"Mom, I’m not called Round Belly."

Du Zhiyuan left the small shop and walked a long way, still tangled about this issue.

Xie Wanning held back a laugh and said, "Of course I know you’re not called Round Belly, don’t listen to that girl talking nonsense. But how did she know your name? Did you tell her?"

"Of course not, I didn’t even talk to her."

"Do you want to talk to her?"

Du Zhiyuan hesitated for a moment and then quietly said, "Yes."

"Then next time be a bit more outgoing and brave. Even if others ignore you, it won’t be a loss for you. If she talks to you, then you’ve made a new friend."

"Okay." Du Zhiyuan nodded obediently.

Xie Wanning looked at her son being so well-behaved, her heart softened, and she held his hand and continued walking forward.

The wind by the seaside carried a faint salty smell, blowing cool on the face, very comfortable.

"Mom." Du Zhiyuan suddenly called again.

"What is it?"

"Can you please stop taking pictures of me? I don’t like it. One moment I’m standing here, another moment I’m standing there, and then I have to pose. It’s really annoying."

"You little rascal, there’s no negotiating this."

The once lovingly smiling mother suddenly gave him a light tap on the head.

"If I don’t take more pictures, over time, I might not remember what you look like," Xie Wanning said.

"How’s that possible? If you forget, just look at me and you’ll remember again?"

Xie Wanning heard this, and a smile appeared in her eyes. She pinched his little chubby cheeks, "One day you’ll grow up."

"When I grow up, I’ll protect Mom like Dad did," Du Zhiyuan immediately declared loudly.

"Alright, Mom thanks you in advance." Xie Wanning took his hand and headed towards the beach.

"I want to be like Dad and become a firefighter," Du Zhiyuan added.

"No way," Xie Wanning promptly warned, "When you grow up, you mustn’t be a firefighter."

"Then what should I become?"

"Just be Mom’s little darling."

"Hee hee, alright..."

As mother and son reached the beach, they found it was too sunny, the sand was scorching, and there was hardly anyone around.

"Mom, did you mess up the timing? No one comes to play at this time," Du Zhiyuan looked at Xie Wanning with suspicion.

Xie Wanning: ...

"How could your mom mess up? It’s just the weather forecast was a bit off. It clearly said today would be cloudy and not too hot. Let’s find some shade to play."

There were many coconut trees by the seaside, and although the leaves were sparse, they barely blocked the sunlight.

Xie Wanning then proudly said, "See, isn’t this better? You can play here, and the sun won’t get to you."

Seeing her acting as if she had planned it all along, Du Zhiyuan couldn’t help but roll his eyes.

"You little ingrate, dare to roll your eyes at your mom? Watch me kick your butt."

Seeing her son squatting on the sand, Xie Wanning walked up, lifted him a bit with her foot under his bottom, and Du Zhiyuan quickly scraped against the ground.

"Mom..." Du Zhiyuan quickly got up, brushed the sand off his face, and protested.

"Haha..."

Xie Wanning laughed heartily, and Du Zhiyuan laughed along.

"Say, isn’t your mom the smartest woman in the world?"

"Yes, Mom, you’re the smartest."

"Stay still, let Mom take a photo of you."

Du Zhiyuan’s little face fell immediately.

"What kind of expression is that? You should feel honored."

"Strike a pose, don’t ruin your mood when you’re the happiest."

Du Zhiyuan had no choice but to obediently pose as his mom instructed.

The mother and son were under the shade, one was digging a hole laboriously, the other was holding a phone taking pictures everywhere.

But soon, Du Zhiyuan couldn’t stand the heat.

As the sun moved, the shade shifted too. The hole he painstakingly dug was soon exposed to the sun, and within minutes, he was howling from the heat.

However, Xie Wanning stood under the tree laughing heartily.

After fussing around for a while, Du Zhiyuan lost interest in playing with sand.

"Mom, I’m done. Let’s go back."

"But you said it yourself, you can’t blame me for not bringing you to play with sand later."

"Mom, you’re so sneaky."

"Haha~"

Mother and son got off the beach, cleaned the sand from their shoes, and headed towards the hotel.

"Mom, can we go swimming back at the hotel?"

"No, I’m exhausted. I just want to sleep, not going anywhere."

Du Zhiyuan glanced at her, then continued, "Mom, don’t feel self-conscious, you look great in a swimsuit."

"Where did you get that I feel self-conscious? I look great in anything."

"But Grandma said you have a figure like a gas cylinder, that’s what Grandma said, not me, okay?" Du Zhiyuan emphasized at the end to avoid getting hit.

"Don’t listen to your Grandma, my figure is great, perfect, biu-ti-ful, you know?"

"Then let’s go swimming."

"No."

"Then I’ll go myself."

"Then go by yourself."

"Hmph, go by myself then. If I drown, you won’t have your favorite little darling anymore, you’ll cry your eyes out." Du Zhiyuan grumbled.

"You silly child." Xie Wanning pretended to raise her hand as if to hit, but then softly put it down, ruffling her son’s short hair, finding the texture quite nice.

"I know what you want to say, I’m just lazy, I don’t want to move, no need to worry about me," Xie Wanning said.

Ever since her husband passed away, perhaps due to immense sorrow or a loss of life direction, she felt unmotivated in everything, and this worried her son, Du Zhiyuan, very much.

So he would always drag her to do this and that, including this trip to Bin Hai, which he insisted on.

Although the trip to Bin Hai was planned before her husband’s death, after he passed away, she didn’t feel like going at all.

"Mom, I feel like you’re unhappy every day. Why don’t you find me a new dad?" Du Zhiyuan sensibly suggested.

"You kid, aren’t you afraid a stepdad might be mean to you and beat you every day?" Xie Wanning said with a mix of laughter and tears.

"I’ll go live with Grandma, he can’t hit me there. You can just visit me every Sunday, no, every month," Du Zhiyuan said.

Hearing this, Xie Wanning felt as if her heart was being squeezed.

She held her son’s frail shoulders, "Don’t worry, Mom won’t find you a stepdad, it’ll just be the two of us living together."

"Okay, then I’ll eat well and grow strong like Dad, so I can protect you."

"If you keep eating, I’m not sure about getting strong, but you’ll definitely become round like a belly."

"Mom, if you call me Round Belly again, I’ll be really angry."

"I won’t, I won’t, haha..."