Chapter 186: Braiding My Daughter’s Hair

“Mommy.”

The moment Xi Zhiruo took her small steps toward Si Xinyan and saw her, she immediately reached out her arms, wanting a hug.

I lifted my head from a pile of small clothes.

“Why do you want a hug again?” I picked her up and sat her on my lap sideways, sliding my arms under her armpits as I focused on my needlework.

Currently, I was embroidering a robe for Zhizhi.

The little girl’s large eyes blinked as she stared at my needle and thread skillfully weaving in and out.

“Is this a dress for Zhizhi?”

“Yes, Baby.” I let out a yawn. I had been staring at one spot for several hours already.

Over the past year or two, I had long since grown into a competent seamstress.

The skirts Zhizhi often wore were basically all handmade by me. The hardest part was actually the embroidery, which took a significant amount of time to learn and improve upon. I had essentially mastered it by now.

Hearing my yawn, Zhizhi felt a bit uneasy. She suddenly raised her head and said to me in a low voice, “Mommy, I lectured Su Liumeng again just now. But it was only a verbal lecture; I didn’t get into a fight with her.”

I rubbed the little girl’s head. Her hair was as fluffy as a kitten’s, and her neat, short black hair became quite messy under my touch. She squinted her eyes comfortably. “Don’t bully Su Liumeng anymore. She doesn’t have any malicious intent, and doing that is quite hurtful.”

Xi Zhiruo became unhappy instantly. Her little face puffed up, but she didn’t dare lose her temper in front of her mother.

I pinched her puffed-up cheeks. “Can you listen to Mommy just this once?”

Xi Zhiruo fiddled with her small hands and said reluctantly, “She was the one who bullied me first.” She felt very wronged.

‘Zhizhi didn’t do anything wrong. Mom is so biased.’

“You can’t let me be mistreated just because I’m Mommy’s baby, right?” Xi Zhiruo’s voice grew smaller and smaller as she spoke.

I let out a tired sigh.

“Forget it.”

Xi Zhiruo jerked her head up, seeing the complexity and helplessness in the depths of my eyes.

It wasn’t the first time I had tried to mediate the relationship between the two of them. By the end of these talks, I was always physically and mentally exhausted, and I didn’t want to say anything more. If it weren’t for the sudden deterioration of their relationship lately, I really wouldn’t want to bring this up.

“Mommy,” Xi Zhiruo called out gloomily.

“I’m fine. Just let me rest for a moment.” My body was currently overwhelmed with fatigue, and hearing about their conflict again only made my drowsiness more severe.

The little girl was constantly growing, and she developed very quickly. A small dress often couldn’t be worn for long before it became too small. Because of this, I needed to prepare more clothes. Buying them was the primary method, but I would also make one or two pieces myself.

Xi Zhiruo looked up at the weariness in my eyes.

This youthful beauty was the most vibrant stage of a person’s life, and it was how her mother looked in her memory. However, time passes quickly, and all beautiful things eventually fade. Who could remain young and beautiful forever?

Xi Zhiruo’s little hands curled into fists. She suddenly found herself unable to accept the image of her mother with gray hair. A pang of pain in her heart made her want to curl up. Her short hair hung down, just barely hiding the trace of pain in her eyes.

In response to my voice, she could only manage a soft “Mhm.”

When a person finds it hard to breathe, it is difficult to speak normally.

“Baby, what are you thinking about?” I gently rested my head against her soft hair, my tone tender.

“I’m thinking about things that will happen a long, long time from now.”

Xi Zhiruo couldn’t help but wonder. ‘If I could find the recipe for an ancient Beauty Retaining Pill, then the version of Mom in my memory would be frozen in time forever, wouldn’t it?’

Xi Zhiruo also thought about what just happened. Mommy wanted her to be a bit nicer to Su Liumeng, or at least to stop arguing with her the moment they met. And the Beauty Retaining Pill was something Su Liumeng had been searching for. Her contribution wasn’t small.

In that case, she would listen to Mommy and stop picking fights with Su Liumeng so easily.

The premise was—Su Liumeng couldn’t go behind her back and say bad things to Mommy like she did last time.

Xi Zhiruo was exceptionally vengeful. If it were anyone else, being on her bad side would mean either being slapped to death on the spot or suffering for a lifetime. Forgiveness was basically impossible. She—Xi Zhiruo—would only reconcile with the dead.

But now, under Si Xinyan’s mediation, the little girl chose to reconcile with Su Liumeng, which was an unprecedented first.

“Baby, how about I tie your hair into little pigtails?” I looked at my daughter’s short hair, which already reached past her ears. Even if it wasn’t tied up, it was a very suitable hairstyle for a little girl, accentuating her soft little face. I thought to myself that I could perhaps braid two small pigtails for my daughter or just tie them into double buns.

A human fledgling who hadn’t fully grown yet would definitely look exceptionally cute if paired with a refreshing hairstyle.

“Yay!” The little girl was so happy she almost jumped off my lap.

I rarely did her hair. She used to have very short hair, so aside from braiding small sections close to the scalp, there wasn’t much room to tie anything. Ever since she was born, I had personally trimmed her hair several times; otherwise, it would be even longer now.

The little girl went to the vanity in the room. Just as she was about to drag a chair over and climb up, she was picked up by a pair of warm, large hands and gently placed onto the cushion of the chair.

Xi Zhiruo sat up straight and tall, her little hands placed on her knees, looking incredibly well-behaved.

I picked up two black hair ties and then looked at a hair ribbon with floral patterns before choosing one.

While I was doing her hair, Zhiruo remained very quiet, not moving once during the entire process. I patiently explained how to make the double buns and the process of each step. Xi Zhiruo had never tied her own hair before, so she would definitely only half-understand at first. Once she tried it herself, she would quickly grasp it and learn.

This was knowledge I wanted to teach her.

“There, take a look for yourself.”

I slowly pinned a beautiful floral hair clip to the top of her head. The final stray hairs instantly became obedient. Looking at the little girl’s lively and spirited appearance made my heart swell with joy.

Xi Zhiruo reached out her small hand to touch her little buns. Her movements were very light, fearing she would mess up the hair that had just been tied. Her large eyes were sparkling.

The little girl wasn’t very old yet, but she was already starting to love being pretty. She spun around happily in front of the mirror. The robe around her knees moved as gracefully as her steps. The beautiful hair clip pinned above looked like a dancing butterfly, fluttering around her like she was a little elf.

“Do you like it?” Seeing the curve of my daughter’s eyes, my mood brightened as well.

“I love it.”

“Thank you, Mommy.” Xi Zhiruo tugged at her little dress.

This was also handmade by her mother. She usually cherished it dearly, unable to bear even a speck of dust getting on it. She hadn’t forgotten how many times her mother had pricked her fingers while making these clothes, nor how many nights she had stayed up late. The little girl remembered all the initial struggles and the way her mother had been so absorbed in learning something new that she forgot to eat or sleep.

“As long as you like it. In the future, Mommy will help you do your hair every day, okay?”

“Mhm! Zhizhi is the luckiest baby.”