Li Chen returned home to a house steeped in silence.
As usual, he showered, ate, watched the evening news, then went to the study to read the newspaper and a book. At nine o’clock, he washed up and went to bed.
On the nightstand in the bedroom sat two photo frames. One held a solo portrait of his first wife—Li Lin’s mother. The other was a family photo taken nine years ago, when Shen Yuan’s mother, Ye Xueyao, was still alive: the four of them together.
Back then, it had been so lively.
Now, in this vast house, there was only him.
Both children had left home.
His biological son and his stepson were both doing well now. Li Lin had resolved to stay on the esports path no matter what. The club he served as a core member of had won several international championships and was beginning to show real promise. According to him, his livestreaming income was also quite substantial. Shen Yuan had already built a family and a career. He was a jewelry designer with a growing reputation, had founded his own studio, and his business was flourishing. His family life was harmonious as well—Qiao Hailou had settled down and doted on him in every way.
And him… his life had returned to calm. Each day followed the same routine. Company affairs were neither outstanding nor disastrous, steady and uneventful. There were no ripples at all.
Shen Yuan had returned to the country at Lin Zhihui’s invitation and contacted him, saying he wanted to come visit. Li Chen turned over in bed. Tomorrow would be a bit livelier, at least. Aside from stubbornly refusing to listen to him about insisting on marrying Qiao Hailou, Shen Yuan had always been a grateful, well-mannered child. Whenever he had the chance, he would come back to see him.
The next day.
Shen Yuan arrived as promised, bringing a gift for his uncle—a small decorative jewelry piece he had designed himself.
Li Chen asked after his career. “How’s the studio going? I saw some news—it seems to be doing very well… If there’s anything you need help with, just tell your uncle.”
That was what he said, but in reality, the Li family’s business had nothing to do with the jewelry world. They were worlds apart. If Shen Yuan needed help, he would naturally turn to Qiao Hailou, who had actual industry experience.
Even from the sidelines, Li Chen could tell that Shen Yuan’s current way of handling things had been personally shaped by Qiao Hailou—he was practically a smaller version of Qiao Hailou himself, rising smoothly all the way.
“Thank you, Uncle…” Shen Yuan hesitated, looking as if he wanted to say something but couldn’t quite bring himself to.
Li Chen noticed immediately. Just moments ago, he had felt that Shen Yuan had grown distant from him, but now he suddenly felt that Shen Yuan was still that same child. He asked gently, “What is it? Is there something you want to ask me?”
Shen Yuan spoke with difficulty. “Uncle… did you and Aunt Zhihui really break up? Why did you break up?”
Li Chen froze for a moment. A sharp pain pricked his heart. He forced a smile and said, “Your Aunt Zhihui and I are better suited to being friends, not husband and wife. So in the end, we decided it was best to just stay friends. …Why the long face? When I first introduced Aunt Zhihui to you, you all didn’t like her very much, did you?”
Shen Yuan’s face reddened slightly. “I didn’t…”
Li Chen said, “You think I couldn’t tell?”
It felt to Shen Yuan as if he were reliving his parents’ divorce, and his mood sank. But this time, he had a place of his own to return to. He didn’t need to panic, fearing there was no one left to love him.
Li Chen wanted to pat Shen Yuan on the head, but when he saw his carefully styled hair, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, he asked, “Does Qiao Hailou treat you well?”
Shen Yuan answered seriously and firmly, “He treats me very, very well.”
Li Chen thought for a moment, then said, “That’s good. He was such a troublemaker growing up. I never expected that after getting married, he’d actually do such a decent job as a husband and a father. I really judged him with a petty mind. As for my matters, you don’t need to worry about them. You have your own little family now. In the future, if you can come visit your uncle like this whenever you have time, I’ll be more than satisfied.”
After returning home, Shen Yuan told Qiao Hailou about visiting his uncle. “I feel like Uncle is a bit lonely now. Everything was fine—why did they break up? I thought they were such a good match. They never argued, shared the same interests… I really thought they’d end up together. And yet they broke up. Meanwhile, we fight and bicker all the time, but somehow we’ve muddled through to this point.”
Qiao Hailou grew sour. “Oh? So we’re just ‘muddling through,’ huh?”
Shen Yuan grinned. “Yeah, just muddling through.”
Qiao Hailou pulled him into his arms and deliberately lifted him up. “Fine then. Muddle through, muddle through—and a whole lifetime will pass just like that.”
Then he weighed him slightly and frowned. “Have you lost weight again? What’s going on? Are you eating properly at the studio? Don’t tell me you forget to eat when you get busy. Don’t mess around just because you’re young—if you ruin your health now, you’ll regret it when you’re older.”
Shen Yuan mocked him. “Qiao Uncle, the way you talk right now—you sound exactly like an old man.”
Qiao Hailou said, “You married an old man. Any regrets?”
Shen Yuan wrapped his arms around his neck and joked, “I regret it to death.”
Qiao Hailou put on a stern face. “So disobedient. Looks like you need to be taught a lesson.”
As he spoke, he carried him into the bedroom and shoved him into the covers, where they “fought.”
Just then, there was a knock on the door. “Daddy, Daddy…”
The two fathers finally stopped. Qiao Hailou only slipped on a pair of pants and went to open the door. Little Peanut stood outside, dragging a rabbit plush by its ear. When he saw Qiao Hailou, he tilted his head back and whined sweetly, “Daddy, sleep.”
Shen Yuan poked his head out from under the blanket, his face red. “Hurry up and go sleep with the baby.”
Qiao Hailou glanced back at him calmly. “I’ll put the baby to sleep first. When I come back, I’ll deal with you.”
Qiao Hailou carried Little Peanut to the children’s room and soothed him to sleep. When he returned to the master bedroom, he didn’t hear any movement. Taking a look, he saw that Shen Yuan had also fallen asleep.
When Shen Yuan slept, he looked a lot like their baby—lying facedown on the pillow, cheeks flushed pink. When asleep, he was obediently well-behaved. Watching his sleeping face, a surge of tenderness welled up in Qiao Hailou’s heart.
Shen Yuan really had grown thinner lately, probably from being too busy. There were dark circles under his eyes as well.
Qiao Hailou sat down by the bed. The child was already over two years old—old enough for early education classes. He himself had been the primary caregiver at home for more than three years now. During that time, he had started a baby-products company, but it was just a small side venture—nothing he had fully committed to.
It was about time for him, Qiao Hailou, to step back into the arena.
One month later.
He Jing’s music video went live across the entire internet. A flood of promotional articles followed, emphasizing that all the jewelry covering the bed in the MV was real, worth tens of millions. Naturally, they also introduced Shen Yuan’s studio as the maker of the jewelry. As the designer himself, Shen Yuan even appeared briefly in the MV, causing a huge stir online.
Shen Yuan’s follower count rose again. That in itself wasn’t a big deal, but product sales clearly jumped as well—especially the necklace that had a close-up shot in the MV. That was real money.
Ever since becoming well-known, Shen Yuan had carefully managed his social media accounts. Occasionally, he posted about his husband and child. Whenever there were new products, he posted them online with detailed introductions. When he calculated how much he was saving in advertising costs, he felt secretly delighted.
Qiao Hailou discussed sending the child to school with Shen Yuan. “Little Peanut can start early education classes. Make some friends.”
Shen Yuan naturally didn’t object. He had never gone to kindergarten himself, and as a child he had always envied other kids who could go to school. Compared to being cooped up at home, kindergarten sounded far more fun. “Okay. We’ll take turns picking him up and dropping him off.”
After thinking for a moment, Shen Yuan added, “That way, Qiao Uncle, you can go back to work too. No need to stay at home being a kept man.”
Qiao Hailou was jabbed by that but didn’t get angry. “I’ve noticed your mouth has been especially sharp lately. But once Little Peanut goes to school, I really can free up time to work again. Your Qiao Uncle is still young—not at retirement age yet. I’ll work a few more years and earn money to buy you some more diamonds.”
Shen Yuan asked, “When will you go back to work?”
There was no rush. Qiao Hailou said, “After the wedding.”
The tailor came over to take measurements for the couple’s wedding outfits. This was their regular tailor—they had clothes made there every month or so.
Shen Yuan had slimmed down everywhere except his waist, which had increased by a few centimeters. It didn’t look like much, and still seemed within a normal range.
Shen Yuan himself didn’t think anything of it and didn’t even look. It was Qiao Hailou who happened to glance over and felt something was off.
No wonder something had felt wrong lately. Shen Yuan had become sleepy, picky with food, unusually irritable, and hard to soothe… Could it be…?
As soon as Shen Yuan finished being measured, he was about to head to the studio—and nearly couldn’t be stopped.
Qiao Hailou pressed him down. “Wait. Come with me to the hospital.”
Shen Yuan looked completely confused. “Huh? Why are we going to the hospital?”