After the Qingming Festival, the weather gradually warmed up.

The grass was growing, orioles were flying, and the peach trees and willows were green.

Everywhere was full of vibrant life.

Yan Runzhi and Cheng Yunzhi’s garden also began to recover its vitality, with seasonal flowers and plants constantly coming to life, making everyone feel very cheerful.

By the Grain Rain solar term, their vegetable garden was starting to show signs of flourishing, and soon it would be lush and green.

Today was Sunday.

Jiang Lin got up early, took her sketchbook for a walk to enjoy the fresh air, and then sat on a wooden stool in the vegetable garden to draw still lifes.

She could draw the garden, wildflowers, the courtyard, the military camp, or even a patch of grass under a tree stump.

Now, whenever she had free time, she would take out her pencil and sketchbook to practice drawing, working on her basic skills.

Since she was not a fine arts major and only started learning in college, her skills were still unrefined and needed a lot of practice to improve.

After a while, Wensheng, Dabao, and Xiaobao came over.

They were dressed in light clothes for their morning exercises and made a point of stopping by to greet her.

Although Fang Chengguang was not at home, Dabao and Xiaobao continued their regular training.

Besides their usual exercises, the two brothers also practiced martial arts.

At this moment, Xiaobao couldn’t compete with Dabao.

Xiaobao was afraid of pain and fatigue, and he tended to slack off during training.

Wen Sheng, who got up early to warm up his voice and practice stage movements, including leg stretches and waist bends, joined Dabao and Xiaobao for their morning exercises.

Jiang Lin reminded Wen Sheng to be careful and not to practice dangerous moves.

He always seemed like a child, appearing young and fit, which made it easy for everyone to forget his real age.

Jiang Lin was still concerned about him potentially getting hurt.

After finishing a drawing, she took a stroll to the back, where she could hear the thunderous slogans from the military camp and see the guards running their morning exercises.

The young soldiers, all in vests and shorts, were strong and sweating in the heat.

“Such energetic young people!” Jiang Lin said softly, lightly touching her abdomen.

She checked the time—it was almost eight o’clock—and decided it was time to head home for breakfast.

By the roadside, a row of weeping willows had particularly tender yellow-green buds under the blue sky.

She gently stroked them and saw Cheng Rushan coming around the corner.

Jiang Lin cheerfully called out, “Dad’s here!”

After Jiang Lin happily spoke, she suddenly felt a response in her abdomen, a gentle movement like a small fish swimming by.

Surprised, she looked down and touched her belly, “Baby?”

It was so amazing!

Cheng Rushan had woken up early for boxing practice and then went to the transportation office to handle some work.

Checking the time, he came over to pick her up for lunch, only to see her standing there looking for something, with a surprised expression.

He strode up and grabbed her arm, “What did you lose?”

Jiang Lin looked up at him and smiled, her dark eyes curved, both gentle and playful.

She took his hand and placed it on her belly, “He just moved!”

Cheng Rushan looked at her in confusion, “Moved?”

He had consulted Dr. Lan and even went to the military hospital to get a book on pregnancy.

At five months, the baby should still be quite small, right?

Movement?

He found it fascinating and couldn’t help but put his hand inside to feel her belly.

There was no response.

His palm was warm, and the calluses on his fingers and palms made her skin itch as they brushed against it.

She asked Cheng Rushan to take his hand out, “I’ve been having strange dreams these past few days.”

Cheng Rushan, holding her as they walked home, said, “Tell me about them.”

Jiang Lin told him what she remembered: the day before yesterday, she dreamt of a tree full of flowers under a bright blue sky; the day before, the tree bore many yellow fruits; and last night, she dreamt of two snakes.

“Did it scare you?” He touched her waist, still slender, with only a slight bump on her belly.

He didn’t know if other pregnant women were the same.

He had no expertise in dreams, but since they hadn’t slept in separate rooms and she slept well, he wasn’t worried.

Jiang Lin replied, “No, I wasn’t scared at all. I actually found it fun and felt good.”

She had heard many people talk about pregnancy dreams, and both Yan Runzhi and Wu Shuxian had often told her about dreams predicting the gender of the baby.

She seemed to have dreamt of everything. She wondered if she should get an ultrasound to see if it was twins.

Laughing and chatting, they walked home, where Yan Runzhi had already prepared breakfast.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao came running in, both sweating profusely.

Yan Runzhi said, “Don’t wash your hair with cold water. There’s hot water in the pot for you.”

Although the weather looked warmer, the water was still cold, and washing their heads with cold water after sweating could easily make them sick.

Yan Runzhi was very attentive to this and reminded the children not to indulge in coldness.

After washing his hair, Xiao Bao casually wiped it with a towel, shook his head, and water droplets flew everywhere, making him laugh heartily.

Dabao said, “You got it on Mom.”

Xiaobao immediately ran to Jiang Lin and said, “Mom, we haven’t done anything together for a long time. I feel like I’m being abandoned.”

This year, Cheng Rushan was very busy.

He was already doing the work of two people and now had added university military theory classes, making him even busier.

Jiang Lin was also not at ease.

She was five months pregnant, with a due date in August.

She wanted to get as much studying done as possible beforehand, so she could take time off to study at home and only go for exams during the end of the term.

After the exams, she would rest during the summer break, and starting classes in the fall should be manageable.

Hearing Xiaobao’s words made her feel like she had been neglecting her son.

She smiled and said, “Today is Sunday, no classes. Where do you want to go? An amusement park? The movies?”

Wen Sheng came back from outside with a bunch of wildflowers and handed them to Jiang Lin. “Let’s go on a spring outing. I really want to go on a spring outing!”

A few days ago, the elementary school organized a spring outing, which Wen Sheng wanted to attend but couldn’t due to the theater’s schedule.

He had been thinking about it ever since.

Since the kids had a request, it was time to fulfill it.

Jiang Lin looked at Cheng Rushan.

Cheng Rushan’s work didn’t have set Sundays off; if there was work, he went to do it, and sometimes he might be away for several days.

When there was less work, he could arrange his time.

He said, “Let’s have lunch first, and then we’ll go out. You all decide where you want to go.”

Wen Sheng, Dabao, and Xiaobao immediately became excited and started discussing whether to go to the suburbs or a park, fly kites, or do something else, forgetting about their meal.

Yan Runzhi smiled and said, “Let’s eat quickly and get the lunch boxes ready.”

Jiang Lin said, “Mom, just wrap the pancakes with eggs; we can bring them as they are, they won’t spoil. Or we can bring a small stove and heat up some water.”

Cheng Rushan quickly finished his meal and told them to wait at home while he went to the office to make arrangements.

Jiang Lin grabbed the books she wanted to read and brought her sketchbook and drawing materials, thinking it would be a good opportunity for sketching during their outing.

Dabao and Xiaobao packed their toys, and Wen Sheng took his harmonica.

Cheng Rushan drove a large jeep to take them all to the countryside, where there was a lake with lotus leaves just starting to emerge, making the surface look cute and crowded.

The lake’s edge was lined with reeds and water plants, which were sprouting and turning green.

Passing by the supply and marketing cooperative, Cheng Rushan stopped to let the children pick out kites.

However, Wen Sheng, Da Bao, and Xiao Bao couldn’t agree.

Wen Sheng wanted a big swallow, Da Bao wanted a big centipede, and Xiao Bao wanted a Sun Wukong kite.

The shop assistant, seeing how trendy and good-looking they were, wasn’t annoyed at all.

Instead, he patiently explained the of each kite and even took them out for them to see upon request.

While Jiang Lin and Cheng Rushan looked around the store for other items, the children were still debating when they finished their shopping.

Jiang Lin laughed, “A new bride could have already been sent off in a sedan chair, and you still haven’t decided.”

The three felt a bit embarrassed for taking so long.

Wen Sheng touched his pocket.

He had money but didn’t want to spend it on three kites for just a day out.

One kite would suffice for everyone to play with.

He was conscious of the need to save money, especially since the family now had an extra mouth to feed and had to buy a dress for Bao Sheng.

So, he put the money back in his pocket.

Da Bao and Xiao Bao had a similar mindset.

They had pocket money, enough to buy kites, but buying three seemed wasteful.

It would be more fun to play with just one kite together.

The brothers were used to arguing about everything, and resolving it together.

Their daily routine of arguing and making up was enjoyable for them.

To have no conflict at all between them was impossible.

Boys naturally like to compete and be mischievous, especially when they are both talented and opinionated, and neither wants to simply follow the other.

Da Bao suggested, “Let’s vote.”

Xiao Bao added, “So Wen Sheng decides which one to buy?”

Wen Sheng, smiling, said, “Big swallow.”

Da Bao countered, “You have to choose between Sun Wukong and the big centipede.”

Wen Sheng proposed, “How about both the big swallow and the big centipede, or Sun Wukong? You pick one.”

Jiang Lin called out, “Are you done yet? It’s almost noon.”

Xiao Bao suggested, “How about letting Lin Lin choose? Her vote counts as two.”

Wen Sheng had no objections; whatever Jiang Lin decided was fine with him.

Da Bao protested, “That’s cheating, no way.”

Always resolving conflicts by deferring to Jiang Lin wasn’t solving the problem; they loved her but needed to settle things themselves.

Jiang Lin wanted to step in, but Cheng Rushan held her back, leading her to the street to talk with Yan Runzhi and Cheng Yunzhi.

The old couple, in good spirits, found the children’s bickering amusing.

Cheng Yunzhi commented, “Da Bao wants to be the leader, but Xiao Bao doesn’t agree.”

The sibling rivalry made Jiang Lin smile.

Boys will be boys, but it’s understandable; even girls have these dynamics, with someone always wanting to be the one whose word counts.

It was best to let them sort it out themselves.