calculator, a pen, a drawing block, and a tiny wooden sword. Each with its own meaning.
In all honesty, it did not actually matter what Little Youjin picked, since his future was already determined by the Qi family since being born in the Qi family meant he would be amongst the best. No matter what he chose to be in future, his journey would be incredibly smooth.
"Go ahead and take your pick Youjin. Just pick anything you like, " Song Yu said in a whisper. In preparation for the actual day, they had already practiced and rehearsed at home beforehand, and it was extremely smooth during the rehearsals.
Staring at three items placed in front of him while he sat on the table, the child proceeded to stand up with his tiny legs, as he turned around to look at the remaining two items behind him, it seemed to him that nothing caught his attention.
Thus, he proceeded to sit down on the same spot, without moving an inch.
Every single guest present witnessing the event was completely shocked by his actions.
"..." Qi Chengzhi proceeded to gently nudge his son and said, "Be a good kid now, go on, pick one. Anything will do."
Every single item was placed with good will and held a deep intricate meaning behind. Hence, choosing anything would not be embarrassing at all.
However, Little Youjin was staring directly at a couple of dishes placed on the table in front of him. He mumbled, "Gaaaaa."
"Go ahead and pick first, we'll eat after that, " Song Yu said while blushing.
Unexpectedly to everyone's surprise, Little Youjin refused to cooperate as he was incredibly tempted by the presence of food.
While gently rubbing Ruan Danchen's belly with his tiny hands, he softly whispered, "I've told you earlier, we can bait him with food by pointing the food at the direction of whichever item we desire."
Before Ruan Danchen could even stop Qi Youxuan, that little kid ran off with some snacks in his hands the instant he was done speaking.
"Come on now, little brother!" Qi Youxuan proceeded to wave the snacks at him.
Upon noticing the tempting snacks, Little Youjin immediately crawled toward him while arching his tiny little butt. The little kid then snatched the snacks from Youxuan's hands and shoved it directly into his mouth, completely stuffing his tiny mouth full.
Worried that the kid might choke after such a huge bite, Song Yu proceeded to pour out a glass of warm water for him.
Qi Chenglin noticed the growing fury of Qi Chengzhi and proceeded to forcefully grab his son back to where he was.
"Hurry up and take your pick since you've already had your snack, " Qi Chengzhi said in an increasingly annoyed tone.
Little Youjin was stunned as he turned back to glance at Qi Chengzhi's black pearly eyes. The child felt as if something was pricking his tiny butt as he swiftly crawled back to where he was.
He paused directly in front of a book, Song Yu stared at her son excitedly but remained silent.
Thus, Little Youjin proceeded to extend his little chubby arms and grabbed onto the book, and then under the staring gaze of every single person, he shoved it in his mouth only to realize it tasted exactly like paper.
"Bwaah!" Little Youjin violently spat out everything from his mouth and tossed the book onto the ground.
The little kid then proceeded to pick up the pen. However, once again, he shoved it in his mouth and started eating it like a lollipop. As expected, once again, the kid spat it out and tossed the pen onto the ground while screaming, "Bwaaah!"
The remaining items could not escape the fate of being shoved into the child's mouth. Soon, the only thing left on that table was Qi Youjin.
It was unknown which child started laughing first."Hahaha! It's my first time seeing something like this. Hahaha!"
Hence, Song Yu's cheeks instantly turned red. As Little Youjin noticed that there was nothing left for him to grab, he started to crawl toward Qi Chengzhi while wiggling his tiny butt and shamelessly grabbed onto Qi Chengzhi's belt and climbing onto him like a tree.
Qi Chengzhi stared coldly at him and said, "You want cuddles after not picking any items?"
Hence, he stood idly unmoving, not willing to carry his son.
At that moment, Little Youjin was standing on top of Qi Chengzhi's belt on his toes while frantically screaming as he was at the brink of tears.
Song Yu could not bear as she noticed her son gradually tearing up, thus, she carried the kid in her arms.
At that moment, the toddler was only able to sneakily peek at his father's furious expression. Upon noticing how angry his father looked, he recoiled his neck back slightly while nervously pointing at the ground saying, "Gwaaah... Gwaaah...."
"Do you wanna go down buddy?" Song Yu asked.
"Gaaaah!" Little Youjin responded while violently nodding his head.
Thus, Song Yu placed the kid on the ground. However, the little kid could only manage to walk a couple of steps as he found it difficult to walk. Like a penguin, he waddled his way to where the calculator fell earlier, then suddenly he lost his balance and tipped over with a bang onto the ground.
Fortunately for him, the ground below was laid with a thick carpet, thus the fall was not hard at all.
It did not matter if it were the Jade Field Park, Imperial Terrace, Zhijing Garden, the Prestige Residences or even Cheng Dongge's home. They were all completely laid with carpet floors to make sure the kids do not get hurt when they fall.
Since Little Youjin had a habit of not sitting still and was not patient enough to sit down slowly, it was normal for the little kid to stumble and fall frequently. However, since it was laid with a thick layer of carpet, the little kid never gets hurt.
Not feeling much pain, Little Youjin extended his tiny chubby hands and proceeded to grab onto the calculator and started waving it around while exclaiming, "Gwaaaah!"
It was only after that did Qi Chengzhi felt better as his expression changed to a much lighter mood. He then proceeded to carry his son while nodding with incredible satisfaction, he said, "Yes, outstanding. This means he indeed has the heart to inherit the family business."
"..." Every single person present was completely speechless.
In order to conclude in a much brighter note, Qi Chengzhi did his best to convince everyone of the deeper meaning of that choice.
...
Alas, once again the spring festival approached and Ruan Danchen's expected delivery date was in a few days, hence making everyone extremely nervous.
It was to the extent of Qi Chenglin calling Chu Zhaoyang every single day to make sure every single doctor in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology department was on standby and were actually working. In addition to that, he had even requested for the full schedule of staff rotation and inquired about how these doctors worked.
However, he felt the doctors that were scheduled during the entire spring festivals were incompetent, hence he said, "Could you schedule more shifts for DIrector Lee since it's quite uncertain when exactly Ruan Danchen would deliver her baby. I'll have to make sure when she arrives, someone competent and reliable was on duty."
"..." Chu Zhaoyang was speechless at his comment.
Chu Zhaoyang could not care less at his ridiculous request since every single doctor in his hospital was extremely reliable, hence it would be ridiculous to mess up the entire schedule just for him.
Hence, Qi Chenglin started spamming his Wechat texts.
[Gui Zhiqian: Could you stop bullying old Chu here Qi Chenglin! Do you actually think Chutian Hospital is your backyard?]
[Han Zhuoli: So what if your wife is giving birth? Who hasn't?]
[Qi Chenglin: You. ]
[Han Zhuoli:... ]
After Qi Chenglin's relentless persistence, Chu Zhaoyang finally caved in and agreed to change the schedule for him. Hence, he had to go through countless rants and yelling from Director Lee. Sadly for him however, he did not have an outlet to vent his frustrations.
However, Qi Chenglin shamelessly called him during the eve of the Spring Festivals to confirm if Director Lee was actually still working there.
Even as a man of few words, Chu Zhaoyang finally snapped, "The actual day of when your wife would deliver your child is still very much uncertain. Could you not force Director Lee up against a wall here, to spend countless days on standby."
"Since it's within these few days, so the best option is for him to be on standby, " Qi Chenglin replied shamelessly as he did not feel even the slightest hint that he was actually bothering people.
Hence, Chu Zhaoyang hung up on him furiously.
Little Youjin was already a year and two months old. Although he still did not know how to properly speak yet, he was able to say simple phrases.
Phrases like daddy, mommy, and cuddles.
However, he was much better at walking compared to the anniversary party a while ago. He was completely attached to and would tail Qi Youxuan, following behind him anywhere he went like his own tail.
Since he was not able to walk too fast, and every time he attempted to speed up, he would ultimately stumble and fall, Qi Youxuan matched his pace when he walked instead.
The courtyard was filled with children playing around with firecrackers ever since morning. However, they were not playing with anything too dangerous as it was merely simple sparkles and other small explosives.
Qi Youxuan told his dad to buy some fireworks that would explode into a blooming flower. It was only after that, he gave his father a tight hug.
"Uncle, uncle, bring us outside to play with some fireworks!" Qi Youxuan said while grabbing onto Qi Chengji's leg. His chubby belly was squeezing up against Qi Chengji's legs.
Thus, he brought the children out to play after placing everything that he had been carrying down.
Ruan Danchen was seated on the couch while watching the spectacular colorful display of fireworks while she listened to the children playfully screaming as they enjoyed themselves.
However, suddenly she felt a sharp pain in her stomach. Ruan Danchen grunted slightly.
Qi Chenglin was watching her like a hawk for the past couple of days. Every time she felt her stomach hurting, he would look at his watch while he calculated how long the pain lasted.
However, Ruan Danchen's expression changed. While he looked at his watch, he said, "Wait, isn't today..."
| ← Ch. 474 | Ch. 476 → |