Saturday was the day that they would retake their wedding photos at the studio. Qi Xiao Yan dug Yang Wei out of bed early in the morning. Still dreaming and quite dissatisfied with being woken up, she ran her fingers through her hair and complained, "Why are you in such a hurry? Let me sleep a little longer."

Qi Xiao Yan threw a set of clothes onto her. "Of course I'm in a hurry. Did you want to wait to take them until you're visibly pregnant?"

Yang Wei grabbed onto the clothes he had thrown, frowning. "Qi Xiao Yan, you said you wouldn't abandon me!"

He nodded quite casually. "But I can't guarantee that the photographer won't."

Yang Wei bared her teeth at him and began to change.

 

Breakfast was Qi Xiao Yan's home-baked whole-grain bread accompanied by a small bowl of porridge. Yang Wei bolted to the toilet to vomit after consuming just half. He followed her hastily into the bathroom with a cup of warm water and squatted beside her, stroking her back with one hand.

Yang Wei rinsed her mouth out with clean water after throwing up and turned to look at him. Her large and misty eyes seemed to be brimming with tears. "This is all your fault for making me so angry this morning!"

Qi Xiao Yan helped her wipe the water from her lips, eyes full of distress. "It’s my fault. The kid is working hard." He took the mug of water from her hand and took her into his arms, rubbing her back.

Feeling much more comfortable after throwing up, Yang Wei only snorted into his chest before following him back to the dining room. There was still some breakfast left. He poured her another glass of lemonade. "Darling, did you still want to eat breakfast?"

Yang Wei thought for a moment. "Well... maybe not the bread. But I'll drink the porridge."

"Will you throw up again?" Qi Xiao Yan asked, a little worried.

Yang Wei took a sip of lemonade. The fresh tartness of it overshadowed the recent gross taste in her mouth. "I shouldn't." As she spoke, she picked up a spoon and scooped up a spoonful, putting it into her mouth. Qi Xiao Yan watched her, frowning. "If you're not feeling well today, we can always reschedule the photo taking."

"No, right now is the peak of wedding season, and it's difficult to make an appointment at the photo studio. Vomiting during pregnancy is normal, you don't need to fuss over it."

Yang Wei's mouth is was full of porridge, and the words she said were difficult to make out. Qi Xiao Yan said nothing, merely stepped forward gently to embrace her and bending down, kissed her on her forehead.

The feeling of being cherished rippled through Yang Wei's heart. That sweet, cloying feeling within overflowed, and a smile came unbidden to her lips. She knew that Qi Xiao Yan was going to great trouble for her during this period in time, not only doing all the housework but also taking care of her with great attention to detail.

Once she had woken in the middle of the night and found him gone. She had searched for him and found him in the study, writing a paper. Yang Wei knew that university professors had a requirement for how many papers they should publish each year, and let not mention that Professor Qi had always loved writing them. He had once told her that Euler had written over 800 pages each year on average, even insisting on dictating them after having lost his sight.

Like his idol, Qi Xiao Yan often locked himself in the study for weeks on end, writing papers. Yang Wei had had no small amount of quarrels with him over the matter before, yet his enthusiasm for writing them remained undiminished. Now, in order to take care of her, was he secretly writing at night after she fell asleep?

After that day, Yang Wei began going to bed earlier. She decided that after Curly-baby's birth, if Professor Qi wished to lock himself up in the study to write papers, she would no longer pick a fight with him.

Qi Xiao Yan had no idea about the great circle Yang Wei’s thoughts had just gone around. All he saw was her holding her spoon in a daze, and prodded her. Yang Wei came back to Earth, smiled at him, and continued eating her porridge.

Their appointment was at nine o'clock. With Qi Xiao Yan driving, they arrived on time.

Though it was not the same studio as the last time, it was one of the more famous ones in A City. It was said that every makeup artist had won international awards, and many of their costumes were used by celebrities.

Yang Wei enjoyed the celebrity treatment, sitting in front of the mirror surrounded by a crowd. As her hair was being done, she was receiving a manicure at the same time, and a tall, beautiful woman was standing across from her, touching up her brow.

She thought about how expensive it must be to take their photos here. Complaining in her heart about Qi Xiao Yan, that black sheep, she carefully described to the makeup artist how she wanted to look.

Her wedding dress was the one that she had bought last year when they had gotten married. Yang Wei was glad that she still fit into it. Though Qi Xiao Yan had originally proposed buying another, she had felt that wedding dresses were too expensive. There was no need to buy another when last year's had only been worn twice and was practically brand new.

By the time Yang Wei was done dressing, Qi Xiao Yan had been waiting for a good long while. Her hair had been carefully fixed to her head with a delicate hairpin, and dark wavy locks framed her face. Not only did they look charming, but they made her face more delicate.

Qi Xiao Yan had said before that she looked good in white, and right then the wedding dress sweeping the floor magnified her beauty to its utmost limit. He seemed to have once again returned to when he first met her at the entrance of Imperial City University, when just for an instant, his heart leapt.

Yang Wei, a bouquet of flowers in her hand, couldn't help but wave her other hand in front of his face when she found him staring blankly at herself. Qi Xiao Yan took her hand, pulling her to his side, and kissed her forehead gently. "Darling, today you are gorgeous."

The staff surrounding them let out little titters. Blushing, Yang Wei glanced at him and pulled away from his embrace. Holding her skirt, the stylist whispered in her ear, "From your husband's looks, I totally pinned him as the aloof chilly type. I didn't think his mouth would be so sweet!"

Yang Wei: "..."

No, he really was the aloof chilly type. It's just that he had switched routes recently.

As they made their way to the studio, the ladies on the staff secretly gossiped about him. Qi Xiao Yan looked very handsome that day, surpassing many male celebrities. But this handsome man was her very own husband, so they could only make eyes at him from afar.

Yang Wei’s mood right then was like that of the queen who had just poisoned Snow White, enormously proud of her success.

When the photographer saw them, he let out a whistle, "What studio sent these two models here to take their publicity photos?"

Yang Wei calmly accepted the photographer's straightforward praise. The studio contained a few simple set props, such as tables, chairs, and a white swing, on which was wrapped red climbing roses.

Though she wanted very badly to take a picture on the swing, Qi Xiao Yan would not agree. Even the photographer repeatedly assured him that the swing was very strong and absolutely safe, he still would not nod his head. Denied the swing, Yang Wei was not at all happy, and her annoyance shone through the few photos they took.

The photographer looked at the effect on his camera, then looked at Qi Xiao Yan to say, "Groom, please kiss the bride."

Yang Wei was immediately a little embarrassed. They had also been asked to kiss the last time they took their wedding photos, but she was not at all accustomed to kissing in front of anyone else.

Unexpectedly, Qi Xiao Yan took her in his arms and bent his head. He kissed her in rapture, as if no one was watching them, as if no one was holding up a camera and the click of the shutter couldn't be heard.

The photographer was a little shocked too. He had hoped for the groom to kiss the bride's face or forehead, but here these two were, kissing as though he had dropped off the face of the earth.

Ai, had he grown old?

When Yang Wei was breathless, Qi Xiao Yan let her go. He looked at her flushed cheeks and knew that it wasn't makeup. "Darling, do you really want to take a photo on that swing?"

"Yeah."

"Fine. But you can only sit on it. You can't move."

Qi Xiao Yan finally gave in. Yang Wei kissed him on the cheek happily, then ran to the swing and sat down without moving. He stood at her side, holding onto her waist uneasily. After looking at them for a moment, the photographer put down the camera he was holding. "Let's have the makeup artist touch up the bride's makeup first. Her lipstick has been eaten."

Yang Wei: "..."

She wanted to cover her face and scream.

The makeup artist made her way quickly into the studio with a few different lipsticks. However, instead of letting Yang Wei choose, she asked Qi Xiao Yan, "What flavour would you care for, sir?"

Yang Wei: "..."

She never wanted to walk down this street again.

Qi Xiao Yan finally chose a strawberry-coloured lipstick with no flavour. The photographer directed them for a while, but eventually felt like there was nothing really for him to do. "We also have a small European garden outside. Would you like to take a few photos there?"

Yang Wei agreed readily.

The little garden was indeed tiny, no more than 10 square meters in size, but it was beautifully landscaped and more than enough for photography. In addition to that little garden in the European style, there was also a Chinese-style courtyard. However, Yang Wei and Qi Xiao Yan agreed that they were not dressed suitably for the Chinese style yard that day, so they did not go there.

In the garden was a European-style tea table, complete with an English tea set and afternoon tea snacks. To Yang Wei's surprise, the little finger foods in the dishes were not props, but real.

“Can I eat these?” She asked the photographer, picking up a cute little cookie.

The photographer nodded from behind his camera. "Of course. We do this every day. I do suggest, though, that you try feeding the other person."

Yang Wei huffed out a breath from the corner of her mouth and held the cookie before Qi Xiao Yan. "Curly-bae, open up."

Qi Xiao Yan looked at her, then really opened his mouth. As his pale, thin lips parted, Yang Wei seemed to have the illusion that her own heart had also been hooked.

Snap.

The crisp cookie shattered between Qi Xiao Yan's lips and teeth. Yang Wei watched his tongue as it gently licked her fingertips.

Snap.

This time it was the sound of the camera's shutter. The photographer looked his latest pictures and told them, "The two of you have an excellent sense of drama. Are you sure you really don't want to go into show business?"

Yang Wei: "...."

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

After repeating this over and over again, the wedding photo shoot was finally over. Exhausted, Yang Wei slumped on the sofa like a dead fish, allowing the makeup artist to remove her makeup.

Meanwhile, the owner of the studio courted Qi Xiao Yan, hoping that they would allow their photos to be used by the studio for publicity purposes. He offered them a 30% discount and a free set of photos.

Just like the owner of last year's studio, he was expressionlessly rejected.

The photos still required post-processing, so Qi Xiao Yan made a follow-up appointment with the studio and took Yang Wei out for dinner. Although he would have preferred to go home and cook for her, it was quite late. Yang Wei might faint from hunger if she had to wait any longer.

Yang Wei watched him fasten his seat belt and asked, "The studio owner offered quite favourable conditions. Why didn't you consider it?"

Qi Xiao Yan frowned. "It's our wedding photo. Did you really want it to be hung outside the gallery for just anyone to see?"

Yang Wei's mouth curled, and her beautiful eyes seemed as though they were lit by the sunshine. "Of course not."