1990s: Spring Water Family

Chapter 289: Lele's First Birthday Celebration – The Biggest Winner
"Misstep."

Gu Bin sensed something was amiss, and his sharp mind raced: "I was so busy listening to music and reminiscing that I didn't notice anyone else in the restaurant. This person is quite bold, not only tipping me off but also daring to take photos. Men aren't that gossipy; it must be a woman. None of my wife's former colleagues have ever seen Xiaoyi before. Who else could recognize him and do something so stupid? Combining these two factors, only..."

"hiss."

Lin Xiyu gasped, watching in disbelief as he uttered the name Li Qing: "What's wrong with your brain? How could you guess that?"

"Humph."

A hint of coldness flashed in Gu Bin's eyes as he expressed his dissatisfaction with a certain gossip: "I guess it's her. Apart from her, no one else would dare to use their wealth to scheme against me behind my back."

"She's on my side this time."

Lin Xiyu's beautiful eyes widened, exuding an air of domineering: "What's wrong with tipping me off? Or do you really have some other ideas in mind that you want to keep from me?"

"Wife, you're really wronging me."

Gu Bin readily admitted defeat, the coldness in his eyes disappeared, and he revealed a fawning smile: "I wouldn't dare to hide anything from you, so I've told you everything."

Lin Xiyu persisted: "Even if I didn't ask you, you didn't tell me on your own."

"This is my fault."

Gu Bin slapped his forehead in annoyance: "I was going to tell you when I got back yesterday, but I was so scared by my son that I was only focused on calling back his soul and forgot about the important matter."

Stop using your son as an excuse.

Lin Xiyu didn't want to hear his excuses.

How about this?

Gu Bin was completely at a loss: "Tonight, wife, take my clothes and call out to my soul in the direction of Shanghai, so that you won't keep suspecting that my soul is left outside and didn't come back with me."

Lin Xiyu: "."

-

The four babies are the apple of our eye, the apple of our hearts.

When Sixth Grandfather heard that Da Bao had fallen into the water and almost got into trouble, he also came from Banshan Street and gave Gu Bin a good scolding.

Gu Bin listened to the reprimand with his head down, not daring to utter a single complaint.

After the training was over, the old man gave another order, instructing him to teach the younger generation to swim quickly and without delay.

Rui Rui is ten years old. Given her age, learning anything will be easy for her.

Gu Bin, the uncle, didn't hesitate. He scooped the koi out of the pond and threw his nephew in.

The fishpond is the right size and water level, but the spring water is so cold that even in the sweltering heat of summer, you can get goosebumps just by stepping into it.

Fortunately, Rui Rui has loved sports since he was a child and has excellent physical fitness. In his uncle's words, he's incredibly resilient.

Even so, I sneezed several times as soon as I got into the water.

Grandma Gu was horrified. She slapped her uncle on the shoulder again and gave him a good scolding.

"RuiRui aspires to be a pilot, what's a little bit of saliva to her?"

Gu Bin had his own reasons: "Only in this way can soldiers develop an iron will."

"Uh-huh."

Sixth Grandfather found these words agreeable and didn't scold him further, which was considered giving him some face.

Rui Rui also lived up to his expectations. Under his guidance, she quickly mastered the technique of holding her breath and floated on the water.

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee."

Seeing her brother learning to swim, Xixi became interested and tried to get into the water herself.

A certain cunning uncle tricked his nephew in a truly masterful way.

But when it comes to their own children, it's a completely different story.

The four babies are very young and cannot afford to get cold or sick, especially Lele, whose health is of utmost importance.

He came up with a whole host of reasons, and no matter how much his parents looked down on him, he couldn't bear to let his son swim in the fishpond.

Urged by his sixth grandfather, he had an extra-large aluminum bathtub custom-made.

The kind that can hold four babies splashing around in at once.
-

With the big bathtub, the babies finally had a new source of fun, eagerly playing in the water.

An'an, Xixi, and Lele, wearing their little swimming sleeve floats, were kicking their chubby little legs in the water, mimicking the dog paddle quite well.

On the contrary, Pingping experienced some setbacks and fell behind her younger brothers and sisters.

Initially affected by falling into the water, the little guy was a bit traumatized. No matter how his father coaxed him, he refused to put his two chubby legs into the water, his legs spread wide apart.

Later, with her mother's encouragement and guidance, she overcame her fear and dared to go into the water to play with her younger siblings.

The babies had a lot of fun playing in the water, and Grandpa Liu and Grandma Gu watched with great enjoyment.

The summer vacation passed by in a joyful atmosphere as the two grandparents doted on their grandchildren.

In the golden autumn of September, Rui Rui returned to XJ for classes, and the four babies also celebrated their first birthdays.

-

On September 17th, Gu Bin wanted to have some fun, so he borrowed from ancient palace dramas and let his children experience the joy of a baby's first birthday celebration.

The whole family cooperated and laid out a big red carpet under the pomegranate tree. Grandpa Liu and Grandma Gu each chose their favorite items and placed them in different locations.

Lin Xiyu joined in the fun, placing a paper-cut in a corner of the carpet.

"Babies, come on, choose what you like. Take whichever one you like, but you can only choose one. Think carefully before you take it."

Grandma Gu smiled and coaxed the little baby after everything was put away.

"Don't hesitate if you see something you like."

Grandpa Liu's way of giving instructions was completely different from Grandma Gu's; he was incredibly decisive: "You have to be accurate and fast. If you hesitate, someone else will snatch it away."

"Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee"

Under the old man's command, the babies noticeably sped up, using both hands and feet to crawl towards their desired objects.

An'an was the most focused of the four babies. Without any hesitation, she crawled over and hugged the remote-controlled airplane that Li Qing and her son had given to the babies when she was born a year ago.

"Does An'an want to fly airplanes when she grows up?"

"He shares the same hobby as his brother; he'll be a pilot too."

"That's hard to say. You can build airplanes instead of flying them."

"Maybe our An'an is smart and can become a scientist and build a space shuttle when she grows up."

"That's wonderful! Our family is just missing a scientist."

The remote-controlled airplane was placed there by Grandma Gu. The three nannies deliberately tried to make the old lady happy, which made her beam with joy.

-

Xixi was a little slower than An'an, but she managed to grab a small wooden toy gun that her sixth grandfather had carved himself, before Da Bao could do it.

"Good girl!"

Grandpa Liu was delighted and smiled contentedly: "Our Xixi is clearly a descendant of a military family, a daughter of a general. When she grows up, she will go to military academy and serve the country."

"Why would a girl join the army?"

Grandma Gu hesitated for a moment: "Pingping also wants the toy gun, let's give it to his brother."

Da Bao understood what his great-grandmother said, and reached out his little hand, trying to snatch his sister's toy gun.

Xixi refused to give it to him, and the two children fought over it, neither willing to give in.

"Hey, hey."

Grandma Gu was both amused and exasperated: "Why are these two children fighting?"

"Pingping, you're not allowed to bully your little sister."

Gu Bin moved even faster, bending down to pick up Xixi.

Da Bao was unwilling to give up and opened his little mouth as if to cry.

"Pingping, be good, don't cry."

Grandpa Liu acted as a peacemaker, smiling as he patted Da Bao's little head: "Grandpa will make you another one, a little toy gun for you and your sister."

"hey-hey."

Da Bao understood, stopped crying, looked around again, and crawled toward another object he liked.

The whole family stared at him with wide eyes, their gaze following the chubby little body until it finally landed on a festive bright red paper-cut.

Da Bao picked up the paper cutter and happily waved his little hand.

There was a moment of silence beneath the pomegranate tree. It was a time that should have been joyous, yet it felt strangely unsettling.

Even though Lin Xiyu is the biological mother, she never expected that the child she chose to cut paper would be Da Bao.

She thought it was one of her two daughters, especially Lele, who was small and weak and couldn't do high-intensity exercise.

The little girl quietly learned paper cutting from her mother; having some talent is a good choice.

-

"Pingping, take another look, is there anything else you like?"

Grandma Gu was clearly thinking the same thing as her. After a brief moment of surprise, she smiled and coaxed, "There are so many fun things to choose from, it's so boring to just pick a piece of paper."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiyu's lips twitched involuntarily.

Although she also expressed doubts about Da Bao's choice, there was no need to reject it so completely.

That's not waste paper, it's paper cutting, a work of art.

It can't be measured in money!

-

"elder brother."

Lele had her eye on a doll, but seeing her brother holding the paper cutout, she suddenly called out "Brother!" and reached out her hand to Dabao.

That one word, "brother," must have warmed Da Bao's heart.

Da Bao was clearly stunned for a moment. When he realized that his sister was calling him, he excitedly jumped up from the ground and rushed over to hug his sister.

He had just learned to walk, and he used too much force, causing Lele's little body to lean back, and the two of them almost fell down together.

Fortunately, Gu Bin reacted quickly and caught his daughter with one hand, preventing her from hitting the ground on the back of her head and causing a tragedy.

"Oh my, my little darling."

Grandma Gu was terrified and quickly pulled Da Bao away to prevent him from crushing his younger sister.

"Lele can call me 'brother' now?"

Lin Xiyu's attention was different from others; she heard that soft, thin, and not very clear "brother" very clearly.

"It seems so, I heard it too."

"Lele can talk now?"

"She can't call me 'Papa' or 'Mama' yet, but she can call me 'Brother' now. Rui Rui should be happy if she hadn't left."

"It seems to be thanks to Rui Rui; nagging her younger siblings every day really works."

Grandma Gu and the others realized this too late, but the more they thought about it, the more amusing it became.

“LeLe is awesome.”

Lin Xiyu was so excited that she picked up her daughter and gave her a big kiss.

"Xixi, call me Daddy."

Gu Bin felt a little jealous, unwilling to let his nephew beat him to it.

His wife kissed Lele, so he coaxed Xixi into calling him "Dad."

"Papa, Papa"

Xixi's pronunciation is not standard; her soft, babyish voice sounds like a baby's.

"Honey, did you hear that? Xixi called for her dad."

Even so, Gu Bin was extremely satisfied and proudly showed off his daughter to his wife.

"Xixi is great."

Lin Xiyu leaned over and kissed Xixi's little cheek.

"Pingping, Xixi, and Lele can all talk now, only An'an is missing."

The adults watched with amusement and then turned their attention to An'an.

An'an's attention was entirely focused on the remote-controlled airplane; she seemed oblivious to the surrounding noise.

"An'an, call me Daddy."

Gu Bin tried to coax him.

An'an pursed her lips, showing no intention of supporting the performance.

"If you can't do it, let Xiyu do it."

Grandma Gu pushed her grandson away with disgust.

"An'an, call me Mommy."

Lin Xiyu was both amused and exasperated. She could only pretend not to see her husband's resentful look and try to communicate with her son.

An'an suddenly moved, and with a forceful pull of her chubby little hand, she broke the propeller of the remote-controlled airplane.

"Uh"

Lin Xiyu's eyelids twitched, and she subconsciously reached out her hand, wanting to stop him from causing further damage.

"It's okay, let him play."

Gu Bin patted his wife on the shoulder to comfort her.

"this kid"

Lin Xiyu felt sorry for the money: "He ruined a remote-controlled airplane worth thousands of dollars."

"It's the kids' birthday today, so we can't let them be naughty."

Gu Bin smiled slyly and said, "I won't care tomorrow. Whether you want to bully me or beat me up, it's up to you."

Lin Xiyu: "."

"What kind of father are you?"
Before his granddaughter-in-law could respond, Grandma Gu grew dissatisfied and slapped him on the shoulder: "On such a joyous occasion as a birthday, how can you let your daughter-in-law hit the child? Don't let An'an's quiet nature fool you; he's very smart, and he remembers everything I say."

You're finished.

Lin Xiyu chuckled and teased him, echoing Grandma Gu's words: "You've already offended your son, I'll write this down in a little notebook."

"I'm his father, why would I be afraid of him?"

Gu Bin glanced down at the chubby little boy and said dismissively, "If he wants to challenge his father, let's wait until he grows up."

"You can't be so sure of what to say."

Grandma Gu remarked with emotion, "The years go by so fast. They look so small now, but they've grown up in the blink of an eye."

"Then we should beat them up a few more times while they're still young."

Gu Bin continued slyly, "You have to start educating your children early. It seems I need to arrange martial arts lessons as soon as possible so they can improve their health."

Lin Xiyu: "."

Grandma Gu: "."

"Hahaha."

Grandpa Liu listened with great pleasure and laughed heartily.

-

Lele's soft, sweet "Brother!" unlocked another new skill for Da Bao, who was already a baby.

The skill of spoiling your sister!
The little guy not only willingly gave the paper cutting to his sister, but also picked up all the remaining items and piled them up next to his sister.

The first birthday celebration concluded perfectly, and Lele was the biggest winner, receiving a whole bunch of gifts, plus a loyal older brother.

Giving the paper-cut to Lele was like getting back on track after a deviation, and Lin Xiyu's anxious heart finally settled down.

An'an is engaged in scientific research, Xixi is applying to military academy, and Lele is learning paper cutting. The results of their first birthday celebration seem to foreshadow their future.

As for Da Bao, no one will worry about him. He is a kind-hearted and sunny boy who knows how to care for his younger sister. Even if he encounters some setbacks, he can still carve out his own world with his passion.

Moreover, he also has three blood-related siblings.

With the four siblings working together, what difficulty can they not overcome? What calamity can they not survive? And who would dare to bully them?

With her older siblings protecting and pampering her, Lele's health will improve.

With the care and love of a family, the four babies will grow up healthy and happy.

Gu Bin put his arm around his wife's shoulder, and the couple looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

(End of this chapter)