I Bacame the Mother of His Child-Chapter 122: Quirky Parents

"Nannan, don’t cry, be good! Auntie is here! Just tell me anything," Xu Xiuxiu consoled as she gently patted Zhao Nan’s head, feeling the small body trembling and choking in her embrace, her heart suddenly ached unbearably.

This child, she had no idea how he had managed these past days. Now that he was here with her today, if Shi Tao and Guo Cuiping could treat him like that, who knew what kind of vile things Guo Cuiping could do in places that were out of sight? Thinking this, Xu Xiuxiu’s heart clenched painfully.

"Auntie, Nannan really missed you these days." Zhao Nan, comforted by Xu Xiuxiu, finally managed to compose himself and then raised his hand to clumsily wipe the tears from his face. Every time he was scolded and bullied by Shi Tao, he couldn’t help missing Aunt Xiu Xiu so much that his heart nearly broke, believing she was the only good person in the world.

Seeing Zhao Nan say he missed her melted Xu Xiuxiu’s heart. She immediately grinned at him indulgently, "Auntie missed Nannan too! How have you been recently? Has Shi Tao been bullying you often?" She reached out to help wipe the tears from his face.

"Not good, Shi Tao always bullies me. He even took the clothes and toys you bought for me," Zhao Nan said shaking his head, his long-suppressed emotions suddenly erupting with tears streaming down like a faucet. The thought of his toys and clothes being taken by Shi Tao broke his heart.

Xu Xiuxiu saw Zhao Nan crying genuinely heartbroken and instantly felt terribly anxious, hugging his small body and trying to console him continuously.

Song Cheng Guang stood on the couch and saw his mom and brother hugging, and ran over to join the fun, the barefoot little fellow muttering bossily as he approached, "Mommy, Cheng Guang wants a hug too."

"Not being good again, huh? Not even wearing your shoes!" Xu Xiuxiu, while still hugging Zhao Nan, glanced at Song Cheng Guang’s bare pudgy feet and immediately glared at him, this naughty boy!

Seeing Xu Xiuxiu glaring at him, Song Cheng Guang immediately grinned cheekily, showing his little white teeth: "Mommy, Cheng Guang knows now!" saying this while mischievously sticking out his tongue.

"Go back and put on your shoes," Xu Xiuxiu demanded sternly from Song Cheng Guang.

Song Cheng Guang nodded his head, turned around, and pitter-pattered back to the couch. After putting on his little slippers and turning back around, Xu Xiuxiu had already stood up and was sitting on the couch holding Zhao Nan’s hand: "Come on, Nannan, tell Auntie what exactly happened? How did that woman suddenly become your stepmother?" Guo Cuiping was clearly not presentable, how could Zhao Jian Country have taken an interest in her? Even a widower wouldn’t be so undiscriminating! He was, after all, someone from the Tiger Wolf Military Region, why would he settle for a woman like Guo Cuiping? Xu Xiuxiu was full of questions without answers.

"It was my grandparents who forced my dad to marry her. Over the New Year, they said they wouldn’t eat until my dad got a wife!" Zhao Nan recalled the incident feeling wronged. His dad was so pitiable as well, all because of those two bad grandparents! He would never go home for New Year’s again, it was no fun at all.

Starve themselves to force a marriage?

The Zhao family’s old man and wife are really unreliable! It’s one thing to find a decent stepmother for their son, so Zhao Jian Guo wouldn’t remain single forever, but to go on a hunger strike to force their son into marriage, and then choose someone as unreliable as Guo Cuiping? What were they thinking? Did they just not want Zhao Jian Guo to have a good life?

"Aunt Xiu Xiu! I overheard my second and third aunts talking once, and it seems that woman’s ex-husband was some distant nephew of my granddad’s. I heard he was quite rich. When he died, all his money went to Shi Tao. My grandparents heard it was quite a sum, so they made my dad marry Shi Tao’s mom," Zhao Nan said, puffing up his cheeks, his tone filled with sadness. "Aunt Xiu Xiu, actually, my second and third aunts both said my grandparents were deceived. Shi Tao’s dad didn’t leave any money; he had gambling debts! It was my dad who helped pay them off. Those creditors said if the debts weren’t paid, they’d sell Shi Tao to settle them." Zhao Nan spoke with a tone of disdain.

Wow, there’s such a thing!

Xu Xiuxiu was bewildered and speechless as she listened to Zhao Nan speak.

Poor Zhao Jian Guo indeed, saddled with such money-grubbing parents. Not only did he fail to get any money, but he also ended up being burdened by Zhao Jian Guo and even had to use up his own savings, tsk tsk! What a bizarrely outrageous situation.

"Does she often bully you behind your dad’s back?" Given how Guo Cuiping is, she probably wouldn’t dare mistreat Zhao Nan in front of Zhao Jian Guo, but Zhao Jian Guo is hardly ever at home. Isn’t Zhao Nan mostly under her control? Just look at how she acted today in front of her; can you imagine the unseen bullying?

"Yes! She often won’t let me have lunch. When we get food from the big cafeteria, Shi Tao gets to eat meat, and I can only eat vegetables." Hearing Xu Xiuxiu’s concern, Zhao Nan’s eyes reddened again, and his noticeably thinner face seemed even more drawn. "I told my dad, and he just told me to give in to Shi Tao, saying he’s younger and is my little brother. But he’s only a little more than a year younger than me, and he still wets the bed at night. Now my room smells so bad, and it takes me so long to fall asleep." Zhao Nan complained, frowning.

Bed-wetting! For someone as clean as Xu Xiuxiu, she found this hard to tolerate!

Her own child, Song Chengguang, is just over two years old, and he doesn’t wet the bed anymore, okay? Shi Tao is five or six years old, why is he still wetting the bed? Although Xu Xiuxiu knew some kids indeed wet the bed even when they were seven or eight or even older, because her own child was easier to handle, she couldn’t possibly imagine such a miserable scenario.

"Mom, let brother stay at our house." Song Chengguang was still young and couldn’t really understand what Zhao Nan was talking about, but the little guy knew that brother Zhao Nan was being bullied by that bad guy, and he felt it was his duty to protect him.

Xu Xiuxiu naturally wanted to keep Zhao Nan too, but the key question was, would Zhao Jian Guo agree? Zhao Nan is his son, and though he was forced into marrying a woman, if he knew that Zhao Nan was also being mistreated, who knows how upset he would be?

Thinking this, Xu Xiuxiu decided to wait and discuss it with Song Yuanhuan when he got back. He might know more than Zhao Nan, who was still quite young and might not be able to explain everything clearly.

"Nannan, don’t cry anymore, okay! Sit on the sofa and watch TV with your brother, or go to his room and play with toys, alright? Auntie is going to the kitchen to steam some buns now, and Uncle Song should be coming home for dinner soon." Xu Xiuxiu said and helped wipe Zhao Nan’s face again.

"Yes, Nannan won’t cry," Zhao Nan nodded, cooperating fully with Xu Xiuxiu.