"Mom, you should go home and get some rest. You’ve been watching all day yesterday."

The voice came from the doorway, making An Yuanyao, who was leaning against the headboard, and Su Yan, who was peeling an apple, both look toward the door.

Liu Changqing walked in.

Realizing who it was, Su Yan nodded and said,

"I’ll head back once I finish peeling this apple. Do I need to pick up Xiazhi from school today?"

"No need, my friend will bring her back."

"Alright."

After finishing the apple, Su Yan reminded Liu Changqing to slice it up, then packed up briefly and left.

As the sound of the door closing echoed, Liu Changqing sat down where Su Yan had just been sitting.

He asked,

"Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

"No."

"Good."

Hearing his wife’s answer, Liu Changqing clearly looked relieved. He glanced out the window, then suddenly remembered something.

He turned to look at An Yuanyao.

"Have we decided on names for our son and daughter?"

Yes.

One boy and one girl.

Liu Changqing had thought months ago that it wasn’t necessary to know the babies' genders, but that thought didn’t last long.

In the end, he couldn’t resist. Initially, he didn’t ask partly because he didn’t have a preference for boys over girls, and partly because he was worried An Yuanyao would overthink it.

After all, ever since getting pregnant, she had been prone to letting her imagination run wild.

Then, when he heard the doctor say it was a pair of twins—a boy and a girl—Liu Changqing was completely stunned.

So he really was that awesome!

Not only two, but one of each.

Saying he was excited doesn’t even begin to describe Liu Changqing’s emotions at that moment.

All he remembered was standing at the door in shock for a good ten minutes before rushing over to share the joy with An Yuanyao.

Of course, with time, he wasn’t as overwhelmed as he had been when he first found out. After all, he was a man who had seen his fair share of ups and downs.

Hearing her husband’s question, An Yuanyao nodded at him.

"Yeah, the boy will be called Liu Zhi’an, and the girl will be Liu Chunnuan. What do you think?"

"I can understand the boy's name, but… isn't Liu Chunnuan a bit too cheesy?"

"Nope."

Shaking her head, An Yuanyao explained to Liu Changqing.

"Xiazhi’s name is Xiazhi—‘Summer Solstice.’ When I was thinking of names, I thought ‘Chunnuan’—‘Spring Warmth’—sounded nice. The character ‘chun’ means a beautiful beginning, happiness, and prosperity. ‘Nuan’ means warmth, and together they imply gentleness... Plus, read it out loud carefully."

As she spoke, An Yuanyao pronounced it clearly.

"liú chūn nuǎn—rising tone, level tone, falling-rising tone. Doesn’t that sound poetic to you?"

"Poetic?"

Liu Changqing repeated the word, then muttered,

"Sounds like that online name you came up with... What was it again... Jun Zui Xiang Si?"

"Oh come on! Don’t bring that up!"

Hearing her husband mention that username, An Yuanyao immediately felt embarrassed and waved her hands around, trying to cover his mouth.

Seeing his wife act like this, Liu Changqing quickly supported her.

A bit nervous, he said,

"Be careful, you’ve got two little hostages in there!"

"Then stop bringing it up!"

"Alright, alright, I won’t mention it..."

"That was my first time picking an online name. Of course it was a bit weird... And I already changed it ages ago."

"The new one isn’t much better... Seriously, why give me such a weird username? Are you eighteen?"

"It’s not weird, is it?"

An Yuanyao questioned and added,

"Your username is ‘Kid’s Dad’ and mine is ‘Kid’s Mom’... that’s totally normal, right?"

"Yeah right... Ever since I started using that name, I’ve been tempted to delete my account."

"You’re not allowed to!"

"I’m just saying... I wasn’t really gonna."

"You’d better not ever change it!"

"Okay... you win. Here, have a bite of apple."

Giving in helplessly, Liu Changqing picked up the apple Su Yan had left in the fruit plate and held it near An Yuanyao’s mouth.

Seeing what he was doing, An Yuanyao took a small bite.

Then she shook her head.

"Not good."

"You’re getting pickier and pickier. What a waste."

Seeing his wife take a tiny bite and then reject it, Liu Changqing commented, then started eating the apple himself.

He took a big bite and started chewing.

After savoring it for a while, he realized—

It really wasn’t great…

Who sent this apple? They clearly didn’t put in any effort picking it!

Seeing Liu Changqing stop chewing, An Yuanyao giggled.

After swallowing what was in his mouth, Liu Changqing tossed the rest of the apple into the trash can.

He pulled out a napkin and wiped his hands.

"The weather’s pretty nice today. Want to go for a walk?"

"Mm, I want to sit under the tree for a while. It’s too stuffy in here."

"Alright, I’ll help you out of bed."

Getting up from the chair, Liu Changqing moved very carefully. Once everything was ready, he supported her step by step out of the room.

The environment at this hospital was excellent. Of course, the cost wasn’t low either. But money was no longer a big concern for Liu Changqing.

With the accumulation of wealth, his mindset had changed. If he used to think wearing a watch worth a few thousand was impressive, now wearing one worth hundreds of thousands barely fazed him.

Humans are never satisfied. Now Liu Changqing wanted to buy an even better one. Not just for himself—he also wanted to buy one for his wife.

The sun was harsh.

But the shade under the tree felt very pleasant.

Liu Changqing helped An Yuanyao over to the spot and they sat down.

Side by side.

He let out a long breath.

Liu Changqing looked up at the green leaves overhead, then turned his gaze to An Yuanyao’s belly.

He opened his mouth, speaking as if to the unborn children, almost to himself.

"You two stop messing around in there with your mom. Come out already..."

"They can’t hear you. Doesn’t matter how much you say~"

Hearing her husband, An Yuanyao couldn’t help teasing him.

The sunlight.

The tree.

The bench.

A family of four.

It was like a beautiful painting.

Frozen in time.

Night… fell.

Early morning.

03:21

Liu Changqing was deep in sleep.

He had a very strange dream.

In the dream, the sleeping An Yuanyao suddenly called out to him.

"Honey, my water just broke!"

It felt so real.

Like... she really was about to give birth.

Until a scream woke him up. Before his eyes even opened, Liu Changqing’s ears were already hit by An Yuanyao’s voice.

"Honey, m-my water broke! I can’t take it—I’m going into labor!"

"……"

His eyes flew open, and Liu Changqing shot upright.

He turned and looked at An Yuanyao, who was lying on the bed, clutching her belly and struggling.

His eyes went blank for a moment.

"Holy sh*t, it wasn’t a dream!!"