Qu Qingwei loved watching children play, especially adorable and handsome little ones like Gu Zai and Bai Ningyue.
At first, Ningyue felt a bit reserved here, but under the warm care of Grandma Qu Qingwei, he gradually relaxed.
Determined to be a good mother, Su Su took out her phone and searched online for early education books. She knew nothing about raising children and needed to learn.
When Ning Ke asked what she was doing, Su Su said she wanted to buy some early education books. Since Ning Ke had experience, she recommended a few good ones, and Su Su immediately placed an order.
Hearing the conversation between the two young mothers, Qu Qingwei couldn’t help but smile. On one hand, she thought youth was wonderful, and on the other, she felt that Su Su truly wanted to be a good mother now.
Just as Su Su was about to exit the order page, she suddenly remembered that Gu Shao seemed to have some similar books in his study. Had he already bought them?
She took a screenshot and sent it to Gu Shao, asking if he had bought or read those books.
After quite a while, Gu Shao replied.
“Sorry, I haven’t read those yet. I’ll look into them when I get back.”
Su Su asked, “Then what are the ones on your bookshelf?”
“They’re books and magazines about pregnancy.”
“Then we’ll study them together when you get back.”
Gu Shao said, “Alright.”
To avoid getting too absorbed in chatting with him, Su Su tossed her phone aside and stopped replying.
But her mind was filled with the image of Gu Shao quietly sitting on the sofa, flipping through a pregnancy magazine.
This was all her imagination. The original host of this body had no such memories, which meant she had never looked at those things together with Gu Shao, nor seen him reading them.
However, thinking about it, during both of the original host’s pregnancies, Gu Shao had taken meticulous care of her.
He had always been trying to be a good husband. But her heart had never been with him, so she couldn’t feel those details. Su Su, who had been single her whole life before transmigrating, had a sensitive heart, easily moved and stirred, and instead felt a flutter of emotion because of Gu Shao.
Having gotten a man like him, she would never let go, no matter what.
Suddenly, someone tapped her shoulder. Su Su looked up, it was Ning Ke.
“What is it?” Su Su asked.
Ning Ke whispered, “Can I go see your little princess?”
Thinking about how Ning Ke’s son had unceremoniously kissed Wan Wan twice, Su Su immediately refused. “No. If you want to see, go look at Zai Zai.”
“I already have a little boy at home. How can he compare to a little girl? Let me see her.”
Su Su refused firmly. Same answer as before, Zai Zai could be seen anytime, but Wan Wan was off-limits.
“Oh, Su Su, you won’t even let me take a look,” Ning Ke muttered softly. “So what if you have a daughter?”
“Yes, it is a big deal. If you want one, have one yourself.”
Ning Ke suddenly looked dejected.
Seeing her like that, Su Su thought she had gone too far and felt a bit embarrassed. “What’s wrong? I was joking. Did I say something too harsh?”
Ning Ke didn’t respond.
Su Su gave in. “Alright, you can see her. Come with me.”
Ning Ke’s scheme succeeded. She immediately stood up. “Let’s go!”
Su Su thought, what a sly woman.
With Qu Qingwei watching over Zai Zai and Ningyue, Su Su took Ning Ke to the room where Wan Wan was sleeping. The room smelled faintly of milk.
Looking at the baby, Ning Ke smiled. “Just look at that little face, she’s definitely going to grow up into a beauty.”
Su Su thought, of course she will, look who gave birth to her. If Gu Shao hadn’t gotten to her body so early, she would have charmed plenty of young men.
Su Su asked, “Since you like daughters so much, have you thought about having another child?” In the original story, Bai Ningyue didn’t have a younger sister, he was an only child.
Ning Ke replied, “I wanted one, but Bai Xinyan said no more.”
“Why? …Actually, never mind.” Seeing the blush on Ning Ke’s face, Su Su could already guess. That wife-adoring man probably said something like, I can’t bear to let you suffer, one child is enough.
But Su Su didn’t see it that way. If both she and Gu Shao looked forward to a child, then a brief moment of pain in exchange for a lifetime of that child would be worth it.
Su Su said, “If possible, I’d like to have another baby.” Because neither Zai Zai nor Wan Wan was born to her, there would inevitably be some regret.
Ning Ke smiled but said nothing.
The two of them went out, and Su Su led Ning Ke to a room she had previously cleared out as a temporary space where she could spread out and draw.
“It’s a bit small, isn’t it?” Ning Ke said.
Su Su quietly pulled her inside. “It’s a bit small, but I’ve got some treasured pieces in here. Let me show you.” She was honestly impressed with herself. She had only been here a short time and had already managed to get her hands on a rather indescribable set of drawings.
She especially loved that art style.
Whenever no one was paying attention, she would sneak in to touch it a couple of times. If her hands weren’t so delicate, she probably would have worn the pages wrinkled by now.
Showing this to Ning Ke was also meant to prepare her mentally, in a way, guiding her…
Su Su wiggled her eyebrows and handed it over carefully, treating it with extreme caution, like she was presenting an ancestral treasure.
That made Ning Ke also receive it with both hands, taking it seriously.
Seeing how thin the book was, yet wrapped in a cover, she thought it must be something special.
They had only known each other for a few days, yet Su Su was already showing her something so precious. Ning Ke felt a warm sense of being valued as an important friend.
She gently opened the book. The dialogue felt increasingly off the more she read. Then she flipped several pages at once, and suddenly it was filled with explicit imagery.
Seeing how roughly Ning Ke was flipping through it, Su Su’s heart ached. “Don’t…” She wouldn’t even dare crease a single page herself.
Ning Ke snapped it shut and tossed it back into her arms. “So this is what it was.”
Su Su opened it again, carefully straightening the pages Ning Ke had messed up, her heart aching. “That was too much, you treated my treasure like this.”
Ning Ke asked, “Is this something you and Gu Shao study for fun?”
“Not at all, it’s my future creative direction.”
Ning Ke: “…”
Su Su looked up and realized Ning Ke was holding up her phone. Only then did it dawn on her that Ning Ke had taken a picture of her looking at those indecent drawings…
Su Su immediately lunged forward. “Ning Ke, Ning Ke, sweetheart, delete it.”
“No, this is a new side of you. I need to document this moment.”
No matter how much Su Su pestered her, she couldn’t get her to delete it. In the end, she gave up. Sooner or later, she would drag this woman onto the same path anyway.
…
Ning Ke had majored in painting in college and had done some commercial design work during her studies. After graduating, she quickly registered her marriage with Bai Xinyan. Before having a child, she continued doing design work on and off, but after becoming a mother, her interests shifted. She grew to like creating cute little things and gradually abandoned her original profession.
As for Su Su, her interests were much more singular. Since childhood, she had been influenced by comics and had an unrestrained imagination, only liking to draw all kinds of small comics.
Back when she was in school in her previous life, it was the same. While others studied properly, she would sit there doodling.
She was even caught by a teacher once during class. Later, she drew that teacher into a comic and passed it around the entire class. Although the teacher was quite angry, among the many students, he recognized her as a promising talent suited for art. Since she was only in her first year of middle school, he urged her parents to transfer her into the art class.
The art class at their school was very strong and had produced many well-known figures in the industry. At the time, the teacher even said he would wait to see the day she achieved success.
Later, she did get into a good art academy and continued creating fan comics for the works she loved. But gradually, she went astray… completely shifting from something pure and innocent to a more unrestrained style, even dragging her roommates along with her… Ning Ke would become the next woman she pulled into that world…
Because of her unique art style, her works spread widely. She did, in fact, become somewhat well-known, just as her teacher had predicted. Still, she would never dare to point to that pen name and tell her teacher, “That’s me.”
Su Su placed a hand on her forehead and looked up at the sky. The weather was nice today. Although it was still a bit hot outside, sitting in the shade made it more comfortable.
She called Ning Ke over to help move a small table and stools, then brought out the tools, notebook, and drawing board she had prepared earlier.
Ning Ke had brought her own as well.
The two sat facing each other, casually sketching while discussing what they should create.
At first, it was just for fun, but once they actually started, they wanted to do it well.
That was simply the nature of people with ambition. Before becoming full-time mothers, both of them had been quite talented in their respective fields.
Su Su said, “It’s clear that what we make is for children to see.”
Ning Ke said, “But aren’t you interested in romance themes? I think drawing stories about young boys and girls falling in love is very romantic.” A shy expression, like a girl in love, suddenly appeared on her face.
Su Su snorted. “Auntie, the kind of romance I’m talking about is definitely not something young girls should be reading. And you’re already a mother, can you stop reminiscing about your lost youth?”
She thought that if they were making something for children, it would be better to create something educational, something that could teach her Zai Zai and Wan Wan.
Even if they might not like watching comics… it would still be a mother’s heartfelt attempt. When they grew up, she could tell them, “Look, your mom put so much effort into raising you, even drawing educational comics for you!”
They would surely be moved to tears, and then they would never ignore her like in the original story.
Gu Shao would also praise her as a virtuous wife and good mother.
This was far more meaningful than any romance theme.
Ning Ke protested, “Can’t I still have the heart of a young girl?” If anyone else had called her “auntie,” she would have dealt with them on the spot.
Su Su shook her head. “A woman retaining her charm is also a kind of appeal.” She had completely forgotten how she had acted coquettishly in Gu Shao’s arms the day before.
Ning Ke said, “I don’t care, I vote for romance comics.”
One insisted on fairy tales, the other on romance, and they reached a stalemate.
Su Su said, “How about we each create one, and whichever is more interesting wins.”
That seemed fair enough, so Ning Ke agreed. But still annoyed, she added a punishment clause. “Whoever loses has to send a message to her husband saying, ‘Give me another baby, I want one.’”
Just hearing that made Su Su’s scalp tingle. “No way, forget it.” That was way too embarrassing.
Ning Ke took out her phone. “Fine then, I’m sure Gu Shao would be curious about what you’ve been secretly up to.” As she spoke, she pulled up that very embarrassing photo.
Su Su was practically driven mad. There was no way she would let that be sent to Gu Shao. Swallowing her frustration, she nodded in agreement.
The mother of the original male lead was not someone she could afford to offend…