Madam, Please Behave

Feng Qian watched as Xu Yisheng rode off on her bike. It wasn’t until she turned a corner that he seemed to snap out of it and let out a long breath.

"Whoo..."

Because of the cold weather, his breath turned into a white mist in the air, and the tension he’d been holding in his abdomen finally loosened.

At that moment of relaxation, he suddenly realized that the fleece-lined white shirt he was wearing felt a little tight.

Thinking of this, Feng Qian sighed a bit and reached out to rub his stomach, a thought popping into his mind...

Maybe he should ask Old Liu how he managed to lose weight...

With that in mind, Feng Qian looked at the two kids still waiting at the school gate and called out to them loudly.

"Shuyan, Xiazhi, get in the car, time to go home!"

The two kids answered in unison when they heard Feng Qian’s voice. Carrying their little backpacks, they ran over to him with small, quick steps.

After arriving at Liu Changqing’s residential area and parking the car, Feng Qian took the two kids up the elevator to their destination and rang the doorbell.

In no time, Liu Changqing opened the door and let the three of them in.

As soon as the door opened, Liu Xiazhi rushed forward, but she didn’t forget about her good friend. Holding hands, the two kids changed into their indoor slippers and then ran inside.

An Yuanyao watched the kids running toward her in surprise. Before she could react to what was happening, the two little ones had already plopped down beside her — one on each side.

They sandwiched her in the middle.

Without saying anything, they tilted their heads back, looking behind her, as if they were observing something.

An Yuanyao was utterly confused.

She didn’t know what was going on, but for now, she decided not to watch TV and instead looked at the two kids beside her, asking softly:

"What's going on with you two?"

Liu Xiazhi sat up straight and asked seriously:

"Mom, can you stand up for a second?"

"Huh? Stand up..."

Muttering to herself, though she had no idea why Liu Xiazhi was asking, An Yuanyao still stood up from the sofa.

When she turned her head to look at the kids again, she found the two little ones staring fixedly at her back...

It felt... a little strange.

Feng Qian and Liu Changqing, who had just changed their shoes, also noticed the kids’ odd behavior and were just as puzzled.

After a while, Liu Changqing was the first to speak, his tone full of confusion as he turned to Feng Qian and asked:

"What are they playing at now?"

"I have no idea either..."

Feng Qian replied.

After saying that, he paused for a moment, then reached out and tugged on Liu Changqing’s arm, motioning for him to come with him.

He said in a low voice:

"I need to ask you something. Let’s go to the balcony."

"What’s so secretive that we have to sneak around?"

He grumbled, but still followed obediently.

The two of them went to the balcony. After closing the sliding glass door behind them, Feng Qian turned to face Liu Changqing.

He asked:

"Old Liu, after you lost weight, how did you manage to maintain it?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I’ve been sitting around too much lately, and I feel like my waist’s getting thicker... So I wanted to ask if you had any good tips to slim down again."

After hearing that, Liu Changqing gave Feng Qian a once-over.

Now that he mentioned it, Liu Changqing did notice that Feng Qian seemed to have put on some weight — at least compared to when they first met.

He remembered it vividly — back when it was still hot summer, Feng Qian’s figure wasn’t perfect but was still pretty decent, making a stark contrast to Liu Changqing himself at the time.

But now...

Heh, what goes around comes around!

Old Feng... never thought you’d have this day too!

"It’s nothing complicated. Just control your diet properly, make sure you don’t take in too many calories, and do some moderate exercise, like jogging, swimming, working out..."

"Isn’t there anything a bit easier? I’m getting old — can’t run like I used to..."

"There is."

"What method?"

"I suggest you sleep all day. You can dream about whatever you want."

"......"

Staring silently at Feng Qian, Liu Changqing continued:

"There’s no such thing as getting something for nothing. If you want a good figure, you’ll have to carve out time to exercise. If you’re really too busy, at least do some workouts at home."

"Alright... fine..."

Seeing Feng Qian’s resigned look, Liu Changqing raised his hand and patted him on the shoulder, giving an encouraging smile before launching into a heartwarming motivational speech.

Feng Qian listened, looking thoroughly speechless.

He wasn’t as easy to fool as Chen Dafu...

Once their talk was over, Feng Qian mentioned he needed to head out. Liu Changqing tried to persuade them to stay for a meal, but Feng Qian politely declined.

After seeing Feng Qian and his daughter off, Liu Changqing walked back to the sofa and sat down. He was about to ask his daughter if she was hungry when he noticed her staring at him.

Her eyes... full of scrutiny.

Liu Changqing mulled it over for a long time but still couldn’t figure out why his daughter was staring at him like that. Eventually, he gave up guessing and just asked:

"Xiazhi, why are you staring at me like that?"

"Dad, is it really true that babies are given out by hospitals?"

"......"

"......"

Liu Xiazhi’s question left both adults frozen on the spot. Neither of them had expected her to come out with something like that.

Within seconds, Liu Changqing looked toward An Yuanyao. At the same time, An Yuanyao looked back at him. Their eyes locked.

Liu Changqing signaled with his gaze. An Yuanyao caught the hint and nodded. She reached out, gently pulling Liu Xiazhi into her arms, and spoke in a soft, gentle voice:

"Of course, sweetie. The hospital gives little babies to mommies and daddies."

"Exactly," Liu Changqing chimed in. "Didn’t we already tell you last time? In another six or seven months, we can bring the baby home."

As he spoke, he gently ruffled his daughter’s little head.

But this time, Liu Xiazhi didn’t react with her usual "Oh, I see" look. Instead, after hearing their explanation, she kept staring at Liu Changqing with a suspicious gaze.

After a while...

She shook her little head slightly, as if denying their answer.

"Lying is wrong..."

The moment she said that, both An Yuanyao, who was holding her, and Liu Changqing, who was sitting beside her, completely froze.

Liu Xiazhi caught the expressions on her parents' faces.

Which, to her, only confirmed what she now believed to be true.

At that moment, she fully believed Wang Tianhao’s version of the story:

Babies weren’t handed out by hospitals, nor picked up from a trash can — they grew slowly, little by little, inside their mommies’ bellies!