The heavy snowfall that suddenly arrived continued all night. By the next morning, even the windows were covered with thick layers of snow.

At this moment, Baimei County had transformed into a beautiful new world wrapped in silver and blanketed with white snow.

Just as Lin Youxi drew open the curtains, Xiaoyuan—who was in the middle of getting dressed—immediately jumped down from her mother Xia Yuan’s arms and quickly walked over to Lin Youxi:

“Up up!”

“What do you call me?”

Lin Youxi looked at Xiaoyuan with interest. “If you don’t address me properly, I won’t pick you up.”

“Mama!”

After shouting this, Xiaoyuan seemed to realize something was off. After thinking for a bit, she opened her arms again: “Xi… Youxi Mama!”

“That’s right! Youxi Mama will pick you up now.”

Lin Youxi lifted Xiaoyuan directly into her arms and let her look at the snowy scenery outside the window.

“Wow, wow!”

Xiaoyuan began babbling to herself, reaching out to touch the window.

Meanwhile, Xia Yuan and Xiaoxixi were still sound asleep in bed. Soon Xiaoxixi was disturbed by the noise and woke up, opening her eyes in the crib and looking around pitifully for a while. Seeing that no one was paying attention to her, she then flipped over and climbed out of the crib.

She first looked at Yuan Mama still sleeping soundly in the warm blankets, biting her lip hesitantly. Then she turned to look at Youxi Mama—her birth mother Lin Youxi—who was currently having an intimate moment with her older sister Xiaoyuan. Once again, Xiaoxixi entered her shocked mode.

Baba… Daddy?

Xiaoxixi looked around but didn’t see any sign of her father.

Though only about one and a half years old, Xiaoxixi’s small mind always seemed to be pondering many things.

Seeing that her shock went unnoticed, Xiaoxixi sat blankly in the crib, gradually turning red in the face. Her lips quivered as tears began streaming uncontrollably from the corners of her eyes.

At that moment, the bedroom door suddenly opened. Mei Fang, bundled in a thick coat, came huffing and puffing into the room. Lin Youxi, holding Xiaoyuan, asked him curiously:

“Where did you go so early in the morning?”

“Ah… don’t you know your husband at all? Do you even need to ask!”

The corner of Lin Youxi’s mouth lifted slightly: “Actually, I already knew—I could smell it.”

As he spoke, Mei Fang took out three containers of Pan’s Beef Noodles from inside his thick coat, placing them one by one on the coffee table in the bedroom.

Today was the last day Pan’s Beef Noodles would be open before the New Year. Mei Fang knew his wives had been craving this taste from home, so not even heavy snow could stop the CStation CEO from venturing out early to queue up and bring back noodles.

Seeing this, Lin Youxi set Xiaoyuan down to play by herself and went to help Mei Fang take off his coat, chiding him as she did:

“Why go out in such heavy snow? Yuan Yuan and I never said we had to eat it now… We could have waited until after the New Year—”

“You were already talking about it last night. Luckily there weren’t many people this morning…”

Whether it was because Mei Fang and Lin Youxi’s conversation was too loud or because the aroma of the beef noodles was too enticing, Xia Yuan now began stirring sleepily in bed.

“Ah Fang… what are you guys doing… why do I smell beef noodles… so fragrant—”

“Wow! You really brought noodles back! Ah Fang! I love you! I super love you!”

As Mei Fang walked by, Xia Yuan immediately hugged him and clung to him, letting Mei Fang carry her to sit on the edge of the bed.

“Don’t just focus on loving me now—go wash up first…”

After sharing some affection with Xia Yuan, Mei Fang went to check on Xiaoxixi, who had been sitting quietly. Only then did he notice the tear stains on her face.

“Oh no… Xiaoxixi, what’s wrong… why have you been crying… did no one notice you?”

Mei Fang picked Xiaoxixi up into his arms, covering her with kisses and nuzzles. It was as if Xiaoxixi only now remembered how wronged she had felt earlier, suddenly bursting into loud sobs in her father’s arms.

Xiaoxixi’s dramatic crying caught the attention of her birth mother Lin Youxi, who observed her daughter’s pitiful state with interest:

“I was playing with Xiaoyuan earlier and didn’t notice, but she’s gradually learning the right way to act spoiled.”

“Are you even her real mother? Not comforting your daughter when she’s crying like this…”

“Xiaoxixi doesn’t know how to express her thoughts yet—she needs to cry like this to get everyone’s attention. She needs to experience this more to gradually get used to it.”

As she spoke, Lin Youxi took out a small bowl from the cabinet under the coffee table. She then picked up Xiaoyuan—who had been tiptoeing trying to reach the beef noodle containers—and carried her to the bathroom sink to wash her hands before seating her in the high chair.

Lin Youxi separated some noodles from the beef noodle container, rinsed them with water, then cut them into small pieces before placing them in the bowl on the little table in front of Xiaoyuan.

“Hey, hey, Xiaoyuan is still so small—she can’t handle spicy food…”

“It doesn’t seem that spicy—you got mild level, right? I already rinsed them. Let the kids try something new… See? She’s already starting to taste it.”

Xiaoyuan picked up the small spoon but had no idea how to use it to get the noodles into her mouth. Soon she abandoned the spoon and switched to hand-feeding mode, stuffing the noodles into her mouth.

“Does it taste good, Xiaoyuan?”

“Mmm…”

After making some noises, Xiaoyuan began enthusiastically slurping up the noodles. This sight gave Mei Fang and Lin Youxi a bit of a scare, but fortunately she ate happily without any discomfort.

“Wow, truly Yuan Yuan’s daughter.”

Lin Youxi clapped her hands with a smile. “Even her noodle-slurping skills are top-notch!”

“Hmph hmph!”

Xiaoyuan seemed to know she was impressive, putting on a mature and steady expression as she focused on her noodle-eating endeavor. However, as she ate, she soon began playing with the noodles.

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”

Xia Yuan, who had rushed through her morning routine, came hurrying over to slurp noodles. Seeing Xiaoyuan enjoying them so much surprised her:

“Not bad, Xiaoyuan… you’re just as skilled as your Yuan Mama.”

As she spoke, she began mixing her own noodles, ready to dig in. But just as she was about to take a bite, she paused and called Mei Fang over, feeding him a big mouthful first.

“How is it? Does it taste good, Ah Fang?”

“Everything tastes good when Yuan Yuan feeds me, haha.”

“Hehe…”

After their playful flirting, Xia Yuan began eating her noodles. Since Mei Fang was holding Xiaoxixi and couldn’t eat conveniently, both Xia Yuan and Lin Youxi took turns feeding him bites between their own.

Meanwhile, Xiaoxixi—who had just finished crying and been comforted by her father—watched as her two mothers fed her daddy bite after bite.

Not a single bite was given to her.

Omo.

Xiaoxixi once again entered her deeply shocked mode. Seeing this, Xia Yuan also felt a bit embarrassed, so she picked up a small strand of noodles, rinsed it, and held it out to Xiaoxixi.

“Do you… want to try it? It’s the noodles Mommy and Daddy love most.”

“……”

Xiaoxixi puffed up her chubby cheeks hesitantly before finally opening her mouth slightly, allowing Xia Yuan to feed her the noodle.

Munch munch.

Gulp gulp.

Xiaoxixi ate the noodle with a perfectly normal expression, seemingly swallowing it successfully.

Then she stared fixedly at the noodles remaining in Xia Yuan’s bowl.

“Wow, seems both kids can handle spicy food pretty well.”

So Xia Yuan began feeding her younger daughter too. It was surprising to see the delicate Xiaoxixi display such natural talent for eating noodles—she didn’t stop at all, immediately staring at Xia Yuan’s bowl after finishing each bite.

And so, three bowls of noodles were shared among a family of five over nearly an hour.

“Whew!”

After their satisfying noodle breakfast, the family changed into warm clothes and prepared to go play in the yard.

Meanwhile, a battle between the older generation was already underway outside.

Two large snowmen stood in the yard—the handiwork of Grandpa Mei Lijun and Grandpa Xia Xun.

The two were currently decorating their snowmen with carrots. Their snowmen were almost identical in size.

“So… Deputy Mei, my snowman isn’t bad, right?” Xia Xun wiped sweat from his brow—it seemed he had expended a year’s worth of energy building this snowman.

“Huff… Old Xia, you look like such a refined scholar—or maybe a spoiled big boss. Never expected you to be this good at building snowmen! At least half as skilled as me!” Mei Lijun, with his excellent stamina, wasn’t even short of breath as he stood proudly with hands on hips, laughing heartily.

“Hmph… Deputy Mei, after becoming a leader, you sure know how to boast without blushing.”

As Xia Xun traded barbs with Mei Lijun, Teacher Yu—sitting at the yard entrance knitting socks with Liang Meijuan—smiled and said:

“My husband has always been good at building snowmen. Back in the day, he—”

“Ahem, no need to say unnecessary things.”

Xia Xun quickly cut off his wife’s reminiscing.

“Oh ho? Oh ho ho ho! So there’s a sweet romantic story behind this?”

“We’re an old married couple now, what ‘sweet romance’…”

Just as Xia Xun was trying to change the subject, his gaze suddenly fell upon two little angels appearing at the doorway.

Xiaoyuan was dressed in an adorable full-body “Bad Luck Bear” outfit, while Xiaoxixi was completely enveloped in a pink starfish costume. Their unbearably cute appearances instantly melted everyone’s hearts.

The two were carried downstairs by Mei Fang. Seeing the silver-white world outside, their eyes immediately sparkled with wonder.

Mei Fang crouched down to let the children step onto the snow themselves. Xiaoyuan eagerly stomped onto the snowy ground, watching snowflakes land on her head as Lin Youxi steadied her while taking photos.

Xiaoxixi, however, continued clinging tightly to Mei Fang after being set down, too afraid to try this new experience.

“Xiaoxixi! Come on, don’t be scared! Listen to your mamas—this is just winter, nothing to fear. Winter—snow—”

Faced with Xia Yuan’s encouragement, Xiaoxixi hesitated, then looked nervously at her father.

“It’s okay, Xiaoxixi. Go to Yuan Mama—experience winter!”

With Mei Fang’s encouragement, Xiaoxixi slowly released her grip and tentatively stepped forward before finally rushing into Xia Yuan’s arms.

“Yay… Xiaoxixi is so brave!”

After Xiaoyuan and Xiaoxixi had played in the snow for a while, Xia Xun and Mei Lijun began growing restless.

“Xiaoyuan! Xiaoxixi! Come see Grandpa’s big snowman!”

“Come… come to Grandpa Xia!”

Xia Xun felt it would be inappropriate to only call Xiaoyuan, but couldn’t bring himself to call Xiaoxixi either, so he could only watch the two children longingly.

Xiaoyuan immediately became interested when called by her grandparents, eagerly running toward the snowmen—

Round One: Grandpa Xia lost to Grandpa Mei as Xiaoyuan fell into Mei Lijun’s arms.

“Good, good, excellent! Hehehe—”

Grandpa Mei Lijun showered Xiaoyuan with affection, while Grandpa Xia Xun watched with barely concealed frustration. “Y-you be gentle! You’ll scare Xiaoyuan!”

“Hahaha! How could I scare her?”

Mei Lijun set Xiaoyuan down to play with the snowman, then extended a hand toward Xiaoxixi who stood halfway between them:

“Xiaoxixi! You too—come to Grandpa!”

“Greedy much?” Xia Xun couldn’t hold back.

“Hmph, I never said you couldn’t approach Xiaoxixi. You’re her grandpa too—let’s see if she’ll go to you.”

Xia Xun merely glanced at Xiaoxixi, causing her to immediately freeze in her tracks, once again displaying her signature look of fear, vulnerability, and helplessness.

“The lonely little starfish.”

Lin Youxi enjoyed photographing her daughter’s daily life. “Quite poetic.”

“What poetry are you talking about?!”

Xia Yuan scolded Lin Youxi before yelling at Xia Xun: “Dad! Stop scaring Xiaoxixi!”

“Cough… I’m not… not scaring her.”

“You are! Look how she won’t even move now—”

“It’s okay, Xiaoxixi!”

Mei Fang cheered from the sidelines. “Be brave—go to the snowman you like!”

When Xiaoxixi saw her father approaching, she immediately clung to him like a lifeline. But Mei Fang—though his heart was breaking—gently refused her plea, because this was a perfect opportunity.

An opportunity to bridge the gap with his father-in-law.

“Come, Xiaoxixi, go to Grandpa Xia. Grandpa Xia loves you too!”

“Grandpa Xia…”

What a strange form of address.

Xia Xun thought this internally but didn’t voice it aloud. He simply watched as Xiaoxixi was guided step by step toward him.

Looking at Mei Lijun happily playing with Xiaoyuan, then at the pitifully adorable starfish Xiaoxixi, Xia Xun seemed to finally make up his mind. He clapped his hands and put on his most kindly expression:

“Come, Xiaoxixi… come to Grandpa Xia… I’ll help you build a snowman—okay? Hahaha!“

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, the little starfish took light, quick steps forward, slowly but surely.

Xia Xun reached out and gently took Xiaoxixi’s hand.

Her hand was tucked inside the starfish costume, but he could still feel her tiny fingers gripping his tightly.

Though not of Yuan Yuan’s blood…

She was still her daughter.

My grandchild.

As Xiaoxixi gazed up at him, something in Xia Xun’s heart seemed to melt. He slowly lifted her into his arms.

“Come… Xiaoxixi, Grandpa Xia will build a snowman with you! Okay? Hahaha!“

Watching Xia Xun and Xiaoxixi’s heartwarming interaction, Xia Yuan, Lin Youxi and Mei Fang couldn’t help but smile in unison.

Meanwhile, inside the house, Lin Guochuan was preparing Spring Festival couplets with Liang Meijuan. As they looked out the window at the joyful family scene, they lifted up the horizontal scroll together:

[FAMILY JOY]

Symbolizing—

The entire family’s happiness.