Free Web NovelChapter 368: Chapter 368: Extra Story 17
After Shen Xing left for school, the house felt a bit too quiet with one less person in it.
And just at this time, Zhaung Zhuang was actually about to start walking.
Every day, Shen Que and Jiang Cheng’s waists were about to break from holding up the little ancestor while he practiced lifting his legs.
The two of them even said, hurry up and learn to walk, otherwise our backs are going to snap.
Under their eager expectations, Zhaung Zhuang finally learned to walk. He was wobbly, but not bad at all.
It was also at this point that the two of them realized that knowing how to walk wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
Because Zhaung Zhuang was way too curious!
Not a single one of the flowers Grandma Shen planted escaped his destruction, and on top of that, several bowls in the house had been smashed.
A kid’s hands are just too fast.
Not only fast, but catching you off guard.
Although little Zhaung Zhuang got a little "lesson" from Jiang Cheng every single time, next time he just wouldn’t throw bowls.
Plates, cups, and so on were all within his zone of curiosity.
After he broke something, Zhaung Zhuang would look at Jiang Cheng, who was lecturing him, with a puzzled expression, as if he were asking: this isn’t a bowl either, is it?
Cleaning up the mess every day behind a hyperactive Zhaung Zhuang, Jiang Cheng could only sigh about one thing: when it comes to raising kids, whoever does it goes crazy.
Time trickled by, and soon Zhaung Zhuang was about to turn two. He was full of energy and endlessly curious about everything.
Jiang Cheng couldn’t help muttering: if only he could be quiet for a bit, just a tiny bit.
Sometimes, things really are that mystical.
Zhaung Zhuang fell ill for the first time and came down with a high fever.
The two calmest people, Jiang Cheng and Shen Que, tasted for the first time what it meant to be completely at a loss, anxious to the point of scratching their hearts.
Xing Er rushed over right away.
After medicine, massage, and tui na, Zhaung Zhuang, who had been burning with fever for a whole day and night, finally cooled down.
Jiang Cheng felt both heartache and guilt.
She kept thinking that if she hadn’t said those random things, it might have been better.
Shen Que comforted her, saying, "You have to believe in science. All kids get sick."
In her heart, Jiang Cheng was thinking that her very existence was the most unscientific thing.
Fortunately, Zhaung Zhuang’s constitution was quite good. As he got better day by day, he returned to his old self again.
As Zhaung Zhuang grew, Shen Que and Jiang Cheng also started bringing him along to the company.
All in all, when it came to raising their child, the two of them were absolutely hands-on.
Maybe it was to make up for their own childhoods, or maybe they simply wanted their child to grow up healthy.
When Zhaung Zhuang turned three, Jiang Cheng and Shen Que decided to take him out traveling.
It wasn’t on a whim; it was because the two of them realized that Grandma Shen was getting old.
That day while eating, one of Grandma Shen’s teeth broke.
They took her to get a false tooth, and at that moment, the two of them suddenly realized that Grandma Shen had spent her whole life "spinning" around them.
So under the pretext of taking Zhaung Zhuang out to have fun, they brought Grandma Shen and Shen Yue along for a trip.
From the south to the north, the motherland has all kinds of different scenery and cultures. The two of them took everyone around for a month before finally returning to Beijing.
When she got back, Grandma Shen put on the new clothes they’d bought her and went to "chat" with the neighbors.
The two of them were even more determined that from now on, every year they would take Grandma Shen on a trip.
When Zhaung Zhuang turned four, Shen Yue took the college entrance exam.
She got into an art academy and officially became a college student.
As for Shen Xing... he came home whenever he could. When he couldn’t come back, neither Jiang Cheng nor Shen Que was allowed to ask.
He was now a child who had been handed over to the motherland.
In the courtyard house, Shen Yue also left.
The big courtyard suddenly felt even emptier.
At night, the family of three watched TV together—well, technically it was Jiang Cheng and Shen Que watching with Zhaung Zhuang.
On TV, the host of a children’s program was asking a question.
"For this question, let’s have the little friends in front of the TV answer it, okay?"
The word "okay" was still echoing when the TV went black the next second.
Jiang Cheng turned her head, looked at Zhaung Zhuang, and asked, "Isn’t this your favorite? Why’d you turn it off?"
With his little chubby hand, Zhaung Zhuang made a shushing gesture and whispered, "Mom, I don’t know the answer! What if they call on me to answer?"
Jiang Cheng: "..."
Well-traveled and eloquent as she was, she was at a loss for words for the first time.
Shen Que looked at his adorable son with an expression full of loving concern, trying hard not to laugh.
Zhaung Zhuang, feeling very pleased with himself, waited for quite a while and then turned the TV back on.
"Now it’s fine."
Shen Que and Jiang Cheng exchanged a glance and couldn’t help finding it funny.
After their daily fixed TV-watching segment ended, Zhaung Zhuang started pulling on Shen Que to get him to play with building blocks.
When it came to toys, Zhaung Zhuang had never been short of them.
Every time the factory director Yuan in Sea City released a new toy, he never forgot to mail a set to Jiang Cheng.
The three of them played until eight-thirty, when it was time for Zhaung Zhuang to go to bed.
As usual, Zhaung Zhuang would act spoiled and drag it out for a while; he always had to delay a bit.
Jiang Cheng was used to this; that was why she always called him ten minutes early.
After they finally coaxed Zhaung Zhuang to sleep, Jiang Cheng and Shen Que finally welcomed their free time as a couple.
Shen Que raised an eyebrow at Jiang Cheng, silently asking, "Drink a little?"
"Sure!"
They walked out of the bedroom and into the living room, skillfully took out a bottle of liquor and two glasses, plus some snacks, sat down cross-legged, and lightly clinked their glasses.
"Phew... another day done."
"We’ll start all over again tomorrow."
The two of them were overly attentive when it came to raising their child, completely different from modern child-rearing styles. It wore them out; they were exhausting themselves on purpose.
But they still rather enjoyed it.
The existence of a child brings a lot of uncertainty into your life.
Unexpected things, new things, happened every day.
At night, they would have a small drink to relax.
When they finished their drinks, the first thing they did wasn’t getting intimate, but cleaning up the "battlefield."
Only after everything was spotless, borrowing the faint tipsiness, their gazes tangled together, and they spent a tender night.
The next day, Shen Que took Zhaung Zhuang to the daycare, and Jiang Cheng went to the company.
As soon as she arrived at the company, she saw a familiar face she hadn’t seen in a long time.
"Sun Jiandong!"
"President Jiang!"
Sun Jiandong was the one who’d been talked into things by Jiang Cheng several times back in night school. His father had been the director of a machinery factory.
Sun Jiandong had taken the entrance exam for Jing City University together with Jiang Cheng and the others, but after graduation he went abroad, and they hadn’t seen each other for a long time.
Jiang Cheng invited Sun Jiandong into her office and more or less guessed why he’d come.
"You’re here to ask me to invest in you?"
Sun Jiandong nodded and took a document out of his backpack.
"I believe computers are an industry with tremendous prospects. This is my initial proposal. President Jiang, you can take a look. No need to consider the personal history between us—just look at it as a purely commercial investment."
Sun Jiandong handed over the document very formally. Jiang Cheng took it and said, "All right, I’ll read it carefully."
With the business out of the way, what followed was catching up.
At noon, Sun Jiandong, Li Chunxiang, Sun Aiguo, Jian Yueer and the others all came out, and they went out together for a meal to reminisce.
Afterward, Jiang Cheng returned to the company, read through Sun Jiandong’s proposal very carefully, held a meeting, and made a decision in the shortest time.
They would cooperate.
The collaboration with Sun Jiandong thus began.
While everyday life went on as usual, a piece of news came.
Someone was bullying us in the South China Sea.
After hearing this news, Jiang Cheng went straight to find Director Leng, and the first thing she said was: Do you need money?
