Yet Another Three Years

Another three years.

Inside the General Manager's office at Weimei Design (Capital) Co., Ltd.

"A Yue, Glory is about to launch. Did you get the rights from the Qidian great god?" Ruan Wan asked over the phone while keeping busy with her work.

"Yeah, I got them. Did you forget? We have a partnership with Big Penguin too!" Wang Yue reminded Guan Guan from the other end of the line.

"Oh, right. I thought you'd sold Weixin to get such a huge pile of funding." Ruan Wan stuck out her tongue, just like the Little Girl she'd once been.

"Guan Guan, you really do get dumb for three years after having a baby. Where's Yuan Yuan?" Wang Yue could only shake his head. Not long after moving to the capital, they'd had a daughter, Yuan Yuan. Since she was born, Wang Yue had barely had time to enjoy the warmth of his little cotton-padded jacket before losing most of his wife's attention.

Wang Yue had never expected his little cotton-padded jacket to push him to the bottom of the family pecking order.

Three years ago, after arriving at Qing University, Wang Yue had taken the Weixin he'd built over the past few years and used it to establish Weixin Communications Co., Ltd. Later, he sold most of the shares to ICBC and Big Penguin. Big Penguin handled further development, and Wang Yue stepped away from the business.

After cashing in that huge sum, Wang Yue figured he should find Ruan Wan something to do. Being a housewife could make anyone feel useless.

Wang Yue went with his usual approach: he bought an entire floor and had Ruan Wan set up Weimei Design (Capital) Co., Ltd. At first, they needed Zheng Wei to send over talent from the Guangzhou office. By now, the company had grown to rival the headquarters in Guangzhou.

Wang Yue had originally wanted to make Great God Xiao Nai's A Chinese Ghost Story 2. But after looking into it, he learned they were already making it.

Then he remembered another series by Xiao Nai and contacted the original author. They discussed the novel and agreed on the rights, and he set up Glory Technology. With Xiao Nai's game engine, development progressed rapidly.

Now that the novel was a huge hit, Wang Yue was ready to launch the game while the timing was right. After that, he could bow out in triumph, hand the company over to its professional manager, Manager Feng, and peacefully continue his PhD.

"Since you're free, let's go pick Yuan Yuan up from kindergarten! She's been asking for ages to have both her mom and dad pick her up." Ruan Wan could tell her husband had nothing to worry about, so her thoughts immediately turned to their daughter.

"Sure. Let me make a few arrangements first. Manager Feng can take it from here, and I'll disappear into seclusion." Wang Yue felt he was finally about to be free.

Wang Yue drove to Weimei to pick up Ruan Wan. He greeted the receptionist and went straight inside, prompting the two young women at the front desk to whisper to each other.

"Is that Manager Ruan's husband? He seems so ordinary!"

"He and Manager Ruan were classmates. He's working on his PhD."

"Still, he's nowhere near her level. Even after he graduates, he'll only be middle management."

"You're wrong about that. This was the man who founded Weimei's headquarters!"

"Oh! That's impressive. I thought he was just living off his wife!"

"You've got quite an imagination!"

Wang Yue shook his head. The halo he'd gotten from Xiao Nai clearly wasn't doing him much good.

He passed the design department, greeted some familiar Junior Brothers and Sisters, then went straight into Ruan Wan's office.

Ruan Wan looked up, saw that it was Wang Yue, and went back to her work. She wanted to finish reading it as quickly as she could.

Wang Yue didn't disturb her. He sat on the sofa a short distance away and watched her.

Before long, Ruan Wan's cheeks flushed. She shot Wang Yue a coy glance. "Haven't you looked enough? We're at the office!"

"I could look at you for the rest of my life and still not get enough!" Wang Yue shamelessly replied, without a trace of embarrassment.

Ruan Wan realized there was no way she'd get any work done today. She closed the file, shut down her computer, and stood up.

Wang Yue went to the coat rack, picked up her coat and bag, and handed them to her. Ruan Wan took them naturally, and the two of them left the company together.

On the way to the kindergarten, Ruan Wan teased Wang Yue. "Honey, how many years have you been in school now? Haven't you had enough?"

"There's no end to learning! It gives me something to do. Otherwise, life would be so meaningless." Wang Yue's solemn expression made Ruan Wan laugh and shake her head.

"Our life is peaceful, and I'm very happy with it." Ruan Wan gazed at Wang Yue with eyes clear as autumn water, as if she wanted to drown him in them. "Things are much more exciting for Zheng Wei. I heard her childhood friend and her first love have both come back recently. Poor Xu Kaiyang was almost ready to surrender to Zheng Wei, and now there'll be more twists and turns."

"Really? I haven't been keeping up. What about Xiaobei and the others?" Wang Yue asked casually, focusing on the road.

"Xiaobei is planning to go keep Weimei company, and Juanzi is planning to return to Nanhe Province." Ruan Wan felt a little regretful. Now they really would be scattered far and wide.

"What's the big deal? Even if they don't fly, the high-speed rail is so fast. It's only four hours to see Sister Li." Wang Yue suddenly realized something was off. "Zhang Yang and Liu Lei said they were going home too. Could it be for Juanzi?"

"You're only just realizing that?" Ruan Wan covered her mouth and giggled. Her husband was always slow on the uptake when it came to romance. If it hadn't been for that time they got drunk... No, she couldn't think about it. How embarrassing.

"I should help my two brothers. How about the three of them set up a branch in Nanhe Province?" Wang Yue thought it over.

"Would that work?" Ruan Wan asked uncertainly.

"It should. Sister Li probably can't make any more progress if she stays at the company, which is why she's doing this. Talk it over with Zheng Wei. Have Sister Li set up a branch in Nanhe, then pick a location and I'll buy it." Wang Yue made the final call.

"All right. You're the best, honey. This way, they won't really be separated." Ruan Wan's mood immediately lifted.

"My two brothers didn't even ask me. Otherwise, we could've opened one sooner!" Wang Yue sighed, feeling that the bond between his dorm mates wasn't as close as he'd thought.

"That's not true. They were just afraid of putting you in a difficult position!" Ruan Wan promptly comforted Wang Yue, ever considerate.

"I know. I'm just musing. By the way, when will you be less busy? Let's take our daughter on a trip."

"Where should we go?" Ruan Wan was tempted too.

"Let's go to Nanhe. We can buy a house while we're there!" Wang Yue thought it over.

"Okay, whatever you say. I'll call Weimei and ask her to tell Juanzi." As she spoke, Ruan Wan connected the call.

After parking in the kindergarten lot, Wang Yue gestured for Ruan Wan to keep talking and went to pick up their daughter himself. They'd called ahead, so as soon as Wang Yue reached the kindergarten gate, little Wang Yuan came running out.

The little girl sat in Wang Yue's arms and kept telling him about the interesting things that had happened that day. He listened patiently and sometimes had to respond; otherwise, she'd ask him what she'd just said. He wasn't sure when she'd picked up that little habit.

After they picked up Yuan Yuan, Ruan Wan immediately hung up too, making Wang Yue feel his place in the family pecking order confirmed once again. He shook his head and sighed helplessly.

He remembered that the two-child policy had opened up in 2016. They should prepare to have another one next year or the year after. He refused to believe he could sink any lower in the pecking order.