Chapter 82: Extra

After Ai Xiaoling and Ye Zhou got married, she still felt a little dazed.

They were really married.

Ye Zhou, originally the male lead in the story, became her husband, the female supporting character. The two lived in the newly renovated bridal house.

From the start of the renovation, Ye Zhou put in much effort. Everything was in the style she liked.

Mother Ye still lived near the building materials store and didn’t bother them.

The newlywed couple loved each other, like dry wood catching fire.

On the wedding day, after seeing the guests off, the two returned to the bridal room. As soon as they entered, Ye Zhou gently pushed Ai Xiaoling against the door and kissed her directly.

“You scared me—”

He had drunk quite a lot, smelling strongly of alcohol. Ai Xiaoling pushed him away from behind, “You’re kissing too hard.”

Ye Zhou stopped, lifted his hand, stroked her lips with his fingertip, and kissed her again.

Ai Xiaoling was just getting lost in the moment and reached out to hook her hand around his neck, but Ye Zhou suddenly let go of her, placed his hand on her shoulder, turned her around, and pressed her against the door.

Then, his hand skillfully went to her waist, urging her to lower a bit.

Ai Xiaoling moaned softly, “You’re getting more and more excessive!”

Before, she was bold, and Ye Zhou would sometimes blush and be shy. Now he had learned well and was quite skilled.

Annoying!

“Be good.” Ye Zhou bit her earlobe. Ai Xiaoling felt weak all over; her legs almost gave way.

That night, the two were crazier than ever.

From behind the door to the sofa, from the sofa to the bed, and then to the bathroom.

Ai Xiaoling thought it was ridiculous.

The key was that Ye Zhou’s stamina was far better than she imagined.

During the honeymoon, they went to city B as planned, but Ai Xiaoling didn’t leave the hotel for a whole week, sleeping in the hotel room all those days.

When asked, she said she was too tired.

Eat, sleep, eat, sleep—she really didn’t want to move.

No matter how Ye Zhou coaxed, she wouldn’t go out. She hugged the quilt and dozed off.

Wake up to eat, get sleepy and sleep, then get eaten by Ye Zhou.

In the first month after marriage, Ai Xiaoling found that her period was missing again. She grew anxious and hit Ye Zhou with a pillow, “It’s all your fault. I finally got better after taking Chinese medicine, but now it’s like this again. You must have tired me out.”

It was all his fault!

The pillow was light, so the hits were not painful. Ye Zhou didn’t stop her, but worriedly said, “Should we take more Chinese medicine?”

“No! It tastes too bitter.” Ai Xiaoling refused.

Ye Zhou said, “But it works well. After drinking, your complexion was so much better.”

“No.”

In the end, Ai Xiaoling was still taken to see the Chinese doctor by Ye Zhou.

He always had a way to make her obey.

As soon as Ai Xiaoling sat down, she told the doctor, “Huanglian is really too bitter. Can you not prescribe it this time?”

“Good medicine tastes bitter.” The doctor smiled and slowly put his hand on her pulse again.

Ye Zhou came over and gently patted her shoulder with a gentle gesture.

Ai Xiaoling didn’t continue speaking, afraid to disturb the doctor.

Soon, the old doctor smiled and said, “You are pregnant.”

Hearing this, the couple looked stunned.

The old doctor said, “Just recently conceived. Be sure not to overwork. I will prescribe some medicine to stabilize the pregnancy and nourish—”

Ye Zhou led Ai Xiaoling out of the clinic, tightly holding her hand. He was more careful now and kept glancing at her belly every now and then.

It was magical and filled with complex hope.

She was carrying their child.

Last time it was only a possibility, not confirmed, so the impact wasn’t as deep as this time.

Ai Xiaoling also felt very strange that inside her belly was a little life.

The two new parents were not yet prepared when Ai Xiaoling started morning sickness.

This feeling was nothing like her previous stomach illness.

Too hungry made her vomit, too full made her vomit, even a little strange smell made her vomit.

Even more exaggerated was when Wang Dazhou came back from the site, because of his heavy sweat smell, Ai Xiaoling rushed to the bathroom to vomit as soon as he entered.

Wang Dazhou looked completely confused. Ye Zhou came out frowning, gave him an hour off, and told him to hurry back to wash up before returning.

Realizing he had overwhelmed Ai Xiaoling with his smell, Wang Dazhou scratched his head with a complicated expression.

From then on, Ai Xiaoling’s workspace was moved to Ye Zhou’s office, which improved things a lot.

Ai Xiaoling found that her sense of smell became especially sensitive.

She could quickly detect even the slightest unusual smell on others. When she approached the staircase where perfume scent had lingered long ago, she immediately felt nauseous.

Her sense of taste was equally sensitive, but strangely, she was especially tolerant of Ye Zhou.

When Ye Zhou returned from the construction site covered in sweat, Ai Xiaoling never complained.

As soon as he came in, she would call him over for a hug. Ye Zhou worried he might smell bad and said, “I’ll go take a shower.”

“No, hug me now.”

“You’ll probably feel sick soon.” Ye Zhou was concerned.

Ai Xiaoling continued to stretch out her arms, “Come here!”

After she insisted several times, Ye Zhou could only walk over.

Ai Xiaoling wrapped her arms around him and, instead of showing discomfort, rubbed herself against him, saying, “I missed you.”

Ye Zhou’s heart melted immediately. He reached out to stroke her head and gently asked, “Has the baby been good today?”

“No.”

She really had not been good. In the past, even when she had stomach pain and a high fever, she could endure and keep working. This time, the morning sickness tortured her badly.

Not only could she not work, she couldn’t eat well, couldn’t sleep, and was uncomfortable sitting or standing.

Ye Zhou sighed and carried her back to bed.

During the first three months, Ai Xiaoling lost a lot of weight and often lay weakly on the sofa. Even eating something required Ye Zhou to coax her gently. The baby inside would vomit up everything whenever upset.

After barely surviving the first three months, they heard things might improve, but Ai Xiaoling still lacked energy.

She was tired and sleepy every day, and her work efficiency was very low.

In the late stage of pregnancy, she became even more exhausted and couldn’t sleep through the night.

The delivery was also tough. The baby was slow to come out. Ai Xiaoling even suspected this child was born to torment her.

When the baby was born, she was small and wrinkly, a girl.

Ye Zhou and Ai Xiaoling named her Ye Ruirui.

Little Ruirui was hard to take care of. She cried and fussed at the slightest discomfort.

Ye Zhou, Ai Xiaoling, and Mother Ye were all exhausted and even hired a nanny experienced with many children, but still couldn’t manage her.

Even the nanny muttered quietly, “This child is too difficult. Could something be wrong?”

Mother Ye, angry, fired the nanny and held little Ruirui, soothing her, “What problem? She’s fine. How well-behaved, grandma’s holding you.”

Ai Xiaoling and Ye Zhou were not worried because they had a hospital checkup.

She was just a fussing little one.

A tiny person who completely controlled the three adults.

Unable to find a suitable nanny, the three of them took turns caring for her.

One night, Ye Zhou had stayed up all night working, and Mother Ye had things to do, so Ai Xiaoling took the child voluntarily.

She feared the crying little troublemaker would disturb Ye Zhou’s sleep and carried her to another room.

When little Ruirui woke up, her little eyes rolled around. Ai Xiaoling worried she would start crying again, sighed, and stood up to hold her while walking around the room.

“Uh—” Little Ruirui did not cry but smiled broadly, her little eyes squinting.

She was still so small and smiled so purely and cleanly, Ai Xiaoling’s heart melted. She reached out and tapped her little nose, “You’re in such a good mood, today you can’t fuss anymore. Mommy is taking care of you alone.”

Little Ruirui opened her mouth, making babbling sounds as if trying to talk.

Ai Xiaoling smiled brightly and gently held her little hand.

Little Ruirui seemed to understand because she did not cry all day.

She recognized people. Whenever Ai Xiaoling held her, she immediately smiled at her, very well-behaved.

Even Mother Ye knew the child recognized her mom.

Whenever little Ruirui started to fuss, Mother Ye would smile and say, “Your mommy’s not here, so you want to fuss? Mommy will be back soon.”

Hearing “mommy”, the baby would calm down a little.

Her eyes rolled and rolled, and if she didn’t see her mommy, she would start to fuss.

Ai Xiaoling had never experienced favoritism in her family of origin. She had always been the one sacrificed. She never doubted that if discarding a child wasn’t illegal, she might not have survived till now.

Later, she met Ye Zhou, who loved her and gave her unprecedented tolerance and affection. So she became obsessed with being with him, even imagining a happy ending.

This was the kind of love that made one’s heart flutter.

And from the child, she seemed to find the missing part of the bloodline.

When little Ruirui just learned to crawl, Ai Xiaoling came home from work and the child would crawl over like bringing a treasure, handing the toy Mother Ye bought her to Ai Xiaoling.

Her eyes held sharing and joy, and a unique favoritism.

She wanted to give this fun thing to Mommy.

“Wow, what did grandma buy you? Mommy wants to see.” Ai Xiaoling held her in her arms and played together.

Little Ruirui was very happy, smiling with her eyes squinting and trying to teach her how to play.

When she learned to walk, she would secretly hide the complementary food Mother Ye gave her—things she found delicious. When everyone else left, she would quietly take them out to give to Ai Xiaoling.

Ai Xiaoling looked at the little cookies in her tiny hands and laughed and cried at the same time.

Little Ruirui was anxious and stretched out her tiny hands to feed Ai Xiaoling.

She picked up her daughter and playfully pretended to bite, “Very tasty, thank you, baby.”

“Hehe—” Little Ruirui could not speak yet but laughed out loud.

Ai Xiaoling petted her head with love.

When little Ruirui learned to speak, her first clear word was calling out to Ai Xiaoling, “Mommy—”

The words were clear, her big cute eyes looking at her the whole time.

Ai Xiaoling paused in her step at the door, her nose tingling, and her eyes became a little wet.

“Mommy—” Little Ruirui said as she took small steps running toward her.

Ai Xiaoling crouched down and hugged her, unable to help but tilt her head to kiss her.

This is her daughter.

Since then, the little one often had the word “Mommy” on her lips. Whenever she met others, she would grab Ai Xiaoling’s hand and call out, “Mommy.”

She wanted to proudly tell everyone, “This is her mommy.”

Mother Ye also loved this child dearly. When Ai Xiaoling was young, she rarely received praise in the family, but her daughter was different.

Not only was she deeply loved, but Mother Ye’s praise never stopped.

When Ruirui ate well, Mother Ye would praise, “Ruirui is so good today, she finished all her food.”

Although little Ruirui was very attached to her mommy, she enjoyed her grandmother’s praise and smiled widely.

After finishing her meal, Ruirui went over and put on her little shoes. Mother Ye praised again, “Ruirui can put on her little shoes all by herself, so smart. Our Ruirui is really smart.”

“How can there be such a smart and cute baby?”

Ruirui faced away from Mother Ye and looked toward Ai Xiaoling, who was not far away, covering her mouth with her tiny hands as she giggled.

She was truly a little mischief.

This scene made Ai Xiaoling laugh. She looked at her with gentle eyes, feeling some comfort in her heart.

The process of raising a child sometimes seemed like seeing her younger self. Seeing her so happy made her both comforted and grateful.

*

When the child started kindergarten, Ai Xiaoling’s career reached its peak. She could now handle things on her own.

She had started her own design institute, and because her business skills were good, the business was booming.

Her annual income was very considerable.

Ai Xiaoling and Ye Zhou insisted on picking up and dropping off the child every day. After school, little Ruirui would happily run toward them, shouting, “Mommy!”

She carried a small school bag with cute little braids tied on her head.

When she ran, they swayed side to side.

Her looks resembled Ai Xiaoling’s. She was beautiful, well taken care of by Mother Ye, fair-skinned and chubby.

“Are you happy today?” Ai Xiaoling asked with a smile, holding her hand.

“Happy!” She answered loudly.

Ai Xiaoling smiled.

Ye Zhou was driving, Ai Xiaoling sat in the front passenger seat, and Ruirui sat in the back.

In the car, Ruirui chattered nonstop, sharing what happened at kindergarten today, making Ai Xiaoling laugh.

Ye Zhou deliberately drove slowly, enjoying this parent-child time.

Once home, Ye Zhou was still parking. Ruirui held Ai Xiaoling’s hand and mysteriously led her inside.

She was a little curious and followed her daughter indoors.

Ruirui took a quail egg out of her pocket, carefully holding it with both hands to give to Ai Xiaoling, widening her eyes and whispering, “There’s only one. Mommy, don’t tell Daddy. I saved it just for you.”

“Baby, where did you get this?” Ai Xiaoling looked at the quail egg, unable to hide her surprise.

Ruirui said, “The teacher gave it. Every kid got one.”

Ai Xiaoling learned after asking that this was a snack given at kindergarten that afternoon. Every child got one. Ruirui didn’t eat hers but secretly hid it and brought it home for her.

A child’s love is so pure. Ai Xiaoling held the tiny quail egg, her feelings swelling.

Ruirui took it back, “I’ll peel it for Mommy. I can peel it. It’s tasty. I ate it before.”

Ai Xiaoling watched her focus on peeling the shell. She was still little, so her fine motor skills weren’t very agile yet. It took a while to finish peeling, then she held the egg up to Ai Xiaoling’s mouth, “Mommy, eat quickly!”

Ai Xiaoling took a symbolic small bite, “Baby, you eat too. It tastes better when we eat together.”

Ruirui thought that made sense and then took a bite herself.

Ye Zhou came in. She looked at Daddy and raised the rest of the quail egg, “Daddy, eat.”

Ye Zhou did not spoil the fun. He bit even less, just pretending, and said, “So delicious. Baby, you eat.”

“Next time, let Daddy take you to buy some.” Ai Xiaoling tidied her daughter’s hair.

“Okay!” Ruirui nodded hard and bit again. She didn’t finish eating, always wanting Ai Xiaoling to take another bite.

With such a good daughter, Ai Xiaoling truly wanted to give her the best in the world.

She could feel her child loved her unconditionally, simply because she was her mommy.

And she loved her just as much.

*

On Ruirui’s third birthday, the family planned to throw her a party.

They invited many of her little friends.

Ruirui wore a princess dress and a hairpin, happy like a little princess. She loved pretty things too. After changing, she admired herself in the mirror.

Ai Xiaoling kept taking photos to remember. Mother Ye kept praising, “Our little princess is so beautiful, so pretty.”

As more friends arrived, the birthday party began.

They ate first, then brought out a big multi-layer cake.

The children saw it and all shouted, “Wow, wow, wow.” Ruirui smiled even sweeter, full of happiness.

Ai Xiaoling was filming, and Ye Zhou was placing the candles. After lighting them, he turned off the lights.

The hall dimmed, candlelight flickering. The children spontaneously started singing the birthday song.

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you—”

Everyone sang and clapped. At the end, a chubby little boy shouted loudly, “Happy birthday, Ye Ruirui.”

“Thank you—” Ruirui smiled sweetly.

Ai Xiaoling said, “Baby, make a wish.”

Ruirui clasped her hands and blurted out her wish: “I hope Daddy can earn a lot and a lot of money, so Mommy won’t have to work so hard.”

“I hope Mommy is always happy and doesn’t have to work hard!”

“I want to always be with Mommy.”

…

“Ye Ruirui, birthday wishes are not supposed to be said out loud!”

“Yes, don’t say them out loud.”

“If you say it out loud, it will be heard. My mommy says then it won’t come true.”

The children crowded around little Ruirui, chatting nonstop. Ai Xiaoling, holding the camera, was already frozen in place. The room was dim, and no one noticed the tears glistening in her eyes.

When her emotions became hard to control, a pair of hands rested on her shoulders and pulled her into an embrace. Ye Zhou’s warm palms covered her head, gently stroking it with affection.

Little Ruirui was still arguing with her friends. She kept loudly insisting, “It will all come true. I love my mommy the most. My mommy will always be happy and joyful. It will always be like that!”

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