"Wife? Shouldnāt we let their mothers take care of them?"
Upon hearing this, Yang Chuxia looked at him teasingly, "Theyāve finally gotten the chance to meet with their daughters-in-law and grandchildren. Shouldnāt we allow them some time to catch up? Besides, after traveling such a long distance, they should indeed rest for a day or two."
"Alright then!"
Ye Ziāan listened with a hint of disappointment, but there would be more days to come.
The little bun Lele was tossing and turning on the big bed, he could understand some of what was being said. Hearing that his dad wanted them to sleep with their mothers, he quickly grabbed his younger brotherās hand and said, "Sleep with daddy!"
Yangyang didnāt know what was going on, but hearing his brother speak, he chimed in too, "Daddy sleep, daddy sleep!"
"Pfft..." Ye Ziāan laughed upon hearing the two little ones speak, "Itās āsleep with daddy,ā not ādaddy sleepā."
Ye Ziāan had originally wanted to correct him.
But upon hearing it, Leleās reaction was like that of a bobblehead doll, nodding vigorously, "Exactly, exactly!"
"Chuxia, our son really does seem to be intelligent. Heās barely over a year old, and I feel like he understands whatever I say to him? Plus, he speaks very fluently, and his articulation is especially clear."
Before Yang Chuxia could answer, Yangyang patted his little chest and told them the answer, "Iām smart, Iām smart!"
"Haha, you really are not modest at all," Ye Ziāan said, stunned for a moment, and then laughed as he ruffled the little boyās hair. Yangyang giggled in response.
Seeing this, Yang Chuxia nudged her eldest son leaning against her, "Lele, recite a couple of lines from the Three Character Classic for daddy. Do you know that when you were just over a month old, daddy would read the Three Character Classic to you?"
Lele looked at his mom and then at his dad, then under Ye Ziāanās astonished gaze, he began, "At the very beginning, manās nature is good, natures are similar, itās habits that differ..." He recited a total of eight lines, and just those eight lines left Ye Ziāan dumbfounded.
In earlier letters from home, he was told that the childās first word was āman,ā but he had not expected the child to be able to memorize so many lines now that he had just started to speak a little more.
"Shocked, arenāt you?" Yang Chuxia smiled proudly, "These two catch on early."
"Itās more than just shocked!"
Ye Ziāan couldnāt resist hugging his son, "Lele, youāre amazing, truly worthy of being daddyās good boy."
"Daddy is amazing too!" See, Lele is indeed a considerate little friend.
"Yo, you even know how to sweet-talk your old man," Ye Ziāan said, surprised enough to let slip a coarse expression.
Yang Chuxia, too, was very tired from the journey, and now that they had arrived, her tightly wound nerves relaxed, and with Ye Ziāan by her side, she felt much more at ease and began to get sleepy.
Seeing the trio playing happily, Yang Chuxia went to sleep first.
This reminded Ye Ziāan of when the children were younger; it was the same as now.
"Letās keep our voices down, we canāt wake your mother up." Seeing that his sons were still not sleepy, Ye Ziāan whispered.
Then he saw the two boys nod in unison.
Ye Ziāan fell silent, realizing they really did seem to understand everything he said.
So, he decided to ask a question that every parent loves to ask, yet for children, itās particularly difficult to answerāto give his clever sons a bit of a challenge.
"Lele, Yangyang, do you like daddy more, or do you like mommy more?"
Then he saw both sons point their little fingers towards Yang Chuxia.
The children remembered they shouldnāt wake their mother from her sleep.
Ye Ziāan felt disheartened, but he couldnāt blame them. After all, it was he who had not been there for his sons since they were very young.