By this time the little guy was one and a half years old. His whole body was chubby and seemed to be full of meat. It was hard to make out his facial features properly since he was so small, but his eyes looked exactly like his fathers.
They were dark, deep, and somehow mysterious eyes. Xu Xinyi really had to wonder just how many girls he would deceive once he grew up.
As soon as the baby saw his mother, he ran over to her on his two short legs, then hugged Xu Xinyi’s calves and looked up at her while babbling incomprehensibly.
Xu Xinyi stooped down and then swept him up in her arms and the little guy grinned wildly. His little fat legs started kicking forcefully, as if he were dancing, and he shouted eagerly: “Mama, Mama…”
“Madam, the young master is always so happy when he sees you. He never smiled so much when you were away.”
Xu Xinyi pulled her son close and kissed him on his chubby cheek. His cheek was soft, white, and tender, and her kiss made him giggle loudly.
“Could it be that baby likes mommy best? That’s why he smiles whenever he sees mommy.” Xu Xinyi cooed.
Perhaps he inherited strong genes from Yi Yang because the baby seemed to grow up much faster than other babies of the same age.
Those two fat legs could already walk without any help at all, even if his steps were a bit unsteady, so he was very energetic. He learned to call the names of his parents and grandparents before he was even a year old, and by now he could speak out long sentences, even if they weren’t yet at the point where other people could understand them.
“Baby, come and look at this car with your mommy.” Xu Xinyi pulled out a toy sports car and put it in front of the baby. Then she pointed to the toy and said, “Do you want to play with this car?”
The baby nodded along and vaguely mumbled, “Wanna…”
“Say it with mommy, car, car~”
The baby spoke along nicely, “Ca…”
“What a good boy!” Xu Xinyi hugged the little guy and kissed him again, then bragged, “I wonder which smart and beautiful mother gave birth to such a smart child.” She picked him up and paced around the room, “This is a flower, a flower, come on, say it with mommy, flower.”
“Flo. Flo.”
Xu Xinyi hugged him and walked over to the roses. “Aren’t these flowers fragrant?”
“Flowie!” The baby seemed to be a little sensitive to the fragrance. When he smelled the scent of the roses he quickly reached out his arms as if to grab them.
Xu Xinyi quickly grabbed his two fat little hands. “No. You can’t grab them. Those are the flowers your daddy gave to your mommy.”
The baby stretched out his hands toward the bright red roses, so Xu Xinyi pulled out a single rose and held it in front of him. “Baby, what is this called?”
“Flowie.”
“Yes, this is a flower.”
“Flowie. Flowie.”
Then Xu Xinyi went back to pointing at the sports car, “Baby, come on, be obedient, what is this one called?”
“Flowie.” Small children were easily attracted by brightly colored things so he kept glancing over at the roses.
“This is a car. Come on, say it after mommy: car.”
“Ca!”
“…car. “
“Ca!”
“Baby, this is a car. Say it after mommy, car.”
Mother and son looked at each other for a while, but it was the tiny baby who was eventually defeated, he slurred out: “Car…”
“That’s right. And mommy told you before, this car is called Ferrari. Now, come on, say it after mommy, Ferrari ~”
“Ca!”
“Fer-rar-i!”
“Ca! Ca!”
“…”
Xu Xinyi was exhausted after ‘tutoring’ her son all afternoon. But the effort only made her feel more and more determined, she vowed that she would teach this baby, who didn’t even have a full head of hair yet, to say Ferrari!
The nannies and maids that the Yi family had hired especially to take care of the new baby had been very free recently.
The reason was that, recently, Xu Xinyi had been coming home to personally take care of the baby herself. The mother and son often stayed in the same room and only occasionally did one of the nannies have to come to deliver brewed milk powder, but whenever they did come over they would hear the voice of Xu Xinyi as she taught the baby to speak.
They could vaguely hear the words ‘car’ and ‘flower’ being repeated many times.
———
The Yi Group headquarters.
Everyone in the conference room looked very serious and solemn. In the past two years, the cooperation with the Jiang’s had been quite smooth and both sides had gained a lot of benefits, but there had also been a lot of troubles. Recently, because of an oversight from the Yi Group, a project the two sides had been jointly cooperating on was forced to be suspended for three days. Although the issue had since been rectified, the losses were just too heavy, so they were holding this meeting to determine responsibility and take corrective steps.
Yi Yang’s face had not looked good ever since he stepped into the conference room. Every word out of his mouth was caustic, and all the senior executives from various departments had no choice but to lower their heads like chided children one after another.
The whole conference room was deadly silent and filled with an oppressive atmosphere.
Yi Yang glanced around silently and slowly said, “I don’t want to hear any more from any of you if all you’re going to do is try to push the blame away and shirk your responsibilities…”
But before he could finish his words, his phone lit up. Yi Yang glanced down and saw it was Xu Xinyi’s WeChat avatar.
But he couldn’t answer right now.
However, soon a second WeChat message came, and then a third, one after another.
Was there some emergency?
Yi Yang pondered briefly, sent a stern look at the vice president sitting nearby, then picked up his phone and stood up.
An assistant at the door quietly opened the door of the conference room as he approached. As he walked, Yi Yang unlocked his phone and clicked on WeChat, then he put the phone to his ear to listen to the voice message.
“Daddy!”
A milky voice instantly resounded throughout the conference room, breaking up the frosty atmosphere.
However, the voice message continued to play automatically.
“Far rar ee!”
“Buy it for mama!”
Yi Yang’s face remained expressionless as he unhurriedly strode out of the conference room, but his grip on the phone tightened unconsciously.
After he left, the door of the conference room silently closed behind him.
The crowd who had been drowning in the conference room’s solemn aura were all stunned, then they began to exchange cautious smiles. The vice president who had stood up and moved to preside over the meeting also breathed a sigh of relief.
They all expected that when President Yi returned, he would probably be in a better mood and the meeting would get a lot easier.
Outside the conference room, Yi Yang turned off his phone screen and headed over to a nearby break room. After closing the door behind him, he clicked WeChat again to connect a call.
It was again his son’s voice on the other end of the line.
“Car!”
“Buy car daddy!”
When he heard his child’s tender voice on the phone, Yi Yang could not help but chuckle. Although his heart softened considerably, he only coughed twice before saying stiffly. “Xu Xinyi, what are you teaching our son to say all day?”
Before she could get a word in she was scolded, so Xu Xinyi quickly hung up the phone with an unhappy face.
What did he mean by ‘what are you teaching our son to say all day’?
Did she teach their son something bad?
Over the past few days, she had been teaching the baby a lot of words. Things like, what his eyes could see, what his nose could smell, and what his mouth could taste. She didn’t only teach him how to say ‘Ferrari’.
How irritating!
“Baby, unexpectedly, your daddy says that I spoiled you! Did mommy spoil you?”
The ignorant little Yi Qian shook his head to and fro while grinning hugely.
“Let’s ignore daddy when he comes back tonight! Mommy will sleep with you tonight!”
Xu Xinyi made up her mind to be cold to Yi Yang from now on. She would never say a word to him until he apologized!
When Yi Yang came home that evening and the whole family gathered at the dinner table, the meal was unusually silent.
At the dinner table, Old Master Yi and Mrs. Yi said a few words about Yi Qian. Since the baby was so smart, it would be better to prepare him more while he was still young. On the other side, Yi Yang and Xu Xinyi seemed to have forgotten what had happened during the day because neither of them mentioned it. But they also didn’t talk much.
Yi Yang was always somewhat dull so it didn’t feel off when he stayed quiet, however, Xu Xinyi was a talker so when she didn’t talk much for some reason, it really felt strange. That’s why, as soon as she left the table, Old Master Yi asked, “Yi Yang, what happened to Xinyi today? Why didn’t she say much while we were eating? Has something happened recently?”
After his grandfather mentioned it, Yi Yang realized something was off with his wife so he put down his bowl and chopsticks and said. “I’ll go and have a look.”
Inside the nursery, Xu Xinyi was playing with Little Yi Qian. The two were stacking up building blocks one by one. The baby seemed especially clever when he played this game.
Yi Yang stood at the door and watched for a while. Xu Xinyi held the baby in her arms and kissed him gently. Judging by the smile on her face, it didn’t seem like she was in a bad mood.
Yi Yang walked slowly into the room.
When Xu Xinyi heard footsteps she turned to look over and when she saw it was Yi Yang, her smile disappeared. Just from this glance, Yi Yang could affirm in his heart that Xu Xinyi was angry with him.
But–.
–“Why are you mad at me? Because of that call?”
Xu Xinyi sneered from the bottom of her heart.
You still know that I’m mad because of that call!
–“But I don’t think I was wrong.”
–“Forget it. I’ll just apologize.”
“Xinyi, today…”
But Xu Xinyi was even more angry now. Who wanted such an obviously perfunctory apology?
She glared at him, interrupted his apology and said coldly, “I’ll sleep with the baby tonight. You should go back to your room and get some rest.”
–“She’s really angry?”
–“Will she forgive me if I apologize with a Ferrari?”
Xu Xinyi: ?
“Wait!” The word ‘Ferrari’ seriously stimulated Xu Xinyi, and she began to seriously think about the current situation.
It was true that Yi Yang showed her a bad attitude today, but wasn’t the most important thing between a husband and wife to be tolerant and understanding of each other? If they were already treating each other coldy they would never get far.
A Ferrari wasn’t important at all. The important thing was that their husband and wife relationship couldn’t be too bad, after all, it wouldn’t be good for the baby to grow up in an environment where his parents didn’t get along. And that wasn’t even mentioning that she really did want to ask Yi Yang to buy her a Ferrari with that call so, in this matter, her own intentions were wrong from the start.
She cleared her throat awkwardly before finally condescending to ask, “That… what are you doing here?”
Yi Yang’s steps paused just inside the door and he silently looked at her for a moment.
The look in Yi Yang’s eyes made Xu Xinyi feel guilty, like all her thoughts had been seen through. So she blustered, “Just say what you have to say.”
Yi Qian squirmed in her arms to look over at Yi Yang and cried, “Car! Daddy buy car!”
Xu Xinyi, who was stabbed by her teammate, choked, patted the baby’s head, and then said. “What happened today was my fault. I won’t teach him like that anymore, alright?”
Yi Qian looked up at Xu Xinyi with two big black eyes that were filled with confusion.
“What happened today was my fault too. I don’t blame you. I’m sorry.”
Xu Xinyi pouted her lips and said, “Then I’ll forgive you for the time being.”
“Not angry anymore?”
Xu Xinyi shook her head.
“OK, if you aren’t angry anymore, then I’ll go back to our room.”
Xu Xinyi, who had been looking forward to Yi Yang’s gift, could only watch speechlessly as he left the nursery.
Gone?
Just like that?
What about the Ferrari?
Wasn’t he supposed to apologize with a Ferrari?
Where’s the car?
Xu Xinyi felt overwhelmed by Yi Yang’s weird mood swings, so she stormed to the bedroom angrily intent on finding him and asking for a clear answer.
The room was empty but there was some noise coming from the bathroom.
Xu Xinyi was just about to knock on the bathroom door when she saw a strange gift box on the table.
Xu Xinyi knew this room up and down, inside and out. From the things as big as the bed all the way down to the things as small as Yi Yang’s cufflinks, Xu Xinyi knew them all clearly, so she instantly recognized that this strange gift box hadn’t been here before tonight.
Then…
Did Yi Yang bring it back today?
A gift?
Was it a gift?
Who else would he give a gift to, if not her?
Xu Xinyi felt like taking a casual look, so she walked over.
The gift box was about the size of a palm and was very exquisite. The gilding on the outer edges of the box was very imposing, which made it clear that the contents were very expensive at a glance.
Xu Xinyi picked it up and shook it gently. She could hear something inside, but she couldn’t tell what it was.
It was probably some kind of necklace, jewelry, or something like that.
Yi Yang only knew how to buy those kinds of gifts.
Xu Xinyi sighed.
Click–
She opened the gift box.
Some car keys were quietly lying in the middle of the gift box.
Car keys?
Car keys with a Ferrari logo?
A Ferrari!!!
Xu Xinyi’s heart froze for a moment then began to beat uncontrollably. Her brain buzzed and she stared down at the car keys in front of her like she was in a dream.
What was the feeling when the thing you desperately wanted was suddenly in your hands?
Had Yi Yang prepared this for her?
So Yi Yang had already been preparing to buy her a Ferrari from a long time before? But he never said it? He wanted to surprise her?
Was it true or not?
These weren’t just keys for a model car, right?
But, thinking about it, Yi Yang wasn’t the type to pull that sort of prank.
So this was indeed a surprise gift. Xu Xinyi was indeed surprised, and she was so busy grinning that she didn’t even notice Yi Yang’s footsteps behind her.
Before she realized it, Yi Yang was holding her in his arms. He leaned his head on her shoulder and whispered in her ear, “Do you like it?”
Xu Xinyi looked over and pecked his cheek lovingly.
“You prepared it especially for me? When did you start?”
“The day after you brought it up.”
Xu Xinyi’s eyes were warm and only full of him when she heard those words.
Yi Yang looked at her and said, “After careful consideration I decided that you are my wife and, as long as you want it, I should give it to you. So if you have anything on your mind please tell me directly in the future, don’t keep it in your heart. I’m your husband. As long as you talk to me, I can solve anything for you. “
“Then you’re not afraid…”
“When you go out, just remember that you have me at home. Also you have Yi Qian, grandpa, and mom all waiting for you to come home. So long as you keep those in mind, I believe that you will take care of yourself.”
She turned so she could look at Yi Yang face to face, then stood on tiptoe and kissed him.
“Don’t you want to see the car?”
Xu Xinyi smiled and hugged his neck. “You told me that if I want something I should just tell you directly, and you’ll give it to me as long as I open my mouth.”
Her warm breath sprinkled against Yi Yang’s lips. Xu Xinyi looked down along his chin and then bit gently on his Adam’s apple. “I want you now, can we?”
The Adam’s apple rolled up and down, then in the next second Xu Xinyi was suddenly swept off her feet and lifted into the air.
The cot beside the big bed in the master bedroom had disappeared as soon as the baby was born.
Ever since Yi Yang returned to the big bed Xu Xinyi always said that he took up too much space, which she used as an excuse to drill into his arms every night, something she always succeeded at.
“…it’s so big. “
“Hmm?”
“I meant the bed.”
Tonight, Xu Xinyi was pressed down breathlessly, and then–.
The moon outside shyly hid behind the dark clouds.
The skyline of the city was ablaze with millions of tiny lights, brightening up the night.
And of all those lights shining from every house, one belonged to them.
tl note: I made a discord. Just sort of testing the waters to see if there’s any interest. You can chat about my current projects or read my gripes about my new projects.
tl note: that’s it from our main couple folks. Just a few more epilogue chapters wrapping things up for Luo Jie, Anya, Jiang Huai, Xu Weiyin, Jiang Nian, and finally Xiao A. RIP Han Xiao, didn’t even get an epilogue 🙁
Anyway, look forward to that!
Aww sweet. Thanks for the chapter!
No epilogue for Han Xiao? 😭😭😭