Chapter 55

***

Tonight’s experiments went well. The initial estimates were accurately reached, and the next stage had a very long wait time, so Xia Feng ended up leaving the lab early. This was quite rare.

Although there was still a slight chill in the spring night, the faint fragrance of flowers in the air lifted the mood. Xia Feng looked down at his watch and saw that he had just enough time to pick up his wife from work.

It was quite early in the morning, so the streets were empty and the shops on either side of the road were closed. Xia Feng happened upon a 24-hour convenience store on and went in to buy two hot drinks.

When Yu Dong stepped out of the radio station gate, her high-heels clacking, she saw Xia Feng standing on the steps. He was smiling, wearing a long black trenchcoat and holding two cups.

Yu Dong’s eyes brightened, and she ran over, saying: “How come you didn’t tell me you were coming?”

“Don’t run so fast while you’re wearing heels!” Xia Feng warned as he passed a warm cup to Yu Dong.

Yu Dong accepted the drink and pushed the blame back to him: “It’s all because you suddenly appeared without telling me.”

“Alright, I’m at fault!” Xia Feng helplessly shook his head, willingly taking all the blame.

Yu Dong was satisfied as she took a sip of the drink. She realized it was a cup of sweet orange juice. “Where did you find orange juice in this late hour?”

(T/N: Hot….orange juice??? but well, that’s what it said.)

“I happened to pass by a random store.” Xia Feng saw Yu Dong happily drinking, so he also took a sip from his own cup. It really was good.

“Let’s head home after we finish the drinks.” Yu Dong proposed.

Xia Feng naturally had no objections to this, so the two slowly walked along the road, green leaves swaying. Compared to the bleak and bare winter trees, this scene was a beautiful contrast.

“We always seem to…meet late at night.” Yu Dong suddenly sighed and feeling a bit awkward, she said: “What does that sentence sound like we’re having an affair?”

Xia Feng was amused by Yu Dong’s words but felt that what she said was true. Every day he would wake up and go to work while Yu Dong was asleep, then when he returned home, Yu Dong would have already left for the radio station. Meeting like this in the middle of the early morning would rarely happen, and even then, it would need prior scheduling.

“I really like this time of day.” Xia Feng said, “The whole city is sleeping soundly, so the place seems empty. Like we’re the only two people in the world.”

“You…” Yu Dong was stunned and felt like she had been caught off-guard. “Why are you suddenly a master of sweet talk? Who did you learn this from?”

“What I said can’t be deliberately learned and can only come from the heart.” Xia Feng chuckled as he started to pet Yu Dong.

Yu Dong was flustered. She felt like an innocent maiden, her IQ falling to match a 16-year-old fanciful fool. Agitated, Yu Dong could only shout back: “You…don’t spout such corny things, I can’t stand it.”

“Ha…” Xia Feng felt that Yu Dong looked particularly cute at this moment. He couldn’t help but continue to tease her: “Didn’t you once say on your program that two people who love each other should express their feelings more often?”

“I…” Yu Dong felt that the Xia Feng in front of her right now was a little strange. She was happy and a little embarrassed at his lovey-dovey words, but she was reluctant to let it continue.

“I found that ever since we came back from your village at the beginning of the year, you haven’t had the time to tell me your feelings, so I thought I’d change and be more proactive. I…” Xia Feng hadn’t finished talking when Yu Dong unexpectedly went ahead and kissed him.

Feeling that her heart was about to burst, Yu Dong couldn’t control herself. Standing on her tiptoes, tasting the lingering sweetness of orange juice on his lips, she felt her mouth getting sweeter and sweeter.

After the initial astonishment, Xia Feng wrapped his arms around Yu Dong and lowered his head, slowly closing his eyes with a smile.

His wife was right, the more loving a couple was, the more they should take the time to express their love to each other.

It was past 3:00 a.m. when they got home, but fortunately, neither of them needed to get up early.

Xia Feng went ahead and took a bath first, then waited for Yu Dong in bed with a book, wanting to fall asleep together.

About ten minutes later, a sudden ring startled Xia Feng out of his thoughts. Thinking it was the hospital, Xia Feng hurriedly grabbed his phone, only to find that it was his father calling.

Usually, when something happens, it was his mother that calls him. His father rarely takes the initiative to call him, don’t tell me something happened to his mother?

Xia Feng was a little apprehensive when he answered: “Dad!”

“Sorry, did I wake you?” Father Xia kept his voice down.

“I wasn’t asleep.” Since his father didn’t sound stressed and still had the time to ask whether he had woken Xia Feng, the phone call doesn’t seem to be about anything overly important.

“Are you still in the hospital?”

“No, just returned home.” Xia Feng then asked, “But how about you, why are you still up at such a late hour?”

“Cough…your mother forced me to buy tickets.” Father Xia’s voice sounded helpless.

“Tickets? Where are you going?” Xia Feng asked, puzzled.

“Back to Shanghai.” Father Xia explained, “Your mother just had a dream about a baby porcelain doll wearing glittering red garments and calling her ‘grandma’. She woke up in the middle of the night, and now she keeps saying that daughter-in-law is pregnant, so now we have to come back to Shanghai.”

“What?” Xia Feng laughed so hard he started tearing up.

“Boy, tell me honestly, is she pregnant?” Father Xia asked.

“Dad, if we were having a child, I would never be able to hide it from you.” Xia Feng had no words.

“I told her the same. Anyway, the plane is going to land tomorrow so come pick us up.” After Father Xia said this, he hung up without waiting for a reply.

At this time, Yu Dong opened the bathroom door, freshly washed. She saw Xia Feng holding his phone and smiling, so she asked: “What happened?”

Xia Feng turned and saw his wife’s alluring appearance. With a quiet swallow, his eyes darkened. Turning away to place the phone on the bedside table he slowly said: “My dad called just now to tell me that my mom dreamed she had a grandson and was clamoring to come back tomorrow.”

“Ah??” Yu Dong was stupefied. “Mom is coming back tomorrow? Then we should pick them up.”

“Us picking them up isn’t what you should be concentrating on.” Xia Feng smiled, “You should be asking about the grandson part.”

Yu Dong noticed Xia Feng’s passionate gaze and suddenly felt a little uneasy.

Xia Feng got out of bed and slowly approached Yu Dong, the corners of his mouth rising. A hand gently reached out to loosen the belt of Yu Dong’s bathrobe and her silk pajamas dropped to the ground, exposing her smooth skin.

Yu Dong was then picked up by Xia Feng while she was still in a daze. The newly purchased pajamas were left near the bathroom door.

“What are you thinking about?” Xia Feng asked as he leaned down to take a bite of his preoccupied wife.

“I’m wondering why you’re still wearing your pajamas.” Yu Dong said reflexively.

“Then help take them off me…” Xia Feng laughed happily, placing Yu Dong’s hand on top of the ribbon of his pajamas.

Yu Dong’s face was red, but she unraveled the ribbon of his pajamas anyway. Then she raised her arms past her man’s strong shoulders and wrapped them around his neck.

The curtains in the master bedroom were quite thick to help the pair who often go home at irregular hours sleep peacefully.

“What time is it?” Yu Dong asked the busy Xia Feng with closed eyes.

Xia Feng carefully released Yu Dong from his embrace and lifted the blanket to cover his wife’s bare shoulders. His actions were slow and gentle, but Yu Dong still felt his movements and woke up.

“It’s 9:30, go back to sleep.” Xia Feng whispered.

“Un.” The dazed Yu Dong turned her body.

Xia Feng smiled, then got up to get dressed. He went to the bathroom to wash and after everything was in order, he returned to the master bedroom only to see Yu Dong sitting up.

It was obvious from her closed eyes and weak movements that she was still very sleepy.

“Weren’t you going to sleep? Why did you get up?” Xia Feng asked with some heartache.

“I just remembered, didn’t you say last night that mom and dad are coming back to Shanghai today?” Yu Dong rubbed her eyes. “What time are they landing? I’ll go with you to pick them up.”

“No you don’t need to, I’ll go on my own.” Xia Feng was a little moved as he rubbed Yu Dong’s head.

Xia Feng received a text from his father early in the morning to inform him that their plane was landing at 11:00 a.m. but also instructed them that they didn’t need to pick them up.

“Wait for a bit, I’ll just wash my face.” Yu Dong crawled out of bed and wobbled to the bathroom. Soon the sound of running water could be heard.

Xia Feng suddenly remembered a book he had read long ago that asked: How can you tell if a person really cares about you?

If she’ll care more about your family than you do.

Although she didn’t get enough sleep, Yu Dong’s light makeup still made her look lively. Looking at her watch as she bustled about, Yu Dong hurried Xia Feng who was leisurely eating porridge: “It’s past 10:00 already, we still need to drive to the airport so hurry up.”

Xia Feng picked up his bowl of porridge and offered it to Yu Dong: “Drink some.”

Yu Dong wrinkled her face and said: “I don’t want to, we can just have lunch after we pick up mom and dad.”

“If you don’t drink it soon, we won’t be able to leave on time. Then when my parents ask why we were late, I’ll have to say it was because you didn’t eat breakfast.” Xia Feng raised an eyebrow.

“Are you a child?” Yu Dong looked at Xia Feng, then took the bowl to gulp its contents down.

Xia Feng nodded in satisfaction, then put on his coat and left with Yu Dong.

“Drive a little faster, the plane will be touching down soon.” Looking at her watch, Yu Dong urged Xia Feng.

“Don’t worry, they still have to pick up their luggage after getting off the plane.” Xia Feng pacified her as he drove.

Yu Dong thought about it and agreed, so she quieted down, took out her phone and texted Xiaoyue to say that she wouldn’t be coming to the studio today because she needed to pick up her in-laws.

Xiang Xiaoyue was happy to give her the day off. Yu Dong smiled and was about to put away her phone when it suddenly rang.

Yu Dong answered her phone: “Mom?”

Xia Feng listened to her gentle voice, but he didn’t disturb Yu Dong.

Yu Dong nodded her head, occasionally glancing at Xia Feng as she listened to her mother. Xia Feng’s expression remained sweet as he waited for Yu Dong to finish. After five minutes, Yu Dong ended the call.

“What did mom say?” Xia Feng asked

“My mom said that you should stop sending things back home. She had to run several times to the post office when dad’s gas money ran out.” Yu Dong relayed.

“Ha??” Xia Feng was stunned.

“My dad also said that you shouldn’t buy cigarettes with weird names. The people in the post office get confused, so you should just buy Zhonghua next time.” Yu Dong added.

“Oh!” Xia Feng nodded to show that he understood.

“When did you start sending things to my house?” Yu Dong asked.

“Not so long ago…” Xia Feng smiled guiltily.

“Thank you!” Yu Dong lowered her head as she gripped her phone, her heart moved.

“I don’t want you to thank me.” Xia Feng turned to the last bend and drove into the airport parking lot. “If you really want to thank me though, I wouldn’t mind it if you kiss me.”

As soon as Xia Feng finished, he felt Yu Dong kiss him.

Xia Feng was so startled he reflexively stepped on the brakes. The car behind him didn’t expect Xia Feng to stop and almost hit him. The man became angry and shouted: “Do you even know how to drive?”

Xia Feng hurriedly drove forward as Yu Dong lowered in her seat.