I almost touched the moon

At the end of March, the cherry blossoms in Kagoshima were in full bloom, and the white and pink Somei Yoshino trees were at the end of their flowering period. It rained in the evening, and in the early morning of the next day, only fallen petals were left on the ground.

Wen Song sat in the courtyard. The weather was good, the sun was shining brightly, and only a few breezes blew a few cherry blossom petals into the house. Across the sea, the Sakurajima volcano under the sunlight looked particularly quiet and peaceful. Through the gaps in the cherry blossom forest, even the volcanic ash on the top of the mountain was dyed gray-pink by the cherry blossoms and sunlight. However, the bursts of smoke on the top of the mountain indicated the eruption that had just occurred.

She picked up the matcha beside her and took a sip, then ate two bites of the pastry, then continued to sit in the corridor, looking at the scenery in front of her and listening to the wind.

Cheng Che also came back from running outside. Seeing that she was awake, he walked over to her and said with a smile, "Wife, why are you up so early today?"

"Yeah..." Wen Song nodded, leaning on his shoulder and said lazily, "The volcano erupted just now. It was so loud that it woke me up. Did you hear it?"

"Yes." Cheng Che smiled, "I went out for a run and happened to see the volcano erupting. I took a video and sent it to Astrid. When I brought her to Kagoshima last year, the volcano didn't erupt. She was very sad. But she ignored me and I don't know what she was doing."

"Maybe, she met some handsome boy again." Wen Song said jokingly, "My daughter is grown up and has her own personal life. Don't worry about her."

"Humph, she's only six years old, what kind of personal life does she have?" Cheng Che muttered, "I'll call my mom and ask."

"You're so annoying..." Wen Song shook his head speechlessly, "If you were my dad, I would be annoyed to death by you."

When Cheng Che heard her words, he immediately hugged her and said, "No, you are smarter than her, I don't need to worry about you. It's so strange, where is Astrid, she used to call me every morning when she woke up..."

Wen Song was also somewhat helpless. He poked Cheng Che's face, raised his head and looked at him and asked, "Didn't you say that we only have two people in our world and there is no daughter..."

"Okay, okay, I won't ask." Cheng Che also held her hand, "My wife is right, it's still like when we first got married, and we didn't have a daughter. What do you want for lunch?"

“Pork neck tonkotsu ramen.”

Wen Song smiled again, his eyebrows raised, with exactly the same expression and demeanor as when he was in his 20s, even his appearance had not changed much.

Cheng Che smiled helplessly, pinched her face and said, "So delicious? Baby, didn't we just eat it last night?"

"But I really want to eat it..." Wen Song sighed, "I can eat other things when I go back, but not ramen. No matter how the ramen in Germany and Switzerland is cooked, it doesn't taste like Kyushu."

"Okay, let's go eat ramen." Cheng Che kissed her, "I'll take a shower and change clothes, then we'll go."

"I'll go by myself." Wen Song suggested, "After I finish eating ramen, I'll go with you to eat what you want to eat."

"It's okay, honey." Cheng Che turned around and hugged her gently, "I like to eat ramen too, but I don't dare to eat too much. But if my wife is not afraid of me getting fat and ugly, I can eat it."

"Afraid." Wen Song also smiled, "Let's go swimming after eating. Let's go together."

Cheng Che nodded and kissed her, "I'll listen to you."

After lunch, Astrid finally FaceTimed Cheng Che back. Cheng Che saw that the background was Cheng Bowen’s office, and Astrid was still sitting in his office chair. He said excitedly, “Papa, what a treat, Papa, I’m so happy.”

(Dad, I'm working with grandpa, it's so fun)

When Cheng Che heard this, he said "Ah" in surprise, and asked with an awkward smile: "Warum interessant?" (Why is it interesting?)

Wen Song couldn't help laughing and said to Astrid, "Astrid, since you like working, how about working with mom and being my teaching assistant?"

"No!" Astrid immediately shook her head. "I don't like physics. It's too boring. I want to be a lawyer like my grandmother, or an architect like my father. Or an entrepreneur like my grandfather would be nice too."

After hearing her words, Wen Song showed a proud expression and said, "Wow, you are so determined, my dearest Astrid. You will definitely become an outstanding lawyer, architect and entrepreneur. When you become an entrepreneur, will you be willing to sponsor my research?"

"Yes mom!" Astrid said with a proud smile, "I will!"

Wen Song also nodded happily and said to Astrid, "Thank you so much, my princess. So if I win the Nobel Prize, I will be the first to express my deepest gratitude to you."

Cheng Che also smiled and said to Astrid: "My Astrid will succeed in everything he does, because you are the daughter of Professor Iseylia, and you must be the smartest little girl."

Astrid said she was going to see the designers drawing their designs, and was about to hang up the phone when Cheng Bowen took the phone from her and said to Cheng Che, "Yu Wei is more ambitious than you and A Xuan combined. You are not like the two of you who are not doing your job properly. Forget about you. You were not in tune before, but you became more normal after you got married, especially after you retired. As for your brother, I don't even want to say anything about him. He learned bad things from you!"

"Dad, you can praise Astrid if you want, but why do you have to criticize me and Axuan?" Cheng Che said dissatisfiedly, "Besides, Astrid is still young and has different ideas every day. Don't make the decision to let her inherit the company."

Wen Song was also somewhat dissatisfied, but he didn't know what to say. He just patted Cheng Che's back and told him not to be angry.

Cheng Bowen continued, "Anyway, I can't count on you and your brother. I've decided that when Yu Wei goes to college, I will transfer 50% of my shares to her to give her some experience. If she is competent, the group will be hers in the future."

After hearing this, Cheng Che and Wen Song were both very upset. Cheng Che smiled speechlessly and said, "Dad, Astrid is only six years old. What do you want to do?"

"What's wrong with being six years old? When you were little, I didn't let you ski, but your mother spoiled you. What happened?" Cheng Bowen said dissatisfiedly, "You won the Winter Olympics gold medal, and then what? Ah Che, you don't think that everything you have now is because you won the Winter Olympics championship, right?"

Wen Song got angry after hearing this and retorted bluntly: "Dad, everyone likes different things. Why do you insist on forcing Che to do something he doesn't like? Besides, he is managing the German branch very well now. Why do you always hit him?"

"I just said it casually, why are you so anxious?" Cheng Bowen laughed, "Ah Che, look how much your wife protects you, but your mother doesn't protect me as much as she does. It's okay if you don't want Yu Wei to manage the company in the future. While you are still young, have another child..."

Before he finished speaking, Cheng Che hung up the phone angrily, hugged Wen Song and said, "Baby, my dad is talking nonsense, don't pay attention to him."

"I know." Wen Song smiled faintly and kissed Cheng Che's cheek. "I'm just angry. Why does he always hit you like this? You've done so well. It's really too much. He didn't recognize you when you were little. Why is he still like this now that you're so old? It's exactly the same as my grandmother. My mother is over 60 years old, but my grandmother still scolds her every day."

"It's okay, I'm used to it." Cheng Che smiled and kissed Wen Song's forehead, "It doesn't matter if my dad doesn't approve of me. It's enough if you approve of me."

"Of course, and I'm not the only one who approves of you."

Wen Song looked at him and said proudly, "It should be said that everyone except your father recognizes your success and ability very much. Fortunately, Astrid doesn't understand Chinese, otherwise she would be very angry. You have retired for so many years. Is there another athlete in Asia who has won Olympic medals in Slopestyle and Ski Cross? Is there another athlete in the world who can successfully complete a 1980 backward slide in a competition?"

Cheng Che smiled helplessly, hugged Wen Song and said, "But I really hope that other children besides me can also get medals."

Wen Song stood on tiptoe and kissed him, then said with a smile, "No, they can't do it. They are not Cheng Che. Only you can do it."

She added: "And you are also a very good architect. Although you didn't win the Pritzker Prize, you have won other awards. As for the German branch... except for sometimes not being able to recognize people, it is also well managed."

Wen Song deliberately emphasized the four words "can't recognize people", pinched Cheng Che's hand, and snorted.

Cheng Che immediately begged for mercy, "I was wrong, baby. This will never happen again. Look, it doesn't happen now, right? It won't happen in the future either."

"Silly, I was just joking with you. Of course I believe you."

Wen Song touched his head and comforted him, "Ah Che, you are really an excellent person. Don't care what your father says. He is just like my grandmother, who only discourages people. Have you forgotten that not long after Astrid was born, my grandmother said that I shouldn't have given birth so late, and shouldn't have a caesarean section or something like that, which would affect my ability to have a second child in the future. I was so angry that I smashed a cup in front of her and didn't talk to her for more than a year. So, we just need to live our own lives and don't need their approval."

"I know." Cheng Che lowered his head and kissed her, and comforted her, "Baby, grandma is very old now, and grandpa is gone. I know you are very angry and mindful about some things, but don't worry about it anymore. Before the end of the holiday, let's take Astrid back to Zurich to see grandma, okay?"

"Well, you really are my grandmother's favorite person."