Epilogue
The door opened. Lu Jingchuan had just finished an important meeting and hurried home, still dusted from the road.
I was in the yard, focused on the new coffee gear that had just arrived.
Afternoon sun poured through the glass roof and filled the whole sunroom.
I was six months pregnant. My belly was round, and it made my arms and legs look even thinner.
The air held the toasted scent of coffee. Xueqiu bounced at his feet.
On the plant stands, the pothos, roses, and hydrangeas I had carefully chosen were blooming, full of life.
I could see it on his face—a quiet contentment that looked deeper than any harvest.
Xueqiu found him first and jumped up on him, tail wagging.
"You're back?"
I lifted my head, eyes curved with a smile.
"Try the Geisha pour-over I made!"
He strode over and pulled me into his arms from behind.
He breathed in the light scent on my skin.
"Xia Mianmian..."
"Mm?"
I leaned against his warm chest and felt the baby stir, light and small.
"Thank you..."
His arms tightened. His voice went tight.
"Thank you for giving me a home."
The words were heavy. They held too much.
I felt the weight of that road—from him carrying every hardship alone to holding a wife and child now, the house warm all around us.
Warmth rose in my chest. I rubbed the calluses on his palm with my fingertips.
"Dummy. It's our home. Together."
Xueqiu got no attention and nudged his pant leg with its nose, annoyed.
I laughed and slipped out of his arms, then handed him the coffee I had finished brewing.
I knew he had never really liked the bitterness of coffee, but he still took the cup and downed a big gulp.
"Mm. Good. Anything Wife makes smells right."
"Hey! Slow down and taste it!"
I didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"These beans are expensive. Sip carefully. You'll get strawberry and orange notes."
He looked puzzled. "Wife, if you want those, why not just pick them from the field?"
I sighed.
Forget it. There was no explaining that to a rough man who only knew Farming.
Especially after I found out that when he drank Americanos, he said they were good to my face and secretly added sugar behind my back.
After that, I quietly switched him to iced cola.
His business kept climbing.
The food trading company cracked into the high-end market.
His cooperative put "those who got rich first pulling the rest along" into practice. He was named an outstanding young entrepreneur.
One ordinary day, I happened to see my man on TV. He was being interviewed as a model figure for industrial poverty relief and rural revitalization.
In front of the camera, Lu Jingchuan wore a well-fitted dark suit. Some of the roughness from the fields had faded, but the wild edge was still there.
The pull of it hit hard.
"Suit thug," I muttered, already writing the next chapter in my head.
When the reporter asked what drove his success, he said it straight:
"Before, it was to pay off debt, and to live up to the trust of the villagers. Now... it's for Wife and the kid."
The reporter's eyes lit up as she followed up:
"It seems you and your wife have a great relationship. Can you share the secret to keeping love fresh?"
He scratched his head and showed a slightly simple smile:
"No secret... Just work more, make more money, and give it all to her. If she's happy, I'm happy. Don't bother her when she's working. If she wants something to eat, go buy it right away... Oh, and whatever she says is right."
That plain speech set the whole room laughing.
On Weibo, fans tagged me one after another:
"Whose man is this? Come claim him."
After we married, my series Flash Marriage Rough Guy Daily Life became a hit. Fans pushed for updates every day, from season one to season N.
I posted a close-up of that simple smile of Lu Jingchuan's on Weibo, with the caption:
"Mm. He's right. @Lu Jingchuan"
I plugged our company products while I was at it.
The moment it went up, the comments exploded:
"Ahhh the real couple is feeding us sugar! Too sweet!"
"If you're going to ship, ship a real couple. This long-distance confession is going to kill someone with sweetness."
"Author has new material tonight. Waiting for the update."
"Update please! Want Rough Guy Raising Baby Daily Life!"
I glanced out the window. The sun was just right. The plants were lush.
I sat a little longer, already looking forward to him walking through that door again tomorrow.