“Jingye?”
Yan Yunning hummed in confirmation. “Xiaxia was messaging me from her husband’s phone. That’s fine, isn’t it?”
The man’s gaze remained deep and inscrutable. “How do you know it was Miss He sending you messages? Why didn’t she use her own account?”
Yan Yunning’s eyes danced with amusement. “Honey, that is such a good question.”
Xuan Yanyu let out a cold snort. “You love her? You gave her adorable babies? Those are my biological children — children you carried yourself. What do our babies have to do with her?”
“Honey, since you’re asking, I won’t hide it from you anymore — and I can’t, really.”
Yan Yunning said it with complete seriousness, utter nonsense pouring from her lips. “Honey, the reason I was with you in the first place was your looks. I figured our children would definitely be beautiful.”
“And sure enough, they are. But why did I do it, you ask? It’s all because Xiaxia loves adorable, pretty little children, and I did it all for Xiaxia’s sake… mmph…”
Her rambling lips were silenced with a kiss. Xuan Yanyu deliberately left no gap for her to breathe.
Less than a minute later, Yan Yunning’s fingertips clutched the front of his shirt and shoved at him with all her might. Only then did the man pull back the tiniest bit.
Once Yan Yunning had caught her breath, another dissatisfied kiss came down on her — again and again, on and on. Yan Yunning deeply regretted her words but had no chance to voice them.
In one fleeting breath between kisses, Yan Yunning swiftly ducked her head and buried her face in the crook of his neck, panting as she admitted her fault. “Honey, I was wrong. I won’t talk nonsense anymore.”
The man swept a glance over her slightly reddened lips, his low, husky voice tinged with amusement. “It’s fine. Go on — keep talking.”
Yan Yunning punched him. “Then what — I die of suffocation?!”
Xuan Yanyu drew her even closer, his magnetic voice sounding in Yan Yunning’s ear. “How could I bear to let that happen?”
Yan Yunning’s tone was full of complaint. “Looks to me like you’d bear it just fine.”
The man laughed softly. “Talking nonsense again?”
Yan Yunning pressed her lips tightly together and shook her head.
“Good girl.” Xuan Yanyu leaned back, pulling the light blanket over the two of them with one long arm, lazily narrowing his eyes.
Yan Yunning lifted her head and poked the man’s cheek. “Baby, what kind of boyfriend does Dad want for Ranran?”
“Someone who loves her and treats her well. And the family background — even if it can’t quite match ours, it should be somewhere close.”
Yan Yunning blinked her lashes. “So Jiang Xian — Dad would agree to him, right?”
Xuan Yanyu’s smile was faint. “So it really is Jiang Xian.”
He had already guessed that the “friend” Little Ran mentioned must be Jiang Xian. And sure enough, it was.
Yan Yunning opened her mouth, wide-eyed. “You didn’t know?”
Xuan Yanyu gritted his teeth. “I didn’t. She only said it was a friend of mine.”
Yan Yunning: “……”
Xuan Yanyu twirled the tip of Yan Yunning’s hair around his finger and brought it to his nose for a quiet sniff. “Did she call us back to the old residence?”
Yan Yunning’s bright eyes curved. “She did. She wants to come clean to Mom and Dad, and she said that with us all there, Dad won’t throw a fit in front of Xiaoxiao and the others. And Mom has been calling me often anyway, asking me to bring the kids to stay for a few days — she and Dad miss them so much. So I agreed.”
“……” Xuan Yanyu’s voice was puzzled. “Dad won’t throw a fit in front of Xiaoxiao and the others — but wouldn’t he just do it away from them?”
Yan Yunning: “……”
That is a rather good point.
Xuan Yanyu went on unhurriedly, “When does she plan to come clean? Monday, when we leave Mom and Dad’s and head home — I want to see you in that white cheongsam-style nightgown.”
Yan Yunning: “……”
The cheongsam nightgown Xuan Yanyu was referring to was a halter-neck, short cropped design.
The top had a row of diagonal black frog buttons down the center, and the bottom was a high-waisted short piece. She had worn it on his birthday night, paired with black over-the-knee fishnet stockings with a bow-tie detail.
The aftermath — well, she hadn’t made it into the office the next day.
And after that, Xuan Yanyu had, as though discovering a whole new world, replaced every single nightgown in the house. After looking through them all, she’d summed it up in one sentence: every last one was to his taste — not a single exception.
“Honey, will you interfere with the kids’ relationships when they grow up — their boyfriends or girlfriends?” Yan Yunning steered the conversation elsewhere.
Xuan Yanyu’s brow lifted slightly. “I won’t get involved in our son’s affairs, but Jiaojiao’s boyfriend will have to meet my approval.”
“……And what are your standards?” Yan Yunning was genuinely curious.
The man’s low voice was laced with amusement. “First and foremost, he has to dote on Jiaojiao even more than I do.”
“And after that?”
Xuan Yanyu glanced at her with an air of complete nonchalance. “After that, on Monday when we leave Mom and Dad’s, we go back to our own home.”
Yan Yunning: “……”
——
Around half past five the following afternoon.
Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning left the office early, picked up the two little ones from kindergarten, and then the whole family waited at the school gates for Xuan Yunsheng — who got out a bit later — before heading as one to the private room He Qingxia had reserved.
Seeing Xuan Yanyu, He Qingxia was pleasantly surprised. “Mr. Xuan came as well.”
Xuan Yanyu smiled. “I was rather curious to see what the person who claims to love my wife the most looks like.”
Yan Yunning: “……”
He Qingxia: “……”
Gu Jingye settled the little one into the children’s seat, then turned with a smile. “What is Yanyu saying?”
Xuan Yanyu lounged lazily against the back of his chair, lips curving slightly. “Nothing.”
Xuan Yunsheng poured fuel on the fire. “Uncle Gu, what Dad means is that one of you and Auntie Xiaxia loves Mom the most.”
Yan Yunning: “?”
“Ahem!” Gu Jingye’s lips twitched. “Slander — this is pure slander. I love my wife.”
Xuan Yunsheng turned to Xuan Yanyu with an expression of utmost seriousness. “Dad, are you spreading slander?”
Gu Jingye pressed a hand to his forehead. “Yanyu, I wasn’t calling you a slanderer.”
The little one let out a puzzled “huh?” “Uncle Gu, so you’re saying one of you and Auntie Xiaxia loves Mom — I bet it’s definitely Auntie Xiaxia. Mom loves, absolutely loves Auntie Xiaxia the most too.”
“Did I do something to upset you?”
“Did your father make you upset?”
Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning spoke in perfect unison, then exchanged a glance and turned their eyes onto Xuan Yunsheng together.
“No.” The little one answered honestly.
Xuan Yanyu flicked his forehead. “Then why are you being so sarcastic?”
“Dad, you didn’t upset me, but…” The little one pointed at the little ball of fluff sitting quietly in his seat and the small girl who was settled contentedly in hers. “Your son and daughter upset me.”
The little ball and the small girl blinked their innocent eyes.
Xuan Yanyu: “……”
Yan Yunning: “……”
“Sweetie, tell Auntie Xiaxia — how did those two little sprouts upset you?” He Qingxia sidestepped Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning and sat down beside the little one, asking with curious delight.
Xuan Yunsheng puffed out his small cheeks. “Auntie Xiaxia, it’s a bit hard to say.”
He Qingxia burst into a laugh. “Alright, alright — if it’s hard to say, Auntie won’t pry. Let’s eat.”
“Okay.” The little one nodded.