It was only after becoming a mom that Ruan Xia learned that it wasn’t easy to be a parent to a kindergartener these days.

  Could someone tell her why a kindergartener had so many activities? Why were there so many various required parent meetings? Moreover, these meetings and activities were scheduled on weekdays. After all, the kindergarten was closed on the weekends. Fortunately, she hadn’t been working before. Plus, Song Tingshen was the CEO of a company. He was free to arrange his schedule.

  If both parents had to work, managing their child’s activities would be troublesome. On one hand, they would want to increase their child’s opportunities to interact with more people and learn more things. On the other hand, if they spent less time on childcare, they would be able to concentrate more on their work and earn more money.

  Ruan Xia just felt that everyone in society was too busy. They were too busy with work and with earning money. The aspiration of a kindergarten was the healthy development of children, and children were naturally happier if they had the company of their parents. So of course, the kindergarten shouldn’t be blamed.

  Little Wang liked the kindergarten activities a lot. He was wearing a small bathrobe. Without even tying the bathrobe belt, he ran over to Ruan Xia. He looked up at her with a hopeful expression and asked her, “Mom, will you come with dad to the kindergarten activity?”


  It was of course ideal if both parents could participate in parent-child activities.

  Although Ruan Xia had attended the last two activities, Song Tingshen hadn’t been able either of them due his schedule. Even though only one of his parents went, Little Wang was still very happy with her presence because his mom had never attended one before. This time, Song Tingshen had already set aside this time in advance and would definitely be able to go.

  Just thinking about both his parents coming made Little Wang so happy that he wanted to jump up and down.

  The parent-child activity was on Friday. Ruan Xia leaned over and helped him tie his bathrobe belt. “I’ll go. Mom will take time off from work.”


  Little Wang hugged Ruan Xia’s waist and rubbed against her. “Yay, awesome!

  Ruan Xia was still very idle at work. She only had to place orders with one customer, and that customer generally only shipped goods once a month. The manager and supervisors were very easy to talk to. She had a lot of freedom when it came to the working hours in the overseas department, so she assumed the manager would approve of her request to take time off without a second though. Thus, she very straightforwardly agreed to Little Wang’s request.

  The next day, Ruan Xia asked her manager about taking Friday off.

  As always, the manager had a very polite demeanor. Smiling, she asked, “Take time off? Did something come up at home? Please tell me if you need assistance from the company.”


  Her solicitousness left Ruan Xia feeling somewhat embarrassed. Still, she honestly said, “There’s a parent-child activity at my son’s kindergarten. My husband will be going. My son wants me to go too……”


  “A parent-child activity?” The manager nodded. “Go back to work first. I’ll give you an answer later. I have to see if that time can be arranged.”


  Ruan Xia hadn’t asked for time off before, but she assumed the process for applying for time off varied for each company. She went back to her seat and continued working.

  Before noon, the manager called her over. When she went over, she saw the manager’s apologetic expression.

  “Ruan Xia, sorry. I can’t approve your time off. The customer you’re responsible for might be coming here on Friday. You’re responsible for his orders, so it’s better if you present that day.”


  Ruan Xia froze in surprise for a moment and quickly recovered. “Okay, I understand.”


  What should she do if she can’t get time off? How should she coax her little melon when she went home?

  Chapter 203 – When the accumulated number of broken promises exceeded a threshold, children would no longer believe those adults (1)

  Not being able to take time off wasn’t a big deal. After all, the company was usually busier on Fridays and her manager’s reason was sufficient. This company treated its employees very well, and her manager treated her with courtesy and warmth, so Ruan Xia didn’t even think about complaining.

  It was just that she had already agreed to Little Wang’s request, and she knew that he’d be disappointed when she told him she couldn’t go after all. This chubby kid was too cute. Ruan Xia felt guilty just from picturing his sad and disappointed appearance.

  After thinking it over, Ruan Xia decided to ask Song Tingshen for advice. Taking advantage of her lunch break, she called Song Tingshen.

  “What are you doing? Do you have time to talk?” The number of phone calls between them had noticeably increased.

  Song Tingshen opened his lunchbox. “I’m about to eat lunch. You?”


  “It’s almost 1PM. You’re just eating now?” Ruan Xia casually asked, “What are you eating?”


  In contrast, Song Tingshen enjoyed this type of everyday conversation very much, so he patiently answered, “I had the assistant go out to buy a business set meal. It’s beef with soft scrambled eggs, stir-fried romaine lettuce, stewed pork with potatoes, and pork ribs soup.”


  It was a very detailed self-report of his situation.

  Ruan Xia smiled. “That’s a sumptuous lunch. Drink the soup first. I heard doing that is better for your stomach.”


  “Okay.”


  After laying enough groundwork with small talk, Ruan Xia rushed to the purpose of her call. “Umm, Song Tingshen, there’s something I want to discuss with you. I asked my manager to take this Friday off, but there happens to be something at work that day, so I can’t take time off.”


  Song Tingshen was a bit surprised by that. “You can’t take time off? I thought you’re not busy at work?”


  Honestly, after he had the company checked out and determined there was nothing wrong with it, even Song Tingshen would occasionally question and reflect on his understanding of the world. Were there really people that ran their companies this way? Giving their employees the highest salary and treatment in the industry with the most leisurely amount of workload. Moreover, Ruan Xia said the receptionist would order a variety of beverages for afternoon tea……

  He had frequently said in the past that no one starts a company for the sake of doing charity. After all, profit always ranked first for business people. It felt as if he had been slapped in the face.

  “Yeah, but the customer I’m responsible for said he’s coming to this office on Friday, so I definitely can’t be absent that day. What should I do? I already agreed when Little Wang asked. He’ll definitely have opinions if I got back on my word.”


  “Your hands are tied.” Song Tingshen took a sip of soup. His expression was very calm. “You can’t take time off from work that day and you can’t quit your job just to participate in this parent-child activity. Little Wang isn’t an unreasonable child. Just properly talk to him about it. He’ll understand. He might mention some conditions though. For example, taking him out to play on the weekend.”


  “No matter what he asks for, I’ll agree to it.”


  Ruan Xia was looking at it from Little Wang’s perspective. She had similar childhood experiences. For example, her parents said they would take her to a children’s playground in the city, but on the day of, they said something came up. Adults always thought that children would forget things in a few days, but in reality, when the accumulated number of broken promises exceeded a threshold, children would no longer believe those adults.

  Song Tingshen said, “So don’t worry about it. I’ll talk to Little Wang too. I’ll do my best to keep him from being disappointed in you.”


  “Thank you.”


  “But……” Song Tingshen suddenly changed the topic, “I also have something I want to discuss with you.”


  Chapter 204 – When the accumulated number of broken promises exceeded a threshold, children would no longer believe those adults (2)

  “What is it?”


  “Can you change how you address me? You always call me by my full name.”


  That’s what he wanted to talk about?

  Ruan Xia’s reason was sufficient. “You call me by my full name too.”


  “That’s why I’m discussing this with you.” Song Tingshen paused and said, “Xiaxia.”


  He wasn’t here right now and wouldn’t be able to see her expression, so Ruan Xia candidly blushed.

  She felt as if her weak point had been poked. Ruan Xia was a person weak to looks and voices without any reservations. She wasn’t someone without any experience. Generally, men with pleasant voices didn’t look outstanding. Song Tingshen was an exception to that.

  Although her face was heated, her voice was as calm as his. “Then how would you like me to address you in the future? Little Wang’s dad?”


  Song Tingshen did want her to address him that way, but he wanted face and really couldn’t voice his agreement. “Just remove my last name.”


  “Tingshen?”


  “En.”


  —


  After getting off from work and going home, Ruan Xia launched her currying favor attack on Little Wang. She kissed him and hugged him. She even cooked chicken wings for him.

  While holding a chicken wing and gnawing on it, Little Wang asked, “Mom, is there something you want to ask me to do? Just say it!”


  This kid!

  Song Tingshen came over to speak for Ruan Xia. He patted Little Wang’s head. “Your mom can’t participate in the parent-child activity with us on Friday. There’s something at work that day, and she can’t be absent. You have to understand that she really wants to go. Don’t blame her.”


  Little Wang dropped the chicken wing he was holding, and it fell onto his little table. Although his lips were full of ketchup and oil stains, it didn’t affect how sad his face looked. “Mom, you promised me……”


  Ruan Xia hurriedly explained, “It’s mom’s fault. I shouldn’t have promised you before making sure. This won’t happen again.”


  “Mom, you promised me……” He repeated those words like a voice recorder.

  Ruan Xia looked even more guilty.

  “Song Shuyan.” Song Tingshen spoke with a serious expression,”Mom has already apologized to you. It’s true that she didn’t do this well, but adults have things that adults have to do. Mom wants to participate in the parent-child activity too, but she really can’t be absent from work that day. Don’t be cross with Mom. Don’t blame her either. If you act this way, she’ll feel bad too.”


  Little Wang lowered his head and didn’t say anything.

  Ruan Xia had been a mom for a short period of time, and she was a newbie when it came to educating children. But no matter how inexperienced she was, she didn’t want to use her status as an adult to demand that a child must accept that she had broken her promise.

  She had thought that Little Wang would be disappointed for a while, so she was surprised to see the kid grabbing a chicken wing off the plate and resumed eating it.

  He slowly said, “I don’t blame mom, but mom, can you promise me something else?”


  “What is it? As long as Mom can do it, I’ll definitely agree. After all, I was the one that went back on my word first.”


  Song Tingshen and Ruan Xia relaxed after hearing Little Wang’s response. They thought their son was indeed very reasonable and easy to talk to, but that perception didn’t last long.

  Little Wang looked at them and requested in a milky voice, “I want to sleep with dad and mom tonight.”


  Song Tingshen: “.……”


  Ruan Xia: “.……”


  Chapter 205 – When the accumulated number of broken promises exceeded a threshold, children would no longer believe those adults (3)

  This kid was getting increasingly difficult to fool. For Little Wang to mention this request, he had to have been mulling over this for a while. He might have realized early on that the way his parents got along with each other was different than how other kids’ parents got along. He might have become envious because he had heard his little buddies in kindergarten say how good and nice it was to sleep with their parents.

  Regardless of the reason behind the request, Song Tingshen and Ruan Xia couldn’t refuse it, especially under such circumstances.

  —


  That night, Song Tingshen was standing by a big bed with his pillow. He didn’t know what to do.

  Little Wang was wearing his cute onesie and lying in the middle of the big bed. He looked excited and expectant. “Dad, come onto the bed to sleep. Mom still has to do her skincare stuff.”


  Under Little Wang’s urging, Song Tingshen could only go to the bed. Probably due to awkwardness, he didn’t look relaxed. He only dared to sleep at the edge of the bed. If he turned a little bit, he would fall right off the bed.

  This was a 1.8 meter wide bed. For him to sleep like this, it was really making things difficult for himself.

  Ruan Xia wasn’t any more comfortable than him. She was sitting in front of her vanity and applying layer after layer of skincare products.

  The smell in the room was very good. There were the scents that belonged to a kid from Little Wang, the fragrances from Ruan Xia’s skincare products…


  Little Wang turned his head to look at Song Tingshen and ridiculed in a quiet voice, “Mom always has to do her skincare stuff every night. She spends a long, long time on it. But, we have to patiently wait for her. If we don’t, she’ll be unhappy.”


  “Got it.” Song Tingshen looked like he was a junior student receiving education from his senior classmate Little Wang.

  “Mom smells really good. Her skincare stuff smells really good too.”


  Little Wang stretched his chubby hand to Song Tingshen’s nose. “Mom bought baby lotion for me. Doesn’t it smell really good?”


  “En, very good.”


  “Dad don’t be angry that Mom didn’t buy it for you. It’s because you’re an adult. You can go buy it yourself. You have money.”


  Song Tingshen could only say, “Okay, Dad will go buy it himself.”


  As he watched Ruan Xia apply layer after layer of stuff on her face, he really wanted to ask her if her face felt uncomfortable. Did it not feel as if her face was being smothered?

  By the time Ruan Xia was finally done with her skincare routine and had to go to bed, it was almost 9PM.

  Little Wang felt that he was really lucky being able to sleep between his dad and mom. When he went to kindergarten tomorrow, he could tell everyone that he had slept with his parents. Just like everyone said, it was very good and comfortable. It was such a happy thing!

  Little Wang’s sleep pattern was always very regular, and he was asleep before Ruan Xia got into bed. His little chest regularly went up and down. He was also snoring. A child’s snoring was different from an adult’s; it was very quiet and wouldn’t bother the people next to him.

  Song Tingshen was lying on his side and so was Ruan Xia. Although there was a chubby kid between them, they didn’t take that into account due to his young age and small size. The 1.8-meter wide bed was big enough to accommodate two adults plus one child.

  The two adults silently looked at each other. At first, it felt a bit awkward. After all, they were sharing a bed. Later on, one person laughed, and the other person also laughed.

  “Good night.”


  “Good night.”


  Song Tingshen kissed Little Wang’s right cheek.

  Ruan Xia kissed Little Wang’s left cheek.

  These two actions were carried out almost simultaneously.

  That night, the dim light of night was just right.