Shen Zhiyu blinked, putting on a shameless act of cuteness. "Mommy is scared of sleeping alone. Zhouzhou is a big boy, so he should sleep with Mommy and protect her. Don't you think?"
Zhouzhou tilted his little head up to look at her, his eyes clear and half-doubtful. "Is that right?"
Shen Zhiyu almost broke character, but fortunately her acting skills were solid and she managed to keep her composure in time, nodding pitifully. "Yes! Mommy really needs a little big boy like Zhouzhou to protect her."
Thinking of how Mommy had inexplicably cried that afternoon, Zhouzhou nodded happily yet with a trace of restraint. "Okay. Zhouzhou will sleep with Mommy. To protect Mommy."
Shen Zhiyu scooped Zhouzhou up in one swift motion and bolted into the bedroom before he could change his mind.
Zhouzhou bumped up and down a few times against her shoulder; it wasn't very comfortable, but he was smiling happily.
After getting Zhouzhou to sleep, Shen Zhiyu took a leave of absence from Zhouzhou's teacher and consulted with her manager, Sister Yang, about her upcoming schedule.
When Sister Yang learned that she was going to take Zhouzhou on a variety show, she looked at her with a serious expression and asked, "Have you really thought this through? Are you really going to put your child out in front of the audience?"
Everyone in the outside world knew that Shen Zhiyu was married to her childhood sweetheart and that they had a child.
It was just that the couple kept things tightly under wraps, and so far, only the people closest to them had seen the child.
Sister Yang was one of them.
"I've made up my mind." Shen Zhiyu's voice held not a shred of hesitation.
"All right. I understand. I'll have people keep an eye on the comments and manage the public opinion."
Sister Yang had been managing her since her debut and supported her unconditionally.
In her past life, Shen Zhiyu had also planned to take her son on a show, but the day before filming was set to begin, her son fell ill and was hospitalized for a week.
Worried about her son and unable to bear seeing him suffer, she breached the contract.
The production team had already made the official announcement, and her sudden breach of contract landed her on the trending search lists, with netizens cursing her for putting on airs and acting like a big diva, causing her public favorability to plummet time and again.
At that time, worried about her older son's health and having discovered she was pregnant with her second child, she had no remaining energy to deal with anything else.
By the time she finally reacted and wanted to salvage her public image, it was already too late.
In truth, the seeds of the trouble had already been sown back then.
She simply hadn't noticed yet, and had walked unsuspectingly into a set trap.
The next day, the production team arrived early to set up equipment and conduct interviews.
Mother Wu came to wake her, and she had just gotten up.
"Got it, I'll be right down." Shen Zhiyu replied to Mother Wu outside the door while poking Zhouzhou's plump little belly with her finger.
"Zhouzhou, time to wake up."
Lying in bed was a child's nature, and Zhouzhou hadn't slept enough yet; he rolled over and went right back to sleep.
Shen Zhiyu chuckled, planning to wash up first and then come back to wake this little pig.
Having returned through rebirth, although many things needed to be handled, with her son's soft little body sleeping right next to her, she had slept very well.
Her complexion was rosy, glowing white with a natural flush.
She smiled at herself in the mirror, made a victory sign, and cheered herself on with full vitality.
When Shen Zhiyu came out of the bathroom, she saw Zhouzhou sitting up in bed, half-awake and half-asleep, shaking his head as if searching for something.
Upon seeing her, his hazy eyes instantly lit up like a little puppy spotting a bone; he kicked off the quilt, got out of bed, and trotted toward her stumbling and bumping along.
Running and calling out, "Mommy, Mommy..."
Shen Zhiyu caught him, raised a hand to ruffle the tufts of bed-head sticking up on top of his head, and smiled. "Mommy is right here."
Zhouzhou hugged tightly around Mommy's neck, breathing in her familiar, pleasant scent before finally snapping out of his daze and realizing this wasn't a dream.
His sweet, soft Mommy was still here.
"Come on, Mommy will take you to wash up. We'll film a video with Mommy in a bit."
Hearing that the production team had arrived, Zhouzhou immediately grew nervous. "Mommy, I—I'm worried I won't do well." And that I'll make Mommy lose face.
"No one can do things perfectly the first time around," Shen Zhiyu said in a gentle, soothing voice, explaining step by step: "As long as you study earnestly, you will definitely do well."
"Okay. Zhouzhou will study earnestly." Zhouzhou wore a serious expression on his chubby little face, patted his chest hard, and solemnly promised his mother, "I won't hold Mommy back."
Shen Zhiyu couldn't help laughing as she rubbed his head. "You're still little; your only job is to stay happy. The complexities of human relationships will be handled by Mommy."
"Okay." Zhouzhou tilted his head up slightly, looking into his mother's eyes with a gaze full of adoration and joy.
Shen Zhiyu was so charmed by her son that she cupped his face and planted several heavy kisses on it. "Mwah, mwah..."
Zhouzhou laughed happily.
However, mother and son couldn't laugh for much longer.
At that moment, standing before the wardrobe and looking at the dazzling array of clothes inside, Shen Zhiyu found herself in a bind.
She suffered from indecisiveness.
"Zhouzhou." Ultimately, she left the choice to her son Zhouzhou.
The summoned Zhouzhou stood on the bed, his plump little hand pointing toward a sparrow-blue Han-style loungewear set. "Mommy, this one. It has pandas, pretty."
Because her son had loved pandas since he was little—loving them so much that he insisted on having pandas embroidered on all his clothes—all of Shen Zhiyu's clothing styles featured panda patterns so they could wear matching parent-child outfits.
"Okay." Shen Zhiyu cheerfully took down the clothes. "Wait for Mommy, we'll change clothes in a moment."
Yet taking advantage of the brief window while she was changing her clothes, Zhouzhou bolted out of the bedroom, running on his chubby little short legs with pattering steps right back to his own children's room.
The height of the wardrobe wasn't designed for a little kid like him.
Usually, Mommy, Mother Wu, or Uncle Wang fetched his clothes for him, so he never had to get them himself.
Still, this height couldn't stump him.
He dragged over a small stool and stepped onto it, just barely reaching the wardrobe door handle.
Catching sight of the matching outfit with his mother hanging right there, he grinned stupidly from ear to ear with happiness.
When Shen Zhiyu emerged after changing her clothes, her son Zhouzhou was nowhere to be seen in the bedroom.
She searched as she called out, "Zhouzhou?"
He wasn't anywhere to be found—could he have gone back to his own bedroom to find clothes?
She walked out of the bedroom, preparing to go to the children's room to find Zhouzhou, only to run into Zhouzhou, who was wearing the matching outfit.
Shen Zhiyu's loungewear was a Han-style cross-collar garment made of exquisite fabric. The sleeve edges were embroidered with delicate needlework, and right below the hem was an embroidered, lifelike panda happily munching on bamboo.
The pure sparrow-blue color made her naturally fair skin look as though it were glowing.
Zhouzhou wore the matching sparrow-blue loungewear set; because he didn't know how to tie the sashes, even though he was holding it closed with his hand, his chubby little chest was still partially exposed through the loose upper garment.
Upon seeing Mommy, his eyes shone brightly as he trotted toward her on his short little legs like a tiny cannonball. "Mommy, help."
Shen Zhiyu's heart tightened and she reached out to catch him. "Run slower, don't fall."
Fortunately, the little fellow made it safely to her without falling.
The little guy sought his mother's help. "Help, Mommy."
Shen Zhiyu squatted down to be at eye level with him and playfully teased him. "Give Mommy a kiss and Mommy will help you."
The little fellow felt a bit shy, but still stood on tiptoe to press a kiss against her cheek.
When he pulled back, the little guy's face was flushed red, looking utterly adorable and tempting.
Shen Zhiyu scooped him up and planted several hard kisses on his cheeks. When she finally set him down, her own face and neck were flushed completely red.
Laughing heartily, Shen Zhiyu praised him: "Zhouzhou, how can you possibly be this cute?"