"Alright." Since her mother-in-law had said so, An Hao decided to listen to her.
It wouldn’t make much difference to wait a little longer anyway.
Hand in hand with Qin Jian, she stood behind Zhang Yun, smiling as she watched her skillfully haggle with the street vendor.
Suddenly, An Hao felt as if she had seen this scene somewhere before.
For a moment, she couldn’t quite remember where.
Perhaps she had imagined a scene in her mind before?
Simple and unadorned, yet full of a sense of happiness.
An Hao looked around with a smile and suddenly spotted a familiar figure among the bustling crowd.
That familiar figure was none other than Qin Ru Hai—how had he also come to this market?
An Hao was very puzzled.
Qin Jian noticed her slowed pace and turned his head to look at her.
Pointing at an elderly man wearing a dark blue jacket with a slightly hunched back not far away, An Hao said to Qin Jian, "Qin Jian, look, is that father? My eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, are they?"
Qin Jian followed the direction of An Hao’s finger and looked for a long time, but he didn’t see anyone. He laughed and said to An Hao, "You really are seeing things."
An Hao rubbed her eyes; indeed, she no longer saw Qin Ru Hai’s figure.
Had she really been imagining things?
An Hao withdrew her gaze and silently searched her memories.
The familiar scene, it really did seem like one she had seen somewhere before.
"You’ve been studying too hard lately, haven’t you? That’s why you’re having hallucinations," Qin Jian said affectionately to his wife. "It doesn’t matter if you graduate a year earlier or a year later; I’m here waiting for you."
"Actually, I now want to graduate a bit earlier not just for our future, but I find the more I study, the more intense my interest grows. I’m not forcing myself at all," An Hao said sincerely from her heart, "Truthfully, you’re not getting any younger either, and it’s time for you to become a father. I can’t always have you waiting for me. I need to work hard and keep up with you."
If her studies were interrupted now, it would be quite troublesome.
Having a child would certainly divide her energy, as she’d have to take care of the child.
Thus, An Hao made a silent resolution to make the most of her time at school, aiming to graduate sooner and start working as soon as possible.
"I thought you weren’t in a hurry," Qin Jian said with a smile. "Turns out my little girl does have this on her mind."
"No way around it. Who let me fall for an ’old man’ like you?" An Hao giggled.
"Calling me ’old man’ again, you deserve a punishment! You’ve seen my body; where do I look old?" Qin Jian pretended to be angry as he glared at An Hao.
No sooner had he finished speaking than they heard Qin Ru Hai’s elderly voice from behind: "Jianzi..."
Qin Jian turned around, and to his surprise, he saw his foster father standing right behind them: "Dad, is it really you? An Hao wasn’t wrong."
"I came over to bring you some sour dates. You loved these when you were little, but you don’t know that your mother did too," Qin Ru Hai said with a smile as he handed over the sour dates.
"So are these sour dates for me? Or for my mom?" Qin Jian didn’t reach out to take them but turned his head to look at Zhang Yun, who was still picking vegetables, and said, "Dad, I know that matter has become a knot in your hearts. There are some things both of you want to face up to, right? My mom can’t get over it but, in fact, she is very nice, not like what you’ve seen."
Seeing Qin Ru Hai’s hand still suspended in mid-air, Qin Jian pointed toward Zhang Yun and said, "Dad, you should go. Only after taking the first step will there be a second one."
Watching this scene, An Hao’s mind was a whirlwind of disordered scenes flashing quickly until her memory finally froze at a certain point.
Suddenly, she understood why this scene looked so familiar to her.
A dream! This was the scene from that dream!