Epilogue 3 Epilogue (1/2)
Jia He is outnumbered. Hehe.
Epilogue 3 —
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By the time they were ten years old, Aijia and Aihe were already the anxiety that burdened Jia He's heart.
These last several years, Yi Wenze was already not accepting many acting projects and had stepped back to work behind the scenes, while Jia He was still diligently doing her screenwriting work, as before. Therefore, the task of keeping that pair of little overlords company during breakfast naturally fell on Yi Wenze.
There was a certain morning when Yi Wenze was not home and she finally wanted to be a good mom and have a breakfast with them. When she walked downstairs, she discovered that the two were engaged in a full-on egg-peeling compet.i.tion. Four eggs were peeled practically in an all-out rush. Eventually, when only one remained, the older sister-younger brother pair's eyes were fastened on it. Just as they were both about to scramble to s.n.a.t.c.h it first, Jia He had already picked up the egg.
”Mom.” The two simultaneously turned their heads. Seeing her bleary-eyed look, they then simultaneously turned back again and exchanged a glance, resignation in their eyes.
”Let me see the ones you peeled.” Jia He was very affable.
In unison, the two each nudged over their own plate. The eggs had been peeled cleanly and neatly and were utterly flawless.
Jia He secretly exulted that, sure enough, these were her kids, so adept in even simply peeling eggs. They made their way in life by their own efforts and were not the least bit dependent on adults. After extensively praising them in her mind for a while, she finally began peeling the egg in her hand, casually asking, ”Why were you guys putting so much effort into peeling these eggs just now? Normally when you're with Dad, you guys are like this too?”
Actually, she was more curious to know, did Yi Wenze compete every day with them in this?
Another look pa.s.sed between the two before Aihe turned a very placid gaze on Jia He. ”When Dad left, he said that whoever peels the least eggs is the one in charge of was.h.i.+ng the dishes.”
Jia He made an ”mm” in response, continuing to peel the sh.e.l.l off her egg.
Little fragments of sh.e.l.l landed all over the table before she at last completed her work.
It was not until she had popped it into her mouth and taken a bite that she discovered that the two children were staring at her with a look of delight over another's misfortunes.
”What's wrong?” She searched back in her mind. She hadn't done anything wrong just now, right?
”Mom, you shouldn't haven't gotten up early.” Her large eyes blinking, Aijia heaved a sigh that spoke volumes. ”You lost.” Though her tone of voice contained pity, the smile at the corner of her lips betrayed the glee she was feeling at mom's misfortune. Jia He mind had to pause and catch up for a bit before she finally understood what her eldest darling was saying… And so, on this hard-to-come-by morning when she had actually woken early, she became the sacrificial lamb who took away the burden of these two children.
On weekdays they had a housekeeper, but on weekends, to train up these two little overlords, Yi Wenze would never have the housekeeper come. Hence, now as Jia He watched those two children finish eating, she could only resign herself to this fate, and then afterwards, she began tidying up all the things on the table.
Only when everything was completely cleaned and cleared away did she jog back into her bedroom, close the door, and phone Yi Wenze. The noise of the rus.h.i.+ng wind was loud on his end. He seemed to be at an outdoor filming location. ”What's wrong? You're up so early?” As he spoke, he hurried into the vehicle. ”Did they wake you up?”
Jia He blew out a breath. ”No. I suddenly had the notion of having breakfast with them, so I got up early.”
”And then?” Yi Wenze's voice conveyed mirth, for he seemed to have already guessed what had occurred.
”And then that egg-peeling rule of yours caused me, while I was still half-asleep, to become their sacrificial lamb.”
He gave a chuckle. ”Thank you, honey, for your hard work in doing housework.”
Doleful, Jia He clutched the phone. ”When are you coming back?”
”Probably in the evening.” He worked out the timing. His voice warm, he asked, ”Why?”
Jia He glumly kept quiet. Why else? Sure, he normally was so good-natured and had such a placid disposition, but those two little overlords were afraid of him and not the least bit afraid of her. Before the age of five, they had still been rather cute, but after they turned five, they became harder and harder to handle.
Oh man…Why was the ”adolescent” rebellious phase of kids happening so early nowadays?
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The two talked for another little while before hanging up. Both children had fine arts lessons during the morning. After welcoming in the teacher, she crawled straight back into bed and carried on with her sleep. Actually, she very much wanted to stay with Aijia and Aihe and watch them play piano, but when the two were seven years old, they had had a discussion with her one night, the general gist of it being that she should respect the privacy of their learning and not hover over and supervise them.
As a result, she could only follow Yi Wenze's parenting approach and policy of absolute respect, allowing the two children to develop freely and grow up ”free-range.”
By the time her alarm rang again, the strains of piano playing outside the door had already disappeared.
When she went downstairs to make lunch for them, the two were having a rare instance of sitting well-behaved on the couch. Wordlessly, they stared at her.
Jia He was a little bewildered. ”What's up?”
Why was she feeling uneasy? These two children's temperaments took after Yi Wenze's too much.
One shrewd and wilyperson in the household was a happy thing, for there was a blissful feeling that she had fallen completely into his trap and was in his ”control.” Having three shrewd and wily people in the household, though, was an absolute calamity. There was a trap at each step, and right after she climbed out of one, she would fall into the next, even deeper one… This was what she had felt the most in these last five years.
”Mom, we need to have a heart-to-heart talk with you.”
Expelling a long breath of relief, Jia He at once smiled and took a seat on the couch. ”Sure. Would you like to have lunch first?”
Aijia smiled as well. ”No thanks. I'm on a diet.”
All right then. I need to respect the children's wishes. She actually does have a bit of baby fat.
Aijia took a sip of iced water and then jumped straight to the heart of the matter. ”The two of us want to change our names.”
Jia He paused, bemused. ”Why? Aren't your names pretty nice?”
A look of incredulity came over Aijia. ”Mom, haven't you noticed that my name is the same as a certain famous person's? As Yi Wenze's daughter, how can I share a name with someone else?” Feeling, after she said this, that her tone was a little too aggressive, she instantly flashed a sweet smile. ”What do you think, hmm, Mom?”
Jia He gave a little quiver, then began seriously mulling over this question.
Back then, she had actually been quite considerate and scrupulous and had once challenged Yi Wenze on this matter. It was Yi Wenze who had been resolute on the decision.
Aijia shot a look at Aihe. The meaning was very clear: Your turn.
Aihe merely showed a mild smile. ”My scenario is even more awkward. My name is obviously a girl's name.” After saying this, he continued to take another sip of his iced water. As Jia He watched him, she could only sigh with feeling that this action truly resembled Yi Wenze so much.