The Spring Equinox had arrived, and the begonias in the courtyard were in full, dazzling bloom.
Whenever the wind blew, pale pink petals drifted through the air like a shower of rosy-white blossoms.
Xie Tangning opened her eyes to the world in this season of flowers.
Lu Huaiyu and Xie Changyu were utterly delighted by their new baby sister, who had been born only two days earlier and now lay in her crib.
They could hardly bear to take their eyes off her. For the past two days, they had been showing her off to everyone they met, proudly announcing that they had a little sister now.
However, Xie Changyu had always been sharp-tongued. Looking up at Xie Yanxun in confusion, he asked, “Dad, why do all of us look so good, but our sister is all wrinkly and kind of ugly?”
Young Xie Changyu’s face was completely serious. Xie Yanxun was momentarily speechless and hadn’t even had time to answer when Lu Huaiyu beat him to it.
“When you were born, you were much uglier than Little Sis. Your little face was red and wrinkly, and you looked just like an unwanted little clown!”
“For a while, I even suspected that Mom and Dad had picked you up somewhere!”
“Huh? Really?” Young Xie Changyu stared blankly ahead, clearly devastated.
Lu Huaiyu nodded maliciously. “Of course it’s true! I nearly went blind from ugliness the first time I saw you.”
“But luckily, you had me as your big brother. I showed up in front of you every day with my handsome face, and eventually you started growing in my direction!”
“That’s why you turned into the adorable, perfectly sculpted little cutie you are today! It’s all thanks to me, you know?”
Young Xie Changyu was completely taken in. From that day onward, his big brother’s image in his heart grew several sizes taller.
Watching his little brother nearly get brainwashed into oblivion, Lu Huaiyu almost burst out laughing.
What a silly little guy. He was truly reassuring~
He had no idea that, a few years later, he would never be able to say those words again.
Turning around, he began working his magic on Little Xie Tangning, completely unconcerned about whether a newborn could understand him.
“Ningning~ Take a good look at Big Brother~ From now on, you have to be the closest to Big Brother in the whole world, okay~”
“Of course, Er Yu, you’re also my number one in the whole world!”
Young Xie Changyu had just been thinking that his big brother might abandon him now that they had a little sister. Before he could start making a fuss, however, Lu Huaiyu soothed him with a single sentence.
He happily joined Lu Huaiyu in teasing their baby sister.
“Ningning~ I’m your second brother~ You’re a little ugly right now, but Second Brother will still love you very much~ Because you’re my little sister~”
“You should grow up looking like this face of mine~ That way, you’ll become a super beautiful, super adorable little girl when you grow up!”
Young Xie Changyu added a sing-song lilt to every sentence. At six years old, he was still utterly straightforward and said exactly what he thought.
Lu Huaiyu’s scheming nature, however, had already begun to show. He suddenly cut in.
“Don’t listen to your second brother’s nonsense. Our Ningning isn’t ugly at all!”
“My little sister is the cutest child in the whole world. No matter what she looks like, Big Brother will love you more than anything~”
Young Xie Changyu was instantly betrayed by his big brother. His eyes widened. “Big Brother, did you really have to put me in such an impossible position?”
“Little Sis, don’t listen to Big Brother’s nonsense~ Second Brother is the one who loves you most. Big Brother can only come in second!”
As he spoke, he leaned over the edge of the crib and stared fixedly at Little Xie Tangning’s tiny face, attempting to brainwash her.
Lu Huaiyu began competing for her affection as well, doing his best to make her smile.
Lu Qiwu was so amused by the ridiculous antics of the two little rascals that she couldn’t help laughing. Unfortunately, the laughter tugged at the wound from childbirth, which had not yet fully healed.
Xie Yanxun immediately noticed the faint gasp she let out. Furious, he drove the two little rascals out of the room.
“You two are in the way. Go bring your mother’s medicinal meal over.”
Lu Huaiyu and Xie Changyu knew they were at fault. They glanced once more at Little Xie Tangning, who was staring around curiously with her big eyes wide open.
Only then did they cheerfully hurry off to help their grandfather and great-grandfather in the kitchen.
Surrounded by everyone’s love, Little Xie Tangning grew from a toothless baby into a tiny toddler with several little teeth—and soon it was time for her first-birthday grab ceremony.
“Baby, come over to Mommy~ All of these things were prepared for you~”
Lu Qiwu stood in front of the dazzling assortment of objects spread across the floor, clapping her hands and encouraging Little Xie Tangning to crawl toward her from several feet away.
Little Xie Tangning blinked her eyes but stayed exactly where she was.
Seeing that the little girl still wasn’t moving, Xie Yanxun also began pulling out all the stops to coax his daughter over.
But Little Xie Tangning remained unmoved. Sitting right where she was, she began clapping her hands.
It was as if Mommy and Daddy had simply put on a performance to entertain her.
Old Master Xie fell into deep thought for a moment before making a suggestion. “Could it be that Ningning doesn’t like these things? Should we replace them with a different selection?”
Young Xie Changyu was the first to object. “Impossible! My little sister will definitely like the gift I prepared for her!”
Seeing how confidently he beamed, Chen Linmei found herself unable to crush his enthusiasm.
What kind of person puts a four-legged lizard among the items for his little sister’s grab ceremony?
And not even a toy, but a live one—though it was kept in a glass tank and couldn’t crawl all over the place.
Qi Rou gave him an extremely perfunctory response. “Yes, yes, your sister will definitely love the little pet you gave her~”
“But she’s still too young to help you take care of a pet, so let’s spare your sister for now, all right~”
Young Xie Changyu didn’t think there was anything wrong with his idea at all. He insisted on putting his pet lizard among the objects for his sister to choose from.
The adults could only let him have his way. Who knew? Perhaps their little princess really did have unconventional tastes!
Lu Huaiyu rather agreed with his great-grandfather’s suggestion. He casually added a little toy dragonfly that went ber-ber-ber-ing as it bounced around.
When Little Xie Tangning saw the realistic toy dragonfly moving among the other objects, she really did crawl over and grab it.
Then, like a little treasure hunter showing off his prize, she held it up for everyone to see.
The look on her face made it obvious that she was waiting for them to praise her.
It could only be said that her self-admiring, show-off personality had already begun to take shape—and was now being vigorously nurtured by the endless love of her family and friends.
As her mother, Lu Qiwu immediately understood. She showered the little girl with praise, complimenting her discerning eye and her wonderfully unique taste.
The other senior members of the family were unwilling to fall behind. They gathered around Little Xie Tangning and praised her to the skies.
They didn’t care in the slightest whether the tiny toddler, who only had a few teeth and couldn’t even recognize a single character yet, understood what they were saying. As far as they were concerned, praising her was always the right thing to do.
Lu Huaiyu began boasting to young Xie Changyu from the side, proudly pointing out that their sister had chosen the item he had put there instead of his brother’s.
Young Xie Changyu refused to accept defeat. Puffing out his round little cheeks, he huffed, “Big Brother, don’t get so smug. Little Sis definitely likes my lizard too!”
“It’s just that it’s being kept in a glass tank, so she didn’t notice it!”
That was what he said—and that was exactly what he believed.
Not wanting to fall behind his big brother, he promptly grabbed the little skink from its glass tank and, with a whoosh, placed it straight into his sister’s hands.
Little Xie Tangning was caught completely off guard when someone shoved a four-legged lizard into her hands, startling her into a jolt.
Then she immediately opened her mouth to bite it—apparently, putting anything dangerous in their mouths was an instinct all human babies shared.
“Hey, hey, hey—stop!”
“Oh my goodness, sweetheart, you can’t eat that!”
“Where did this little glutton come from? Why does she put everything in her mouth?”
A whole group of people hurriedly sprang into action to rescue the skink from Little Xie Tangning’s hands.
Fortunately, Xie Heng'an was quick enough to snatch the little skink away just before Little Xie Tangning could pop it into her mouth.
Off to the side, Lu Huaiyu and young Xie Changyu stared in shock at their sister’s bravery, then quickly raised the Polaroid cameras hanging from their necks and snapped a picture.
After all, their task that day was to document their little sister’s first-birthday grasping ceremony.
