When ZuoZuo and YouYou were three and a half years old, not only did Zhōu Shíyì’s illusion about the twins completely shatter, but even their parents and grandparents couldn’t hold on anymore.
Those two kids—born from heaven—almost took half their lives away.
After Zhong Zhuóhuá wrapped up her new drama, she spent three consecutive days taking care of the kids. Once they fell asleep, she was so exhausted she didn’t even want to speak.
Filming several nights in a row hadn’t worn her out as much as these two energetic children.
Jiāng Jìngyuān massaged his wife’s waist to help her relax. “Take a day off tomorrow.”
They had a childcare team at home, so they didn’t need to constantly look after the children themselves.
Zhong Zhuóhuá said, “I can still manage for now.”
She suddenly missed when her daughter was little—though she loved sweets and disliked drawing, she wasn’t nearly as mischievous as ZuoZuo and YouYou.
Those two kids—born from heaven—left her utterly drained, aching from head to toe, with a pounding headache.
Now, all she hoped was that Zhōu Yúnlián would retire soon so she and Jiāng Jìngyuān could find a quiet place to vacation peacefully.
“Didn’t Zhōu Yúnlián say he’d retire after five years of running the group? It’s been five years already. When is he retiring?”
Jiāng Jìngyuān replied, “He’s not planning to retire. He said he can work a few more years.”
He would rather be annoyed by the younger generation at home than take care of grandchildren.
When the twin grandsons were born, Zhōu Yúnlián wanted to announce it to the whole world. But as the boys grew up, when others asked about them, all he could do was offer a bitter smile.
Shí Fànyīn hadn’t been home much lately. She was suffering from severe headaches and had gone to the seaside to recuperate.
On Friday evening, ZuoZuo and YouYou had dinner at their grandfather’s house before returning home.
Just as they got out of the car and stood in the yard, they shouted up to the terrace, “Dad! Dad!”
“Dad! We’re back!”
“Dad! Come welcome us!”
The shouts of “Dad” rang out one after another.
Zhōu Shíyì was about to reply to Du’s email when he heard the wild beasts’ voices.
Rubbing his brow, he sighed and got up reluctantly.
That week without the kids, he and Zhōng Yì had enjoyed a relaxed week of just the two of them—dates, intimacy, as if newly in love.
Those few calls of “Dad” instantly dragged him back to those years after their breakup.
“Dad!”
Zhōu Shíyì went downstairs as the two kids dragged their little suitcases inside.
The cases were packed with identical toys and snacks.
“Dad!”
Seeing Zhōu Shíyì, the two kids dropped their suitcases and dashed forward like arrows, each grabbing one of his legs.
“Target acquired!”
“Hold the target!”
“Brother, quick! Hold tight, don’t let him run!”
Zhōu Shíyì:
The two children giggled and looked up.
“Dad, do you miss me?”
“Dad, what about me? What about me? Do you miss us?”
As soon as they came home, peace was impossible.
He had no idea where these kids got so much energy—from the moment they opened their eyes in the morning to when they finally fell asleep at night, they never sat still for a moment.
“Dad, when will Mom be home?”
Zhōu Shíyì said, “Mom has to work late tonight; she might not be back until eight.”
ZuoZuo said, “Mom works so hard taking care of the three of us.”
“Right. Mom works very hard.” Zhōu Shíyì took the chance to negotiate with the kids, “When Mom comes back, can we be a bit quieter? Let Mom get some good rest.”
“Okay!”
The two kids answered in unison.
Zhōu Shíyì held their hands as they went upstairs. Starting tomorrow, he would take annual leave for two weeks.
Every time he took time off, he gave the childcare team ten days off to rest before returning to work.
Raising these two kids was truly no easy task.
Now he had the routine down for bath time: fill the tub and let them play first, and when they were tired, he would wash them off.
“Dad, do you love Mom?”
“Of course.”
“Does Mom love you?”
“Of course she does. Otherwise, how could she have given birth to you and your brother?”
“Oh~”
At that moment, Zhōu Shíyì hadn’t thought much about why YouYou suddenly asked that question.
After bathing the two kids and putting on their pajamas, he carried them one by one back to bed, then went to the bathroom to clean up the scattered toys.
When he came out after tidying, the two kids were nowhere to be found in bed.
“ZuoZuo?”
“YouYou?”
The brothers were sitting on their dad’s desk, trying to figure out how to send an email to Mom.
Recently, Zhong Zhuóhuá had thought of a clever way to keep the twins quiet: teaching them to type and email their grandfather.
She taught them a simple phrase, “I love you.” At their age, their memory was good, so after being shown which keys to press a few times, their little fingers remembered.
Grandma’s computer could send emails directly to Grandpa, so Dad’s computer should be able to send emails directly to Mom.
“It’s an inbox. Brother, look, it’s the inbox!” YouYou pointed to the icon on the screen, identical to Grandma’s inbox.
ZuoZuo poked at the keyboard letters, and the first Chinese character to appear was “我” (I).
“Brother! The first one, choose the first one!”
Too impatient, YouYou helped select the number “1.”
After some discussion, the brothers finally typed out the three characters: “我爱你” (I love you).
YouYou danced happily. “Send it, brother, send it fast!”
Having sent emails to Grandpa for two days straight, they were well-practiced.
ZuoZuo found the send button and clicked the mouse firmly.
YouYou narrated appropriately, “Whoosh—flying out.”
“Brother, how long until Mom gets it?”
“Two minutes.”
Because it took Grandpa two minutes to receive their email.
YouYou stared at the screen anxiously. “Why hasn’t Mom replied yet?”
ZuoZuo said, “Mom is busy, so she types slowly.”
“ZuoZuo?”
“YouYou?”
Outside the door, Zhōu Shíyì was looking for his sons.
ZuoZuo put a finger to his lips, signaling his brother, “Shh—”
YouYou smiled and nodded, copying, “Shhh—shh—”
Zhōu Shíyì passed by the study and saw the door closed. He didn’t think much of it since the kids rarely played in there.
He hurried downstairs, not knowing where else they might be rummaging through the house.
The butler and servants confirmed the children hadn’t gone downstairs.
Zhōu Shíyì returned upstairs, guessing the boys were hiding in some corner causing trouble.
Just as he reached the second floor, his phone rang—it was Du.
“Mr. Zhōu, is your email password compromised?”
“It shouldn’t be. What happened?”
Du hesitated. “The replies you sent… seemed a bit strange.”
Zhōu Shíyì was certain, “I haven’t replied yet.”
He had been about to type when the two little beasts came back and he hadn’t entered the study since.
“What did it say?” he asked.
Du: “‘I love you.’ Just those words.”
Zhōu Shíyì thought of the “missing” sons but found it hard to believe—they didn’t know how to type emails.
“Any garbled text?”
“No, just those three characters.”
“I’ll check if my sons did it.”
Du:
Zhōu Shíyì didn’t hang up. He strode to the study, quietly pushing open the door without alerting them.
There, the two little treasures were sitting on his desk, sneaking sips of his coffee.
“What are you doing?” He closed the door behind him.
ZuoZuo and YouYou burst into laughter and quickly put down the coffee cups.
Realizing they’d done something wrong, they instinctively hugged each other, heads touching.
“What are you doing in the study? I called you and you didn’t come.”
“We’re waiting for Mom to reply to the email.”
It really was them who sent it.
“Who sent it?”
ZuoZuo said, “Dad, I did.”
Zhōu Shíyì said to his phone, “My son did this mischief.”
Du could hear the children’s voices, “Good thing the inbox wasn’t hacked, Mr. Zhōu. You’re busy.”
Zhōu Shíyì hung up, relieved it was Du’s email account and not some female executive’s—otherwise, it would’ve been impossible to explain.
The two kids on the desk still hugged tightly, tilting their heads and smiling at Dad.
Zhōu Shíyì could never get a handle on them. Since they were two, whenever they did something bad, they hugged each other.
He put down the phone. “How did you two learn to send emails? Who taught you?”
If no one taught them, there was no way they could have typed “I love you” so perfectly with no errors.
ZuoZuo said, “Grandma taught me and brother to send emails. We send one to Grandpa every day.”
No wonder.
“Dad, did Mom get it?”
“No, too late now. The mail carrier has finished work.”
“Oh.”
Zhōu Shíyì changed the computer’s startup password. The computer and tablet shared the same password, and the two kids often watched videos on the tablet and had memorized it.
They thought all passwords were the same and accidentally guessed right.
“ZuoZuo?”
“YouYou?”
“Where are you?”
Zhōng Yì had returned home. The children’s room was empty, and the master bedroom was also deserted.
Upon hearing Mom’s voice, the two kids immediately called out, “Mom! We’re in the study!”
“Mom! Save us!”
“Waaah… we’re scared to death. Mom, come quickly!”
ASASAS……
Zhōu Shíyì looked at his sons helplessly. “Who scared you?”
Zhōng Yì entered and saw the two sitting together on the desk, hugging. No need to ask—they were up to mischief again.
“Mom!”
“Protect us!”
They still held on tightly, not letting go.
Zhōng Yì turned to Zhōu Shíyì and smiled, asking, “What’s wrong with them?”
Zhōu Shíyì said, “They used my computer to send you emails. Waiting for your reply.”
“You sent it out?”
“Mm-hmm.”
Zhōu Shíyì opened the outbox to show her, “I said you haven’t received it yet—the mail carrier has gone home.”
Zhōng Yì caught sight of the three characters sent to Du: “I love you,” and stifled a laugh. She played along, “Mom will get it tomorrow.”
“Mom, when you get it, reply, okay?”
“Okay.” Zhōng Yì hugged the two kids together. “Thanks, my loves. Mom will definitely reply.”
“Mom, can you watch cartoons with us?”
“Sure.”
She and Zhōu Shíyì each picked up a child and went back to their room.
Zhōu Shíyì asked the little one in his arms, “Who almost scared you to death?”
YouYou giggled, quietly resting on Dad’s shoulder.
“I’m talking to you.”
“I almost… almost scared myself to death.”
Zhōu Shíyì laughed and gently patted his son’s bottom.
Every day he was reported on by these two.
In front of him, they were wild, unstoppable—capable of wrecking the house in a second.
But in front of Zhōng Yì, they instantly turned obedient, sweet little warm boys.
Back in the children’s room, Zhōu Shíyì put down his son and found an animated movie with original audio.
The two kids had just been sneaking sips of coffee, with traces still on their lips. After washing up, each cuddled on either side of Mom.
ZuoZuo habitually leaned left, YouYou lay on Mom’s right side.
Whenever the kids were home, Zhōu Shíyì never had the chance to sit close to Zhōng Yì.
Even during meals, they each took one side to monopolize Mom.
“Mom, do you miss me? I missed you.”
“Mom, I missed you so, so much.”
Zhōng Yì kissed each child. “Mom misses you both so, so much too.”
Zhōu Shíyì looked at his sons. “Don’t talk during the movie.”
Zhōng Yì smiled and glanced at the person on the other sofa. “Come sit here.”
On the two-seat sofa, fitting two adults and two children wasn’t too cramped.
Zhōu Shíyì moved from the single sofa, picked up the little one, and placed him on his lap, then sat close to Zhōng Yì.
YouYou didn’t want to sit in Dad’s arms. Just as he struggled to get up, he was pushed back down.
“Mom! Save me.”
Zhōng Yì reached out and took the little one.
YouYou was sandwiched between Mom and Dad, his head resting in Mom’s arms, his small hands pushing Dad slightly aside.
Sometimes Zhōu Shíyì wondered why he insisted on having twins.
The house was a constant whirlwind, and even sitting together with Zhōng Yì had become rare.
He quietly asked, “When can you take a day off?”
Zhōng Yì said, “I still have to go to the company tomorrow to hand over work to Níng Quē.”
Zhōu Shíyì said, “Then the day after tomorrow, we fly to Boston. We’ll stay at home there for a few days, then take the kids to the Christmas Town.”
Halfway through the animated movie, ZuoZuo and YouYou fell asleep.
He turned off the movie, and finally, quiet returned.
Only after the kids fell asleep could the house be truly peaceful.
He carried the kids back to bed and tucked them in.
Before turning off the lights, he helplessly rubbed their heads.
Sometimes they drove him half mad, sometimes they instantly wiped away his work fatigue.
Leaving the children’s room, he hugged Zhōng Yì. “Go take a shower.”
Zhōng Yì leaned against him for a few minutes before straightening up.
Zhōu Shíyì returned to the study to handle work. As soon as he sat down, two new emails arrived—both from Zhōng Yì.
The first: [I love you.]
The second: [Mom loves you all.]
The first was for him.