That night, after the concert ended, another trending topic quickly rose to number one.

#LinQingyeDaughter#

Ahhhhhhh when did this happen, how did I miss this fresh gossip???

Lin Qingye kept this big news quiet!

Ahhh, so wonderful to have both son and daughter. Huaibao will be a good brother. Will Lin Qingye become a daughter-doting father!?

Hahahaha, will Wen Liang finally get revenge for his daughter being taken?

@WenZhijing @WenZhijing @WenZhijing @WenZhijing

Every debt has its debtor, suggesting precise targeting, strengthening family bonds!!

The little pink bundle is so cute!!! She’s so beautiful!!!

…

After leaving the stage, the family of four returned to the backstage rest area, with little Huairan holding his sister.

The little pink bundle was named Lin Qingwu.

This name was chosen by Xu Zhinan’s mother, who was formerly a Chinese language teacher. The characters “Qing Wu” were taken from Nalan Rongruo’s “Yu Mei Ren” poem, and the parasol tree (wutong) symbolizes nobility and beauty.

The character “Wu” also corresponds with “Huai.”

Lin Qingye indeed hadn’t planned to have another child, mainly because he was concerned about Xu Zhinan.

But when Lin Huairan was five years old, Xu Zhinan suddenly discovered she was pregnant again, and since Lin Huairan also wanted a sister or brother to play with, they decided to keep the baby.

This time, neither of them was a new parent, so they weren’t as flustered as before when dealing with things.

However, a sister is different from a brother, and there were many more things to worry about.

After the whole concert, Lin Qingye was drenched in sweat. He first went to take a shower and changed into clean clothes. When he came out, he saw Xu Zhinan holding little Wutong and making her laugh.

Although she had given birth to two children, Xu Zhinan showed no difference from before. Her overall state seemed even more youthful.

Lin Qingye was the same. Whenever he got on stage, the teenage feeling from when he was eighteen still clung tightly to him.

He walked over and crouched in front of the mother and daughter, tickling little Wutong under her chin.

Little Wutong could already say “baba” and “mama,” but only knew a few simple words and couldn’t speak a complete sentence fluently yet.

Now being teased by Lin Qingye, she looked at him for a while, obediently called out “baba,” and after another moment, finally smiled with curved eyes.

Lin Qingye smiled: “Like you.”

Xu Zhinan: “Why?”

“Dazed.”

Xu Zhinan hit his arm, “How am I dazed?”

“Are you asking about yourself or little Wutong?”

Xu Zhinan puffed her cheeks: “Neither of us is dazed.”

Lin Qingye played with little Wutong for a while, then Xu Zhinan asked: “Just now on stage, why didn’t you give me any warning? I was startled when the camera swept over.”

Lin Qingye smiled, lifting his chin to kiss Xu Zhinan, who was sitting on the sofa: “Suddenly couldn’t help it, wanted to show off a bit.”

Unexpectedly, Lin Qingwu laughed even more heartily upon seeing them kiss, clapping her hands as if watching a performance.

Lin Qingye raised an eyebrow: “You like seeing this?”

Xu Zhinan: “…”

He hooked Xu Zhinan’s pinky and leaned in again: “Come on, cooperate.”

“…”

Indeed, each time they kissed, Lin Qingwu would laugh.

The little pink bundle already looked soft and delicate, and when she smiled, she looked even more beautiful, like the flowing custard inside a rice ball.

The staff around were still packing up, preparing to finish work, but Lin Qingye, having kissed once, wanted to kiss again. Xu Zhinan was shy and quickly pushed him away.

“Where’s Huairan?” she asked, changing the subject.

“Don’t know, he seemed to have gone out for something earlier.” Lin Huairan was now in the first grade of elementary school, and Lin Qingye had never been strict with his son.

“There must be a lot of people outside now, I hope nothing happens?”

“I had my assistant go with him.”

Just as Lin Qingye finished speaking, Lin Huairan returned, followed by Wen Zhijing.

Because of his relationship with Wen Zhiling, Lin Huairan had also come to know Zhiling’s brother, Wen Zhijing.

As they grew older, the children probably learned about shyness and understood the meaning of boyfriend and girlfriend, so they finally stopped calling each other boyfriend and girlfriend like they did at four years old.

However, Lin Huairan and Wen Zhijing had always gotten along well.

Today, hearing that Wen Zhijing and Chen Die were nearby, Lin Huairan brought him over.

“Your sister didn’t come with you?” Xu Zhinan asked him.

Wen Zhijing: “No, my sister has been practicing piano lately. My dad probably already picked her up from training class and took her home.”

“Piano?” Lin Huairan paused, turning his head to ask.

“Yes, she seems quite interested in it recently, just started practicing not long ago.”

Xu Zhinan smiled: “Huairan also learned a bit of piano before, but he didn’t have much interest in it. It’s been a long time since he played piano.”

Wen Zhijing said: “Playing drums is cooler anyway.”

Xu Zhinan: “Is your mother here?”

“Yes, she’s filming, probably will finish very late. Since school is out and my sister is learning piano, I felt bored, so I went to my mom’s film set to play.”

Xu Zhinan: “We’re going to get something to eat in a bit, would Zhijing like to join us?”

“Sure.”

Everyone left together. It would be too eye-catching for all of them to go eat late-night snacks, so they drove directly to the barbecue restaurant that Shi Si had opened before, which had a private room specially reserved for him.

Little Wutong had seen so many people today and was still not sleeping at this hour, feeling very excited.

She sat in a baby high chair, with Wen Zhijing on one side and Lin Huairan on the other.

Wen Zhijing hadn’t met this little sister many times, so he was quite curious and kept playing with her.

Lin Qingye slightly raised his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the two, frowning slightly, seemingly somewhat displeased.

Just then, Xu Zhinan had prepared the formula, so Lin Qingye got up and took little Wutong out of the high chair, holding her on his lap to feed her.

With several children present, little Wutong got sleepy not long after drinking her milk. The late-night meal didn’t last long before everyone went their separate ways.

After sending Wen Zhijing home, the family of four returned home together.

Because they had another child in little Wutong, their previous space seemed not spacious enough, so they moved to a new house over the years.

Little Wutong was still young, and they had hired two nannies to help take care of her.

Upon arriving home, Lin Qingye handed little Wutong to the nanny, and Huairan also went back to his room to rest.

Although Lin Qingye hadn’t shown it at Shi Si’s barbecue restaurant, Xu Zhinan still noticed that after taking little Wutong back, he never let anyone else touch his precious daughter.

Xu Zhinan couldn’t help but smile: “Why are you always jealous because of little Wutong?”

Lin Qingye had just finished his shower, wearing a loosely tied bathrobe, looking lazy, his eyebrows slightly raised: “Hmm?”

“You were unhappy when Zhijing was playing with her.”

Lin Qingye now viewed every male around little Wutong as a threat: “He has his sister, why does he need to play with my daughter?”

“Because your daughter is pretty, and Zhiling is only a few minutes younger than him. That kind of sister is different.”

“That’s why we need to guard against it.”

Xu Zhinan laughed: “Back then, Huairan upset Zhiling’s dad, and Zhijing and Huairan are the same age, both seven years old already. What thoughts could he have about your daughter?”

Lin Qingye: “Everyone online is saying Wen Zhijing should pursue my daughter.”

“What?”

Lin Qingye picked up the phone from the bedside, opened the comments on the top trending topic, and with just a casual glance could see people expressing similar opinions, which was irritating.

He handed over the phone. Xu Zhinan glanced through it roughly and was stunned.

Not long after #LinQingyeDaughter# started trending, people had already quickly started shipping Wen Zhijing and Lin Qingwu as a couple.

Of course, this was partly because of Lin Qingye’s excessively smug attitude after the incident with Lin Huairan and Wen Zhiling, and his repeated public mockery of Wen Liang.

As a result, people had been looking forward to seeing Lin Qingye’s reaction if he ever had a daughter.

Xu Zhinan scrolled down the comments page and found that some people had even started writing short CP stories…

“…”

Another year-end came.

This year’s end, they celebrated together, with Xu Zhinan’s mother and Lin Qingye’s father both present.

After dinner, with firecrackers continuously sounding outside, the six of them took a family photo together.

Because of the New Year, Xu Zhinan had specially bought matching outfits for the two children, while she and Lin Qingye also wore a couple of outfits.

Since Lin Huairan and Lin Qingwu were born, Xu Zhinan’s mother and Lin Qingye’s father had shifted their focus to them, smiling from ear to ear every time they saw the two children.

After taking photos, Xu Zhinan’s mother and Lin Qingye’s father played with Lin Huairan and Lin Qingwu, while Xu Zhinan and Lin Qingye went out for a walk to aid digestion.

It had snowed in the evening, and now stepping on it felt soft and fluffy.

They left two rows of footprints, one large and one small.

Xu Zhinan held his hand: “Do you remember one New Year’s Day before, when we also wore matching outfits? They were lotus pink.”

Lost in memories of the past, Lin Qingye lowered his eyes and smiled softly: “I remember.”

“Time seems to pass so quickly. Huairan is seven, and little Wutong is already over a year old.”

Lin Qingye’s fingertips gently caressed her palm: “We’re still the same.”

Xu Zhinan turned her head to look at him. Lin Qingye could no longer be called a youth but a man, yet there was always an indispensable youthfulness about him.

He had transformed from an extremely sharp individual to the current state of being both soft and solid.

But in appearance, there indeed seemed to be no change, still the same as before.

Sharp features, deep-set eyes, cold and roguish when not smiling, but if one could touch his true heart, they would find he wasn’t such a cold person.

“Sometimes when I look back at the past, everything I have now feels like a dream,” Lin Qingye said softly.

Xu Zhinan asked: “Why?”

He raised his head slightly, and small snowflakes had started falling from the sky again. After a long while, he lowered his head and smiled, seemingly genuinely curious: “How could so many people love me?”

Xu Zhinan paused, gripping his hand tightly.

“But among all these people, you are the most important,” Lin Qingye said slowly, his voice like the gentlest breeze of a winter night. “Without you, there would be no Lin Qingye of today.”

It had always been her.

From beginning to end, it had been Xu Zhinan.

It was she who said: “Then you should win a championship too.”

It was also she who said when he was at his most inferior and lost: “You are Lin Qingye.”

She was the light, and also the faith.

The two sat on a wooden bench, fingers intertwined, resting on Lin Qingye’s leg.

“Ah Nan,” his voice gentle, softly he said, “perhaps you can never imagine how much I love you.”

His love for Xu Zhinan was different from Xu Zhinan’s love for him.

This love of his originated from the deepest inferiority. No one knew how the former him had silently liked Xu Zhinan, written “Acacia,” chosen Pingchuan University.

Because I love you, I felt inferior.

Also, because I love you, I shattered that inferiority.

Finally, also because I love you, I could radiate brilliance.

Xu Zhinan suddenly stood up and walked forward a few steps.

The yellowed street light dutifully stood by the roadside. It was very quiet around, with the sound of firecrackers in the distance, and the sky was repeatedly illuminated.

She ran under that street light, the light enveloping her, snowflakes breaking through the light beam, falling gently.

She turned around, her hair floating lightly, drawing a beautiful arc. Her eyes concealed stars.

“Qingye-ge,” she called him by a name she hadn’t used in a long time.

Lin Qingye couldn’t take his gaze off her, his Adam’s apple moving slightly. He made a sound of acknowledgment, but didn’t know if any sound actually came out.

In this moment, it was as if they had traversed time and space, with timelines overlapping, returning to that snowy night when he first saw Xu Zhinan at 16 years old.

Yet there were many differences.

For instance, the current Xu Zhinan, she curled her lips in a smile, with two shallow dimples at the corners of her mouth, her clear eyes filled with delight, as if scattering the Milky Way in his heart.

She suddenly raised her arms, wrists pressing down over her head, making a big heart for him.

Xu Zhinan said: “Lin Qingye will forever radiate brilliance!”

Slowly, this scene continued to rewind, merging with that night at 16, replacing the past.

Lin Qingye will forever radiate brilliance.

And you can never imagine how much I love you.

I am willing to live for you, die for you, rally for you.