Xia Xiaolan felt she was quite lucky.

This luck wasn’t about giving birth to two sons at once or anything like that – she neither favored boys over girls nor girls over boys. A child’s gender couldn’t be controlled by humans anyway; regardless of gender, they were her and Zhou Cheng’s children.

She certainly wouldn’t say to her twin sons, “Why aren’t you a boy-girl pair?” or anything like that.

The babies were too young to understand such things, but Xia Xiaolan would never say that, and she didn’t like others saying it either!

Yes, she was just that protective.

During delivery, she felt completely drained, but natural birth had an advantage over C-section in terms of recovery speed. After sleeping once, she felt she had the strength to have another child… Looking at her two freshly bathed sons in their cribs, Xia Xiaolan’s lips remained curved upward.

Her good fortune wasn’t about having twins, but about having a safe delivery without too much suffering.

Xia Xiaolan’s heart was full. She felt her heart was especially soft now – if any enemies encountered her in this state, they’d be lucky. Previously she might have wanted to finish them off completely, but now she thought leaving them only eighty percent dead would suffice!

Many people wanted to see the babies, but both mother and children needed rest. Zhou Cheng politely ushered all the elders out of the hospital room, and even he moved about quietly.

His movements were clumsy when holding the babies, but Xia Xiaolan didn’t laugh at him. Her man was a new father, just as she was a new mother.

In this era, there weren’t any prenatal training classes; otherwise, both she and Zhou Cheng would have attended them.

After Zhou Cheng clumsily changed the babies’ diapers, Xia Xiaolan spoke up:

“Zhou Cheng, can we talk?”

The wife’s words outweighed everything else – one could do without sons but not without a wife. Zhou Cheng immediately put down his son. The two little ones were probably identical twins, looking very similar. It was nonsense to think parents could tell at a glance which was the older and which was the younger brother. The older one had a small red birthmark on his arm – this was Zhou Cheng’s way of telling them apart.

But how to distinguish them when clothed?

Best not to dress them alike.

Zhou Cheng had put down the older one… well, he was temporarily calling them older brother and younger brother, since their names hadn’t been decided yet. Zhou Cheng had used the naming matter as bait to politely usher all the elders out of the room.

As for whether his father would succeed in naming them, or whether his father-in-law would prevail, Zhou Cheng only cared about the result, not the process.

Of course, his wife had veto power. If she didn’t like the names the elders chose, she could reject them, and he would be the one to deliver the refusal – perfectly reasonable!

“Dear, what do you want to talk about?”

He’d put down his son so quickly that Xia Xiaolan’s eye twitched – truly a biological father indeed.

“About my emotional state lately. Uncle Tang scolded me, and I realized I hadn’t handled things well. I just suddenly noticed I’d become ugly while you’re still so handsome, and then with Liang Huan’s provocation…”

She was petty.

Zhou Cheng had been extremely considerate of her, both in daily life and emotionally. He’d even put his career on hold for her pregnancy, using academic advancement as an excuse to stay with her in Beijing until delivery.

But she still felt unbalanced.

She was the one who gained weight and became ugly, and Zhou Cheng couldn’t feel the pain of childbirth… Thinking about it now made Xia Xiaolan so embarrassed she wanted to bury her face in Zhou Cheng’s arms and never look up.

How mortifying!

Zhou Cheng gently stroked her hair.

“Your only mistake was not telling me, leaving me not knowing what to do. I was also at a loss. How could you think gaining weight and getting spots made you ugly? Never mind that these are temporary – even if they weren’t reversible, would that make you a different person? Of course, it’s nice that the woman I love is beautiful – I can spot her instantly in a crowd, and be attracted to her, without spending much time searching. But if she weren’t beautiful, I would still fall in love with her, just perhaps taking a little more time.”

It begins with looks but endures through understanding.

When he first saw Xiaolan, he was attracted by her beautiful appearance – that was a primitive attraction.

It was physiological – who doesn’t like beautiful women?

At that time, he thought this woman should belong to him; he should find someone this beautiful.

But through their interactions, the qualities she displayed were what made Zhou Cheng fall deeper and deeper. Without those qualities, even with identical looks, he might have found her stunning, might have liked her, but wouldn’t have fallen in love – and feeling less intense, less complete, couldn’t be called love.

Zhou Cheng believed this kind of love only happens once in a lifetime. Facing the woman he loved, he not only wanted to possess but also to give. Human nature is selfish and demanding; only “love” can overcome this instinct.

When feelings reach this level, appearance no longer matters. To put it sentimentally, he loved the soul beneath the surface.

There could never be another “Xia Xiaolan” in this world. He had the best wife – why would he look at other women?

Pregnant women tend to overthink things, and one’s wife needs indulgence. If his wife felt insecure, it certainly wasn’t her fault – it meant he hadn’t done well enough.

Xia Xiaolan was stunned.

If she were less beautiful, Zhou Cheng said he would still fall in love with her, just take more time to find her.

What if she looked like she did in her previous life?

Would Zhou Cheng still love her?

Xia Xiaolan looked at Zhou Cheng intently; his gaze remained passionate.

She must have been out of her mind to worry about gaining weight and becoming ugly!

Old Tang was right – she should focus on being herself instead of being suspicious.

Now that she’d given birth, if she was fat, she would actively work on recovering her figure. A disciplined woman might not control her destiny, but she could at least control her body fat – not to mention Zhou Cheng had never properly looked at Liang Huan. Even if there were ten Liang Huans, she shouldn’t have tested Zhou Cheng like this.

If Zhou Cheng were truly seduced by some woman, she would gracefully walk away… Oh, with her personality, she’d probably deal with both Zhou Cheng and that woman before leaving.

*cough* It was unfair to Zhou Cheng, lumping him in with potentially unfaithful scoundrels when he’d done nothing wrong.

She had lost IQ points during pregnancy, but now that the babies were born, her intelligence seemed to be back online!

Xia Xiaolan hugged Zhou Cheng:

“I’ll never do this again. Instead of overthinking things alone, I might as well act up a bit with you. Even arguing can spice up our relationship – better than keeping everything bottled up!”

“…!”

Yes, whatever his wife said was right. If she wanted to argue, he should take it seriously, preferably rehearsing his lines beforehand.

Zhou Cheng thought about it seriously, then began to smile.

His wife had given him two children, yet he still found her so adorable – what could he do?!

…

“Shh—”

Grandmother Zhou stopped her daughter-in-law Guan Hui’e, “Don’t go in, let the young couple talk.”

The old lady desperately wanted to see her great-grandsons. Seeing two identical babies together filled her with joy, but when she saw the couple embracing in the hospital room, she showed great discretion.

The most important thing was that her grandson and his wife had a good relationship.

Guan Hui’e belatedly realized, “Did these two disagree? That foolish Zhou Cheng is so inconsiderate. Xiaolan went through so much during pregnancy and childbirth, and he doesn’t know how to be understanding!”

Grandmother Zhou was speechless, “Married couples are bound to have their bumps. You absolutely must not interfere. What would pass quickly on its own becomes more complicated with meddling. I don’t interfere in your relationship with Guobin, nor Wenbang’s marriage.”

If there were more open-minded mothers-in-law like her in the world, how many family conflicts could be avoided? The old lady thought proudly, straightening her back.