When sunlight poured through the gaps in the curtains onto the wooden floor, the quiet night was declared over by the sound of electric scooters starting outside the residential complex. It was an ordinary autumn morning.
Jiang Ran had stayed up late the previous night reading a domineering CEO romance novel under the covers until the sky outside turned light. Now she was sleeping soundly. Feeling the person behind her get up, she sleepily turned over, instinctively reaching her hand out to the empty half of the bed beside her.
Not that she meant anything by it.
Absolutely not because she was reluctant to let go.
Unfortunately, her soft wrist was caught by the man who had just turned and sat up. He pulled her out of the warm covers, his warm breath blowing onto her face.
She frowned in annoyance and murmured in protest as she shrank back, “Ah, come on…”
Beijiao simply picked her up and pulled her into his arms, hugging her and kissing her for a while, “Morning kiss, okay?”
He teased her by her ear, his voice naturally hoarse from just waking up, making it sound incredibly sexy.
Jiang Ran only felt annoyed. She pushed away his leaning face with a soft voice, “I’m so tired, please let me sleep—”
“What did you call me?”
“Husband.”
She thought that if she just humored him and gave him the affection he wanted in the morning, she could go back to sleep. But he had no intention of letting her go. He turned her face toward him, forcing her to open her eyes and look at him, “What time did you go to sleep last night?”
“…Around one?”
Beijiao raised an eyebrow.
“Two.”
Beijiao gave her a smile.
“……………………Six! Six o’clock, okay?!” Jiang Ran scratched his face, “I couldn’t help it. I always plan to stop reading and go to sleep after a bit, but the male and female leads kept getting divorced again! What can I do? How can a couple get married for five years and go through the civil affairs office three times!”
Beijiao listened to her complaint with a sense of righteousness, recalling how she had said she was a bit tired and wanted to go to sleep early at twelve when he climbed into bed last night. Thinking she had turned over a new leaf, he naturally let her be without causing trouble. But she had actually gone behind his back and tricked him!
He let go of Jiang Ran, who immediately rolled back into the covers from on top of him. He patted her bottom through the quilt, “I won’t believe you again. If you don’t sleep at night, don’t sleep tonight either.”
“…” Jiang Ran suddenly opened her eyes wide, lifted the covers, and looked into his pitch-black eyes standing by the bed. She was a bit more awake now and reminded him delicately, “But our flight to Xinjiang is at nine tomorrow morning.”
It was the 30th of September, tomorrow was National Day, and another snow season was coming. For years, she had missed the first snow season in Xinjiang due to various reasons.
Luckily, there were no special events this year, and she had finally fulfilled her wish by booking the flight.
“You can sleep on the plane. Anyway, you’re used to staying up late; maybe you’ll even sleep better on the plane.”
“…No way, what if the kid sticks to me on the plane!”
“Jiang Ran, it seems you’re still not awake. He won’t.”
The man decisively stated the fact that their son didn’t stick to her, making Jiang Ran gasp for three seconds. She raised her hand to her chest, feeling deeply hurt, “Are you even human!”
Beijiao was about to say something else when the bedroom door was pushed open.
“Dad.”
A soft, childish voice rang out.
As the door opened wider, a three-year-old boy stood at the doorway, rubbing his sleepy eyes.
His slightly curly jet-black hair was completely inherited from his mother. His small, perky nose, high nose bridge, and thin lips formed a delicate, adorable face. Without even speaking, he could easily capture everyone’s hearts.
Putting his hand down, his eyes, black as a deep pool and bright as diamonds, now shone with confusion, “It’s too noisy.”
Jiang Ran had always had a well-ordered life plan…
Which did not include being complained by her three-year-old son, “Why are you two making so much noise so early in the morning and not sleeping?”
She felt her heart ache even more. Her gaze swept over the rabbit comfort toy tucked under her son’s armpit, then looked at his Crayon Shin-chan pajamas, finally settling on his bare little feet standing on the wooden floor.
Jiang Ran slid off the bed and walked to the door to pick up her son, softening her voice, “Aoao, why aren’t you wearing slippers? You’ll catch a chill.”
“I was woken up and forgot,” the three-year-old’s language skills weren’t very fluent yet, his wording not very smooth, “Don’t want this name, want Bei Chi.”
Jiang Ran hummed in agreement, ignoring her son’s resistance to his cute nickname, and stuffed both her son and his rabbit into the covers.
The small body rolled into the covers, sniffing the scent of his parents, then popped his eyes out from under the covers again, “I can sleep by myself.”
“You can sleep by yourself tonight.” Jiang Ran yawned, “Today, sleep with Mom first. You’ve been sleeping by yourself for a whole year. Mom missed you so much!”
Bei Chi reluctantly lay flat, feeling Jiang Ran’s hand gently patting his back. He hugged his rabbit tightly and started to feel sleepy.
He let out a tiny yawn, hearing his mother softly complain from above his head, “You used to be so attached to me when you were little. Why do you act like I’m a stepmother when you see me now? Did you just call Dad when you came in earlier? Am I not a person?”
Bei Jiao: “…”
Bei Chi: “…”
Jiang Ran: “Now you call Dad so nicely. But back when you couldn’t even sit up by yourself, you would only let me hold you. If Dad held you, you’d cry and cry. Do you think your nickname Aoao came from nowhere…”
Bei Chi looked up at Bei Jiao with a questioning gaze. The pair of identical eyes met, and Bei Chi’s delicate little face clearly said: How can I believe that?
Bei Jiao’s thin lips curled slightly, “It’s true. I believe it.”
Jiang Ran’s murmuring complaints came to an abrupt halt, and the hand gently patting her son’s back also paused, “You should go to work now. What are you still standing there for? Aren’t you afraid of being late?”
Bei Jiao leaned over and gave both his son and wife a kiss each, pinched his son’s face, and threw out the word “Coax,” before turning to go into the bathroom.
Bei Chi understood his father’s command.
As soon as the sound of water in the bathroom started, he threw away his rabbit and hugged Jiang Ran’s neck, “Mommy, pat.”
His son’s voice was soft and delicate. Even though she knew he was just playing with her, Jiang Ran still couldn’t resist it. Her hand, which had already moved away from his back, obediently placed itself back and patted him.
Bei Chi buried his face in the soft crook of her neck, filled with the comforting scent—
He was three years old, actually, he didn’t need to be patted to fall asleep anymore.
But he still found it very comfortable to be coaxed to sleep like this.
After yawning a few more times, his long, fan-like eyelashes fluttered and began to close. Just before falling asleep, Bei Chi snuggled closer to Jiang Ran, “Mommy smells nice, I’ll sleep now.”
Jiang Ran was moved to tears, thinking how this little heartbreaker could be so sweet.
She lowered her head willingly to be tricked, leaving a loud, smoochy kiss on her son’s soft cheek.
Thus, the grudge from the morning that her son had only called out “Dad” was gone… Her son was definitely the one who loved her the most! He was even willing to coax her! Wah wah wah!
When Bei Jiao came out of the bathroom, mother and son were already curled up together in a deep sleep on the bed. His eyebrows relaxed, and he leaned forward to tuck them in before turning to leave the house.
The end of September in Guangzhou was sunny and bright, clearly another beautiful morning.
…
When Bei Jiao was busy, it felt like the sky was turning upside down. Before he knew it, it was already time to get off work. On his way home by car, there was a bit of traffic, and when he was on the road, it was already nightfall with countless lights shining.
On his way home, he was still thinking about his wife, wondering what she had been doing all day taking care of their son at home, whether she had packed the suitcase for Xinjiang, and if she had brought everything their son needed—
Usually, he was the one who packed the suitcase for the family, always afraid she would forget something.
Thinking about this, he sent her a WeChat message, but she didn’t reply. So he decided to stop by a dessert shop on the way and pack her favorite cake before heading home.
When he arrived home, he could vaguely hear the sound of the TV from inside.
And his son’s childish voice was shouting, “No, no, no, no way!”
Standing outside the door, Bei Jiao raised an eyebrow, not knowing it seemed like his son had suffered some kind of injustice. When he opened the door, he found mother and son squatting in the living room, with an open suitcase between them, containing only a few pieces of clothes.
The TV in the living room was playing the latest Korean drama, with the female lead tugging at the male lead’s sleeve, shouting “Oppa”…
It was obvious that someone had been watching Korean dramas all afternoon, and only when their husband was about to come home did they suddenly remember there was still something important to do. They frantically dragged out the suitcase to cram at the last minute—
And…
Successfully got stuck at the first step.
At this moment, she was wearing soft loungewear, her soft black hair cascading behind her. After giving birth to their son, she had indulged in a lot of food, making her a bit plumper than before, but just the right amount. Her face had more flesh, making her look softer…
She felt like a piece of cotton when touched.
People who saw them holding their son’s hand thought they were a couple with a big age gap.
At this moment, the woman was holding a toy rabbit high in one hand, like displaying something, while the other hand extended a finger to poke at her son’s white, tender forehead, “Just one rabbit, son. You’re still young, it’s okay to sleep with it. What’s there to be shy about! Li Nian might even be holding his hippo! He won’t laugh at you! Auntie Nian Nian and Uncle Erche won’t get to see your rabbit either! Why can’t you bring it!”
She threw the rabbit into the suitcase.
Bei Chi quickly grabbed the rabbit and threw it back onto the sofa.
Jiang Ran picked up the rabbit again and threw it back into the suitcase.
Bei Chi grabbed the rabbit again and threw it even farther onto the sofa.
Mother and son repeated this silly action several times. Jiang Ran got tired of picking up the rabbit and sat down heavily on the sofa, “No more playing! Do you think I’m a custard bun, playing frisbee with you like this! You’re bringing this rabbit today, whether you like it or not! I don’t believe it!”
Bei Chi: “Mommy can’t!”
Jiang Ran put her hands on her hips and smiled: “Of course Mommy can.”
Bei Chi was devastated: “You know Li Nian is a hippo!”
Jiang Ran never expected her three-year-old son, who couldn’t even form complete sentences yet, to have such impeccable reasoning skills. Her posture froze mid-bend, and the fierce smile on her face softened a little.
At this moment, Bei Jiao had just changed his shoes at the entrance and walked into the house. He bent down and picked up his son, who had rushed into his arms like a desperate little bird.
It’s not his son’s fault for hugging his neck desperately seeking support. He kissed his son’s face, which was no longer as soft due to being overly tense, before finally turning his gaze to the woman on the sofa, who was sitting there holding a rabbit toy, “Bullying our son, how impressive.”
He calmly made the judgment.
Jiang Ran rolled her eyes at him, stood up, and started preparing the ordered takeout for dinner.
She watched as Bei Jiao carried their son towards the dining room.
Jiang Ran followed a few steps, suddenly stopping as if remembering something.
She looked down at the suitcase and the rabbit in her hand, quickly squatted down and stuffed the rabbit into the bottom of the neatly folded clothes in the suitcase, then patted the clothes on top with satisfaction.
As she turned around, she saw the man at the table coaxing his son by saying, “I bought you strawberry cake,” while his eyes remained fixed on the living room without blinking.
Jiang Ran: “…”
Bei Jiao: “You’re three years old too.”
Jiang Ran: “…”
Bei Jiao: “Come here, sweetie, have some cake.”
Jiang Ran: “…”
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