The wealthy military officer spoils his wife excessively

“You won’t care if I don’t call. You’re thirty years old and still don’t have a child. I’m worried sick about you, even though you’re not. Every time I ask you to take Susu for a checkup, you just brush me off. I’m not prejudiced, but if you or Susu really are sick, it’s better to get treatment now than it’s too late. Otherwise, you’ll regret it in the future.”

After retiring a couple of days ago, Lu Wenyi began to enjoy her retirement at home. Every year during her leave, the company chief of staff from the Northwest Military Region would bring her a pile of gifts to visit. This year, the two finally registered their marriage, but didn't hold a wedding ceremony. In Lu Wenyi's words, "At my age, what's the point of all this fuss?"

Even the chief of staff was a thin-skinned person; he would just submit a report to the military and that would be the end of it.

Lu Wenyi, now retired, found herself with a lot of free time and became unaccustomed to it. So, nagging about her two children's future became her top priority. Unfortunately, Suwen hadn't conceived since returning to Beijing. At first, Lu Zheng tried to excuse her by saying she wasn't feeling well and needed a year of rest.

And so it went, year after year, until now it's been four years, and no other reasons will work anymore.

Lu Wenyi was so anxious that her hair turned white. Like other old ladies, she searched everywhere for remedies to conceive and made Lu Zheng take Susu to the hospital for checkups every few days. Lu Zheng was also at his wits' end. Sometimes he would lie to his superiors and help her get away with it, but after a few times, the old lady was no longer so easily fooled.

After hanging up the phone, he picked up his keys and went downstairs to get his car.

While driving, he called Susu: "Honey, what are you doing?"

"The weather is nice, so I'm taking Renren out to fly a kite."

After returning to China, Suwen told him in detail how she met Hao Haiyun. Although Lu Zheng was bothered that his woman had spent so much time with another man, the dead are gone and there was nothing to argue about.

Suwen led him to the place where she used to live, a dilapidated alleyway slated for demolition. A little girl with her hair in two buns ran past them with her arms outstretched. Lu Zheng grabbed her, squatted down to look her in the eye, took the child's soft little hand, and asked, "Renren, do you still remember your uncle?"

Renren opened her big, dark eyes, looked at him, then at Suwen, and asked, "Are you the uncle who drives the car?"

Lu Zheng smiled and patted the child's head: "Renren is so smart."

Suwen looked surprised: "This child is..."

Lu Zheng stood up, his smile somewhat unreadable to her: "It's just a misunderstanding."

Just then, a gentle female voice called out, "Renren, stop being naughty and come back quickly."

Renren responded, then turned and flew back to the woman like a little sparrow, hugging her leg and calling out in a clear voice, "Mommy—"

The woman bent down to hug the child, her long, black hair cascading down like a waterfall. Qin Jiangfeng's gaze softened as he put his arm around the woman's waist.

Su Wen stared in disbelief: "Brother Feng... is your and your wife's daughter?"

Suwen only knew that this awkward sister-in-law and Feng Ge had been fighting for divorce for many years, and Qin Jiangfeng was so angry that his head was about to explode. But she didn't know that they already had such a big daughter.

Upon hearing this, Qin Jiangfeng scratched his head sheepishly and said, "Your sister-in-law is making me angry; she's been keeping it from me and won't tell me."

The woman beside him glared at him, and he quickly said in a serious tone, "Let me introduce you, this is my wife, Ren Susu."

A look of surprise flashed across Lu Zheng's face. It really was such a coincidence that there was a woman whose nickname was the same as his Su Su. And Su Wen was also meeting this woman, who was rumored to have caused two underworld bosses to turn against each other, for the first time.

With fair skin, red lips, and thick, jet-black hair, she resembled a vivid, still oil painting.

Suwen told them about Hao Haiyun's death. The beautiful woman's eyes were filled with tears. Qin Jiangfeng gently patted her shoulder to comfort her.

Suwen was very fond of the clever and quick-witted Renren, and his lingering gaze remained fixed on the girl.

That night she drank a lot of wine, hugged Renren, and said with red eyes, "Brother Feng, you're so lucky. You have a sister-in-law and Renren. You have no idea how much I want a girl like that..."

She held the soft little body in her arms as if she were holding her daughter whom she had lost forever, speechless and weeping.

Unaware of the situation, Qin Jiangfeng chuckled and said, "If you like her, you can adopt Renren as your goddaughter. If you have a son in the future, I'll give Renren to you as your wife."

With tears still in her eyes, Su Wen chuckled foolishly, "Okay, it's a deal. Brother Feng, you're the eldest brother, so you can't go back on your word in the future."

From then on, she treated this goddaughter even better than her own daughter. Sometimes Lu Zheng felt that she was giving all the care she hadn't had time to give to Nianyun to Renren.

He watched silently, unable and unwilling to speak.

The weather is fine today, with a light breeze. Beijing's air quality is getting worse and worse; even a slight breeze requires wearing a mask when going out. Such a gentle breeze is a rare treat.

He found Suwen and saw her sitting lazily on the grass, sunbathing, wearing sunglasses.

She was dressed casually: a peach-pink crew-neck sweater, jeans, white sneakers, and a plaid coat lying beside her. She would occasionally remind Renren to slow down and not fall.

Lu Zheng walked silently to her side and sat down.

Suwen turned around, saw him, took off her sunglasses, and smiled slightly.

"Why aren't you at work today? You're such a busy person."

Lu Zheng turned her head and gave her a tender kiss on the forehead: "Of course, spending time with my wife is more important."

Suwen shrugged and chuckled, as if she had expected it: "Mom called you again, didn't she?"

"Susu, you could really be a detective." His wife could pretend to know nothing when she wanted to, but when she got smart, she was frighteningly sharp.

"Alright, I've brought Renren out for too long. Let's go now."

Suwen got up, brushed the grass clippings off her clothes, and waved to Renren, who was running around happily. Renren was having a great time playing, and when she heard that she had to go home, she immediately pouted.

Suwen knelt down and gently coaxed the child, wiping away the sweat from her brow with a tissue, and carefully tidying up the child's clothes.

Lu Zheng was in charge of reeling in the kite string, silently watching her focused expression as she took care of the child.

Like his aunt, he hoped to have a child of his own as soon as possible, perhaps to alleviate Susu's loneliness. But he also understood that such things couldn't be forced; being too hasty would only backfire.

Lu Zheng drove Renren home first, and then the two of them went to the hospital together.

The doctors and nurses in the obstetrics and gynecology department were already familiar with the couple. Whenever they saw Lu Zheng waiting in line, they would smile and ask, "Coming to your wife for a check-up again?"

Even Suwen joked with him, "We come here every day, and we've almost become family with the OB-GYNs."

Lu Zheng was a shy person, and an embarrassed blush rose on his fair face.

The process continued as usual, with all the necessary tests and the doctor's advice remaining unchanged.

She didn't receive proper care during her postpartum period after her last delivery, which caused her to catch a cold and develop health problems that made it difficult for her to conceive.

The doctor's advice was that I could only take medication and gradually recover.

"All those tests they did couldn't find anything wrong," Suwen said, stretching slightly with a hint of complaint.

Lu Zheng put his arm around her: "You know what kind of person your aunt is, just put her mind at ease."

He took out his phone to check his schedule: "Next week is the Qingming Festival holiday. I've caught up on my work so I can go on vacation with you then."

It's Qingming Festival again. Suwen's eyes dimmed slightly.

Every year around this time, Lu Zheng would book plane tickets to accompany her to Thailand. This was because he had never given up on finding his daughter.

Year after year, sometimes even Lu Zheng almost believed that their child was no longer in this world, but Su Wen remained stubborn. So Lu Zheng could only accompany her on a vacation.

Lu Zheng eventually bought the little white cabin they had rented in Pattaya and hired someone to clean it regularly. Everything inside remained unchanged; they stayed there every April when they visited.

On Qingming Festival, while others pay respects to their deceased relatives, she can only think of her daughter, whose fate remains unknown.

If she were still alive, she would be four years old this year, right? Could she speak Chinese? Would she be healthy and lively? Her daughter was a blank slate in her mind; she could have a thousand and one imaginings, but she never had the chance to see her.

After exiting Bangkok Airport, stay overnight at a local hotel, and then travel to Pattaya by car the next day.

Lu Zheng's hotel was in the city center. Its magnificent main entrance was modeled after the Arc de Triomphe, with several smiling white pageboys greeting and seeing off elegantly dressed guests. The Western-style exterior concealed a charming, locally-style courtyard; beyond the main gate lay another courtyard. Sunlight filtered softly through the green glass above the courtyard, casting a warm and comfortable glow. Pebble paths led to pavilions and terraces, green vines entwined around them, and a gently flowing fountain rippled to the rhythm of a piano. A transparent observation elevator ascended and descended, while in the private rooms, people chatted intimately and signed contracts with gold pens.

“I’m starting to agree that there are actually two worlds in this country.” Exquisite and luxurious decorations, and barren soil.

“It’s all the same.” Lu Zheng looked at her delicate skin, her straight nose, and her small earlobes hidden in her black hair in the sunlight. He lowered his head slightly and took his sunglasses to cover her eyes: “The sun is too bright.”

She looked up, brushed a stray hair behind her ear, and smiled at him.

He made a gesture to kiss her lips, just as the elevator doors opened and a gentleman in a suit stepped out. Su Wen lowered her head and took Lu Zheng's hand.

The elevator dinged as it arrived at the twentieth floor. Lu Zheng helped her down.

After putting down his luggage, Lu Zheng put his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear, "Want to go shopping with me?"

He pushed her arm away, smiled, and took a step back: "I'm tired. Let's talk about it when it's cooler tonight."

"Then I'll be waiting."