Axolotl Translations

That night, as Wei Jiajia watched her husband carefully tending to the babies, she finally asked the question that had been weighing on her since their birth.

“Have you decided on the babies’ names yet? We can’t keep calling them Big Treasure, Second Treasure, and Third Treasure forever, can we?” They had been discussing names since her pregnancy—nearly a year! Surely, he had made a decision by now?

Qiao Haoyu paused while washing a baby’s bottom, cleared his throat, and said, “I’ve come up with a few names, but I haven’t decided which ones to choose yet.”

“What names did you come up with? Let me see!” This had taken long enough. He’d been talking about naming the babies since her pregnancy, and now, nearly a hundred days later, there wasn’t a single finalized name.

After ensuring the babies were clean and asleep, Qiao Haoyu washed his hands, went to the desk, pulled a sheet of paper from the drawer, and handed it to his wife.

Lowering her head, Wei Jiajia saw the page filled with various names.

For the boys, he had listed: Qiao Nanjia, Qiao Nanyi, Qiao Wenshuo, Qiao Youhui, Qiao Youqing, Qiao Youkang, Qiao Kangjian, Qiao Anjian, and more.

For the girls: Qiao Youjia, Qiao Mujia, Qiao Aijia, Qiao Siyu, Qiao Sijia, and so on.

She studied the names. The boys’ names made sense, but the girls’ names… Why did they all include words like “love” (Ai) or “admire” (Mu)? Sure, the characters were different, but anyone who thought for a moment would understand the underlying meaning.

She appreciated the sentiment behind her husband’s choices, but she worried their daughter might feel bittersweet about it when she grew up.

“What’s wrong?” Seeing his wife’s thoughtful expression, Qiao Haoyu grew puzzled. Was she unhappy with the names?

Wei Jiajia smiled and shook her head. “No, they’re all great. Which ones do you prefer?”

Qiao Haoyu sat on the bed, pulled his wife onto his lap, and pointed at the list. “I’m leaning toward Qiao Youkang and Qiao Youhui for the boys. That way, their names will connect with my elder brother’s son, Qiao Youzu—it keeps the names tied together. I even called my dad to discuss it, and he agreed.”

“Then what about Second Treasure?” she asked.

“Qiao Aijia,” he said, tapping the name with his finger.

“Are you sure this is a good idea? Both her brothers have ‘You’ in their names, but hers is different. Won’t she feel left out?” Wei Jiajia hesitated.

“Not at all. When she grows up, she’ll understand just how much love is embedded in her name. She’ll only feel happiness.” It was a reflection of her parents’ love, a love that surrounded and protected her.

“Alright then! So it’s settled. Our eldest will be Qiao Youhui, our second will be Qiao Aijia, and since our youngest is the most fragile, we’ll name him Qiao Youkang.” Wei Jiajia thought for a moment before agreeing with her husband’s choices. Each name carried a special meaning, expressing their hopes for the children’s future while being simple and elegant.

With the matter settled, Qiao Haoyu found himself increasingly distracted by the familiar scent of his wife. A restless energy stirred within him, his desires that had been suppressed for so long bubbling to the surface. His hands began to wander, and he pulled her closer, lowering his head to kiss the delicate skin of her neck.

Wei Jiajia could sense his longing. Truthfully, she missed this too. Over the past year, her husband had been holding back, afraid of hurting her. Only on rare occasions, when he truly couldn’t resist, would he take her hand and ask for relief.

But ever since she had fully recovered after her postpartum confinement, it was as if he was making up for lost time. Every time he touched her, he was relentless, refusing to stop until dawn.

Thankfully, when the babies woke up crying in the middle of the night, he would get up to take care of them—only then would he finally let her go.

Unfortunately for the little ones, it meant they often had to settle for formula instead of breast milk—because their selfish father had already claimed it all for himself.

“Not so rough… The babies are right here!” Wei Jiajia whispered, pushing against him lightly.

Seeing how embarrassed she was, Qiao Haoyu chuckled, got up, and pulled the curtain around the crib, blocking the light from reaching the children.

Once they grew a little older, he’d have them sleep in their own rooms. Having them here was seriously getting in the way of his marital life.

With that thought, he turned back, climbed onto the bed, and before Wei Jiajia could say another word, he swept her into the depths of a passionate storm…

Afterward, Wei Jiajia weakly swatted at him, panting, “Be careful, I might get pregnant again.”

Lately, they hadn’t been taking precautions. If she did become pregnant again—especially with another set of twins or triplets—she’d feel like a breeding sow.

“That won’t happen,” Qiao Haoyu said with certainty.

“How can you be so sure? What if it does?” She frowned. There was no way he could predict that with absolute certainty.

To ease her concerns, Qiao Haoyu had no choice but to reveal the truth. “Because I already had a vasectomy.”

Wei Jiajia shot up in bed. “What did you just say?! When? Why didn’t you tell me?” Her questions came rapid-fire.

Qiao Haoyu chuckled at her reaction instead of answering directly. “Weren’t you exhausted just a moment ago? Where did all this energy come from?”

“Don’t change the subject! Tell me the truth!” She glared at him. This was a significant decision, and he had gone through with it behind her back. If she hadn’t asked tonight, how long would he have kept it from her?

“I had the procedure done just a few days after you gave birth,” he admitted at last, seeing the determination in her eyes.

“Why?”

Deep down, Wei Jiajia already knew the answer. It was because of her.

She remembered how, after her C-section, she had told him she never wanted to endure that pain again. And without hesitation, he had agreed. She just hadn’t expected him to take such a drastic step.

Those days had been rough on him too—he was exhausted, juggling the care of three newborns while looking after her. No wonder he’d had such dark circles under his eyes. And yet, as his wife, she hadn’t even noticed.

The more she thought about it, the worse she felt, and before she knew it, tears were slipping down her cheeks.

Qiao Haoyu panicked when he saw her crying. He immediately pulled her into his arms. “Don’t cry. It breaks my heart to see you like this.” He lowered his head and gently kissed away her tears.

Holding her close, he lay back down, letting her rest against his arm as he pulled the blanket over her. Only then did he speak again.

“We already have three children. That’s enough. They keep us busy as it is—if we had more, how would we ever manage? Great-aunt is getting older, and we still have Nuannuan and Yangyang to look after. If I get sent on a mission and I’m not home, you’d have to do everything alone. It would be too much.”

Of course, his biggest reason had nothing to do with logistics. He had made up his mind the moment she came out of the hospital room, exhausted and in pain. That day, he had sworn to himself—he would never let her go through that again.

Wei Jiajia held her husband tightly. He didn’t need to say anything—she understood his thoughts perfectly.

How fortunate she was to have become his wife, to be cherished and protected as if she were the most precious thing in the world. She would repay him with the same kind of happiness. No matter where he turned, she would always be there, standing behind him.

……

Time flowed like water through cupped hands—the more one tried to hold on, the faster it slipped away. In the blink of an eye, four years had passed, and they had entered the year 1966, the beginning of a new decade.

Yesterday, Wei Jiajia would occasionally feel exasperated from constantly tending to three young children, longing for the day they would grow up so she could finally have her hands free. But today, she wanted to go back and knock some sense into her past self. Back then, though they needed constant care, at least they didn’t cause trouble!

Watching them grow—learning to roll over, sit up, walk, and finally call her “Mama” and him “Papa”—had filled her heart with pride and joy.

But now, at four years old, they were getting into fights with older kids, pulling pranks, causing chaos, and being brought home by angry parents after breaking rules. When she tried to discipline them, they would blink their wide, innocent eyes at her and argue back nonstop.

Just today, the three little rascals had used slingshots to shoot at birds and ended up shattering someone’s window. And of course, the owner had come straight to their home.

“I’m so sorry, sister-in-law. These kids are just too mischievous. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure they’re properly punished. And of course, we’ll pay for the damage. I’m really sorry about this!”

Wei Jiajia shot a sharp glare at the three little troublemakers standing in the corner, along with an even smaller child who had been caught up in their antics. Then, putting on a polite smile, she turned to the aggrieved neighbor.

There had been a time when being called to answer for her children’s misdeeds had embarrassed her. But after so many incidents, she had grown thick-skinned.

Seeing their mother’s glare, the triplets immediately straightened up and faced the wall, looking as obedient as ever. After all, they knew that if they truly made Mama mad, Papa would be the one to deal with them—and that was even scarier!

The visiting woman, seeing how reasonable and polite the wife of Vice Captain Qiao was, finally relaxed. She had assumed that being the leader’s wife, Wei Jiajia might act high and mighty or refuse to take responsibility. But not only had she immediately offered to compensate for the damage, she was approachable and easy to talk to. So, the rumors about her being aloof and difficult weren’t true after all.

The woman sighed and said, “The compensation isn’t an issue, but you really need to discipline your kids. They’re far too mischievous!”

Seeing how reasonable Wei Jiajia was, the neighbor took the opportunity to lecture her on child-rearing. In her view, if her own child had broken someone’s window and made her pay for the damages, she would have given them a good beating.

She had also heard that both Vice Captain Qiao and his wife were intellectuals who didn’t believe in corporal punishment—no wonder their children were so spoiled and unruly.

On this matter, she felt their parenting methods couldn’t compare to hers. Just one look at her own well-disciplined children was proof enough that a firm hand was necessary. She felt rather smug about it.

Wei Jiajia, however, did not respond to her remarks. Instead, she simply smiled, went inside, and returned with the money for the broken window, along with an additional gift as an apology. Only then did she see off the now-satisfied neighbor, who left with the compensation in hand.

After closing the courtyard gate, Wei Jiajia turned back inside. She walked up to the four children and said just one thing: “Stand properly and finish your punishment.” Then, without another word, she went back into the house.

“Is Mama mad at us?” Little Qiao Youkang, the third-born, asked anxiously. He felt unsettled that their mother hadn’t scolded them like she usually did.

“Don’t worry, Mama won’t be mad,” the eldest, Qiao Youhui, replied confidently. “She probably just went inside to write.” After all, their mother wouldn’t get worked up over something this small. She was most likely just focused on making back the money she had just spent.

“Yeah! Mama loves us too much to really be mad,” the second-born, Qiao Aijia, nodded in agreement. “Besides, we still have Dad. When he comes home, he’ll help us out.”

“Right! Auntie is the best!” chirped a younger child in a milky voice, barely tall enough to reach his older cousins’ ears.

This little one, standing alongside the triplets in punishment, was Zeng Yi, the child of Zhang Huimin and Zeng Guoqiang. Since both his parents worked, he spent most of his time at the Qiao household and was only picked up in the evenings.

Ever since he had learned to walk, he had followed the triplets everywhere—handing them tiles when they climbed the roof, cheering them on when they got into fights. Wherever the three Qiao siblings went, he was never far behind.

Now, the four little troublemakers obediently stood in the corner, whispering amongst themselves and counting down the minutes until their father came home to rescue them.

Inside the room, Wei Jiajia truly had no mind to concern herself with the little troublemakers outside. She was busy writing letters to her two younger brothers, who were now in university.

Speaking of Xiangdong and Xiangxi, they had not let their dreams go to waste. In the end, both had been admitted to their ideal universities—her eldest brother had been accepted into a military academy and become a pilot, while the second had entered the provincial military engineering university, determined to become a technical officer.

Now, Wei Jiajia was writing to them to remind them to focus on their studies and stay out of trouble. Although military academies were strict and external chaos rarely seeped in, one could never be too careful.

Students were often the most impulsive and easiest to incite. She still remembered that the unrest had first begun in the universities.

She only hoped that this time, her brothers could graduate safely, earn their diplomas, and take to the skies, realizing their ambitions—instead of being caught up in trouble before their futures had even begun.

By the time Qiao Haoyu returned from work in the evening, he was met with the sight of three older children and one younger one standing in the corner.

He didn’t even need to ask—he already knew they must have upset his wife again. Ever since the kids had learned to run and jump, that corner had practically become their base of operations. Every few days, they would find themselves standing there.

“Daddy…” Qiao Aijia, the cherished daughter of the family, looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes, her face full of pitiful innocence. None of them had expected their mother to be this angry this time—she hadn’t even let them inside and had made them stand there all the way until their father got home.

“Well, let’s hear it. What did you do this time?” He didn’t rush inside. Instead, he stood there leisurely, waiting for their confession.

“We accidentally broke someone’s window today! We know we were wrong! Please talk to Mom and tell her not to be mad at us,” the eldest, Qiao Youhui, quickly admitted, taking the lead in apologizing.

The other three children hurried to chime in as well, all exclaiming, “We’re sorry! We won’t do it again!”

Once Qiao Haoyu had learned the full story, he crouched down and patiently explained things to the children, making sure they truly understood. Only after they promised not to repeat their mistake did he lead them back into the house.

At home, he and his wife played their respective roles—one the stern parent, the other the gentle one. He was the strict father, the one who took on the role of discipline, yet in the eyes of the children, he remained their beloved, ideal dad.

Wei Jiajia, on the other hand, was the stricter mother, the one who made them stand in the corner when they misbehaved. But despite her sternness, the children loved her no less than their father.

In the end, the lesson had been learned, and they understood their mistake. Yet inevitably, new mischief would arise in the future, catching them off guard once again.

This only deepened Wei Jiajia’s realization—raising children was truly a skill in itself.

When she saw her husband leading the four children inside, she didn’t say much. She knew he had already explained everything to them. Though they were mischievous, they always listened when their parents told them what was strictly forbidden.

After all, children were naturally playful—it was in their nature. She never sought to suppress that, only to guide them when they strayed.

With a calm expression, she carried out the freshly prepared dishes and called everyone to wash their hands for dinner.

The children glanced at their mother’s face and, seeing that she wasn’t upset, let out a cheer and ran over to their aunt, urging her to help them wash up.

Qiao Haoyu stepped beside his wife, wrapped his arms around her briefly, and, taking advantage of the moment when no one was looking, planted a kiss on her cheek before heading off to wash his hands.

The warmth of a home like this—full of life’s little joys—was what gave him the strength to keep moving forward in the outside world.

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