Mu Qiu helped Su Jin to sit on the sofa and took on the task of cutting fruits.
Su Jin laughed: "It’s just cutting fruits, it’s no big deal."
"I just don’t feel at ease," she said, placing the cut fruit in front of Su Jin, "Shouldn’t you eat too much fruit? Your belly seems a bit bigger than before."
"Isn’t that normal?" Su Jin reached out to touch her growing belly, "Do you want to feel it?"
"... Isn’t it too early for it to start moving?!"
"Of course not," Su Jin found her reaction amusing, "I just wanted you to feel what a pregnant belly is like."
Mu Qiu leaned over cautiously, feeling the warmth of the belly with her palm.
"The belly is firm; it’s completely different from when you’ve just eaten too much."
"It is indeed different." Su Jin reached for a plum from the fruit plate, ignoring the juicy, sweet apples beside it, and started biting the plum.
Mu Qiu watched, mouth watering.
"Isn’t it sour, Sister Su Jin?"
Su Jin: "Not really. Since getting pregnant, I’ve had a craving for sour things. Pregnant women’s tastes do change; what I didn’t like before, I’ve started to like now, and vice versa."
She recalled the descriptions of pregnant heroines she had read in various novels, and asked with a strange expression:
"So, do you have any peculiar cravings? Like suddenly wanting to eat plants and cacti?"
Su Jin: "... That’s not that scary. Where did you hear about pregnant women eating cacti?"
In some melodramatic story?
Mu Qiu, without changing her expression, blamed Cheng Zhirang: "It was Cheng Zhirang who told me. He said some pregnant women have extreme taste changes and might eat weird things."
"That’s pica," Su Jin paused, catching another key point, "You guys have started discussing pregnancy?"
As she said this, she instinctively looked at her belly.
Mu Qiu immediately covered her stomach: "Don’t misunderstand, there’s nothing happening. Just chatting about various topics and it happened to come up."
Su Jin laughed: "Talking about it means you’re prepared for it, or at least he’s thinking about it."
"Even if he is, it doesn’t matter. It’s only been a short while, it’s not possible. You’ve been with Brother Lin for years before planning for this?"
When Zhou Jilin was mentioned, Su Jin’s smile faded slightly.
"What’s up," Mu Qiu was curious, "Brother Lin hasn’t passed the assessment yet?"
"What assessment? I didn’t set up any assessment for him."
"But when you mention him, you’re unhappy. Did he bully you?" She said casually,
"No wonder when I called him yesterday, he spoke so softly, afraid of disturbing you, and his tone was apologetic. If he made you mad, don’t get upset, just kick him to the couch."
"Pfft, if he heard that, he’d definitely have something to say. Is this how you and Cheng Zhirang interact?"
Even someone as dignified as Cheng Zhirang has been kicked to the couch?
Mu Qiu shook her head: "Of course not. We rarely have conflicts; we usually speak up if something’s bothering us and solve it together, rather than letting it linger. Otherwise, since we don’t spend much time together, it would be a waste to spend half the time in cold wars and arguments."
Su Jin looked at her with gentle eyes: "It’s great that you two are like that."
"You two can be the same. Just magnify or minimize things and you’ll have options."
She gave an example: "For instance, if you’re hung up on a past misunderstanding and don’t want to tell Brother Lin, just think about it more broadly—
If you keep holding things in and don’t communicate, not understanding each other’s true feelings, then for sure someday you’ll end up parting ways. After separation, you might find new partners, and the special treatment you gave each other will be given to others.
The children will live with one of you, growing up in a divorced family, becoming sensitive and timid, not close to either of you. One day, you might see him on the street carrying a bag for another woman, kissing her, holding hands, being intimate, and that exclusivity you had is gone.
He’ll be with other women, have children with them, and you can only watch, reminiscing the good times you had, unable to take a step forward. In the end, it becomes a lifelong regret. You’ll dream of it every night, and even on your deathbed, you’ll think about the tender times during your youthful love and regret losing time over a misunderstanding."
She depicted it vividly, compiling all those melodramatic novel endings she had read over the years, suddenly realizing that reading so many books was useful at least in scaring those in love.
Su Jin felt uneasy listening, pursing her lips tightly.
"What are you afraid of, Sister Su Jin? It’s just a matter of saying it. When Brother Lin comes back later, just tell him everything that’s bothering you, get the explanation, then immediately get a certificate, have the wedding after the child is born, split the family assets, and warn him if he treats you badly, just kick him out."
Zhou Jilin, who had come home temporarily worried about his wife and child, opened the door just in time to hear this sentence.
The three of them stared at each other.
Su Jin immediately stood up, blushing, taking two steps toward him: "Why are you back?"
Mu Qiu touched her nose, sitting on the sofa, she skewered a piece of apple and ate it.
Zhou Jilin gave her a glance, then carefully supported Su Jin, after a moment of silence he said: "If you really follow her advice, it wouldn’t be so bad."
Su Jin: "... Wha... what are you saying?"
Mu Qiu, kneeling on the sofa, used her clever brain and her slight understanding of Zhou Jilin to help translate: "Sister Su Jin, he means he’s willing to be kicked out by you, so hurry up and accept his proposal!"
Su Jin: "This, that’s not a proposal, Qiuqiu, don’t..."
"Yes."
Zhou Jilin knelt on one knee, took out a small box from his suit pocket, opened it, and presented it to her: "If there’s anything you want me to explain, I’ll tell you everything, or we can just go get the certificate immediately. Whenever you want to hold the wedding, it’s up to you... Will you marry me?"
Mu Qiu was dumbfounded, dropping her apple.
"Oh my, Brother Lin, you carry a ring with you? Sister Su Jin, this wasn’t rehearsed beforehand!"
Zhou Jilin’s voice was a bit tense, explaining to Su Jin: "Since you came back, I’ve been carrying this ring, but I was afraid you wouldn’t agree."
So he hadn’t taken it out.
"I..." Su Jin hesitated, "Between us..."
"What are you waiting for? If you’re hesitating, that means there’s a big chance. Just put it on her! Sometimes a man needs to be domineering!"
Oh, it’s really nerve-wracking for a spectator.
Zhou Jilin finally realized, he held Su Jin’s hand and put the diamond ring on her ring finger, then breathed a big sigh of relief, looking up at her with an enlarged smile.
"You didn’t refuse."
Su Jin’s eyes reddened, pulling him up, she buried her head into his arms.
Mu Qiu: I understand, this is when I should quietly exit.