Yibo wiped the cleaning cloth over the smooth and shiny surface of his new sales counter. He looked lost in thought and smiled at the glass walls of his new mini market and across to Zhan's new restaurant. He saw Zhan sitting at a table with his staff. Yibo knew they were discussing the shopping lists and daily menus for the coming week. When Zhan looked up and saw Yibo, Yibo's heart thumped happily in his chest. He waved to Zhan and Zhan waved back. "Heavens, I love you so much." Yibo whispered and then turned back to his cleaning work.

When Yibo reached the shelf with the baby food, he thought of Lara again. A few days ago, she suddenly appeared in his mini market. Her child was sitting in the baby carriage and sucking his own hand. When she saw Yibo, she smiled. She immediately approached him and asked him: "I had heard that you have your mini market here now. And since I was nearby, I thought I'd come in and say hello. How are you?" Yibo had the impression that she wasn't there by chance as she claimed. But he didn't say anything at first.

"I'm doing well. And you? Are you alright?" He asked disinterestedly. It had been six months since he had last thought about her. That was on the day of his and Zhan's wedding ceremony. After that, however, he didn't waste another thought on her.

"Yeah, all right so far."

"But?" Yibo knew she was waiting for him to ask this. He knew she wanted it to look like she was just pouring her heart out because he asked her!

"Well, it could be better. It's hard."

"What's hard?" Why couldn't she just say what she wanted, Yibo wondered, annoyed?

"How much do you know about me since the two of us ended?" She turned red in the face. She looked at him sheepishly, as if she was afraid of breaking Yibo's heart. Even though she knew that there had never been anything between them, apart from a good friendship at first.

"Nothing, really. At some point I heard that you got married in a small circle and had your baby shortly afterwards. But that's all I know."

"Mhhh, then you really don't know much." She said and sat down at the table that Yibo had set up for customers who wanted to have a coffee at his place or just a small snack.

"Why don't you just tell me? It's easier than me having to ask you about everything."

"Yeah well, I guess you're right about that."

Yibo sat down at the table with her. "So?"

She lifted her son on the baby carriage, sat him on her lap, stroked his rosy cheeks, kissed his cheeks and sighed: "It's true, we got married. But, well, it wasn't a beautiful or big wedding like he had promised me. It was just him, me and our two witnesses at the registry office. We lived together in my apartment and although I was heavily pregnant, he didn't support me. He was always going out with his friends and only came home in the middle of the night, completely drunk. When I went into labor, I had to take a cab to the hospital alone because he was at a bar with friends and his cell phone was turned off. My mom came and supported me during the birth. After the little one was born, he often spent the night at his best friend's house because he was annoyed that the little one woke up and cried so often during the night. And then I found out about two months after the birth that he wasn't staying at his best friend's house at all, but with his secret girlfriend, who he had been with for five months. All his friends covered up for him and lied for him. But instead of showing remorse when I found out, he packed his belongings, moved in with his girlfriend and had his lawyer send me the divorce papers. Since then, I've been alone with my son and I can't go to work because I don't have anyone to look after my son. Without a job, I can't take him to daycare. I um... don't get any child support for my son from him either."

"You don't have any money. You can't even afford baby food anymore, can you?" Yibo felt sorry for her. Even though he had never forgiven her for how badly she had behaved towards him at the end of their supposed marriage, he felt sorry for her. Because she looked miserable and he felt terribly sorry for her son because he had no father to take care of him and teach him all those things that only fathers can teach a son.

"Yes."

Yibo got up from his chair, went to the shelf with the baby food and took out one of the jars. It was a porridge made from noodles and some kind of sauce. He heated it briefly in the microwave, took a small spoon and handed it to her. Lara took it, crying, and began to feed her hungry son. "Don't cry in front of your son. I don't want him to see you like this." He said and handed her a tissue.

"Thank you." She sobbed. She took the tissue, wiped her tears and suddenly began to cry for real. Yibo took the little boy from her arms, put him on his lap and continued feeding him after telling her to go to the bathroom, cry it out and then wash her face and come back.

Yibo fed the little one who ate, smacking and cheering, clapping his hands and rocking back and forth excitedly on his lap. When the glass was almost empty, Zhan came into the store and looked thoughtfully at Yibo and the boy. "Wow, a baby looks really good on you." He said and came over to Yibo and the little one. Zhan sat down at the table with Yibo and suddenly the little one stretched out his arms to him.

"Looks like he wants to be with you." Yibo replied with a grin. When Zhan had sat the little boy on his lap, Yibo said: "Hey, that little guy looks good on you too."

The little boy became very restless and literally sucked on the spoon. "I think he's still hungry." Yibo said and went to heat up another jar of porridge. The little guy also munched on this with great relish as Zhan fed him. Meanwhile, Yibo wondered when Lara would finally come back from the toilet.

Just as Yibo was about to check how Lara was doing, she came out of the toilet. Her eyes were flaming red and her face was still wet. She greeted Zhan, sat back down at the table and looked at the second almost empty glass. "He's pretty hungry today." She said.

"I guess that's normal at his age." Said Zhan, still holding and feeding the little one.

"That's right. Besides, I didn't have anything for breakfast this morning. So..." She stopped for a moment, sobbed again and then continued hoarsely: "So I couldn't give him anything."

"Can't you apply for financial support? Or why don't you sell your apartment and rent a smaller place for you and your son?" Yibo replied, his heart and soul aching at the thought of the little boy going hungry.

"The apartment has already been sold and the money is gone. I had to use it to pay off debts and I use the rest of the money to pay the rent for the small apartment we live in now. And then there are the running costs. I don't get any financial support either." She explained.

"But you have to do something. You can't let your son go hungry. Ask your parents for help. Go to the youth welfare office and ask them for help. But never let him go hungry again." Yibo said in a strained voice.

"My parents won't let me move in with them anymore. We had a big falling out. And the youth welfare office wouldn't help me either. I've already tried that." She said. But neither Yibo nor Zhan believed her. But they didn't let her see that.

"And what do you want to do instead?" Zhan asked.

She looked Zhan firmly in the eye. "I'm giving him away."

Yibo gasped, "What are you doing? You can't just give him away! Who knows who he'll end up with?"

She now looked Yibo firmly in the eye: "If you both take him, then he's in good hands, isn't he?"

Zhan's eyes widened. "We can't do that." He said, shocked. He wanted to give the boy back to her. But the boy immediately began to cry and clung to him, screaming loudly.

Yibo jumped up and crouched down next to Zhan and the little boy. "It's okay, little one. It's okay." He said quietly. The little one slowly calmed down again. Big tears rolled down his cheeks as he clung tightly to Zhan and clutched Zhan's sweater with both hands. When the little boy saw Yibo, he let go and wanted to go to Yibo. Yibo took him and tried to give him to his mother. But again the little one screamed and clung to Yibo. When Yibo tried to lift him up, he clawed at Yibo's hair.

"No. No. No." The little boy screamed unclearly but still understandably. Zhan carefully removed his hands from Yibo's hair and took the little one back to him. He walked back and forth in the salesroom until the little one calmed down.

"Do you see? He doesn't even want to be with me. He's almost always like this with me." Said Lara.

"But earlier you took him out of the baby carriage and fed him and he didn't cry." Yibo said and looked at Zhan, who was carrying the little one around the salesroom, rocking slightly.

"Yes, because he was hungry and didn't know you yet. And you know what's crazy? He always screams like that when someone tries to lift him up. But not with you and Zhan! Which only strengthens my opinion that you two are perfect fathers for him."

"And we're supposed to believe you?"

"Yibo, I have no reason to lie. I'm at the end. I have no strength left. A-Yuan freaks out almost every time I try to hold him up. Unless his diaper is full or he gets something to eat. I've never seen him like he is now with you and your husband! And to be completely honest, I feel overwhelmed as a mom. A few days after he was born, I just wanted to drop him off somewhere and run away." She sobbed harder again. "A mother should love her baby, shouldn't she?"

Yibo nodded thoughtfully. "Yes, that's how it should be at best."

"But I don't feel like I really love him."

"Are you just saying that now to get us to take him?" Zhan asked quietly so as not to alarm the little one again.

"No. Unfortunately, that's the truth. And that's exactly why I had a falling out with my parents. I asked them if they could take him and raise him because I couldn't. My parents got angry because they couldn't understand how I felt. And yes, my parents threw at me that I should take him to you and your husband because you genuinely love each other and are in control of your lives. Mom said you have enough love in you to also love A-Yuan enough to raise him as your son."

Yibo could have asked her how her parents would know that. But he knew. The two of them had also been to his and Zhan's wedding ceremony and had talked to both of them for a long time, getting an impression of their relationship for themselves. And, above all, to see how much they love each other. "You can't ask us a thoughtless question like that." He finally said.

"Thoughtlessly'?" She asked and laughed badly. "Yibo, I've been thinking about it for a month. Do you know how many times I've been around here wanting to visit and ask you?"

Zhan returned to the table. A-Yuan lay asleep in his arms. "Give us a week. We need to be able to prepare. We should also consult a lawyer to make sure everything is legal. For this one week, we'll give you everything you need for him so that he doesn't go hungry. We'll give you diapers too."

Yibo looked at Zhan and smiled. Actually, he should have expected Zhan to discuss such a big matter with him and for them both to make a decision. But he knew that Zhan could tell by looking at him that Yibo had long since made a decision. He could see from Yibo's face that he would like to take little A-Yuan in and raise him. But Yibo didn't like the idea of Lara spending another week alone with A-Yuan. "ZhanZhan, I think Lara can stay in our guest room for one week. Then A-Yuan can get to know us and Lara can make up her own mind about us."

Zhan nodded. "Yes, that works too. Good thinking." Zhan replied and put the sleeping boy back in the baby carriage.

"Thank you." Lara said, now smiling and looking relieved. Half an hour later, Yibo's employee arrived and Yibo drove with Lara and A-Yuan to her apartment to get clothes and a travel crib for A-Yuan. They then drove to his and Zhan's apartment, where Zhan was already waiting for them and began to arrange the clothes in the guest room closet and set up the travel crib.

Then they sat in the kitchen and ordered all the things they needed for a nursery online. Meanwhile, A-Yuan crawled around them and played with the two cats, Ying and Yang. At dinner, Zhan and Yibo took turns feeding him. And A-Yuan clapped his hands happily. He looked first at Yibo, then at Zhan and called out, "Daddy. Dad." And with that, he buried himself permanently into the hearts of both of them.

One week is now almost over. In just two more days, Lara's son will officially be Yibo's and Zhan's son. Lara will leave and A-Yuan, their son, will stay with them in his new nursery. Yibo smiled again at the thought, waved to Zhan once more as he looked towards him again and couldn't wait to go home with Zhan, where A-Yuan was waiting for them with his new grandparents. Their parents had cried happily when Zhan and Yibo told them that they were adopting A-Yuan and that they would be grandparents.