Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
“Painting Mommy as a demon? Tell me honestly, whose idea was it? Who was the one who drew this?”
Qiu Tong stuck her hands at her waist and demanded an explanation from them. She lowered her eyes to carefully observe the exaggerated and bold caricature of her.
With this artistic talent, she secretly wondered if the Qiu family could also produce a genius painter?!
The three children avoided Qiu Tong’s gaze and responded to her question with silence.
Qiu Tong rolled her eyes and covered her heart with her hand. She pretended to have a heart attack and said, “I’m so pitiful. I must be the first mother to be angered to death by her child’s drawing, right? I didn’t know I looked like this in your hearts!”
“Do you know how dangerous the world is outside? Mommy hired Uncle Ke Le to protect you, but you sneaked out…”
“What if something happened? How sad will Mommy be?”
Qiu Tong gasped in an exaggerated manner, clutching the drawing and comparing it to her own face. She shook her head and sighed quietly.
“Mommy!”
Little Yu ran over to Qiu Tong’s side in a panic, supporting her by the arm and shaking her gently. Copying a doctor’s actions, she pressed against Qiu Tong’s chest. She looked back and stamped her feet anxiously.
“Eldest Brother, Second Brother, quickly think of a solution. I don’t want Mommy to be angered to death!”
Qiu Tong smirked.
Anxiety and awkwardness flashed across Qiu Xingqiao’s eyes. He explained stiffly, “That’s not you!”
“We were drawing someone else…”
“Really?”
Qiu Tong hesitated, wanting to believe it, but out of the corner of her eye, she caught a glimpse of the small line of words at the bottom of the canvas. It was neatly labeled—
“This is Miss Qiu!”
Miss Qiu?
Qiu Tong was speechless. She raised one fair finger and pointed at those words. She looked up at Qiu Xingqiao and asked, “How are you going to explain this?”
The three kids and Ke Le sank into an awkward silence…
The evidence was right in front of her eyes, but Little Yu suddenly thought of something. She snatched the drawing paper over and compared it with her little face.
“Mommy! My brothers drew this small portrait for me. The kindergarten teachers asked me to be a model in an art class!”
“Mommy is so beautiful and gentle… how could she possibly look like this?”
At this point, Little Yu paused and tugged at the corner of Qiu Tong’s clothes to comfort her. “Mommy, don’t be angry, okay?”
Qiu Tong’s heart nearly melted from all the coaxing.
She had not really wanted to fuss with them and she was now in a much better mood. She led them into the house.
After returning home, Qiu Tong saw Ye Luan covering his arm with his school bag. She blocked his way back to his room and squatted down, pulling him to her side.
She looked at the clear bite mark on Ye Luan’s forearm and asked with a frown, “What happened?”
Ye Luan pursed his lips and refused to speak.
Qiu Xingqiao stood at the side for a while. He stared at the floor and admitted, “I bit him!”
“Those people were chasing after you, but he stopped us from following you… so I bit him!”
Qiu Xingqiao told the truth with a straight face.
Going by how Qiu Tong was usually so concerned about Ye Luan, she would definitely reprimand him like the last time, right?
Qiu Xingqiao clenched his fists and leaned against the wall like a man, waiting for Qiu Tong to reprimand him…
Nevertheless, he still felt rather indignant…
Qiu Tong came to his side and raised her hand.
Qiu Xingqiao instinctively closed his eyes, thinking that he would be beaten. But in the next second, those gentle hands patted the top of his head.
“Mommy knows that you were just too anxious in wanting to save me…”
“Mommy told Brother Ye Luan to stop you guys. Next time, don’t hurt him on impulse. You have to apologize to him, okay?”
Qiu Xingqiao was surprised by Qiu Tong’s gentleness, while Little Yu looked at Qiu Tong with admiration. “I want to have my head patted too!”
“Okay!”
Qiu Tong hugged the three children and patted them one by one. She said in a low voice, “Thank you for helping Mommy today…”
With her gentle touch, all the grudges between Little Yu and Qiu Tong dissolved. Little Yu smiled sweetly and obediently leaned into Qiu Tong’s arms.
However, the two boys looked away stubbornly. From time to time, they would glance at Qiu Tong’s smiling lips and then look at Ye Luan with complicated feelings…
In the evening, Qiu Tong found the medical kit at home and brought Ye Luan to her side. She took off his clothes and looked at the few bruises on his body. Her heart ached as she narrowed her eyes.
She took some iodophor and dabbed it gently on his wounds to prevent infection.
Ye Luan endured the pain as his body trembled uncontrollably.
Qiu Tong knew that he could be very stubborn, so she asked softly, “Who was chasing you today? Why did they chase you?”
Ye Luan’s expression changed and his body stiffened. He replied calmly, “I don’t know..”