Chapter 1301: Chapter 1301: All About Having a Second Child (Part 1)
Tang Li was pregnant again in the fall.
Song Xiaohua learned that she was really going to have a younger brother or sister, and walked around with a bit of melancholy. However, after sighing for a while, she accepted the fact.
That night, Tang Li finished her bath but found that Song Xiaohua wasn’t in the master bedroom.
She looked around, only to find her daughter in the baby’s room.
Song Xiaohua was busy with her clothes.
The little girl was sitting on a crawling mat, and there was a bag of dog food beside her.
Tang Li also noticed that what Song Xiaohua was putting into the dog food bag were the clothes she wore two years ago, stored in the baby’s room wardrobe.
"What are you doing?" Tang Li entered the room.
Song Xiaohua didn’t hide her intentions, and her hands didn’t stop: "I’m sorting clothes for my brother and sister so that when they’re born, we won’t need to buy new ones."
Tang Li: ... saving quite frugally.
Sitting beside the little one, the mom said again, "But there’s no need to do it at night."
"I must tidy them now!" Song Xiaohua said, picking up a pair of crotchless pants and wiping the sweat from her forehead. She had heard Grandma and Aunt Min say they were going to donate the clothes she wouldn’t be wearing.
After tonight, she might never see these clothes again.
There was no air conditioning in the baby room.
Tang Li saw the little girl sweating profusely and wiped her face with a tissue: "Donating is fine, a few children’s clothes won’t cost much to buy new ones."
But Song Xiaohua disagreed, looking serious: "Mom, if you keep doing this, our family will never save money. Without savings, we can’t buy a house in the city, and once Dad stops working here, we’ll have to return to the mountains."
Tang Li: "???"
Seeing the little one genuinely worrying, Tang Li couldn’t help but ask, "Isn’t the mountain nice?"
The living environment at Yunqi Villa isn’t any worse than Tan Palace.
"Of course not!" On Song Xiaohua’s face was a worry beyond her age: "Uncle showed me photos; there are only two thatched cottages, not enough for the whole family."
Moreover, she didn’t want to start herding pigs so young.
Tang Li: "......"
It shows—
Not telling the child the true financial situation also has its downsides.
Tang Li’s pregnancy this time wasn’t as easy as the first.
At seven weeks, she started having morning sickness.
As a result, Song Xiaohua became the busiest person in Tan Palace.
Her dad had daytime work, so the burden of taking care of mom naturally fell on her shoulders.
This was also Uncle’s repeated instruction.
Uncle said, "Xiaohua, now you’re taking care of both the elderly and the young, remember to protect mommy, got it?"
So she accompanied her mom every day.
Not only did she need to pat her mom’s back when she retched, but after every nap, she had to recite an elementary English essay to her mom’s belly, just like Uncle had once tutored her.
Education should start young.
Even if she wasn’t reading very well now, it was more than enough to educate her brother and sister.
Song Xiaohua was very serious about reading essays.
Lying in bed, Tang Li always saw Song Xiaohua holding an essay book bigger than her own head, only two ponytails showing from behind the book, reading ’Gou Dan (Gordon)’, ’Pi Dan (Peter)’, ’Candy’, and immediately felt less nauseous and just wanted someone to take Song Xiaohua away.
Yet, the child’s enthusiasm shouldn’t be dampened.
Song Xiaohua, always mindful of her post-service, would always ask for feedback after reading: "Mom, did I read well?"
Tang Li’s response was to pat the child’s head with an encouraging smile: "You read wonderfully, if only I wasn’t worried about Xiaohua being too tired, I’d wish to hear Xiaohua’s essay reading every day."
Though reading essay is indeed tiring, Song Xiaohua didn’t refuse her mom’s request.
"Then I’ll continue with the next essay tomorrow."
Tang Li: "..."
Another day of loving mother and filial daughter!
The baby’s gender was determined at eighteen weeks.
Despite not being a first-time father, Song Baiyan still spared time to accompany Tang Li for the prenatal check.
Told by Dr. Pei that the baby had a ’Pomegranate Head’, a slight smile flashed across Song Baiyan’s face, and Tang Li’s mood was also uplifted. Although having a son or daughter is the same, a son this time added a nice touch, completing the ’good’ character.
She remembered then the agreement between Song Baiyan and Li Hao.
If what Li Hao said was true, this child would take the surname Li.
If a daughter, it would be fine.
Treating them equally.
Now that it was found to be a son, would Song Baiyan still be willing to make such a concession?
In S country’s traditional concept, sons often inherit the family business.
Especially among big families, the continuity of descendants is highly valued.
Under the premise of having just one son and one daughter, letting the only son take the mother’s surname isn’t something every man would agree to.
To many men, the child’s surname rights are equivalent to his dignity.
Once the surname rights are deprived, it can bring unrest to the household.
Tang Li didn’t care about the child’s surname, whether it was Song or Li or anything else, the fact that she and the child are blood-related could never be objectively changed.
However, Li Hao’s emphasis on the surname could indeed create unnecessary disputes.
Tang Li had not proactively mentioned the child’s surname issue to Song Baiyan, but received a call from Li Hao first.
Li Hao was obviously counting her pregnancy weeks on his fingers.
Seeing the weeks were about right, he immediately asked her whether the child was a boy or a girl.
Knowing it was a boy, there was a momentary silence on the other end, before Li Hao’s voice came through again, saying three words—That’s good.
Before Tang Li could respond, Li Hao spoke again, "Since it’s a son, if we let him take the Li surname, Song Family probably won’t easily agree. I’m not that old-fashioned, with no intention of valuing males over females. Discuss it with His Excellency, why not let Xiaohua take your surname."
Tang Li: "..."
To say Li Hao changed his mind temporarily, Tang Li wouldn’t believe it for anything.
Competing for the elder daughter with Song Baiyan, Li Hao evidently has been plotting for a long time.
No wonder he kept video-calling Song Xiaohua all these years, turns out the infiltration work started long ago.
Since Li Hao plotted against their family, Tang Li didn’t hold back and straightforwardly responded: "Don’t even think about it."
Getting hung up on the call, Li Hao looked at Li Ruan beside him—
"Our Xiaohua’s temperament, she did inherit a bit from her mom."
Li Ruan understood the old man’s sentiment in his words and smiled: "From a genetics perspective, Xiaohua surely combines President Song and cousin’s strengths, raised personally by President Song, whether it’s her insight or intelligence, neither is comparable to typical children."
Li Hao agreed with his own grandson’s words.
Song Xiaohua, an extraordinary child, is bound to soar to great heights.
Even as exceptional as Song Xiaohua is, she’s busy with prenatal education for her brother now.
After finishing the two hundred and sixth English essay, her mom’s due date arrived.
Her brother George Song was born one afternoon in May.
——
——
Goodnight!
