The new year begins with everything new.
Song Shu rarely sleeps in once a year. When she woke up on the morning of New Year's Day, there was finally no music from her cell phone alarm that was almost causing her psychological trauma, nor was there a certain "unknown creature" that liked to sneak into her room in the middle of the night and crawl under the quilt.
As for the reason…
Song Shu picked up the phone on the bedside table and tapped it twice to light up the screen. The first bubble message that popped up on the lock screen was from Qin Lou.
Song Shu clicked on the message.
The dialog box ended with a comment about someone's complaints before being forced to sleep in separate rooms from Song Shu last night. The latest and only message this morning was a GIF expression: a teddy dog looked at the camera pitifully, then lowered its body, and lay on its front paws obediently and aggrievedly, with its black eyes staring at the camera from beginning to end.
—Ever since Song Shu called him a Teddy dog that day, Qin Lou has specially stored a bunch of Teddy bear animated emoticons, which always make Song Shu angry and amused every time he sees them.
However, even if he was only looking at his phone at this moment, Song Shu could almost imagine Qin Lou pretending to be pitiful in front of him.
She couldn't help but curl her lips and looked above the emoticon package.
The message was sent two hours ago.
Song Shu was a little surprised - this was definitely not the frequency of messages that someone with the personality that was becoming more and more clingy to her would send.
Unless, it was delayed by something.
There is almost no one in this world who can make Qin Lou obedient and even unable to refuse, except Song Shu.
The only new exception is...
Song Shu probably thought of something, and she exited the dialog box somewhat reluctantly and entered a small group with three members.
Song Shu thought for a moment, then pulled out the keyboard and typed quickly:
"Dad, Mom, you guys are not testing Qin Lou again, are you?"
A few seconds later, Mei Jinghan, who had a lotus flower avatar, came out of the group and said, "Look at what you said, it's not true. Qin Lou is doing very well, we are all very satisfied, and your dad likes him very much, too. He took him out for a run early in the morning."
Song Shu: "Are they back?"
Mei Jinghan: "How can it be that fast? How can it be called a morning run if it's that fast?"
Song Shu glanced at the time on his phone and asked with a headache, "Does my dad still keep the habit of running across the river in the morning?"
"yes."
Song Shu tried his best to express himself tactfully: "Mom, look at this... Have you ever thought that, except for people like my dad who exercise a lot all year round, it is basically difficult for ordinary people to run for two or three hours, and they are more likely to collapse from exhaustion before they finish?"
Mei Jinghan: "How could that be? You are all young people. How could your physical strength be inferior to those of us older generations?"
Song Shu: “.”
Mei Jinghan: "And if you really can't win, it means you guys are too lacking in practice. This is a rare opportunity, so it would be good to let Xiao Qin practice more with your dad, don't you think so, Nannan?"
Song Shu: “…”
When Song Shu was thinking about how to save Qin Lou from the dire situation, he suddenly felt the phone in his hand vibrate again.
Song Shu looked down and saw a message from Mei Jinghan: "Oh, I'm back."
"… "
Song Shu inexplicably read a kind of regret from these five words. She couldn't help but feel a little sympathy for Qin Lou. She jumped into the chat box with Qin Lou.
Song Shu: "Are you still alive?"
Qin Lou: "Time is running out."
Song Shu couldn't help but smile.
Judging from the time, Qin Lou replied almost immediately. It was obvious that he took out his mobile phone and opened the chat box with her as soon as he entered the house.
Less than two seconds later, the other side quickly followed up with another sentence: "While I still have breath left, come down and see me."
After saying that, Qin Lou also sent an emoticon of a teddy dog with its tongue out and panting.
Song Shu couldn't help but smile so hard that her eyes bent down. She got out of bed in a very good mood. Her white feet stepped on the soft carpet beside the bed. As she walked towards the independent bathroom, she typed lightly:
"Wait till I finish washing up."
When Song Shu walked to the frosted glass door of the bathroom, a message came back from the other side, but it was just a voice message and it only lasted one second.
Song Shu clicked it curiously, and then heard a cheerful voice in the quiet air of the room—
"Woof!"
"… "
Song Shu was stunned. After a few seconds, she couldn't hold back any longer and smiled while holding onto the frosted glass door in front of her.
After washing up, Song Shu went downstairs. When he turned the corner of the stairwell, he saw Qin Lou sitting on the sofa between Qin Yuzheng and Mei Jinghan. The man had his eyes lowered and his hands were almost placed flat on his knees. He was so well-behaved that it seemed as if he had a new heart.
Song Shu felt that he had never seen the little madman so obedient. He couldn't help but smile and slowed down to watch.
I don't know what the three of them were talking about, but they probably heard the noise of Song Shu coming over. Mei Jinghan turned around first and said, "Nannan, are you up?"
"Yeah." Song Shu received a bunch of resentful eyes at the first sight. She just held back her smile and pretended not to notice. "Have you had breakfast? I'll go to the restaurant first?"
Mei Jinghan called her, "We have already eaten, but Xiao Qin hasn't eaten yet. I've saved some for you in the cooling drawer. You can go and eat with him."
Song Shu, who had already turned around, looked back and asked, "Qin Lou hasn't eaten yet?"
"Xiao Qinfei said he wanted to wait for you, so your dad and I ate first."
"… "
As they were talking, Mei Jinghan also stood up and went to the restaurant to prepare breakfast for the two of them.
Song Shu and Qin Lou walked to the table, and Song Shu took the initiative to take the dishes from Mei Jinghan's hands.
Just as he stretched out his hand, Mei Jinghan let out a soft "eh".
"What's this?"
"..." Following Mei Jinghan's line of sight, Song Shu saw the ring on his ring finger.
Her eyes flickered slightly. Feeling Qin Lou's gaze, Song Shu simply raised her hand and held it in front of Mei Jinghan, "Mom, does it look good?"
Mei Jinghan finally reacted and looked at the two of them with complicated eyes, "I didn't see you wearing it last night when we had the New Year's Eve dinner."
Song Shu's lips curled up slightly, his eyes were indifferent, but he could see a sincere smile, "Well, because someone succeeded in proposing marriage by making a New Year's wish."
Mei Jinghan put down the plate, took another look, and finally couldn't help asking, "Why is the shape of this diamond so weird?"
Song Shu was startled, then laughed, "Then you should ask Qin Lou."
Someone who was almost bubbling with happiness because Song Shu personally admitted it in front of his future mother-in-law was caught off guard by being called out, and hurriedly looked up, "?"
Song Shu laughed, "My mother asked why this diamond ring has such a strange shape."
"…" Facing Mei Jinghan's puzzled gaze, Qin Lou had a strange expression on his face, "It's in the shape of a shell. I asked someone to custom-make it for me."
Mei Jinghan was even more confused, "Shell?"
Being asked about such a little interest by an elder was like a public execution. Even Qin Lou couldn't help but look away before he spoke: "Well, because I usually call you 'Little Clam'."
"… small clam shell?"
Mei Jinghan never expected to get such an answer.
She was stunned for a while before turning her head to look at Song Shu. She looked him up and down and asked, "Why is there such a strange name?"
Song Shu smiled faintly, "Because I didn't like to talk when I was a child, so he said I was a small clam that couldn't be opened."
After hearing the explanation, Mei Jinghan was stunned for two seconds, then burst out laughing, "That's quite appropriate." Then she frowned again, "But you're already so old, and you're still calling me these weird nicknames. Do you have to keep calling me that until you get married and have kids?"
"… "
Song Shu was slightly stunned. A certain key word in this sentence made her subconsciously turn her head to look at Qin Lou's expression - and just as she expected, the man who was so gentle and well-behaved a second ago, now had some uncontrollable madman's nature in his eyes.
Song Shu sighed in his heart, took Mei Jinghan's hand and walked her out of the restaurant.
"Okay, Mom, why don't you and my dad go watch the Spring Festival Gala replay? I'll have dinner with Qin Lou first. After breakfast, we'll chat with you two, okay?"
"Don't eat too slowly. Your family might come back to pay New Year's greetings in the morning."
"good."
"… "
After watching Mei Jinghan walk into the living room, Song Shu turned back to the dining room.
She had just pulled out the chair next to Qin Lou and was about to sit down when the man who had been holding back suddenly reached out and pulled her into his arms.
Song Shu was pulled down without warning and sat on Qin Lou's lap.
Song Shu raised his eyes helplessly, "What are you going to do?"
Qin Lou's eyes were gloomy, but his expression and voice sounded aggrieved: "Don't want children."
"… "
"No children."
"… "
"No children."
“… … ”
Song Shu didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Before Qin Lou said it for the fourth time, she raised her index finger and pressed it against Qin Lou's lips, "You're not done yet, are you? You haven't even gotten married yet, isn't it too early for you to think about having children?"
Qin Lou slightly opened his thin lips, and his tongue quickly stretched out to lick the girl's fingertips.
Song Shu was caught off guard and instinctively pulled his hand back.
This was just as Qin Lou wished - he stepped forward and leaned over, burying his head in the girl's long hair. His low and hoarse voice came out from her soft hair, sounding very aggrieved.
"I just don't want children."
Song Shu thought for a moment, "Why don't you have children?"
Qin Lou was so aggrieved that he didn't even look up. "You ask even though you already know the answer."
"I just want to hear what you have to say."
"..." Qin Lou was silent for a few seconds, "No one can snatch the little clam shell from me, no one, not even the child."
Song Shu sighed silently: She should have known that Qin Lou would not be able to tolerate this.
Song Shu hesitated a little, "But my parents will probably insist..."
"I'm going to cry." Qin Lou said in a muffled voice, unexpectedly.
"!"
Song Shu was startled, and after she recovered she lowered her eyes helplessly. She raised her hand and rubbed his black hair which had become too pleasing to the eye after being dyed back.
"Is it so aggrieved?"
"It's not that I feel wronged," Qin Lou buried his head in her neck, slowly suppressing his trembling breath, "I don't want someone to share you with me. When I think about the future... I feel so uncomfortable that I want to go crazy."
Song Shu was silent for a long time, then slowly raised her hand and hugged the furry head buried beside her neck. She sighed helplessly and indulgently: "... lunatic."
"I am."
"Okay, I'll listen to you then."
Song Shu leaned over and waited for Qin Lou to sit up. She hooked her arm around his neck and kissed his thin lips.
"You said no, then we don't want it."
The author has something to say: There are elders in my family who are living in another place. My family will go there to celebrate the New Year tomorrow with full gear (sigh)
There may or may not be an update on New Year’s Eve, I’ll try my best.
ps: Babies, please keep warm, wash your hands frequently, and remember to wear a mask when going out.