Xiao Changyi looked at her, "Isn’t this enough?"
Xiao Changyi continued, "I’ve never given him a gift for his birthday in the past."
...Thinking about it that way, it seemed quite sufficient.
Finally, An Jing smiled, amused by his teasing. Once she stopped laughing, she said, "Every year on Father’s birthday, he receives a lot of rare and exotic treasures. We don’t have any of those, so what you did, that can also work."
Xiao Changyi said, "If you hadn’t mentioned giving a birthday present, I wouldn’t have given anything this year either." Not just this year, but in the future as well.
After a long pause, An Jing teased, "I guess Father never expected you to give anything either."
Xiao Changyi actually nodded, "Mm."
After nodding, Xiao Changyi wrote four more characters—thousand hammerings, hundred refinings.
An Jing puzzled, "Is this also for Father?"
"No," Xiao Changyi was quite honest. "To avoid Chengyu bothering me later, I wrote it in advance. When he starts to annoy me, I’ll give this to him to shut him up."
After a long silence, An Jing asked, "Does Chengyu always want whatever you give to Father?"
Xiao Changyi said, "I’ve never given the old man anything before." He paused, "But he likes asking me for things."
The underlying meaning was that since he wrote a calligraphy piece for the Emperor of Xiyun, Su Chengyu would certainly pester him to write one for him too.
An Jing: "..." The Crown Prince was really like a child who never grew up around her husband—despite being a full five years older than her!
"If he asks you for something, do you just give it to him?" An Jing raised an eyebrow and asked again.
Xiao Changyi indifferently replied, "In the past, I always charged money. This time I wrote four characters for the old man for free, so I might as well give him four characters for free too, to save me the trouble of him bringing it up all the time."
In the past, I always charged money...
An Jing was almost petrified by this statement.
Recalling how she had charged the Emperor of Xiyun and Su Chengyu for fermented bean curd, rice flower fish, and vermicelli, An Jing calmed down. Her husband was definitely a ’talent’!
"What kind of things has he asked you for before?" An Jing was curious. In her view, the Crown Prince, Su Chengyu, should want for nothing.
"Radishes, cabbages, green beans, eggplants, and such."
"..." An Jing fell silent for a long while before asking again, "Are all those things you grew?"
An Jing was silent again before asking more specifically, "Are you talking about the ones you used to grow in the Imperial Garden?"
Xiao Changyi nodded again.
Immediately, An Jing tiptoed and hugged her husband’s neck, pecking him on the lips, "Husband, you are fantastic!" It was just too funny~
Her husband was definitely a talent!
Xiao Changyi didn’t mind the teasing smile on An Jing’s face; he embraced her waist and leaned in to kiss her.
After the kiss ended, An Jing giggled and asked, "You better not tell me that the ten taels of silver you took to run away were earned by selling the vegetables you grew in the Imperial Garden?"
Xiao Changyi actually nodded, "Mm."
"Husband, I love you to death!" An Jing was ecstatic, offering her lips and kissing Xiao Changyi.
Xiao Changyi wouldn’t possibly reject her, one hand firmly circling An Jing’s waist, the other cupping the back of her head, deepening their kiss.
After the kiss ended, both were somewhat breathless.
Once their breathing steadied, An Jing said with a smiling eye, "Husband, give me four characters too."
"Mm," Xiao Changyi readily agreed. "Which four?"
An Jing immediately said, "Grow old together."