"I once thought of having a child with you, but your mother made it clear to me more than once that you just hadn’t grown tired of me yet, so it would be best not to have a child enter the picture, as it could be complicated to deal with later on," Yan Shixiu told Shi Lan, "Although those things are in the past, they were quite hurtful at the time."
Shi Lan hadn’t expected that these kinds of issues were tangled up in the situation. She bowed her head and thought for a moment, then looked up at Yan Shixiu and said, "I really didn’t want kids back then, but it wasn’t because of you."
"I know, I know all that now."
"I was just afraid that I would become like that woman, cold-blooded and heartless towards my own child, afraid I’d inherit her genes. But her not wanting me to have children was because she feared that once I got pregnant, the power of the Shi Family would fall into the hands of outsiders, and even more that you would gain more in the future." After Shi Lan spoke, she took Yan Shixiu’s hand, "You understand me well by now. I fear losing my freedom, and I never wanted to be a mother, but meeting you, I now think it might be fun to give it a try, right?"
"Also, I don’t care at all about that woman’s well-being, so why bother with what she says? In the Shi Family, the housekeeper’s parrots are closer to me than her, how can she have the audacity to dictate what you do?"
Having said this, Shi Lan took Yan Shixiu’s hand and hurried back to their own home.
"Let’s go home and make a baby!"
Yan Shixiu laughed upon hearing this, pulling Shi Lan along and saying, "Preparing for pregnancy isn’t as simple as you think. Besides, An Lan’s health is now many times frailer than before. Now is not the time, let’s recuperate a bit more first."
"Preparing for pregnancy is complicated, since when do you know that?"
"I’ve read about it before, but ultimately, never mentioned it to you."
"If you had mentioned it, I would definitely have agreed," Shi Lan huffed, "What does that woman count for? Back in the Shi Family days, who was closer to me than you?"
Yan Shixiu still felt a heartfelt happiness upon hearing Shi Lan’s words, although the events were long past.
It was him, it had always been him.
Two days later was the day Shi Lan was scheduled to go abroad to speak on behalf of Yunlian Studio.
But Huo Zhao’s leg injury had not yet completely healed.
These days, he mostly stayed in An Yang’s apartment, either resting or reading.
The competition had been postponed by half a year due to an explosion, and it was regrettable that he had already passed half of the assessments. It seemed a pity to think about it, but he felt lucky to have saved his life.
An Yang was now in the knockout stages and was busier than usual, so he couldn’t attend to him. Fortunately, An Yang’s teammates also knew Huo Zhao, and would occasionally bring him food on An Yang’s behalf, knowing how important this person was to Little Anzai.
An Yang’s teammates never gossiped about them behind their backs, but Huo Zhao still overheard cleaners discussing outside the apartment, in hushed tones.
Because other team members would not casually allow men to stay over in their dormitories, except for An Yang.
"What’s the deal with the two young men in this room? How do two grown men end up living together? Doesn’t the other young man have a family?"
"Don’t talk nonsense, the young man’s leg is injured, it’s just a temporary stay."
"Everyone living here is an artist; if it gets out, it’s not going to look good, right?"