"Can you let me go?"

In the darkness, the woman's tearful voice carried a bit of plea.

A pair of large, heavily calloused hands forcefully grasped her slender legs in response. What answered her was the man's maneuver to pry her legs apart, followed by a conquering advance.

"Ah!"

Anxin jolted upright from the bed, the bangs on her forehead already drenched with sweat.

Despite four years having passed, even in her dreams, the pain of being torn still seemed as if it was just yesterday.

Unable to stop herself from shivering, Anxin finally saw the faint lights outside the window, and her fear gradually receded.

The night breeze blew in through the small crack in the not tightly closed window, brushing her face with a bone-chilling coldness. It, however, cleared her befuddled mind.

It's not four years ago anymore...

"Mommy..."

From outside the room, the sound of a running child's footsteps reached her.

Just as Anxin lifted her quilt and got off the bed, a little dumpling of flesh pushed the door open and lunged straight at her, hugging her tightly.

Anxin held him tightly in her arms, too.

"Did mommy scare you?"

She asked, full of remorse.

The chubby little one shook his head, nuzzling against her chest, and smelling the familiar scent. His worried mind began to calm down.

He lifted his head, his large eyes looking at her comforting red-rimmed eyes, "Mommy, did you have a nightmare again? Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, Little Bao will be with you, don't be afraid." Imitating the comforting gestures his mommy used after he had nightmares, Little Bao raised his arm, clumsily patting her back. Gently, warmly, yet making her want to cry.

Her hold on Little Bao's hand gradually tightened, "Mommy's not afraid, with Little Bao by my side, Mommy's not scared at all."

She placed Little Bao next to herself, only then realizing that he had ran over without wearing shoes.

She instantly paled.

Seeing mommy angry, Little Bao's eyes spun around, his hands joined together over his head, swaying back and forth, he kept mumbling, "Mommy, Little Bao was wrong, in the future, Little Bao will obediently wear shoes before getting off the bed."

His warm and soft childlike voice had long melted her heart.

She pulled the quilt over Little Bao and then placed his feet on her belly.

His cold feet against her warm stomach felt very warm.

Yet, Little Bao still wanted to fidget, not wanting his cold feet to make his mother feel cold.

She gently tapped his head and sternly said, "Stop squirming, go to sleep!"

"But Mommy, if my feet are on your stomach, I can't sleep."

Knowing he can't persuade mommy, Little Bao changed his plea, innocently looking at her.

This child...

She sighed inwardly, her heart filled with both move and sorrow.

Xiao Bao is only three years old this year, but his gentle manners don't at all resemble those of a typical three-year-old.

He is remarkably thoughtful.

When he comes home from work, he hands himself slippers at the door.

Each day he is cooking, he picks the vegetables himself, and washes the dishes.

During each of the house's deep cleans, he's always the one grabbing the rag eager to clean tables…

Yet the more Xiao Bao shows his good nature and understanding, the more his mother feels ashamed.

His limited times of being spoiled in her arms since birth, blames her for not being a good mother.

The fact that he became empathetic at such a young age, blames her for not being a good mother.

Anxin gently kisses Xiao Bao's forehead, her heart softens.

"Be good, wait until your feet are warm before putting them down."

Xiao Bao nodded, his head sinking into Anxin's arms.

…

The moment the first beam of morning sunlight hits the window, Xiao Bao opens his eyes, glances at the time, it’s only just after six. Carefully and quietly, he climbs out of bed and walks barefoot from his bedroom into the kitchen. He opens the fridge, retrieving the plate, bread, and leftover eggs from inside.

He takes out an electric rice cooker, pours a bit of water in it, loads the plate of leftover eggs on the steamer, closes the lid, and plugs it in.

After doing all this, Xiao Bao takes out two cups, filling each one-third full with hot water, and tears open two small packages of milk powder. The white powder falls into the cups through the torn openings, and the colorless water inside instantly turns a milky white.

"Little Bao..."

Only when Little Bao had prepared the milk did Anxin dare to call him.

Anxin had not been awake for long before Little Bao woke up.

Glancing at the set alarm clock by her bedside, she found it had already been turned off.

Rising, she opened the door. Little Bao was plugging in the rice cooker.

A wave of regret washed over Anxin.

She truly wasn't a good mother.

"Mommy, you're awake," Little Bao greeted, flashing a cheerful smile upon seeing her.

He wasn't like other four-year-olds who would insist on being held by their mother.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Mommy's embrace. It's because he knew that she was already exhausted from all the work, taking care of meals, laundry, and cleaning up the room every day.

He was quite heavy now, and as he could walk on his own, he preferred not being a burden on her as much as possible.

Anxin, however, was unaware of all these considerations.

Every time she picked Little Bao up, he would quickly wriggle out of her hug, secretly concealing these reasons from her, like he was doing now.

As Anxin was helping Little Bao put on his slippers, he struggled to get down and walk on his own.

"Mummy, breakfast is ready. Let's eat." An XiaoBao, with his slippers shuffling "pat-pat" on the floor, obediently sat down by the table.

Two pairs of bowls and chopsticks had already been set up on the table.

Holding his chopsticks, XiaoBao stared at her with huge, bright eyes, eagerly waiting for the meal to start.

An Xin sighed softly in her heart, turned around and passed the milk she had prepared to him, "Have some milk first."

She took a knife to cut the bread that was bought yesterday, took out the warm egg from the rice cooker, and then handed it to XiaoBao, taking a seat next to him.

"XiaoBao, you are not allowed to wake up early in the future. You have to sleep well, understand?"

An XiaoBao blinked his eyes, "But I can't fall asleep."

"If you can't sleep, just lie down. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are all my highlights. If you take them all on, where would Mummy have the chance to show off my cooking skills?"

A look of chagrin crossed An Xin's face, but inside, she was secretly laughing at XiaoBao's distressed expression.

"Alright, I won't compete with Mummy for the opportunity. However," he revealed his tiny set of white teeth, "Mummy has to let me help out."

An Xin touched his head, with a gentle smile, "Alright."

XiaoBao put down his chopsticks, planted a smacking kiss on her face and returned to his meal obediently.

After breakfast and helping XiaoBao into his clothes for the day, the time had reached seven o'clock.

Mother and son left the house, walked down two flights of stairs and headed towards the kindergarten along the road.

The journey took half an hour.

On the way, XiaoBao chatted about the kindergarten, which made the time flew by.

After passing XiaoBao to his kindergarten teacher, An Xin then joined the crowd in squeezing onto the bus.