After dinner they had a habit of taking a walk. Several other residents in the neighbourhood also took a walk around that time, and there were many elderly folk playing with their grandchildren in the vicinity.

Looking at the children bouncing up and down on the lawn, Yang Wei said to Qi Xiao Yan, "Our Curly-baby's going to be cuter than they are."

Qi Xiao Yan chuckled and had no comment.

They ran into another couple on the way. The wife was pregnant, perhaps now about seven or eight months along. Looking from her to her own flat belly, Yang Wei frowned a little. "Curly-bae, will I look like that in the future?"

"Of course."

"Will you abandon me if I no longer look beautiful?”

Qi Xiao Yan tilted his head and gave her a look. “You've seen my big belly. What's there for me to abandon?”

Yang Wei remembered the situation in the parenting classroom, and let out a loud laugh.

She still had some regrets about not being able to take a photo.

 

When they got home, Yang Wei went into the shower. Meanwhile, Qi Xiao Yan called his mother from the bedroom. "Mom, Yang Wei is pregnant."

Yang Wei heard this sentence upon coming out of her bath and walked to his side, still drying off her hair. She put her ear next to the phone to eavesdrop.

"Yes, I know. That sounds good. Goodbye."

He hung up. Yang Wei turned to look at him, her face set in a frown. "That was quick." She hadn't even heard anything yet.

Qi Xiao Yan smiled, put his phone down, and told her, "My mom says that they'll come take a look at you next week."

Yang Wei pulled off her shoes and collapsed onto the bed. "Let them look then, no one's charging an admission fee. ”

Qi Xiao Yan smiled, lying down beside her. "I never told them about the divorce." He was so close that she could feel his breath on her ear, and her heart rate increased. She replied vaguely, to which he stretched his head over to kiss her hair. "Darling, when will you be free next week to go through the remarriage procedures?"

Not having a formal status seemed to dissatisfy Professor Qi greatly. He had several times now urged the handling of this matter. They had stalled before due to Father Yang being against it, but now that consent had been given, he wished to quickly get it done and over with. Yang Wei considered it before saying, "I have no afternoon classes on Wednesday."

"Mmm." He pulled her to his side, embracing her. Seeing that his eyes were closed and that he was no longer moving, Yang Wei could not help but prod at him. "You're just going to sleep like that?"

His eyes were still closed, but his mouth stretched in a lopsided smile. "Is there something else you want to do?"

Yang Wei: "..."

She was saying that you should go wash up.

A little helplessly, she told him, "Mr. Qi, I think you should probably take a shower."

"Oh? Are you coming with me?"

Yang Wei: "..."

She understood quite clearly that Professor Qi had entered rogue mode.

"Darling, I really want to do it."

He said this nuzzling the crook of her neck, his soft curly hair brushing lightly against her skin. It itched a little. When she thought about how Professor Qi seemed to have been longing to do it for a long time, for whatever reason her heart was filled with the gloating feeling of schadenfreude. “You can't. The doctor said not to for at least three months.”

In the past, whenever Professor Qi wanted sex, he could lure her in even if she wasn't really feeling it. But now Curly-baby was there to shield her! Triumphantly, Yang Wei adjusted herself in his arms, accidentally touching a particularly sensitive part.

Qi Xiao Yan grimaced, his brows scrunching up, and his voice in her ear became hoarse, "Darling, are you doing this on purpose?"

"What?" Yang Wei met his eyes innocently. Qi Xiao Yan stared at her for a while. Then he got up and went to the bathroom.

Upon hearing the sound of running water through the door, Yang Wei muffled her laughter with the quilt. Curly-baby, you marvelous little thing, you can bully your daddy without having even taken form!

By the time Qi Xiao Yan emerged from the bathroom, she had already fallen asleep. He looked at her sprawled out posture, frowned, stuffed her hands and feet back into the quilt, then turned off the lights and lay down beside her.

 

The next day was also a busy and fulfilling day. As was her routine, Yang Wei checked the classroom before clocking out, only to spot Liang Ming Hao and Gu Lei flying out from within.

Fortunately, the both of them halted in their tracks upon seeing her and greeted her with a smile. "Teacher Yang, you haven't left yet?"

Yang Wei raised her eyebrows and stared at them. "I came to see how well you two cleaned the classroom. Look at you pawing the ground and ready to go, can it be that you're slipping away for some mischief?"

"How can that be?!" Gu Lei retorted righteously. "We're getting a license!"

Yang Wei's eyes widened and her smile became a little stiff: "...license?"

"Yes, my student ID card," Gu Lei explained. "I was in a hurry this morning and forgot my red scarf¹This is part of his uniform and marks him as a member of the Young Pioneers, a communist youth organization that most elementary school kids participate in. It looks like a Boy Scout scarf.. I bought an emergency one at the school canteen, but we didn't have any money so we left our student IDs there and now we're going to redeem them."

Oh... so that was it.

Yang Wei felt like with Professor Qi urging her every day to get their license, she must be going a little crazy.

She transferred her gaze to Liang Ming Hao and wondered out loud, "How can you not be carrying around any money? Aren't you our class's famous little prince of the treasury?"

Liang Ming Hao let out a deep sigh. "My uncle has been in a bad mood recently. He confiscated all my pocket money, so I don't have any.”

Yang Wei: “...”

She thought for a moment, then asked, "What's wrong with him?" Come to think of it, she hadn't contacted Fang Cheng Ran in a long time.

"Depression, probably," Liang Ming Hao replied.

"Depression?"

"Well... prenatal depression."

Yang Wei: "..."

What the hell?!

Liang Ming Hao and Gu Lei bid her goodbye and scurried off happily to get the license. Yang Wei returned to the office and pondered over her phone for a little while, but finally decided to allow Fang Cheng Ran to recover from prenatal depression on his own.

 

Qi Xiao Yan's car was parked at the intersection next to the school gate. When she got on and saw him turn a corner, she asked in some surprise, "Where are we going?"

He gave her a sidelong look. "Weren't we going to the concert this evening? Don't you remember?"

Yang Wei frowned, her face creased in doubt. Qi Xiao Yan handed her an envelope with two concert tickets within, and she finally remembered that they did indeed have such plans. The symphony orchestra had a certain reputation of it's own, and Qi Xiao Yan had said that listening to soothing and elegant music was helpful for unborn children, so he had reserved two tickets specially for that reason.

"Oh, I really did forget!" She looked down at her clothes. What she usually wore to work were formal commuter clothes. Would it be too casual to attend in these?

Qi Xiao Yan glanced down at her white shirt and lake-blue chiffon jacket. "There's nothing wrong with what you're wearing."

Yang Wei felt relieved. It would cause quite a scene if the doorman barred her from entering.

After eyeing her for a while, Qi Xiao Yan suddenly smiled, asking, "Darling, have you ever heard this common saying?"

"What saying?"

"One year pregnant, three years foolish²In English, 'baby brain'.."

Yang Wei: "..."

If he wasn't driving right this moment, she would have pounced on him and torn him apart.

 

The concert started at 7:00 pm. Qi Xiao Yan first took her to dinner at a Chinese restaurant he thought was relatively clean before they made their way to the concert hall.

There were a good many people at the concert, and the hall was packed. It seemed that the orchestra had its own appeal. Yang Wei, however, was not very familiar with classical music, and aside from a few well-known songs, she heard most of them that day for the first time.

However, she had a decent sense of music, and at least was able to listen attentively from beginning to the end, unlike a certain person in the front row who had already fallen asleep, only to be awakened at the end of each song by the applause of the audience.

The one-and-a-half-hour-long concert was neither too long nor too short. Before leaving, the audience showered the orchestra with warm applause. When they made their way to the door, however, they bumped into Fang Cheng Ran, who was also making his way out.

Yang Wei paused and looked at him, surprised. “Fang Cheng Ran, you're here to see the concert too?”

Fang Cheng Ran quickly recovered from his own initial astonishment and smiled at her. "No, I'm here to eat."

"Uh..." She, too, felt like she had asked an nonsensical question. Meanwhile, Fang Cheng Ran’s gaze had fallen upon Qi Xiao Yan, who held onto Yang Wei's hand tightly and asked, "Here alone?"

Fang Cheng Ran's mouth twitched, but formed a pleasant smile. "I didn't see a sign at the door forbidding single dogs."

Ducking her head, Yang Wei laughed. Turning his gaze back to her, Fang Cheng Ran asked, "I hear from Hao Hao that you're pregnant?"

She felt a little embarrassed when suddenly confronted by this question, but admitted it. "Yeah."

Fang Cheng Ran was silent a moment. "Are you two remarried, then?"

"Yes. She's now my legal wife," Qi Xiao Yan interrupted before Yang Wei could reply.

Fang Cheng Ran's lips pursed a little, but after awhile, they curved into a smile. "Although I don't particularly want to congratulate you, nonetheless, I wish you happiness."

That sentence was, of course, directed toward Yang Wei. He looked at her one final time, then strode out of the concert hall. Qi Xiao Yan escorted Yang Wei to the car afterward, and looked toward the passenger seat as he started the car. "Still thinking about that Maserati?"

Raising her eyebrows, Yang Wei turned to look at him. "Yup. I could have married into a wealthy family and enjoyed the good life."

Her tone sounded quite regretful. Qi Xiao Yan said nothing, but when they got home he pulled out her wedding ring from the drawer. “Although the formalities haven't yet been completed, please wear this."

She blinked. “How insincere. You didn't even buy another ring."

Qi Xiao Yan thought a moment, then said, "I'll buy one tomorrow. Wear this one until it's ready."

A little smile touched her mouth. Deliberately making it difficult for him, she said, "Oh, there's no rush. I can wait a day or two."

"I can't wait." Saying so, he took her left hand and placed the ring onto her ring finger, just had he had done when they first took their oaths.

Yang Wei looked down at glittering diamond ring on her hand, then raised her arms to encircle his neck. "I'm just kidding. Don't buy a new ring. I'll put the money aside to buy milk powder for Curly-baby."

Qi Xiao Yan said nothing in return, only kissing her.

Right in the middle of the kiss, Yang Wei suddenly turned to look up at him with large, misty eyes. "Curly-bae, I wanna eat hot and sour noodles."

Qi Xiao Yan: "... "

Where did this logic leap come from?! Was his kiss sour and spicy?!

"This sort of food isn't good for you," he warned.

Yang Wei wouldn't yield. "But I wanna eat it! I really wanna eat it! The teacher said you have to satisfy a pregnant woman's appetite as much as you possibly can!"

Qi Xiao Yan: " ......"

When did the teacher say something like that?! Don't lie to me!

Finally, in order to satisfy Yang Wei's stomach, Professor Qi went downstairs to buy the noodles at great inconvenience to himself. By following her directions, he managed to find a hot and sour noodle seller at a takeout place nearby. He had the cook put a little less chilli in the noodles, then flew home with one or two portions in hand.

Yang Wei felt her happiness soaring upon smelling the hot and sour noodles. She pulled out a pair of chopsticks from the kitchen and prepared to indulge. Then Qi Xiao Yan held her hand down firmly. "Savour the taste. Don't eat too much."

Yang Wei flattened her mouth. "The teacher said that pregnant women can eat whatever they want!"

Qi Xiao Yan: "..."

Which teacher said that?

Ever since she got pregnant, Yang Wei had been eating only lighter fare. This was the first time she had had the chance to eat something with a strong flavour, and her appetite was unaffected even though Professor Qi was watching her like a hawk. She used her chopsticks to pick up a peanut and handed it to him. "Look how pitiful you are. Have a peanut."

Qi Xiao Yan opened his mouth and the peanut was stuffed in. The spiciness made him frown. Hadn't he told the man to put less chilli in it? Why was it still so spicy?

He took away Yang Wei's unfinished hot and sour noodles and refused to allow her to move her chopsticks again. "You've had enough."

Yang Wei pouted, placing her chopsticks on the table: "Fine. Then you finish it."

Qi Xiao Yan: "..."

He took a look at the red soup. There wasn't much left, but... He had vivid memories of the broken heart jelly.

Sensing his reluctance, Yang Wei looked forward to watching an excellent drama. "You can't waste food like that. If you don't eat it, I will."

He picked up her chopsticks and in two or three gulps, finished the rest of the hot and sour noodle soup. Yang Wei observed him carefully. Though his expression remained calm, his slightly scrunched up brows and the thin layer of sweat on his nose betrayed him.

She laughed at him. "Isn't it delicious?"

Qi Xiao Yan bit his tongue and said nothing, silently beginning to tidy up.

 

As they lay sleeping that night, Yang Wei nestled up in his arms. The room was so quiet that they could only hear the breathing of the other. Suddenly, her low voice broke the silence. “Curly-bae, you only love Curly-baby now, not me."

Qi Xiao Yan's brow moved. "Hmm?"

"You only care about Curly-baby's health. You don't care anymore if I've had enough to eat."

Qi Xiao Yan was dumbfounded for a moment. Then his arm about her waist tightened slightly, and he whispered in her ear, "You blockhead. As expected, pregnant for one year and three years foolish."