Prologue: Perturbation

Sanctuary:

Warmth, peace, and comfort. These three words perfectly encapsulated An Mei's state as she woke up in the loving embrace of her brilliant husband, Li Wei. The gentle rays of the early morning sun were squabbling with the silk curtains shielding their private sanctuary and slowly winning that dispute, while gradually illuminating the bedroom.

The room itself mirrored its owners in temperament. The large bookshelf in the wall was filled to the brim with tomes on subjects ranging from classical literature to chromodynamics, all arranged in a neat and meticulous fashion. But the special place of honor was reserved for Li Wei's advanced physics textbooks and An Mei's bestselling novels. On the other side of the room, near the window overlooking the balcony, stood a small snug desk that An Mei frequently used for her writing. But dominating the space was the large cozy bed, an island of mutual comfort for the two lovers.

An Mei let the minutes pass by as she observed her husband's handsome face while tracing her fingers along his gentle features. Occasionally he would smile in his sleep or mumble something that sounded vaguely like complex mathematical computation, which somehow inexplicably came to include An Mei's name.

In those precious few moments, the outside world did not exist. There was only her and her beloved, and only she got to witness him in this most vulnerable and delicate state, within a small, treasured part of their forever.

As An Mei ran her fingers through his silky hair, Li Wei slowly opened his eyes. He gave her a tender smile, and still half asleep, he whispered, "Zao an, Ai ren."

She did not answer him with words. Instead, she pressed her soft lips against his and gave him a long, lingering, and affectionate kiss. When they broke off, Li Wei was fully awake and grinning like a puppy who had just been fed his favourite treat, but An Mei was not done. She peppered his face with kisses, leaving no part of it untouched by her loving assault: his cheeks, nose, lips, eyes, ears, and forehead were all happy victims of that sweet conquest.

By the end Li Wei was in the Nirvana of early mornings. Still carrying that delightful grin and gradually coming down from that dopamine rush, he asked his beautiful and gentle wife, "How come I am so lucky today?"

An Mei, her previous bravery now giving way to a shy smile, pressed herself against his chest and whispered, "You looked too cute. I just felt like kissing you."

"In that case..." He gently lifted up her chin and gave her a deep and passionate kiss that left them both breathless and blushing.

A few moments after all that sensual excitement, they were back to their ground state of wholesome warmth.

An Mei, now nestled against her husband, cooed, "Weiwei, I don't feel like getting up."

"Then, let's not," he replied, once again tightly wrapping his arms around his wife. "It's Sunday anyway. The world can wait."

They lay in comfortable silence, snuggling against one another with their legs completely intertwined. The only sounds were the slow rhythm of their breathing and the distant hum of Tianjing city waking up from its slumber. Occasionally, they would steal a kiss from one another or tease and tickle each other. But gradually, lulled by the warmth of the bed and the reassuring presence of one another, they drifted back into sleep, two halves of the whole, perfectly content in their shared dream.

And then, the phone rang.

Matriarchs and Monsters:

Li Wei turned around and grabbed his phone from the nightstand, with An Mei awake and still clinging to him. It was a text message from Li Fen, the CEO of the Wu Long Group, and his eldest sister.

"Who is it?" An Mei asked.

"It's Da-jie. She wants me to take a look at some calculations for the group's new quantum computing framework. She says that she trusts her engineers but trusts my analysis more." Li Wei's voice was impassive, but An Mei did not fail to recognize the slight pride it carried.

She ruffled his hair and said, "My husband is so clever," before topping off the praise with another sweet kiss.

Li Wei beamed at his wife's compliment and returned to the contents of the text message. "And apparently, she is sending Yue-jie over with the file."

An Mei chuckled at the thought of Li Yue, her youngest sister-in-law, coming over in her Pikachu hoodie and mused, "I love how Fen-jie can just order the CTO of a global conglomerate to run an errand."

"Well, that's how she is. How would anyone refuse her? And Yue-jie was probably still gaming. This is a much better use of her time anyway."

Just as those words left Li Wei's lips, the doorbell rang.

"Should we get that?" An Mei asked hesitantly, not fully willing to relinquish their peaceful haven just yet.

"Let's just wait," Li Wei replied before once again cuddling against his wife. "She knows the code. If we don't open it, she will let herself in." He put his phone in vibrate mode and placed it back on the nightstand.

Li Wei's prediction held true, for, a few moments later, the couple heard the distinctive clicks and beep of the digital lock on their front door, followed by the sound of it swinging open.

"Hey guys!" Li Yue's cheerful voice echoed throughout the apartment. "I brought the files. I'll put it on your work desk, Weiwei." The couple heard the distinctive sound of Li Yue shuffling around the apartment like a zombie. "My calculations are also in the file, but I am not very sure about the renormalization. You should look at that part specifically. It's your field of expertise after all." The shuffling continued, but it was now clearly headed towards the kitchen. They heard the sound of their cupboards being opened and the rustle of plastic, followed by crunching noises.

"She is raiding our snacks, isn't she?" Li Wei asked his wife. An Mei nodded, with an amused glint in her eyes. "She is laying waste to our supply of potato chips and spicy squid," he grumbled, though a smile played on his lips. "Should we do something about this blatant theft?"

An Mei giggled, her laughter reminiscent of a demure heroine from one of her romance novels. She leaned in and kissed him again. "No need. I went shopping yesterday and bought all of her favorites. A Yue-jie snack raid was overdue anyway."

Li Wei cupped her face. "My wife is so thoughtful," he quipped and kissed the tip of her nose. An Mei, unwilling to be outdone by her husband, retaliated with a nose kiss of her own. The two of them once again started to lose themselves in a world of tender care, while Li Yue happily munched on their food.

A few minutes later, her pillaging now complete, Li Yue's cried out once more. "I'm out, guys. Thanks for the snacks. Weiwei, be ready for the evening raid. There is a new patch out for Dragon Gate, and we are grinding for that diamond tier loot." While shuffling towards the front door, she stopped as if a sudden thought had stuck her. "Oh! And keep those quantum computing files in a safe place. They are meant to be confidential." And with that the front door clicked shut, and Li Yue was gone just as quickly as she had arrived. In the bedroom, Li Wei and An Mei kissed once more before the sweet embrace of sleep reclaimed them.

Hua:

An hour of blissful and uninterrupted sleep passed before the quietness of the bedroom once again gave way to unwelcome noise. This time it was An Mei's phone, and she had a call from Li Hua, CLO of the Wu Long group.

An Mei's phone was right next to Li Wei's on the other side of the bed. Li Wei, wide awake and feeling impish, was being playfully unhelpful. So An Mei, who was unwilling to leave the bed, had to crawl over him to get to her phone. While she did so, her raven-black hair cascaded over his face, prickling his nose. Li Wei immediately took his revenge by tickling her in her most sensitive spots. An Mei erupted in a fit of giggles and struggled to fight back against her mercilessly mischievous husband. But when she saw the caller ID, she almost dropped the phone and immediately shushed Li Wei. "It's Hua-jie," she whispered conspiratorially. As if saying Li Hua's name out loud might summon her right then and there.

She answered the call. "He... Hello?" she managed to say while still trying to recover from the tickle attack.

A razor-sharp voice answered her back. "Xiao-Mei. Did I catch you at a bad time?" There was also a slight hint of playfulness in the tone. "You sound out of breath."

"Er-jie. No! Not at all." An Mei was still lying on top of her husband, and Li Wei, unable to let go of the opportunity despite the fact that it was Li Hua at the other end of the call, tried to grope his wife. An Mei lightly swatted away his hands. "We were just...sleeping, that's all."

"At this hour?! My brother is a bad influence on you, Xiao-Mei," Li Hua quipped. "Well, forgetting about him for a while, listen, Meimei, I need a favour. The annual Bar Association gala is in a week, and I have nothing appropriate to wear. If the Group is not represented at the gala, it's just a bad look all around. So, I need to go shopping, and I need someone sane, with normal tastes, to help me pick something appropriate and formal."

Li Wei, unwilling to accept defeat, had changed tactics. He had gone for her most delicate area, her ears, and started nibbling on them.

While Li Wei was tormenting An Mei, on the other side of the phone, Li Hua continued her wry monologue. "You know I am not very good with these things. And I can't rely on my sisters. Da-jie is simply not an option. She is too busy. If I ask her, she will probably buy the entire store to get it over with in five minutes. Xiao-Na has a quarterly audit coming up, so she will be swamped with that. Xiao-Jing, let's not even go there. I mean, you know how she is. She will probably try to use me as her personal dress-up doll and pick something backless with a slit up to the thighs. And then there is our fifth sister, Xiao-Yue, whose idea of formal clothes is her 'good' hoodie."

An Mei was almost about to lose control and moan due to the constant stimulation of her ears. But she held herself back with great difficulty. She knew that next time she would not be so lucky. She had to do something drastic to stop her husband. A ridiculous idea flashed into her mind, and An Mei, in her desperation, leaned down and gave Li Wei's cheek a slow and deliberate lick. Li Wei, who was expecting An Mei to crack any second, was stunned by his wife's unexpected counterattack and promptly dissolved into a puddle of giggles.

Meanwhile, Li Hua kept going. "And your sister has classes. So she is also not an option either. You are my only hope, Meimei. Are you free this Tuesday?"

"Of course, Er-jie," An Mei said, smiling down at her still giggling husband. "I'd love to go shopping with you."

"You are a lifesaver," Li Hua breathed a sigh of genuine relief. "Thank you, Xiao-Mei. Now, I'll let you get back to...whatever it is that's making my brother giggle like a little boy. Apologies for interrupting you both."

When the call ended, An Mei placed her phone back on the nightstand. Without relinquishing her position on top of Li Wei, who had now almost recovered from his peals of laughter, she playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Bendan. You almost gave me a heart attack with that stunt. It's a miracle that I did not embarrass myself in front of Hua-jie."

Without displaying the slightest sign of remorse, Li Wei grabbed An Mei's cheeks with both hands while squishing them. "My hero!" He teased before giving her another ardent kiss.

An Mei melted into his kiss and forgot all about her previous frustration. They kept sharing tender kisses and quiet laughter before falling asleep, with An Mei still on top of Li Wei. The shopping trip with Li Hua was by now a distant thought. In the timeless warmth of their bed, it felt a lifetime away.

Order and Chaos:

They were so startled by the barrage of doorbell chimes that An Mei fell on the bed from her secure perch on top of Li Wei. The couple sat up and looked at each other as the doorbell continued to ring with alarming urgency.

"What is it, Weiwei?" An Mei asked, her voice laced with worry.

"I don't know," Li Wei replied. Just as he was about to get off the bed, the front door clicked open, and two very familiar voices filled the apartment.

The first was soft but firm and currently extremely mortified. "You can't ring the doorbell like a madwoman, Jingjing! They might still be sleeping." It was Li Na, the CFO of the Wu Long Group.

The second voice was more melodic and distinct. It was voice recognized all over the country, and it was very, very drunk. "Nonsense Na-jie. How else will they know that we are here?" There was a brief pause. "Where are we anyway?" It was Li Jing, the Chief Brand Officer of the Wu Long Group and the face of the conglomerate as its top model.

Li Wei and An Mei shared a look of relief and sank back into their pillows.

"We are at Weiwei and Meimei's house, Li Jing. Come on, get up, don't sit on the floor." Li Na sounded exasperated.

Inside the bedroom the peace that was demolished by the frantic ringing of the doorbell was slowly being restored.

"Why are they here?" Li Wei asked his wife. "And why does Jing-jie sound so drunk?"

"She had to attend a big movie industry party last night. I heard her mention it a couple of days ago. She must have dragged Na-jie along with her to the party. The venue is just a few blocks away. I guess they decided to crash here instead of going all the way to their homes."

While the bedroom was turning peaceful, the living room was anything but. "Weiwei?!" Li Jing mulled over the name. "You know. I have a... little brother by that name. He is... such a... very, very... precious, sweet boy. He is so small, like a tiny baby goat."

"I know. He is my brother too. Please stop eating the paper."

Hearing his sister compare him to a baby goat, Li Wei's face turned beet red. His profound mortification was only heightened by his wife's suppressed laughter.

Li Jing continued, completely oblivious to her brother's embarrassment. "He is twenty-two years old. But he is so terrible with women. How will he ever get a girlfriend? ... My poor baby."

"He is already married, Jingjing. His wife is An Mei, remember? We are at their house. Now sit right here. Let me see if there is any food."

"An Mei?!" Li Jing's alcohol-addled mind took some time to process the name. "Ohh! Meimei. She is wonderful. She'd be purrfect for Weiwei. But she is a famous writer, and my Didi doesn't even have a job. How will he impress her? Li Na... Na-jie... Nana, what will he do? Can you give him a job? Please, please, please."

"Xiao-Jing! Let go of my hand! Weiwei already has a job. He is a university professor. Now be quiet."

"Waaah! My Baobei is never going to get married. What do we do?! Waaah!"

Li Wei wished that the ground would swallow him up whole so that he did not have to face his wife or the world again. Denied that mercy, he had to settle for burying his face in the pillows.

The bedroom door slowly opened, and Li Na's kind face peeked in. "Really sorry for disturbing you guys, but do you happen to have any food left?"

Meanwhile, Li Jing's wailing continued uninterrupted. "Waaah! I am never going to be an aunt. Waaah!...Waaah!"

An Mei smiled warmly at her sister-in-law. "Of course, Na-jie. We have some leftovers from last night's dinner in the fridge. Just heat it up in the microwave. There is plenty for both of you."

Li Na's face flooded with relief. "Thank you so much, Meimei. I was afraid that I would have to drag a drunk and cranky Jingjing around to some restaurant." Her attention turned to her little brother, who was still refusing to lift his head out of the pillows. "Sorry, Wei'er. We will be out of your hair soon, alright. Sleep tight, you two." Li Wei nodded his head while still lying face down.

After that, except for one or two of Li Jing's loud comments and the beeping of the microwave, the sounds from outside largely subsided.

"Are you not planning on coming out of your pillow fortress, Professor Baby Goat?" An Mei teased.

"Don't you start as well," Li Wei grumbled, finally turning around to face his wife. "My enthusiasm for a tickle fight has not yet fully subsided, you know."

"Forgive me, Professor Li," An Mei said mischievously. "I will be your good little girl. Please don't punish me." She puffed up her cheeks in exaggerated innocence, leaving Li Wei with no other option but to give her a deep and loving kiss.

"By the way, how come there are leftovers? We never have leftovers." Li Wei asked curiously.

"Well, when Jing-jie mentioned that the party was nearby, I guessed something like this might happen. So I made a little extra rice and stir-fried beef, just in case."

Li Wei gazed into her eyes, his heart swelling with admiration for An Mei, and whispered words of quiet appreciation. "Thank you, Meimei. For putting up with my crazy family."

An Mei cupped his cheek and kissed him. "They are my family too, Laogong."

They did not hear the sound of Li Na and Li Jing leaving, as pretty soon Li Wei and An Mei were both in the land of dreams, comfortably wrapped around each other.

Equilibrium:

A long time later Li Wei was woken up by the discreet buzz of a text message. He reached for his phone, careful not to disturb An Mei, who was sleeping peacefully with her arms tightly enveloped around his body.

The message was from his sister-in-law, An Jing.

An Jing: Wei-ge. I'm coming over to pick up that physics problem set you promised.

Li Wei: No problem. But please don't ring the bell. Your sister is still sleeping.

An Jing: 👍

Li Wei looked at the time and then at his wife.

Li Wei: Xiao-Jing, can you get your sister and me some lunch from the university cafeteria? I will send you the money. And... if you see Jing-jie in the apartment, can you please take her with you? She was really drunk.

One online transfer later, the reply came immediately.

An Jing: Don't worry, Jie-fu. You just go cuddle with my sister. I'll handle everything.

Li Wei placed the phone back on the nightstand and turned his full attention to his wife. He observed her for a while, the gentle cadence of her breathing, her soft and delicate features, and the smile that always graced her lips while she slept. He leaned in and placed a ghost of a kiss on her forehead, careful not to disturb her rest. Then silently wrapping his arms around her, he succumbed to their shared peaceful repose.

Afternoon:

When the pair drifted back to consciousness, the ambience of the room had completely changed. Gone was the lazy morning sunlight. Instead, they faced the energetic rays of the midday sun as it streamed through the windows.

An Mei stretched like a lazy kitten after a well-earned rest. "I think...we should probably get up for real this time," she mumbled.

Li Wei nodded in agreement, even though he would have been completely content to just stay in the bed with her forever.

She scooted closer to him, leaning against his frame as he sat upright. "Should we order something for lunch?"

Li Wei kissed her hands and replied, "No need. Your sister already brought us food."

An Mei's face lit up with a brilliant smile that made his heart flutter. She cupped his cheeks and gave him a long and appreciative kiss. "You thought of everything! Professor Li."

"Well," he murmured against her lips, "I had a very good teacher."

She chuckled while wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her cheek against his. "You are too adorable, my love."

Giving her one last kiss, Li Wei untangled himself from his wife's embrace and got off the bed. He looked down at his beloved and in one smooth motion scooped her up into his arms.

An Mei let out a startled gasp, which quickly gave way to delightful giggling. "What are you doing...Weiwei?" she purred.

"Carrying my wonderful wife," he beamed, his voice full of affection. "We are going to take a bath together... and it's going to be very, very long."