A few times I pried her hands away, but her little head couldn’t understand so much. In her simple mind, being repeatedly pushed away meant her mother didn’t want to hold her at all, and she burst into loud tears in front of everyone.
Hearing my daughter’s miserable crying, my heart clenched with pain. My face paled; I couldn’t care less about the ceremony. I quickly scooped her up, apologized to the others, and, under Su Liumeng’s worried gaze, carried her off to a quiet spot.
“Don’t cry, Zhizhi.”
“It’s Mommy’s fault, let’s skip the ceremony, okay?”
The little one hiccupped with sobs, her lashes soaked with tears.
It was nothing like her usual fake crying. Her hands clutched my neck and refused to let go.
Hearing her cry made me feel awful inside.
Su Liumeng followed the sound and stood watching me from a distance at the corner.
I noticed her silhouette and signaled that I was okay. “Mommy loves Zhizhi the most. How could I not want you?”
Hearing that, the little one finally stopped crying, though her eyes were still wet and pitiful.
I gently patted her back, soothing her for a long time until her sobs finally faded.
“How is she?”
Su Liumeng hurried over.
“She’s okay for now—sleeping.”
Looking at Su Liumeng, I suddenly pulled her arm. “How’s it outside? After today, I bet the whole cultivation world will know that at the Su family’s grasping ceremony, the little phoenix didn’t want anything except her mom.”
“That’s not really something to brag about.”
Su Liumeng looked helpless. “What’s wrong with being a mama’s girl?”
I hugged my daughter tightly, and in a coaxing tone muttered, “Can’t believe our Zhizhi’s a little mama’s girl after all.”
Su Liumeng looked over at me, just in time to catch the doting look in my eyes.
“Let’s end the grasping ceremony.”
“I’m a little tired, going backstage to look after the baby.”
“Alright, if you’re sleepy, you can nap for a while.”
Backstage, Shangguan Xiyue was practically family and came and went as she pleased.
I held my daughter, not letting her nap on the bed.
“How much does she weigh now?” Shangguan Xiyue sat beside me.
“Almost twenty jin,” I replied with a smile. “Growing fast, huh? Soon she’ll be running and jumping.”
“Yeah, really fast.”
Late May.
Beiqing University had already started its term, and I could’ve gone back to school, but I just couldn’t leave my daughter, so everything was put on hold.
Ever since having her, I’d paid far less attention to Su Liumeng, let alone games or studies—everything now revolved around my daughter, which made Su Liumeng secretly laugh more than once.
Time flew by, and soon it was almost the end of June.
A three-month-old baby, of course, couldn’t be weaned yet.
One night, Su Liumeng watched Sichenyan reading a story to the baby in the bedroom and inexplicably felt a bit forlorn.
“Wife, when are you coming to bed?”
“We’ve been married almost a year—at least let me have a taste, yeah?”
The scene in the delivery room was still vivid in Su Liumeng’s mind.
She remembered Sichenyan had long since lost her maidenhood, her eyes darkening, heartache making her clench her fists.
Who could it have been?
Was everything Sichenyan said all lies?
Su Liumeng couldn’t quite believe it, but she’d seen it with her own eyes—how could she explain that?
“Stop it, I’m reading to our daughter.”
I didn’t even look up as I replied.
That made Su Liumeng even more aggrieved. “Xiaoyan, if this keeps up, I’ll have to join a nunnery.”
“So what difference does it make if we’re married or not?”
I slowly raised my head and looked seriously at Su Liumeng, gently explaining, “My body hasn’t been feeling great the past few days. I might be getting my period soon.”
“Huh?” Su Liumeng froze, then suddenly brightened. “That’s great! Doesn’t that mean your body’s fully recovered?”
After playing a simple puzzle with my daughter for a bit—
When she finally fell asleep, I carefully placed her in the crib, then came over to Su Liumeng, cheeks flushing. “In theory, yes.”
When it was just the two of us, I naturally snuggled into Su Liumeng’s arms. The action was so natural, as if we’d done it a thousand times—as if we were already an old married couple. “Oh, I’ll let you ‘eat meat’ soon, don’t rush. It’s just been too busy these days, always coaxing the baby.”
My voice grew so soft that if Su Liumeng’s ears weren’t sharp, she wouldn’t have heard anything.
In the blink of an eye, half the year had gone by and I still hadn’t let Su Liumeng ‘have a taste’. As a wife, I felt a little guilty. Su Liumeng pulled me into her arms and whispered in my ear, “That won’t do. I can’t wait any longer—I want some interest now.”
My face blanked, unsure what she meant. “How do you plan to collect interest?”
Su Liumeng’s hand slipped under my clothes…
My body stiffened abruptly.
“Why’s it so moist?” Su Liumeng blurted, then met my speechless gaze.
“What do you think?”
“It’s engorged!” I rolled my eyes.
Su Liumeng just kept grinning, feeling how tense I was but not meeting any real resistance. Watching my face grow redder, she couldn’t help squeezing me again. “Baby, my hand’s too small, what should I do?”
I sneaked a punch at her. “Your hand’s small—what’s that got to do with me?”
I couldn’t help closing my eyes.
The coquettish sounds from deep in my throat only spurred Su Liumeng on.
“Baby, you’re not made of stone, are you?”
“See? You react too.”
“You’re the stone—your whole family’s made of stone!” I opened my misty eyes, my words coming out like a pout.
Su Liumeng finally withdrew her hand. The sudden emptiness made me feel a little lost, but then a hand suddenly appeared in front of my nose. “What’s… this smell?”
In an instant, my whole face turned bright red and I bit her without thinking.
Snap—
Su Liumeng dodged, so I bit only air.
“What else could it be? Of course it’s—”
But I couldn’t finish the rest.
Su Liumeng studied my profile and suddenly asked, “Xiaoyan, do you know what kind of charm you’ve had since Zhizhi was born?”
“What charm?” I stared, still fixated on missing my bite.
“A charm somewhere between a maiden and a wife—so alluring it drives people crazy.”
I bit my lip. “Isn’t that normal? I’m not a girl anymore. Of course I’m a bit more mature.”
Su Liumeng took my hand and whispered like a devil in my ear, “Then, can our mature Zhizhi-mama take care of this still-young little girl?”
If I didn’t understand after that, I’d be an idiot.
“Always saying weird things,” I muttered.
But even so, I didn’t actually refuse her.
No matter how embarrassed, I couldn’t keep my partner on a diet forever.
Everyone needs a little ‘meat’ once in a while.
Afterwards, I held Su Liumeng in my arms. It was almost instinctive—just like holding Zhizhi. Realizing this, I finally understood why she said what she did; it was these almost unconscious, tender gestures that had so thoroughly changed my aura.
Gulp—
I barely restrained myself from hitting her, my voice so faint it was almost inaudible. “Can’t you… just not make that sound?”
Usually it was Su Liumeng holding me, but with our roles reversed, I felt no discomfort at all. Ever since I’d had Zhizhi, I’d gotten used to it.
May 31st.
Just as I’d expected, my first period arrived right on time.
I was curled up on the bed, clutching my stomach, trembling.
“Why does it hurt so much?”
The first period—severe cramps. What kind of experience was this?
Su Liumeng was boiling herbal medicine for me.
I was so pale with pain I could barely speak. I’d already taken two painkillers, but they did nothing.
In my misery, I suddenly saw the little one in her crib, holding onto the bars and standing up, her eyes fixed on me. She waved her tiny arms and babbled.
Seeing the baby stand up, I was a little surprised, then noticed her obvious concern. Suddenly, my stomach didn’t hurt quite so much.
“Zhizhi, don’t worry.”
“Mommy’s not hurting.”
I lifted my daughter out of the crib.
“Time really flies. In a blink, my daughter can already stand.”
I held her little paw. “You can’t even crawl yet! How did you suddenly learn to stand? Are you tricking mommy? Why don’t you crawl a bit—always lying around doing nothing.”
Even though standing while holding on to something is harder than crawling.
Seeing that, I was utterly shocked.
Afterwards, I let her hold on to me and try to stand, but every time she just collapsed in a heap.
I sighed. It must be a miracle.
A baby who couldn’t even crawl yet managed to stand out of concern for her mom—if that isn’t the miracle of life, what is?
The little one climbed onto my big bed, snuggled into my arms, and clung tightly to my arm, refusing to let go.
I gently patted her back, humming a song only babies could understand.
The afternoon sunlight was like golden rain, as beautiful as a dreamlike sea of flowers, bathing the young woman’s black hair and freezing the moment of her holding her daughter.
A while later—
Su Liumeng returned, saw me drinking herbal medicine, and suddenly burst out,
“Xiaoyan.”
“I’m hungry again.”
She sounded a little aggrieved.
My petite body went rigid. I almost threw my bowl across the room. After a moment, I looked up, irritated, not even bothering to wipe the soup from my mouth. “If you’re hungry, go find your mom! Why are you always pestering me?”
“You’re my wife, not my mom.”
“Understand?”
I really was about to lose it.
Once is fine, but why do you have to ask every single day?
It’s like I’m raising two daughters—there’s only so much motherly love to go around!