#13: Life is Long, Stay with the One Who Spoils You

1

One night, Xinbao and I were washing up in the bathroom. After finishing, Xinbao ran out and slammed the door shut behind her. “Don’t slam the door like that!” Lin Zhiyi said from outside, “What if you accidentally hurt your mom?” At first, I thought he was making a fuss over nothing, but when I heard the latter part of his sentence, I felt reassured. Through the door, I said, “So you care about me this much, it almost moved me.” “That’s because you’re so silly!” came a voice from outside the door. “...”

2

The new clothes I ordered from an online store arrived, and I was trying them on in front of the mirror in the living room, thinking they looked pretty good. I called Lin Zhiyi over, “Honey, come here for a moment.” Before Lin Zhiyi could comment, Xinbao chimed in, “If you keep calling him ‘honey,’ you’ll get old.” “Then what should I call him?” I asked. “Call him ‘baby,’ then you’ll become a baby too!” Xinbao said. Lin Zhiyi told Xinbao, “No matter what your mom calls me, she’s always my baby, the big baby. You’re the little baby.” Xinbao was left speechless.

3

It was Girls’ Day, and also a weekend, so I planned to put on light makeup and enjoy the festival beautifully. However, just as I was about to apply foundation with my makeup sponge—huh? Why does the sponge feel heavier? Something’s not right! It wasn’t the soft makeup sponge; it was actually a real egg! Was I dreaming? When did the makeup sponge turn into an egg? “Did anyone see my makeup sponge?” I asked Lin Zhiyi and Xinbao. “No, I was just wondering why you liked the eggs I boiled so much. You ate one yesterday, and another one ended up on your dressing table,” Lin Zhiyi said.

“I didn’t put an egg there! I definitely put a makeup sponge there,” I said.

Xinbao couldn’t hold back and burst out laughing. “Xinbao, did you put it there?” I asked her. She shook her head and said, “Not me,” but still couldn’t stop laughing. I suddenly realized that these two must have been playing a trick on me! “Today is Girls’ Day, not April Fool’s Day,” I said. “On Girls’ Day, I can play with my favorite girl. No problem, right?” Lin Zhiyi said seriously. No problem, some boys are a bit childish yet lovable. If you love the right person, you can be his little girl forever; if you love the right person, you’ll indulge his childlike behavior for life.

4

During the Qingming Festival holiday, we decided to go spring outing in Jiangnan. After taking a taxi to the airport, Lin Zhiyi placed the large suitcase on a small trolley, and Xinbao immediately sat on top of the suitcase. He then pushed another small trolley, wanting me to place another small suitcase on it. I said, “No need, dear, this suitcase is easy to push.” Someone shyly smiled, “Don’t call me ‘dear’ outside.” I said, “It’s a habit at home, are you embarrassed now?” He said, “Just now, when you called me ‘dear’ in the car, the driver responded.” “What? Really?” I was surprised. “Yes! You asked ‘What time is it, dear?’ and the driver told you the time.” “How could you respond slower than the driver?”

“Is it my fault!”

“Don’t argue! I’m the baby!” Xinbao protested while sitting on the big suitcase. Then, my big baby pushed my little baby into the terminal.

5

Lin Zhiyi went to the neighborhood activity square to find my mother-in-law and retrieve the bicycle she was keeping for Xinbao. At that time, my mother-in-law was dancing in the square, and her dance partner saw Lin Zhiyi and asked her, “Is this your son?” “Yes,” my mother-in-law replied. “He looks like a child,” the dance partner said. “He is a child, doesn’t know any better,” my mother-in-law said. After Lin Zhiyi came back, he told me about this. I could imagine that my mother-in-law might have been proud when she said it, even though she said “doesn’t know any better,” she must have been very proud inside. Looking at Lin Zhiyi’s still clear gaze, I said, “You’ve grown up, yet you’re like a child, which is your most precious quality.” Childishness is a kind of spirit, knowing the ways of the world but not being worldly, thus retaining the innocence of a newcomer to the world. “I’m like a child because of you; you often call me ‘baby’!” Lin Zhiyi said. I laughed, “Ha ha, why does it feel like our marriage is like a game of house. It’s like two people walking on the road of life, getting tired, finding a fellow traveler, and then traveling together, looking at the scenery along the way. If you get tired, you stop and lean on each other, treating each other like babies.”

“Why do they say couples are life partners?”

“They are also travel companions, the best travel companions on the road of life.” Because of meeting this travel companion, every joy and sorrow on the journey of life becomes a beautiful sight.

6

Lin Zhiyi loves sports, but I dreaded physical education classes when I was in school. When we go out to play, climbing the Great Wall and hiking are his favorite outdoor activities. But whenever he takes Xinbao and me along, we always take the cable car or tour bus. Last time we went to Mount Lu, Lin Zhiyi originally wanted to climb the entire mountain, but Xinbao and I chose to take the cable car for part of the journey. Lin Zhiyi said, “Because we took the cable car, my dream of climbing the whole mountain was shattered again.” I said, “As long as you travel with women and children, this dream will never come true.” He said, “I only see children.” I said, “Xinbao is a child, and so am I!” We need to grow continuously to adapt to the changes of the world, but there will always be someone who makes you feel like you don’t need to grow up in front of them. The happiest thing in this world is to meet someone who loves you and spoils you like a child.