Luosang reminded him gently, “I do recall you complimenting Sister Lan on her chicken stew last night. You even had two bowls of rice to go along with it.”

“I might have eaten too much yesterday. I feel a little sick of the food.” Nian Junting wondered why his woman was being so dense — wasn’t it obvious that he was just looking for an excuse to go on a date with her?

“I thought you don’t usually enjoy eating out? And you always complain about the cleanliness of a restaurant.” Luosang sighed. “Tell me the truth, what are you up to this time?”

“I just wanted to go on a date with you… you know, enjoy our time alone together,” Nian Junting said casually. “There’s a lot of bad stuff in the food outside but let’s go for some Japanese food. Fresh seafood shipped straight from the country itself. It’s not too oily either. We won’t run into problems with food safety, especially with all that sewage oil being used out there.”

Luosang kept quiet.

She sighed. He was going all out just to have a meal outside.

Some time had passed since then.

At six-twenty, Nian Junting drove his jeep over as he waited for her. When Luosang got into the car, he pulled out a large bouquet of white roses from the back of his seat. “Luoluo, this is for you… and this necklace too.”

“… Thank you.” Luosang was stunned. He hadn’t been so romantic for a long time. “Why… did you get me this today… all of a sudden?”

Nian Junting held her hands and said gently to her, “You’ve been working and looking after our child at the same time. I just feel like I should treat you well since you’ve been working so hard.”

“Hubby…” Luosang was moved by his words and she inched forward to kiss him on the lips. “Thank you. I love you. I like this very much.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.” Nian Junting was smiling as he started the car.

They made their way to the restaurant.

They were dining at a Japanese restaurant that they frequented in the past. The restaurant’s owner was one of Nian Junting’s friends. The food was expensive, mainly because the ingredients were freshly flown in.

The food tasted good, and Luosang didn’t mind the fact that Nian Junting only ate at Japanese restaurants whenever they dined out.

Nian Junting was especially sweet to her that night — he was shelling the crabs for her, passing her napkin, and pouring her water. After dinner, they went to catch a movie of Luosang’s liking at the movie theater.

Luosang was touched by his gestures, but she was not to be taken for a fool. She knew that he had other designs on his mind when he was treating her so well. It was probably because she was spending so much time with their child and work that he must have felt neglected at home. She would have to spend some time with him that night. On their way home, she gently reminded him, “I think we ran out of condoms at home…”

Nian Junting frowned. “Forget about it then, since we’ve run out.”

Luosang was perplexed.

She hadn’t caught his drift yet.

Nian Junting finally said, “Little Apple is about one year old now. It’s alright for us to start thinking about a second child, right?”

The car fell silent all of a sudden. Luosang pursed her lips without saying a word. Her silence was making him uneasy. “Luoluo, if we start working at it now, we might have a beautiful baby princess by next year…”

“Enough, Nian Junting!” Luosang interrupted him. “That’s the real reason why you gave me flowers and that necklace, am I right?”

Nian Junting was sheepish. He was unsettled by the fact that she had called him by his full name. “Calm down, I was just putting it out there.”

“Have you forgotten what you told me before?” Luosang was disappointed. “You promised me that I can decide how many kids to have and that I can continue working after being a mother. You made it all sound so grand before we got married. Look at you now — we’ve only just had a kid and you want me to have another? I’m not your baby machine!”