"I've been feeling a bit down lately, don't look for me, I'm going for a walk."
Ye Rong read the note her daughter-in-law wrote, thinking that Xue Jingrui must have upset Qi Ji. Just as she was about to dial Xue Jingrui's number, her own phone rang.
"Hello, Jingrui, what's going on? Did you upset Qi Ji?"
Ye Rong fired off her accusations as soon as she picked up the phone.
"Mom, I didn't. I called to tell you not to worry. She's at Xu Xiuhe's place, I'll go pick her up later."
"She's lucky nothing happened. If something had, Xue Jingrui, you wait, I wouldn't let you off. We’ll settle this score when you get back tonight."
Xue Jingrui was rebuked into silence, not daring to argue.
Ye Rong hung up first, leaving Xue Jingrui to reflect. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why did he feel like he was being abandoned at home?
Xu Xiuhe got home first. The meal prepared by Shen Yin was ready. Xue Jingrui waited outside Xu Xiuhe's door, waiting for a reply from him.
[How's it going? Can I come in yet?]
[Wait a little longer.]
Inside, everyone was enjoying Shen Yin's meal. She had cooked a variety of nutritious dishes. Qi Ji was hungry and ate a lot that night.
"Sister Yin Yin, your cooking is delicious."
"Then come find me whenever you want to eat something."
"Really? You treat me better than brother Jingrui. He was mean to me yesterday."
"How was he mean to you?"
Qi Ji knew she was wrong in the first place, and guiltily lowered her head.
"Xue Jingrui has been waiting outside all this time. He probably hasn't had dinner. Without your permission, he doesn't dare to come in," Xu Xiuhe said.
"Ah, how did he know I am here?"
After seeing the puzzled look on Qi Ji's face, Shen Yin laughed, realizing that the saying "once pregnant, three years of folly" was true.
"Do you want to let him in?"
Shen Yin asked.
Qi Ji, with a conflicted expression on her face, said, "I’m a good person, so I suppose I can allow him in."
Hearing this, Xu Xiuhe stood up, opened the door, and Xue Jingrui rushed in.
"Qi Ji."
Xue Jingrui looked worried and wanted to continue speaking, but Xu Xiuhe covered his mouth.
"You haven't eaten, have you? Come eat first."
Xue Jingrui sat down at the dining table. Shen Yin had anticipated Xue Jingrui's arrival and had set an extra pair of chopsticks and bowl.
Qi Ji guiltily lowered her head. Xue Jingrui kept his gaze on her.
"Brother Jingrui, don't look at me like that, I'm scared," Qi Ji said softly.
"I'm scared too."
"What are you scared of?"
"I'm scared you'll get into trouble. I'm scared you can't take care of yourself alone outside. What did I do wrong? You can tell me directly. If something had happened to you..."
"You were too mean to me yesterday," Qi Ji's voice dropped low and carried a hint of coyness.
At this, Xue Jingrui lost all his anger.
"I'm sorry, I was worried about you. The weather is changing and it's almost winter. Can you eat ice cream?"
......
"You ate ice cream?"
Shen Yin asked.
The little girl nodded and then added, "I was sneaking eat, and then Jingrui found me."
Shen Yin laughed immediately, indeed a pregnant woman, the cravings they get, it isn't strange to want to eat all sorts of things. But Qi Ji, clearly admitting her own wrongdoing, was too adorable.
"So you knew all along you were sneaking?" Shen Yin teased.
Qi Ji's face turned red, her voice softly said, "I wanted it too much, I couldn't control myself. I thought of so many ways to get ice cream under my Mom’s watch. I just had two bites, two bites."
Qi Ji held up two fingers.
"What's wrong with two bites?"
"I only had two bites, and Jingrui already caught me. He scolded me heavily, the key point is, he ate the rest of the ice cream. I only had two bites."
"Jingrui, what were you thinking? Not letting Qi Ji eat is one thing, but you even ate her leftover ice cream right in front of her."
Xu Xiuhe watched the scene unfold amusingly, not minding the exaggeration. He initially thought something serious had happened between them, but it just turned out to be over an ice cream.
"Exactly, you not only scolded me, but you also ate my ice cream."
"I didn't eat it in front of her."
"Where did you eat it then?" Shen Yin asked.
"He ate it in the bathroom, I saw it through the door gap. My ice cream, was a blue rose, so pretty. I only had two bites, just two petals, he took a bite and the whole rose petals were gone."
As Qi Ji spoke, her voice grew louder, feeling more wronged.
Xue Jingrui didn't expect that he was spotted eating Qi Ji's ice cream in the restroom.
"Jingrui, that was your fault," Xu Xiuhe remarked.
"I was wrong, I won't scold you again in the future, but for now, we really can't eat that, what if we get sick, we have to be very careful during pregnancy."
"I forgive you. But I want to eat hawthorn! I want to eat something very sour."
"Sweet for boys and sour for girls." Shen Yin interjected.
"Shen Yin, I don't want the hawthron now, I want hotpot and sour and spicy vermicelli... "
"…"
"Mom, Yunzheng wants ice cream, last time's ice cream was so good. Have some hotpot, have some hawthorn." The little one listened to the adults' conversation and suddenly chimed in.
"Didn't you just eat your fill?" Shen Yin clearly saw that Xu Yunzheng just had a serious food battle and ate a lot.
"I'm full now, let's go home. If we don't go now, Mom might want to chop me with a knife." Xue Jingrui said.
"All right."
After the two left, Xu Xiuhe cleaned up the dining table, Shen Yin was happy, just now Qi Ji and Xue Jingrui were so funny, thankfully, she and Shu Yi didn't bring Qi Ji to the ice cream shop last time, otherwise, Qi Ji would have been crazy for the ice cream.
Sure enough, after the two got home, Xue Jingrui was thoroughly scolded by Ye Rong.
Qi Ji, listening on the side, felt guilty at first, but later, it turned into sympathy.
"Mom, it's my fault too, it's my fault, I've been having lots of strange cravings recently."
"No problem, I'll accompany you for the prenatal checkup tomorrow. I would have to teach Xue Jingrui a lesson, otherwise, he will bully you in future."
"Brother Jingrui didn't bully me."
Ye Rong doesn't care about these issues. At bedtime, she hugs her pillow and knocks on the door of Xue Jingrui's and Qi Ji's room.
Xue Jingrui gets scared and immediately picks up the quilt from the floor, running onto the bed.
"What's the matter?"
"Mom is probably checking on us."
Only when Xue Jingrui looked around the room and couldn't find any faults did he open the door.
"Mom? Why are you hugging a pillow?"
"I'm worried that you're bullying Qi Ji. You can either sleep on the sofa or in the guest room on the ground floor. From tonight, I'll sleep with Qi Ji."
