Chapter 54

— Su Wan replied to Xi Siyan: Ahem, son, don’t threaten children.
— Xi Yucheng replied to Su Li: Control your son! Stop eyeing *my* son! Don’t expect to enter my house next time!
— Su Wan replied to Xi Yucheng: Wow, Old Xi.
— Su Li replied to Xi Yucheng: Uncle sorry I was wrong! I’ll beat this little brat right now!
— Xi Yucheng: Unified reply: no one is allowed to set sights on my younger son! So annoying!
— Mrs. Gan: Is Leader Xi’s WeChat actually run by him personally?
— Wang Song’s dad replied to Xi Yucheng: ?
— Chen Tianruo’s dad replied to Xi Yucheng: ???
— Old classmate C: Saw screenshot in supertopic, checking in here!
— Childhood friend D: Shocked. I thought my eyes were broken. So you really posted it.
— Childhood friend E: Miaomiao’s jealousy is fierce!
— Fang Heng: Is little sister-in-law this formidable? Did he cry again hahaha!
— Song Fuxue replied to Fang Heng: Totally! Isn’t it addictive to ship?
— Fang Heng replied to Song Fuxue: Super addictive! Sister Song check DM!
— Zhong Yuan: My colleagues are shipping my colleague and his wife without me?
— Colleague F: Sitting up from my deathbed in shock. If we ship, we ship real couples!
— Colleague G: Spring river tides rise to sea level—turns out *you’re* the henpecked one!
— Professor Jin replied to Colleague F: Don’t write random poetry.
— Old classmate H: Damn, this comment section is like ad placement. Uh, anyway, passing by—premium renovation contact WeChat 137…
……
Xi Siyan’s lively Moments thread went wild all night.
The next morning, Jing Miao woke up and Xi Siyan had already gone to work.
Only then did Jing Miao quietly reply under that post.
He and Xi Siyan had limited mutual contacts, so he only saw a small part of the comments.
— My Heart’s Treasure: Gege, I miss you.
— Xi Siyan replied to My Heart’s Treasure: Baby, awake? Gege misses you too. I’ll come back at noon to eat with you.
— My Heart’s Treasure replied to Xi Siyan: Gege, I want to hear your voice.
— Xi Siyan replied to My Heart’s Treasure: Good baby, wait five minutes, I’ll call.
— Su Wan: …Can’t you two DM?
— Xi Yucheng: …Can’t you two DM?
— Wang Song: F*ck, one notification almost blinded me with PDA. Never in my life have I wanted to pick out the red dot on Moments this much.
— Gan Zisen: +1…
— Song Fuxue: HELP!!! Xi Siyan is about to call his wife! Everyone who sees this has five minutes to reach their office door!
— Su Gujin: Waaah!!! Big cry!!! Auntie still won’t reply to me!!!
— Aunt Jiang: Uh, if Miaomiao is awake, come downstairs to eat the breakfast your gege made.
— Zhong Yuan: cao…
— Song Fuxue replied to Fang Heng: Stop staring at your computer. Coming together?
— Fang Heng replied to Song Fuxue: Coming, sis!
— Vice Principal replied to Zhong Yuan: Zhong Yuan what are you “cao”-ing? Did his wife reply?! Screenshot it for me now!
— Zhong Yuan replied to Vice Principal: Teacher, you said you don’t ship CP…
— Professor Jin replied to Xi Siyan: Keep your slacking moderate during work. You slacked alone and now your whole office is watching the show!
Xi Siyan skimmed the comments, then called Jing Miao.
The child was still in bed; you could hear the rustle of blankets.
“Gege, good morning.”
Xi Siyan looked at the beautiful sun outside.
“Good morning, baby.”
On Xi Siyan’s last workday before Spring Festival, he brought Jing Miao with him.
Snow had fallen in the capital, and Jing Miao was in the courtyard playing in the snow with a child.
Since vacation was about to start, nobody had to clock out precisely today.
Before leaving, Zhong Yuan and Xi Siyan stood by the first-floor entrance chatting with a few leaders.
Things seemed a little unstable lately.
Flu season had arrived; many people were sick; news trends looked bad.
The leaders kindly reminded them to stay warm during spring break and avoid overly crowded places.
Xi Siyan smiled and agreed.
Zhong Yuan glanced sideways and saw Jing Miao crouched on the ground, playing happily with another colleague’s child.
He wore a white down jacket; crouching in snow, he nearly blended into it.
Like a little spirit.
When Zhong Yuan learned that Jing Miao, after graduation, had gone to teach math and English at a public-interest primary school, he had been shocked for a long time.
It was rare, in such an impatient era, to see someone this earnest and pure.
He truly deserved the words truth, kindness, beauty.
Too beautiful, and so it felt unreal.
Still, Zhong Yuan always felt something was slightly off.
He thought of noon today, how Xi Siyan had accompanied Jing Miao for a nap in the lounge.
Jing Miao had kept a nap habit for years, unwavering.
Xi Siyan usually rested with him.
But to finish early and go home sooner today, Xi Siyan planned not to sleep and wanted to process work quickly.
After lunch, Xi Siyan said,
“Miaomiao, want to nap in the dorm? It’s not comfortable here.”
Jing Miao hugged him and wouldn’t let go.
“It’s comfy. I want to be with gege.”
So Xi Siyan sat on the lounge sofa, let Jing Miao pillow on his lap, put noise-canceling headphones on him, covered him with his own down jacket, patted his back gently with one hand while reading on a tablet with the other.
Zhong Yuan stood at the door with coffee and watched.
Such a familiar scene, yet it always made him feel something wasn’t quite right.
When Jing Miao woke, the first thing he did was reach out and say,
“Gege.”
Xi Siyan leaned down so he could hook his neck.
“Baby’s awake.”
“Gege, hug.”
His voice was light and natural, pure instinctive pampering—milky-soft, sticky-sweet, like milk candy.
Xi Siyan set things down and lifted him at once, then kissed him as if no one else existed.
“Good baby, up we go. It’s snowing outside. Want to play in the yard? A little while more and we can go home.”
Jing Miao obediently sat up and said okay.
When he said “okay,” there was always that drawn-out ending, slow and gentle.
Xi Siyan tidied his hair, helped him put on shoes and jacket.
“You must wear gloves when playing with snow. No grabbing snow barehanded. Hear me, baby?”