ATLAS TRANSLATES

July 4th, an auspicious day.

Leaving the obstetrics department of the central hospital, they received an uncertain result.

It was normal that an ultrasound couldn’t show anything in early pregnancy. The doctor didn’t definitively say “not pregnant” either. Their slightly ambiguous attitude and smiling suggestion for Yan Cheng and Chen Jinyao to come back for another check in a few weeks before they left actually gave smart people a clear hint about the test results’ tendency: the chance of pregnancy was over fifty percent.

By July, the scorching summer had made its ambitions clear. It was so cruel that even the breeze became stingy. The sun baked the earth, making the concrete floor hot enough to fry eggs. If you accidentally spilled water on it, it might even smoke and sizzle. Meanwhile, cicadas hidden in the dense leaves were crying their hearts out.

Unexpectedly, Yan Cheng didn’t feel irritable about this.

Yan Cheng was in a very good mood now, carelessly radiating this joy from inside out, as if sharing it – just short of declaring a universal celebration.

His beautiful, alluring peach blossom eyes narrowed slightly, then suddenly opened completely, unabashedly releasing the sparkle that could ripple in their depths. His jaw, which had unconsciously tensed while waiting for the results, had long since relaxed. His thin lips were pressed lightly into a straight line, though the line curved smugly upward at the corners.

Even more bewildering was that he, who used to drive this SUV like a rocket, was now crawling along like a turtle.

The glaring sunlight invaded through the windshield, scattering as it was refracted. Chen Jinyao realized many cars had already passed them. She pressed her lips together, turned to look at Yan Cheng, studied his expression seriously for quite a while before saying: “Your behavior right now is really abnormal.”

Hearing this, Yan Cheng raised an eyebrow, gesturing for her to continue.

A mischievous thought suddenly sprouted in Chen Jinyao’s mind. Her eyes curved as she clicked her tongue several times, as if making an unconventional assessment, then raised her voice deliberately exaggerating: “It’s like you’ve suddenly become stupid.”

“…”

The car’s music suddenly included several songs about babies.

Who knows when Yan Cheng had found them. Compared to those high-energy beats suitable for cruising, these songs expressing love for little babies were obviously much gentler, and could even be sleep-inducing if listened to for long.

Especially when the car was moving so slowly…

Suddenly no one spoke. After a moment of silence, Chen Jinyao seemed infected by drowsiness and kept yawning, even squeezing out tears. She shook her head, forcing herself to wake up, then continued: “Hey, seriously, you should look in the mirror, look at your rippling expression.”

“I almost thought the doctor had told me ‘Congratulations, you’re pregnant’,” she continued teasing him relentlessly while resting her chin in her hand.

Yan Cheng nodded, taking her teasing: “Pretty much the same meaning.”

Chen Jinyao pursed her lips: “……………”

What the hell did he mean by pretty much the same meaning!

She was clear-headed and rational, knowing that ‘suspected’ wasn’t the same as ‘confirmed’.

To avoid false joy, it was best to maintain a normal mindset.

Obviously, the above sentence was just her self-deception after self-hypnosis.

Chen Jinyao very clearly felt that the normal heart in her chest was beating faster than at any other normal time.

She was actually just like Yan Cheng, occasionally mentioning it before, and now that it was really possible, a certain expectation naturally arose from deep within.

At a red light at an intersection.

The car stopped steadily, and Yan Cheng lazily stretched his hand to rest on the back of the passenger seat. He probably wanted to strike a cool and smug pose, but unfortunately, he couldn’t find the right way and instead achieved the opposite effect, looking somewhat strange. However, he was completely unaware of this – anyway, in the scene set up in his mind, this was the coolest, most domineering pose: “I have a dinner in a couple of days, want to come with me?”

“What kind of dinner?” Hearing this, Chen Jinyao turned her eyes.

Yan Cheng: “With a group of passionate, dreaming university students. I quite like their startup project, so I want to understand it better.”

“Is this the investment you mentioned last time?”

The green light came on, and Yan Cheng sat up straight, shifting most of his attention to driving, looking straight ahead, “Not exactly. Before it was just a simple investment, now they’ve invited me to dinner, their purpose must be deeper than investment. I guess they want me to become a shareholder directly.”

In other words, the university student team would be technology shareholders, while he would be the capital shareholder.

“On the premise that the project has good prospects, as long as they can convince me, I’ll give it a try.” He glanced lightly at the rearview mirror, paused, then continued, “Just following Chai Yue in investments… tsk, it’s not that I don’t trust Chai Yue, but investment risks are truly unpredictable. We can’t always be lucky enough to profit every time. I thought about it and decided it’s better to choose a promising emerging industry, become a major shareholder directly. As long as it prospers, I can enjoy the benefits. This has more foresight than investing here and there.”

The man spoke earnestly and even very seriously.

This was completely different from his usual frivolous and careless manner, as if he had become a different person.

Without realizing it.

He seemed to have planned another new path for his future, and before this path had taken shape, he had already outlined its contours in his mind.

Chen Jinyao reached out and pinched his earlobe, making a surprised “eh” sound: “Who are you? Quick, tell me where you’ve hidden my husband?”

Yan Cheng let out a low “heh” laugh.

If he wasn’t driving, if conditions allowed, he would now look into her eyes with a gaze like starry seas and a doting attitude, and then, when she blushed and lowered her eyes to avoid his gaze, he would tease her saying–

“You’re crazy.”

“You’re really something now, your ambition is growing. Is the little Er Restaurant not enough to contain you anymore?” Chen Jinyao couldn’t help but praise, leaning forward to examine his face carefully. After silently counting for a few seconds, she blinked, saying with a half-smile, “You’ve got quite the plans.”

“Mm.” He didn’t deny it.

His peach blossom eyes still held full smiles, and when he answered in detail, his tone no longer had the carelessness of joking. He pondered seriously for a while before continuing lazily, “As the head of the household, responsibility has made me grow.”

Oh, it was all pretense, still as unserious as ever.

Chen Jinyao couldn’t hold back and rolled her eyes, “…”

Yan Cheng: “The Yan family tradition is to raise daughters in wealth.”

“…” She twitched her mouth corner and was silent for two seconds, “So?”

Yan Cheng turned on the right turn signal, glanced at the rearview mirror several times, then skillfully turned the steering wheel halfway, sighed deeply, his tone half-serious half-joking: “So I can’t rely on just the Er Restaurant as my only business. I need to diversify my development, become a towering tree that you and our daughter can rely on in the future.”

“You’re so great.” Chen Jinyao shrugged perfunctorily, turned to look at the shops lined up outside the window, and after a moment of silence, “But I have a question.”

The most familiar street, they were almost home.

“Mm?”

Chen Jinyao: “Is it because we’ve passed the era of favoring boys over girls, and now it’s gone to the other extreme, that you have such a deep obsession with having a daughter?”

Chen Jinyao narrowed her eyes and asked a soul-striking question: “Always talking about daughter, daughter – don’t you like sons?”

“…”

Yan Cheng’s body shook, unconsciously licking his lips, his survival instinct making his brain react quickly: “That’s not it, both sons and daughters are precious.”

It’s just that he thought daughters would be more considerate and well-behaved.

He was so naughty when he was little, he even had trauma from himself.

---

Yan Cheng had been spoiled to the point of lawlessness since childhood.

People nicknamed him “Little Tyrant.”

Among the three characters in “Little Tyrant,” “Tyrant” stood in the center position, which in some sense meant that Yan Cheng had been particularly domineering since he was little.

This was indeed the case.

It wasn’t until he grew up and became sensible that he showed some restraint.

But there’s a saying that’s not wrong.

It’s easier to move mountains than to change one’s nature.

Although Yan Cheng could now control his emotions and behavior, appearing to maintain a “righteous” appearance, as soon as he fell asleep and entered an unconscious state, his true nature was completely exposed.

He would frequently occupy the entire bed, spreading out in a “big” shape. Sometimes occupying the whole bed wasn’t enough, he also had to occupy Chen Jinyao herself. In winter, Chen Jinyao feared the cold and liked to burrow into Yan Cheng’s embrace for warmth. Yan Cheng often teased her about this, but it was really a case of the pot calling the kettle black, because in the end, it was always Yan Cheng who wouldn’t let go of Chen Jinyao. With his long arms and legs, he would completely encircle Chen Jinyao in his embrace like a koala. Most times when they slept neck to neck, his long legs would press on Chen Jinyao’s legs, intimately entangled with her.

“…” About this matter, Yan Cheng actually had self-awareness.

Now, Chen Jinyao’s pregnancy symptoms were becoming more and more obvious.

Her period had been absent for over ten days.

Sleepiness, fatigue, morning vomiting, nausea, and frequent urination, etc.

What the ultrasound couldn’t yet show was now certain.

While Chen Jinyao felt it wasn’t a big deal and didn’t say anything.

One evening, Yan Cheng very consciously made a bedding on the floor in the bedroom.

Right beside the bed, he specially mopped the floor, originally just simply putting down a cooling mat, then preparing pillows and blankets to complete it.

When Chen Jinyao came out after her shower, she saw him already sitting cross-legged in his new territory, head lowered staring at his phone, not knowing what he was looking at.

She was startled, made a “huo” sound, blinked, and asked: “What are you doing?”

Yan Cheng didn’t raise his head, answering: “I’m afraid I’ll kick you at night.”

“…” Chen Jinyao was quite speechless, “It’s not that dramatic.”

How many nights had they shared the same bed? Although he had poor sleeping posture, it hadn’t reached the point of kicking her. At most, he would brush against her, then, as if she had a positioning system installed on her, he would slowly move over like a vine, whimpering as he wrapped around her.

But Yan Cheng thought it was better to be safe than sorry.

No amount of persuasion could move him. In the end, Chen Jinyao helplessly shrugged her shoulders and didn’t say anything more, just letting him fuss.

She would bet that within a week, he would be begging her to let him back in bed.

“Husband, sleeping on the floor like this isn’t good for your health.” Chen Jinyao sat on the bed, propping up one leg. She secretly glanced at Yan Cheng, and quickly withdrew her gaze before he noticed. Then, very calmly, acting as if nothing had happened, she continued drying her half-dry hair, “The floor is cold, the cold will seep into your spine.”

This was her last attempt at persuasion, Chen Jinyao thought this way.

Before she could finish thinking, she heard Yan Cheng carelessly “oh” in response.

“…” Chen Jinyao suddenly looked at him, her eye corner twitching.

She thought he hadn’t taken her words to heart, or they had gone in one ear and out the other, and he was just perfunctorily responding to save face.

It wasn’t until bedtime that Chen Jinyao discovered she had taken his words to heart.

Yan Cheng stood up and replanned his new territory.

The cooling mat originally placed on the floor didn’t move, then he went to the next room to get soft, thick bedding, laid it down, and then put another cooling mat on top of the bedding.

Chen Jinyao: “…”

Alright, this was quite sophisticated.

When the lights went out, the world became quiet.

They happily chatted a bit before bed, probably with some anticipation.

Time was passing minute by minute.

Just as they were about to chat themselves to sleep, Yan Cheng seemed to suddenly think of something, abruptly sat up, and said: “How about you sleep here and I sleep on the bed?”

He actually said such words lacking in conscience and boyfriend points.

Chen Jinyao was instantly awake: “??????”

And Yan Cheng, as if trying to cover his embarrassment, lightly coughed, and when he spoke again, he seemed very careful, “I’m afraid you might roll off the bed in your sleep.”

“………………”