This was probably the first time the two of them had made such a connection. Having a child, something they had always thought was out of reach, seemed to have become a matter of course. She stared at Qiao Anchen with some lingering fear, but thankfully he seemed to have just said it casually.
On the way back, Chu Yi was unusually quiet. She wanted to subtly nudge him, but she was afraid to bring up the topic. It seemed that Qiao Anchen had completely forgotten about what had happened before, and Chu Yi gradually let it go.
Let's take it one step at a time; it's still early.
This Spring Festival is going to be spent at Qiao Anchen's house. It's the first time in Chu Yi's memory that she hasn't spent the New Year with her parents. This makes her realize clearly that she has really rebuilt a new family and is no longer the child who used to be the one who was loved by her parents.
Qiao Anchen has many relatives. Although only his family ate New Year's Eve dinner and watched the Spring Festival Gala together on New Year's Eve, they booked a hotel room on New Year's Day and the whole family had a meal together.
Chu Yi was led to call out to a bunch of uncles, aunts, and other relatives. There were also two children among them, who were chubby-faced and very noisy.
Chu Yi has always been popular with children, probably because of her cute appearance and gentle temperament. Children are always very perceptive and know which adults are easy to get along with and which are more frightening.
During the meal, the child next to us kept pestering Chu Yi to talk, calling her "little auntie" in a very sweet way, which made his mother tease him about it.
"Does Weiwei like his aunt?"
"I like it~" the child said in a childish voice.
"There are so many people here, why do you only like Auntie?" His mother pressed on, and the child was confused for a moment, but quickly answered.
"My aunt is pretty..." He didn't have that many words in his mind, but he knew that "pretty" was a compliment.
The crowd burst into laughter, and one of them looked at Tian Wan meaningfully and couldn't help but make a joke.
"Wanwan, our Anchen should be getting married soon, it's been more than half a year since we got married."
21. Chapter 21
The atmosphere suddenly became strange. Chu Yi froze while drinking water, his eyes wide with helplessness and fear, and he unconsciously swallowed. He seemed to clearly hear a gulp.
After a moment of silence, Qiao Anchen gave his concise reply.
"It's still early."
“Yes, we old folks can’t interfere with what young people do. They all have their own ideas and plans now.” Tian Wan smoothed things over and got up to pour a cup of tea for the uncles across from her.
"Let's just live our own lives," she said with a self-deprecating smile, tinged with a hint of mockery. The others chimed in, and a lively discussion ensued.
Yes, that's how it is now.
"My husband is the same way, saying he doesn't want any kids for at least two years."
"Things are different now than before; there are plenty of people who don't get married."
"Society has become more open."
The topic shifted away from them, and Chu Yi breathed a sigh of relief. She secretly glanced at Qiao Anchen, who was still eating his meal with an unchanged expression, showing no sign of anything amiss.
No one brought it up after the dinner. Chu Yi had also calmed down from her initial panic. She had already decided that if she was asked about it, she would say that she was not ready yet.
Fortunately, the next few days were peaceful.
Not long after the Spring Festival, Qiao Anchen returned to work. In addition to drawing, Chu Yi now takes time to go out and teach classes every day, and sometimes has to rush back early to cook dinner. Her time is fully scheduled every day.
Just as she expected, this completely distracted her from focusing on Qiao Anchen.
Even if Chu Yi doesn't see him for a day, he doesn't feel much.
She has recently become obsessed with making desserts. Every day after class, she buys ingredients and makes them herself again. The process of preparation and the finished product are both very satisfying.
Her most satisfying moment of the day is on a sunny afternoon, when she prepares a cup of herbal tea, enjoys the breeze on the balcony, and eats the desserts she just made.
Chu Yi meticulously documented each step with a camera, and after editing the text, it became a complete tutorial.
She couldn't help but post these things on her Weibo account, which is called "First Day of the Month and Fifteenth Day," also her pen name.
The Weibo verification page identifies the author as a comic book writer, followed by a list of representative works.
The number of followers is over 300,000.
The first thing I made in my first year of junior high was a matcha mille-feuille cake.
The process is very simple. Prepare the flour in advance, add milk, eggs, matcha powder, etc. in sequence, stir well, sift, and freeze in the refrigerator for one hour.
Brush oil on the frying pan, spread the batter out and fry it into a thin crepe.
The batter with added matcha powder produces a light green crepe, which is very refreshing and beautiful. Finally, whipped cream is spread on top, layered on top of each other, sprinkled with matcha powder, and cut into small triangular shapes. The light green crepe with layers of cream inside looks as beautiful as terraced fields in the mountains at dawn.
This dessert is both beautiful and delicious. Just seeing it placed in front of her made Chu Yi unable to stop herself from swallowing.
Not to mention, this near-perfect dessert was made by her.
The sense of accomplishment I feel in the first year of junior high school is about to explode.
She was eating a matcha mille-feuille while editing photos and uploading them to Weibo, but the caption was quite serious and academic, unlike her carefree mood at the time.
Today's recommendation:
Matcha Mille Crepe - Not too sweet or greasy, with a subtle tea aroma, perfect for enjoying slowly in the afternoon~ This isn't the first time Chu Yi has posted food photos on Weibo, but it's the first time she's made it herself. The detailed tutorial photos made fans exclaim that their idol is still so skillful!
Chu Yi happily ate the cake while reading the comments below praising it highly, feeling even sweeter than the matcha mille-feuille itself.
Qiao Anchen has been busy again lately. He had just returned from his holiday and there was a lot of work piling up. He was working overtime day and night.
I often have the feeling that their holidays are just a temporary break from work. When they come back from the holiday, they will have to make up for all the debts they owe during their rest time.
It's called a holiday.
It's actually just a soft way of working overtime.
Sometimes, when Chu Yi saw Qiao Anchen come home looking exhausted, she would feel a little sorry for him. She found some nourishing recipes online and would make him some soup every now and then.
Although I don't know if it will be useful, it's better than nothing.
That morning, Chu Yi overslept and rushed to class, forgetting his keys in his haste to leave.
Qiao Anchen came home very late last night. Chu Yi was already half asleep, but it was probably because the two of them hadn't been intimate for a long time, since Qiao Anchen had been squeezing out sleep time these days.
Chu Yi was held in Qiao Anchen's arms. When he kissed her, Chu Yi tried to dodge and mumbled that it was too late. Qiao Anchen kissed her neck, his voice muffled.
"fine……"
In the end, Chu Yi reluctantly agreed, but the two of them stayed up very late. Perhaps it was because they had been abstaining for too long, Qiao Anchen did not finish for a long time, and Chu Yi's mind was blank. Later, she did not even take a shower, and fell into darkness as soon as she closed her eyes.
When Chu Yi woke up, she was still thinking about how Qiao Anchen could get up on time to go to work as usual. It was truly an inhuman level of self-discipline.
The temperature in Lancheng was still cold in early March, but fortunately the weather was nice, with warm and bright winter sunshine that felt cozy on people.
After finishing class, Chu Yi took a taxi to the Procuratorate. Qiao Anchen was working overtime as usual today and wouldn't be home until very late, so Chu Yi had to come here to get the keys.
To be honest, this was her first time visiting the city's procuratorate. She had only caught glimpses of it from afar when passing by in a car before, and the solemn and majestic building immediately commanded respect.
The taxi stopped on the road not far from the gate. When I paid the driver, he couldn't help but ask me another question.
"Hey girl, what are you doing in a place like this?" He rarely gets orders from this area, almost never, and when he does, they're usually not for anything good.
He looked at the pretty and cute little girl in front of him and couldn't help but feel a little sympathy.
"Ah, I..." Chu Yi didn't know why, but she just couldn't say the word "husband." She was stuck for a moment, and after thinking for a while, she finally found a suitable alternative.
“My husband works here.” Chu Yi said with a sigh of relief. The driver looked enlightened and nodded repeatedly. “Oh, that’s good.”
Chu Yi smiled politely at him, opened the car door, and got out.
The taxi behind him drove away quickly, and Chu Yi walked towards the procuratorate while silently pondering.
Since their marriage, she seems to have never called Qiao Anchen "husband" or anything like that. They always call each other by their first names, and even in front of others, Chu Yi calls him that.
When classmates and friends joke around, they often refer to her as the prosecutor, or your husband, and sometimes they even say "your husband" directly.
Chu Yi thought it was nothing, but when she tried to say it herself, she couldn't bring herself to say it. She sighed inwardly, probably because she hadn't fully adapted to her married status yet, and the marriage hadn't lasted long enough.
However, when she imagined herself calling Qiao Anchen "husband," she immediately got goosebumps.
Never mind, I won't force it.
The area around the prosecutor's office was very quiet, with almost no idlers. Behind the gate fence were high steps that led to the main entrance.
There are security guards nearby who don't allow people to enter freely, and in the distance, the four majestic characters "People's Procuratorate" are engraved on the wall.
Chu Yi looked up and saw the prominent national emblem in the center, embedded in the gray-white building, with the five-star red flag fluttering in front of it under the blue sky.
It is very grand, very majestic, and very solemn.
She didn't even dare to walk loudly anymore...
Chu Yi swallowed hard, then shakily pulled out her phone to call Qiao Anchen. He answered quickly, and Chu Yi told him that she had arrived at the door.
Qiao Anchen told her to wait two minutes, as he would be leaving get off work soon. Chu Yi stood to the side with her arms crossed, constantly receiving glances from the security guards, which made her feel uneasy.
The evening sunset is actually quite beautiful. A patch of varying shades of red spreads across the sky, like watercolors applied on the canvas. Orange light envelops the streets and buildings, creating a peaceful and serene atmosphere.
The cool breeze seemed to carry some other sounds, and Chu Yi looked up as if by telepathy, seeing a group of people walking towards her not far away.
Actually, it wasn't a group of people, just about four or five, all wearing the same uniform: black suits with white shirts underneath, dark red ties, and a small badge pinned to their chests.
Their expressions weren't very serious; they were even chatting and laughing. Yet, seeing them involuntarily inspired respect and fear in others, causing them to back away, breathe softly, and not even dare to speak loudly.
Chu Yi has always been this spineless. She stood in the corner by the door like a little quail. Even when she saw Qiao Anchen inside, she only dared to wave at him in a small gesture.
"I'm here..."
Qiao Anchen spotted her immediately, turned and said a few words to the people next to him, then walked towards her, nodding to greet the security guard as he passed by.
Chu Yi pulled him further away, out of their sight, before she relaxed a little.
"Where are the keys?" she asked impatiently. Qiao Anchen paused for a moment, then took out the key to the community gate and the access card from his pocket.
Chu Yi quickly took it and put it in her bag before asking him a question.
"Were those your colleagues just now?"
Qiao Anchen nodded, "Yes."
"Where are you planning to go?" Chu Yi vaguely heard Qiao Anchen mention a place and time to them when he came over, and also received several scrutinizing glances.
"I'm going to eat after work; I have to come back to work later," Qiao Anchen said, then remembered something else.
What are you having for dinner tonight?
"I want to eat mala tang (a type of spicy hot pot)."
"Eat less of this stuff." Qiao Anchen paused, then asked, "By the way, do you want to come with me?"