Chapter 170: Best Friends Forever and Ever

"Xiao... Xiao-white, you... you don't... don't not like Xier, okay?"

Little Xier hugged Xiao-white tightly, her little milky voice choking with sobs:

"Xier and Qiu'er prepared the prettiest little seashell bracelet for you to give to you. Please don't not like Xier and Qiu'er!"

With tears welling in her eyes, little Xier let go of Xiao-white and hurriedly fished a delicate little seashell bracelet out of her tiny pocket.

She and little Qiu'er had searched the beach carefully for a long time to gather all the tiny seashells, each no larger than a fingernail. Then Wen Xiaorou had taken them to a nearby handicraft shop to string them together.

"Xiao-white..."

Little Qiu'er let out a timid, babyish call, her tiny hand reaching out tentatively, inch by inch, to tug at Xiao-white's little hand.

"Xier, Qiu'er..."

Xiao-white raised her little head, looking at the two little ones with glistening tears, and said in a very earnest, milky voice: "We are good friends, best friends forever and ever!"

"Mm! Mm!"

The two little ones nodded their little heads vigorously. Immediately, little Qiu'er took hold of Xiao-white's hand, and little Xier slipped the seashell bracelet onto Xiao-white's wrist.

"Huo huo... It's so pretty!"

Xiao-white lifted her little wrist, looking at the seashell bracelet as her little milky mouth broke into a wide smile—a very, very happy smile.

"Little dummy, don't cry anymore. I'm sorry, okay? Give me a smile."

Xiao-white reached out her little hand to wipe away little Xier's tears.

"Hia... hiahia..."

Little Xier's unique, milky giggle rang out, instantly filling the entire little shop. Little Qiu'er smiled too, a very, very sweet smile.

The three little toddlers made up, their bond growing even deeper as they hugged each other, jumping up and down with laughter.

"How wonderful, I'm so envious of them..."

Wen Xiaorou said softly, her eyes growing slightly damp with sudden sentimentality.

"Mmph~"

Held in her arms, little Dong'er saw the three older girls laughing happily, so she too curved her little milky lips into a smile, and then began to twist her little bottom, struggling to get down.

"Dong'er wants to get down, ya."

Wen Xiaorou kissed her once, then set the little one down on the ground.

"Brotheeeer~~"

The moment her little feet touched the floor, the tiny tot twisted her little bottom and waddled straight toward Yang Qing.

"My little darling, did you have fun?" Yang Qing smiled as he scooped her up, gave her a kiss, and chuckled.

"Mmph~ Na~ na~ Give to brotheeeer~~"

Little Dong'er fumbled around inside her tiny pocket and pulled out a small seashell.

"Haha... For me? Thank you, my little darling."

Yang Qing laughed heartily as he looked at the seashell handed over by little Dong'er, his radiant mood needing no elaboration.

Just then, Mother Bai and Tan Jin'er walked in through the doorway. Seeing the tear stains on the three little faces, Mother Bai asked in surprise:

"Eh, what happened to you little rascals? Why are your little faces all dirty?"

As she spoke, she glared at Xiao-white and said, "Little rascal, were you acting up again and making Qiu'er and Xier cry?"

"Hmph!"

Xiao-white let out a milky huff, turning her little head away to ignore her "fierce" mother.

"Mother Bai, don't be fierce to Xiao-white!" little Qiu'er pleaded.

"Mother Bai, it was all Xier's fault. Scold Xier, please, don't scold Xiao-white!" little Xier chimed in with her milky voice.

"Gah..."

The words of the two little ones instantly left Mother Bai feeling awkward; she wasn't actually being fierce to her own precious daughter.

"Giggle... Alright, Mother Bai is just caring about you all,"

Tan Jin'er stepped in to rescue Mother Bai from her awkwardness, speaking with a soft smile: "Come on, big sister will take you to wash your faces, and then we'll have dinner. We have bangbang chicken!"

"Bangbang chicken!"

Hearing this, the eyes of the three little ones lit up instantly. Cheering happily, they scurried up to the second floor to wash their faces.

Once the three little ones had left, Yang Qing turned to Qin Hao and Wen Xiaorou with a smile: "Xiao Hao, Xiaorou, thank you both so much for your hard work today, taking the two little ones out to play. Let's have dinner together later."

Hearing this, Wen Xiaorou was just about to speak when Qin Hao beat her to it:

"Alright, um... Brother-in-law, how did your studies go today?"

"I learned a lot," Yang Qing smiled. "Brother Yan teaches very thoroughly, I still need to work hard."

"Mm..." Qin Hao nodded. "Don't hesitate to ask if there's anything you don't understand, Brother Yan is a very good person."

Yang Qing nodded with a smile: "Mm, I know. But I'm quite curious, how did you think of taking Qiu'er and the others out to play today?"

As he spoke, Yang Qing's gaze drifted from time to time toward Wen Xiaorou. Mother Bai and Bai Zhijun were also staring fixedly at the two of them, knowing smiles of experienced onlookers playing at the corners of their mouths.

Wen Xiaorou felt rather embarrassed under the gaze of the three of them, lowering her head shyly.

Qin Hao was momentarily stunned, then he cast an awkward, sheepish look at Wen Xiaorou, scratched the back of his head, and said, "It's just... it's just..."

"Brother!"

Just as he was hesitating and trying to explain, a tiny milky voice rang out abruptly.

Having washed her little face clean, little Qiu'er came pattering down the stairs on her short legs.

"Brother, this is for you."

The little one held out a golden seashell toward Yang Qing.

"Whoa! Such a pretty seashell! Did my darling pick this up at the beach?" Yang Qing felt pleasantly surprised and flattered.

"Mm-hmm, yeah," little Qiu'er said happily. "Qiu'er dug holes and searched for a long, long time. I'm giving it to brother so you'll make a huge fortune!"

"Haha... Good! A huge fortune! Thank you, my darling!"

Laughing merrily, Yang Qing took the seashell, scooped up the little one, and planted a loud kiss on her cheek, making her giggle with delight.

At that moment, Qin Hao breathed a sigh of relief at being rescued by little Qiu'er. Actually, he wouldn't have minded breaking the news of his relationship with Wen Xiaorou to Yang Qing and Bai Zhijun, but...

Sigh, Xiaorou probably hasn't fully accepted him yet. Better take things slowly.

Sighing inwardly, he turned to Yang Qing and said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, tomorrow I'd like to take the little ones to the water park. What do you think..."

"Mm..."

Yang Qing was slightly startled at first, then he looked at little Qiu'er's expectant eyes and smiled, "Alright, as long as you don't let it interfere with your own matters."

"It won't interfere, don't worry," Qin Hao said, casting a glance at Wen Xiaorou with a smile.

Yang Qing looked at him amusedly, "Alright, suit yourself. Tomorrow happens to be Jin'er's day off too, so she can go along."

Then, changing the subject abruptly, he looked at Wen Xiaorou and asked, "Are you coming too, Xiaorou?"

"Ah... I..." Wen Xiaorou hesitated.

Seeing this, Yang Qing smiled and added, "Go ahead. Xuexue said you have these next few days off anyway, it would be good to go out and have some fun. Besides, you can help Jin'er keep an eye on the little ones; otherwise, I'm afraid she won't be able to handle them all by herself."

Wen Xiaorou: "Um... alright, then..."

"I'll come pick you up tomorrow!"

Qin Hao chimed in rather excitedly, causing Wen Xiaorou's face to flush even redder.

...

The sun smiled brightly the next morning, casting warm beams of sunlight through the window and over the four little toddlers.

"Mmph~"

Little Qiu'er gently opened her sleepy eyes. Rubbing them with her tiny hands, she looked at little Dong'er, who was sleeping pucker-lipped in her arms just like a little baby, and giggled softly as she leaned down to give her a kiss.

Last night, little Xier had abandoned little Dong'er for the very first time, choosing instead to sleep cuddled up with Xiao-white.

After all, their dear Xier was now a big toddler who no longer wet the bed, and she no longer needed little Dong'er to serve as her little scapegoat.

Awakened, little Qiu'er glanced at Xiao-white, then at little Xier, and giggled as she began to play with her own little toes.

One vine bears two melons, you wiggle and I wiggle, we are both good babies...

Her little toes wiggled and curled naughtily back and forth until, finally, she successfully managed to hook her folded little clothes piled in the corner.

"Heehee..."

The little one let out a triumphant giggle, feeling that her little toes were simply too dexterous.

"Qiu'er, what are you doing, ya?"

Just as she continued to hook her little clothes, Xiao-white's milky voice suddenly sounded.

"Heehee... Xiao-white, you're awake. Look at how nimble my little toes are, ya."

Little Qiu'er giggled, wiggling the little toes that were still hooked to her clothes to demonstrate.

"Huo huo... Look at mine, this is my specialty, ya!"

Xiao-white instantly caught the enthusiasm, and immediately began wiggling her own fair, tender little toes to hook things as well.

A moment later, little Xier woke up too, and so the team dedicated to playing with their little toes grew even larger.