Chapter 533: Return to Beijing!
Beijing International Airport!
When Li Yi and Zhang Ziqiang emerged from the airport, Jiang Longcheng was already waiting for them outside.
Upon seeing Li Yi, Jiang Longcheng immediately stepped forward to greet him.
“Oh my, brother-in-law, you’re finally back! If you hadn’t come back, I was going to go all the way out to that lousy little island to drag you back myself!”
Jiang Longcheng then noticed Zhang Ziqiang standing behind Li Yi and asked, “Brother-in-law, who’s this guy? He looks pretty unfamiliar to me.”
“Zhang Ziqiang, my assistant. He’ll be by my side from now on!” Li Yi replied.
Jiang Longcheng gave Zhang Ziqiang a once-over and said, “Brother, work hard for my brother-in-law from now on. He won’t let you down!”
Li Yi introduced Zhang Ziqiang: “This is Jiang Longcheng, my wife’s third older brother. You can just call him ‘Third Brother’ when you’re with me!”
“Got it!”
He then called out to Jiang Longcheng, “Hello, Third Brother!”
“Hahaha, you’ve got a bright future ahead of you, young man!”
Jiang Longcheng then turned to Li Yi and said, “Brother-in-law, why did you take so long this time? I was almost worried you weren’t coming back!”
“Cut the nonsense. Xiao Xue didn’t even say she missed me—what’s the big rush?” Li Yi said with a laugh.
“How could I not be worried? You’d barely left when Xiao Xue called my wife over to your place, and she’s been staying there for over twenty days!” Jiang Longcheng said with a grimace.
“I figured as much. I wondered why you were missing me—turns out you were missing your wife!”
“Heh, now that you’re back, my wife can’t very well have an excuse to stay at your place anymore, can she?” Jiang Longcheng said, sounding a bit excited.
“Hang around? Third Brother, you haven’t upset Third Sister-in-Law, have you?”
“I didn’t. Don’t go making things up—that’s impossible!”
“If you didn’t, then how come Third Sister-in-Law has been staying at my place for so many days?” Li Yi asked.
“Well…”
Seeing Jiang Longcheng’s hesitant expression, Li Yi knew something was amiss and pressed him further: “What do you mean, ‘well’—just spit it out!”
“Fine, I’ll tell you. I’m going to be a dad!” Jiang Longcheng said, his voice tinged with excitement.
“Uh… is your wife pregnant?”
Li Yi hadn’t expected to be hit with such a bombshell the moment he got home!
“That’s right, she’s already over three months along!”
“Three months? So you got pregnant not long after you got married?”
“Yeah!”
“Huh, that doesn’t make sense. Since she’s pregnant, she should be staying home so you can take care of her. Why is she still coming over to my place?”
A hint of embarrassment flashed across Jiang Longcheng’s face before he said, “Well, it’s just that whenever I took care of her, I ended up taking her to bed. Xinyao thought I was a bit too eager in that department, so after she found out she was pregnant, she started avoiding me!”
Frequent? Hiding?
Just how “active” are you, that you’ve scared your wife this much?
“It’s no big deal. I’m just doing it five or six times a week!” Jiang Longcheng said with a touch of pride.
“Well, it’s only natural that your wife is avoiding you. You know, during the first three months of pregnancy, the fetus isn’t very stable, and doing that can easily lead to a miscarriage. Don’t be so thoughtless just for your own pleasure—if something goes wrong, you’ll regret it!” Li Yi said.
“Do you think I’m the kind of person who doesn’t know when to stop? I didn’t know Xinyao was pregnant back then. Besides, I’ve been holding back for nearly thirty years—can’t I get under the covers a few more times?”
“Don’t say that to me—go tell your wife!”
“I’m just venting to you—I’d never dare say such nonsense to Xinyao, hahaha!”
Seeing him like this, Li Yi knew this guy had finally found someone who could keep him in line—just like a wild horse finally getting its bridle!
“Alright, hurry home. Hearing you talk like that has made me miss my wife and kid too!” Li Yi said.
“Hahaha…”
Then the three of them, carrying a few suitcases, headed straight for the Jeep waiting at the airport entrance…
………
The Li Family Courtyard!
Jiang Xue was cleaning the house while chatting with Zhang Xinyao, who was sitting on the sofa.
But she was constantly distracted, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward the front gate.
Ever since Li Yi called her last night to say he was coming back today, Jiang Xue hadn’t been able to focus on anything.
“Xiao Xue, why don’t you sit down for a bit? The way you’re moving around, I’m afraid you’re going to trip over that little coffee table right there!” Zhang Xinyao said with a laugh.
Jiang Xue’s face flushed slightly, and she replied, “Nonsense, you’re just making that up!”
“I’m making that up?”
Zhang Xinyao continued with a laugh, “I wonder who forgot to add water when cooking rice, making us eat a pot of burnt rice…”
“Oh, don’t say that!”
Jiang Xue blushed deeply at the teasing from her best friend and sister-in-law. The embarrassment of this situation was second only to that time she’d dared to briefly support Li Yi!
“Go ahead and laugh at me. One of these days, when I see Xiao Qian, I’m going to tell her exactly why you’ve been hiding at my place!”
“You dare? Just wait until I get my hands on you…”
Seeing Zhang Xinyao about to get up to tickle her, Jiang Xue hurriedly said, “Don’t you dare do anything crazy—don’t forget you’re carrying a baby!”
A look of helplessness flashed across Zhang Xinyao’s face. She rubbed her slightly rounded belly and said, “Being pregnant is really no easy feat. You can’t move, but you can’t stay still either!”
“Especially these days—I throw up everything I eat. It’s just ridiculous!”
Jiang Xue smiled and said, “But the baby hasn’t been born yet. Once that little one in your belly comes out, you’ll realize that all this suffering…”
“Isn’t it worth it?”
“No, I mean once the baby’s born, that’s when the real hard work begins. Right after birth, the baby needs to feed every hour or two—no matter how tired you are, you have to get up and feed him!”
Then Jiang Xue added, “Plus, at first they don’t eat much, so you’ll constantly feel that uncomfortable swelling, and the baby will suck so hard it makes your nipples crack—it’s excruciating…”
Zhang Xinyao couldn’t help but recall what Jiang Xue had gone through during her postpartum confinement—she’d been right there with her at the time—and she shuddered involuntarily.
“I… I won’t end up like that, will I?”
“You bet! And it’ll be even worse for you—it won’t be any easier than it was for me!”
“W-why?”
“At least I had my mom, you, and Sister Na to take care of me. Look at you—your own mother isn’t here, your mother-in-law has to work, so you’ll have to rely entirely on yourself!” Jiang Xue said.
Zhang Xinyao suddenly blurted out, “I have your third brother! Once the baby’s born, I’ll have him stay home to help me take care of the baby and change diapers!”
“Hahaha, then my third brother is going to have it rough!”
“Well, he’s the one who got her pregnant…”
Just as they were talking, there was a sudden commotion outside the door!
Startled by the noise, Jiang Xue froze for a moment, then left her best friend behind and ran toward the door, leaving Zhang Xinyao standing there alone with her mouth agape, looking completely bewildered…
At the courtyard gate, Li Yi had just opened the door when he saw Jiang Xue, dressed in a loose-fitting top and thin pants, running out of the house.
When she saw him, she actually stopped right there, standing gracefully not far away!
Li Yi immediately set down the suitcase he was holding and opened his arms wide toward her!
As if drawn by some invisible force, Jiang Xue took a few quick steps forward and threw herself into Li Yi’s arms…
……..