Chapter Ninety-Four: The Four Little Ones Stir Up Trouble with the Instruments (Sixth Update, Requesting a First Subscription)

The room burst at once into a chaotic tangle of sound: piano keys tinkling in disorder, drums pounding in a wild jumble.

Little Autumn and Little White were half-squatting on the piano bench, their four tiny hands hammering at the black-and-white keys. Little Joy stood with a drumstick in each hand, her little body swaying fiercely as her head bobbed up and down; the sticks rattled down in a rapid beat, and with her delighted laughter ringing out, she had a kind of bold, hearty swagger all her own.

The three little ones were utterly carried away, so much so that even Little Winter was, for the moment, forgotten.

“Mm... sister...”

Little Winter gave a pitiful baby cry, but her soft little voice could stir no ripples at all amid the noise.

With her sisters lost in their frenzy of play, she was ignored, so she sucked on one finger and wiggled her little bottom as she toddled around the music room with her dark, curious eyes wide open, touching, moving, and tugging at anything she could reach.

As she looked around, something oval-shaped with eight little holes suddenly caught her eye.

“Mm...”

Little Winter reached out in curiosity and gave it a tug; at once, the instrument rolled down.

Her eyes lit up.

“Gurrrr...”

Crouching on the floor with her little bottom stuck out, she gave it a little push with her hand, and the instrument rolled away across the smooth wooden floor.

“Mm... hee...”

Watching it roll into the distance, the little one grinned, her mouth splitting into a smile.

Then Little Winter began rolling the instrument about for fun, until it came to a stop at Little Joy's feet.

When she saw her sister's little bun hairstyle bobbing away as though she had not noticed her, she pouted and rolled it over to her third sister and Little White instead.

Mm, her sisters were standing on chairs, so she could not reach them.

The little girl pushed herself up with one hand on the floor, waving her arms and calling out in baby sounds, trying to get her sisters' attention, but children gone wild had no room for anything else.

“Mm...”

Little Winter gave a small, disappointed sound, then crouched down again and resumed rolling the instrument around for fun.

As she kept rolling, it went out through the open doorway and into the corridor.

Little Winter wiggled after it and began playing there instead.

Wang Ying's studio was not large, but it was not small either, and it had only a little over a dozen staff members.

With Wang Ying's concert drawing near, most of them had gone out to deal with venue arrangements, security coordination, and the like, and the few who remained were all busy.

The only one with time to spare was Xiao Min, who was with the two little ones, Spring and Summer, along with Tan Jin'er, in the dance studio.

So at that moment, no one noticed Little Winter rolling her toy through the corridor.

Gurrrr...

The instrument rolled and rolled, and then suddenly came to the elevator door. Right then, the doors opened, and with a little "gurr," it rolled straight through.

“Eh? What is this...”

Wang Ying, who had just stepped out of the elevator, saw something roll to her feet. Curious, she bent down to pick it up, and froze.

It was a xun. How had it rolled all the way here?

Her expression cooled slightly as she stepped out of the elevator, holding the instrument in her hand. She wanted to see who had been treating a musical instrument like a toy and rolling it around the place. And then... she saw her.

A tiny little girl, biting a finger and wiggling her bottom.

“Win... Winter...”

Looking at Little Winter, Wang Ying was momentarily stunned.

A moment later, the chill on her face vanished at once. She strode forward on her long legs, scooped Little Winter up into her arms, and kissed her affectionately before smiling.

“Winter, why are you here? Where are your brother and sisters?”

“Mm... sister... there... there...”

Little Winter babbled and pointed with her little hand toward the far end of the corridor.

“How adorable.”

Wang Ying kissed the little one in her arms again, then said with a blink and a smile, “Then let's go find your brother and sisters.”

Holding Little Winter, she walked toward the music room. But before she even reached it, she heard a burst of chaotic, grating noise from afar.

At once, her expression turned indescribably strange, and her pace quickened unconsciously.

When she arrived at the doorway and saw the three little children inside frantically playing the piano and drums, her face stiffened for an instant, and then she could not help drawing in a long breath.

With Little Winter in her arms, she stepped into the room and walked up to Little Joy, who was wildly shaking and pounding the drums.

Thump, thump, thump...

Little Joy was still swaying furiously as she played, her little bun bobbing over and over. Then she suddenly looked up and saw Wang Ying standing in front of her.

Her whole body stiffened at once. Her little hand, drumstick raised high, froze in midair, and her laughter broke off abruptly. Her expression was frightened and guilty as she looked at Wang Ying.

Little Joy's drums stopped, and without her accompaniment the mixed-up music instantly cleared up a great deal. Little Autumn and Little White looked over in confusion, and then they, too, froze.

The drums stopped. The piano stopped. The music room fell instantly silent.

Holding hands, the two little ones hopped down from the piano bench, then pulled the still-dazed Little Joy over as well. With their heads lowered, the three stood in a neat row before Wang Ying, who was holding Little Winter.

“Ying... Sister Ying...”

Little Autumn called out with her head lowered, also feeling a little guilty and afraid, though she did not even know what they had done wrong.

“Mm.”

Wang Ying set Little Winter down, crouched, and stroked the heads of the three children, smiling.

“Am I really that scary? Weren't you all playing just now and having such a wonderful time?”

“Sister Ying... I... we... you... you're not angry?”

“I’m not angry,” Wang Ying said warmly to Little Autumn, who had spoken up. “It's fine. It's good that you're happy. What does make me a little sad is that you were all having fun, but no one was looking after Little Winter.”

She is still just a baby. Autumn, you are her sister, and so are Joy and White. How could you leave her alone?”

“Winter...”

At her words, the three little ones all looked down at Little Winter.

“Mm... sister... hug... hug me...”

Little Winter grinned with her baby teeth showing and held out her arms to Little Autumn for a hug.

“Wah!”

Little Autumn burst into tears at once. She wrapped her arms tightly around Little Winter and said through sobs in her childish voice, “S-sorry, Winter. Sister... sister didn't do it on purpose. Sister will never ignore you again.”

“Sis... sister...”

Held in Little Autumn's arms, Little Winter saw her sister crying and puckered her lips. Then she gave Little Autumn a sweet little kiss and babbled, “Sis... sister... don't... cry...”

Seeing Little Autumn's tearful self-reproach, and hearing Little Winter's babyish words of comfort, Wang Ying was deeply moved by the two little ones.

She gently gathered them into her arms and said softly, “No more crying, all right? Be good now. You are all such good children.”

As she spoke, she wiped Little Autumn's tears away and said, “Don't you like playing the piano and drums? How about I teach you?”

“Okay... okay!”

Little Autumn stopped crying and blinked her tearful eyes at her, nodding her little head.

“Good. Then let's go. I'll teach you.”

Wang Ying stood up with a smile. Then she looked at Little Joy, took out a tissue, and wiped the sweat from her little forehead with a laugh.

“Then let's start by learning the drums, shall we?”

“Okay!”

“Mm, but first, Auntie wants to hear your laughter,” Wang Ying said gently to the three little ones.

“Heh-heh...”

“Hee-hee...”

“Hiahia...”

The three little ones grinned, and the fear and guilt from before vanished in an instant.

Hearing their sweet baby laughter, Wang Ying's own face bloomed with a tender smile.

Then, glancing through the partition glass at the four people in the dance studio learning to dance with Xiao Min, she smiled softly, and led the four little ones over to the drum set.

“Joy, come here. I'll hold you and teach you how to play.”

“Hiahia... okay~~”