On the day they received their marriage certificate, Meng Yanxi went back to the Meng family home.

He went back by himself. In fact, Jin Zhao was still a little nervous inside. Although she had prepared herself mentally to bravely face the gap between the two of them, and to bravely face his family as well, the thought of having to meet his family alone—without elders, but with children—inevitably stirred up a kind of fear that felt shocking to the world.

Meng Yanxi, however, said that this matter mainly depended on her wishes.

“Our family raises kids free-range. After getting married, whether to meet both sides’ parents and when to meet them are all decided by the younger generation. The elders usually just go along with it.”

What a brand-new view of family and marriage.

Jin Zhao had only ever seen this kind of dynamic online. In real life, people were still fairly traditional. She suspected Meng Yanxi was talking nonsense.

Go along with it—what is this, drinking wine?

Meng Yanxi said, “Really. Back then, my aunt Meng Shijin did it this way. She and my uncle got their certificate, and only a year later did she bring him home to meet the parents.”

He spoke with absolute confidence. Jin Zhao quietly let out a breath of relief.

Thank goodness for the Meng family’s open-mindedness.

The truth was—open-minded my ass.

It was all thanks to Meng Yanxi lying to both sides. No, it couldn’t be called lying; he preferred to call it an expedient measure.

This was just his personality. He had always been goal-oriented. If you put it nicely, he was unfussy about details; if you put it bluntly, he would stop at nothing. He always knew far too clearly what he wanted.

All he wanted was to get the certificate as soon as possible and let everything settle. Everything else was secondary. Naturally, he wouldn’t let Jin Zhao meet his family at such a critical moment, when things were most likely to drag on and change. Now that the certificate was already in hand—secure—Meng Yanxi finally returned to the Meng family home at an unhurried pace, planning to first face the family on his own.

He would block the first wave of firepower himself. Only then, when he brought Jin Zhao home later, could everything be handled properly and thoroughly.

Actually, among his family members, Grandpa Meng Huai was Buddhist in temperament, and his younger sister Meng Zhuxi was unreliable to begin with. These two posed no threat at all. The main firepower came from Meng Shixu.

Meng Shixu happened to be at home. The moment Meng Yanxi stepped through the door, he asked with a stern face, “Where did you go? I called you all morning and couldn’t get through.”

“Did you?”

Meng Yanxi’s mentality was rock solid. Without changing his expression, he took out his phone, swiped a few times, and removed Meng Shixu from the blacklist, all while putting on an act as he replied, “Accidentally turned on airplane mode.”

Meng Shixu didn’t dwell on that and went straight to the point. “I had Luo Heng send you the electronic version of the prenuptial agreement. Print out a copy yourself. I don’t care who you like, I don’t care who you propose to, how you propose, or how big a spectacle you make. But the prenuptial agreement must be signed. That’s my bottom line. This isn’t just being responsible to yourself; it’s also being responsible to the Meng family. If she breaks up with you because of the prenuptial agreement, then good—breaking up is fine. It’s not like this is your first breakup anyway. You’re familiar with this sort of thing, aren’t you?”

Meng Yanxi raised his brows and looked at Meng Shixu.

He had originally come back this time intending to have a proper talk with his old man, to put on a rare show of sincerity—whatever needed to be said or scolded, fine, as long as when he brought his wife home later the atmosphere would be harmonious and she could feel the warmth of a family. Instead, Meng Shixu’s words stirred a spark of anger in his chest.

Meng Huai had once said that Meng Yanxi was good in every way except one—he was fiercely protective. Anyone he cared about couldn’t even be talked about.

In an instant, all of Meng Yanxi’s sincerity vanished. With a half-smile that wasn’t quite a smile, he said, “Dad, I’ll give you one more chance. Take back what you just said.”

His rebellious, unruly attitude was provoking in its own way. The old man rose to it, lifting his brows as he asked, “What—if I don’t take it back, are you planning to pull my oxygen tube in the future?”

“Not quite.” Meng Yanxi let out a roguish laugh. “You’ll live to be a hundred. Maybe someday the two of us will even go together—look out for each other on the way.”

“Bah! You little bastard, your mouth gets more reckless by the day!” Meng Shixu was so angry he slapped the solid wood tea table three times in a row, silently chanting to himself: children speak without restraint.

Without even turning his head, Meng Yanxi said, “I’m going back to my room to pack a few things.”

Now that he was a married man, Meng Yanxi simply gathered up the things he had left here and soon left the Meng family home again.

From behind him, Meng Shixu raised his voice in reminder: “Keep the prenuptial agreement in mind.”

Meng Yanxi got into the car and perfunctorily brushed it off with no sincerity at all. “Got it.”

Got it, my ass.

The truth was, because Meng Shixu had cursed him and his wife to break up on the very day he got married, Meng Yanxi had already taken offense at his old man deep down. As the car drove out of the Meng family grounds, he was still thinking that when the little dumpling was born, he’d notify Meng Shixu last.

If he still didn’t repent, he wouldn’t even be allowed to hold the baby.

Meng Shixu had no idea what he had missed today.

To make matters worse, not only did Meng Yanxi shut his old father out of his heart, but just a few months later, the leaky little cotton jacket he had always favored also secretly went and got her certificate behind his back. Luckily, Zhou Huaichen was fairly responsible—he gave him a heads-up in advance and went to the Civil Affairs Bureau with a face bruised from being beaten by him, otherwise the old father might really have been angered into collapse by a pair of troublesome children.

By then it was already late autumn. That day was Meng Zhuxi’s birthday, but because of Meng Yanxi’s double-sided deception, Jin Zhao didn’t know. Early that morning, Meng Yanxi only said he was going back to the Meng family home.

Her months had advanced now. Whether it was her true nature coming out or the influence of the little dumpling, she was becoming more and more clingy toward Meng Yanxi. She had to hug him to sleep well; if Meng Yanxi got up, she would get up with him.

That day, Meng Yanxi got up early. She sat on the bed, hugging the blanket and yawning sleepily. As he changed clothes, she unconsciously stared at him.

In front of his wife, Meng Yanxi flirtatiously showed off his eight-pack abs and mermaid lines. Though he was clearly smug inside, he still greedily added, “You’re being clingy in a pretty subtle way. Why don’t you take some time to learn more from 1119?”

Jin Zhao thought for a moment, then reached out her hand toward him.

Meng Yanxi let out a low laugh and knowingly leaned in for her to hold. Jin Zhao hooked her arms around his neck, took the initiative to kiss the corner of his mouth, and said, “What about now?”

That one kiss from Jin Zhao made the corner of Meng Yanxi’s mouth curl up, almost keeping him from getting out the door on time.

Later, as he nipped at her lips, not without suggestion, he said, “I’ll be back after I eat—dance for you.”

Jin Zhao lowered her eyes, a flush quietly spreading over her fair neck.

On the day they got their certificate, Meng Yanxi brought back some things from the Meng family home. Jin Zhao didn’t pay attention to them at the time. It wasn’t until a month later, one day when she was helping Meng Yanxi look for cufflinks, that she saw a black-and-white box tied with a silk scarf inside the wardrobe.

A long-familiar feeling suddenly surfaced in her heart. She opened it, and sure enough, it was that silk dress adorned with feathers. Its color was like red jade tempered by fire, or like evening clouds crushed and soaked into satin—like flame, like light.

She thought of the video on Meng Yanxi’s phone that Meng Zhuxi had accidentally deleted, and suddenly felt a deep sense of regret.

If it had been another performance, perhaps she could still put it on and dance it for him again. But Luo Shen was a high-difficulty professional piece. Ten years had passed, and she could no longer dance it.

She didn’t know if it was the influence of pregnancy hormones, but thinking of all the missed chances, losses, and regrets of the past, Jin Zhao couldn’t help but let tears fall.

Meng Yanxi thought something was wrong with her and clumsily kissed her.

With reddened eyes, Jin Zhao said, “I’m no longer the Jin Zhao you liked when you were young.”

Meng Yanxi was taken aback, then laughed. “So what? I’m no longer the Meng Yanxi you liked when you were young either.”

“Lingling, we’re both moving forward—and so is our love.” Meng Yanxi cupped her face. “I like today’s you more than yesterday’s.”

Jin Zhao felt that in this lifetime, she would fall for Meng Yanxi again and again.

Deeper each time.

Later, Meng Yanxi said that since she was pregnant now and couldn’t dance, he volunteered to dance for her instead.

Jin Zhao deliberately teased him, telling him to wear that silk feather-trimmed dress. But although President Meng was a bit love-brained, his idol baggage was extremely heavy. No matter how Jin Zhao coaxed him, he flatly refused to wear a dress, and instead learned a leg-sweeping dance that was very popular at the moment.

He performed one-on-one for Jin Zhao at home, and halfway through the performance, directly carried her onto the bed.

At first, Jin Zhao thought this was also part of the dance and even cooperated with him. By the time she belatedly realized what was happening, he had already gotten his way.

Jin Zhao clenched her fingers, accusing him in a trembling voice, “How can you… be like this!”

Meng Yanxi deliberately asked, “Like what?”

Jin Zhao couldn’t bring herself to say it and skirted the issue: “…dancing something erotic.”

“This isn’t erotic dancing, this is…” The man forcefully sealed her mouth. “…thrusting with a physical prop.”

“……”

Hearing Meng Yanxi’s suggestive words now, those sensual images immediately resurfaced.

As for Meng Yanxi, his original intention had been to tease her, but he ended up teasing himself into a frenzy as well.

The Meng family tradition was that on birthdays, the whole family ate together. Meng Yanxi had no choice but to return to the Meng family home, already impatiently thinking on the way that he would leave right after the meal.

What he didn’t know was that his sister was just as impatient as he was.

That very morning, while he was being clingy with his wife, Meng Zhuxi had quietly run off to get her certificate with Zhou Huaichen.

You really could tell they were biological siblings—even the act of secretly getting married, they managed to do one after the other.

Naturally, both siblings were distracted that day, just hoping the meal would end quickly so they could each go back to their own homes and enjoy their own wedding night. Unexpectedly, Meng Shixu deliberately made things difficult, using the excuse of playing mahjong too late to keep the leaky little cotton jacket at home.

Originally, this had nothing to do with Meng Yanxi, but unfortunately when the city gate caught fire, the fish in the moat suffered too. That night, Meng Yanxi was also forced to stay at the Meng family home and couldn’t go back.

Meng Yanxi: “……”

Ever since getting married, he had never slept separately from his wife. Not being able to sleep was a foregone conclusion. In the middle of the night, he lay on the bed video-calling Jin Zhao.

His wife, who claimed to be more and more attached to him, kept yawning, which made a certain someone very dissatisfied. With calculated intent, he lifted the blanket.

Under the blanket, the man was wearing only a bath towel, his bare upper body exposed, chest muscles taut, eight-pack abs sharply defined.

Jin Zhao was far too familiar with his routine by now, but she was truly extremely sleepy. Laughing and crying at the same time, she asked, “It’s so late—don’t you want to sleep at all?”

Meng Yanxi looked proud and haughty. “No. I’m picky about beds.”

Jin Zhao said, “But isn’t this your room? How could you be picky about it?”

Meng Yanxi was just about to speak when he suddenly heard strange sounds coming from upstairs. Probably because his own thoughts weren’t pure at the moment, everything he heard felt ambiguously indecent.

On the phone screen, his wife was wearing a thin, milky-white nightdress. Her hair had grown much longer, fluffy after washing and hanging down over her chest. Because of the pregnancy, her figure had become fuller, her skin fair with a rosy flush, vividly alive as she swayed before his eyes. He could see her but not touch her, and the agitation inside him grew fierce.

He didn’t know what Meng Zhuxi was doing upstairs, but Meng Yanxi suddenly felt he had reached the limit of his patience.

“Wait.”

He said a word to Jin Zhao, then went upstairs irritably and knocked on Meng Zhuxi’s door. “Meng Zhuxi, what are you doing in there in the middle of the night instead of sleeping?”

Busy missing his wife, Meng Yanxi naturally didn’t notice that Zhou Huaichen had climbed over the wall tonight. He thought it was purely his own dirty mind making everything sound wrong.

Meng Zhuxi replied from inside, “I’m doing aerobics.”

Meng Yanxi said, “Do you know what time it is? What aerobics? Go to sleep already.”

After warning her, Meng Yanxi went back downstairs.

Back in his room, he couldn’t help complaining to Jin Zhao. “Meng Zhuxi’s been acting really strange lately.”

Jin Zhao said honestly, “I think you haven’t been paying much attention to her recently.”

In the past, Meng Yanxi had been very attentive to this younger sister of his. The slightest disturbance at her school, and as her brother, he’d want to fly over immediately.

“True. These days my head is full of you.” Meng Yanxi thought for a moment, then helplessly acknowledged a fact. “Lingling, I might be a bit love-brained.”

The first person in the Meng family to notice that the siblings had secretly gotten their certificates was Meng Huai.

As the saying goes, ginger gets spicier with age. Meng Huai had seen it long ago and never said a word, never exposed anyone. He only dropped a casual remark as the year drew to a close: the whole family would go to New Zealand for the Spring Festival.

The siblings immediately panicked.

Especially Meng Yanxi. Jin Zhao’s due date was right around the Spring Festival. With the little dumpling about to arrive any day now, how desperate would he have to be to go abroad for a vacation at this time?

The timing was about right. Meng Yanxi directly announced his marriage and Jin Zhao’s pregnancy, calmly dropping a heavy bomb in the Meng household.

Meng Shixu, upon learning that his son had been leading him around by the nose, was completely out of temper.

Son and daughter had both secretly gotten their certificates behind his back. The old father’s mindset was on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, Meng Huai knew how to comfort people. He said to him, “Look on the bright side. You’re about to be a grandfather. A baby is fragrant and soft and obedient—aren’t they much more worry-free than those two Xis? You can just start a new account.”

Meng Shixu immediately perked up and felt life was full of hope again.

Unfortunately, he underestimated his son’s protectiveness and grudge-holding.

The little dumpling broke shell on the day of the Spring Festival.

On New Year’s Eve, the young couple kept vigil together. Fireworks exploded across the city, the world rejoiced, sparks burned bright through the night.

When the clamor finally subsided, Jin Zhao’s belly suddenly started to hurt.

Meng Yanxi had already arranged everything. Jin Zhao entered the delivery room at night. At dawn, just as the sky began to brighten, the first ray of morning light pierced the darkness, and at the same time came the child’s loud cry.

On the first day of the New Year, distant firecrackers brought joy shared by all under heaven. Meng Yanxi nervously held his newborn son.

A newborn was so soft, and the corners of Meng Yanxi’s eyes were so hot.

He carried the little dumpling to show Jin Zhao, unable to stop himself from kissing her. He wanted to tell her that the little dumpling was very fair at birth, like her, and that his eyes looked like his.

But as soon as he opened his mouth, his throat tightened. Then a tear slid down his cheek.

Caught off guard, Meng Yanxi instinctively tilted his head back, trying to hold the tears in, but he couldn’t—he really couldn’t. More tears streamed down from the corners of his eyes.

Meng Yanxi: “……”

Jin Zhao was originally exhausted. Seeing Meng Yanxi’s tears so suddenly, she was both surprised and amused.

“Meng Yanxi, stop crying. The little dumpling didn’t even cry,” she said helplessly, gently coaxing the baby’s father as she wiped his tears.