Chapter 42

The snow was quite heavy. Jiang Yu wanted to build a snowman, but the snow wasn’t suitable for that just yet. Jiang Zhe was worried that Jiang Yu might catch a cold, so he coaxed her to go back inside.

Shen Qiuli, being older, naturally couldn’t compare to the young ones, so she went upstairs early. However, Jiang Yu was reluctant to leave. After much persuasion, she finally agreed to go upstairs but still complained, “The snow will be enough to play in soon. Why are we rushing back?”

Jiang Zhe replied, “Then let’s wait a little longer. Just wear more clothes when you go back out.”

Jiang Yu said, “…I’m not that cold.”

Jiang Zhe responded, “But I am.”

Jiang Yu didn’t believe him at all; he could endure the cold much better than she could. However, seeing him weakly trying to convince her to go back, she decided to cooperate and returned home.

After getting inside, she took out her scarf, put on gloves, added a sweater, and changed into a thicker down jacket before saying to Jiang Zhe, “I’m all set now. Can we go out?”

Outside, the world was a frozen wonderland, but it didn’t dampen Jiang Yu’s enthusiasm at all. Jiang Zhe had no choice but to grab a scarf. Just as he was about to go out with her, the little one in the nanny’s arms reached out, wanting a hug from her mom.

Jiang Yu usually played with the little one whenever she had free time at home, so the child would often ask to be held. But now, they wanted to go out to play.

Jiang Yu didn’t want to disappoint the little one, so she picked her up.

After a perfunctory hug, she told Jiang Zhe, “Let’s go.”

The little one seemed to sense that the hug was too half-hearted and immediately started to cry.

Jiang Yu felt a bit helpless; even though her heart was already outside, she didn’t want her adorable baby to cry. So, she hugged her again, saying, “Be good, sweetheart. It’s not that Mommy doesn’t want to hold you, but I need to go out for a bit. Can you be a good girl at home?”

The little one didn’t understand and wasn’t taking in what Mommy said. She refused to let go, which made Jiang Yu feel quite helpless, and she looked at Jiang Zhe for help.

Jiang Zhe shrugged, indicating that it wasn’t that he didn’t want her to go out; it was just that the little one wouldn’t let her.

Jiang Yu gently pinched the little one’s nose, saying, “Jiang Luo Luo, you’re being really naughty. Mommy wants to go play, but you won’t let her? That’s just too bad.”

The little one seemed to understand her words; her mouth quivered, and she was about to cry again. Jiang Yu quickly reassured her, “Not naughty, not naughty! Our little darling is not naughty. Our Luo Luo is the cutest baby!”

The little one seemed to get the message and stopped crying, but tears were still in her eyes, making her look a bit pitiful.

Jiang Zhe worried that Jiang Yu would tire out from holding the child, so he reached over, saying, “Let me hold her.”

Jiang Yu was indeed feeling a bit tired, so she nodded and said, “Okay, you take her.”

After handing the child over to him, Jiang Yu planned to head to the kitchen for some water. However, just as she was about to leave, the little one began crying again.

Not even allowed to leave, Jiang Yu could only come back and look at the now teary-eyed little one, helplessly saying to Jiang Zhe, “Sigh, how do you think your daughter got to be so spoiled? Mommy wants to go play, and you won’t let her. That’s just too bad!”

The air fell silent for a moment before Jiang Zhe said, “Maybe she takes after me.”

At that moment, Jiang Yu thought the child resembled her a bit more. Jiang Zhe’s personality wasn’t spoiled at all and was never willful.

He was usually very stable, and even when he had moments of impulse, they were rare.

Yet here he was, trying to claim credit for the child’s strong desire for survival.

Amused, Jiang Yu said, “Is your instinct for self-preservation really that strong? What’s wrong with admitting that the child looks like me?”

Jiang Zhe didn’t argue with her, saying, “Fine, she looks like you.”

Jiang Yu rolled her eyes and replied, “You’re really so dismissive.”

Jiang Zhe denied it, “No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.”

Jiang Zhe explained very seriously, “I’m not dismissing you.”

Jiang Yu replied, “Mm-hmm. Right, bad temper takes after you, and good temper takes after me.”

Hearing Jiang Yu’s teasing, Jiang Zhe nodded seriously, “Actually, I’m not as good as you think.”

Jiang Yu immediately became interested, asking, “Then tell me, what’s wrong with you?”

Jiang Zhe fell silent.

He didn’t want Jiang Yu to know his less admirable side.

For example, he had once considered asking Jiang Siyu not to come back, so that his family’s attention wouldn’t all be on her.

While they were bickering, the little one had already fallen asleep in Jiang Zhe’s arms. Jiang Yu looked at the sleeping child and exclaimed, “She can really sleep! We’re chatting, and she’s already out.”

Looking at the time, she realized it was getting late and regretfully said, “It’s a pity that it’s so late; the nanny should be going to rest too.”

The nanny, now alert, immediately said, “It’s fine. You two go play; I’ll watch the child. I can go up later when you’re back.”

Jiang Yu thought that was inappropriate, “Let’s just leave it for tomorrow. Nanny, you should go get some rest.”

During the day, Jiang Yu’s parents and Jiang Zhe’s mother were all around, leaving the nanny with no room to be useful. She felt a bit embarrassed, saying, “I finally have some time to take care of the child, and you want me to go to sleep at home? I won’t be able to sleep if I go upstairs, so I’ll just watch the child here. You can go play; it doesn’t matter if you come back late.”

Since the nanny had said that, Jiang Yu was immediately tempted. She told the nanny, “Um, nanny, why don’t you take the child to my room to sleep? I’m not going to sleep right now. If you’re tired, just sleep there. I’ll go to Jiang Zhe’s room at night.”

As she said the last part, her voice became softer.

Well, she had already been sleeping in Jiang Zhe’s room for a while now. Although it was for the child, she had to admit that she seemed to have gotten used to it.

Upon hearing this, the nanny immediately smiled and said, “Okay, okay! You all go play!”

Then she took the child away. Jiang Yu glanced at her original room’s door and then looked over at Jiang Zhe, saying, “Shall we go now?”

“Okay.”

“Let’s go.”

When they got downstairs, the snow was still falling, but it had lightened a lot, and the ground was covered with a thick layer of snow, making it completely unrecognizable.

They didn’t go far and just stayed downstairs.

Jiang Yu hadn’t played in the snow for a long time, and her mood was a bit exhilarated. Rubbing her hands together, she happily asked, “Jiang Zhe, can you build a snowman?”

Jiang Zhe was unsure, “I think I can do a little.”

Back in college, he had built a snowman with Wei Cheng and the others once. He wasn’t very interested in it, but since they were all playing, and he had nothing else to do, he built one. At that time, Wei Cheng and the others had said he was hiding his skills, but that was his first time building a snowman, so he thought he could consider himself to have learned a bit now.

Jiang Yu tossed her gloves aside, rolled up her sleeves, and said, “Let’s have a contest to see who can build a snowman faster. Whoever is slower has to grant the other a request. How about that?”

Jiang Yu was confident in her snowman-building skills since she had done it several times before.

Jiang Zhe was willing to indulge her, so he agreed, “Okay.”

He came over, bent down, and helped her roll up her sleeves neatly.

Watching him help her, once he finished, she squatted down and started building her snowman.

She didn’t look at Jiang Zhe and focused intently on her own work, starting by building the body, head, and limbs of the snowman.

When she was almost done, she called out, “Jiang Zhe, I’m about to finish! Let me think about what request I want you to grant me.”

Turning around, she saw him standing relaxed with his hands in his pockets, casually leaning against her, and his snowman was even larger and better looking than hers.

If it weren’t for the vast emptiness of the world around them, with just the two of them, Jiang Yu would have suspected he had brought in help.

“You… are you done already?”

Jiang Zhe nodded, “Mm-hmm.”

She teased, “You’re really working hard just so I’ll agree to one of your requests.”

Jiang Yu felt a wave of defeat wash over her. Looking at his impressive snowman and then at her own, she felt like she wanted to destroy her ugly snowman.

She shouldn’t have trusted this person when he said he could do a little.

Although she had miscalculated, Jiang Yu felt she should still keep her word.

“Okay, tell me what condition you want to ask me.”

After saying that, she couldn’t help but add a warning, “Even though I proposed this, you can’t go too far, understand?”

“Okay.”

While Jiang Zhe was pondering what to ask her, Jiang Yu molded a snowball in her hand, shouted “Take that!” and threw it at him.

Jiang Zhe was stunned.

Jiang Yu was also surprised for a few seconds, then turned and ran, teasing, “Come on, throw it at me!”

Jiang Zhe looked at her, seeing her act like a child and make faces at him. Slowly, he packed a snowball and threw it back.

Of course, he missed.

Seeing that he couldn’t aim, Jiang Yu became even more cocky, picking up snow and forming it into a ball to throw at him.

It hit him right on target.

Not to be outdone, Jiang Zhe picked up some snow and threw it in her direction, but he always missed.

As they chased each other, Jiang Yu soon realized something was off; how could he miss every time?

Panting, she stopped and said to Jiang Zhe, “Are you throwing it inaccurately on purpose?”

Jiang Zhe didn’t answer that but said, “You haven’t asked me what my condition was yet.”

Jiang Yu, who was sweating lightly from playing, had completely forgotten about it, so she asked, “What is it?”

Jiang Zhe walked over and faced her directly. The wind blew up his black coat and the blue scarf dusted with snow. He looked into her eyes, and as her pupils contracted, he gently pressed his forehead against hers. His voice was soft, barely audible in the howling cold wind: “Jiang Yu, can you like me?”

Jiang Yu didn’t expect that to be his request, and she was a bit stunned. While she was still in shock, she heard Jiang Zhe’s gentle voice: “I don’t have many advantages, but I do have a bit of money, can cook a little, can help you grow the flowers you like, can make you the dishes you enjoy, and can lend a hand in taking care of the child. I don’t know if those are enough, and I don’t know what kind of man you like, but I still have a bit of a luxurious expectation that you would like me, even if it’s just a little.”

His long eyelashes brushed lightly against her face, causing a tickling sensation. Jiang Yu looked at his earnest eyes, feeling a special sensation flowing through her.

In truth, she didn’t dislike Jiang Zhe. Although she couldn’t say there was a strong love, she really liked his character.

But at that moment, she couldn’t help but laugh, saying, “Jiang Zhe, don’t you think you look a bit silly right now?”

Jiang Zhe: …

He felt that he was seriously confessing, and she was calling him silly?