flowers

Although Dong You agreed, Chen Qian'an did not call him "Xiao You" and "Xiao You" as fluently as he did in Dong You's office before.

He is still a little shy.

Dong You also understood that Chen Qi'an had been a thin-skinned person since he was a child.

On Chen Qi'an's last day of the exam, Dong You deliberately finished his work early and took a day off. He dropped him off at the exam room on time that morning, watched him walk into the room, and then walked along the road signs to the mall, which was about a kilometer away.

When Dong You was taking the college entrance exam, Chen Qi'an was still a little freshman in high school. He had insisted on taking Dong You to the exam that morning, feeling it would be awkward for him to be away on such an important day. When Dong You finished, he stood at the door, holding a large bouquet of flowers, glancing sideways at the gate.

He was already quite tall by then, estimated at around 1.75 meters, standing out among the middle-aged crowd. But he still stood on tiptoe, peering around. He looked adorable, so adorable that the days of nervousness from the winter travel exams gradually eased. Suddenly, she realized: the battle of the college entrance exam was finally over.

When Chen Qi'an was taking the college entrance exam, Dong You was in college and had no vacation. Perhaps he was still reviewing intensely for the final week?

This also caused her a regret - she had always hoped that she could be by Chen Qi'an's side to cheer him up during the college entrance examination. Although she couldn't help him much, she should at least be by his side.

As a result, she couldn't even take a leave and could only send a meaningless message on her mobile phone.

This time she finally made up for her regret.

She planned to find a place to sit down and wait for Chen Qianan to come out and see her first. She could then give him a big hug and take him home as quickly as possible to eat and rest and continue the afternoon exam.

On her way to the mall, Dongyou passed a flower shop. Judging from the decorations, it looked like it had just opened. She only took a quick glance and found that the flowers were fresh and beautiful, really gorgeous. She stopped and walked in as if she was possessed. She found that the bouquets were also well wrapped.

Dongyou is actually not very interested in flowers, which are useless things that you can only look at but can't do anything with. The main reason is that she is a practical person.

But just because she doesn't like it doesn't mean others don't like it.

Does Xiao An like it?

Dongyou recalled how she felt when she walked out of the college entrance examination room and saw Chen Qian'an holding a big bouquet of flowers.

In his memory, the day he walked out of the exam room, the midday sun shone on him, his hair flying with his movements, beads of sweat on his temples, as if he had just run somewhere, in short, the feeling of having just finished a workout. When he saw Dong You—when their eyes met—he smiled, raised his arms high, and shouted, "Sister Xiao You!"

His lips were very red. Dongyou trotted towards him, and he also rushed towards Dongyou. The flowers were stuffed into Dongyou's arms. The first thing she smelled was the scent of shower gel on Chen Qian'an's body. Finally, the fragrance of the bouquet slowly entered her nose.

Thinking of this, Dongyou suddenly curled up the corners of his mouth and felt warm in his heart.

Flowers may not be practical, but when handed to you by a special person, they become memorable.

Dong You thought, is he also one of Chen Qi'an's special people? At least now he is still his wife, right?

Soon, Dongyou ordered a bouquet of flowers from the flower shop and planned to pick it up in the afternoon.

At noon, Chen Qian'an hurriedly ate his meal and glanced at his book. Before he had time to say a few words to Dong You, he had already arrived at the examination room.

The winter outing was the same as in the morning. I found a coffee shop to sit down, drink coffee, and open my laptop to do some simple work.

During this time, she received a call from Chen Qi'an's mother. Chen Jiahuan asked, "Xiao You? Is Xiao An almost done with his college entrance exam? His father and I want you to come over to our house for dinner tonight to celebrate his exams. We don't dare call him for fear of disturbing him. Are you free?"

"Sure, Mom. I'll go home with him after he finishes his exams." Dong You laughed, her tone slightly smug, even she didn't notice. "I even ordered a bouquet of flowers for him."

"Really?" Chen Jiahuan was very surprised. "Then Xiao An must be very happy! Let me tell you..."

Chen Jiahuan was interrupted by someone on the other end of the phone, seemingly the cook, calling her, "Jiahuan! I've made the menu. Is there anything else you'd like to add? They're all Xiaoan's favorites."

Dong You had no choice but to take the initiative and said, "Then Mom, you go ahead and do your work. I'll hang up first."

"Hey, okay, I'll wait for you to come over tonight! It's been a long time since I saw you two."

Dongyou sat there until half an hour before the end of the exam and then left to pick up the flowers from the flower shop.

This bouquet of flowers was beautifully wrapped according to the requirements of the winter tour, decorated with jasmine flowers and baby's breath, and the flower paper was even in calligraphy style, which looked particularly suitable for candidates who had just finished the exam.

Dong You held the flowers and smelled the jasmine fragrance, and couldn't help but guess Chen Qi'an's reaction in anticipation.

Will he come and hug me?

When Dongyou arrived, there were actually not many people outside. There were still fifteen minutes until the end of the exam, and the weather was neither too hot nor too cold. A gentle breeze blew in. Although Dongyou had her hair tied up in a high ponytail, the loose strands on her forehead kept scratching her face.

Itchy.

I feel the same way.

Time seemed long and short in this anticipation. When he saw a group of people pouring out of the building, Dongyou felt a long-lost tension.

What if Chen Qi'an doesn't like flowers as much as I do?

Chen Qi'an came out. Dong You saw him looking around, searching for something. She didn't call out to him immediately. After watching him for two seconds, she imitated Chen Qi'an's behavior when she came out after the college entrance examination, raised her arms, and shouted, "Xiao An!"

This scene overlaps with a scene from many years ago.

Chen Qian'an came running over quickly, and Dong You was embraced by a fragrance after only two steps - it was the laundry detergent at home and Chen Qian'an's special body odor.

The beautiful bouquet of flowers was held in the arms of the two men without being noticed. Fortunately, Chen Qi'an did not hold it tightly, so the flowers were intact.

"You also bought flowers?" When he loosened his arms, Chen Qian'an finally noticed the flowers that had a very "weak" presence.

"Yeah." Dong You smiled, handed the flowers to him, and said solemnly: "Congratulations on finishing your exams!"

Chen Qian'an opened his mouth slightly, as if he hadn't reacted yet. He took the flowers blankly, and then, as if out of inertia, he uttered the word "thank you".

Dong You burst out laughing and couldn't help teasing him: "How polite."

"...Stop teasing me." Chen Qian'an looked at the flower and reached out to touch the small petals of the sunflower.

"Okay, okay." Dong You suppressed his laughter and said in an indulgent tone, "By the way, Mom said she wants us to go home for dinner today. Let's go home later, okay?"

Chen Qi'an nodded obediently.

Dongyou couldn't help but pinch the flesh of his cheek.

Chen Qi'an didn't hide either, but whispered, "Let's go."

When they arrived at the Chen family villa, the meal was not ready yet, but they could smell the aroma of food as soon as they entered.

Chen Jiahuan had just washed and cut the fruit and was about to bring it out to the living room when she met a couple who came in for a winter outing.

"Hey, you're here? Come on, come on in. I've been waiting for you." Chen Jiahuan handed the fruit plate to Chen Qi'an and walked them both to the living room. "Oh, you don't know how bored I am. Dad and brother have been busy with work lately and haven't had time to spend with me. You say it's okay on weekdays, but I have to go to work too. But this weekend, I'm so free and bored."

After walking to the living room in a few steps, Chen Qi'an looked around after hearing what Chen Jiahuan said. "Brother and father are not here now?"

"Yes, they haven't finished get off work yet." said Chen Jiahuan.

Chen Qianan glanced at the wall clock: It’s only seven o’clock.

"But it should be soon. Your father usually comes back at eight o'clock." Chen Jiahuan added.

After chatting about some family matters, Chen Jiahuan suddenly said, "Oh, by the way, have you made any plans? Xiao An is 26 now, and Xiao You is 28. I was about your age when I gave birth to Xiao Xiao. If you want to have a child, why not start planning it sooner rather than later? Think about it carefully while your jobs are still relatively stable."

Ah... this is a bit embarrassing.

Forget about planning to have children. The most intimate thing they do now is holding hands and hugging. They haven't even kissed.

Both of them were a little embarrassed about the steps they had to go through to have a child.

But Chen Qian'an soon thought of a scar on his mother's belly. Perhaps the scar is not as deep as it was when he was a child, but Chen Qian'an still felt very sad when he thought about it.

Mom must be in pain.

Although my mother said it’s okay.

But Chen Qianan didn't want to experience that kind of pain again during the winter tour.

However, Chen Qi'an would not impose his own ideas on Dong You. He still respected Dong You's wishes. He chose an answer that could either advance or retreat: "Mom, there's no rush. I just finished my exams. If I pass, I probably won't have much time. Besides, Xiao You is still in the rising stage of his career. It may not be time for us to consider having children yet."

Dong You nodded. "Yes, Mom. We're not sure yet, and we don't want to have a baby so soon." She made a shy expression. "We still want to enjoy our time together as a couple."

Chen Jiahuan laughed and said, "Hahaha, okay, okay, it's up to you. And be careful, I'm not trying to force you to have a baby. I'm just reminding you, don't assume I want a grandchild just because I said this, and don't think you're going to have one 'for me'. You have to think it through for yourselves. A child should be born out of love."

Dongyou agreed very much and said seriously: "Don't worry, Mom, we will take our own situation into consideration."

"What are you talking about?" Chen Zhangyuan's voice came closer. The three of them looked over and saw that Chen Zhangyuan and Chen Qixiao looked exhausted, their brows and eyes showing fatigue, but the corners of their mouths were lingering with smiles.

Chen Jiahuan's eyes lit up when she saw Chen Zhangyuan, but she didn't move a limb. She just said, "You're back?"

Chen Zhangyuan knew she was being reserved in front of the children. In the past, when he came home, Chen Jiahuan would rush over and hug him, and he would try to persuade her, "Can you wait until I take off my coat before hugging you? It's covered in dust."

Just then, the cook brought the last dish to the table and said, "The meal is ready!"

Without much nonsense, several people moved to the dining table to eat, and the rest of the conversation was spent at the table, enjoying the delicious food.