Day by day, the temperature dropped. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. Everywhere in the city, there was a celebratory air for the upcoming new year.

  Ye Zhen’s belly also grew bigger with each passing day. It was now the fifth month of her pregnancy, and there was a clear baby bump. The morning sickness was gone, which lifted up Ye Zhen’s mood and increased her appetite. Under the careful care of the Lu’s, her slender figure had visibly grown plump.

  Old Master Lu had returned from the ancestral home, and the household was bustling about in preparation to celebrate the upcoming lunar New Year. As soon as Old Master Lu saw Ye Zhen, he gave her a big red envelope.

  Ye Zhen didn’t make a big deal out of it and simply accepted the elderly man’s kind intentions.

  Old Master Lu looked at Ye Zhen’s baby bump in delight. While asking Ye Zhen if there was anything she was missing, he ordered for the servants working in the ancestral home that had experienced pregnancy to be transferred here.

  When he had been staying in the ancestral home and heard the news of Ye Zhen’s pregnancy, he hadn’t thought it was a big deal. But now that he was seeing the baby bump for himself, he felt overwhelmed by the fondness he felt for it.

  He wanted to bring over the best things in the world to here. He could now understand his daughter-in-law’s desire to buy any child-related item that she came across.

  Old Master Lu had been reticent and listless for almost half a year, but now, he was always talking and radiating health and vigor. Because of Ye Zhen’s unborn child, he couldn’t bear to remain idle.

  Seeing Old Master Lu smiling and laughing without restraint, the butler could finally put down his nervous heart. He had been worrying about Old Master Lu for almost half a year. Once the baby was born, he believed that Old Master Lu would be able to completely walk out of the shadow caused by his son.

  ***

  The butler brought tea to Old Master Lu’s study. Seeing that the desk was covered in high quality rice paper that had words written all over them, he smiled and persuaded, “Old Master Lu, you’ve been writing all morning. Take a break and drink some tea.”


  Old Master Lu was currently holding up a brush. His brow was furrowed as he pondered. His pondering lasted so long that the ink beaded at the tip of his brush and dripped down, ruining a large piece of the high quality rice paper.

  Old Master Lu didn’t look up. He waved his hand. “Stop nagging. I’m not tired.”


  The butler sighed, put down the tea, and crouched down to pick up the sheets of high quality rice paper that had fallen onto the floor.

  “You’ve been practising calligraphy all morning. You should go take an afternoon nap. If you keep this up, it’ll be bad for your health.”


  “I’m not practising calligraphy.” Old Master Lu suddenly thought of something and wrote something on the rice paper.

  “If you’re not practising calligraphy, then what are you……”


  Old Master Lu put down the brush. His gaze lingered over the sheets of rice paper in front of him. “Zhenzhen is already five months pregnant. She’ll be giving birth soon in a few months, but Lu Beichuan that brat hasn’t even chosen any baby names yet. I can’t place my hopes on him. I’ll choose a name for the baby myself.”


  The butler couldn’t help laughing. “So…… you were thinking of baby names?”


  Old Master Lu asked, “What did you think I was doing?”


  The butler nodded and chuckled.

  Old Master Lu looked back and forth at the names he had written, but none of them were satisfactory. He tossed the used rice paper to the side and went back to contemplating.

  “Take a look, do any of these names look good to you?”


  The butler examined the names back and forth for a long time. “All of the names you chose look good.”


  Old Master Lu shook his head. He sighed. “None of them will do.”


  “Don’t worry too much about this. There’s still a few months left. Take your time.”


  Old Master Lu put down his brush. “A few months will be gone in a flash. It won’t be wrong to prepare in advance.”


  After saying that, he seemed to have thought of something. “I’ll write out a list of items. Send someone out to buy those items.”


  The butler was puzzled. There were already heaps of stuff in the villa. What else was there left to buy?

  “What do you want to buy?”


  “Why would I need anything? It’s for the baby! Gold, jade, and whatnot has to be purchased now. It’ll be too late to start buying things after the baby is born.” Old Master Lu ordered, “And that jade has to be sourced from Myanmar!”