June was upon them, and the weather was getting hotter and hotter. Yang Wei gazed longingly at the iced watermelon juice in Teacher Yao's cup, only able to stand to one side and drool.

"Don't look, Teacher Yang. Pregnant women can't drink something so cold."

It was Teacher Wang, the class teacher for Class 2, Grade 5, who had been on three months of maternity leave. Having sat at home all that time, she returned to school full of energy. Yang Wei, who had been acting class teacher, had abdicated with honour.

As soon as she got back, Teacher Wang learned about Yang Wei’s pregnancy. Having been relieved only recently from her own suffering, she could hardly wait to share her pregnancy experience with Yang Wei. She had even summarized them into a Word document, printed it out onto A4 paper, and pasted it onto Yang Wei’s desk.

Yang Wei glanced sideways at <Three Prohibitions, Ten Don'ts>, and huffed. Indeed, there seemed to be one saying "don't eat things that are too cold".

Teacher Yao polished off the tempting watermelon juice in one gulp, smiled at Yang Wei in a refreshing watermelon way, and headed off to class carrying her English textbook.

Yang Wei sprawled listlessly over her desk and let out a huge sigh. Pregnant women were also human beings! Pregnant women also had human rights! At home, Professor Qi managed everything from the East to the West, and at school she had to abide by Teacher Wang's <Three Prohibitions, Ten Don'ts>. Couldn't you all give a woman a way out?!

The days passed by, neither fast nor slow, as Yang Wei endured humiliation for the sake of responsibility. In mid to late June, accompanied by Qi Xiao Yan, she went to the central hospital for a checkup.

Her doctor was still that young lady doctor from last time. Yang Wei’s indicators were normal. She gave them a brief explanation, then had them put together a card to be checked every month.

When they got out of the hospital, Qi Xiao Yan did not ferry her back home, but instead drove in the direction of Starlight Plaza. Gazing at the towering department store before her eyes, she asked, "What are we doing here?"

"Don't you want maternity dresses? It'll be inconvenient to go once you're very heavy, so let's buy them now."

Yang Wei: "..."

She was only three months along, why buy maternity clothes so early?! She didn't want to wear maternity clothes!

Qi Xiao Yan completely ignored her accusing eyes, taking her by the hand and dragging her into the mall. A famous brand in Xingguang Department Store sold maternity clothes, and he brought her directly there.

Yang Wei had a preconception of maternity clothes as being ugly, oversized bags, lacking in both style and colour. Just imagining her pregnant self wearing such things challenged her sense of aesthetics.

But upon entering the store, she found that she had vastly misjudged maternity clothing.

The items in the store were not at all inferior to the most popular of fashions, whether in style or colour, and there was an enormous variety. From casual wear to business clothes, from dresses to home clothing and even evening gowns, more glittering things filled the eye than she could take in.

The shopping guide was exceedingly enthusiastic and professional. Having taken one look at Yang Wei’s current style of dress, she knew immediately that her new customer was a lover of beauty. She recommended several of the most popular styles and colors that year based on a rough projection of Yang Wei's figure.

As Yang Wei chose clothes, she listened to the guide talk about the differences in fabric and design between maternity and ordinary clothing, and in the end became so excited that she could hardly wait for her tummy to swell so that she might wear them and parade around.

Upon returning home heavily laden, Yang Wei tried on all her new things in her full-length mirror, showing them off to Qi Xiao Yan once again, as excited as a primary school student carrying their brand new schoolbag on the first day of school.

Her excitement lasted until nine o'clock, when she finally became a little drowsy - she had gotten into the habit recently of going to bed early. Yawning, she climbed into bed. Qi Xiao Yan sat next to her and asked, "Darling, are you meeting anybody the day after tomorrow?"

"The day after tomorrow?" Yang Wei thought about it, her eyes closed. "It's my birthday the day after tomorrow. Jian Shuang and a few others said they would celebrate with me."

Saying this, she sat up and looked at him, a playful little smile in her eyes. "Do you happen to have any plans?"

Qi Xiao Yan kissed her forehead and said only, "Come back home early, and don't drink."

"Oh." Yang Wei watched him enter the bathroom, raised her eyebrows, and lay back down to sleep.

For her birthday, Jian Shuang booked a karaoke box and arrived promptly at one o'clock with a big cake. Yang Wei went with Sheng Lei. When they opened the box door, she could hear Jian Shuang and Xia Ying belting out "A Burlak's Love".¹A person whose job is hauling barges.

Yang Wei made a face, wound her way to the karaoke station, and chose a song, skipping the current one. The noisy music in the box cut off, replaced by a soothing tune. She did not sing, but simply let it be played as background music.

Jian Shuang dropped her microphone and walked over, a scowl on her face. "What was wrong with that?!" She reached out to pull Yang Wei's hair, but the latter dodged. Jian Shuang made a sound, then clapped her hands together and said, "Oh, forget it! Since you're the birthday girl, I'll overlook your villainy today."

To her side, Xia Ying stood, microphone in hand as if she were the host of the party. "Let's welcome today's birthday girl up on stage for a speech! Everyone, put your hands together!"

Sheng Lei and Jian Shuang clapped. Yang Wei cleared her throat, picked up the microphone, and dug out a ring from her pocket. She slipped it on, "Dear friends, I'm once again married!"

Then she was witness to the other three in the karaoke box becoming fools for a minute.

A veteran lawyer, Sheng Lei recovered first. "Miss Yang Wei Wei, please explain the current situation to us in detail. If you are not able to present a clear and comprehensive explanation, I fear I cannot guarantee that you will make it out this door."

Jian Shuang jumped up alongside. "Were you chosen by Cupid? Let's forget about your first marriage catching everyone off-guard, but even your second came so fast! And wait, to who?!"

"Ahem, that would be to Qi Xiao Yan, Professor Qi.” Yang Wei said solemnly into the microphone.

The other three were rendered stupid once again. Since Sheng Lei had once heard Yang Wei say that she might remarry Qi Xiao Yan, she wasn't as surprised, but Jian Shuang's hair stood on end. "You two again! Does marrying the same person twice unlock new skills?!"

Yang Wei curved her eyes in a smile. "Well, it's probably because I'm pregnant."

......

There was a long silence in the karaoke box before Jian Shuang's voice rang out once more. "So you really did unlock some new posture?"

Yang Wei: "..."

Sheng Lei frowned and inquired, "Did you remarry because of the child?"

"No. At the time when he was talking about wanting to remarry me, Curly-baby wasn't yet there.”

Jian Shuang repeated mechanically, “Curly-baby?”

“It's the nickname that Professor Qi gave the kid, don't you think it's the cutest?!”

Jian Shuang imitated her grin and replied, "I just think you're the dumbest!"²Joke here lost in translation. Yang Wei refers to the child as "meng meng da", meaning adorable, and Jian Shuang says that she is "chun chun da", meaning stupid.

Yang Wei gave her a punch. Standing to the side, Xia Ying asked, "How many weeks along are you?"

"Twelve weeks."

".....You deceived us for that long?"

"En, well, there wasn't a good time to say it before."

Everyone's questions buffered for the moment, the atmosphere once again became lively as they all scrambled to be Curly-baby's godmother. Rushing to the stage, Jian Shuang shouted into the microphone, "Xia Ying, give me <Red Sun>! I wanna sing <Red Sun>!"

Xia Ying hurriedly helped her queue up the song. Jian Shuang waved exaggeratedly toward the people below sitting on the sofa and yelled, "Audience below, rise up!"

Yang Wei: "..."

All right then, Jian Shuang could be the first one struck from the list of godmother candidates.

The prelude sounded. Following the music, Jian Shuang sang and danced to the rhythm. "Though fate is displaced, though fate is bitter and bizarre; though fate terrifies you that there's nothing to live for..."

Perhaps Jian Shuang’s singing and dancing was infectious. Xia Ying was unable to resist, rushing up to sing with her.

"... Don't cry, don't be sad, and don't give up, I'm willing to be with you forever!"

"Thank you! Thank you all for your warm applause!" Jian Shuang had completely entered a state of self-exaltation. As if she was holding a concert, she said to Yang Wei, "This song is dedicated to my dear Wei Wei'er. May Professor Qi accompany you all your life!"

Yang Wei pursed her lips. "Thank you for your blessing, but can we put on some soothing music? The doctor said that too noisy an environment isn't good for pregnant women.”

Jian Shuang immediately directed Xia Ying, who was standing next to the song station. “Quick, give her a lullaby!”

Xia Ying really did find a lullaby. She turned it on and went back to her seat. Finally remembering the big cake she had brought, Jian Shuang had Yang Wei make a wish.

Yang Wei watched her inserting 2, then 4 candles on the cake. Her mouth twitched. "Why don't you put in 16? I'm 16 this year."

Jian Shuang looked up at her a moment, then said kindly, "Wei Wei'er, you're going to be a mother now, don't be so shameless, be a good girl."

Yang Wei: "..."

With her eyes closed, she blew out the candles. Jian Shuang took the lead to cheer.

With everyone busy eating cake, no one was going to sing. Yang Wei took a small bite and looked in Xia Ying's direction. "I hear you switched to sales. How does it feel?"

It was unknown what Xia Ying was thinking about, but her expression was cutting. "I'm still training, but I think the training's useless."

Greatly interested, Yang Wei asked, "How so?"

"The teacher who trained us in sales said that we can't directly ask people if they are interested in financial management, as most will answer that they aren't. Instead, we should ask the other party whether they had ever used financial management products. The other party's answer could only be yes or no, and no matter which one they pick, we have a road to take deeper into the topic.”

“I see, and then?”

“And then I used the method she taught to speak to a client and the other said," here, Xia Ying deliberately imitated the voice of a middle-aged man, "'Mind your own business.'"

"Pfffft, hahahahaha!"

Jian Shuang laughed so hard she fell off the sofa. Sheng Lei concluded, "From this story, we learn that reality is never as beautiful as we could imagine, and that there is always a third possibility in life."

"An excellent philosophy," Yang Wei praised, "I propose a toast."

Sheng Lei raised an eyebrow. "You dare drink? Aren't you afraid that when you get home, Professor Qi will kill you?"

"I'm toasting you with juice, you over-thinker."

The small group sang until six o'clock, after which they headed to a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Only halfway through, Qi Xiao Yan called. "Darling, where are you?"

"Still eating."

"Ah. Well, call when you're finished and I'll come pick you up." After saying so, he added, "And no drinking."

"I know!" After Yang Wei had hung up, the other three smiled at her over the table. Taking a sip of her juice, Sheng Lei took a sip of juice inquired, "Professor Qi here to check your whereabouts again? We'd best eat quickly, lest the elderly worry."

Yang Wei threw her a dirty look, but really did eat faster.

Qi Xiao Yan came to pick her up before the hour turned eight. To the back view of their car, Jian Shuang raised her chin and declared, "I'll show off every day, too, once I get married!"

Sitting in the front passenger seat, Yang Wei snuck a peek at the man driving the car next to her. "Curly-bae, where are we headed?"

"Straight home."

"Oh." Why on earth were you dressed so formally just to go straight home?

When they got back, Yang Wei was keenly aware that Qi Xiao Yan was a little nervous. Although his expressionless face was no different from normal, she felt his subtle mood fluctuations.

"Curly-bae?" she asked tentatively.

Qi Xiao Yan loosened his tie and looked down at her. "Darling, I've got something for you."

"Ah," Yang Wei nodded. It was her birthday today, and it was expected that he would give her a gift. What sort of gift was making him act so strange?

She was a little curious.

Taking her hand, Qi Xiao Yan led her to the bedroom. Only then did she realize that the bedroom door was closed.

When he opened the door solemnly, she almost had the illusion that he was opening the door to a new world.

The door creaked open and the bedroom appeared gradually in front of Yang Wei. She didn't dare blink, for fear of missing a moment of surprise.

When the door had opened completely, her line of sight immediately fell onto the big bed where they usually slept.

It was usually the most conspicuous thing in the room, and now it was even harder to ignore.

Rose petals were spread over the covers, carefully formed into the shape of a heart.

This sort of episode appeared on TV all the time, and therefore was not shocking in and of itself. However, Yang Wei was still incredibly surprised, for the person who had done it was Qi Xiao Yan.

She cocked her head to the side to look at him and inquired in some shock, "Curly-bae, did you do this?"

"Mn." Watching her expression, Qi Xiao Yan asked a little uncertainly, "You don't like it?"

Yang Wei stared at him a moment, then suddenly laughed, "It's not that, just... did you learn this trick from idol dramas?"

For Professor Qi to have supplemented his brain with the idol dramas he bitterly hated, she knew it was bad but couldn't stop it!

Qi Xiao Yan twitched his brow. "A colleague of mine told me about it."

Yang Wei smiled and nodded. He was silent a moment, then added, "Wait here a minute. There's something else for you."

Saying so, Qi Xiao Yan turned and left. When he came back, he was holding a large bouquet of blue roses in one hand, and he knelt before Yang Wei, "Darling, will you marry me?"

He looked up at her. The roses he was holding burned in Yang Wei's eyes like a flame.

The 'kneeling on one knee marriage proposal' she had always wanted had appeared!

Yang Wei’s heart pounded incessantly. They had obviously already gotten their license together, and even children they had had, but Qi Xiao Yan was looking straight into her eyes right then, as if really waiting for an important reply.

"I will." She said the words softly, and reached out to take the flowers.

Qi Xiao Yan's lips pulled up into an unexpected smile. Yang Wei felt like her heart had risen alongside the corners of his upturned mouth.

"This is also for you." Qi Xiao Yan took a beautiful little box from his pocket and handed it to her.

It was a heart-shaped necklace.

Yang Wei picked up the necklace and looked at it with joy. It glinted silver under the light, and she could hardly tear her eyes from it. "It's gorgeous! Thank you!"

Qi Xiao Yan smiled, standing. "I'll help you put it on."

He made his way behind Yang Wei and pulled her hair aside. The moment the metal rings interlocked, it was as if their two hearts were clasped together.

"Darling," Qi Xiao Yan kissed her on her fair neck, a different form of intoxication in his, "Happy birthday." His light, but hot breath drifted across her skin, making Yang Wei blush.

"Thank you……"

She was a little embarrassed, but on the contrary, Qi Xiao Yan said with a chuckle, "Darling, hasn't it been three months?"

Although Yang Wei wanted to say something vulgar, what came out of her mouth was the doctor's warning, "The doctor said to be gentle and safe..."

Help! She really hadn't meant to say that!

A smile lingered in Qi Xiao Yan's eyes, but they were getting darker and darker. Pressing Yang Wei gently under him, he kissed her mouth. "I know."

There was an enchanting atmosphere in the room, and with difficulty and deep emotion, he said to her, "Wife, I love you."

Qi Xiao Yan's voice was hoarse and seductive. This was not the first time he had said these three words in passion, but it was the first time she had ever felt so touched to hear them. A mist had already descended in front of her eyes, and through it she could vaguely see a large wedding photo frame hanging on the opposite wall. The two in the photo were kissing.

Just like they were right now.

Yang Wei wound her arms about his neck and panted, "Husband, I love you too."

Love, no matter when it sounded, was as melodious as heavenly music.

frostcrystal

Everyone, this is the end of the main story! Phew! I'm a bit tired and will be taking a break, but you can all look forward to 9 epilogue chapters when I get back. If you were a fan of Fang Cheng Ran and feel like he didn't get much closure, there will be a few chapters for him. :)