LIGHTNOVELSTORY Chapter 598. Everyday Family Life
It was still a bit early before the kindergarten pick-up time, yet the entrance was already packed with a sea of parents.
Ning Chu stood at a distance, peering at the nearly-impenetrable wall of parents outside, straining to peek over the crowd on her tiptoes.
After a few glances, she sighed and lowered her head, continuing to search for interesting job openings on her phone.
It’s been days since her daughter started school, and she still hadn’t found a satisfactory job… Not that she was aiming for a high salary, but the job had to meet her criteria, right?
However, with the need to pick up her daughter at 4:30 and the toll of long-term childcare pulling her away from society, she had no prospects so far.
Before long, the kindergarten gates swung open.
A line of children swarmed out, giddy and giggling under the teachers’ supervision, resembling a group of little yellow ducklings led by a big, friendly duck.
“Mom!”
Her daughter, sporting a little backpack, stumbled over with her short legs and wrapped her arms around Ning Chu’s thigh.
“How was your day at kindergarten?” Ning Chu asked.
“Not good!”
Ning Chu froze for a moment, crouching down nervously to interrogate, “What happened? Did someone bully you?”
“That food…” Her daughter scrunched her face in disgust. “It was so awful.”
Ning Chu furrowed her brows. Kindergarten tuition and meal fees were outrageously high, and is this how they repaid parents?
“Cilantro, it’s so stinky!”
“……”
Ning Chu went silent, rolling her eyes. “You’re the only one in the family who doesn’t eat cilantro.”
“It’s stinky~”
Some people just can’t get used to the taste of cilantro, and she never considered forcing her daughter to eat it.
“Let’s go home now.”
The kindergarten wasn’t too far from home, and finding parking while driving could be a hassle, so Ning Chu preferred to ride the electric bike with a child seat attached.
On the way back, her daughter chattered non-stop about everything that happened at kindergarten, her mouth running like a little motor.
“Mom~ The teacher taught us how to dance~ And gave me a little red flower! Look!”
“Will you show it to me and Dad when we get home?”
“No!”
“Why are you being shy~”
Most of the talking was her daughter blabbering on, with Ning Chu occasionally cutting in to ask questions.
She noticed her daughter seemed to have inherited her chattiness; when happy, she’d babble endlessly at Wen Yang too.
Once home, her daughter dashed off excitedly to find her teddy bear, while Ning Chu stretched, dreading what to make for dinner.
Actually, she enjoyed cooking quite a bit, especially when everything turned out well. Watching her husband and daughter devour the food gave her a sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that surpassed almost anything else.
But after searching for a job all day, Ning Chu just couldn’t bring herself to cook.
She followed her daughter into the spare bedroom, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame. “How about we just make noodles for dinner tonight?”
Noodles were the easiest—fry an egg, throw in the noodles, add some veggies and shredded meat, and it would take no time at all.
“I want to eat a hamburger~”
“Then we’ll order takeout? Sounds good~”
Ordering takeout was perfect since Ning Chu didn’t want to cook anyway, and she hadn’t had a hamburger in a while.
If Wen Yang came home and asked, she’d just say their daughter cried and insisted on eating it~
The spare room was originally a game room, but a couple of days ago, her daughter wanted to sleep with the teddy bear, so Ning Chu had cleaned it up and turned it into her daughter’s room.
All the game consoles and computers were moved to the master bedroom, leaving a single desk in the spare room for her daughter to use as a study table.
“Starting tonight, you’ll sleep with the teddy bear~” Ning Chu felt a bit uneasy. “Just don’t come crying in the middle of the night.”
If she cried, it wouldn’t be a problem, but it might scare Wen Yang into a soft mess.
“I won’t, I won’t~”
The teddy bear was all fresh and dry, lacking any unusual smell. Her daughter lifted the bear’s arm and shouted, “Teddy bear is going to sleep with me!”
Let’s just hope she doesn’t come knocking in the middle of the night…
Ning Chu could already picture herself snuggled up in Wen Yang’s embrace, while her daughter cried and banged at the door outside.
“Shu Jun~ Did the teacher assign homework?”
She glanced at her phone; the kindergarten’s class group had a new assignment posted by the teacher.
To be honest, the hardest part for her was tutoring homework. Luckily, her daughter was a Succubus and not a cat, so she probably wouldn’t be as brainless as Hei Dou.
Back in the day when she taught Hei Dou, she nearly lost it.
“Looks like it?”
When talking to her daughter, Ning Chu often intentionally raised her voice and adopted a cute, soft tone.
“Then let’s do our homework first, and then we can eat hamburgers, okay?”
Her daughter hesitated but eventually nodded.
However, it turned out that a three-year-old was even harder to tutor than a cat.
At first, her daughter was somewhat cooperative, but after just a few minutes of sitting still, she began clamoring to play with her teddy bear, then suddenly shouting for cheese sticks. Anything Ning Chu said went in one ear and out the other; every little sound distracted her completely, making it impossible for her to focus.
“I gave birth to this… I gave birth to this…”
Ning Chu kept taking deep breaths, trying to calm her rising rage. It felt like her hand holding the pen was trembling.
“She’s only three; it’s normal to have a short attention span.”
She whispered little self-affirmations while letting out a long sigh, “Why did I even have a child? To torment myself?”
Thinking about enduring this for another decade, tutoring from kindergarten all the way to college entrance exams, made her blood pressure spike; the future felt grim.
Even though she probably couldn’t even handle middle school math anymore.
“I’m home! Where is everyone? Aren’t you coming to pick me up today?”
For once, Wen Yang came home and didn’t see his wife or daughter around.
As soon as he called out, the daughter, whose attention had just barely focused, jumped from her chair and dashed off to greet her dad. “Dad! Did you bring me something good to eat?”
Ning Chu wore a face of utter despair as she dragged her lifeless legs to follow out of the spare room.
“I brought your mom a cup of milk tea, but you’re only allowed one sip.”
“Okay~” Her daughter nodded adorably.
She eagerly slurped a mouthful of the milk tea, puffing out her cheeks.
“You little clever one.” Wen Yang scooped up his daughter into his arms and looked up, nearly bursting into laughter. “Wait, why do you look like that?”
“Ask your sweet daughter.”
Ning Chu rolled her eyes. “From now on, you handle Shu Jun’s homework. I can’t stand it; it might just kill me.”
“Is there homework already? It shouldn’t be too hard, right?”
“Not hard, but can your daughter sit still for five minutes?”
She angrily flopped onto the sofa, curling up her legs and switching to her phone.
Wen Yang set her daughter down, grinning as he scooted next to his wife. “Don’t be upset, have some milk tea.”
“Mommy, don’t be mad~”
No matter how angry she was, every time Ning Chu faced the dual comforts of Wen Yang and their daughter, her frustration melted away swiftly.
She let out a huff, snatched the milk tea, and took a big sip.
“Just think, tonight Shu Jun will be sleeping all by herself…”
Ning Chu’s expression, devoid of emotion, cracked as her lips curled upwards.