Gu Yanqing’s idea of going to bed wasn’t just about sleeping.

He dimmed the bedside lamp, and Qiao Wanqing looked at the two children sleeping soundly next to them, feeling a bit exasperated. “Are you sure?”

Yuan Yuan was old enough to sleep in a separate room at home, but since they were in a mountain village, he was scared to sleep alone.

Qiao Wanqing had originally planned for Gu Yanqing to sleep with Yuan Yuan.

However, Kouko, being a little drama queen, insisted on sleeping with her brother.

So, Qiao Wanqing decided to let all three of them sleep together.

Kouko often woke up at night looking for her mom.

In the end, they all had to squeeze into one bed.

Even though they had replaced the bed with a large two-meter-wide one, it was still a tight squeeze for four people.

It was especially difficult to be intimate under such conditions.

KouKou, being a heavy sleeper, was fine, but Yuanyuan, being older, would likely wake up with any noise.

They couldn’t be too noisy or it might disturb him.

“Don’t worry,” Gu Yanqing said, already starting to make his move, “it’s been almost two weeks.”

Since the last time he was home, he had spent three days without attending to any work.

On the third day, Qiao Wanqing stayed in bed all day, which made Madam Gu think she was sick, causing a lot of embarrassment.

As a result, Gu Yanqing had been on a “no action” period for a week, and now with four people in one bed…

Qiao Wanqing initially resisted firmly, but she couldn’t match Gu Yanqing’s persistence and gradually gave in.

“Uncle,” suddenly, during the heated moment, they heard Yuanyuan’s sleepy voice, which made them go silent immediately.

Gu Yanqing, still in pain, took a deep breath because the tension made the situation even more challenging.

“Relax, Wanqing.”

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

How was she supposed to relax? She should have firmly rejected Gu Yanqing.

“Uncle,” Yuanyuan called out again, now more awake.

“What’s wrong, Yuanyuan?” Gu Yanqing asked in a low voice.

Yuanyuan, confused about why his uncle had moved to his aunt’s bed while he was left in his own with Kou Kou, said sleepily, “I had a nightmare.”

“……” Qiao Wanqing heard Gu Yanqing gritting his teeth and softly said, “It’s okay, dreams aren’t real. Go back to sleep.”

“I’m scared~” Yuanyuan’s voice was soft and nasal from just waking up.

“Don’t be afraid. You’re next to your brother. Go to sleep quickly.”

Yuan Yuan seemed to shift closer to Kouko and continued to sleep.

Just as they were about to relax, Yuan Yuan said, “Uncle, I need to go to the bathroom.”

“……” Gu Yanqing was exhausted.

Their bathroom was outside, and since Yuan Yuan had a nightmare, he was too scared to go alone, so he needed Gu Yanqing to go with him.

But the situation was awkward.

Why did he agree to help take care of someone else’s child?

Fortunately, Qiao Wanqing seemed to sense his frustration and said, “Yuan Yuan, there’s a potty for little boys here. You can use it.”

She then asked Gu Yanqing to brighten the lamp a bit.

Yuan Yuan, with sleepy eyes, used the potty and then walked to their bedside to pick up a pillow that had fallen on the floor.

After yawning, he went back to bed.

The two exhausted adults thought, “……”

They both felt mentally drained at that moment.

Luckily, Kouko was usually well-behaved during the night and used her diaper if she needed to go, so there weren’t many issues.

Two days later, things settled down with Chu Shishi, and she came to pick up Yuan Yuan.

Yuan Yuan was still in kindergarten, and it was not good for him to skip classes.

Kouko was the most reluctant to part with Yuan Yuan.

The two siblings got along well and rarely had conflicts.

Kouko especially enjoyed playing with Yuan Yuan.

When they were together, they could play in the toy room for hours without needing supervision.

As time went on, Gu Yanqing was busy preparing for their wedding and handling work, while Qiao Wanqing focused on setting up her Taobao store.

Life was simple but busy.

Tang Yueyue heard that Qiao Wanqing and the others had returned to the village, so she decided to visit them.

Tang Yueyue and Qi Xing had known each other for over a month, almost two months, but their relationship hadn’t progressed.

This made Tang Yueyue anxious.

She was a typical Aries, who doesn’t fall in love easily but is very passionate and bold once she does.

Qi Xing, on the other hand, was more of a slow-to-warm-up type.

He believed in a steady and gradual approach to relationships.

His past relationship made it even harder for him to quickly accept another woman.

They were opposites—Tang Yueyue’s fiery and proactive nature clashed with Qi Xing’s calm and steady demeanor, leading to many small conflicts.

Tang Yueyue’s intense emotions and sensitivity, especially when she didn’t get a response from Qi Xing, made her feel emotionally drained.

Her whole focus was on Qi Xing, affecting both her work and personal life.

Meanwhile, Qi Xing remained calm and indifferent.

His busy work schedule meant he couldn’t spend a lot of time on the relationship, like chatting or calling all day.

Tang Yueyue was almost driven crazy by the situation.

They were in the early stages of their relationship, and she was afraid that being too enthusiastic or pressuring him too much would make him uncomfortable.

She tried to appear considerate and generous, but her insecurity due to their different social statuses made her overly sensitive.

Even slow or brief responses in their chats made her question his interest.

Most importantly, they were in a long-distance relationship.

So, she decided to visit the local shrine known for its efficacy to ask about her and Qi Xing’s fate.

If it turned out they weren’t meant to be, she would slowly let go and stop forcing it; otherwise, she felt she might go crazy.

Qiao Wanqing went to the town to pick her up and noticed she had lost a lot of weight and her eyes looked much bigger.

Since there were two kids at home, if Gu Yanqing drove with Qiao Wanqing, they would have to come along too.

So, Chen Feng drove to the town to pick up Tang Yueyue.

Qiao Wanqing greeted Tang Yueyue and, seeing her appearance, said, “You’re looking quite different. Seems like love is indeed a powerful weight loss tool.”

According to the original memories, Tang Yueyue had only lost five pounds after a month of eating only vegetables and nearly ended up in the hospital.

Now, just from emotional distress, she had lost a significant amount of weight.

Tang Yueyue laughed self-deprecatingly, “This isn’t really about love. It’s more like unrequited love making me look haggard.”

Qiao Wanqing, who hadn’t gone through such a heart-wrenching experience herself, couldn’t fully empathize but said, “You’ve only known him for a little over a month. Take your time to understand each other’s personalities and preferences. Look at me and Yanqing; it took us two years from meeting to being together.”

“I understand the logic,” Tang Yueyue said, “I hate being in this state too, but I just can’t control myself. I… I just keep thinking about him.”

As she spoke, her eyes grew red and teary, and she ended up crying.

Qiao Wanqing patted her shoulder, offering her comfort.

Qiao Wanqing tried to comfort Tang Yueyue, but the more Tang Yueyue cried, the more intense it became.

She only stopped crying after they got home.

Her makeup was ruined, and her eyes were red from crying, making it obvious that she had been upset.

“Go inside,” Qiao Wanqing said when she saw Tang Yueyue hesitating at the door.

She knew Tang Yueyue was embarrassed and didn’t want anyone to see her tear-streaked face. “Yanqing took Koko out to play, and Grandma should be out too. You don’t need to worry.”

Tang Yueyue felt reassured and went inside, quickly removing her ruined makeup with Qiao Wanqing’s cosmetics.

She washed her face and reapplied a lighter makeup.

By the time she finished, Gu Yanqing and the others had returned.

Kouko and the others looked excited about something.

Tang Yueyue saw Kouko making wild gestures in front of Qiao Wanqing.

“It was so big—” Kouko exaggerated the size with a loud voice, stretching out his hands, “a rabbit.”

“A rabbit?” Qiao Wanqing asked with curiosity. “Did you see a mountain rabbit?”

In their village, seeing common animals like mice or rabbits wasn’t unusual, especially with weasels around.

“Probably,” Gu Yanqing said. “It ran away pretty fast.”

Kouko wanted to tell his mom about the big rabbit they saw but couldn’t catch.

However, since his dad mentioned it first, Kouko became upset.

“I want to say it!” Kouko jumped up, almost crying from frustration at his dad.

“Alright, Koko, tell us,” Qiao Wanqing quickly reassured the spoiled little rascal. “What did you see?”

“Dad, Dad said it,” Kouko pouted, still holding a grudge.

Qiao Wanqing: “……”

Tang Yueyue quickly went over and said to Kouko, “Why don’t you tell Auntie what you saw? Auntie doesn’t know yet.”

Kouko finally cheered up.

He stood up straight, spread his little arms wide to show how big the rabbit was, and said with a flushed face, “It was this big— a rabbit.”

Seeing Kouko like this, Tang Yueyue tried to suppress her laughter and asked, “A rabbit? Why didn’t you catch it?”

“It, it ran away.”

“Did it run fast?”

“Yes,” Kouko nodded, his eyes wide. “Gone, gone.”

Tang Yueyue widened her eyes in sympathy and said, “That’s such a pity. It would have been great to catch it, right? You could have kept it as a pet.”

Koko looked up and smiled, saying, “Eat, eat rabbit, very tasty.”

Tang Yueyue: “……”