Chapter 94: Sweetness
Ming Zaozao’s little pearls fell like rain.
Zhu Yiqiao coaxed her, and Ming Fei coaxed her too, but she was like the little kitten in the cartoon, nestled in the big cat’s arms, mewing and crying.
However, the kitten was crying because it couldn’t reach the sweet dates.
And she was crying because she discovered that Pretty Auntie was also Mommy, and she hadn’t recognized her after all this time.
She couldn’t speak clearly through her sobs, only occasionally managing to call out “Mommy.”
By the time she finally stopped crying, her milky white face had turned a light jujube color, completely flushed. Ming Fei and Zhu Yiqiao’s hearts ached, and they continued to coax her, wiping away her tears.
Soon, Ming Zaozao transformed from a little kitten back to Zaozao the Great.
She nestled in Zhu Yiqiao’s arms, her small hand tightly gripping Zhu Yiqiao’s large hand, looking at her, then at Ming Fei, as if brainstorming something. Finally, when Ming Fei asked her again if she wanted more water, she mumbled,
“Mommy.”
Because Ming Zaozao was looking at her, Ming Fei was sure that this “Mommy” was addressed to her.
She responded softly, “Mm, Mommy is here.”
Ming Zaozao then looked up at Zhu Yiqiao and called her “…Mommy.”
The snow outside stopped, and the world brightened. At this moment, Zhu Yiqiao felt as if she heard Ming Zaozao’s first cry when she came into this world, leaving her unable to completely regain her composure for a long time.
It was a strange feeling.
Completely different from before.
She was even stunned for three seconds.
Perhaps a bridge had been built between their bloodlines. Ming Zaozao’s fingertips brushed Zhu Yiqiao’s long black hair, then she tugged on her own black hair and whispered,
“Baby is the same as Mommy.”
Zhu Yiqiao completely snapped back to reality, gazing into Ming Zaozao’s eyes: “Mm, Zaozao’s hair is like… mine.”
Ming Zaozao’s tears turned into a smile, and she said in a louder voice, “Like Mommy and Mommy!”
She was truly a clever and understanding child, guessing their meaning from a cartoon, and after crying her heart out, quickly recovered, smiling sweetly and calling out “Mommy” again.
Zhu Yiqiao’s heart was touched, and she kissed Ming Zaozao’s cheek.
“Zaozao, do you recognize Mommy?”
Ming Zaozao held her hand even tighter: “Baby wants Mommy.”
After saying that, she looked at Ming Fei and said seriously, “Since Mommy is back, Baby will love Mommy as much as she loves Mommy. Love, Baby loves Mommy and Mommy the most!”
Zhu Yiqiao and Ming Fei exchanged a look.
They both understood the unspoken message in each other’s eyes and cherished this gift from fate.
Looking away, Zhu Yiqiao patted Ming Zaozao’s head: “Thank you, Zaozao, for forgiving Mommy for keeping this from you for so long. I’m really sorry.”
Ming Zaozao wasn’t angry at all and was very good at expressing her love.
“Because… Baby loves Mommy.”
It wasn’t until dinner that the still slightly confused Ming Zaozao fully understood the story, the reason for her mothers’ secrecy, and that her two mommies were partners.
She didn’t quite understand what “partners” meant yet.
But she knew that her two mommies loved each other very much, loved her very much, and they would be together forever, even if the mountains, rivers, and rocks in the forest disappeared, they would always be together.
This made Ming Zaozao very happy, and the smile on her face never faded.
She even hummed a tune, like a cheerful little bird.
And because her happiness was so obvious, 008 and 0619 both wanted to hear her share the good news, and Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan also circled around her.
Zaozao the Great was happy to share, of course willing to share this good news.
Before her two mommies came downstairs, she chattered about everything, getting a little thirsty from talking, and picked up her milk bottle for a long drink.
Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan didn’t react much, just rolled around on the carpet.
On the other side, after learning that Teacher Xiao Fei and Chief Judge Zhu were together, 008 and 0619’s display screens were filled with screaming exclamation points, then, as if malfunctioning, the exclamation points turned into pink bubbles. Finally, when Ming Fei and Zhu Yiqiao came downstairs to the living room, they set off fireworks called “Love” on their screens.
Ming Zaozao didn’t understand these things.
She sat between her two mommies, eating dinner, a mouthful of rice on the left, a mouthful of meat on the right, her cheeks bulging like a little squirrel storing pine cones for the winter, her metaphorical fluffy tail swaying behind her.
Ming Fei’s eyes were filled with a smile: “Zaozao, are you full?”
Ming Zaozao, her belly round after the meal, nodded: “Mm-hmm!”
Then, she slid down from her chair, holding the little bunny plush toy she had bought at the children’s art exhibition, and waved to her two mommies.
“Baby is going to watch cartoons.”
“Mm.” Ming Fei smiled. “No more candy today.”
Ming Zaozao was obedient: “Okay, Baby understands.”
She blew a kiss to each of her mommies, hugged the little bunny plush toy, and ran back to the living room. 008 and 0619, knowing that humans didn’t like third wheels, let alone intelligent third wheels that never went offline or lost power, followed Zaozao the Great.
The dining room immediately fell silent.
Ming Fei held Zhu Yiqiao’s hand and smiled gently.
“Jiejie, are you relieved now?”
“Mm.” Zhu Yiqiao said, “Want to go for a walk?”
“Okay.”
They left through the side door of the dining room and walked along the flower corridor towards the depths of the garden. As they passed the newly built treehouse, Ming Fei suddenly received a call from Professor Qin of the academy.
She didn’t let go of Zhu Yiqiao’s hand, standing under the tree and listening to Professor Qin, politely responding after every sentence, indicating that she was listening attentively.
“Xiao Fei, because this evaluation was conducted rather late, the school requires us to finalize the materials tomorrow morning, and the group leader will compile and upload them to the intranet.”
“I saw that you haven’t replied to the message, and I was worried you didn’t see the notification, so I called to remind you.”
Ming Fei understood.
Because of Ming Zaozao, she hadn’t really looked at her phone since the afternoon, and she had also turned on silent mode last night. She had forgotten to switch it back to normal mode when she left “One Raccoon Hill” this morning.
She thanked Professor Qin and explained the situation: “Thank you, Professor Qin. I’ll have time on my way back home at noon. I’ve almost finished it, I’ll send it to the group later.”
Professor Qin said kindly, “Okay, don’t forget.”
“Mm.”
After explaining the document requirements from the academy, Professor Qin also mentioned a few things about the end-of-term arrangements. A beep came from the other end of the phone, and Professor Qin, who had a dinner appointment, hung up.
The moonlight was hazy, and their shadows under the streetlight completely merged.
Zhu Yiqiao was very close to Ming Fei. As the call ended, she clearly saw a notification pop up on Ming Fei’s display screen.
—Kitten Pursuit Diary is here to remind you~ Have you completed your task today? 🙂
Ming Fei paused and looked up, meeting Zhu Yiqiao’s gaze.
She knew Zhu Yiqiao had seen it, so she didn’t try to hide it, just her ears felt a little hot, after all, she had used “Kitten” in the note.
She didn’t know if Kitten would allow it, like it, or be happy about it.
After thinking for two seconds, she obediently opened the “Four Seasons” app, and after opening the Kitten Pursuit Diary in the first section, she showed the recorded page to Zhu Yiqiao.
“This is it.”
“Jiejie, take a look.”
Zhu Yiqiao didn’t hesitate, carefully reading every page of the Kitten Pursuit Diary, from the advantages and disadvantages Ming Fei had analyzed, to the notes on the techniques Ming Fei had learned, her gaze finally stopping on yesterday’s latest update.
[I’m a little nervous, not sure what will happen. If… if she gives me another hint, I probably won’t be able to resist confessing directly.]
[Because I really like her, undoubtedly.]
Seeing these two sentences, Ming Fei’s ears turned bright red.
She waited for the Chief Judge’s verdict, tentatively saying, “Jiejie…”
The evening breeze blew past, and Zhu Yiqiao softly responded with an “mm-hmm,” then lowered her head and typed on the display screen. She didn’t try to hide it, directly showing it to Ming Fei.
Two replies suddenly appeared after the two newly updated sentences.
[I haven’t been hinting enough, I’ll give Ah Fei clearer hints next time.]
[Most importantly, I also like Ah Fei very much.]
Besides this, Ming Fei noticed that the name of the diary had changed, from Kitten Pursuit Diary to Love Diary with Kitten.
And even—
A sentence popped up at the beginning.
[Shall we start recording from today, every hand-holding, every hug, every kiss?]
