Before Jiang Ruoqi returned home from the postpartum care center—that is, around the time of Little Meng Shiwei's one-month milestone—an unexpected guest paid a visit. Duan Jinchen, dressed in a custom suit, leaned over the baby bassinet. He reached out several times to touch the sleeping baby, and when he finally made contact with the little one's soft, tender cheek, the little guy suddenly woke up. Staring at that unfamiliar big face right in front of him, the bold baby didn't burst into tears, but Duan Jinchen was startled. He shot up, swiftly stepped back half a pace, and turned to find the child's mother to complain. But Jiang Ruoqi happened to be talking with the nanny and didn't see him. Sophia, looking disgusted, stepped around Duan Jinchen, scooped the whimpering Yiyi out of the crib, and began to soothe him in a low voice. Duan Jinchen scratched the back of his head, clearly embarrassed. Seeing Jiang Ruoqi finish speaking and turn to look at the baby, he quickly changed the subject: "The kid looks quite a bit like you—especially the upper half of his face and those eyes. They're exactly the same. Mm... when he grows up, he'll definitely be better looking than his dad." Sophia shook her head at the way he had to throw shade at Dr. Meng while complimenting his son. Carrying the cooing Yiyi, she walked toward the window, completely ignoring Duan Jinchen. Jiang Ruoqi pretended not to hear: "It's only natural that he looks like me. The X chromosome has a stronger influence on boys than on girls; it's more likely that his skin and features will take after me. Of course, looking like me also proves that Yiyi is indeed my child." Yes, another of Jiang Ruoqi's solemnly nonsensical statements. Duan Jinchen didn't want to argue with her, but he couldn't help rolling his eyes. He wanted to say that whether the baby was hers was obvious to everyone; she didn't need to emphasize it. Jiang Ruoqi paid no attention to his reaction, instead fiddling with the gift boxes beside her. Many friends had come to visit lately, celebrating Yiyi's birth and first month, and they had brought many presents: clothes, shoes, strollers, wooden rocking horses, walkers, gold lockets, skincare products, handbags, postpartum recovery devices, and so on. Some larger unopened items were piled in a corner, and she'd need to sort them out in the next couple of days so Meng Shang could take some home first. Naturally, Little President Duan, who had quite a history with Jiang Ruoqi, couldn't come empty-handed. With a grand gesture, he generously presented Yiyi with his first big-ticket item—a solid gold longevity lock necklace. When Jiang Ruoqi first opened the box, she was almost blinded by the dazzling gold. On a red velvet backing, the gold longevity lock gleamed, adorned with intricate auspicious patterns. Engraved on both sides of the lock were the words "Longevity and Wealth" and "Happiness and Peace." The necklace itself was simpler, a plain gold band with only a few decorative motifs at the connection point. Jiang Ruoqi lifted a corner, her fingertips tracing the steel-stamped logo on the inside of the necklace, and, unsurprisingly, felt the imprint of Hengchang Group. She weighed it in her hand and mused internally: at the current gold prices, Duan Jinchen must have spent a fortune. "Have you struck it rich recently, Little President Duan?" Jiang Ruoqi held up the gift box to Duan Jinchen. "Such a heavy gift makes me embarrassed to accept it." Duan Jinchen turned his head away proudly, letting out a couple of hmphs. "I'm giving it to the child, not to you. Don't flatter yourself." "He's too young to wear it—it'll hurt his neck. As his mother, it's only natural for me to keep it safe for him," Jiang Ruoqi said with mock seriousness, clearly not minding playing the role of a traditional parent this time. Duan Jinchen wanted to facepalm: "Why haven't you changed at all?" "I gave birth to a child, not lost my memory or turned into a monster. It would be weird if I had changed," Jiang Ruoqi replied, then leaned in to ask, "Did you make that purchase for Hengchang through the employee internal purchase program?" Duan Jinchen was at his limit and shouted her full name: "Jiang Ruoqi! What employee am I of Hengchang? Why would I use an employee purchase program? Do I need to save a few hundred or thousand?" Probably not. Jiang Ruoqi accepted the gift with ease: "Then I'll accept it on behalf of Little Meng Shiwei. Thank you for the gift, Uncle Duan." "Can't you call me 'big brother'? Calling me 'uncle' makes me feel old," Duan Jinchen complained, turning to look at Yiyi, who was still being held by Sophia, secretly feeling that at just over twenty, being called 'uncle' aged him. Jiang Ruoqi had no objection: "If you insist, it's not impossible." "Don't you think that would mess up the generation?" Sophia added coldly. Only then did Duan Jinchen realize: "Uncle, just call me uncle." "Enough joking," Jiang Ruoqi said seriously, asking about his recent situation. "How have you been? I trained you personally. Don't embarrass me." "You're not at Glint anymore, so if something goes wrong, it doesn't reflect on you," Duan Jinchen grumbled, looking around. "Not bad. I've got decisiveness on major issues, the guts to take responsibility, and I know how to delegate. My management style is pretty similar to yours. But I tend to get irritable when trouble hits—not calm enough, not patient enough. If it weren't for the President covering for me, I'd have pissed off the Boss many times over." Sophia chimed in, adding a comment from the side. Having partnered with Duan Jinchen for nearly a year, she saw all his strengths and weaknesses. But unlike Jiang Ruoqi, she had no specific business responsibilities or the sense of mission and obligation to mentor a newcomer, so she just kept her observations to herself. Jiang Ruoqi turned to Duan Jinchen but addressed Sophia: "It's a personal trait. Hard to change." "Alright, you two workaholics," Duan Jinchen interrupted. "Can we not talk about work during non-work hours?" "Sure," Jiang Ruoqi said, not wanting to dwell on it and make him think she was prying. "Uncle Duan gave such a big gift. Would you do me the honor of coming to the hundred-day banquet?" Duan Jinchen fell silent at the question, pressing his lips together in thought for a long moment. His gaze shifted from the baby with wide eyes back to Jiang Ruoqi. He let out a long sigh, rubbed the cuff of his suit with the hand hanging by his side, then smiled and declined: "Work's busy; I might not have time. As an uncle... I can only guarantee the gift and my best wishes will be there." Everyone knew whether he was really busy—his secretary was right there. But "work being busy" is always the best excuse for adults, a graceful refusal that saves face. Jiang Ruoqi was used to it. She nodded: "Then don't forget to invite me to your wedding, Little President Duan. I'm not busy; I want to go." Duan Jinchen laughed, knowing that Jiang Ruoqi was thinking about returning the favor for the longevity lock. "Sure. Now that you're under Brother Xiao, we'll have plenty of chances to meet." Duan Jinchen and Xiao Yunzhou were neighbors when they studied abroad and had always been close, keeping in touch even though they were in Yuanjing and Xinhai respectively. Jiang Ruoqi only found out about this later when Ada mentioned it casually. She had once remarked on how strangely their connections intertwined, like characters in a book who start off far apart but end up coming together, each with their own conclusion. It was truly amazing. But Jiang Ruoqi didn't spend much time marveling at fate. Setting aside other trivial matters, the hundred-day banquet for Yiyi really started to worry her from the moment she got home. The hotel ballroom needed to be booked, the venue decorated in advance, and the party favors selected and packaged. As a Type A personality, she couldn't sleep if things weren't arranged ahead of time. Fortunately, they had outsourced to a planning and decoration team. Meng Shang, afraid that Jiang Ruoqi would stress too much, had already chosen a few companies. They only needed to decide on the hotel and propose the theme, then hand everything over to the team. Time passed quickly. Little Meng Shiwei had been born in the lively March, and three months later, it was the humid, sweltering rainy season of Xinhai. But the little guy just ate and slept, unaffected by the weather. He grew daily, from six pounds seven ounces at birth to fifteen pounds. Jiang Ruoqi often sighed—luckily she had gotten used to carrying Meng Yuanbao, because this little chubber was quite heavy. Going out in such weather was uncomfortable. Jiang Ruoqi and Meng Shang had to check the hundred-day banquet decorations ahead of time, so they decided to leave Yiyi at home with his grandparents and grandmother. The hotel was not far from their home, about a ten-minute drive. When they arrived, the planning team had already finished the setup, leaving only two staff members to do the final checks. The ballroom was actually not large; three tables were set up, and the guests were only close family and good friends. The actual decoration was basically the same as the renderings: the main backdrop featured balloons arranged as fireworks and a cake; to the left, a dessert table stood ready for a two-tier cake and various sweets and refreshments. Jiang Ruoqi really stayed true to her original intention—she hoped Yiyi would have a colorful life, so she had been implementing that standard everywhere, starting with the hundred-day banquet. After they checked everything and found no issues, they turned back to the entrance and realized they had forgotten to put up the welcome sign. When they asked, they found out it had been overlooked. Chaos ensued, but luckily it was just a small item, simple to set up, so it wasn't a big hassle. Jiang Ruoqi and Meng Shang leaned against the main entrance. Since they were the ones who had missed the detail, they tactfully kept their distance to avoid putting pressure on the staff. But Jiang Ruoqi didn't idle; she looked around for a while, then couldn't help complaining to Meng Shang: "Thank goodness we didn't have a wedding. Even a small hundred-day banquet with three tables is so much trouble. If we had a wedding, it would drive me crazy." Meng Shang tapped Jiang Ruoqi's forehead, trying to evoke some romantic longing in her: "Don't you regret not having a wedding?" "No," Jiang Ruoqi said firmly. "Besides being too much trouble, a wedding is just a formality to tell others I have a legal partner and will start a happy married life. But I'm already very happy; there's no need to announce it to everyone again." It sounded like she was flattering him, but she meant it. Meng Shang understood her intention, but he sometimes lowered his eyes and didn't respond when he thought about how he hadn't given her a wedding dress, vows, or a romantic ceremony. The obvious look of concern made Jiang Ruoqi decide to settle the wedding issue once and for all that day, so Meng Shang wouldn't keep feeling like he owed her. So she pressed on: "Or... do you have regrets?" "...Maybe a little," Meng Shang admitted. "It's not about the ceremony. I just don't want you to have less than others." Such a stubborn little thought. Jiang Ruoqi's eyes darted around, but she didn't let go of Meng Shang's hand. The rings on their ring fingers overlapped, diamonds sparkling under the light with a beautiful fire. Then, as if struck by an idea, she said: "Then let's just have a simple one." "What?" Meng Shang didn't follow her train of thought. Jiang Ruoqi explained: "Look, this is a ballroom; maybe it's been used for weddings before. Since the time is right and the place is right, all we need are the bride and groom. We can have a simple wedding, just the two of us." "Just the two of us?" Meng Shang stared at her, still unsure. "Mm, the most important part of a wedding is the bride and groom, isn't it?" Without giving Meng Shang a chance to react, Jiang Ruoqi slipped her ring off his finger and took off her own, holding them both in her palm. She pulled his hand for support, stood on tiptoe to try to meet his eyes, and said: "Alright, the wedding begins now." "Respected groom, Mr. Meng Shang, do you take Miss Jiang Ruoqi as your lawful wife, and do you publicly vow, whether in poverty or wealth, sickness or health, to always... always... hmm..." She blanked on the key line, thought for a long time, couldn't remember, and couldn't make one up, so she confessed to Meng Shang: "I only memorized up to here. What do I do if I forget the words?" She showed no sign of guilt, her eyes full of laughter as she looked at him, expecting him to save her from the embarrassment. So Meng Shang began in a deep, solemn tone: "I will always love her, care for her, be faithful to her, and never abandon her, until the end of my life." "...I do." His voice finally trembled. "Jiang Ruoqi, I will love you forever, for my whole life." Before he finished, Jiang Ruoqi had thrown herself into his arms, wrapped her arms around his neck, and whispered in his ear: "I do too." "Meng Shang, I will love you forever, for my whole life." She opened her palm, revealing the two rings resting there. "Alright, let us bless this couple as they exchange rings!"
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