While going upstairs, Li Zhenguan didn’t walk fast. Wang Zhao walked behind Li Zhenguan, mainly worried about him falling so she could react in time. As they walked, Li Zhenguan spoke up, starting a conversation with her.

“Wang Zhao, are we very familiar with Uncle Wang’s family?”

Wang Zhao’s gaze was still on Li Zhenguan’s feet, not moving away. She casually asked, “Why do you say that?”

“I saw that Qingchun kept looking at you.”

To be precise, he looked at Wang Zhao for quite a while before turning his gaze to examine him, a gaze that was really not likeable, as if judging from head to toe whether he was worthy of Wang Zhao, whether he was qualified to marry Wang Zhao.

Hearing this, Wang Zhao raised her head wanting to see Li Zhenguan’s expression, but could only see his back. Due to pregnancy, his whole body had become rounder, his back no longer as bony as before. Even slightly bent, one could see the outline of each vertebra through the thin clothes.

“We’re fairly familiar. But I’ve been studying, then working outside, so I don’t have much connection with the Qingchun you mentioned,” Wang Zhao explained, then teased with a smile, “Zhenguan, are you jealous?”

“No,” Li Zhenguan said, although he was a bit jealous, he wouldn’t say it out loud, feeling somewhat embarrassed in front of Wang Zhao. This was like his last bit of self-esteem.

Wang Zhao made a sound of agreement, then continued, “That’s good. After all, we’re not in frequent contact. Otherwise, he would have come over to greet me earlier when we met just now, right?”

Li Zhenguan stopped and looked back at Wang Zhao.

At this moment, he was on the stairs above her, more than a head taller, so when he looked back, he had to look down at Wang Zhao. He looked at Wang Zhao for a while, and Wang Zhao also stopped, allowing Li Zhenguan to examine her expression, her face calm with a faint smile.

“Finished looking?” Wang Zhao adjusted the bags in her hand. Holding them for so long made her joints ache a bit.

“Finished,” Li Zhenguan turned to go upstairs, continuing, “In the car, you said you had something to tell me.”

Good heavens.

Wang Zhao blinked. She thought Li Zhenguan had already forgotten about this. It seems the saying “pregnancy makes you stupid for three years” doesn’t always apply, after all, there are individual differences among pregnant men.

“Not anymore,” Wang Zhao thought for a moment. There wasn’t much to say about what happened in the supermarket, no need to tell Li Zhenguan and make him upset. She had reason to believe that if she told Li Zhenguan that an underage boy had asked for her WeChat in the supermarket, he definitely wouldn’t find it funny, but would be unhappy instead, and this unhappiness would probably last for a long time.

This man’s thoughts were sometimes very easy to guess. Worrying about getting old, worrying about not looking good, and also a bit worried that if she gave birth to a son, she might fall for a younger, more handsome boy.

It seemed that all the characteristics that would appear in a man could be found in Li Zhenguan to some extent.

Sometimes, she even began to wonder if Li Zhenguan had suffered some emotional setbacks before, why was he so distrustful of her? Or rather, after being together for so long, did she appear to be someone who would be lured away by young boys in Li Zhenguan’s eyes?

Seeing that Li Zhenguan was about to turn around to look at her again because of her words, Wang Zhao reached out and pinched the soft flesh on Li Zhenguan’s lower back, placing her palm on his lower back to stop him. She said somewhat helplessly, “Alright, don’t look back anymore. We’re almost at the front door, you can look all you want when we get home.”

Sometimes Wang Zhao didn’t know what to do with this person. They couldn’t argue, and she couldn’t be tough, otherwise Li Zhenguan’s tears would probably drown her. Li Zhenguan always cried for real, especially good at silently shedding tears. His eyes seemed to be on her heart, always able to soften her. Over time, Wang Zhao had also developed a habit of coaxing him.

Li Zhenguan indeed stopped looking back, but suddenly took a step forward, away from her palm, as if her tone had made him blush a bit.

Indeed, he didn’t speak anymore, and the two quickly reached the front door.

After entering, Li Zhenguan glanced at Wang Zhao and then returned to the room to change clothes. Wang Zhao carried the things to the kitchen, putting some perishables in the kitchen and some items for the New Year in the cabinet.

The day before the New Year, Wang Xuechun and Zhang Ke went to the aunt’s place, preparing to drive back to their hometown together. Wang Zhao and Li Zhenguan saw them off before going to Li’s family.

This year, because it was Zhenguan’s first year of marriage, Li’s family didn’t return to their hometown, but prepared to stay in Jiangcheng. Some relatives also came over for the New Year, mainly for a lively celebration. Otherwise, in such a large house with only six or seven people, they couldn’t even sit around one table.

As it happened, Yang Jin and Li’s mother discussed and decided to have people from both sides come to their house for the New Year. They would bring over the elders who could come, and this year the whole family wouldn’t go back.

Wang Zhao packed her luggage, planning to stay here for about three or four days.

She carried the luggage upstairs, directly placing it in the room Li Zhenguan had lived in before getting married. Wang Zhao had never actually been to this room before. Li Zhenguan’s room still maintained its appearance from before he got married, with clothes still filling the wardrobe and the desk surface very clean. It was clear someone came to tidy up every day, probably Zhang Shu’s doing.

While going downstairs, she encountered Zhu Xishan, who was talking to someone else. Upon seeing Wang Zhao, he also greeted her, “They’re playing cards upstairs, want to play a round or two?”

Wang Zhao wasn’t very interested, but after meeting the gazes of the other two people, she still nodded. There weren’t many recreational activities here anyway.

Upstairs was the domain of the young people, specifically reflected in the fewer smokers. Nowadays, most middle-aged people, whether women or men, would have a bit of a smoking habit. Fortunately, Wang Xuechun and Zhang Ke didn’t, otherwise, for the sake of Li Zhenguan’s health, these two would have had a hard time.

This was her first appearance before the young talents of the Li family. Everyone wasn’t very familiar, but their attitudes were very warm, greeting Wang Zhao. Two people sitting on the balcony even poked their heads out to say a word or two to her.

Li Zhenguan followed by her side, sitting next to her.

Since it was just for fun, the stakes weren’t very high, just five or six hundred per hand. Because scanning to pay wasn’t interesting, everyone brought cash, which was also considered a Li family tradition.

People would talk at the card table, occasionally asking Wang Zhao: “Zhenguan, which month are you due?”

“Around May or June,” Wang Zhao said, playing a card.

The other person smiled: “The child in Zhenguan’s belly is the first of our generation. Looks like we need to prepare well, give a big gift when the time comes.”

Wang Zhao smiled.

This sentiment was for the child in Li Zhenguan’s belly, not much to do with her.

She played a few hands, then voices came from downstairs, and the sound of firecrackers started outside.

This was a detached villa area, with some distance between each villa, so the firecracker noise wouldn’t disturb the neighbors too much. Wang Zhao took this opportunity to win her hand, and went downstairs with the others.

Downstairs, two large tables were set up, a bit cramped, but enough to seat thirty to forty people.

The hired chef should be the same as last time, the whole table had a feeling of East meets West. The ingredients were all very expensive, but the cooking methods were down-to-earth and homely, probably catering to most people’s tastes.

They had even specially roasted two lambs, cut and arranged on the dining table.

This meal took a very long time, about one or two hours, from daylight to dark, leaving the table in disarray. Because this was a villa area, the night was a bit deeper.

In the evening, there were still light activities on the street. Several children were clamoring to go see fireworks. After dinner, half of the people prepared to drive into the city, mostly middle-aged people and children, with few young people willing to move.

The house suddenly had half as many people. Wang Zhao and Li Zhenguan didn’t plan to go out, firstly because the streets were too noisy, there would definitely be many people today, not very suitable for a pregnant man, and secondly because it was already very late. At this time, Li Zhenguan should be sleeping. Usually at home, Li Zhenguan ate small meals frequently and slept for several hours during the day. Today he hadn’t slept at all and was now very tired.

Wang Zhao planned to watch some news for a while. She had received a notice some time ago that she had entered the second round of interviews with good initial test results. There was still more than a month before the interview. Usually she had to work during the day, so she only had time in the evening to browse recent news and look at some past interview experiences.

As she was scrolling on her phone, an incoming call appeared on the screen. Before she could react, she accidentally clicked the answer button.

The caller ID showed Chen Fangli.

She glanced towards the bathroom, where the sound of water was still going. Li Zhenguan was taking a shower.

The other end of the phone was very quiet, as if they also hadn’t expected her to answer the call, and didn’t know what to say for a moment.

Wang Zhao sighed. Indeed, studying at night easily made one tired. She pressed her brow and spoke first: “Chen Fangli?”

“Mm, it’s me.” After three or four seconds, the voice came from the other end, very calm.

Wang Zhao felt a bit bitter inside, but her face remained calm: “I pressed the wrong button just now.”

Her implication was that she originally wouldn’t have answered this call.

“I know,” Chen Fangli was very calm. He could almost imagine how ridiculous this call of his was, so before Wang Zhao could say anything more heartless, he spoke first, “I didn’t call for anything else, just to say one thing to you—

Happy New Year, Wang Zhao.”

If it were before, he would have called her at midnight, saying these words with a joyful mood of welcoming the future, letting Wang Zhao’s new year begin with his blessing.

Wang Zhao didn’t know why, but because of this “Happy New Year,” her eyes felt a bit uncomfortable, as if some emotion suppressed in her heart had stirred. But this emotion came quickly and left quickly. She soon reacted and also said:

“Happy New Year.”

Happy New Year, Chen Fangli.

Happy New Year, Wang Zhao.

This was her first New Year spent here, perhaps there was something commemorative about it. Otherwise, Wang Zhao couldn’t explain the slight sourness in her heart, just as if, truly, something had passed and would never return.

The call ended.

The sound of water in the bathroom stopped, and Li Zhenguan came out. He glanced at Wang Zhao’s phone on the table and casually asked, “Did someone call?”

Wang Zhao had already returned to normal. A slight, sudden, insignificant discomfort wasn’t enough to control her entire mood. She calmly made a sound of agreement, “A classmate, calling to say Happy New Year.”

Li Zhenguan was actually a bit unhappy. This time he didn’t overthink, purely feeling that this classmate’s call came at such an inopportune time. Who sends New Year greetings so early? He had wanted to be the first person to say Happy New Year to Wang Zhao this year.

Wang Zhao didn’t notice his mood and stood up from the sofa: “Dry your hair before sleeping, I’ll go shower first.”

Li Zhenguan absently made a sound of agreement. After getting the hair dryer, he sat in the spot where Wang Zhao had been sitting. This spot still held the woman’s body heat, and sitting down felt like being enveloped in a familiar scent.

However, at this moment, the screen of Wang Zhao’s phone on the table lit up. Li Zhenguan’s gaze was drawn to it.

He stared at this phone for a good while, his fingers unconsciously rubbing together.