Chapter 259: Birthday Has Arrived

Chapter 259: It's Birthday Time!

Su He: "...What an amazing friend! Can I order a dozen like her?"

Just then, Niu Niu interrupted their conversation.

"Mom, is it 12 o'clock yet? Is it me and brother’s birthday yet? Can we eat cake?"

"Sweetie, not yet. Sleep first, and tomorrow when you wake up, we can make the cake together," Su He said with a smile.

"Can I help too?" Niu Niu hugged Su He's neck excitedly.

"Mmm-hmm, you can help me mix the flour and all that," Su He replied, thinking about the cake recipe.

"Yay! Tomorrow I’ll help you and brother make our cake!" Niu Niu squirmed excitedly in Su He’s arms.

Su He gently patted her daughter's bottom. "Hold still, or you’re walking on your own."

Niu Niu immediately settled down.

Both kids were exhausted from playing all day and didn’t want to walk on their own.

The bigger they grow, the lazier they get.

By the time Su He and Fu Tinghua got home and lay down in bed, it was almost 11 p.m.

"Such a busy day," Su He couldn’t help but sigh.

It seemed like there wasn’t a single day that wasn’t hectic—just my luck.

Hearing her words, Fu Tinghua chuckled.

"Then take it easy tomorrow. I’ll get up and cook," he said, pulling Su He into his arms.

"Nope. The kids won’t eat your cooking," Su He flatly rejected his suggestion.

Fu Tinghua: "…"

"Hey, head into town tomorrow morning and pick up Liangchuan for the kids’ birthday," Su He added.

"Okay, I’ll go right after breakfast," Fu Tinghua agreed without hesitation.

"He said he’d come visit us in the city, but it’s been a month and we’ve heard zip. Might as well see what’s up."

"Probably his grandmother’s been busy."

As they chatted, Su He unknowingly fell asleep.

Looking at Su He, already out cold in his arms, Fu Tinghua gently kissed her forehead and closed his eyes to sleep as well.

......

The next day, when Su He woke up, Fu Tinghua already had breakfast ready.

He hadn’t made anything complicated—just some steamed sweet potatoes and corn, plus boiled eggs.

Su He couldn’t possibly gripe about this, right?

"How come you didn’t wake me?" Su He asked, yawning.

"No worries. Kids are still asleep too."

Fu Tinghua took a cup and a basin to get hot water for Su He.

Country mornings were getting a bit chilly.

Moreover, the water they drank here was ice-cold mountain spring water, so Fu Tinghua and Su He usually boiled water for warm baths and brushing teeth.

Once the water was ready, Fu Tinghua squeezed toothpaste onto Su He’s toothbrush and handed it to her.

Seeing her exhausted, half-asleep look, he couldn’t help but sigh.

"Why drag yourself up if you're still tired?" Fu Tinghua asked helplessly.

"It's fine, I'm already awake. I kept dreaming all night—totally wiped me out."

Felt like her mind never got a break.

"What did you dream about?" Fu Tinghua asked curiously.

Su He strained to remember but realized she couldn’t recall anything.

"Forgot," she answered before heading to the sink.

Fu Tinghua: "......"

When Niu Niu finally woke up, the sky was already bright, and her brother was still sleeping in.

They’d just returned to the village yesterday and had went wild playing, so they’d slept like rocks all night.

"Brother, brother, wake up! It’s our birthday today!"

For once, Niu Niu was waking Zai Zai up.

Zai Zai blearily opened his eyes and asked, "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"They’re probably in the kitchen—they didn’t come wake us up. Hurry, hurry, I want to make a cake with Mom!" Niu Niu was bouncing off the walls this early.

Zai Zai: "......"

He couldn’t get why his sister was so food-crazy.

Niu Niu climbed out of bed by herself, put on her shoes, and bolted for the kitchen.

"Mom, Mom!" she called out as she ran.

Su He had just finished washing up when she heard Niu Niu calling her.

"Yeah, I’m here."

Coming in from the backyard to the kitchen, she noticed Niu Niu had put her shoes on the wrong feet.

"Snort!" She couldn’t help but laugh.

"What’s wrong?" Niu Niu frowned, puzzled.

"Your shoes are on the wrong feet, sweetheart." Su He crouched down, picked her daughter up onto her lap, and switched them around.

Just then, Zai Zai moseyed into the kitchen.

Fu Tinghua came up beside Zai Zai—the father and son looked like the spitting image of each other.

"Go wash up. Dad has got the hot water ready for you," he said, patting his son's head.

"Okay, thanks, Dad," Zai Zai went to wash up without a fuss.

But Niu Niu stuck to Su He like glue, begging her to help brush her teeth and wash her face.

Fu Tinghua had always felt that Su He was way too soft on their daughter.

What he didn’t know was that Su He, as a modern person from the 21st century, believed in giving her daughter all the love she needed so she wouldn’t fall for some loser's sweet talk in the future.

She hoped that by pouring all this love into her daughter, if Niu Niu ever fell for Ji Liangchuan later, she wouldn’t end up chasing after him or playing mean girl for the female lead.

"Mom, can we make the cake now?" Niu Niu asked with big, hopeful eyes.

"After breakfast, okay? And later, Dad will go to town to pick up Liangchuan for your birthday. Do you want to go with him?"

Niu Niu hesitated. She wanted to see Brother Chuan in town but also wanted to make the cake with her mom.

"We won’t make the cake so early since you can’t eat it until the afternoon," Su He could tell exactly what she was thinking.

"Then I want to go to town. Mom, come too!" Niu Niu pleaded.

She had been sticking to Su He like a shadow lately, even insisting on staying with her at the shop during lunchtime, preferring to nap in the tiny cashier area rather than be apart.

"Okay, okay, we're going. It's market day today, right?"

Since there was a festival tomorrow, today happened to be market day.

"Yeah, I think so. How about we all make a trip to town and look around? We still need to buy some ingredients too," Fu Tinghua suggested.

"All right, we'll all go then," Su He had initially planned to stay home and cook for when they returned, letting them go alone.

But seeing how their daughter refused to leave her side, she thought, *Forget it, it’s their birthday—might as well give them what they want.*

After the family finished breakfast, Fu Tinghua headed out to the village.

They needed to let Wu Yanhua know they’d be going to town that morning.