Inferior A After Having a Baby with the Top Boss 113

Chapter 113: The Lantern Festival

On the second day of the Lunar New Year, lantern festivals were held in every city and district.

In the afternoon, Ming Fei and Zhu Yiqiao took Ming Zaozao out. They went to the theme park in the South District and spent the afternoon there, riding the cartoon train and touring the entire park.

Other visitors, even if they recognized Zhu Yiqiao, remained polite, at most just greeting her happily and avoiding causing a commotion or disturbing them.

The family of three took many photos at the theme park.

Ming Zaozao was sometimes held, sometimes stood between the two, sometimes made funny faces, or struck exaggerated poses. In short, in all their photos together, their eyes sparkled with joy.

As they left the theme park in the hovercar, Ming Zaozao held her bunny plush toy and watched cartoons, occasionally eating a piece of fruit fed to her by Mommy or taking a sip of water from Mama. After watching for five minutes, she shifted, sat up straight, took the fruit and water bottle, and sometimes fed Mommy a strawberry and Mama a cherry.

“Mommy~”

“Mm?” Ming Fei looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

Ming Zaozao put down the orange water bottle: “When are we going… going to the place Grandma mentioned?”

Yesterday at noon, Yan Nanzhi had mentioned that they had an estate in Xianyun City and asked if Ming Zaozao wanted to go there to play. Because it was located at the border, Xianyun City’s food culture, customs, and architectural style were influenced by other migrating ethnic groups, and six of its scenic spots were known as “lost fairy-tale wonderlands.”

As soon as Ming Zaozao heard this, she immediately clapped her hands and said she wanted to go.

Ming Fei and Zhu Yiqiao both had vacation time and could take her wherever she wanted, but Xu Zhou had to work for two days. Ming Zaozao hugged her aunt’s leg and insisted on waiting for her aunt and Auntie Xue Xun to go together.

The six of them agreed on a time, but for Ming Zaozao, who hadn’t yet developed a concept of time, she couldn’t remember when they had agreed to go.

Ming Fei pinched her cheek: “We’re going the day after tomorrow.”

As the hovercar passed by the lake, Ming Zaozao contentedly hugged her water bottle, drinking honey water and replying to messages from Auntie Li Xing and Auntie Lubai. Ming Fei glanced at the screen full of emojis, the corners of her eyes crinkling with a smile. Then, looking at Zhu Yiqiao next to Ming Zaozao, she lowered her head and opened a new software.

This was a chat software she had designed in the past few days.

The current users were limited to her and Zhu Yiqiao. If the user experience was good, Ming Fei would add Ming Zaozao later. There were two avatar styles for the software, one was an animated kitten with various backgrounds, and the other was a tree that could shelter the kitten from wind and rain, and provide a resting place, corresponding to One Raccoon Hill and Tree of Mystical Jade respectively.

But five minutes after logging into the software, Zhu Yiqiao asked her to design three more avatars: a black cat, a puppy, and a bunny. When Ming Fei asked why, Zhu Yiqiao didn’t say anything, just gently pecked her lips, the kiss gradually deepening.

One kiss wasn’t enough payment.

So Zhu Yiqiao kissed her again, once, twice, thrice… until, in the end, countless times later, Ming Fei held her hand with a smile and softly said okay, okay, and that there was no need for payment at all.

Zhu Yiqiao knew this herself.

There was no need for payment, but she wanted to kiss her.

The result was that Ming Fei’s ears turned red under her gaze. She hurriedly finished designing the three new avatars before her ears returned to their normal color.

At this moment, Ming Fei clicked on the main page of the software. The white virtual kitten in the upper right corner tilted its head and meowed at her, reminding her that Zhu Yiqiao was online. Next to the white virtual kitten, a golden brown virtual puppy wagged its tail, teasing the virtual kitten to pounce on it.

Ming Fei was charmed by her own design, the smile in her eyes deepening.

The next moment—

She received an online notification from Zhu Yiqiao.

As she clicked on the chat page, the virtual puppy and virtual kitten jumped up together, nesting in the upper left corner of their chat window. Ming Fei poked the kitten’s tail, and the kitten angrily waved its paw at her.

On the other side, Zhu Yiqiao also poked the puppy’s tail, and the golden brown puppy perked up its ears and barked twice at her. She released her finger, and the puppy’s ears drooped. When the kitten pounced on it, it happily wagged its tail.

Ding—

A new message popped up.

[Jiejie: Are you sleepy?]

They had… stayed up until two o’clock last night. When Ming Fei carried Zhu Yiqiao back to bed, Zhu Yiqiao fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. And she had woken up earlier this morning, so that’s why she asked.

Less than half a minute later, she received Zhu Yiqiao’s reply.

[Not sleepy.]

[Change to the bunny.]

Soon, Ming Fei’s avatar changed to a white cartoon bunny. The golden brown puppy beside the virtual kitten disappeared, replaced by a bunny sprawled out like a pancake. Zhu Yiqiao repeatedly tapped its ears, and it immediately curled up shyly into a ball of fluff.

And the kitten next to it mimicked its actions, also curling up into a ball and rolling next to the bunny.

At six o’clock, the hovercar arrived at the reserved restaurant in the city center.

The three of them followed the service robot’s guidance upstairs to the private room. As soon as Ming Zaozao entered, she happily greeted her grandmothers and aunt. She was so cute that everyone subconsciously picked up food for her during dinner. When her child-sized bowl was piled high, she moved the bowl slightly and seriously told everyone,

“Enough, Baby will finish this first. Mommy taught Baby not to waste food.”

Yan Nanzhi, smiling, teased her, “What happens to children who waste food?”

Ming Zaozao explained, “Flying Kitty will use magic to transform them, biu, and they’ll turn into… um, the food they wasted.”

After saying that, Ming Zaozao ate a piece of fish and a piece of shrimp, her cheeks bulging: “Baby doesn’t waste food.”

Everyone echoed, stating that they also wouldn’t waste food, and Ming Zaozao nodded with satisfaction, focusing on the small mountain of food in her bowl. Zhu Yiqiao didn’t have much of an appetite, her attention on Ming Zaozao, occasionally handing her water.

After dinner, at seven o’clock, the view outside the private room window was filled with lanterns.

The main square in the city center was decorated with fluorescent yellow, apricot pink, light green, and pale purple lanterns of various shapes. From the left side of the national emblem statue, it looked like a field of blooming flowers, and from the right side, like small animals gathered together, singing and dancing. Everyone on the main road carried a lantern, and even the various vehicles on the road were decorated with colorful lanterns.

Ming Zaozao’s eyes lit up: “Wow~”

Ming Fei asked with a smile, “Zaozao, which lantern do you want?”

“Baby wants a bunny lantern!” Ming Zaozao blinked. “And Baby also wants a kitty lantern!”

Zhu Yiqiao replied, “Okay.”

Ming Zaozao happily kissed her two mommies on the cheek.

The family of seven left the private room and went downstairs. They agreed to walk around separately and meet again at the central flowerbed in half an hour. Ming Zaozao waved goodbye to the others, then, held by her mommy, curiously and excitedly looked around.

This was actually her second time attending a lantern festival.

But she had been too young during her first visit and couldn’t remember it now.

And from the moment they came downstairs, some people in the crowd recognized Zhu Yiqiao. They remained polite, not interrupting or approaching, just smiling at her, as if saying Happy New Year with their eyes.

Zhu Yiqiao stopped and faced the crowd.

“Happy New Year.”

Her voice wasn’t low, loud enough for everyone to hear. Just as the crowd was about to cheer, Zhu Yiqiao shook her head and put on the lantern festival mask Ming Fei had just bought. Everyone understood, not making a sound, watching as the family of three walked towards the gathering area.

Ming Zaozao didn’t quite understand: “Why is Mama wearing a mask?”

Ming Fei explained in a low voice, and Ming Zaozao seemed to understand, but to match Mama, she also put on a mask, followed by Ming Fei, the family of three all masked up.

The gathering area was lively, with stalls selling traditional snacks, stages for various performances, and booths for making ceramics, lanterns, and bamboo dancing dolls. To celebrate the Spring Festival, the Independent State had issued regulations many years ago, encouraging people to continue the traditional style of the old calendar era and reduce the excessive integration of technology.

The people were very fond of and appreciated this.

Therefore, every year on the second day of the Spring Festival, the usually bustling and modern city would transform back into a scene from memory, full of human touch and a retro atmosphere.

Ming Fei, holding Ming Zaozao in her right arm and holding Zhu Yiqiao’s hand with her left, strolled along the less crowded streets, admiring the lanterns.

Ming Zaozao excitedly shared everything she saw with her two mommies, and the snacks in her bag kept increasing. By the time they gathered at the central flowerbed again, Ming Zaozao was already full and sleepy.

When Xue Xun offered her another candied hawthorn stick, she closed her eyes and mumbled as if falling asleep,

“Mommy, wake up Baby when it’s time to release the lanterns.”

Ming Fei adjusted her scarf: “Okay.”

The lanterns at the festival were different from usual. Once the string was released, they would float up into the sky, carrying people’s New Year wishes to a distant, unknown place. The ten-minute countdown for releasing the lanterns began. The crowd surged, and more and more people gathered here. Ming Fei held Zhu Yiqiao’s hand, her almond eyes, filled with a smile, looking at Zhu Yiqiao.

“Jiejie.”

“Mm?”

“How many wishes are you going to make later?”

Zhu Yiqiao: “It’s a secret.”

Perhaps because of Zhu Yiqiao’s indulgence and love, Ming Fei also learned to tease in return: “Are there secrets between us?”

Zhu Yiqiao’s voice was low: “Many secrets.”

Ming Fei whispered, “Then how can I know them?”

Zhu Yiqiao’s fingertip caressed the webbing between Ming Fei’s thumb and index finger: “It’s a secret.”

Because of the large crowd, Ming Fei could only say, “Okay.”

Yan Nanzhi and Yu Qingyan were replying to messages from their old friends, and Xu Zhou and Xue Xun were looking elsewhere. No one noticed their whispered exchange, until three minutes left in the countdown, when Ming Fei pinched Ming Zaozao’s cheek and woke her up.

The crowd grew larger and larger.

The family of seven moved to a less crowded area on the right, preparing to release their lanterns with hundreds of other people. With fifteen seconds left in the countdown, everyone looked up at the sky. Ming Zaozao decided to release the bunny lantern, because there were carrots on the moon for the bunny to eat.

On the large display screen in the center of the square, the final five-second countdown began.

Everyone chanted together: “Five, four, three, two, one!”

As the wind surged, countless lanterns floated up from all directions, like stars dotted across the night sky, illuminating the lights of thousands of households. The people gathered here closed their eyes, silently making their New Year wishes in their hearts, surrounded by lanterns, the moon, delicious food, and songs, the shimmering lake surface also becoming calm.

Ming Fei opened her eyes.

Ming Zaozao in her arms, and Zhu Yiqiao beside her, were both looking at her.

“Mommy, let’s go~”

“Mm.”

Zaozao the Great, of course, knew that wishes couldn’t be spoken out loud, or they wouldn’t come true. She didn’t ask anyone what they had wished for, and after getting into her grandmothers’ hovercar, she drowsily fell asleep.

And Ming Fei also clearly understood this about wishes, so she didn’t ask Zhu Yiqiao either. Only on the way back, as soon as the hovercar door closed, she leaned over and kissed Zhu Yiqiao.

Zhu Yiqiao’s kiss was sweet.

And so were the secrets she held.

She and Ming Fei exchanged breaths, heartbeats, and love. The star sea on the retro blue watch on Zhu Yiqiao’s wrist surged, just like their hearts, beating faster for each other.

“…Jiejie.”

“Mm?”

Ming Fei pecked her lips: “My heart is beating so fast.”

As Ming Fei released Zhu Yiqiao, Zhu Yiqiao caressed Ming Fei’s face and shared the first secret that made her heart race.

“Ah Fei, the first time I saw you.”

“I thought, this person’s eyes are very beautiful.”

Ming Fei’s dimple appeared: “At Hui Fu Garden?”

“No.” Zhu Yiqiao replied, “In the old warehouse, just as I was about to lose consciousness.”

“At that time, I thought, Tree of Mystical Jade’s eyes must also be like this. If only we hadn’t lost contact.”