“You were in a rush when you came home and went straight upstairs. So, you might not have noticed that Little Wang seems off today?” Ruan Xia continued to say, “He seems to be in low spirits today and wouldn’t say much. He didn’t even respond when I offered him ice cream.”


  Song Tingshen considered her words before asking, “Could he have got into a minor argument at nursery school?”


  “I don’t know. I asked him, but he didn’t say anything.” Ruan Xia decided to hand off this difficult task to Song Tingshen. “Anyways, I tried my best, but he still stayed silent. You should talk to him. I’m not used to to seeing him like this.”


  “Okay.”


  Song Tingshen paused before saying, “The cake you made tasted very good.”


  When he said that compliment, his expression was slightly awkward. After all, the two of them were used to mutual non-interference and non-interaction.

  At first, Ruan Xia thought she must be hallucinating. Until now, Song Tingshen would only talk to her if he had a concern related to Little Wang. However, once she remembered his earlier request and proposal, she was relieved. If they wanted to successfully act like a loving couple in front of Little Wang, then their real relationship couldn’t be that bad. At the very least, they couldn’t continue treating the other person as a stranger.

  “That’s good. I’ve actually made a lot of cookies and cakes in my baking classes. I just haven’t brought them back. The housekeeper aunty has to keep her blood sugar under control and Little Wang can’t have too many desserts. It’ll spoil his appetite for dinner. I can’t eat too many desserts, otherwise I’ll gain weight. How about I start bringing home what I make in baking class starting tomorrow?If you don’t like them, you can give them to Assistant Chen.”


  Ruan Xia added, “But, whoever eats them has to give me critique in return. Otherwise, I won’t know if I’ve improved or not.”


  Song Tingshen nodded. “Okay.”


  The two of them weren’t able to keep the conversation going. After all, they weren’t familiar with each other. Their child was their only common topic.

  Fortunately, the housekeeper aunty was already calling them to come downstairs to eat dinner. Song Tingshen and Ruan Xia walked downstairs in a single file.

  Even without Ruan Xia bringing it up, Song Tingshen would have noticed there was something wrong with their son. Normally, mealtimes were Little Wang’s happiest times in the day, but his response was lukewarm today. Even though the housekeeper aunty had made his favorite dish (meatballs) today, he wasn’t that interested in eating it.

  It looked like something big really had happened.

  Song Tingshen and Ruan Xia looked at each other. They were both at a loss.

  As usual, the housekeeper aunty was eating dinner with them. Seeing that Little Wang was dispirited and downcast, she asked, “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”


  Little Wang shook his head. He continued to eat with his head lowered.

  Little kids could have bad moods too. After finishing dinner, Little Wang wasn’t clingy towards anyone. When the housekeeper aunty asked if he wanted to go outside to play, he didn’t want to. He ran off to his room and sat there, looking as if he was disillusioned with human society.

  Song Tingshen and Ruan Xia stood outside their son’s room and looked at each other in dismay. Looking at their chubby son’s back figure, neither of them could figure out what had happened to Little Wang. Ruan Xia had already called his teacher to ask, but the teacher said nothing out of the ordinary had happened today.

  He was too young to have entered into a preteen’s period of angst, right?

  But, what could this chubby kid possibly be depressed about?

  “Could he be suffering from a broken heart?” Ruan Xia quietly asked.

  Song Tingshen looked at her in askance. “He’s only four.”


  Ruan Xia refuted, “A lot of kids in nursery school already have someone they like nowadays. How can you be sure your son doesn’t have someone he likes?”


  “.……” Song Tingshen couldn’t understand what was going on in Ruan Xia’s brain. “I’ll talk to him. But if he didn’t tell you anything, it’s unlikely that he’ll tell me something. I think he just wants time alone to think things through.”