Even so, Chang Jingqiu still said, “Let’s make things clear, okay? This five million is a one-time thing, right? After I give you this five million, don’t bring up anything else to blackmail me again—I’m not your ATM.”

“Of course I won’t.” Liu Ronghua snickered. “Anyway, what else can you do besides believe my words? I may promise you this now, but who knows, I might change my mind. After all, you can’t possibly write a contract for these kinds of matters.”

Seeing Chang Jingqiu’s change in expression, Liu Ronghua sniggered. “Of course I’ll keep my promise. I’m not some nobody like Huang Pinggui or Wang Lixia. You need not worry.”

Chang Jingqiu’s eyebrows knitted together. She tapped her fingers repeatedly on the steering wheel. Liu Ronghua did not press her.

In truth, if Qi Chenglin had not taken away most of her wealth, she would never have come to Chang Jingqiu. Liu Ronghua knew full well the risks of her actions. Moreover, Chang Jingqiu was not some naive woman one could easily get away with hurting either. She was vile—having wronged her meant gaining another enemy for herself. In the end, she would bite back.

“Fine,” Chang Jingqiu agreed at long last.

Liu Ronghua’s lips curled up into a smug smile. She knew from the beginning that Chang Jingqiu would not refuse.

“However, I do not govern my family’s finances. Even for me, five million is a large sum, so I’ll need some time,” Chang Jingqiu explained.

Liu Ronghua could not care less about where she would find the large sum of money. Despite all, she was still the precious daughter of the Chang family—taking out such a large sum of money may arouse suspicion, but it was not something unachievable.

“How much time do you need?” Liu Ronghua raised an eyebrow at her.

Chang Jingqiu pondered on it for a while and answered, “One week.”

“Fine.” Liu Ronghua nodded.

Chang Jingqiu’s expression was dark—her displeasure was evident. “Since I gave you my answer, get out of the car. I’m in no mood to send you home.”

Chang Jingqiu’s insolent attitude toward Liu Ronghua was fully justifiable. Thus, Liu Ronghua got out without a word of protest.

…

On Sunday, Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen sat idly at home. Thus, they decided to bring the little one to Jade Field Park to visit Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya.

Although they have already met during their family gathering on Saturday, Guan Liya still missed her grandson and wanted to spend more time with him.

When the family of three walked through the front door, Guan Liya was taken by surprise. “Ah, what brings you all here?”

“We just want to let Qi Youxuan see you two,” Qi Chenglin answered, smiling, as he entered the house while holding Ruan Danchen’s hand.

The cheeky little boy passed through the gap beneath their intertwined hands and announced gleefully, “Grandpa, Grandma, I’m here!”

Guan Liya’s heart melted when she heard her little grandson’s greeting. Instantly, she picked up the little boy and praised, “Oh, my precious little grandson. What a good boy! What did you have for breakfast?”

Qi Youxuan reported his meal in detail. Hearing the little boy’s voice, Qi Zhongxun scurried over too. His face lit up when he saw his chubby little grandson.

Only when Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen had changed into indoor slippers and entered the living room did they realize there were guests in the house.

One of them was a middle-aged couple and beside them sat a young lady. The lady appeared to be in her mid-twenties. Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen wondered what they had been talking about for the lady to be smiling so merrily.

When the lady saw Guan Liya entering the room with Qi Youxuan in her arms, she smiled at him warmly and in a clear yet gentle voice, she said, “Ah, this must be Youxuan. He has grown so big.”

Qi Youxuan stared at the lady quite indifferently. His joy from before seemed to have disappeared. “Auntie, who are you?”

The lady did not expect Qi Youxuan to shun her like that. Awkward, she turned to Qi Chenglin. She smiled again and greeted, “Big Brother Qi.”

Ruan Danchen observed the lady’s glimmering eyes. She possessed the kittenish qualities of a youngest child—anyone would have had the urge to pamper the girl.

Qi Chenglin’s expression did not change. He did not utter a single word of acknowledgment either. He merely took the little boy from Guan Liya’s arms and put the boy on the floor, letting him stand on his own feet.

Utterly ignored by both Qi Youxuan and Qi Chenglin, the lady felt even more awkward. She could only turn her gaze to Ruan Danchen. She gazed at her curiously but did not greet her.

Ruan Danchen did not know what was Qi Chenglin’s attitude about, so she did not take the initiative to strike up a conversation with the lady either. Instead, she merely put on a courteous smile—no one could misinterpret that.

“Haha, I didn’t know you guys are coming today.” Guan Liya grinned at Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen, beckoning them to sit down. “Chenglin, do you remember Uncle Wu and Aunt Zhao?”

Guan Liya did not mention the young lady either.

Qi Chenglin turned to look at Guan Liya perplexedly. Making the three of them sit in front of the guests made the environment even more tensed.

“Haha, it’s been a long time since we last met.” Zhao Fengchun broke the awkward silence.

“Have you forgotten? Aunt Zhao lived in the house right next to ours since I was a child. Her whole family had now moved to Italy.” Guan Liya turned to Zhao Fengchun. “It’s been at least seven years, right?”

“That’s right. When we were leaving, this little girl clung onto me and bawled her eyes out. She was reluctant to leave this house and the big brother next door. She missed you dearly when we were in Italy. When we first arrived, there was a language barrier between us and the locals; after we became fluent in the language, we realized that due to differences in culture, we can’t integrate ourselves well with the locals. Unlike over here, we didn’t have as much freedom and didn’t have neighbors we could visit whenever we please either,” Zhao Fengchun revealed. “So, this time, we don’t plan to go back anymore. Since we didn’t sell the old house next door, we’ll just move back in.”

Zhao Chunfeng put her arms around the young lady beside her and said, “When my girl heard that we were moving back, she was exuberant. Till this day, she still misses her big brother neighbor dearly.”

Wu Qiaoyin had on a faint smile. Shy, her head was tilted down slightly as she secretly stole a glance at Qi Chenglin.

Qi Chenglin’s expression was cold—as if he did not remember her at all. The young lady was awfully disappointed.

“I can recall that when they were still children, Qiaoyin would chase behind Chenglin wherever he went. Back then, Chenglin loved to cause trouble—Qiaoyin followed in his footsteps too. When they grew older, they started to understand boys and girls are not the same. Gradually, the two of them drifted apart. Eventually, Chenglin forbid Qiaoyin from following him around. Hearing that, Qiaoyin cried for days on end when she came home,” Zhao Fengchun recalled fondly as she took a sip of tea.

Qi Youxuan was sitting on Guan Liya’s lap, chewing on a preserved plum. Suddenly, he butted in, “Granny Zhao, my dad doesn’t like women who are cry-babies.”

Zhao Fengchun was taken aback by Qi Youxuan’s words. Wu Qiaoyin blushed and argued sheepishly, “I’m more mature now—I don’t cry anymore.”

“Big Brother Qi, do you remember me now? I’m Yinyin, your old neighbor.” Wu Qiaoyin had a honeyed smile plastered on. Her voice was especially sweet.

Hearing her tone, Qi Youxuan was disgusted by her eagerness; he could not help but gag.

“What happened? Are you feeling sick?” Guan Liya asked, caressing the little boy’s face.

The boy shook his head. “This plum is too sweet! It’s making me nauseous!”

Wu Qiaoyin turned to Qi Youxuan. She could not help but think the boy was mocking her but still wondered if she was merely overthinking.

Guan Liya, on the other hand, did not think much about it. She poured a cup of tea and blew on it a few times. Then, she brought it in front of Qi Youxuan’s mouth. “Here, drink some tea—it’ll help relieve your nausea. Be careful, it’s hot.”

Seeing that Qi Youxuan was distracted for the moment, Wu Qiaoyin continued, “Now that we’ve returned, we ought to hang out together more. Isn’t this great?”

Qi Youxuan gestured to Guan Liya that he was done with the tea. He turned his head to Wu Qiaoyin and announced, “Aunt Wu, my dad doesn’t like women who take the initiative to go after him either. He likes women like Mommy, who he had to pursue for a long time before winning her heart.”

“Ah, silly child, what are you blabbering about?” Guan Liya pinched the little boy’s cheeks and turned to Zhao Fengchun and Wu Qiaoyin embarrassedly. “He’s just a little boy; please don’t take his words to heart.”

Wu Qiaoyin forced herself to smile—the corner of her lips twitching. Then, she turned to Ruan Danchen. “You must be my sister-in-law. When I was in Italy, I didn’t hear of Big Brother Qi’s engagement at all. And to think that you have such a big boy already. Though, sister-in-law, you seem quite young—only thirty-something perhaps?”

Her head was slightly tilted as she gazed at Ruan Danchen with a pair of innocent eyes—smiling as if her words hid no other meaning.

Ruan Danchen returned her smile. She was going to ask her how she knew her age, but the moment she opened her mouth, she accidentally let out a yawn. Awkwardness set in once again.

She did not do it on purpose. They must think she was a disrespectful woman who was intentionally trying to humiliate them. However, that was not the case—she was merely tired.

Expectedly, Zhao Fengchun and Wu Qiaoyin’s expression soured.

Wu Qiaoyin appeared troubled. Her well-trimmed eyebrows knitted tightly together. With a woeful expression, she asked, “Sister-in-law, did I say something wrong?”

Ruan Danchen staggered. Lately, her reaction seemed to have slowed down significantly. After what felt like an eternity, she finally answered, “No, you didn’t. It just happened. Please don’t take it to heart.”

Having said that, Ruan Danchen yawned again. Ruan Danchen felt a little sick. Somehow, she felt that their impression of her was becoming more and more tainted.

Zhao Fengchun’s expression darkened. She forced herself to smile, but in her mind, she thought, ‘How rude! How dare this granddaughter-in-law of the Qi family be so disrespectful that she cared not about the dignity of us elders! Such a disgraceful person should be kept away from the public!’

“Aunt Wu, my dad doesn’t like weak women either,” Qi Youxuan interjected again. The little boy saw the opportunity and he took it.

Wu Qianyin’s lips twitched. “Haha, what a mischievous child Youxuan is. I’ve been neighbors with Big Brother Qi since we were kids. We grew up together—like brother and sister.”

Qi Youxuan kept silent. He merely stared suspiciously at her with his big, round eyes. Evidently, he did not believe her words.

Wu Qiaoyin glared at the child, yearning to hit him to put him in his place. She wondered how Ruan Danchen educated that little brat.

“If you’re tired, go ahead and head to bed,” Qi Chenglin said when he saw Ruan Danchen’s exhausted state. She was swaying side-to-side as she sat unsteadily on the stool. Seeing this, Qi Chenglin put his arm around her shoulders and let her lean on him.

The Wu family had taken up the entire couch and Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya each sat in a single-seater sofa. Thus, Qi Chenglin and Ruan Danchen could only settle for wooden stools.

Qi Chenglin had no problem sitting on a stool, but he could not handle seeing the drowsy Ruan Danchen sitting on the stone-hard stool without anything to lean on.

Guan Liya saw how tired she was too. She knew that this daughter-in-law of hers took care of her husband and son all by herself and had to work on top of that—it was no wonder that she would be drained.

Guan Liya knew Ruan Danchen’s personality well—despite Wu Qiaoyin’s insulting words, she knew Ruan Danchen did not yawn on purpose.

Seeing her fatigued manner, Guan Liya nodded and said, “That’s right, Danchen. You should go take a nap in Chenglin’s old bedroom.”

Having said that, she shot a disapproving glance at Qi Chenglin. “And you, how could you let Danchen be so tired?”

Qi Chenglin thought that he had not asked Ruan Danchen to do much lately—why was she so exhausted?

With guests in the house, how could Ruan Danchen possibly go to bed? Thus, she forced herself to stay awake, claiming she was alright and continued sitting on the uncomfortable stool.

Qi Youxuan clambered down from Guan Liya’s lap and climbed onto Ruan Danchen’s. Ruan Danchen wrapped her arms around him instinctively.

“Mommy, I want to sleep too. Why don’t you accompany me?” Qi Youxuan hugged Ruan Danchen and rubbed against her chest. Ruan Danchen’s heart melted.

She poked the tip of Qi Youxuan’s little nose with her finger. She knew that he only said that to get her to bed.

Just as she was going to answer, a delicious fragrance came from the kitchen where Aunt Chen was preparing lunch.

The scent made Ruan Danchen’s stomach turn. She felt nauseated and although her stomach was empty, she still felt like vomiting.

Ruan Danchen’s face was blanched. Qi Chenglin inquired hurriedly, “What’s wrong?”

Seeing this, Qi Youxuan did not dare to stay on her lap any longer. Without Qi Chenglin’s instruction, he climbed down by himself and gazed at his mother worriedly.

Ruan Danchen shook her head. “I’m fine. It’s just my stomach acting up. I’m feeling a little nauseous.”

“Did you eat something bad? What did you have for breakfast?” asked Guan Liya.

Qi Youxuan was already thinking back on the things they had for breakfast. Ruan Danchen shook her head. “I didn’t eat anything bad. It’s okay. I’ll just have some tea. It’ll go away.”

However, as the scent from the kitchen grew thicker and thicker, Ruan Danchen’s face turned paler and paler. The whole family was anxious, making the Wu family felt especially out of place.

“You really should rest.” Qi Chenglin instantly picked Ruan Danchen up from the chair and helped her to the bedroom.

Guan Liya wanted her to rest too, but something felt off, so she turned to Ruan Danchen and suggested, “Why don’t… you go for a check-up in the hospital?”

Before Ruan Danchen could decipher her words, Qi Chenglin nodded decisively. “Yes! We should head to the hospital.”

Finally, it dawned on Ruan Danchen. She looked at Guan Liya and understood her meaning. Then, she turned to Qi Chenglin—it was evident that this man was not on the same page.

Ruan Danchen pondered upon it—there might be a chance Guan Liya was right. After all, Guan Liya was not delusional. Thus, she agreed, “I should… go for a check-up.”

Zhao Fengchun tutted quietly. There were guests at home yet they just had to go to the hospital. Was Ruan Danchen really so precious? This daughter-in-law of Guan Liya seemed quite unbecoming.

Wu Qiaoyin glared at Ruan Danchen discontentedly. She felt that Ruan Danchen was merely scheming to kick them out.

Seeing Ruan Danchen’s reaction, Guan Liya pulled Ruan Danchen away from Qi Chenglin to talk to her in private. Worried, Qi Chenglin called out, “Mom!”

“Ah, you little rascal, it’s not like I’m going to bully Danchen. What’s that face for?” teased Guan Liya.

Qi Chenglin pouted and kept silent.

Only then did Guan Liya whisper to Ruan Danchen, “Danchen, you think so too, don’t you?”

Ruan Danchen was slightly troubled by Guan Liya’s expectant expression. “It’s true my period is late by around a week. It had always come on time before this, but I’m not sure yet. Mom, if the test comes back negative, please don’t be disappointed.”

“Oh, it’s alright.” Guan Liya could not help but chuckle. “After all, I already have Youxuan. You two giving me another grandchild is like icing on a cake. I’m in no hurry either. I already have a grandchild in my lap anyway. Youxuan is such an adorable child. So, Danchen, don’t feel pressured. It doesn’t matter when you give Youxuan a younger sibling; even if you don’t, that’s fine too—he still has Chengzhi and Chengyue’s children to play with.”

Ruan Danchen was relieved to hear that. She nodded. In truth, she was nervous and excited too—she hoped for a child as well.

“We don’t use any contraceptive methods. I’d love another child too,” Ruan Danchen admitted softly.

“That’s good, that’s good.” Guan Liya was overjoyed. Elders like her would always wish for more grandchildren.

After ending their conversation, they noticed the father-and-son duo was still panicking. Guan Liya could not help but roll her eyes.

What was with their expression? Did she look like an evil old lady?

Seeing Ruan Danchen’s expression, Guan Liya predicted that there was a ninety percent chance that they’ve hit the jackpot this time. She was ecstatic when she thought about getting little plump grandchildren one after another—one from her daughter’s stomach and one from her daughter-in-law’s. Oh, what a perfect life!

“Let’s go, let’s go. I’ll go with you guys.” Guan Liya took Ruan Danchen’s hand cautiously as if she was afraid she might break her. “Old Man Qi, you stay here and entertain the guests! Lao Wu, Fengchun, do have lunch here before you leave. I’m truly sorry about this but I’ll have to accompany my daughter-in-law to the hospital.”

“Hey, what happened? Is it that serious?” Zhao Fengchun stood up. “Then we won’t be bothering you anymore.”

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s fine,” Guan Liya said, grinning, “It’s nothing serious but better safe than sorry, right?”

Seeing that Guan Liya could still joke and smile, Zhao Fengchun knew it was nothing serious. In her mind, she thought, ‘Guan Liya sure pampers her daughter-in-law. She’s just a little unwell and yet Guan Liya became so anxious.’

Ruan Danchen’s pregnancy was merely speculation. Without being sure, Guan Liya would not announce it to outsiders yet.

Zhao Fengchun had similar experiences too—by observing Guan Liya’s reaction, she could guess what was going on.

However, without Guan Liya, it truly was quite awkward. Qi Zhongxun was not someone they could make much conversation with. Staring at each other, the atmosphere became increasingly tense.

Therefore, Zhao Fengchun stood up again. “We were here just to have a little chat with you two, but since the situation is as such, we won’t interfere much more and we excuse ourselves for now. After all, we live right next door—we can come to chat on any other day.”

Hearing her say that, Guan Liya did not insist they stay anymore. At last, Qi Zhongxun understood Guan Liya’s reason for joy too. He wanted to follow them and thus asked Aunt Chen to hold off on cooking lunch; otherwise, everything would be cold by the time they got home.

The two families said their goodbyes at the front door. Only after the Qi family entered their car did Zhao Fengchun turn to Wu Qiaoyin, frowning. “What were you thinking?”

Wu Qiaoyin acted baffled. With an innocent face, she looked down and tugged on her shirt. “What did I do?”

“You know full well what you did. You should know your duty as the daughter of our family—don’t go around doing things that gives others the opportunity to look down on us. You’re tarnishing your name and the family’s too,” Zhao Fengchun scolded sternly.

Wu Qiaoyin’s expression changed. She clenched her teeth and after a long while, she claimed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

Having said that, she bolted back to their mansion next door.

…

Wu Qiaoyin had always thought that she hid her feelings pretty well. Nonetheless, the Qi family saw through her without difficulty. Qi Zhongxun and Guan Liya never pointed it out to avoid embarrassing Wu Chuanshu and Zhao Fengchun. After all, Guan Liya and Zhao Fengchun go way back.

Even the little boy, Qi Youxuan, read her like an open book. Needless to say, all the adults knew about it.

“Danchen, don’t mind the Wu family. I didn’t know they came back either. They just suddenly appeared in front of our house. Zhao Fengchun is an intelligent woman. I didn’t know her daughter would be so unbefitting,” Guan Liya explained. Guan Liya was quite displeased by Wu Qiaoyin’s behavior today too, but she did not want to point it out in front of her parents.

“It’s alright,” Ruan Danchen assured. “She’s just a naive little girl.”

She truly did not take Wu Qiaoyin’s actions to heart. Qi Chenglin had pampered her so much that she was no longer worried about other women. She was absurdly confident. She knew that no other woman could move Qi Chenglin’s heart; she knew no one else could seduce him.