Wei Shuyi tilted his head to look at the people on TV. Together with the national audience, they welcomed the new year at midnight.

  With a thud, the closed vermillion door on the television screen was opened. At this moment, Wei Shuyi felt a pair of hands suddenly hold his face and turn it in a certain direction.

  At the last second of the new year, Jiaren Wu kissed Wei Shuyi.

  Kang Hui quickly lowered his head and pretended to be blind.

  After a moment, Jiaren Wu let go of Wei Shuyi and patted his cheek. She said, “I’m done. You may leave.”


  Wei Shuyi stared at her, then turned to leave.

  He drove steadily on the road, and five or six minutes later, the black Volvo stopped by the side of the road. Wei Shuyi rolled down the window, tilted his head, and stared at the dim road. He rubbed his lips with his right index finger, deep in thought.

  Usually, he only made twenty to thirty dumplings, but today, he had made seventy to eighty in one go…


  He could’ve given the items to Jiaren Wu the previous day, but he had to wait until today…


  He just wanted to find an excuse to visit her on this special night.

  Wei Shuyi looked up at the reflection of his face in the rearview mirror. After a moment of silence, he said something similar to what Jiaren Wu had said before.

  “You’re finished.”


  This thought frightened Wei Shuyi. At this time, Jiaren Wu sent him a WeChat message.

  Alluring Beauty: [Thank you. Picture attached.]

  He opened the photo. It was the pile of skincare products that Wei Shuyi had brought back for her.

  Wei Shuyi replied: [There’s a surprise when you open your lipstick.]

  Jiaren Wu stared at Wei Shuyi’s message for a while.?

  Alluring Beauty: [Really? Let me see.]

  She got up and excitedly opened the three boxes. Coincidentally, Kang Hui came over as well. “What are you looking at? Lipsticks?”


  “Wei Shuyi said that there will be a surprise when I open my lipstick. He must’ve had some words carved on it.” Saint Laurent’s lipstick was quite popular a few years ago. Back then, to appease her single self, Jiaren Wu had even ordered a lipstick with the words “I am a fairy” engraved on it.

  Jiaren Wu turned the first lipstick around and saw the word “I.” A sweet smile immediately appeared on her lips, and she looked up at Kang Hui. Acting a little smug, she said, “I’m guessing that he must have engraved ‘I love you.’ A decent-looking person actually knows how to be romantic.

  Although this romantic move was a little outdated, it still moved Jiaren Wu.

  Kang Hui did not agree with her words because he had already seen the word “am” on the second lipstick.

  He saw that Jiaren Wu was so pleased with herself that she was about to hit the sky. Kang Hui had no choice but to kindly remind her, “Junior Sister, I think you’ve guessed wrong. Look, on this lipstick too, there’s a word carved on it.”?

  Jiaren Wu looked at the lipstick. There was indeed a word on it.

  Jiaren Wu quickly opened the third lipstick and saw the words “a pig” engraved on it.

  “I am a pig.”


  “Pfft! Hahaha!” Kang Hui laughed without giving her any face.

  Jiaren Wu’s beautiful face, which was full of smiles a second ago, instantly darkened.

  Holding the three lipsticks in her left hand, she quickly grabbed the phone on the table beside her and replied to Wei Shuyi through gritted teeth.

  Wei Shuyi’s car was still parked at the same spot. When he heard the sound, he opened WeChat and saw that Jiaren Wu had sent him a few words and an exclamation mark.

  Alluring Beauty: [D*mn you!]

  “Hahaha!”


  Wei Shuyi heartily laughed.

  Through the screen, he could almost imagine Jiaren Wu’s eyes wide open and her pretty face spitting fire. He started the car in a good mood and drove home with a smile.

  From the first day to the third day of the new year, Jiaren Wu was on duty.

  Wei Shuyi, on the other hand, lived a very fulfilling life. On the first day of the New Year, he went to the cemetery to pay respects to his parents. In the afternoon, he went to the countryside to pay respects to his grandparents, who had passed away many years ago. On the second day of the New Year, he stayed in the village where his grandparents lived. The village still had the elderly neighbors and relatives he knew. He gave them his New Year greetings, then drove to Binjiang City on the afternoon of the third day of the New Year.

  On the fourth day of Chinese New Year, Wei Shuyi went to visit Chen Anyuan with gifts.

  Chen Tao had become more well-behaved in recent times. He was no longer angry with his father and stepmother. Although the teenager was still not interested in studying, he became interested in learning sand painting. He said that he wanted to be a sand artist in the future. If he could not get into university, he would sell his art on the streets. He could also make a living.

  Wei Shuyi smiled. Under Chen Anyuan’s gaze, he praised Chen Tao’s idea.

  ***

  On the evening of the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Zhuang Long’s flight arrived in Binjiang City. It was also on this day that Qiao Jiusheng was admitted to the hospital for her surgery, which would happen the next day.

  Before the surgery, she had to fast for eight hours and not drink water for four hours. Fang Yusheng did not dare to eat in front of her, afraid that he would make her feel bad. In fact, he was quite worried about the next day’s surgery and was not in the mood to eat.

  Zhuang Long got off the plane and went straight to the hospital. After looking at all of Qiao Jiusheng’s medical reports and confirming that there were no problems, he said, “The surgery will be conducted at nine o’clock tomorrow morning. You can take a shower and wash your hair before the surgery.”


  “Okay.”


  On the fourth night of the Lunar New Year, Qiao Jiusheng slept very well, but Fang Yusheng barely closed his eyes.

  It was the first time he was going to be a father. He was so excited that he was at a loss.

  Qiao Jiusheng was the only one staying in the delivery room, but this building had both VIP delivery rooms and normal delivery rooms. There were two or three normal delivery rooms next to Qiao Jiusheng’s room. At night, Fang Yusheng could not fall asleep, so he put on his clothes and went to stand in the corridor alone.

  Around eleven o’clock, three people arrived at the inpatient department. They were a pregnant woman, the pregnant woman’s husband, and her mother-in-law. The mother-in-law was at the nurse’s desk, doing the registration for the pregnant woman. The husband was carrying large bags, and the pregnant woman was leaning against the wall.

  Perhaps because the pain was too severe, the pregnant woman could barely stand straight. She cried and cried, causing Fang Yusheng’s heart to be in turmoil.

  However, that husband was useless. He just anxiously stood there with his bags, not even thinking of getting the nurse to arrange a bed for his wife. Fang Yusheng couldn’t stand it anymore and shouted at that dummy, “Didn’t you hear that your wife is in so much pain? Why are you just standing there like a pillar? Don’t you know how to get the nurse to arrange a bed for you so that your wife can lie down?”


  The man was stunned by Fang Yusheng’s shouts. Then, he threw his things aside and went to ask the nurse for a bed.

  Fang Yusheng shook his head and sighed in his heart.?

  He watched as the man helped his wife to the ward.

  It was very quiet at night, so when the man’s pregnant wife cried, she sounded especially loud.

  Fang Yusheng didn’t sleep for almost the entire night. The pregnant woman was in pain for more than an hour before she went to the delivery room. Around four in the morning, the nurse pushed the pregnant woman back to the delivery room. When Fang Yusheng saw this, he raised his eyebrows. He waited for the pregnant woman to lie down. When he saw that the delivery room door was open, he shamelessly walked in.

  When the man saw Fang Yusheng, he even smiled at him and said, “Has your wife given birth yet?”


  “No. We’re having surgery tomorrow.”


  “Oh.”


  When the man fed his wife water, Fang Yusheng ran over to take a look at the child. Perhaps, it was because the child was from someone else’s family, but Fang Yusheng felt that other people’s children did not look good. However, he was too embarrassed to say so. He looked at the child for a while before returning to his room.

  Qiao Jiusheng had already woken up and had gone to the toilet just now.

  Seeing Fang Yusheng return, she asked, “Where did you go?”


  “I went out to sit for a while.”


  Fang Yusheng helped her lie down before saying, “I couldn’t sleep tonight.”


  Qiao Jiusheng found this funny and laughed. She did not know whether to laugh or cry as she asked Fang Yusheng, “I’m the one giving birth. Why are you suffering from insomnia? Don’t scare yourself.”


  Fang Yusheng knew that he was too nervous.

  He lay down on the side of the bed and looked at Qiao Jiusheng. Suddenly, he said, “There will be four people in our room tomorrow.”


  Qiao Jiusheng acknowledged him.

  Fang Yusheng pressed his right hand under his head and said, “This feels a little strange.”


  “Yeah?”


  “That’s right. When I think about how those two little guys are going to meet us, I feel… something. Not just happiness and excitement, but…” Fang Yusheng couldn’t think of any words to describe his feelings, so he simply shut up.

  Qiao Jiusheng could understand his feelings because she was the same as him.

  Just as she was about to fall asleep, she heard the person on the bed next to her speak, “Ah Sheng, thank you for giving me a family.”


  Qiao Jiusheng’s eyes were closed, and Fang Yusheng thought that she had fallen asleep. He was about to close his eyes and take a nap when he heard Qiao Jiusheng say, “Yes, I thank you too.”


  Fang Yusheng smiled and didn’t say anything else.

  ***

  The next morning, Zhuang Long came to the room. Qi Bufan, Wei Shuyi, Xu Pingfei, Fang Yuqing, and Fang Yu’an all came as well. When it was almost nine o’clock and they were about to enter the operating theater, Ji Qing and Qiao Sen rushed over to the hospital. Wei Xin had recently gone to France and was a little busy, but she also took the time to make a call to wish Qiao Jiusheng and her sons well.

  Qiao Jiusheng was not nervous at first, but when she saw that everyone she knew was here, she became nervous.

  Ji Qing held her hand and said, “Don’t worry, all of us will wait for you here. Just close your eyes and sleep.”


  Qiao Jiusheng murmured in an uneasy tone.

  Qiao Sen also said, “Don’t be afraid.”


  “Yeah.”


  Wei Shuyi added, “When you wake up, you’ll see your two babies. When you think about this, you won’t be nervous anymore.”


  “Yeah.”


  No matter what they said, Qiao Jiusheng mumbled.

  Those who knew her knew that she was too nervous. In the end, Zhuang Long said, “Your nervousness is an insult to my medical skills.” Those words successfully dispelled Qiao Jiusheng’s nervousness.

  Yes, with Zhuang Long around, her nervousness was an insult to him.

  Qiao Jiusheng entered the operating theater and was anesthetized.

  Regional anesthesia was usually administered in Cesarean sections. Qiao Jiusheng could clearly see Zhuang Long and the other midwives’ every move.

  Soon, Qiao Jiusheng saw the midwife carrying a baby and the other midwife helping her cut off the umbilical cord. Qiao Jiusheng heard the child cry twice, then quickly stop crying. The midwife did some preliminary cleaning for the child before saying, “The first child was born at 9: 53 pm. It weighs five kilograms and a hundred grams.”


  Then, another midwife lifted the second child. This child’s cries were especially energetic, and he could not stop crying. The cries made Qiao Jiusheng’s eyes burn. “The second child was born at 9: 58 pm. It weighs five kilograms and two hundred grams.”


  “The older brother is lighter than the younger brother.”


  Qiao Jiusheng turned her head and watched the midwife carry the children. She was finally relieved.

  Zhuang Long said to Qiao Jiusheng, “I’m going to stitch up your wound. It’ll be done soon.”


  “Thank you!”


  Qiao Jiusheng kept looking at the two children. When they were dressed, the midwife carried the two children to her. Each child had a symbol on his hands. One of the midwives said, “These are the brothers. It’s inconvenient for you to kiss them now. Just take a look.”


  Qiao Jiusheng observed the two children.

  To be honest, such young children looked similar.

  Their weights were about the same, and they looked almost identical. The eldest’s eyes were narrowed, obviously afraid of the light, and he did not open them. The second one had opened one eye. He did not look at Qiao Jiusheng, and his vision was blurry. He looked at the light without blinking, but at least he did not cry.

  At one glance, Qiao Jiusheng could tell which one was the active child in her stomach.

  Qiao Jiusheng looked at the older brother and realized that he was not crying or making a fuss. Instead, he was instinctively sucking his lips.

  She asked the midwife, “When can I feed them?”


  “There’s no specific time limit for this. It depends on your physical condition. If possible, it’s better to let them have milk as soon as possible. It’s best to let the babies have breast milk. Don’t waste it.”


  Qiao Jiusheng remembered it.

  She stared at the two children’s faces, her heart aching.

  As a mother and a wife, Qiao Jiusheng did not dare to have such extravagant thoughts in her previous life. However, Fang Yusheng had given her everything in this life.