“Yaoyao, Yaoyao?” Lu Zhao’s hand gently landed on Shen Qingyao’s back and nudged her, leaning close to her ear to call her, “Wake up first, shall we sleep a little longer later?”
“Mmm…” Shen Qingyao stirred slightly, impatiently grabbing his hand and pulling it in front of her, even rubbing her face against it, yet still unwilling to wake up.
Lu Zhao looked a bit helpless, but his eyes revealed fondness. He hooked the finger that she had grabbed, lightly scratching her face with its cool tip, making Shen Qingyao feel ticklish. She instinctively shrunk her neck to avoid it without fully waking up.
A few muffled laughs escaped Lu Zhao’s throat as his fingers became more playful.
Shen Qingyao was annoyed by his restless finger but couldn’t bear to let go of it, as she had just grabbed it moments ago. The fragrance of the cold lingered around, and she couldn’t bring herself to release it.
In her half-asleep state, she furrowed her brow and tightened her grip on Lu Zhao’s hand, pressing the mischievous finger firmly against her head.
Lu Zhao exerted considerable effort to retrieve his hand without waking her up.
Just then, Kong Lin had already been brought to the courtyard by Cui Qiao. Even before they entered the room, Kong Lin’s loud voice filled with anger could be heard from afar.
“What? Sleeping? At this hour? How could you sleep now? Have you just fallen asleep or haven’t woken up yet? This is unacceptable!”
Kong Lin’s temper remained as fiery as ever, showing no signs of mellowing with age. If anything, he seemed more confrontational with age.
Especially towards Shen Qingyao.
Everyone could see that Master Kong treated Shen Qingyao like his own granddaughter, but the more he cared, the more scolding he gave.
Cui Qiao seemed to laugh dryly and said a few more words, too quiet for Shen Qingyao to hear clearly. However, Kong Lin seemed less furious after hearing Cui Qiao’s words, and his voice gradually softened.
In her dream, Shen Qingyao heard Kong Lin’s voice and reflexively tensed. Uncomfortably, she moved, causing Lu Zhao to think she was waking up. He quietly waited for a while, only to see the little girl’s face flush, falling back asleep again.
*…Pfft.* Lu Zhao chuckled again, shook his head, and decided not to disturb her any further.
He could only turn helplessly towards Kong Lin, who had just pushed open the door. “Apologies, Doctor Kong, please proceed. Yaoyao has been unusually sleepy lately, and we’re not sure why.”
With that, he gently pulled Shen Qingyao’s hand out, exposing her wrist to Kong Lin.
Seeing that she still wasn’t awake, Kong Lin instinctively frowned. Stroking his beard, he muttered, “Unacceptable,” but dutifully set down his medicine box and began to carefully examine her.
Shen Qingyao had fallen asleep just after noon, but by the time she woke up, it was dusk.
The room was quiet, and the dim light momentarily left her disoriented, unsure of the time or place. There were no sounds of wind or people around, giving her a brief sensation of being abandoned by the world.
Thankfully, when she turned her head, she saw Lu Zhao.
Lu Zhao was leaning against the bedside, with nothing in his hands, quietly watching her.
Seeing her awake, Lu Zhao smiled gently at her.
Shen Qingyao looked up at him from below, a perspective she had seen many times before, but each time she couldn’t help but marvel: how could someone look so good from this deathly angle?
As Shen Qingyao admired her husband for a while, she gradually noticed something wrong in his eyes.
She rubbed her eyes and asked, “Hmm… Elder Brother Lu Zhao, what’s wrong?”
The girl, just awakened, spoke with a softness that she herself seemed unaware of, charming and delicate, warming his heart.
“It’s nothing…”
Lu Zhao’s voice carried a barely perceptible hoarseness, as if he was trying hard to suppress something. He leaned down and pecked her cheek, lightly touching the soft flesh beside it with his fingers, and repeated softly, “It’s nothing…”
But Shen Qingyao didn’t believe him. Tilting her head, she recalled vaguely from her half-awake state that Kong Lin had come.
Kong Lin…
Shen Qingyao’s heart skipped a beat, suddenly feeling a sense of foreboding.
She widened her eyes, then sat up abruptly. Lu Zhao watched her closely, carefully supporting her back as if afraid she might fall.
So careful…
Shen Qingyao’s feeling of foreboding grew stronger. After a while, she cautiously asked, “Has Grandpa Kong already been here?”
Lu Zhao gave a deep ‘mm.’
“I knew it… there’s something wrong again, isn’t there?” Shen Qingyao’s voice trembled slightly. Though her heart disease had been treated, she suddenly wondered if there was a possibility of relapse.
Shen Qingyao was on the verge of tears.
She looked at Lu Zhao in terror, seeking answers from his expression. But deep down, she already suspected the truth. After all, the last time Lu Zhao had been this careful with her was when her heart disease hadn’t yet healed.
Lu Zhao looked at her in silence, his eyes filled with complex emotions. Before he could speak, Shen Qingyao’s heart grew colder bit by bit.
“Elder Brother Lu Zhao… just tell me, I… I can handle it.”
Though she said she could handle it, her face was already pale.
After a long while, Lu Zhao suddenly lowered his eyes and chuckled softly. His voice was very low, but it made Shen Qingyao freeze in her tracks.
She looked at him inexplicably.
The smile on Lu Zhao’s face gradually widened, the deep emotion in his eyes fading away, replaced by playfulness.
Shen Qingyao belatedly realized he was teasing her.
She stood still for a moment, then clenched her fist and punched him, pouting angrily, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, you lied to me!”
Lu Zhao caught her hand, then swiftly pulled her into his arms while she was still reacting. In a hoarse voice, he whispered in her ear, “I didn’t lie to you.”
It’s just that I was too overwhelmed with joy, I didn’t know how to tell you.
Lu Zhao lowered his eyes, his chin resting on Shen Qingyao’s back, feeling an indescribable sense of emotion.
He held her tightly, making Shen Qingyao uncomfortable. She shifted on his shoulder and muttered, “Elder Brother Lu Zhao, what’s really going on? You’re acting strange today…”
Shen Qingyao furrowed her brow. Lu Zhao’s current clinginess was unlike him.
Could it be that as soon as she woke up, her husband had been possessed by someone else?
With a suspicion born from past experiences of possession, Shen Qingyao narrowed her eyes, suddenly broke free, and cupped Lu Zhao’s face in her hands, asking skeptically, “Are you really Elder Brother Lu Zhao? My husband?”
Lu Zhao chuckled briefly again, allowing her to scrutinize him.
His expression gradually became complex and serious. He looked deeply into Shen Qingyao’s eyes and spoke gently and slowly, yet with utmost seriousness, “Yaoyao, thank you…”
“Thank you…?” For what? What’s going on?
Shen Qingyao was completely puzzled, feeling that the words sounded strange. Why would he thank her?
She feared that Lu Zhao’s next words would be, “Thank you, you’re a good person, but we’re not suitable…”
When she finally found out that she was pregnant, Shen Qingyao was shocked speechless for a while.
She repeatedly lifted and then lowered her hand, before cautiously touching her still flat abdomen, feeling somewhat bewildered.
“Really…?” Suddenly learning that there was a new life inside her, Shen Qingyao couldn’t even move, stiff like a puppet.
“Could it be a misdiagnosis…?” Shen Qingyao blinked, finding it hard to believe. She knew that it was early and ordinary doctors might not detect it, but Kong Lin wouldn’t make such a mistake.
She really had a baby…
Lu Zhao had been shocked earlier while she was asleep, but now he managed to appear composed in front of her.
He leaned over, wrapping his arms around her from behind, his large hand resting on top of hers on her abdomen.
“Yeah, Doctor Kong said it’s been over a month.”
Calculating the time, Shen Qingyao suddenly remembered something. She widened her eyes, turned to look at him, and exclaimed, “O-one month? That means…”
She blushed halfway through speaking.
After all, the incident had just been mentioned today. Lu Zhao naturally remembered, but he raised an eyebrow and asked with a smile, “That means what?”
Playing dumb.
“Isn’t it… that time with the pomegranates…” Shen Qingyao buried her head, her voice as soft as a mosquito.
She never expected this.
“Yes, so that pomegranate was really good…” Lu Zhao chuckled and gently kissed her on the lips.
—You’re lying, you complained that the pomegranates were sour in the morning.
While grumbling, Shen Qingyao slowly closed her eyes, only beginning to feel the reality of it now.
This kiss was light and gentle, but it lasted a long time.
In fact, neither of them had intentionally thought about having children.
Firstly, both of them were not too old, so there was no rush. Secondly, Shen Qingyao had always been frail since childhood, making conception difficult, and Lu Zhao felt it best to let nature take its course.
Now, the good news came suddenly, and both of them were actually at a loss, but afterwards, they were truly happy.
There was a little life growing from the two of them…
“Yaoyao…”
In this moment of lips touching, Lu Zhao softly murmured her name, as if a thousand words were contained in her name.
“Elder Brother Lu Zhao…”
In a moment of drifting consciousness, Shen Qingyao felt as if she had returned to that spring day many years ago.
She wandered around the academy, and when she looked up, she saw a handsome young man sitting by the window smiling at her.
She shared half of her cake with him, and heard the young man say to her, “I forgot to tell you, my name is Lu Zhao…”
And from then on, year after year, Lu Zhao had an extra tail, and Shen Qingyao had an extra Elder Brother.
Then came that snowy day, when she still forgot everything, and held a completely reversed script, rushing into his arms without hesitation, and asked him, “Will you marry me…”
That was the beginning of the story, and also their reunion.
Since then, they had written each other’s names into their lives…
Suddenly, a mechanical sound that hadn’t been heard for a long time echoed in Shen Qingyao’s mind:
[*Ding*—System prompt: Host, you have a new task notification, please check it out!]
Shen Qingyao : “…”
—Go away!
rokumi’s note : the main story ends here. There’s only one extra chapter, so I’m going to publish it today too.