After she died, Mr. Bo knelt in front of the tombstone and cried like a dog.

When she was five months pregnant, Ye Xiaowu's belly gradually swelled like a balloon.

The food cooked by the family chef hired by Xiao Yan was so delicious that she gained a lot of weight.

In order to control his diet, Ye Xiaowu asked Xiao Yan to take over as chef again.

Xiao Yan: “…”

You're basically scolding him for cooking badly, right?

Is it so unpalatable?

It was impossible for Xiao Yan to completely ignore the business in his hands, so he called Uncle Fei from Italy to look after her.

When he was not at home, Uncle Fei told Ye Xiaowu about Western philosophy, humanities from all over the world, and the past when he and Xiao Yan met and ran a casino together in their early years.

He also taught Ye Xiaowu Italian.

There is really a whiteboard set up in front of the floor-to-ceiling window. Uncle Fei is very serious about teaching people knowledge.

Knowing that Ye Xiaowu was taking a doctorate in finance, I asked her what research topic she had chosen. Ye Xiaowu said it was economics and finance, studying macroeconomic analysis and the manipulation of financial markets.

Uncle Fei advised her: "Pure finance is not competitive enough. Finance plus philosophy or art history, compound finance is more popular on Wall Street and has more advantages."

"The rigid rigor of economics, combined with the flexible dialectical thinking of philosophy, allows you to see the big picture in investment banking while paying attention to details that others may not notice."

Ye Xiaowu benefited a lot.

Patting her belly, she said to the two children, "Grandpa's prenatal education is a high-end game."

The name "Grandpa" made Uncle Fei in a good mood.

"I have no children, but I never thought that at my age, I would have a son and a daughter-in-law, and now I have grandchildren. This is such a good deal that I would wake up laughing in my dreams! When the children are born, I, as a grandfather, will give them a huge red envelope."

Ye Xiaowu also asked Uncle Fei a lot of questions about Xiao Yan's past.

Uncle Fei believes that there is a divine will in everything, and the end of philosophy is theology.

"I was also the one who taught Ayan Italian. Now I am teaching you. It feels like a wonderful fate."

Ye Xiaowu smiled with his eyes curved, "Then when the baby is born, Uncle Fei will continue to teach them. The knowledge mastered by one person can be passed down for three generations."

Uncle Fei smiled with deep, kind wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, and said quickly, "This is good, this is good."

Uncle Fei is very knowledgeable about philosophy and has studied it in depth, and he explains it in a clear and simple way. Even Ye Xiaowu, who only loves making money and not studying, has developed a strong interest in philosophy.

More importantly, philosophy helps to make money.

Uncle Fei asked her, "Have you chosen names for the two children?"

Ye Xiaowu just remembered this, "Xiao Yan will be back on a flight tonight, let the child's father pick him up in the evening."

Uncle Fei joked: "Ayan is not as smart as a human, but that doesn't stop him from being illiterate. Be careful that he doesn't take it randomly."

Ye Xiaowu laughed: "The names dad gave us are just cats and dogs, so we have to make do with them. Right, baby?"

The simpler the name, the easier it is to raise the child.

Like her, Ye Xiaowu, the name sounds very casual, but Xiao Yan always calls her "Ye Xiaowu", and as he calls her, this worthless name seems to become precious.

……

At eight o'clock that evening, Xiao Yan returned from Nanyang.

When Ye Xiaowu heard the door open, he quickly ran to the door.

It was cool at night in New York in late May.

Xiao Yan was wrapped in a slightly cool evening air. This time he went to Southeast Asia to handle some matters and was away for nearly half a month. Ye Xiaowu was pregnant and was more fragile and sensitive than usual. During the day, Uncle Fei accompanied her to talk about philosophy and play chess, so her life was quite fulfilling.

As soon as night comes, I especially want to video call him.

But there is a time difference of more than ten hours between Nanyang and New York, and I don't want to appear too dependent on him, as if I can't live without him. I also know that he is busy with business in Nanyang, so I restrain myself and endure.

When he took the initiative to call her via video, she pretended to be indifferent.

Ask her if she wants to.

She said it was just so-so.

But he really came back, his body was more honest than his thoughts. When he pounced on her, Xiao Yan held her up, half indulging and half blaming her: "Why are you running? What if you fall? You missed me, right? Why didn't you tell me if you missed me?"

Ye Xiaowu's nose felt a little sour, but he refused to admit it: "It's just normal, the baby misses you."

Xiao Yan smiled and lowered his forehead to hers, "Then tell me, is it the big baby who misses me, or the little baby?"

"..."

asshole.

Ye Xiaowu felt a little aggrieved: "So what if I miss you? Can I come back early if I miss you?"

Xiao Yan held her waist, leaned over and kissed her, his voice hoarse and serious: "Of course, don't be stubborn next time. When I ask you if you want it, just say you want it so badly."

"You don't have to be sensible, do you hear me?"

Ye Xiaowu's tears rolled down, "Do you miss me?"

He pinched her face and said, "What do you think? I asked you to send me photos, but you didn't. Are you deliberately keeping me hanging?"

Ye Xiaowu hugged his neck and muttered: "I got it..."

"What kind of photos are you sending? The meals you eat every day? Of course you can share your life with me, but don't you have to let me see you too?"

"Where do you want to see?"

"Guess." Xiao Yan laughed roguely, and touched her body with his big hands unscrupulously, "Let me take a good look tonight."

Her face was steaming from being touched, and she whispered, "You've gained weight..."

"Then I have to see where our puppy has gained weight." He spoke meaningfully, his voice stirring desire.

Xiao Yan held the back of her head and kissed her passionately at the door.

Less than half a month.

Not only does the puppy miss him, he misses their puppy even more.

They had video calls occasionally, and I wanted to be naughty and ask her to take off her clothes for him to see. It was fine if she didn't take them off, but I couldn't help it after she did. In the end, I gave up. I quit smoking for several months, but after returning to Nanyang for half a month, I started smoking heavily again.

It is not difficult to restrain physical desires, but it is difficult to restrain the physical impulses caused by lust, which are primitive and barbaric and engulf the body and mind, and the burning longing is difficult to resist.

Uncle Fei passed by and coughed lightly: "Let's eat first? Otherwise the food will get cold."

Ye Xiaowu blushed and quickly pushed Xiao Yan away.

Xiao Yan didn't care at all. He hugged the person and kissed him again without restraint.

Had dinner.

He told her that Chen Anran and Lao Ying wanted to come and see her in a while. Ye Xiaowu said yes, and when the children were born, he would let Chen Anran be the aunt of the two children and Lao Ying be the uncle.

Xiao Yan smiled and said, "That won't work. Yingzi said he wants to be the godfather."

Ye Xiaowu touched his belly, lowered his head and said to the child: "Your Uncle Eagle is really shameless."

Xiao Yan was amused. He leaned over in front of her, put his hands around her waist, and put his ear to her abdomen. "Have these two naughty monkeys been behaving well recently?"

As soon as he asked the question, the two monkeys seemed to hear their father's greeting and kicked their stomachs.

Xiao Yan and Ye Xiaowu were both shocked.

Ye Xiaowu widened his eyes and asked, "Was it the brother who kicked it, or the sister?"

At five months of pregnancy, the gender of the fetus has been determined. Dr. Cairns, Ye Xiaowu's chief surgeon, judged from the current color ultrasound images that if a cesarean section is performed, the baby will most likely be a boy.

So, when they are born, there is a high probability that they will be brothers or sisters.

Of course, it doesn’t matter if you have an older sister or a younger brother, it’s all the same anyway.

Ye Xiaowu said, "During the past few days when you were away, they took turns making trouble, either kicking the left side of their stomach or the right side. Anyway, they were not very well behaved."

Xiao Yan greeted the two children with a half-indulgent and half-threatening tone: "You are making a fuss while I'm away, right? If you mess with mom again, I'll show you how dad will deal with you."

Ye Xiaowu laughed out loud: "Don't scare them. They are scared and dare not come out. By the way, the children haven't been named yet. Dad will give them one."

In fact, Xiao Yan had thought about it before, and for this name, he even went to the Jing'en Temple in Nanyang, where he saw Xiao Xiaowu's eternal lamp and the lamp that Ye Xiaowu lit for him.

Xiao Yan said: "How about naming the boy Ye Zhi and the girl Xiao Nian?"

The surname is their two surnames, and the characters together mean obsession.

It’s because of my persistence that I have come this far.

Ye Xiaowu was very satisfied. Uncle Fei said that he would pick randomly, but he was very good at picking.

Then she looked at him incredulously: "Don't you want your son to have your last name? Some men don't care about this very much?"

Xiao Yan was a man who was used to doing his own thing and he didn't care about those damn worldly things.

I didn’t raise my eyebrows and say, “Aren’t they your children? One has your last name and the other has mine. I just want to show off to others that this is our child.”

Ye Xiaowu thought about it and felt satisfied but also a little dissatisfied: "Obsession? You mean, you only have obsession with me?"

Xiao Yan laughed and cursed "Fuck", and he was still able to find fault like this.

He pressed her neck with his big hand, pulled her over and kissed her, and said domineeringly: "If there is no love, where does the obsession come from? Stop imagining nonsense."

Ye Xiaowu was breathless from his kiss, and all his wild thoughts disappeared.

Leaning in his arms, looking at the neon night scene and the endless flow of people outside the window, everything is changing, but Xiao Yan is as free and easy as ever. If he has changed, it is that he loves her and this family more every day.

Ye Xiaowu looked at him, with stars in his eyes: "The children's nicknames should be Xiao Xiaoyan and Xiao Xiaowu, okay?"

Xiao Yan tilted his head to look at her, his eyes were rarely deep and sensitive, and he said with a half-joking and half-serious look of regret: "Our little Xiaowu has come back with a playmate for himself."

Ye Xiaowu's tears suddenly fell as he smiled.

very nice.

What was lost came back in new forms.

Old scars may not be able to be healed, but enough happiness and warmth in the present moment seems to be able to heal the past.

"I hope my brother will be like you and my sister will be like me." After thinking for a while, she smiled and said, "Forget it. Dad is better at not fighting each other. Both children should be like you."

The strong will never waste their energy on internal conflicts.

Xiao Yan held her with one hand, and placed the other hand lazily behind his head, and said without any modesty: "Our child will definitely be beautiful and smart, like you and me."

"Xiao Yan, I want to go to California to watch the sunset."

Xiao Yan had no objection. He touched her belly and was a little worried: "Is it okay for a pregnant woman to take a plane?"

The flight from New York to Los Angeles is neither long nor short, about five hours.

Ye Xiaowu said: "I asked the doctor, it's 20 weeks, the mother and the fetus are healthy, it's okay to take a five-hour flight, and I've been bored at home for a long time, I want to go out and relax."

Xiao Yan simply said, "Okay, let's go."

……

In May, Los Angeles has a comfortable Mediterranean climate and the sunshine is warm and gentle.

The special plane landed at LAX airport.

Xiao Yan accompanied Ye Xiaowu to the IN-N-OUT hamburger restaurant next to the airport.

As usual, Ye Xiaowu ordered two different kinds of burgers, one in his left hand and one in his right hand, with a good appetite.

Xiao Yan saw that she was eating happily, and thought of the time long ago when they sat here -

Same location, same scenery, same girl.

The only difference is that last time it was a family of three, and this time it is a family of four.

Ye Xiaowu chose a rose pink Mercedes convertible vintage car. Xiao Yan drove her to Sunset Boulevard for a ride, attracting a lot of attention along the way.

While waiting for the traffic light, some enthusiastic passers-by even came up to ask if they could take a photo together, because the car was so eye-catching and the couple was also eye-catching.

When parking the car, Xiao Yan wore sunglasses, controlled the steering wheel with one hand, and put his other hand across the passenger seat to rub Ye Xiaowu's head.

This scene happened to be captured by a passerby who was standing outside the car and taking a photo together.

The passers-by were holding a Polaroid camera, so I gave this photo to them.

Ye Xiaowu liked it very much and accepted it.

When we arrived at Sunset Boulevard, the perfect sunset at six o'clock made us nostalgic and heart-moving, and the people around us made us even more heart-moving.

Same sunset, same best camera position.

This time, Ye Xiaowu handed the phone to Xiao Yan as usual and asked him to take a photo.

Xiao Yan smiled brightly and took a photo with her while holding up his phone.

Ye Xiaowu suddenly had an idea and said, "Xiao Yan, how about we come to California once a year from now on?"

Every year, they take a photo from the same camera position to record every year of their family of four.

Xiao Yan, of course, had nothing to say, and was extremely doting: "Okay, just listen to our little dog."

A refreshing sea breeze blew through the tall palm trees along the road.

The warm orange sunset hangs low over the sea.

She watched the sunset.

He looked down at the person in his arms, kissed her cheek, and said, "Ye Xiaogou, loving you is the happiest thing I have ever done."

Wherever she and the children are, it will always be his home.

Ye Xiaowu turned his head to look at him, his heart beating fast.

She was so happy to be loved by him so violently and passionately, and to be immersed in the California sunset.

She loved him more every day.

Coincidentally, he is too.

Ye Xiaogou and her Xiao Yan will love each other forever.

【End of full text】

Written by Lu Jinye in Nanjing, Jiangsu

2024.12.19.

Goodbye Jianghu.