"Hmph hmph, Grandma's stories are no fun at all. None of them are as good as Daddy's." The little one pouted.
"Then Grandma will tell you a different one." Lin Qiuyan was completely defeated by her granddaughter. She had already told a dozen, yet not a single one satisfied her.
"Then I want to hear the turtle race."
"The turtle race? Grandma doesn't know that one."
"Hm? Grandma doesn't know? Then Qianqian will tell it to Grandma, and Grandma must be a good girl from now on." With that, she spoke like a sensible child, leaving people not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
The little one slowly began to tell it.
"One day, a rabbit and a turtle were having a running race. The rabbit mocked the turtle for crawling slowly, and the turtle said that one day he would win..."
After listening to the turtle race, Lin Qiuyan also felt that the stories she used to tell were not very good. But where on earth did Qianqian hear such a wonderful, thought-provoking little fable?
"Little granddaughter, tell Grandma, who told you this story?"
"It's Daddy. Every time I take a bath, Daddy tells me stories, and I have... I have many, many more." She went to count on her fingers, though she didn't know how many there were even after finishing.
"Qianqian, can you tell Grandma another one later?" Lin Qiuyan felt a bit embarrassed after saying it, asking a child for a story.
"Alright then, I'll tell Grandma one more, just one, no more."
The little one still had a pretty good memory, and she told Lin Qiuyan another little story called "The Ugly Duckling".
These were all told by her own son? Incredible, her son actually understood so much. Why hadn't she noticed it before? A wave of emotion washed over Lin Qiuyan's heart.
After pondering for a long time, Lin Qiuyan finally couldn't help asking about Qianqian's mother. "Qianqian, tell Grandma, where did Mommy go?"
"Mommy, Mommy went to make money. Mommy said if she doesn't work anymore, there won't be any money to buy Qianqian milk powder."
"Then Qianqian, do you have a picture of Mommy? Grandma hasn't seen her yet."
"I do, on WeChat. Mm, Qianqian misses Mommy." As she spoke, her two little fists rubbed her eyes, and she was on the verge of crying.
"Only Mama is good in this world,
A child with a Mama is like a treasure."
Missing her mother, the little one started singing this song again.
Lin Qiuyan was somewhat at a loss. Listening to this song—one she had never heard before, yet quite good—and learning that her own son had taught it to her granddaughter just last night, two streams of tears instantly came gushing down.
Taking advantage of the time Ling Yun was taking a bath, the little one sneaked away with his phone and her mother's WeChat.
An Qing was busy dealing with issues regarding her new song when her phone rang. It was a WeChat call with the caller ID Ling Yun.
Could something have happened to Qianqian? Her heart skipped a beat, and she immediately pressed accept.
"Hey, Mama, guess who I am." Little Qianqian's voice came from the other end.
An Qing's heart instantly calmed down. As long as nothing was wrong, it was fine. She feigned ignorance. "Mm, little friend, who are you? Where is my little Qianqian?"
"Hmph hmph, Mama, you're so silly. It's just me, I am your cute little Qianqian, yo." She finished with a proud expression.
Listening to the conversation between these two mothers... Lin Qiuyan was somewhat speechless. She picked up Qianqian and pointed at the camera, and the little one somewhat understood what Grandma meant—she wanted to see Mama.
"Mama, I miss you. Can we video chat? Baby doesn't know how to set it up."
An Qing felt a bit guilty. She had been too busy lately and hadn't had time to visit her, usually only exchanging a few hurried words over the phone.
A moment later, the camera on the WeChat side turned on, and An Qing could be clearly seen. Dressed entirely in red, with the delicate charm of a maiden from a scholarly family, she was truly beautiful.
An Qing also saw her daughter, but she additionally saw Lin Qiuyan—a very beautiful young married woman holding her daughter. She thought to herself, could this Ling Yun... this jerk didn't even take proper care of his daughter, messing around with all sorts of things? A wave of annoyance flared up in her heart.
At this moment, Lin Qiuyan collected herself. "Hello, daughter-in-law." As she spoke, she even smiled at her. She recognized that Qianqian's mother was the star An Qing; she still paid a little attention to the entertainment circle.
"Ah, what's going on? Daughter-in-law? Who is she calling? Could it be me?" An Qing was dumbfounded.
"Mama, this is Grandma, she's Daddy's Mama."
"What? Auntie, hello. I... my name is An Qing." An Qing was somewhat nervous, her face immensely awkward as she stammered.
"Hehe, don't stand on ceremony. We're all family, just call me old mom."
What do you mean just call you old mom? This lady hasn't even married your son yet! But she didn't say it out of her mouth, only offering an awkward smile.
"Are you really Ling Yun's mother? His biological mother? How can you look so young?" An Qing asked suddenly.
"Mm, biological. Not young anymore, I'm pushing forty."
"Is that so? But you can't tell at all."
"Grandma, Grandma, let me talk to Mama." The little one pouted. If she let them keep chatting, goodness knows when it would end.
"Alright, then let's listen to what Qianqian has to say," Lin Qiuyan said, patting her head.
"Mama, I want to sing a song for you. You have to listen well."
"Yo, my little baby can sing now? What song are you going to sing?"
"Hmph hmph, Mama hasn't heard it before. Daddy taught me this." She even cleared her throat as she spoke.
"Only Mama is good in this world,
A child with a Mama is like a treasure."
"..."
An Qing listened quietly, her eyes already brimming with tears.
"Baby, I'm sorry," An Qing said.
"Mama, be good, don't cry, okay?" The little one comforted her in a childish, milky voice.
Lin Qiuyan's eyes were also somewhat moist. Hearing it for the second time, she didn't react as intensely as An Qing.
Having finished his bath, Ling Yun heard a commotion in the living room and walked over. "What's going on here?"
"Nothing." Lin Qiuyan wiped away her tears.
"Daddy, Mama is crying, what do we do?" The little one acted spoiled toward Ling Yun.
Ling Yun looked at An Qing on the other end of WeChat. This woman was still as strong-willed as ever. "It's nothing, I'll talk to her."
"Hey, hey, An Qing, were you about to ask me about this song?"
"Hm? Huh?" An Qing was startled. How did he know what she wanted to ask?
Without waiting for her to speak again, Ling Yun continued, "I know what you've been troubled with lately. I can write a song for you to use as your title track, but you have to agree to one condition."
"You can write songs? Stop trying to comfort me, my affairs are none of your business." An Qing figured this man was just comforting her.
"Whether I can or not, you'll know in a moment. Do you agree to one condition or not?"
"Fine." An Qing also felt that a single condition was no big deal; she would just treat it as seeing what kind of trick Ling Yun was trying to play.
Having obtained An Qing's affirmative reply, Ling Yun got up and walked into the study.
"Mama, Daddy is super amazing. The condition you agreed to cannot be taken back, you know."
Things hadn't even yielded a result yet, and this daughter was already selling her out. As expected, not having her by her side simply wouldn't do.
"Oh, then baby Qianqian, what is Daddy amazing at?" An Qing asked on a whim.
"Mm, let me count. Daddy can cook, can tell stories, can sing, can play the piano, can drive, can clean..." The little one went on counting relentlessly.
An Qing and Lin Qiuyan...
The study door opened. Ling Yun was holding a sheet of musical score in his hand, the song titled Dream Chaser.
Since his phone had been requisitioned by Qianqian, uploading this score could only be done with his laptop. He logged into Web WeChat, used the laptop's camera to take a few pictures of the score, and then clicked on An Qing's chat window to upload them to her.
After finishing all this, Ling Yun said to An Qing on the other side, "The score has been sent to you. You'll probably be busy now, too."
An Qing was stunned for a moment. So fast?
"Qianqian, say goodbye to Mama. It's very late, time for bed."
"Then Mama, bye-bye." The little one reluctantly waved at An Qing in the video.
"Old mom, you should wash up and go to sleep too. You must be tired from the ride," Ling Yun expressed his concern.
"Mm, I am a bit tired. Little Yun, granddaughter, goodnight." With that, she turned and went back to her room.
"Grandma, goodnight," the little one also replied.
After hanging up the WeChat video, An Qing checked the photos Ling Yun had sent. The more she looked, the more amazed and delighted her face became. This fellow actually wrote such a good song! Oh my goodness, for the sake of this song, agreeing to ten conditions would be fine! This song fit her standard for a title track immensely well, and could simply be described as tailor-made for her.
Too fantastic! With this song, she could definitely make a comeback this time. Tomorrow she would go to the company's recording studio to record it, and then register the copyright. Hmph, what's his is hers!
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