69 Chapter 69

With the start of summer vacation, the three children went back to visit the Liu summer house. The boys had fun riding the horses while Daiyu and Nao Nao enjoyed playing by the farm. They used the fresh produce they gathered during the day for dinner and had a delicious pot of vegetable curry.

When nightfall came, the three children laid out a blanket by the fields and watched the stars while eating freshly roasted corn.

"And – and when Daiyu grows up, Daiyu wants to build a biiiiiiig house for grandpa! And for Jin-gege and Zhihao-gege and Uncle Tang, and Nao Nao so that – so that we can be together every day!"

"What about the twins? You don't want the twins to join us?" Zhihao asked.

Daiyu paused.

"The babies can come visit! But Jin-gege has to be with Daiyu!"

The boys laughed.

"Xiao Yu." Liu Jin hugged her from behind.

"Don't grow up too fast." He kissed her chubby cheek. Daiyu giggled.

"Daiyu has to grow! Daiyu wants to marry Jin-gege soon!"

For the next few days after that, the children enjoyed playing by the river and shared stories by the campfire. After that, they set off fireworks and joined the local festivities in the area while making sure to buy souvenirs for their parents.

This year as well, Daiyu and Liu Jin engraved their names on the tree. Liu Jin capped off the sweet moment with a kiss.

"Ten more years Xiao Yu. Then we can have babie–"

"Stop corrupting her!" Zhihao smacked the back of his head.

After their brief stay at the vacation house, they returned back home where Daiyu celebrated Wang Jing's birthday with him with another date.

This time, she made the cake herself. It wasn't perfect, the icing was a bit messy, and the taste was average. Still, Wang Jing ate it wholeheartedly and made Daiyu promise to bake him another one next year.

The rest of their summer vacation went by in a flash and before long, August had come. The twins were turning a year older and Daiyu gave each of them bibs that she had sewn herself.

Over the year, the twins had grown attached to her and she too loved them very much. Of course, Liu Jin despised the fact that the purpose of her visits changed from 'visiting Jin-gege' to 'visiting babies.' Still, he consoled himself with the idea that Daiyu would grow up to become a very good mom.

Before summer ended, Wang Jing went to America to pay Yi Jie a visit. He stayed there for two weeks while Daiyu spent the rest of her vacation with Liu Jin and Zhihao by the Wang rest house in the mountains.

When September came around, the children started another school year together. This time too, the year went by peacefully.

For the annual school play, Daiyu's class performed Aladdin. While every year Zhenzhen played the female lead, this year, Daiyu played as Princess Jasmine because her voice matched the role perfectly. Of course, Zhenzhen kicked up a fuss.

"How can it be Daiyu?! I've never seen a fat princess before!" She gritted her teeth.

"Well now you have!" Daiyu proudly huffed.

While sometimes Daiyu does get insecure about her weight, her Jin-gege would always make her feel like the most beautiful girl in the world. He always looked at her with warm eyes and Daiyu knew that her Jin-gege loved her dearly.

As expected, Daiyu's performance was a big hit. The audience loved her voice and she became known as the little star of their academy. Of course, Wang Jing was very proud of her and Liu Honghui had to endure another two to three weeks of bragging from the old man.

On the other hand, Liu Jin's class performed Alice in Wonderland. This year, the boys insisted on minor roles and went as 'Background Tree A' and 'Background Tree B' respectively. Of course, Victoria was excited all throughout the play and took several pictures of them wearing matching costumes. They looked like little broccolis running around the stage and were extremely adorable.

For Liu Jin's birthday, Daiyu baked him a cake and gave him a pair of socks that she had sewn herself. Liu Jin treasured them dearly and didn't have the heart to wear them. Meanwhile, Zhihao wore his pair of socks practically every day. He wore them over and over even when they already had big holes in them and his toe was showing.

As for winter break that year, the children went abroad. Wang Jing brought them to Switzerland and Daiyu had a blast. It was her first time leaving the country and everything fascinated her. She took lots of pictures and spent her every waking moment having fun. When it was finally time to go back home, Daiyu hesitated to leave.

"It's okay, Xiao Yu. We'll have many more opportunities to come visit in the future." Liu Jin assured her.

"Really?"

"Mmm. And when we grow up, I'll take you to even more countries." He smiled widely.

Daiyu squealed in excitement and peppered his face with kisses.

"Jin-gege is the best!"

After winter break, the children celebrated Zhihao's birthday. This year, he had a specific request for Daiyu. He wanted a shirt with a certain character on it so Daiyu had been working hard since the start of her break to make the gift.

When his birthday came, Daiyu gave Zhihao and Liu Jin matching shirts with the same character on it. Of course, the boys excitedly wore them even though they hated the fact that they were matching. This year too, Victoria took several photos of them together and had them displayed in their living room wall.

For this year's sports fest, Daiyu joined the three-legged race. Sadly, her team lost and she even scraped her knee from falling down. Still, Daiyu went home happy that day. Liu Jin was so worried about her that he treated her wound himself and even carried her on his back as they enjoyed the rest of the festival together.

"As long as Daiyu has Jin-gege, Daiyu will be okay!" She smiled.

"Hehe." Liu Jin giggled.

She kissed his cheek and whispered into his ear.

"Jin-gege, Daiyu loves you lots lots lots!"

After the sports fest, the children spent another three days at the resort. This year, Nana took a short swim with them and the twins played by the pool too.

Of course, Butler Tang's yearly suntan session likewise happened as scheduled. This time though, he was fully prepared for Daiyu's intense massage. With his work at the mansion lightening, he had more time to himself and had been working out a lot. His toned body was now muscular and he had been attracting a lot of attention from the ladies.

But alas, Butler Tang forgot that while he may have grown stronger, Daiyu had also grown heavier.

"X-Xiao Yu!!! Wai–

"JIN!!! UNCLE TANG IS DYING AGAIN!!!"

After their little holiday, Daiyu celebrated her birthday next. This year, Daiyu wanted a Little Mermaid theme. As such, Wang Jing held a huge pool party for her at a seven-star hotel. To accommodate those who could not swim, they opened a jacuzzi bar for them to enjoy the party.

Finally, it was the year-end exams again. Like the yearly tradition goes, Zhihao was once again at Liu Jin's mercy. Nevertheless, he made it this year too and all three children were scheduled to move up a year.

At the start of their summer vacation, Shuren and Liu Jin took another trip together. Every year, Liu Jin made an effort to get closer to his father and Shuren did too. Before, they would only share nods and grunts but now, they could fully converse with each other using complete sentences.

While admittedly, Liu Jin still couldn't share a lot of things with his father, he still tried his best to share one small thing at a time.

"And I plan to take Xiao Yu to the aquarium next time."

"That's good. You can take her to the McCarthy hotel nearby. They restaurant by the rooftop has good food and a good view."

Liu Jin paused before nodding. He didn't expect that his father could dish out good dating advice. He made a mental note to ask him more often from now on.

Finally, it was time for Wang Jing's birthday again. Daiyu baked him a cake like she promised and this time, the old man could honestly say that it was delicious. It seems like outside of academics, Daiyu was a very quick learner!

This year too, the children visited the Liu summer house. Liu Jin and Daiyu carved their names on the tree and the boy's internal countdown fell to nine years.

"Nine more years till a baby." He counted with determination.

Of course, Wang Jing also visited Yi Jie in America. She was doing well there and her new family doted on her dearly. While she was still healing her scarred heart, she made sure to enjoy every day as it came to her.

But aside from her, the old man was healing too. Every time Wang Jing visited Yi Jie and saw her smiling at him, he too felt like he could forgive his own past.

Perhaps fate was not kind to them at the start but surely the future would be kinder to them from now on. He could only hope that their peaceful days would continue as the children continued to grow, one year at a time.