"Then thank you, Uncle." Xu Qingqing nodded happily in agreement, concealing the cold glint in her eyes.
"Sure. I'll call you then." Uncle agreed readily.
After Xu Qingqing finished giving the gifts, she went home. As soon as her car drove into the neighborhood, she saw a group of workers at the door of her house unloading a pine tree from a big truck.
The pine tree was so big that it was a bit strenuous for four people to carry it together. Its trunk was so thick that it was a struggle for one person to hug it.
The pine tree was about three meters tall, with thick, dark green pine needles piled up in layers. Long strings of tiny light bulbs were hanging between the branches.
Apart from the busy workers around the pine tree, the neighbors nearby were also gathering around to watch.
"Where did this huge pine tree come from?"
Xu Qingqing parked the car, got out, pushed through the crowd and went back to her home.
There she saw Lu Chuanbai and the two children lying on the living - room floor, arranging the decorations that would be hung on the Christmas tree later.
"This golden bell is so beautiful!"
Xu An'an held a golden round bell bigger than her face and showed it to Lu Chuanbai.
"Dad, can you ask the worker uncle to hang this bell on the top of the Christmas tree?"
"Sure." Lu Chuanbai nodded in approval. "Go and give the bell to the uncle."
"Okay." Xu An'an put on her slippers and turned around. Just then she saw Xu Qingqing coming home.
"Mom, you're back! Merry Christmas!"
Hearing Xu An'an's blessing, Xu Qingqing just realized that Christmas had arrived. She felt a bit dazed.
She never expected Christmas to come so soon!
"Oops! I've forgotten all about it!"
Lu Chuanbai opened a beautiful Christmas hat with his palm and put it on Xu Qingqing's head.
"I had that big pine tree outside specially brought here for the festival. It's a surprise for the two kids."
"Oh no, I forgot!" Xu Qingqing slapped her forehead, adjusted the crooked Christmas hat and was about to turn around and leave in a hurry.
"I forgot to prepare Christmas gifts for the two kids!"
In the past, she would always prepare gifts in advance and pretend they were from Santa Claus.
"I'll go out and buy some now."
"No need."
Lu Chuanbai grabbed Xu Qingqing and pulled her back.
"I know you've been busy, so I've already prepared the Christmas gifts for the two kids. They're in the game room."
Hearing this, Xu Qingqing scratched her head in embarrassment.
"In the past, I would always put the gifts in their Christmas stockings and pretend they were from Santa Claus to keep their childlike innocence."
"Thank goodness you prepared them. We can't let them find out. I'll go and hide them now!"
Seeing Xu Qingqing so enthusiastic, Lu Chuanbai couldn't help but let out a chuckle. He chose his words carefully.
"Xu Qingqing, actually... it's you who's been being tricked. The two kids have long known that there's no Santa Claus in this world."
"What? How could that be?"
Hearing Lu Chuanbai's words, Xu Qingqing looked at him in disbelief with a shocked face.
"How could they have found out? Every time they received the gifts I gave them, they were so happy... Their reactions didn't seem to be faked..."
It was only at the end of her words that Xu Qingqing realized her own stupidity.
The two kids were as smart as little foxes, and Xu Yiyi even had acting experience.
If the two kids wanted to deceive her, it would be a piece of cake.
Lu Chuanbai smiled and pulled the gloomy - faced Xu Qingqing into his arms. Then he turned to Xu Yiyi, who was pretending to tidy up the streamers but actually eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Yiyi, stop pretending. Come and explain it to Mom quickly."
Xu Yiyi slowly turned around, looking at Xu Qingqing with a bright smile and said sheepishly,
"Actually, An'an and I have known for a long time, but we didn't want to ruin the surprise Mom prepared for us, so we've never said anything..."
So they had really been playing tricks on her!
Xu Qingqing let out a silent groan in her heart and asked in surprise, "How could this happen? I thought I'd hidden it well. How did they find out?"
"Is it because my acting skills are not good enough?"
"It's not about Mom's acting skills. Mom's acting is great. We heard it from others..."
Xu Yiyi told Xu Qingqing their experience.
On Christmas when the two kids were two years old, Xu Qingqing had carefully booked a Christmas - themed restaurant for them and took them there for dinner.
During the meal, Xu Qingqing went to the toilet, leaving the two kids to continue eating.
Not long after Xu Qingqing left, the kids at the next table started to make a fuss, wanting to see Santa Claus and get Christmas gifts.
Their parents got annoyed and directly shattered their fantasy, telling them that there was no Santa Claus in the world and all the gifts were from their parents.
Since that family was so loud, the innocent Xu Yiyi and Xu An'an were also affected.
The two kids made an agreement not to let Xu Qingqing know, for fear of hurting her childlike heart.
Unexpectedly, it was she who had been taken care of by the two kids. Xu Qingqing's face was full of annoyance.
"So you've been playing along with Mom all this time."
She really wasn't a qualified mother. The two kids had already found out while she was still immersed in the illusion.
Xu Yiyi gave a sly smile and ran back to comfort Xu Qingqing.
"Mom, actually we really wanted to receive gifts too."
He and Xu An'an were worried that Xu Qingqing would stop giving them gifts, so they never exposed the truth.
At this moment, the door was suddenly pushed open by Xu An'an. She ran in cheerfully with a big smile on her face.
"Dad, Mom, brother, the Christmas tree is up. Come out and have a look quickly!"
Hearing that the Christmas tree was installed, Xu Qingqing, Lu Chuanbai and Xu Yiyi ran out to see. The tall and beautiful Christmas tree standing at the door looked extremely spectacular.
The worker pressed the remote control of the lights on the Christmas tree. The little lights on it instantly lit up, accompanied by Christmas carols.
"Jingle bells, jingle bells... Jingle all the way..."
Many passers - by saw the huge Christmas tree and couldn't help taking out their phones to record it.
"It will definitely look even more spectacular at night!" Xu Qingqing couldn't help sighing in her heart.
"Yeah."
Lu Chuanbai nodded in agreement and suggested, "How about we go home and cook first, and invite Mom and Dad and your elder brother to our house for dinner."
"Today is a rare day for us to get together."
"Okay. I'll go and call Grandpa and Grandma now!"
The two kids ran away laughing to call Xu's parents.
Xu Qingqing and Lu Chuanbai looked at each other and smiled, then went home to prepare the ingredients.
Since it was Christmas, the originally deserted hospital had a bit more vitality.
The nutritious meal provided by the hospital even came with an apple with a "Merry Christmas" sticker on it.
Lu Fenglin was sitting in front of his step - mother's bed. Looking at his step - mother lying motionless on the bed with a breathing mask on her face, he gently took her increasingly thin hand.