NOVPUB“I heard… Yuanyao’s pregnant…”
Lan Yixian, who was sitting on the edge of the bed, stood up as well. She looked at the two people in front of her and, after a moment of thought, hesitated before asking.
Her gaze rested on Liu Changqing.
Memories from that time surfaced in her mind—
Maybe, thinking back carefully, the moment An Yuanyao appeared in front of her back then, it had already been the end for them.
Now, seeing An Yuanyao standing by Liu Changqing’s side—even before he had returned, just from talking with An Yuanyao—Lan Yixian had already learned about everything that had happened recently.
But…
“Mm, not even three months yet.”
“Is it a boy or a girl?”
“We don’t know that yet…”
“I see…”
After saying that, Lan Yixian suddenly recalled the day An Yuanyao had come to her, and how she'd asked that question: “Do you like Liu Changqing too?” She remembered the answer she’d given then.
And thinking about that now… Lan Yixian seemed to come to terms with it.
“Well, if there’s nothing else… I’ll head back.”
“……”
There was no reply. Liu Changqing just stood there, silently watching Lan Yixian as she said those words. His silence didn’t go unnoticed by An Yuanyao, who was standing beside him. n𝚘𝚟pub.𝚌o𝚖
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, An Yuanyao reached out and gave Liu Changqing a light tug on his sleeve.
Noticing that, Liu Changqing lowered his head slightly to look at her…
Who knows what crossed his mind, but when he looked up again, there was already a faint smile on his face as he said:
“Why don’t you stay and have dinner first? You can finally try my cooking!”
Lan Yixian froze slightly when she heard that.
She seemed to be lost in thought for a while…
But in the end, she smiled and nodded.
“Okay.”
Seeing that, An Yuanyao stepped over to Lan Yixian and held her hand, the two of them suddenly seeming like long-lost friends.
“Does giving birth hurt? Are there any precautions?”
“Well…”
Seeing this, Liu Changqing chose not to interrupt the two and quietly stepped out of the room, gently closing the door behind him. Then he walked over to his son’s room and knocked on the door.
After a moment, Liu Zhiyue opened it.
“Go to the supermarket and grab a bottle of soy sauce, a bag of salt, and maybe some drinks or something,” Liu Changqing said.
As he spoke, he pulled out his wallet and handed a 100 yuan bill to his son. Liu Zhiyue took the money without a word.
Liu Changqing then turned and went into the kitchen.
Liu Xiazhi, her ears twitching, had clearly heard the exchange between her dad and brother. Wanting to escape her fate of being tutored, she quickly shot her arm into the air and eagerly shouted toward Liu Zhiyue:
“Bro! I’ll go with you!”
“You just focus on your studies. I don’t need company.”
He coldly rejected his sister’s offer, put on his shoes, and walked out the door.
The moment the door closed, Liu Xiazhi made a pitiful face. She stole a glance at Zhou Shiyan, who was sitting next to her—only to find Zhou Shiyan was watching her too.
Knowing there was no way to escape, she could only resign herself to her fate. Her eyes returned to the worksheet in front of her, and she began to read the problem aloud:
“Xiao Ming raised a lot of small animals. He put chickens and rabbits in the same cage. There were 30 heads and 88 feet in total. How many chickens and rabbits are there?”
The moment she saw the question, Liu Xiazhi’s mood visibly shifted.
Slamming her pen onto the table, she turned to Zhou Shiyan with a face full of confusion and frustration.
“This Xiao Ming is so weird! If he’s not draining and filling swimming pools, he’s shoving chickens and rabbits into the same cage… He’s so boring!”
“……”
Zhou Shiyan looked at her quietly. She could clearly tell the girl was trying to change the subject.
So she simply stared at her in silence. When Liu Xiazhi started to feel guilty and tried to avert her gaze, Zhou Shiyan finally pointed at the textbook and said softly:
“We’ll solve this one with a system of equations. Let’s say there are x chickens and y rabbits…”
“I’m running away from home!”
With tears shimmering at the corners of her eyes, Zhang Yunjing shouted angrily at her mother, then turned and bolted out of the supermarket.
Watching her daughter’s retreating figure, her mother was fuming. She stood at the shop’s entrance and yelled out at her:
“Oh, so a few words and you get all upset?! Just wait till your dad gets back and sees—!”
Before she could finish, she noticed her daughter had already vanished from sight and clamped her mouth shut. The argument had clearly pushed her to her limit too.
Maybe it was just the rebellious phase, but lately, she’d found it harder and harder to communicate with her daughter. It felt like the kid was purposely trying to get under her skin.
Always talking back—she only said a few things and the girl exploded like a powder keg.
The mother-daughter fight left the shop clerk silent. Pretending not to hear anything, the clerk just kept her head down, quietly standing behind the register.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yunjing, having stormed out of the supermarket, was now crying.
As she ran, a growing sense of grievance welled up inside her. She couldn’t help but wipe away the tears from the corners of her eyes.
Because of that, she didn’t notice Liu Zhiyue walking past her.
He stopped and turned to look at the girl who was softly crying and whimpering. Even though she’d darted by quickly, he instantly recognized her.
After all… no one randomly walks around in a baseball cap.
But Liu Zhiyue didn’t plan to go talk to her. He simply watched as Zhang Yunjing ran farther and farther away, then turned around and walked into the supermarket.
After picking out the items he needed and paying for them, Liu Zhiyue walked out and headed to the intersection.
The light turned red, and he came to a stop.
His eyes drifted ahead, and he noticed a figure crouching on the side of the road—it caught his attention.
Zhang Yunjing hadn’t run far.
She was now crouched down like someone who’d been utterly wronged, her head buried between her knees. She was wearing skinny jeans, and since she was crouching…
Her lower back was slightly exposed.
Liu Zhiyue, standing not far away, saw it clearly—but after a quick glance, he looked away.
The red light countdown ticked down.
34… 33… 32…
Second by second, it dropped. But out of the corner of his eye, Liu Zhiyue noticed Zhang Yunjing suddenly stand up.
She looked like she was at her breaking point. Even from a distance, he could clearly hear her sniffling…
Staring at the cars rushing by, Zhang Yunjing seemed to have made up her mind. Even though the red light was still on, she took a step forward.
One step…
Then another…
Liu Zhiyue saw everything clearly.
He hadn’t intended to get involved, but glancing at the countdown on the light, then the stream of traffic…
And then at Zhang Yunjing, who looked like she was about to do something stupid…
“Wait… no way…”
He muttered, and then, without hesitation, dashed toward her.
He reached out—grabbed her wrist—
And yanked her back with force.
