House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 262 – Birthday Surprise

Mo Fei was very busy, so busy that she forgot her own birthday. That’s why today, she still didn’t return home until half past eight. Mo Xiaojuan drove her and dropped her off downstairs.

After getting out of the car, Mo Fei was about to bid farewell to Mo Xiaojuan when she saw Mo Xiaojuan turned off the engine and got out of the car, closing the door behind her.

“Xiaojuan, you can just drop me off here. Do you still need to accompany me upstairs? We’re already at the doorstep, it’s perfectly safe,” Mo Fei said amusingly.

Mo Xiaojuan sent out the pre-edited text message she had prepared earlier, then quietly put away her phone. She chuckled and said, “Sister, are you in such a hurry to chase me away so you can have some alone time with brother-in-law?”

“Why do you always bring that up?” Mo Fei blushed a little and retorted, “You think about these things all the time. Why don’t you hurry up and find a boyfriend?”

“What’s good about men? Oh well, forget it. I got off because I needed to use the restroom. Sister, please take me to the bathroom quickly,” Mo Xiaojuan took Mo Fei’s hand and shouted.

The nearest bathroom was in the coffee shop, but today Ding Xiang was pulled away to be an audience, so the coffee shop wasn’t open. So, Mo Fei took Mo Xiaojuan upstairs with her.

“Hmm, why is there no one at home?” Mo Fei walked up the stairs and saw that it was dark and quiet upstairs, and was a little surprised.

“Turn on the lights quickly, sister. I can’t see anything. It’s creepy,” Mo Xiaojuan called out from behind.

She intentionally raised her voice, but Mo Fei didn’t notice anything wrong and thought the girl was scared.

“I’ll turn on the lights now.” Mo Fei, unsuspecting, skillfully found the position of the switch on the dark wall and turned it on with a “click”.

With a “Pop” accompanying the flickering light, a louder noise suddenly came from behind Mo Fei.

“Ah!” It was too sudden. Mo Fei was startled, and she quickly grabbed the arm of Mo Xiaojuan next to her in panic.

“Happy birthday!”

“Happy birthday, Mama!” Following Yang Yi’s well-wishes1, Xixi’s cheerful voice came next. The little girl had been hiding with her father behind the sofa, covering her mouth. After speaking, she couldn’t hold it in any longer and burst into laughter.

Mo Fei’s eyes adjusted a bit and she could finally see the colorful confetti fluttering in the air, the empty tube of the party popper in Yang Yi’s hand that had startled her, and her daughter, who was jumping excitedly and with cheeks red from laughing on one side!

Although she already understood what was going on, Mo Fei still looked a bit shaken. She turned her head to look at Mo Xiaojuan and, sure enough, the girl was laughing secretly there!

“Surprise!” Mo Xiaojuan exaggeratedly waved her arms and said to Mo Fei with a smile, “Sister, happy birthday!”

No wonder she had come along.

Mo Fei gave her a reproachful look and said, “You all kept me in the dark, and even Mo Xiaojuan, you didn’t tell me it was birthday!”

“It was all to give you a surprise! We’ve been preparing for over a week, and to keep it a secret, I didn’t dare tell Xixi until today,” Yang Yi came over and placed a birthday “crown” on Mo Fei’s head.

“You scared me, you have to compensate me!” Mo Fei pouted and playfully punched Yang Yi’s chest with her small fist.

“Alright, I’ll compensate you. Today, whatever you say is fine.” Yang Yi said gently with a smile.

Mo Fei hadn’t thought about how Yang Yi should compensate her, so she set the bad guy aside and made him clean up the confetti on the floor. She was now being entertained by Xixi, and the little girl excitedly brought her own gift.

“Mama, mama, I prepared a birthday gift for you!” Xixi, wearing a little hat that looked like an ice cream cone, looked very cute. She handed over her gift, her big eyes filled with nervous anticipation. “You must like it, okay!”

Although her father helped polish it up, wrote a line of words, and even helped her frame it with cardboard and wrapped it in a gift box, Xixi still lacked a bit of confidence.

“It’s a birthday gift from Xixi to Mama, right? As long as it’s from Xixi, Mama will like it no matter what!” Mo Fei was very happy. After all, it was the first time Xixi had given her a birthday gift. Mo Fei held it dearly, reluctant to open it just yet.

However, Mo Xiaojuan, who enjoyed watching the excitement, urged, “Open it, open and see!”

Xixi thought that her mother didn’t know how to open it, so she kindly reached out her little hand to help untie the ribbon. “It’s opened like this, just pull it a little!”

The gift was opened, and inside the box was a drawing. Mo Fei was slightly surprised. She had thought that with such a rush, Xixi and her father must have gone out to buy a gift. But it was also within her expectations as Xixi had been taught some skills in drawing by her father.

In the drawing, the little girl had drawn many flowers and a long river. There were three figures walking beside it. Although they were not specifically depicted, it was not difficult for Mo Fei to guess that Xixi had drawn their family of three.

Yang Yi has not taught Xixi detailed painting techniques yet, as he did not want to stifle his daughter’s imagination. However, he has taught Xixi some composition tips, allowing her to better express her desired artistic conception.

“This is Xixi, this is Mama, and this is Papa!” the little girl leaned closer and introduced, “And then we’re taking a walk, holding hands.”

” It’s very beautifully drawn!” Mo Fei said sincerely. “Mama really likes this birthday gift!”

“Really?” Xixi exclaimed in surprise, holding her little hands and looking at her mother.

“Of course!” Mo Fei set the drawing aside, picked up the little girl, and kissed her on her sweet little cheek.

“Hehe, Hehe!” The little girl laughed contentedly.

Beside them, Mo Xiaojuan picked up the drawing and looked at it closely. She exclaimed in surprise, “Wow, there’s even a poem on it!”

“It’s the beautiful scenery in Jiangnan, and during the season of falling flowers, I meet you again.” Mo Xiaojuan read it while sighing, “This must have been written by brother-in-law. The handwriting is pretty good, and the poem is quite fitting for the occasion. It’s the season of falling flowers now.”

“When you were studying, you didn’t read books properly. The season of falling flowers, when did that become autumn?” Mo Fei corrected, “The season of falling flowers generally refers to the end of spring.”

The reason why Mo Fei could make such a clear judgment was because she also connected it to the time when she and Yang Yi met again, which happened to be at the end of spring and the beginning of summer.

“I don’t care, I don’t care. Anyway, the poem written by brother-in-law is very good! It perfectly matches this drawing!” Mo Xiaojuan exclaimed.

Mo Fei has received quite a few gifts. On one side, there were gifts from her fans, while on the other side were gifts from Mo Xiaojuan, Ding Xiang, Guo Ziyi, and others. Yang Yi’s gift was a bit large, so it was hidden in the study.

“Ding Xiang and Guo Ziyi couldn’t come because they were pulled to attend a lecture at school. They asked me to convey their birthday wishes to you,” Yang Yi said as he watched Mo Fei opening the gifts from her fans.

The birthday gifts from die-hard fans were basically some perfumes, cosmetics, or beautiful clothes, which couldn’t attract Xixi’s attention. The little girl felt bored after watching for a while, and ran to pester her father to bring out the cake for them to eat.

“Just wait a moment. Mama still needs to blow the candles later,” Yang Yi comforted the little girl.

“Click!” Next to her, Mo Xiaojuan took a photo of Mo Fei sitting on the carpet and unwrapping gifts with her phone.

“What are you doing?” Mo Fei was puzzled and asked in surprise while continuing to open gifts.

“I’m taking pictures. I’ll post them on your Weibo later!” Mo Xiaojuan said enthusiastically.

After Yang Yi taught Mo Fei how to register for Weibo, she handed it over to Mo Xiaojuan. She rarely played with it, but Mo Xiaojuan was very interested and often updated Mo Fei’s Weibo.

Of course, Mo Xiaojuan also knew that big stars needed to maintain a certain distance from their fans and maintain a sense of mystery. So, what she posted was basically Mo Fei’s itinerary and work status. The photo she took today was the only one of Mo Fei’s candid photos2 that she appeared in, mainly to thank those fans who wished her a happy birthday.

Currently, there weren’t many people using Weibo, but Mo Xiaojuan liked to watch the daily growth of the number of followers in the background every day, as if witnessing Mo Fei’s growth step by step.

Yang Yi shook his head as he watched. He stood up and went to get the cake and insert the candles.

However, Mo Fei didn’t plan to unwrap all the gifts. She picked out a few cosmetics and beautiful clothes, and then said to Mo Xiaojuan, “I’ll keep these and give them to Ding Xiang. You can take the rest and share them with the people in the company!”

“Alright!” Mo Xiaojuan agreed readily. This wasn’t the first time. When stars receive gifts from fans, they basically handle them this way.