After Zhao Zhilan learned about Bei Yao’s pregnancy, she was also very happy and volunteered to come take care of Bei Yao.

Knowing Bei Yao had bled, Zhao Zhilan was extremely worried. She had Bei Yao and Pei Chuan sleep separately until the pregnancy was stable. Zhao Zhilan was experienced—she was afraid young people were hot-blooded and couldn’t restrain themselves.

Pei Chuan agreed, but Bei Yao looked rather unhappy.

She had been quite emotional lately, which was also an effect of pregnancy. However, considering the baby, she wouldn’t be willful about such matters.

The Pei family house was very large. When Zhao Zhilan came, each person slept in their own room.

Zhao Zhilan also knew about Bei Yao’s habit of drinking water at night. Now it was best not to drink ice-cold sour plum juice anymore. Zhao Zhilan said, “Just give her plain boiled water.”

When her mother wasn’t paying attention, Bei Yao quietly tugged at Pei Chuan’s sleeve and shook it.

Pei Chuan pressed his lips together without speaking and patted her head.

Pei Chuan and Zhao Zhilan were in cahoots. She sighed and went to sleep in her own room, looking somewhat pitiful.

When evening came, however, she discovered a cup of green apple juice on her bedside table.

Bei Yao had just started her internship. Suddenly pregnant, she naturally couldn’t continue going to the hospital. But Pei Chuan’s work had reached a critical period. His applications to take care of his wife had been rejected several times.

That research was the life’s work of several generations. Pei Chuan frowned, his expression somber.

Instead, Zhao Zhilan consoled him. “You work properly. I’ll take care of Yaoyao. I have experience—don’t worry.”

Bei Yao knew Pei Chuan was doing something very good. She also encouraged Pei Chuan to continue his research.

Even so, Pei Chuan still insisted on coming home every day. No matter how late, he would return to be with Bei Yao.

One day, Zhao Zhilan pushed open the door to check on Bei Yao and found the bed empty. Zhao Zhilan was startled, but later saw her daughter sleeping in Pei Chuan’s arms. The two leaned together quietly, with Pei Chuan very carefully encircling her.

Zhao Zhilan sighed in her heart and stopped mentioning having them sleep in separate rooms.

When Bei Yao had her first progesterone test, there was some not-so-good news.

Pei Chuan knew that doctor. Pei Chuan frowned and shook his head lightly.

The doctor swallowed the words in his throat and instead smiled at Bei Yao. “The baby is very healthy.”

That night, Pei Chuan couldn’t sleep. He held the girl in his arms, suffering from insomnia. After becoming pregnant, she’d been very well-behaved and didn’t have particularly severe pregnancy reactions. Only occasionally at night would her calves cramp, and Pei Chuan would get up to massage them for her.

However, Bei Yao’s progesterone levels were low, which meant it was unfavorable for fetal growth and development.

Pei Chuan gently brushed the hair from her cheek, feeling somewhat distressed.

Her lower abdomen hadn’t yet protruded. Her sleeping face was serene and beautiful.

Pei Chuan hadn’t believed in karma this year, but from that day on, while helping Bei Yao regulate her body, he also began donating money under various names.

Many “Wish” elementary schools were established. Countless children without books could be sponsored to study. Children’s medical institutions and orphanages also received donations.

Zhao Zhilan noticed something was wrong. Pei Chuan didn’t hide it from her and told her the child might not be healthy.

Zhao Zhilan’s heart was worried and distressed. After a long while, she said, “Still keep it from her. Otherwise, being unhappy during pregnancy will have an even worse effect.”

Pei Chuan acknowledged this. He calmly handled everything.

Arranging things with the hospital, learning emergency aid knowledge, knowledge about regulating the body.

Later, Bei Yao’s stomach grew larger. She felt she’d gotten so much fatter and was very unhappy.

Her slender waist was gone, and her legs were somewhat swollen too.

She wrapped herself in a blanket and refused to drink fish soup. “I’ve had it so many times today. I don’t want to drink anymore. I’m about to vomit from drinking it.”

Zhao Zhilan glared at her. “How old are you, and you’re still carrying one in your belly? What are you fussing about?”

Bei Yao felt the one in her belly probably didn’t like fish soup either.

By this time, it was late spring and early summer of 2015. Pei Chuan had just returned home when he saw Zhao Zhilan pulling Bei Yao’s blanket.

He set down his materials and frowned imperceptibly.

“Mom, let me persuade her to drink it.”

Zhao Zhilan said, “All right then.”

After Zhao Zhilan left, Pei Chuan closed the door. He gently touched the bundle under the blanket. She cautiously poked out a face. She really had gotten a bit fatter, but had become even more adorable.

“Has my mom left?”

Pei Chuan smiled. “Mm. It’s stuffy under the blanket. Don’t cover yourself.”

Bei Yao got up and dejectedly hugged his neck. “I’m about to vomit from the fish soup. I don’t want to drink it.”

He naturally held her in his arms. Some things could be indulged, but regarding matters of health, Pei Chuan wouldn’t comply with her wishes. However, he wasn’t Zhao Zhilan and wouldn’t force her to drink. Pei Chuan knew she disliked that she’d gotten much fatter now.

However, those legs were still fair and beautiful. The girl was soft all over—holding her was even more comfortable.

He smiled. “You’re not fat.”

She wore her dress loosely. Pei Chuan lowered his head and looked with a low laugh at the place that had truly “gotten fatter.” “Yaoyao is even more fragrant, fair and adorable.”

She had a faint milky fragrance. Bei Yao could sometimes smell it herself. She was praised into shyness, her eyes brimming with moisture.

Pei Chuan said, “How about I feed you?”

In the end, Bei Yao still drank that bowl of soup.

Zhao Zhilan sometimes felt both amused and exasperated, yet also somewhat touched. She prided herself on loving her daughter too, but was far from having Pei Chuan’s endless patience.

Zhao Zhilan knew Pei Chuan was under quite a lot of pressure. The matter with the child—he hadn’t told Bei Yao even by this summer.

The doctor had advised at the time, saying this child might not be carried to term. After several examinations, the child’s development was too slow. However, Pei Chuan remained silent. Watching Bei Yao’s joyful and expectant appearance every day, he searched everywhere for ways to care for and coax her.

Pei Chuan made many efforts. The child was also resilient, staying obediently in his mother’s belly until May.

However, the frail child was ultimately born a month earlier than the due date.

*

The day Bei Yao gave birth, the whole family waited outside the delivery room with extraordinary anxiety.

Bei Jun had also come. He already showed the outline of a teenager.

Bei Licai paced back and forth. Zhao Zhilan knew what the situation was and anxiously stamped her feet.

Bei Jun looked toward Pei Chuan.

He stood by the window, looking at the countless lights illuminating the pitch-black sky. His whole person was silent and quiet, as if melting into the night. No one knew what he was thinking.

Bei Jun didn’t know why, but felt Pei Chuan’s heart was the most suppressed and worried.

Bei Jun said, “Brother-in-law, don’t worry. Sister and the baby will definitely be fine.”

Pei Chuan turned to look at him and responded in a low voice.

At three in the morning, the doctor from the delivery room finally came out.

Pei Chuan walked over. The doctor removed his mask, not knowing how to deliver this not-so-good news. “The baby is too small, just over four pounds. His respiratory tract isn’t smooth either. Possibly…”

He didn’t continue with the rest.

However, everyone understood. Zhao Zhilan’s eyes instantly filled with tears. The child wouldn’t survive.

The night was calm and quiet. Pei Chuan asked hoarsely, “My wife is all right, isn’t she?”

“She’s very well. She was too tired and is resting.”

Pei Chuan went to see Bei Yao. She had already fallen asleep. The air was filled with a faint fishy smell. Pei Chuan gently kissed her forehead. “Baby, you worked hard.”

Her eyes were closed, her features showing three parts sweet tenderness.

A young nurse said, “Would you like to see the baby?”

Pei Chuan paused. “Mm.”

It was a boy.

Very, very small. Pei Chuan felt he wasn’t much bigger than his own palm.

Zhao Zhilan couldn’t bear to come look. Everyone thought he wouldn’t survive.

The baby lay in the infant incubator. Each breath made his tiny chest rise and fall with great difficulty. How fragile was the power of life.

Pei Chuan watched and watched, his eyes turning red.

He gently helped the baby regulate his breathing.

The doctor accompanying him felt somewhat unable to bear it but didn’t speak up to stop this futile behavior.

The child was too small and too fragile. The doctor sighed and left.

In the city’s most tranquil moment, Pei Chuan listened to the child’s labored breathing and gently touched his rosy, tender little hand.

“When Dad was four years old,” Pei Chuan said in a low voice, “he also thought he couldn’t survive. But son, life is very tenacious. You must be strong.”

That pink and tender little fist lightly touched the man’s finger.

Pei Chuan’s eyes suddenly filled with tears.

*

Pei Chuan had once stayed by the infant incubator with little Pei Ling for three days and four nights.

The baby everyone thought wouldn’t survive became the great demon king of kindergarten at age four.

The great demon king baby Pei Ling was lawless but was uniquely afraid of his father when his face was cold.

When his father was angry, it showed no emotion, but after a couple of days, little Pei Ling would always receive a big lesson.

Little friend Pei Ling was especially popular in kindergarten. He was cute-looking, even more delicate than Pei Chuan had been as a child, and also wore little shirts. Little Pei Ling’s combat power was off the charts. One moment he’d break the sofa at home, the next he’d make a hole in the kindergarten slide.

The day before kindergarten vacation, Pei Chuan received a call from the kindergarten teacher and came to pick up the great demon king while holding his daughter.

The great demon king remained impenitent, still arguing in his baby voice. “It fell down and broke itself. It wasn’t me.”

When Pei Chuan came in holding the little princess, the four-year-old great demon king immediately fell silent.

Pei Nian blinked her big eyes at her brother’s disheveled appearance and giggled.

In the end, Pei Ling sheepishly apologized.

Two-year-old little Niannian was eating a lollipop. Pei Chuan held the little princess in one hand and gripped his son’s collar with the other, walking toward the car.

Pei Ling looked up at his sister. “Silly Nian, get down and walk.”

Niannian was close to her brother and obediently got down to walk with him.

Pei Ling quickly grasped her chubby little hand and told her with a grin how cool he’d been in kindergarten just now.

The little princess didn’t understand. Pei Chuan, however, gave him a look.

The great demon king, little friend Pei Ling, didn’t sense the deadly gaze. The two little friends huffed and puffed as they climbed into the car together. When getting out, little Niannian’s hair was stuck with the lollipop, her expression extremely innocent.

Pei Ling made a face with his mouth twisted.

Pei Chuan’s eyebrows moved slightly. He took his daughter’s hair tie from his pocket, tied up her soft hair, and wiped her mouth. Niannian looked more like Bei Yao, with clear almond eyes looking at her father.

Pei Ling had already run far away in a flash.

Bei Yao was cooking.

Tomorrow they would return to City B for the New Year. Pei Ling hugged his mother’s calf.

Bei Yao affectionately tapped his forehead. “Go wash your hands when you get home, little troublemaker. Shame on you—the teacher complained again.”

She didn’t know how her son could be so energetic. He practically wanted to tear down the house.

Pei Chuan didn’t know how much money he’d compensated for the great demon king. Little Pei Ling was so mischievous he showed no sign at all of being born with deficiencies.

The night before going home, the two little friends each returned to their children’s rooms to sleep.

Bei Yao pondered. “Does Xiao Ling have ADHD? He never stops making a fuss all day.”

Pei Chuan said, “He’s smart. His IQ is very high.”

Bei Yao said in surprise, “Really?”

Pei Chuan was silent for a moment. “Mm. I was also somewhat precocious as a child. He understands many things, like not letting me hold Niannian.”

“Isn’t he just jealous?”

Pei Chuan said in a low voice, “He knows I don’t have lower legs.” Although their little princess wasn’t heavy, for Pei Chuan, holding her for a long time was still a burden. The great demon king had never let his father hold him from a young age, and later didn’t let Niannian cling to their father’s embrace either.

Bei Yao’s eyes widened. Pei Chuan had already lowered his eyes, not knowing what he was thinking.

Bei Yao kissed the corner of his mouth. “Don’t overthink. In your son’s heart, you’re a great hero.”

Pei Chuan smiled slightly and said nothing.

*

When their family returned to City C, the snow in City C wasn’t heavy this winter.

They hadn’t sold the old neighborhood house. Sometimes, one’s hometown meant roots that were difficult to forget for a lifetime.

Many things had happened this year. Fang Mingjun had married Chen Yingqi the year before last and had also become pregnant at the beginning of this year. Bei Yao happily bought many things for Minmin. Then there was also Bai Yutong. It was said she’d always wanted to marry a wealthy man, but lost both the lady and the soldiers. The man had kept her as a mistress before, but this year, as soon as the New Year passed, he kicked her out.

Cao Li had taken up with an old man who had a decent pension. That man smoked, drank, and gambled. Their days were also chaotic.

Cao Li had no mind to care for Pei Jiadong and sent the child back to Pei Haobin’s side again.

Pei Haobin had grown old. This year he was only fifty, but his hair had already turned completely white. He didn’t like to smile either and enjoyed reminiscing about the past.

When Bei Yao saw Pei Jiadong again, this child was thin and bony. His clothes were also very dirty, and his pair of black eyes were very silent.

He really looked rather wretched. Seeing him, you knew Pei Haobin’s days weren’t good either.

Pei Jiadong opened his mouth, not knowing what to call her, and glanced at Pei Chuan.

Pei Chuan was also looking at him. Bei Yao gave Pei Jiadong a red envelope. “Happy New Year. It’s cold outside. Go home.”

Pei Jiadong wiped his red-rimmed eyes, gritted his teeth, and ran home.

Pei Chuan was noncommittal. After the New Year, he sent them, father and son, a small amount of money, at least enough so Pei Jiadong wouldn’t be so cold in winter anymore.

That “big brother” from back then seemed to still echo in his ears. Day by day watching their great demon king grow up, Pei Chuan felt his heart wasn’t as hard as it once had been.

In early spring, it rained.

Before returning, Pei Chuan asked Bei Yao, “Do you want to go see our old kindergarten?”

“Sure! Is that place still there?”

“Mm. I didn’t let anyone touch it.” He had later bought this plot of land. Over these many years, he’d had people clean it. Surprisingly, it still vaguely resembled how it used to be.

The sign for “Evergreen Kindergarten” no longer showed its original characters. The several ailanthus trees at the entrance had grown old but had become even taller. The several plum trees in the kindergarten yard still bloomed every year. The equipment here was simple. It didn’t have any of the equipment modern kindergartens had.

The two seesaws made of wooden planks had also gradually been eroded and rotted by wind, frost, rain, and water. In the yard, you could still make out how they’d looked back then.

Bei Yao pushed open the door. Spring sunshine illuminated the kindergarten.

In a trance, she could still see among that group of tender children from back then, that silent, difficult-to-approach little boy, sitting alone in a wheelchair, his eyes both lonely and cold.

Bei Yao felt somewhat nostalgic.

“I remember at that time, I gave you a very beautiful lotus flower. Do you still remember?”

Pei Chuan laughed softly. “Mm. At the time, I thought, this idiot is really stupid. Who likes lotus flowers?”

The afternoon sunlight slanted in. He said, “Now looking back, the little idiot’s lotus flowers, paper airplanes, and cartoon drawings actually gave me a childhood.”

Bei Yao asked smugly, “Of course.” She blinked, looking like she was seeking praise.

Pei Chuan laughed helplessly. Finally, he said in a low voice, “Meeting you was truly wonderful.”

*

Pei Chuan said their great demon king was smart and precocious. Bei Yao hadn’t taken it seriously at first.

After all, little Pei Ling was too troublesome. He was like a walking excavator, wanting to dig a hole wherever he went.

When little Niannian was in kindergarten and Pei Ling was in first grade, the six-year-old great demon king came home with injuries on his face for the first time.

Niannian said, “Big brother got in a fight.”

Not only that, after fighting, he’d fiercely threatened Niannian not to tell, and now he was sulking in his room.

Bei Yao said, “Why did big brother fight?”

Niannian said, “Big brother wouldn’t let me say.”

Bei Yao pinched her pink and tender little face. “Not even to Mommy?”

Niannian hesitated. “Mommy can know.”

Niannian was actually also very curious. She said, “In big brother’s class, someone said Daddy was disabled, so big brother fought with him. Mommy, what does disabled mean?”

Pei Chuan pressed his lips together and turned his head away.

Bei Yao’s eyes stung. Looking at her daughter’s innocent eyes, she said, “They’re talking nonsense, baby. When people are born, they’re given gifts and blessings by the gods to make them whole and happy. But the gods were too busy, so some people didn’t receive gifts and blessings. They have a harder time than others.”

“Daddy didn’t get blessings and gifts?”

“That’s right.”

Niannian said sadly yet seriously, “Niannian will share her gift with Daddy.”

Pei Chuan rubbed her little head and gently curved his lips.

At night, the great demon king would kick off his blanket. Pei Chuan would get up several times to cover him.

But when he went over tonight, the great demon king Pei Ling’s little moon lamp was still on.

Under the faint light, two little bundles were whispering in each other’s ears.

The great demon king angrily pinched his sister’s face. “You big mouth, I told you not to tell.”

Four-year-old Niannian said aggrievedly, “But I wanted to know what disabled means.”

The room fell quiet for an instant.

Pei Chuan felt that for a moment, he returned to that night in his youth when Pei Haobin and Jiang Wenjuan fought. He’d been separated from them by a door, hearing them say those words that had been difficult to forget for many years.

Tonight the entire city was silent. Outside, a bright moon hung.

Inside, two tiny children huddled together.

Pei Chuan heard their choice.

The great demon king seriously told his sister, each word firm and resolute: “Niannian, Daddy was just injured. He will always be the most remarkable, strongest great hero in the world.”

The night breeze of June was incomparably warm.

Pei Chuan closed the door, understanding for the first time that all the world’s beauty had completely fallen into his palms.

——【END】