Chen Wan dried her hair thoroughly before getting into bed and pulling Yang Yang into her arms, asking, “Where did Mommy stop telling you the story just now?”
Yang Yang snuggled closer to Chen Wan, looking up with her bright, big eyes, “Mommy, I want to hear it again. Can you tell me the story one more time?”
Chen Wan’s hair was still dripping, and a few drops fell onto Yang Yang’s little neck, making her giggle as she shrank her neck away from the water droplets.
“Mommy, you’re so silly! Your water droplets got on me.”
Seeing the little darling in her arms, Chen Wan wiped her damp hair with a towel and replied, “Okay, whatever you say goes. We’ll listen to our Yang Yang.”
Yang Yang was delighted that Chen Wan agreed, clapping her little hands in excitement.
After all, in this post-apocalyptic world, there was no television, and Yang Yang couldn’t watch cartoons.
Listening to stories became her greatest joy.
She loved little animals and never tired of hearing stories.
There were several tales she already knew the endings to, yet she still loved to pester Jiang Yanxin to tell her a few more times.
Chen Wan casually draped the towel around her neck, occasionally wiping her hair, and picked up a children’s storybook to tell Yang Yang a story: “Once upon a time, there was a little squirrel…”
Yang Yang nestled deeper into Chen Wan’s embrace, becoming more animated as she listened.
After finishing the story about the little squirrel, she snuggled closer and said, “Mommy, tell me another one! I want to hear more~”
By this time, Chen Wan’s hair had dried a bit, and she leaned back on the bed, teasing Yang Yang, “You want to hear more? Mommy is out of energy. How about this: if you give Mommy a kiss, I’ll tell you another story, okay?”
Yang Yang’s eyes widened, and she quickly nodded her head.
Then she tilted her little face up and showered Chen Wan’s face with kisses.
Chen Wan couldn’t help but laugh, patting Yang Yang’s little bottom, “Wow, you kissed Mommy so many times! How many stories do I have to tell you now?”
As Yang Yang snuggled closer, she began counting on her little hands how many kisses she had given Mommy.
But being so young, she lost track after reaching five, her chubby little hands getting tangled together as she muttered to herself, “One, two, three, four, five… after five, I can’t count anymore.”
After getting confused, Yang Yang turned to Chen Wan with a pleading look, jumping into her arms and whining, “I can’t count! Mommy, help me count~” Chen Wan stifled a laugh and pinched Yang Yang’s little hand, “Did your little hand not count properly?”
Yang Yang nodded seriously, arranging her little hands again, her ten chubby fingers spread out, looking at Chen Wan with big, expectant eyes, “Mommy, help me count.”
Finding Yang Yang adorable, Chen Wan chuckled and poked the little dimples on Yang Yang’s hand, “Alright, Mommy will count for you. You kissed Mommy a total of seven times, so that’s one, two…”
With each number, Chen Wan poked Yang Yang’s little hand, making her bend a finger.
By the end, Yang Yang had bent down seven fingers.
Looking at her bent fingers, Yang Yang excitedly snuggled closer to Chen Wan, “Mommy, seven! That’s a lot! Now tell me a story.”
Yang Yang’s voice was sweet and innocent, as if afraid Chen Wan might back out, her little fingers still curled together, raised for Chen Wan to see.
Chen Wan, amused, kissed Yang Yang’s little face and replied, “Okay, Mommy will tell you right now.”
Hearing Chen Wan’s promise, Yang Yang happily dove back into her embrace.
Chen Wan patted the little rascal’s bottom, chuckling, “Let’s start with the first one. This is the story of the little bee.”
Yang Yang wasn’t sure if she had seen a bee before, but she chimed in, “Bees are cute! I like them.”
Chen Wan pinched Yang Yang’s little face, laughing softly, “Sweetheart, sometimes bees aren’t so cute. They can sting worse than mosquitoes in the summer. In the future…”
Upon hearing how scary bees could be, Yang Yang shrank back into Chen Wan’s arms, asking, “What about the future?”
Chen Wan’s gaze softened as she looked at Yang Yang, gently saying, “I was going to tell you to be careful of bees when you see them, but now that the world is like this, Mommy doesn’t know if there will still be bees.”
Yang Yang, not quite understanding Mommy’s words, tilted her little head and asked, “Where did the bees go?”
Chen Wan hugged the little one and kissed her, “Mommy doesn’t know where they went. There are many little animals we haven’t seen yet, and we don’t know if we’ll have the chance to see them again.”
“Mommy, we definitely will! When I grow taller, I’ll be able to see the little animals~” Yang Yang sensed that Mommy seemed a bit down and comforted her like a little adult.
Chen Wan nodded, “Yes, you’re right. When you grow up, you’ll be able to see them. We’ll eventually settle down. Alright, let’s not talk about that anymore. Mommy is going to tell you the story of the little bee now.”
Yang Yang immediately nodded, her face full of excitement as she waited to listen.
After Jiang Yanxin finished her shower and came out, she saw Chen Wan and Yang Yang cuddled together.
Chen Wan was telling Yang Yang a story while Yang Yang listened obediently, occasionally snuggling closer to Chen Wan.
Jiang Yanxin’s gaze softened, and she walked over to the bed, as if recalling something amusing, and climbed onto the bed as well.
Chen Wan noticed Jiang Yanxin getting onto the bed and instinctively hugged Yang Yang closer to make space for her, causing Jiang Yanxin’s smile to widen even more.
Chen Wan tried to block out distractions and continued reading the story to Yang Yang, while Jiang Yanxin dried her hair and moved closer to Chen Wan.
Chen Wan’s body, which had relaxed, immediately stiffened.
Just as she was about to shift away with Yang Yang, Jiang Yanxin’s words startled her, making her forget what she was doing.
“Wife, what story are you telling Yang Yang?”
Jiang Yanxin leaned in closer, genuinely curious about the story Chen Wan was sharing.
Chen Wan froze, unable to continue with the storybook in her hands, “Wife?”
Jiang Yanxin looked at her as if it were the most natural thing in the world, “Of course! Didn’t you call me that all morning?”
Chen Wan felt her ears turn red at the question.
In her previous life, she had been professionally trained, and her earlier outburst was just to put the other person at ease.
Thinking this, Chen Wan hurriedly defended herself, “I was just acting for those people earlier, not because I wanted to take advantage of you.”
“Acting? Aren’t you my wife? Why do you need to act?”
Jiang Yanxin, seeing Chen Wan’s nervousness, felt even happier and continued to question her.
Chen Wan felt like giving up.
She had revealed so many flaws in the past few days that she almost wanted to drop her facade entirely.
However, fearing it might scare Jiang Yanxin, she found an excuse, “You’re my wife, but we usually don’t call each other that, right? It caught me off guard when you suddenly said it.”
As she spoke, Chen Wan forced a shy smile, thinking her reasoning was quite solid since they indeed didn’t usually call each other that.
Little did she know, Jiang Yanxin just smiled back at her, playing with Yang Yang’s little hand for a moment, but her gaze remained fixed on Chen Wan, nodding in agreement with what Chen Wan had just said, “That makes sense.”
Hearing Jiang Yanxin say that, Chen Wan felt a bit relieved, and a smile appeared on her face.
But the next moment, her heart sank again.
“Then since that’s the case, we should call each other that more often in the future. It will help us get used to it sooner.”
Jiang Yanxin smiled sincerely.
Chen Wan’s smile immediately froze, and a hint of bitterness crept in.
Jiang Yanxin couldn’t help but laugh at Chen Wan’s expression.
“What kind of face is that? Is it really so hard to call me ‘wife’ a few times?”
Jiang Yanxin then picked up Yang Yang and asked, “Yang Yang, isn’t Mommy her wife?”
Yang Yang looked a bit confused but still obediently nodded her little head.
She didn’t know what ‘wife’ meant, but she understood that Mommy was Mom!
Jiang Yanxin chuckled as she looked at Chen Wan, “See, even the baby says so.”
Chen Wan felt like she could hardly sit still.
Jiang Yanxin had been so serious when she was cold earlier, but now she seemed to enjoy teasing her.
Chen Wan brushed her long hair behind her ear and handed the storybook in her hand to Jiang Yanxin, preparing to escape back to her upper bunk.
“You can keep telling Yang Yang the story. I’m a bit tired and need to catch up on some sleep.”
“Wait a minute, just sleep down here. The bed is big enough, and Yang Yang definitely wants you to keep her company, right, baby?”
As Jiang Yanxin spoke, she released Yang Yang from her embrace.
As soon as Yang Yang heard that Mommy would also be there to listen to the story, she was overjoyed and rushed into Chen Wan’s arms with little steps.
With bright eyes full of excitement, Yang Yang looked at Chen Wan and asked, “Mommy, will you sleep with me too? Can we listen to Mom tell stories together?”
Yang Yang blinked her beautiful starry eyes at Chen Wan.
Chen Wan wanted to refuse; she didn’t want to listen to any stories.
However, seeing Yang Yang’s eager little face, she found herself unable to say no and reluctantly nodded.
Well, it wasn’t the first time she had heard a story, so she might as well consider it keeping Yang Yang company.
Seeing Chen Wan agree, Yang Yang buried her little face in Chen Wan’s embrace, exclaiming, “That’s great! Mommy is going to sleep with us!”
Chen Wan didn’t understand why Yang Yang was so excited, but she figured it was because the original owner had been neglectful and hadn’t taken care of Yang Yang much, which was why Yang Yang was so thrilled.
Watching the little one’s happy expression, Chen Wan didn’t want to dampen her spirits.
She kissed Yang Yang’s little face and comforted her, “I’ll always be here with you, little rascal. Are you happy now?”
Yang Yang nodded her little head, her short legs swinging joyfully, and she urged Jiang Yanxin, “Mom, Mommy and I are ready. You can tell the story now.”
Chen Wan lay down on the bed with Yang Yang, with Chen Wan on the outside, Yang Yang in the middle, and Jiang Yanxin on the inside.
Jiang Yanxin pinched Yang Yang’s little face and replied, “Okay, I’ll continue the story for you.”
Jiang Yanxin was responding to Yang Yang, but her gaze was directed at Chen Wan.
Chen Wan felt her ears heat up under Jiang Yanxin’s gaze and mumbled softly, “I’m just doing this to keep the baby company.”
Jiang Yanxin smiled noncommittally and gently began telling Yang Yang a story: “Once upon a time, there was a little pig…”
Yang Yang listened with excitement, showing no signs of sleepiness, even leaning into Jiang Yanxin’s arms to see the little animals in the storybook.
On the other hand, Chen Wan, who had been tense for most of the day, found herself struggling to keep her eyes open as Jiang Yanxin’s soft voice lulled her.
She had initially thought about resisting, but she was just too tired, and Jiang Yanxin’s voice was so pleasant, like a gentle breeze brushing past her ears, making it even harder for Chen Wan to keep her eyes open.
Eventually, she gave up.
After all, it wasn’t the first time she had fallen asleep listening to Jiang Yanxin tell a story, so she decided not to fight it and simply drifted off.
As Jiang Yanxin continued the story, she kept an eye on Chen Wan’s movements.
Once she saw that Chen Wan had fallen asleep, Jiang Yanxin paused and poked Yang Yang’s little face, saying, “Look at your Mommy.”
Yang Yang turned her little body and saw her Mommy sleeping soundly.
She whispered to Jiang Yanxin, “Mommy is asleep.”
Jiang Yanxin smiled, took a jacket, and covered Chen Wan with it.
Then she turned back to Yang Yang and said, “Let your Mommy sleep. Mom will continue telling you the story.”
Yang Yang nodded her little head and snuggled up next to Jiang Yanxin, listening obediently.
Jiang Yanxin told Yang Yang three more stories before Yang Yang finally fell asleep.
After covering Yang Yang with a jacket, Jiang Yanxin prepared to lie down and rest for a while.
Seeing that Chen Wan was sleeping soundly, Jiang Yanxin couldn’t help but reach out to touch Chen Wan’s cheek.
It seemed that ever since she found out Chen Wan had changed her heart, she had enjoyed teasing her.
Despite being so formidable outside, Chen Wan could still be made to blush by her.
Jiang Yanxin thought it was amusing and gently poked Chen Wan’s cheek again before lying down.
