Jin Zhao lifted her face to look at Meng Yanxi.

The patch of pale golden light behind him was dazzlingly bright, and because of it, his outline softened, as if he, too, were gilded with a layer of warm, gentle gold.

The wind stirred, the trees swayed, sunlight spread and flowed. Quiet ripples unfurled in Jin Zhao’s heart, stirring her into a flutter of emotion.

It was as if she heard him say, “I love you.”

Yet it was very strange—clearly, what he had said was, “You love me.”

But in that moment, the warm spring sun seemed to blur the boundary between them. Who loved whom no longer needed to be measured, or perhaps they were the same.

Whether it was the wind moving, or the heart moving, there was no need to sort it out.

Meng Yanxi’s eyes were jet-black and open, looking straight at her.

“Okay.”

Her voice was inexplicably a little hoarse as she murmured softly.

I will love you. Maybe I don’t yet understand love that well, but I will keep moving forward.

Toward strength, and also toward you.

I will never retreat.

That day, Jin Zhao did not actually grasp why Meng Yanxi had given her a cup. He didn’t say, and she had never been the type with much subtlety or romantic sensibility, so she thought it was simply an ordinary, pretty gift.

It was not as exquisite as the porcelain sold in shops, and it didn’t even have any flamboyant glaze fired onto it. But it was archaic and natural, primitive and unadorned, carrying an unreserved sincerity and a return to simplicity.

She liked it very much. After bringing it home, she carefully set it in place, then flipped through the videos and photos on her phone of him making the cup.

She rarely posted on her Moments, but this time she unusually wanted to pick one to post.

But that day, she didn’t get the chance to post it either.

With Little Tuanzi not around, someone was like a wolf starved to the extreme, letting loose without restraint.

The wind that night was fierce, slamming violently against the floor-to-ceiling windows, slamming noisily without end, the noise loud and intense.

Jin Zhao’s back was pressed against the icy window, in front of her a scalding body. Ice and fire intertwined, and in the overwhelming pleasure, she felt that in the next second she would shatter.

Along with the window.

…

In the end, she completely forgot about posting on Moments, sending it straight beyond the clouds.

She was on vacation and didn’t need to work. Meng Yanxi had a meeting the next day. By the time Jin Zhao slept until noon and woke up, Meng Yanxi had already finished his meeting.

At Yunsheng Tower, Meng Yanxi walked out of the conference room together with Meng Shixu. He casually took out his phone, lowered his head to type, asking his wife if she had woken up.

Beside him, Meng Shixu said, “Later, we’ll take Little Tuanzi back.”

Meng Yanxi’s brow twitched slightly. He turned his head and asked, “Didn’t you and Grandpa say you were borrowing him to play for a few days? Why are you returning him to me after just one day? Are you two Ye Gong who loves dragons?”

“How do you talk?” Meng Shixu wanted to swat him. “Is that how you talk about your own son?”

Meng Shixu said, “Little Tuanzi seems to miss his mom a bit.”

Meng Yanxi: “Did he cry?”

Meng Shixu: “He didn’t cry, but he doesn’t look very happy. It’s completely different from when Jin Zhao takes care of him. Looks like he still wants to be with Jin Zhao.”

Meng Yanxi: “……” Who doesn’t?

He had thought that, taking advantage of this birthday, they could at least have a few days of private time together.

But when he thought about how Jin Zhao would feel heartbroken if she knew Little Tuanzi was unhappy, he nodded and said, “I’ll go pick him up in a bit.”

Meng Shixu: “Dad and I bought him some toys, and we also got some things for Jin Zhao. Take them back together.”

“Alright,” Meng Yanxi said, lowering his head to look at his phone.

Jin Zhao hadn’t replied. He didn’t know whether she still hadn’t woken up. There was a small red dot on Moments; his heart stirred, and he tapped into it.

There were many contacts on his WeChat. He found it annoying and had blocked most of them, leaving only a few.

To be precise, he had only left Jin Zhao, and the few people Jin Zhao knew.

Sure enough, it was a Moments post from Jin Zhao, posted ten minutes ago.

No caption, just a single photo.

In the picture, he was sitting in front of the floor-to-ceiling window of the pottery studio. The wheel spun gently, dark reddish-brown clay turning beneath his clearly jointed fingers, delicate textures left by his fingertips tracing the walls of the vessel. Under his hands, the rudimentary shape of a cup gradually took form.

Outside the window, sunlight poured in. Pale golden light fell on his side profile, outlining his sharp, well-defined features, and coating his skin with a layer of gentle, meticulous glow.

Jin Zhao had posted the Moments while lying in bed. After posting it, she got up and went into the bathroom to shower.

Meng Yanxi had washed her last night, but when she woke up this morning, she was still half-asleep, and he woke her again.

She wanted to sleep, but her body was burning badly. Annoyed, she pushed him.

He pressed heavily against her lips and said by her ear, “I’ll be quick.”

Jin Zhao pressed close to him, breathing in his scent. Her will wavered for a moment, then she nodded again.

This man really did what he said—he was indeed quick.

But not the kind of quick she had understood.

……

After she finished showering and came out, there were dozens of new notifications on Moments. Most were likes; only a few familiar friends had commented.

Si Tian: “Wow! Is this Meng Yanxi? Why does he look kind of different?”

Wherever Si Tian appeared, Luo Heng was never far behind.

Luo Heng replied to Si Tian: “Can he be the same? A wolf has been forcibly tamed into a dog. Though Meng Yanxi was already pretty dog-like to begin with, haha.”

Si Tian replied to Luo Heng: “Hahahahahaha! Master Luo, delete it quickly, or you’ll be hunted down in a bit!”

Luo Heng replied to Si Tian: “Get lost! Who are you calling Master Luo? Let me formally introduce myself—standing before you is a law firm partner, Luo Heng, Lawyer Luo.”

Si Tian replied to Luo Heng: “Forget partner. Hurry up and drive your Huolala and run, Master Luo. One second late and once President Meng catches up, you’ll be executed on the spot!”

The two of them treated her Moments like a WeChat chat window. Jin Zhao couldn’t help laughing as she read.

Last month, in order to chase his wife, Lu Jingyue had dragged Luo Heng to register accounts on Huolala. The two of them clutched their phones every day, scrambling for orders. Even when they got one, they didn’t go, instead lavishly hiring someone else to do the moving. In the end, hard work paid off—they successfully grabbed the moving order Lu Jingyue wanted. Those two clowns also successfully earned the title of “the Moving Masters Duo.”

One Master Lu, one Master Luo.

Luo Heng: @Lu Jingyue Master Lu! Stop playing dead and come out to compensate me for emotional damages!

Master Lu was probably busy chasing his wife and had no time to bother with him, but Luo Heng got his wish and managed to call Meng Yanxi out instead.

Meng Yanxi replied to Luo Heng: Coming. Open the door.

Luo Heng immediately chickened out and vanished on the spot.

Si Tian laughed heartlessly.

At this moment, a message popped down from the top of the screen.

Meng Yanxi: 【Why did you only post it today?】

Jin Zhao: “……”

Why do you think? Who was it that made her so exhausted yesterday that she didn’t even have the strength to post on Moments?

Jin Zhao ignored him.

In a brief half-minute, two more comments appeared on Moments—one from Wang Nan, one from her student.

Wang Nan: Help! I’ll say it ten thousand more times—your husband is really so handsome!

Student: Wow wow wow! Teacher, is that a cup? That’s so thoughtful, so romantic!

Jin Zhao’s gaze shifted slightly.

When it came to relationships, her students all understood it far better than she did. Almost instinctively, Jin Zhao sensed that this cup carried some hidden meaning.

Her fingers tapped lightly, and she immediately replied to the student: What’s romantic about it?

Student: Teacher, you don’t know the meaning of giving a cup? Giving you a cup means giving you a lifetime!

Jin Zhao stared at that line of text, and her chest suddenly thudded hard.

She exited Moments and switched into her chat with Meng Yanxi.

Zhaozhao Mumu: 【Do you know the meaning of giving a cup?】

Meng Yanxi had just gotten into the car and was about to head back to the Meng residence to pick up Little Tuanzi when he heard his phone ring and glanced at it.

He let out a low laugh, long fingers quickly typing across the screen.

Meng Yanxi: 【Of course I know. Does Teacher Mumu know?】

He deliberately typed her WeChat name wrong again.

Jin Zhao stared at the line and laughed softly.

Zhaozhao Mumu: 【Then I’ll give you a cup too.】

When Meng Yanxi replied this time, he didn’t type. He sent a voice message instead.

The man’s low, smiling voice flowed out through the phone’s speaker: “Don’t give me a cup. It means the same thing—change to a different way of saying it.”

Jin Zhao asked softly, “What?”

Meng Yanxi fell silent for two seconds. “Jin Zhao, give me a wedding.”

We’re still missing a wedding.

Jin Zhao was not someone who cared much about ceremony. Meng Yanxi didn’t really seem like one either, yet his insistence on a wedding went a bit beyond what Jin Zhao had imagined.

Back when they had just gotten their marriage certificate, he had wanted to hold the wedding right away. But at that time, Jin Zhao was already pregnant. She was a little lazy and didn’t want to be so tired, and more importantly, she felt that getting the certificate was the same thing anyway—Meng Yanxi calling her “Mrs. Meng” meant the same thing—so she wasn’t very interested in a wedding.

Meng Yanxi didn’t force her. Later, as her belly gradually grew bigger, there was naturally even less opportunity. By the time Little Tuanzi was born, the new parents and the baby they had just met were in complete chaos—busy and lively and funny all at once—and Jin Zhao naturally forgot about it entirely.

She hadn’t expected that Meng Yanxi had always cared.

She seemed, indeed, not to understand how to love someone yet. Meng Yanxi could always easily see through everything about her, yet she had never noticed that he wanted to be needed by her—and also wanted a wedding.

Jin Zhao suddenly felt a little wronged on Meng Yanxi’s behalf.

“Okay.”

She looked out the window with a smile.

Spring was just right. The garden downstairs was brimming with life, making her think of that first meeting on a midsummer morning, of the boy lying on her desk catching up on sleep.

Jin Zhao said, “Summer is almost here. When summer arrives, let’s hold a wedding.”

♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

After Little Tuanzi was brought back, the father and son descended into another round of barely controlled chaos.

In truth, it was also a case of fatherly kindness and filial affection. Many of the baby’s matters were handled personally by Meng Yanxi, and Little Tuanzi usually liked playing with him as well. But competing for affection was an eternal conflict. At times like this, people’s joys and sorrows were not all that interconnected—even between biological father and son, there was a certain tense push and pull.

Still, it had to be said that this pair of father and son were really alike—not only in looks and in their eyes, but also in some extraordinarily unintentional little scheming habits.

For example, Jin Zhao gradually noticed that Meng Yanxi liked to casually show off his abs to her. Little Tuanzi, whether naturally like his father or having learned by example later on, seemed to have picked it up from him. Still a baby, with no abs to show off, he instead became keen on displaying his fair, tender, soft flesh.

As the weather gradually warmed, it was soon the season when babies could wear onesies. His tiny body was wrapped up, with his little arms and legs all exposed. Jin Zhao was actually a bit worried that Little Tuanzi might catch a chill and wanted to dress him in long sleeves and pants, bundled more snugly. But though small, Little Tuanzi already had his own preferences. He would babble away, expressing his wishes—he insisted on wearing the sleeveless, leg-baring onesie.

In the end, once the onesie was on, the baby revealed a whole body of bouncy, soft, tender flesh—white and delicate, like lotus roots, plump enough to make one want to take a bite. Nestled in his mother’s arms, he wriggled about to amuse her, grinning and giggling, his lively, healing demeanor like that of a little angel.

Meng Yanxi, standing to the side, couldn’t stand to watch anymore. He directly took a jacket and draped it over the little green tea baby, bluntly calling it out: “It’s cold. Don’t catch a chill.”