Having a baby in the house worried Luke. After Shang Zhitao discovered she was pregnant, Luke suddenly stopped jumping up to welcome her. He became very gentle. Shang Zhitao would ask him: “Why don’t you jump anymore?”

Luke would whine with a drawn-out sound: “Can’t jump! Might hurt mommy!”

When little Nian Tao came home for the first time, as soon as the baby carrier was set down, Luke ran over to sniff it inside and out. He was a bit confused, wondering why such a tiny thing had come into their home. In his mind, little Nian Tao was also a little dog, just one that looked different from him. He even regarded Nian Tao as his child.

Because Nian Tao was so small and Luke shed a lot of fur, everyone temporarily prohibited Luke from entering Shang Zhitao’s bedroom. Luke was very obedient, staying guard at the door, watching over his baby. Every time Nian Tao opened her eyes, moved her little hand, or made cooing sounds, Luke would immediately stand up anxiously and turn in circles on the floor. At first, no one understood what Luke was doing, but later they realized: Oh, Luke’s baby was awake!

Luan Nian, afraid that Luke might feel left out, would make food for him in the kitchen at night after little Nian Tao and Shang Zhitao had fallen asleep. Luke would sit there waiting for him, just like before, with his tongue out.

Luan Nian would make delicious food for him and sometimes turn to look at him: “You’re an old dog now.”

“Are your teeth still good?”

Luke would bark softly once: “Yes!”

Luan Nian would pat his head: “Such a show-off.”

Luke would jump up, placing his paw on Luan Nian’s hand to play with him for a while. If he heard any movement from the bedroom, he would run to the door and poke his head in to see what was happening inside. His gaze was very vigilant, as if saying: You won’t hurt my baby, will you?

Shang Zhitao received many friends during her postpartum confinement period.

Sun Yu came on the day Shang Zhitao was discharged from the hospital. She took five days of annual leave and refused to leave, no matter how Shang Zhitao tried to send her away.

Not only did she refuse to leave, but she also competed with Luan Nian to take care of Shang Zhitao.

Luan Nian certainly wasn’t pleased. The two of them argued in the kitchen: “You can’t even take care of yourself,” Luan Nian mocked her.

“When Taotao was in Beijing, I was the one taking care of her. You weren’t much use back then,” Sun Yu refused to back down.

“…Is your company about to go bankrupt? Why are you hanging around here and not leaving?”

“No, business is so good that it can run without me.”

The two couldn’t determine a winner in their argument. Sun Yu simply said: “Little Nian Tao seems to be waking up. You cook the meal.”

Luan Nian didn’t say anything, turned around and left the kitchen to her, going to check on Nian Tao himself.

Little Nian Tao wasn’t awake.

She seemed to be having a sweet dream; the corner of her mouth lifted slightly, looking exactly like Luan Nian when he smiled. Shang Zhitao glanced at him and pouted.

Luan Nian couldn’t hide his pride. Initially, out of consideration for Shang Zhitao’s feelings, he would say: “Her ears look like yours.” Later, he simply stopped pretending. If anyone said the child didn’t resemble him in some way, he would ask them to look again.

“Look again? I think you’re wrong.”

Once when Dr. Liang saw him acting this way, she winked at Shang Zhitao and quietly said to her: “She looks exactly like her father. As if it’s so great that the child resembles him. Let’s hope little Nian Tao doesn’t inherit his temperament—stubborn, bad-tempered, not talkative, and starting fights by the age of three or four. Nian Tao’s temperament and personality should be like yours.”

“Can you tell what her temperament is like now?”

“I knew Luan Nian had a bad temper before he was even a month old.” She told the story of how Luan Nian almost cried himself breathless because he was fed too slowly. Shang Zhitao thought carefully and realized that little Nian Tao had never behaved this way. Little Nian Tao was very well-behaved; she ate and then slept, and when she woke up, she would open her eyes and quietly listen if you talked to her.

Sometimes when she was hungry or needed changing, she would cry a little, but as soon as someone came, she would immediately stop crying.

Whenever Sun Yu saw how well-behaved Nian Tao was, she would say to Luan Nian: “What have you done to deserve such a daughter?”

“Jealous? Have your own,” Luan Nian retorted, picking up Nian Tao to play with her.

Little Nian Tao wasn’t shy at all. When his many uncles and aunts came to visit, they filled the house. Everyone toured around looking at little Nian Tao as if examining a rare treasure, saying: “Her expression looks like her mother’s.” No one mentioned how much she resembled Luan Nian.

Luan Nian was certainly not satisfied with this. He said to Chen Kuannian: “Look again, or maybe change your glasses?”

“Looking again… her eyes also look like her mother’s.”

Everyone burst into laughter.

Lin Chuner and Xiao Mei sat by Shang Zhitao’s bed chatting with her. Finding the men in the way, they drove them out and closed the door.

Luan Nian shrugged and led them to sit on the balcony.

The sunset outside was beautiful.

The men stood quietly by the window for a while. Tan Mian took out his phone to check the calendar, then said: “We haven’t gone out together for two years. By the time we go out again, we’ll probably be old and decrepit.”

“That can’t be,” Song Qiuhan said. “When little Nian Tao is older, we can all go out together as families. That will be fun in a different way.”

“And I’ll be alone?” Tan Mian glared at Song Qiuhan.

Everyone laughed.

In their twenties, they played together without constraints or attachments; in their early thirties, their life paths stretched in different directions, each busy with occasional gatherings; approaching forty, getting together became difficult.

Life is full of unpredictable changes.

Fortunately, these friends hadn’t drifted apart. When your life changes, they show up when they say they will.

“Shall we have a drink tonight?” Song Qiuhan suggested.

“Sure.” Luan Nian hadn’t had alcohol for a long time, but today he felt it would be hard to pass up a drink with friends.

“What do you want to eat?”

“Let’s eat at home. It’s lively. Anything will do. Hot pot? It’s convenient.”

“Good.”

Luan Nian had privately stored more than a dozen bottles of sauce-aroma white liquor. When Shang Zhitao asked why he hoarded so many, he said they were for little Nian Tao’s dowry. Today, being happy, he brought out a few bottles from little Nian Tao’s dowry.

“What else have you collected in your home?” Chen Kuannian asked curiously. He was at it again, ready to rummage through other people’s belongings to sell off.

“Does Xuan’s paper count?”

“?”

“Shang Zhitao bought twenty sets of Xuan paper many years ago.”

“She had such good foresight?”

“Mmhmm.”

Hearing the noise outside, Lin Chuner came out to stop them: “Little Nian Tao is sleeping. No loud noises allowed!” Seeing Song Qiuhan setting out liquor, she asked: “Are we drinking today?”

“Yes. Want to join?” Song Qiuhan asked her.

“Yes!”

She also enjoyed lively gatherings.

Shang Zhitao couldn’t drink alcohol, but she liked the festive atmosphere too. At mealtime, she grimaced as she got out of bed.

The group sitting together was particularly happy.

Shang Zhitao’s round face, smiling brightly, looked especially adorable. Concerned that she might not be comfortable, Luan Nian placed a soft cushion under her, and when toasting, he poured her warm water.

The elderly had instructed Luan Nian not to give Shang Zhitao any raw, cold, or hard foods, so they watched her as she ate.

Everyone looked at Luan Nian and felt he had become a different person.

Before, they never imagined that in this lifetime they would have the opportunity to see Luan Nian transform into such a person. Except that his mouth was still as sharp as ever.

These gatherings were rare, so everyone was very happy.

No one drank much, but they drank for a long time. They continued until late at night before calling it quits.

After the clamor subsided, the house was once again left with just three people and a dog.

Luan Nian finished tidying everything and returned to bed. Seeing Shang Zhitao still awake, he asked her: “Why aren’t you sleeping?”

“Not tired.”

“Then come here.” Luan Nian drew her into his arms and played with her hair. Shang Zhitao’s hair had become thicker during pregnancy. Now when he grabbed it, it was a thick handful. It had good elasticity; when released, it would bounce a bit, looking very nice. Luan Nian played with her hair.

“Feeling better today?” Luan Nian was asking about her episiotomy wound. The first time he saw Shang Zhitao get out of bed and walk, he was incredibly distressed.

“A little better.” Shang Zhitao held his hand. “Aren’t you going back for a meeting in a few days?”

“I’ll go and return on the same day.”

“No. You should just go. Don’t travel back and forth on the same day. It’s too tiring.”

“It’s not tiring. I’m worried about the three of you. The company doesn’t care where I am, as long as I’m working. Tracy has already discussed it with me. In the future, I just need to be in the office one or two workdays each week.”

“Such a worrywart,” Shang Zhitao teased him, imitating his tone.

Luan Nian pretended not to hear.

He now excelled at playing deaf and mute; otherwise, he feared he might say something irritating and make Shang Zhitao cry. The elders had repeatedly cautioned that crying during the postpartum confinement could lead to long-term health issues. How could Luan Nian believe this? He held his tongue simply because he felt sorry for Shang Zhitao’s suffering and couldn’t bear to upset her.

After a while, Luan Nian said to her: “I’m thinking of buying a larger house in Ice City.”

“Oh? How large?”

“Maybe over 300 square meters, with a garden?”

“?” Shang Zhitao sat up. “Are we that rich?”

Luan Nian raised his eyebrows without speaking. He had withdrawn several sums from the stock market and didn’t know what to do with them. During today’s gathering with friends, he suddenly had the idea to buy a large house in Ice City. He wanted to create a princess room for little Nian Tao.

“Children shouldn’t be spoiled like this,” Shang Zhitao disagreed. “She’ll develop bad habits. Isn’t this house big enough?”

“If I don’t spoil my daughter, who should I spoil?”

“No one should be spoiled.”

Luan Nian wanted to snap at her, but held back the words on the tip of his tongue. After a while, he said: “Don’t listen to those misconceptions.”

“What misconceptions?”

“The misconception that you shouldn’t tell children about good family circumstances.”

“…”

“Good family circumstances are good; not good is not good. If you hide and conceal things from children when they’re young, aren’t you teaching them to lie?”

“Besides, you always say Luke is the dog you raised. Don’t you understand your dog? Your dog prefers wealth to poverty!”

“So, I want to buy a house.”

Luan Nian pinched Shang Zhitao’s face. “You have no grounds to stop me.”

Luan Nian spoke sentence after sentence, leaving Shang Zhitao unable to react. The next day, she slept late. When she opened her eyes and found Luan Nian absent, she asked Da Zhai: “Where’s your beloved son-in-law?”

“Gone out.”

“Where to?”

“Don’t know.”

Luan Nian didn’t return until the afternoon, holding a deposit receipt: “I’ve put a deposit on the house. Now you don’t have the option of whether to buy or not; you only have the choice of buying this one or changing to another. Otherwise, the deposit will be wasted.”

Shang Zhitao angrily swung her fist at his chest, but he caught her wrist. “Don’t make trouble.” His lips pressed against her forehead. “I want you all to live more comfortably. Besides, the new house is closer to the airport, which will save me a lot of travel time.”

“We can’t spoil her like this in the future. I’m serious.”

Luan Nian snorted without engaging, his mind firmly made up. He thought: My daughter, my decision. In this house, you can only manage yourself.

By the time little Nian Tao was a month old, she had become a very beautiful baby girl.

Shang Zhitao had bought many cute little clothes, sterilized them, and on the day of the full-moon celebration, carefully dressed little Nian Tao. Luan Nian held the camera, personally taking the full-month photos for little Nian Tao. He never imagined that his superior photography skills would ultimately be used to take full-month photos.

Nian Tao was very sleepy that day. No matter how they positioned her, she kept her eyes closed and slept. She had the attitude of “regardless of the turmoil outside, my world remains steady.” After two hours of effort with the child still not waking, they both grew a bit tired and slumped onto the living room sofa. They looked at each other and laughed.

Shang Zhitao squinted like a cat. Having not gone out for over a month, she looked increasingly fair-skinned. The sunlight on her face gave her a translucent quality. With her smile lingering, she appeared even more charming.

Luan Nian felt a strong urge. He leaned forward, looking down at her from above, his hands supporting him on either side of the sofa. Shang Zhitao’s eyes danced with light as she slightly raised her chin to touch his lips, once, then again.

Luan Nian’s body sank slightly as he sought her lips, pressing her against the sofa.

How long had it been since they had kissed like this? He couldn’t remember. During her pregnancy, she had teased him once. After provoking him too much, he had stormed out, slamming the door, and she never dared to do it again.

Luan Nian kissed her passionately and roughly, just as he had before.

Shang Zhitao breathed slightly heavily, offering her tongue for him to do as he pleased. Luan Nian was about to go mad. Before his rationality completely disappeared, he pulled away, leaning against the other side of the sofa, catching his breath. His palm brushed across his lips, his deep eyes falling on Shang Zhitao’s chest, his expression carrying a hint of ferocity.

“Luan Nian.”

“Hmm?”

“In a few days, will you help me with postpartum recovery?”

“We’ll see what the doctor says after your postpartum check-up.”

“Okay.”

Shang Zhitao’s toes moved slowly on his leg. Luan Nian grasped her ankle: “Don’t be presumptuous.”

“Oh.”