He had gone out less recently, only wearing a few coats occasionally. Several pieces of clothing had been brought back but never worn.

It took several trips to put all the clothes in dust covers and hang them on the racks in the alcove.

However, when Zhang Ke was cleaning, he found that a drawer under the bedside table couldn’t be opened. It had a small lock on it. After trying a few times, he realized it really couldn’t be opened and knew that Wang Zhao must have put some important documents inside. He didn’t waste any more effort on it and started cleaning other areas.

Li Zhenguan glanced at that spot but didn’t pay much attention. His family also had such places, but they used safes that required passwords.

They cleaned the room once, and although Li Zhenguan didn’t do much, he felt sore and weak when he straightened up. He lay in bed until Wang Zhao came back in the evening, having slept another afternoon.

Today, Wang Zhao got off work at the usual time and even bought some of his favorite desserts from a nearby pastry shop on her way home. She arrived home just after six o’clock, when Zhang Ke had just finished making dinner.

Wang Zhao went back to the room, where Li Zhenguan was still lying in bed, somewhat groggy. He opened his eyes and barely looked when he heard the door open.

“You’re off work?” He sat up in bed.

Wang Zhao frowned slightly, looking at the room’s arrangement: “Did you clean the room today?”

“Mm.” Li Zhenguan nodded, rubbing his waist and looking at the phone screen on the bedside table, which showed it was past six. He had slept for four or five hours straight, and Zhang Ke hadn’t come to wake him.

He tidied himself up, preparing to get out of bed. Wang Zhao’s gaze moved away from the drawer under the bedside table, not saying anything. She changed into a set of clothes and said to Li Zhenguan, who was getting dressed, “The food is ready. Let’s go out and eat first. I bought some pastries you like on my way home from work and put them in the fridge. They’re from that pastry shop you often go to.”

Li Zhenguan nodded.

He didn’t leave the room first, but waited for Wang Zhao to get ready and left together. At this time, Wang Xuechun hadn’t returned home yet. She was probably eating dinner in the school cafeteria as she had evening self-study today, so there were only three people at the dinner table.

In this situation, Wang Zhao rarely initiated conversation. Only Zhang Ke’s voice could be heard at the table, with Li Zhenguan occasionally responding.

“Do you have time this Sunday?” After finishing talking to Li Zhenguan, Zhang Ke looked at Wang Zhao again. “It’s just over a week until the New Year, we need to stock up on some New Year goods at home.”

Wang Zhao thought for a moment: “I don’t have anything planned. Our company will probably start the Spring Festival break this week.” Some colleagues from other provinces had already started leaving.

“Mm.” Zhang Ke said, “After you accompany Zhenguan to the maternity school this week, we’ll go to the supermarket the next day to buy some things.

You and Zhenguan are newlyweds this year, so you don’t need to spend the New Year at our place. Your mother and I think you and Zhenguan should go to your in-laws’ place for the New Year. Your mother and I will go to your aunt’s place for the New Year and visit the hometown while we’re at it.”

Wang Zhao had no objections. This wasn’t something that needed hesitation, so she nodded.

She had actually discussed this privately with Li Zhenguan before, but it would seem lonely for Zhang Ke and Wang Xuechun to spend the New Year alone at home. So initially, she was thinking about maybe booking a restaurant and having a reunion dinner with both sets of parents together. But that would be much more troublesome as restaurants are busy during the New Year period, and they would need to book a table half a month in advance.

Li Zhenguan also nodded, then smiled and said a word of thanks to Dad.

He didn’t know if other fathers-in-law were this easy to get along with, but Zhang Ke and Wang Xuechun were truly easy to get along with. Li Zhenguan was also aware of his own personality. Sometimes he was just a bit pampered. At the beginning of their marriage, the nutritionist his father found would come over every few days, and even the family doctor had visited several times. Every few days, he would send over clothes, as if afraid he wasn’t living well enough.

Zhang Ke had never said a word to him, and was even worried that he wasn’t living comfortably here. He wasn’t asked to do any housework, and it was Li Zhenguan who took the initiative to learn cooking from Zhang Ke. He wasn’t a foolish person. He could act one way in front of Wang Zhao, but in front of Zhang Ke, he absolutely couldn’t act that way. Otherwise, even the kindest person would have thoughts after a long time.

On the weekend, after Wang Zhao accompanied Li Zhenguan to the maternity school, the next day she drove the whole family to a nearby supermarket to shop.

Since they weren’t spending the New Year at home, they didn’t buy a lot of food, just some New Year snacks and festive items like couplets. Because they were going to the hometown, they also needed to buy some gifts to bring.

Although Wang Xuechun’s parents were no longer around, some elderly relatives in the hometown were still alive. Since they were going back for a visit, they needed to prepare gifts.

At this time, Li Zhenguan’s belly was already quite noticeable, about seven months along. He had some purple, wave-like stretch marks on his legs and stomach. Because of these stretch marks, Li Zhenguan didn’t like to expose his body in front of her anymore, feeling it looked unattractive and even somewhat frightening.

Wang Zhao didn’t actually have many thoughts about it. It’s not like she hadn’t seen pregnant people in her past life, and in that life, it was originally women who had the ability to give birth. So in some ways, Wang Zhao could understand Li Zhenguan’s feelings.

In this situation, she could only treat him more gently. After all, Li Zhenguan was so sensitive that he would even speculate whether a passing dog was male or not.

Zhang Ke and Wang Xuechun walked in front, while Wang Zhao protected Li Zhenguan walking behind. Overall, Li Zhenguan’s figure was still quite slender. Wearing a loose coat that covered his abdomen, it was hard to tell he was a seven-month pregnant man.

As they passed the fruit section, Li Zhenguan stood selecting fruits. Wang Zhao looked at him, figuring he should be fine, and went to another area to get a few boxes of cherries. Zhang Ke had mentioned earlier that Wang Jing particularly liked these, saying to bring back a few boxes for the holiday.

Wang Xue Dong wasn’t a wealthy person either, so she wouldn’t buy many of these fruits that cost over a hundred yuan a box during the Spring Festival.

After she selected three boxes and just placed them in the shopping cart, someone nearby was pushed by the crowd flowing in the opposite direction. She was quick to react, hurriedly supporting the person, preventing them from falling to the ground.

At this time, the supermarket was particularly crowded, and it was easy to trip if one wasn’t careful. Thinking of this, Wang Zhao’s gaze turned to where Li Zhenguan had been earlier, wanting to find him.

However, there were too many people, and she couldn’t see him. Even her height didn’t help much in this situation.

The person she supported was a young man, looking not very old, probably only eighteen or nineteen. He was holding a phone and carrying nothing else, likely here with his parents.

Relieved at not falling, he instinctively said thank you, then looked up at Wang Zhao’s face and was surprised for a moment. His face suddenly turned red, and he awkwardly averted his gaze, mumbling another thank you.

Wang Zhao didn’t pay much attention, just smiled and told him to be careful walking, then prepared to leave.

She took out her phone, intending to call Li Zhenguan. There were too many people now, and though it had only been the distance of one fruit stand, she could no longer see Li Zhenguan when she turned back.

However, the young man nearby didn’t leave, but stood next to Wang Zhao, seeming hesitant. While dialing, she glanced at him, her gaze asking, “Is there something else?”

He stammered.

Li Zhenguan’s phone wasn’t connecting, so Wang Zhao put down her phone and looked at the person beside her.

This wasn’t a good place to talk, so she pushed the cart to one side. The young man, thinking she was about to leave, seemed to gather his courage. He took out his phone and held it in front, saying, “Thanks for helping me earlier. Can I add you on WeChat?”

Wang Zhao paused in dialing Li Zhenguan’s number. She looked at the young man in front of her, or perhaps ‘boy’ would be more appropriate. He was wearing a black wool coat, with medium-short hair and fair skin. He was good-looking, which might be why he had the courage to ask for someone’s WeChat.

She put away her phone and looked at the young man with a half-smile, asking, “Are you of legal age?”

The young man was stunned for a moment, then hesitantly nodded slowly.

Actually, he wasn’t of legal age yet, still two months away from turning eighteen. But the person in front of him looked to be in her twenties, and he thought many people wouldn’t want to connect with minors, so he boldly claimed to be of legal age. After all, it was just two months, the blink of an eye.

“Which high school?” Wang Zhao asked while scrolling through her phone screen. Her observation skills were remarkable; she couldn’t have missed the young man’s slight hesitation earlier. At his age, he was likely still in high school.

The young man’s embarrassment dissipated somewhat, his eyes widening a bit. “Do you need to know which high school I attend just to add me on WeChat?”

At this moment, Li Zhenguan sent her a message saying he had met up with Zhang Ke and the others and was now at the checkout. Apparently, he hadn’t seen her when he turned back, so he had just walked out.

Wang Zhao didn’t have time to waste here anymore. She just smiled and said to the person in front of her, “Underage kid, it’s better to focus on your studies right now.”

He seemed a bit indignant.

People of this age probably dislike this kind of talk the most. Adults always like to tell them that studying is most important at this age, not to date early, and that everything will come when they get to university.

Wang Zhao didn’t bother further. After replying to Li Zhenguan, she pushed the cart away. In her view, her previous words had already been a polite refusal.

Li Zhenguan and Zhang Ke’s group were standing at the exit where there was a flower shop. Li Zhenguan was inside the shop. After Wang Zhao came out from the checkout, Li Zhenguan had just bought a bouquet of green lisianthus.

She picked up the bags placed to the side: “Let’s go to the parking lot.”

The car was parked in the underground parking lot. They took the elevator down with the shopping cart. Li Zhenguan stood next to her holding the flowers while Wang Zhao put everything into the trunk.

Then a group of people came from behind, probably also a family coming to buy New Year goods. Wang Zhao had just closed the trunk and turned around when she met a familiar face, and saw the slightly shocked expression in their eyes as they fell on Li Zhenguan’s belly.

There was a sense of disbelief, as if saying, “You’re actually married, and your husband’s belly is already this big.”

The person walking at the very back was the young boy Wang Zhao had met in the supermarket.

Wang Zhao felt like facepalming.

It seemed her life was always full of various coincidences.

Li Zhenguan also noticed Wang Zhao’s gaze. He followed her line of sight and saw four or five people standing not far away, putting things into their car. Among them was a young-looking boy holding a phone, looking this way with some surprise. Meeting Li Zhenguan’s gaze, he awkwardly averted his eyes.