Free Web NovelChapter 138: Chapter 138: Handover
"Dad."
Little Tang Mo called out to Tang Yuanxiao.
Tang Yuanxiao quickly answered, "Yes?"
"Do you know how to draw?" Little Tang Mo asked Tang Yuanxiao. "Can you draw me? Like how Mommy draws me."
Little Tang Mo took out the cartoon drawing Su Li had made for him before, presenting it to Tang Yuanxiao like a precious treasure as he looked at him expectantly.
Tang Yuanxiao, who didn’t know the first thing about drawing: "..."
Looking at the adorable and lifelike portrait Su Li had drawn for Little Tang Mo, he felt deeply ashamed.
"Dad... isn’t very good at drawing," Tang Yuanxiao answered with difficulty.
Little Tang Mo blinked, his eyes lighting up. "I’m not very good at drawing either, Dad! We’re the same."
He smiled and grabbed two sheets of paper. "Let’s draw together, Dad. You draw me, and I’ll draw you."
He eagerly started drawing as soon as he finished speaking.
Tang Yuanxiao stared at the blank paper in front of him, then at the brush Little Tang Mo had stuffed into his hand. "..."
Tang Yuanxiao froze for a moment and looked to Su Li for help, but she ignored him. fɾēewebnσveℓ.com
Little Tang Mo would be living with him from now on; he’d have to get used to these things sooner or later.
"Little Mo really likes to draw. You should let him draw often in the future. He also likes..." Su Li mused before speaking softly to Tang Yuanxiao.
This was, in a way, a form of handover. Although she was reluctant, there was nothing she could do.
Tang Yuanxiao naturally understood what Su Li meant, but he couldn’t ask her to stop.
He liked hearing these things. Listening to her, he was amazed.
’Little Tang Mo... has learned so much and has so many hobbies... Su Li taught him all this?’
Tang Yuanxiao, who felt like he knew nothing, was suddenly under immense pressure.
This pressure came not only from Su Li, but from Little Tang Mo as well.
While listening to Su Li, Little Tang Mo was huffing and puffing as he drew. Halfway through, he looked at Tang Yuanxiao and grew anxious when he saw the still-blank sheet of paper.
"Dad, why haven’t you started drawing?"
"I’m starting, I’m starting..."
Forced by Little Tang Mo’s stare, Tang Yuanxiao finally put his brush to paper.
"Is that the sun?"
Hearing Little Tang Mo’s question, Tang Yuanxiao: "..."
’But I was clearly drawing a face...’
But if Little Tang Mo said it was the sun, then the sun it was.
"Yes, it’s the sun."
As he replied, he went along with it and turned the drawing into a sun.
"The sun isn’t round enough. Next time, Dad, you should draw it rounder." Little Tang Mo, the little teacher, was now in session.
"Right." Tang Yuanxiao stiffened and continued to try his best.
This time, he finally managed a face and started on the hair.
After a few strokes, Little Tang Mo came over to look again.
"Huh... Dad, why does he only have three hairs?"
Tang Yuanxiao said weakly, "...No... this is you."
Little Tang Mo: "..."
He looked at it from every angle but couldn’t see himself in the drawing.
Father and son stared at each other for a moment, then turned to look at Su Li in unison.
Su Li was "diligently" writing down the handover notes for Little Tang Mo. She was still worried, so she planned to tell Tang Yuanxiao everything about him.
For example, what level he had reached in his studies, his daily habits, things to watch out for, and other suggestions.
Little Tang Mo was a little genius, and his abilities would surely be discovered after he started school. Su Li had made detailed plans for this long ago, and she took the opportunity to write them down for Tang Yuanxiao.
At this time, special interest classes and programs for gifted children were still quite rare, but it wouldn’t be too difficult to hire private tutors if one put in the effort.
If Tang Yuanxiao agreed, they could let Little Tang Mo develop in a well-rounded way—morally, intellectually, and physically.
’Little Tang Mo is a future genius physicist. He has to be cherished and nurtured properly. He’s going to benefit society and all of humankind someday!’
Ahem... Su Li wasn’t exaggerating on this point.
’In my past life, Tang Mo’s residency was registered abroad, and he became another country’s national treasure. In this life, he belongs to Huaguo!’
Su Li scribbled away, writing with immense ’focus and seriousness,’ completely oblivious to the looks from the father and son.
Only after the two went back to their drawing did Su Li bite her lip hard to keep from laughing.
’Little Tang Mo... I’ve taught him to be so straightforward. He’s such an honest, good boy.’
The father and son muttered to each other, with Little Tang Mo even acting as the teacher. The drawing session was a lively affair.
This drawing session lasted for a full hour.
By the time they were done, Su Li had listed out all the things she needed to hand over, filling three pages with more than twenty items.
Meanwhile, Tang Yuanxiao’s and Little Tang Mo’s increasingly abstract works of art were also laid out on the table.
"Mommy, we’re all done drawing."
Little Tang Mo said, then looked at Tang Yuanxiao’s drawing and sighed like a little adult.
Tang Yuanxiao glanced around, looking awkward and embarrassed.
Su Li looked at the two masterpieces, and the corner of her mouth couldn’t help but twitch violently.
She was already used to Little Tang Mo’s abstract art. Although his drawings of people were abstract, they were full of childish charm, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them cute.
But as for Tang Yuanxiao’s... she really couldn’t bring herself to praise it.
His drawing of Little Tang Mo didn’t even have a physical resemblance, let alone a spiritual one.
He had no imagination and tried to make it realistic, but lacked the skill. The end result was just an eyesore.
Su Li took one look and had no desire to look a second time.
"Little Mo, you should teach your dad more in the future," Su Li suggested earnestly.
Teaching him would be a good way to build their bond.
"Okay." Little Tang Mo nodded gravely, feeling that he had a long and difficult road ahead of him.
"Alright, it’s about time to wash up and go to sleep," Su Li said, looking at Little Tang Mo’s paint-smeared face.
"Okay." Little Tang Mo nodded obediently, then went to clean up the scattered papers and pens on the table.
Su Li had taught him all of this, and he had long since memorized it.
Tang Yuanxiao, who had a streak of paint on the tip of his nose without realizing it, tried to help but was stopped by Little Tang Mo.
Little Tang Mo glanced at Tang Yuanxiao, snickered to himself without pointing it out, and just said,
"Dad, you can rest. I’ll clean up by myself."
’Mommy said I should do whatever I can by myself. I remember that.’
Little Tang Mo put the brushes back into the box one by one, then neatly gathered the papers. He sorted them tidily into three stacks: one for used drawings that couldn’t be used again, one for papers that could still be drawn on, and one for blank sheets.
Then he handed his portrait of Tang Yuanxiao to Tang Yuanxiao.
"This is a present for you, Dad."
"Oh!" Tang Yuanxiao had been watching Little Tang Mo with a pleased expression. Hearing this, he immediately took the drawing as if it were a precious treasure.
With a strange expression, Little Tang Mo put the drawings by Tang Yuanxiao and Su Li away together, and also put away the picture he had drawn of their family of three.
The table was soon neat and tidy again.
While Little Tang Mo was cleaning up, Su Li had already poured water into a basin for him to wash his face.
Little Tang Mo washed his own face while Su Li watched over him, helping until all the paint was gone.
Next, Little Tang Mo washed his own feet with a serious and meticulous expression.
"Alright, good job," Su Li praised him as she usually did.
Unlike Mrs. Tang, whose idea of being good to Little Tang Mo was to spoil him rotten and not let him do anything, Su Li believed in balancing affection with instruction.
She made sure his practical skills and self-sufficiency didn’t fall behind.
Little Tang Mo’s self-sufficiency was already excellent. He could dress himself, put on his own shoes, bathe, wash his hair, and even wash his own socks—he did it all flawlessly.
In a later era, or even now, some might say Su Li was like a stepmother for making her child do all these things, but Su Li had a clear conscience.
Even in the future, self-sufficiency would be a basic skill, let alone in the present.
Little Tang Mo didn’t have the luxury of being waited on hand and foot.
Su Li thought about this and glanced at Tang Yuanxiao, wondering what he thought.
What did Tang Yuanxiao think? He felt incredibly proud.
He didn’t hold back his praise at all. "Momo is so capable."
Little Tang Mo was happy but also a little shy. "No, I’m not."
Tang Yuanxiao patted Little Tang Mo’s head, filled with affection and feeling truly proud.
