House Dad's Literary Life

Chapter 227 – Leniency To Those Who Confess, Punishment To Those Who Resist

A man who once smeared blood on the tip of his knife, now had to learn how to thread a needle. What a tragedy it was! Perhaps the world would mourn and weep for him.

But when Yang Yi truly accomplished the art of threading a needle, he not only didn’t feel sad or upset, but instead felt a hint of joy in his heart.

“Wow! Papa, Papa is so amazing!” The little girl by his side exclaimed in amazement, which was the source of this joy.

Xixi saw her father using the thread in a very casual manner and easily pass it through the tiny needle hole. She couldn’t help but stand up, her small mouth forming a round shape. Her big eyes were filled with surprise and admiration.1

How did he do it?

Although it was Yang Yi’s first time threading a needle, and he was helping Mo Fei, his good eye and long, nimble fingers made it easy for him to complete the task on the first try.

“Xixi, do you want to try?” After being admired by his daughter, he became a little complacent and pulled out the thread that he had already threaded.

Mo Fei, who was ready to take the needle and thread, saw this scene and was amused by him. She scolded him, “Hold the tip of the needle carefully, don’t prick our daughter!”

Xixi took the thread and was eager to try it, but when she heard the word “prick”, the little girl became a little scared. She withdrew her right hand holding the thread back, while her left hand repeatedly swayed. She timidly said, “I’m scared, Papa, I’m scared, it hurts to be pricked!”

“It’s okay, you won’t get pricked. Look at the tip, Papa’s holding it!” Yang Yi comforted the little girl and smiled, “Just aim here and thread the thread through this small hole.”

“Okay, Papa, you need to be careful too!” Xixi hesitated for a moment, but still mustered up the courage to come over, carefully holding her father’s shoulder while carefully observing the needle hole.

“Here, put the thread through here.” Yang Yi encouraged the little girl.

However, although Xixi had good eyesight, her small hand shook when she was about to insert the thread. The annoying thread just wouldn’t get through.

Her small hand shook so much that the thread kept moving up and down, left and right, forming a sharp contrast with her father’s steady hand.

“I can’t do it, Papa, you do it!” Xixi tried for a while, but finally lost patience. She pouted her little mouth and became unhappy.

“Papa will show you another magic trick for threading the needle without looking!” Yang Yi said enthusiastically to Xixi, enjoying the adoring look in his daughter’s eyes.

“Great!” Xixi didn’t have to do it herself, and she became active again. She happily jumped over and leaned her soft little body against her father’s shoulder.

Mo Fei was also curious how Yang Yi could thread the needle without looking. She held the cotton ball in her hand and moved closer. Two pairs of eyes, one big and one small, were watching Yang Yi.

“Watch carefully!” Yang Yi held the needle in his left hand and the thread in his right hand. He held the thread with his mouth for a moment, and then flipped both hands over with the back of his hands facing himself, while the side holding the needle and thread was facing Mo Fei.

“Wait, I want to see,” Xixi quickly ran to her mother’s side and sat in her lap. She giggled and said, “Okay!”

Yang Yi didn’t really look, not only did he block it with the back of his hands2, but he also turned his head to avoid suspicion. He touched the position of the needle hole with his finger, then used his right hand to feel and pinch the thread and bring it closer.

“Wow!” Mo Fei couldn’t help but cover her mouth and exclaimed. She saw it very clearly. The thread was stable and horizontally aligned with the needle hole. Yang Yi lightly flicked his right hand and the thread went through.

Next, Yang Yi was really like embroidering, his ring finger and little finger took over from his index finger and thumb to hold the thread, and he used his index finger and thumb to feel the thread through the needle hole and gently pull it through, as if his whole body was comfortable!

“Amazing, amazing!” Mo Fei couldn’t help but clap her hands.

Xixi also followed suit and clapped her hands vigorously. The little girl’s hands became red from the clapping, and she kept giggling and raising her head.

After letting Yang Yi show off for a while, they continued to make the stuffed doll.

Following the instructions of Teacher Shen, Mo Fei used another thread to tie up the cotton ball, which would be the head of the doll, and of course, there was a small tail after tying it up.

“Xixi, help Mama hold this, pinch it here, be careful!” Mo Fei gave Xixi a small task.

The little girl pinched the cotton ball and helped out on the side.

At this point, Yang Yi had already followed Mo Fei’s instructions and cut the piece of cotton cloth into two pieces. Mo Fei took the long piece, folded it in half, sewed it according to the instructions, and made a small pocket.

“It’s Xixi turn!” Mo Fei smiled, opened the small pocket, and pointed to the cotton ball next to it. “Xixi, help Mama get some cotton and stuff it inside.”

It feels great to be able to help. Xixi was full of energy, squatting down and standing up, constantly stuffing the cotton into the small pocket. Her little face was filled with a happy smile.

However, she didn’t know how to take a lot at once and then tear it apart and stuff it in…

“Okay, that’s almost it. Xixi, give the ball to Mama!” Mo Fei said.

Yang Yi has nothing to do now, he was just watching from the side. Mo Fei stuffed the cotton ball into the pocket at the neck part, and then tightly pressed the head part against the opening.

After sewing it to make it firm, the prototype of the rag doll appeared.

But it wasn’t finished yet. Mo Fei took the remaining square cotton cloth, sewed up the four sides, then folded it diagonally. She took the prototype that she had just made and wrapped the cotton cloth around it, with the head on the center.

This part was a bit complicated. Mo Fei took care of it all by herself. Xixi squatted next to her, her small face tense as if she was the one sewing, nervously pursing her small mouth.

The smooth side was for the face, and the intentionally wrinkled side was for the hair. Then tie knots at both ends of the base to make the doll’s hands, sew the threads, and a simple rag doll was completed!

“Okay, it’s done!” Mo Fei shook the rag doll in her hand and handed it to Xixi, and asked with a smile, “Xixi, what do you think?”

“It looks good!” Xixi nodded quickly and said with a pout, “It’s even better than what Teacher Shen made!”

“Really? Then Mama is really happy!” Mo Fei smiled so much that she couldn’t close her mouth, even happier than releasing a platinum record.

“But I don’t even want to take it to Teacher Shen anymore. I like it too.” Xixi hugged the rag doll tightly and hesitantly said to her mother.

“Why?” Mo Fei couldn’t understand.

“Because I want to sleep with it at night!” Xixi felt that this rag doll was of great significance. It was made by Papa, Mama, and Xixi together, completely replacing the original position of Big Baby Bear in her heart.

“Even if you handed in your homework, you can still get it back!” Mo Fei corrected Xixi’s wrong idea with a wry smile, then turned to Yang Yi, who was watching TV, and said, “Yang Yi, come and promise your daughter that you will help Xixi get this rag doll back from Teacher Shen!”

“Uh, I promise,” Yang Yi answered perfunctorily.

“What are you watching?” Mo Fei asked curiously.

“Ah? Nothing,” Yang Yi replied in a flustered attempt to cover up.

Mo Fei walked over suspiciously and saw that the TV was playing a replayed broadcast of yesterday’s program, and she was singing that song passionately on the screen.

“If you want to watch, just turn up the volume and watch! Why are you sneaking around?” Mo Fei blushed and twisted Yang Yi’s waist flesh in annoyance, even though it wasn’t soft.

Last night, the program only started airing at ten o’clock, and Xixi had already fallen asleep. Yang Yi and Mo Fei sat in the living room watching the show.

Mo Fei didn’t want to watch it. She thought she looked ugly on the variety show, but Yang Yi insisted on watching and especially wanted to hear her sing that song.

Now, Mo Fei still remembered Yang Yi’s expression at that time, listening and watching with special attention, just like a little fan.

“Tell me, were you thinking of me when you sang this song?” After listening attentively and observing every change in her expression, he hugged Mo Fei sideways and held her in his arms, looking at her gently as he asked this question.

At that time, Mo Fei tried to deny it with a straight face, but she couldn’t help but smile.

“You’re still saying no. You brought Xixi with you, didn’t stay abroad, and came back across the ocean. If it’s not to see me, who else could it be?” Yang Yi tickled her.

Mo Fei couldn’t stand being tickled, so she struggled a bit and then confessed in laughter.

However, it was too late to confess. She underestimated the inhumane rules of the Yang family.

Yang Yi didn’t give her a chance to explain and immediately enforced the family law on her.

Coincidentally, for resisting the strict rules and also for the offense of pulling cotton out of the pillow previously, Yang Yi, full of energy, made Mo Fei kneel down and repent on the living room sofa for a while, and then subjected her to a yoga torture on the big bed for a while, and finally, Mo Fei, who had almost fainted in the clouds, sat down heavily in confinement…

Mo Fei didn’t remember what happened afterward. The next day, when she woke up, as mentioned earlier, she shared the same bed with Yang Yi.

“How I wish I could send you a thousand miles, until the mountains and rivers run out, and spend my life with you…” It was unknown when Yang Yi started to listen to her singing and turned up the volume of the TV. Mo Fei was pulled back from her embarrassing memories of yesterday by her own singing.

“Ouch!” Yang Yi withdrew his foot in pain, as Mo Fei had stepped on it. It didn’t hurt too much, but he looked at Mo Fei in confusion, “What’s the matter? Why did you step on me?”

“Who told you to always think about doing bad things!” Mo Fei retorted with a blushing face.

“What bad things?” Yang Yi was really confused.

Was it a bad thing for him to listen to Mo Fei’s singing?

What kind of logic…

TN: About the title of the chapter: “坦白从宽，牢底坐穿” is a Chinese idiom. This idiom suggests that those who admit to their wrongdoing will receive more lenient treatment, while those who refuse to confess will face severe punishment. Well, you know which part of the chapter this is referring to.