Chapter 101: You Don’t Need to Explain; I’m Not Jealous
Though they spoke of getting married, it wasn’t happening immediately—they still had over two months to go.
Xie Siheng could wait; after all, they didn’t lack that marriage certificate right now.
When An An turned two months old, he could be taken out for a stroll. Keeping him cooped up at home all the time wasn’t ideal.
They didn’t dismiss the three-month maternity nurses they had hired during the confinement period; they took turns caring for An An. When going out, of course, Chi Wang and Xie Siheng took care of him themselves, so both of them knew how to change diapers and prepare baby formula.
Today, seeing the beautiful weather, Chi Wang decided to go out and have some fun.
He was going stir-crazy being cooped up. Relying on the fact that his abdominal wound had healed significantly—at least he didn’t feel any internal pain—he began exercising.
He couldn’t run yet, but he could ride a bicycle and lift dumbbells.
His day was fully scheduled.
The time he spent with the baby became very limited.
Chi Wang only felt guilty toward An An for about three seconds before quickly convincing himself. There was nothing he could do—he couldn’t stay idle, and An An slept ten to twenty hours a day, so he didn’t really need constant company.
But of course, necessary companionship wouldn’t be lacking.
Xie Siheng also returned to work at Haisheng, but he shortened his working hours by half a day—going in the morning and returning at noon—so he could still spend time with Chi Wang.
Again, staying at home all day wasn’t feasible, so they both had things to do.
Chi Wang had completely resigned from his part-time job as a tutor. The high schooler he was teaching couldn’t be tutored by him for nearly half a year, but he hadn’t deleted his contact information. If the student had any questions, he would ask Chi Wang on WeChat. This time, when the college entrance exam results came out, he scored 615 points and successfully got into a first-tier university. His mother even sent Chi Wang a red envelope, but Chi Wang politely declined, feeling he hadn’t tutored him from start to finish.
He had temporarily paused his part-time jobs at Dong Yue and as Xie’s assistant; he couldn’t manage everything. The immediate priority was to exercise—his limbs were getting stiff!
Although he hadn’t skimped on daily walks, that amount of exercise was only about one-tenth of what he used to do.
Chi Wang was eager to return to his pre-pregnancy physical condition.
So today, seeing the good weather, Chi Wang loaded An An into the stroller, planning to take him out for a stroll.
Xiaomi wanted to come along too. He had been neglecting Xiaomi lately, so Chi Wang pushed the stroller, and Xie walked Xiaomi.
In the past half-year, the relationship between Xiaomi and Xie had improved a lot; at least when Xiaomi saw Xie, he would wag his tail.
Previously, when Xie walked him, Xiaomi would suddenly speed up. Now, this bad habit of bullying the weak and fearing the strong had been corrected.
Chi Wang had never known that Xiaomi had this bad habit; Xie hadn’t mentioned it either. The saying “a dog relies on its master’s power” was accurate—Xiaomi knew how to read people.
They walked out of the villa area, heading toward the city center.
An An was making little noises in the stroller. Chi Wang stopped and spoke to him, “What’s wrong, An An? Is something the matter?”
Recently, Chi Wang had developed a habit of talking to An An a lot. Even though An An couldn’t understand, he thoroughly enjoyed it. “Oh, really? You want to see the scenery? But that’s not possible; there’ll be dust. Daddy will open a little window for you—you can look at the clouds through the little window, okay?”
As he spoke, he opened a skylight on the stroller.
An An was still babbling, making cute cooing sounds from his mouth. Soon, he grinned, his big eyes blinking, sparkling and lively. Chi Wang couldn’t help reaching out to poke his soft little cheek. An An had grown a bit; his facial features had begun to take shape. He looked like a very standard and beautiful baby, no worse than the babies on posters, especially those long eyelashes—they were too outstanding, like a little “eyelash spirit.”
Super cute!!! Ahhhhhhh!
Screaming groundhog.jpg
This was his little treasure!
Chi Wang’s face was full of silly smiles. “An An is very happy to come out, isn’t he? Today is your first time outside! Good An An, good baby. An An is Daddy’s good baby, right?”
Xie Siheng: “…”
When did his baby talk reach level ten?
Seeing Chi Wang’s face always overflowing with smiles, he couldn’t help but smile as well.
Xiaomi was circling around, trying to stick his head into the stroller but kept looking up at Chi Wang for his reaction, a bit tentative.
Chi Wang reached out and pinched his snout, patiently saying to Xiaomi, “You can’t kiss your little brother now, okay? Wait until he grows a bit more and has better immunity, then you can play with him, alright?”
Xiaomi: “Awoo~”
He glanced at An An in the stroller with some disappointment and withdrew his head.
Chi Wang praised him by patting his head, “Our Xiaomi is so good, such a good big brother.”
Xiaomi grinned, wagging his tail happily, lowering his head to rub against Chi Wang’s palm again.
Xie Siheng: “…”
Sometimes he understood why Xiaomi would give him dirty looks; he couldn’t say such things.
Chi Wang lowered his voice and said to Xie, “Before, I was worried that Xiaomi would get jealous. Isn’t it said that firstborns don’t want a second child? But Xiaomi isn’t jealous at all; our Xiaomi is so good.”
Xie: “… He probably knew you were pregnant back then.”
Chi Wang was stunned. “Huh?”
Xie said, “Some animals can smell the changes in a pregnant person’s scent. He was so well-behaved in front of you because he probably knew from the beginning that you were pregnant.”
Chi Wang’s eyes widened. “Is that so?”
Xie glanced at Xiaomi, his tone deep. “Don’t think he has a good temper; he’s only well-behaved in front of you.”
He had asked before; Xiaomi hadn’t hesitated to show Zuo Qianxing a bad attitude.
Just after he said that, Xiaomi turned around and bit Xie’s pant leg.
Chi Wang: “…”
Chi Wang gloated, “Hahahahaha, Xiaomi can understand what you’re saying! How could you speak ill of Xiaomi right in front of him!”
Xie: “…”
He looked down at Xiaomi. “Let go.”
Xiaomi made a “woof woof” sound, refusing to let go.
“…” Xie closed his eyes, his tone cold. “I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have said you had a bad temper. Can you let go now?”
Hearing his apology, Xiaomi finally let go, haughtily flicked his head, and ran ahead.
Chi Wang: “Hahahahaha.”
Xie: “…”
Is it that funny?
They walked to a park, and Chi Wang wanted to rest. He found a bench, wiped it down with wet wipes, then dried it with tissues before sitting down with Xie.
The morning sun wasn’t so intense, and it wasn’t very hot—a rare good day.
Chi Wang took An An out of the stroller. Such a small baby couldn’t even fill his arms; there was still plenty of space. He lowered his head to kiss An An’s little nose. An An’s fists were stronger now, clenched into tiny balls, pressing against Chi Wang’s face, as if he didn’t want him to kiss.
Chi Wang laughed, grabbed An An’s little fist, and playfully bit it, though his teeth applied very light pressure, like a mother cat carrying her kitten. As he bit, An An’s eyes widened, and he made a sound from his throat: “Ya ya! Ya!”
Chi Wang: “!!!”
Holy crap?
Chi Wang suddenly looked up at Xie. “Senior, did you hear that? Did An An just talk?”
Chi Wang knew that babies who talk early might start at nine or ten months; normally, they begin speaking at around one year old. But how could An An talk at just two months?
Xie leaned over to take a look and said, “It’s not talking; it’s just sounds he’s making from his throat, without meaning.”
Chi Wang realized. “Oh, right.”
He became curious and asked Xie, “Senior, when did you start talking as a child?”
Xie replied calmly, “A little over one year old.”
Chi Wang asked, “Do you remember things from your infancy?”
Xie paused before answering, “I remember things from around three years old.”
Chi Wang said, “I only remember things from when I was five or six. I don’t know when I started talking, but my neighbors said I was very precocious, very smart and eager to learn since I was little.”
As he spoke, he thought of something. “I don’t have any photos from when I was very young, but I have photos from elementary school. I’ll show you.”
Chi Wang picked up his phone and started fiddling with it. Being data-oriented, he had kept records from childhood to adulthood—like receipts from each shopping trip, employee discount coupons from part-time jobs, etc. He had stored them all.
He didn’t have photos from when he was very young, but he had one-inch ID photos from elementary school. In middle and high school, he had many more photos, but they were mostly photos secretly taken by classmates or from competitions and award ceremonies.
He rarely took selfies himself because he always felt that taking selfies seemed a bit narcissistic, and he worried that caring too much about his appearance would breed unnecessary vanity and pride, so he didn’t like taking selfies.
Wait a minute, Xie also didn’t like taking photos—is it the same logic?
So, in this way, they are quite a well-matched couple (x)2
Chi Wang quickly logged into his cloud drive and found his old photos.
He held An An in one hand and handed the phone over with the other, smiling, “I looked at your photo album; now I’ll show you mine, so we’re even.”
If we’re stripping, let’s strip together (x)3
Very fair!
Xie did not refuse; he was indeed curious about Chi Wang’s past.
He took Chi Wang’s phone and looked down. Chi Wang was rocking An An while leaning his head on Xie’s shoulder, looking down together.
The first photo was his one-inch ID photo from elementary school. Under the red backdrop was a very delicate face. Chi Wang said, “This was taken when I was in third grade.”
Third-grade Chi Wang had very short hair, just a bit longer than a buzz cut—big eyes, a high nose bridge, thin lips, a small face, and prominent features, with bright, spirited eyes.
A very handsome boy.
It’s usually hard to take good ID photos, but this one-inch photo was taken very well.
Xie praised, “You were good-looking since childhood.”
Chi Wang laughed, “Hahaha, thank you for the compliment. You were too.”
He swiped his finger, and the scene changed significantly—it was clearly a middle school classroom. Chi Wang was tall, sitting in the middle to back row by the window. It seemed to be after class; Chi Wang was sitting sideways, leaning against the wall, looking at a test paper.
The classroom’s light was a perfect blend of softness and brightness, making his face appear youthful and innocent.
Chi Wang said beside him, “This was when I was in seventh grade.”
A very candid photo with a nostalgic feel.
Through this photo, Xie seemed to truly see Chi Wang as a middle school student.
Swiping further, many were photos of Chi Wang in the classroom: Chi Wang wiping the blackboard, Chi Wang drawing on the blackboard, Chi Wang carrying a large trash can with a male classmate…
Xie suddenly asked, “Who took these photos?”
Chi Wang blinked, “Why do you ask?”
Xie said calmly, “They’re well taken.”
Chi Wang said, “A classmate of mine took them.”
Xie asked, “A boy or a girl?”
Chi Wang: “?”
Chi Wang answered honestly, “A girl, I think.”
Xie confidently said, “She liked you.”
“…” Chi Wang laughed. “How do you know?”
Xie said, “From the way the photos are taken.”
Chi Wang said openly, “Maybe.”
There were quite a few people who liked him since he was young. Chi Wang had gotten used to it; sometimes he knew, sometimes he didn’t. Even if he knew, he pretended not to.
Chi Wang said, “I didn’t have a cell phone in middle school, so these were photos taken by classmates. Around eighth grade, I saved money to buy a second-hand phone, and this friend sent me all the photos she had taken of me.”
He worried that Xie might overthink and explained, “I haven’t dated anyone.”
He said a bit shyly, “You’re my first—my first in every aspect.”
Although Chi Wang had many friends of the opposite sex, he maintained appropriate boundaries. Over time, he became a “friend to women,” making it impossible to develop other relationships.
Chi Wang didn’t have the inclination either.
Xie was truly his first in every sense.
Xie understood what he meant. His previously furrowed brows relaxed, and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly. “I know.”
After a pause, he emphasized in a cool tone, “You don’t need to explain; I’m not jealous.”
Chi Wang: “Hahaha.”
Do you think I believe that?
- “Screaming groundhog.jpg”: An internet meme featuring a groundhog screaming, used to express extreme excitement or surprise.
- “(x)”: In online Chinese, adding “(x)” after a sentence indicates a playful or joking tone, similar to adding a wry smile or saying “just kidding.”
- “If we’re stripping, let’s strip together”: A humorous expression meaning to share equally, ensuring fairness; the “(x)” indicates a joking tone.
