Little Tuanzi had gone to bed too early in the evening and woke up before midnight.

These days, when he wakes up at night, sometimes he cradles his bottle, drinking milk and lulling himself back to sleep as he drinks. Other times, he gets energized and wants to play for a while. Tonight, he was full of energy, holding the bottle with both small hands, mouth sucking on the nipple, taking small sips, his eyes still darting around, looking for Mama.

Having just learned to make the sound for “Mama” during the day, he started using it at night. After finishing his milk, he tossed the bottle aside, his little arms and legs kicking randomly, his mouth continuously calling out: “Ma… Mama… Ba-ba…”

“Is our Little Tuanzi wanting to play with Mama and Baba?” The nanny smiled and picked up the baby, glancing at the time. “Mama went to pick up Baba, they should be back soon. How about we give Mama a call and see where they are?”

Little Tuanzi waved his little fists with a babble.

The phone rang just as Jin Zhao was sitting on Meng Yanxi’s lap.

Meng Yanxi had one arm wrapped around her back, the other supporting her waist.

Jin Zhao was a little lazybones, and he always took so long. She would start acting up after a short while, refusing to move. Meng Yanxi kissed her earlobe, his scorching tongue tracing her skin.

Stirred by him until her scalp tingled, Jin Zhao actively cradled his head and leaned down to kiss him.

Her hair was quite long now, the tresses half-covering her snow-white body, black hair against pale skin, dazzlingly bright under the light. When they kissed, strands of her hair slipped down, like feathers, gently brushing against the man’s taut, feverish chest muscles.

Meng Yanxi’s palm cupped her waist, his fingers tightening, sinking deeply into her skin, the veins on the back of his hand bulging with unrestrained desire.

The phone rang.

He clearly felt Jin Zhao’s body reflexively tighten around him, then release a moment later.

It was probably Little Tuanzi waking up. She had that kind of tacit understanding with the baby now.

Jin Zhao wanted to reach for the phone, but as soon as she let go of him, Meng Yanxi pulled her back.

“Don’t answer.” He claimed her possessively, suddenly pressing down on her waist, forcefully.

Jin Zhao gasped in surprise.

She closed her eyes, calming her ragged breath, explaining to him, “Meng Yanxi, don’t… It’s probably the baby waking up.”

But Meng Yanxi remained unmoved, burying his face in her chest, murmuring indistinctly, “The nanny’s there.”

Jin Zhao’s body arched back slightly, her neck stretching into a snow-white arc, lethally sexy under the light. “I know… I just want to say something to him.”

“You won’t just ‘say something.'” Meng Yanxi mercilessly exposed her, whispering, “But right now, you are mine.”

He always disliked being interrupted at times like this. Holding her in their current position, he picked her up and strode towards the bedroom with large steps.

This stimulating posture caught Jin Zhao completely off guard.

That short journey drove her to the brink, to screaming.

Her cries of delirium completely drowned out the ill-timed ringing of the phone.

The Meng family’s nanny, however, was tactful. After Jin Zhao didn’t answer the phone, she didn’t call again. Fortunately, Little Tuanzi was considerate; he didn’t absolutely insist on playing with Mama and Baba late at night. After playing with the nanny for a while by himself, he fell asleep again.

Jin Zhao, though, felt a bit guilty.

After it was over, she didn’t sleep, preoccupied with the little one they had left at home. She tried to coax a certain sulky man into going back.

She didn’t know how much Meng Yanxi had drunk that night, but she suspected the alcohol had already worn off, evident from his performance earlier. However, his head didn’t seem fully clear yet; he still clung to her like a sticky big puppy, acting coquettishly: “Lingling, you have to love me a little more.”

Jin Zhao stroked his head.

To be honest, Meng Yanxi wasn’t suited to be a “big fluffy dog” because his hair was not soft at all, but very coarse. Touching his head felt like her fingertips were being pricked.

She replied helplessly, “Alright.”

Meng Yanxi: “Don’t lie to me again.”

Jin Zhao: “…Meng Yanxi, is my credibility really that bad?”

Meng Yanxi didn’t say a word.

Suddenly remembering the video on her phone, she couldn’t contain her joy: “Oh right, Little Tuanzi learned to call Mama and Baba today, let me show you.”

As she spoke, she eagerly tried to get up to grab her phone and share it with him. But as soon as she pushed the covers aside, he caught her hand and pulled her back into his embrace, domineeringly.

Jin Zhao didn’t understand why Meng Yanxi was so exceptionally clingy tonight and glared at him: “What’s wrong?”

Meng Yanxi simply didn’t give her another chance, muttering vaguely, “Seems you’re not tired yet…”

And kissed her again.

Jin Zhao’s rationality was once more plundered and conquered by him. All night, her mind was blank; if there was any thought left, it was only six words:

Offering herself to feed the wolf.

Later, she turned her head aside, dazed. His palm braced beside her face, his long, strong fingers pressed into the soft, warm mattress, the sexy veins on the back of his hand tensing and relaxing rhythmically with each forceful movement… Her gaze unconsciously fixed on the inner side of his wrist bone. There was a deep red mark there, resembling a birthmark from afar, but at this intimate distance, it was clearly visible as a scar. A tiny spot, a remnant from a poisonous spider bite, something that hadn’t faded even after all these years.

The scar swayed incessantly, her vision somewhat blurred, yet the image of that twelve-year-old boy in her heart gradually grew clearer.

Defiant, brimming with reckless courage.

Jin Zhao couldn’t help but turn her head and actively kissed that scar.

The man’s body stiffened abruptly.

…

That night, Meng Yanxi was exceptionally tormenting, half-drunk, half-sober, seemingly drunk yet seemingly awake, making it impossible to withstand, pushing her to break down countless times.

It seemed that after she kissed the scar on the inner side of his wrist, he gradually began to ease up, no longer so frenzied, yet switched to a more meticulous, drawn-out way of tormenting her.

The next day when they returned home, the exhausted Jin Zhao slept straight through the entire day. Meng Yanxi, shockingly, could still go to the company refreshed and energetic. By evening, when she woke up, Meng Yanxi had already returned home and was downstairs playing with Little Tuanzi.

Little Tuanzi was a good Tuanzi, holding no grudge against his father for making him cry the day before. Happily playing with him again, he lay on the mat in front of Meng Yanxi, propped up on his little arms, chest lifted, head raised, smiling at Meng Yanxi and making “Ba… Ba-ba” sounds.

Meng Yanxi was also quite a tsundere. Though his eyes were practically overflowing with joy at hearing his son call him “Baba,” he stubbornly said, “Little chatterbox, one call is enough. What’s with calling non-stop? Trying to compete for Lingling’s favor?”

Little Tuanzi: “Ma, Mama!”

Meng Yanxi, leaning on one arm against the floor mat, tilted his head and smiled: “Well, you can’t win against her. She’ll always be number one with me. You might as well give up early.”

Little Tuanzi: “?”

Are you even listening to the nonsense you’re saying?

Jin Zhao thought to herself, shouldn’t this tender moment be moving enough to make one cry?

Let alone that Meng Yanxi was so prone to tears.

He cried when Little Tuanzi was born, and last night, when she said those three words to him, his eyes reddened instantly again. Although he restrained himself and didn’t shed tears in the end, the sight of him slightly tilting his head back, with crimson-tinged eyes and damp, glistening eyes, held an inexplicable, delicate beauty that stirred pity. So much so that she, who had originally gone to pick him up, ended up unable to resist such a Meng Yanxi and spent the entire night reveling with him there.

Having learned her lesson this time, Jin Zhao took it to heart with a proper attitude and made sure to discuss things with Meng Yanxi afterward.

However, nothing particularly special had happened recently; most things revolved around the baby. Meng Yanxi’s mind was hard to read, and if she really told him everything, he’d get unhappy again, saying sarcastically, “How about we wait until he grows teeth and he can tell me himself?”

Jin Zhao thought for a moment and asked sincerely, “Do babies start talking as soon as they grow teeth?”

Meng Yanxi just silently stared at her.

“Don’t you have anything else to ask me?”

Jin Zhao thought again, then shook her head.

Meng Yanxi was silent for a while. “That night you came to Luxi looking for me, running into Wu Fei late at night… didn’t you have anything you wanted to ask me?”

Jin Zhao shook her head. “I guessed she saw Luo Heng’s social media post. She probably likes Lu Jingyue and wanted to help. It has nothing to do with you.”

Meng Yanxi tugged at the corner of his lip. “Lu Jingyue said thank you.”

“And the others?” Meng Yanxi pressed. “Meng Zhuxi goes around the world every day spreading rumors for me, saying I change girlfriends every month. Yet you’ve never asked me about it.”

“I know that’s a misunderstanding; you’re not that kind of person. Brothers and sisters, natural love-hate relationships. But I’m different; I don’t want to fight with you,” Jin Zhao blinked lightly, sweet-talking him, “I only want to love you.”

Meng Yanxi had been quite serious about demanding an explanation from his wife, but hearing this, he couldn’t hold back the corners of his mouth any longer, his lips curving into a smirk. Yet he feigned reserve and gave a light hum. “You’re just sweet-talking me.”

Jin Zhao pressed her advantage, stood on tiptoe, and gently kissed the corner of his mouth, asking tenderly, “Don’t you like it?”

Meng Yanxi lowered his gaze to stare at her, his voice soft. “You could sweet-talk me a bit more wholeheartedly.”

Jin Zhao looked up at him, somewhat surprised. “Am I not wholehearted enough?”

Meng Yanxi wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her intimately against his chest. “Mmm, not very wholehearted.”

Jin Zhao felt wronged.

Meng Yanxi looked into her eyes and said, “Lingling, you have no possessiveness toward me.”

Jin Zhao: “Possessiveness?”

Meng Yanxi: “Mmm. But I have it toward you.”

Jin Zhao thought for a moment and asked sincerely, “Is it possible that’s your problem? Something you need to change?”

Meng Yanxi neither agreed nor disagreed. “Maybe. But I don’t plan on changing it. For someone like me, falling in love with a person is hard. Now that I’ve finally fallen in love, I don’t intend to hold back.”

Jin Zhao looked at Meng Yanxi with mixed feelings.

Clearly, it was a very moving line of affection; she didn’t know why this person could say it in such an unnatural way.

After a moment of silence, she said, “Meng Yanxi, you need to observe some male virtue.”

“Male virtue?” Meng Yanxi raised an eyebrow, a flicker of eager delight suddenly appearing in his eyes. “So you admit you were jealous? That you were just being stubborn earlier? See, why bother keeping up appearances in front of me? I wouldn’t laugh at you.”

Jin Zhao: “…”

She didn’t know how this man managed to talk himself into being so happy, and couldn’t help but correct him: “No, ‘male virtue’ means that once you’re married, you should live well with your wife, not spend all day thinking about possessiveness and jealousy. You need to learn humility and harmony.”

Meng Yanxi: “…”

-♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི◟ ͜ ◞♥︎ ྀི

On July 2nd, Jin Zhao went to the university to pick up the sample journal of her published SSCI paper. Coincidentally, it was the day of the university-wide faculty meeting before the summer break. Except for those like her on maternity leave, all faculty and staff were required to check in. Otherwise, they had to request leave through the OA system, which meant—deductions from their pay. Of course, one could also skip checking in and not use the OA, but that was another story—playing hooky, resulting in pay deductions and reprimands.

So, the university-wide faculty meeting each semester was the day Jin Zhao saw the most colleagues. There were even banks that had negotiated cooperation with the university, squeezing in on this day to promote credit card applications.

The consultation point was set up right in the first-floor lobby of the Foreign Languages School. Many bank staff were there, each with a tablet, the scale quite large. The benefits offered were also better than outside: luggage, air fryers, and even two-year JD Plus memberships.

Some teachers happened to need a credit card; others were attracted by the JD Plus membership and gifts. Quite a few teachers came to apply.

Jin Zhao had just picked up the journal and was heading downstairs when she ran into Teacher Tan from the same department, who had checked in at the academic lecture hall and came over to apply for a card.

“Teacher Jin, what are you doing here?”

Teacher Tan specialized in linguistics, in her thirties, also an excellent young scholar. She had been one of the interviewers when Jin Zhao applied. Last year, Teacher Tan went to the UK as a visiting scholar and had just returned recently. Unfortunately, her return coincided with the faculty meeting, just barely failing to dodge the obligatory chore.

“Didn’t you go to Cambridge as a visiting scholar?” Teacher Tan wasn’t up-to-date on news and was still under the impression Jin Zhao had received the offer before the New Year. She was somewhat surprised to see Jin Zhao in the college. “Was it only for half a year?”

“Teacher Tan, you’re back?” Jin Zhao greeted with a smile and explained, “No, I had a baby early this year, so I didn’t go.”

Teacher Tan wasn’t married yet and couldn’t quite understand Jin Zhao’s decision. If she had the chance to go to Cambridge, she would crawl there if she had to. But she expressed respect, recognizing that sometimes people can’t even empathize with their own past selves at a particular moment unless they truly live it, let alone understand someone else’s choices.

Teacher Tan didn’t say anything about it being a pity, simply asking, “Will you go later then?”

Jin Zhao nodded affirmatively. “I will go.”

Having just returned from her visiting scholarship, Teacher Tan was most familiar with the procedures. If Jin Zhao’s visiting scholar offer was for February this year, under special circumstances, the visit could likely be postponed to September. Teacher Tan naturally asked, “Did you postpone it to September? Then you need to start preparing your visa application early. The international situation is a bit tense now; visas aren’t very easy to get there.”

Just then, the bank staff called Teacher Tan’s number. With a smile, Teacher Tan said, “That’s me,” and turned back to handle her credit card application.