Chapter 121: She Doesn’t Want This “Surprise”!

“Actually,” Su Qinghu said with a smile, her gaze sweeping meaningfully over the two boys, her tone languid, “if we’re being honest, it’s not like our family is completely broke~~~”

Er Dan glanced at her, then at the box in front of him, blinking as a chill crept into his heart. “Mom, are these… are these things to be sold?”

Weren’t these supposed to be care packages for him and his brother while she was away on her trip?

“We’re not selling them.” Su Qinghu took the glass of water Da Dan handed her, thanked him, took a sip, and then continued to Er Dan, “These are gifts I picked out especially for you and your brother.”

She’d chosen trendy, hygienic snacks and collectible children’s books—things suited for the boys, and she could enjoy a little bit herself too~

“Then… are we making crafts with them?” Er Dan’s heart settled, and he perked up happily. “Are we going to get up early tomorrow to collect stones~~~?”

He’d had his eye on the twenty empty baskets left at home for a while now. Could they finally use them to make something to sell for money again?

Excited!

Su Qinghu shook her head. “No, that takes too much time and energy, and it’s not like last time when we got lucky and found a buyer.”

Collecting stones, coming up with ideas, finding materials, designing shapes—it all took so much time and brainpower. Too exhausting. But if it was just for fun and self-cultivation, then sure, they could keep playing around with it.

Er Dan almost blurted out, “Then why did you say our family isn’t broke? If you’re not selling things that could bring in money, isn’t that still the same as being broke?”

Just as he was about to say it, Da Dan stepped between Su Qinghu and his silly little brother, looked at Su Qinghu, and said, “Er Dan wants to give you a birthday present.”

Su Qinghu hadn’t finished her glass of water, but she wasn’t in a hurry. She chatted casually with the kids, “Er Dan’s got a birthday present for me. What about you? Did you prepare one?”

Da Dan was just about to say no when Su Qinghu cut him off, seizing the high ground, “No way, right? Da Dan, you’re not telling me you didn’t prepare a birthday present for me, are you?”

Da Dan: “…” Infuriating!

She was so infuriating! She’d only just come back and she was already teasing him!

Er Dan saw his brother clench his fists in frustration and suddenly remembered how he’d tricked him out of two yuan earlier, dragging him into trouble together…

Maybe, as soon as their new mom wasn’t looking, his brother would beat him up!

Since he couldn’t escape the inevitable, why not go big? Maybe in the end, his brother would even thank him…

“Mom,” Er Dan took a step to the left, then grinned mischievously at Su Qinghu, “It’s not that my brother didn’t prepare a birthday present for you.”

Su Qinghu played along, feigning surprise, “Oh? Your brother prepared a birthday present for me?”

Da Dan frowned, his gaze shifting between his silly brother and the mischievous Su Qinghu, finally settling on his brother, waiting to see how he’d get him out of this mess.

The truth was, Da Dan hadn’t prepared a birthday present for Su Qinghu.

He hadn’t thought much of it before, but now that Su Qinghu had asked, he suddenly felt like not preparing a gift was a bit wrong.

Now he was stuck between a rock and a hard place!

Er Dan flashed a toothy grin, ready to bolt at any moment, but put on an innocent face and said, “My brother’s birthday present is treating you to a meal.”

Su Qinghu suddenly looked at the stunned Da Dan, put down her cup, rushed over, cupped his little face, and planted two quick kisses on his forehead, gazing at him with teary-eyed gratitude. “Thank you, Da Dan, I absolutely love this birthday present!”

Da Dan: “!!!”

Da Dan was dumbfounded. Who said he was treating her to a meal?! Didn’t eating out cost money?

He didn’t have any money!

“Er Dan!” Da Dan turned, gritting his teeth at Er Dan. If it weren’t for the fact that family matters shouldn’t be aired in public, and he didn’t want Su Qinghu to see him hit his brother, he would have shown everyone a bare-handed beatdown right then and there!

Er Dan was already resigned to being punished for two offenses at once, so he was fearless at this point.

Seeing that Da Dan looked like he was itching for a fight, Da Dan shot him a warning look, then turned to Su Qinghu. “I’ll treat you to a meal.”

Since he was the one treating, he was in charge—no picking dishes!

Su Qinghu saw Da Dan’s look of suppressed frustration and reluctant compromise, but also a hint of resistance. For some reason, she felt a little excited and expectant.

Where would this kid take her to eat? What would they eat?

Su Qinghu smiled and nodded, then turned to Er Dan. “And what about your birthday present for me?”

Er Dan raised his eyebrows. “Just wait.”

He ran into the bedroom, came back with a small handmade box, and handed it to Su Qinghu, waiting proudly for her reaction.

Su Qinghu took the little box, folded from stiff cardboard, and as she opened it, she glanced at Er Dan. For some reason, the more eager he looked for praise, the more she felt her reaction might be very different from what he expected~~~

The moment she opened the box, Su Qinghu’s expression froze.

What was that?

It was a pink hair accessory!

How pink was it? So pink that after one look, you didn’t have the courage to look at it a second time!

“Do you like it?” Er Dan saw Su Qinghu silent for so long, his proud look fading. Something didn’t seem right…

Su Qinghu took a deep breath. “You picked this out for me?”

“Yeah!” Er Dan saw her expression and his heart sank, his lips quivering. “I spent fifty cents on it!”

He’d spent ages picking it out, finally finding one with a bright color among all those old-fashioned hair accessories!

“There were a bunch of aunties buying hair accessories that day. I had to fight for this one for you!” Er Dan muttered. “It was the last one! Another auntie tried to grab it, but she couldn’t beat me…”

Su Qinghu cleared her throat and adjusted her expression. “So this was the only one left? Then—”

Before she could finish, Er Dan, eager for approval, jumped in, “Yeah! This was the only nice-looking one left! The others were all so dull and ugly!”

Su Qinghu: “What other colors were there?”

“There was a red so dark it was almost black, one the color of bricks, black ones, and a green one that looked like water grass left soaking for days…”

Er Dan rattled off the colors, and Su Qinghu imagined them in her mind. When he finally stopped, she decided to accept the birthday present.

She accepted it, but she really couldn’t bring herself to praise it.

The two of them stared at each other for a while. Er Dan asked worriedly, “Mom, you’ll wear it in your hair, right?”

Su Qinghu nearly jumped up. What the heck? Accepting it is one thing, but why do I have to wear it?

“I want to keep it as a collectible,” Su Qinghu said righteously. “It’s the first birthday present you’ve ever given me. I don’t want it to get ruined by the sun or rain.”

“Huh?” Er Dan was stunned, then his cheeks flushed. After a moment of hemming and hawing, he mumbled, “Actually, I hid another one. I’ll give you that one too.”"