Shen Yuan was completely dumbfounded. He’d never imagined it could work like that. He blinked his tear-filled eyes and blurted out, “You’d go with me? What about your company—are you just not going to run it anymore?”
Qiao Hailou replied casually, “I’ll just hire a professional manager. It’s fine. It’s not going bankrupt anytime soon, so don’t worry.”
Shen Yuan didn’t appreciate it at all—he actually got angry. “Are you crazy? Why would you do something like that? You’re making it look like I’m being unreasonable. Fine, maybe I throw a tantrum over small stuff sometimes, but this is a huge decision—how can you just mess around like this?”
Qiao Hailou laughed. “So you do know you’re usually unreasonable?”
Shen Yuan had no mood to bicker with him right now. Anxious, he said, “Qiao Hailou, don’t do this.”
Qiao Hailou slipped easily into shameless mode. “Don’t do what? Be selfish? I don’t care about anything else—I just want to stay with my wife and kid. You’re delaying enrollment until the fall anyway, plenty of time. I’ll get the company settled, you ask the school for medical leave to have the baby, then after that we’ll go abroad together. I’ll buy a place near your campus and renovate it—there’s time for all of that. Why are you suddenly being modest now? You’re usually bossing me around like a tyrant, aren’t you?”
He added jokingly, “What, you think a Qiao Hailou who isn’t a CEO, staying home as a househusband, is old and useless now—no longer worth anything?”
Shen Yuan snapped, “I’m worried you’ll regret it later and blame me. You make it sound easy now, but once you leave, the company’s bound to be shaken up.”
“See? You’re not that dumb—pretty smart, actually,” Qiao Hailou said, patting his head.
Shen Yuan wouldn’t be placated. He brushed Qiao Hailou’s hand away. Every time Qiao Hailou went soft, he stopped taking Shen Yuan seriously, so Shen Yuan deliberately hardened his tone. “You’re right—Qiao Hailou without a job is boring. If you stay home taking care of the kid all day, I’ll lose interest in you sooner or later…”
Qiao Hailou understood perfectly well that Shen Yuan was saying one thing and meaning another. Normally Shen Yuan demanded this and that from him, but when it really mattered, he was considerate and sensible. Qiao Hailou said, “That sounded way too real. Alright, alright—you’ve given Uncle Qiao a sense of crisis. Between my funds, shares, and properties, I could literally do nothing and live comfortably off interest for the rest of my life. And I’m not planning to stop working forever. I’m thinking until the kid is about two? You’ll have finished your master’s by then. I’ll focus on family during those years, and afterward I’ll go back out and be CEO Qiao again. How about that?”
He reached out and hugged Shen Yuan. “I’m just useless and unambitious—I want to stay home and raise a kid for a couple of years. I’ve never done that before in my life. Let me have this, idiot. Okay?”
Shen Yuan’s heart had already softened. It wasn’t that he wasn’t moved by Qiao Hailou’s sacrifice—he was too moved. To think there could be someone in this world who would step back for him without a second of hesitation.
Qiao Hailou was being too good to him—so good it scared him.
Flustered, Shen Yuan said, “Fine, you gave up your anti-marriage stance, whatever. But I remember you also used to say you didn’t like kids. How did you suddenly turn into someone who likes kids? Your whole persona has completely collapsed!”
Qiao Hailou laughed in exasperation. “You’re unbelievable. I treat you well and you start suspecting ulterior motives. It’s not that I dislike kids—I like playing with them. Otherwise, why do you think I get along so well with Qiao Jun? I just didn’t like raising kids. But now what choice do I have?”
He said helplessly, “Because I love you, and you love this child—so I’ve decided to love the child you love.”
Shen Yuan let out a tearful little “Mm.”
They turned off the lights and went to sleep.
Shen Yuan burrowed into Qiao Hailou’s arms, and Qiao Hailou held him. “Alright, stop overthinking. No wonder you’ve been getting more and more temperamental lately—it’s probably because of the little guy in your belly, right? You can’t cry all the time when you’re pregnant. It’s not good for the baby. Don’t you want him to be healthy?”
Shen Yuan hugged him back.
Truthfully, Shen Yuan didn’t even know why he was so desperate to keep this child. The timing was terrible—he’d just married Qiao Hailou, was about to study abroad, Xiao Lin’s college entrance exam was coming up, and his uncle and Aunt Hui knew nothing about this secret. Was he supposed to hide for eight months to give birth? Or just come clean… but how?
He’d never imagined he could have a child of his own in this lifetime.
Softly, Shen Yuan said, “I used to tease you for not liking kids, but honestly, I didn’t like them either. But now I’ve changed my mind. He’s already in my belly—I feel like I can’t kill him.”
Qiao Hailou gently patted his back. “You’re right. This is a living life. Since he’s here, let’s accept him. We’ll learn to love him together, okay?”
Worried, Shen Yuan said, “What about next? What do we do next? Do I hide until he’s born and then reappear? That’d be way too obvious. Uncle doesn’t know anything about me—I… if he finds out, he’ll definitely think I’m disgusting.”
Qiao Hailou joked at his own expense. “No, I think he’ll chase me down and break the legs of the guy who got his kid pregnant. Even if we’re legally married, once he does the math, he’ll know something’s off.”
“I’m not joking!” Shen Yuan said. “We have to figure something out.”
“I… I haven’t figured it out yet either,” Qiao Hailou admitted. “Give me time to think. Anyway, when the boat reaches the bridge, it’ll straighten itself out. There’ll be a way.”
Then a thought suddenly surfaced in Qiao Hailou’s mind, and he asked, “If I hadn’t chased after you—if I hadn’t clung to you and forced us back together and into marriage. If I’d been just a little weaker, or if I’d really let you drive me away, we’d probably already be broken up. But sooner or later, you would’ve discovered the baby in your belly. If that had happened… what would you have done?”
Shen Yuan thought about it. He felt he probably still would’ve kept the child. “Why are you asking such random nonsense?”
“I’m just asking,” Qiao Hailou said. “The more I think about it, the scarier it gets. I think you would’ve hidden it from me—secretly had the baby and never let me know. Thank god I’m shameless enough to kidnap you away.”
He said it lightly, but when he thought back on it, he really was terrified. One wrong step—if he hadn’t stubbornly stuck to Shen Yuan—Shen Yuan would’ve had to go through pregnancy and raising a child alone, scared and miserable.
Shen Yuan laughed. “And now you’re proud of yourself?”
“Of course I am,” Qiao Hailou said without shame. “My lack of shame saved my wife and my child.”
“You old bastard,” Shen Yuan said with a smile.
Qiao Hailou countered seriously, “No, this time I won’t let you insult me. If I’m an old bastard, then what does that make the one in your belly—a little bastard? You can scold me, but you can’t insult our baby.”
“Ha ha ha!” Shen Yuan laughed.
Hearing that laughter, Qiao Hailou finally relaxed a little. After a while, under his gentle patting, Shen Yuan grew drowsy and fell asleep.
At last, he’d managed to cheer this little ancestor up.
Qiao Hailou thought that kids who grow up without dependable parents tend to turn out one of two completely different ways: either they grow to despise children and swear never to have any, living child-free for life, maybe even dying alone; or they grow to love children deeply, pouring all their affection into them, trying to make up for what they themselves never had—soothing the wounded child they once were.
He felt Shen Yuan was the latter.
Holding the sleeping Shen Yuan, Qiao Hailou couldn’t sleep. His heart was heavy.
Shen Yuan was still such a big kid himself, and now he had to have a baby. That meant Qiao Hailou would basically be raising two kids.
And how was he supposed to take care of a pregnant husband? How was he supposed to take care of a baby? He had zero experience. He’d better start cramming fast.
Qiao Hailou and Shen Yuan agreed to keep the child.
The next day, the two of them were back to being as close as ever, holding hands as they went to the hospital to see Dr. Hayward, telling him they wanted to keep the baby.
Dr. Hayward nodded. “Honestly, given your condition, being able to conceive a healthy child at all is already a rare miracle. Personally, I do hope you’ll keep the baby. But… you need to be mentally prepared. Even if we all want to protect this miracle, we can’t guarantee one hundred percent that he’ll be born alive. You’ll face many difficulties along the way, and you need to be prepared for that.”
Hearing this, Qiao Hailou’s affection for the baby wavered instantly. He asked, “Will my husband’s life be in danger?”
Dr. Hayward replied, “To be honest, I can’t guarantee it.”
At that, Qiao Hailou suddenly didn’t want the baby anymore. To him, there was no dilemma in choosing between mother and child—Shen Yuan was everything. The embryo was only dear by association. How could it ever compare to its father?
Shen Yuan’s mood grew heavy. He nodded solemnly. “I understand. I’ll cooperate fully. If it really becomes too dangerous, I won’t force it.”
Dr. Hayward cleared his throat, adjusted his glasses, and looked at Shen Yuan with eyes faintly gleaming. “Mr. Shen, there’s one more thing…”
Shen Yuan perked up, listening carefully, thinking there was something important to take note of.
Dr. Hayward asked tactfully, “Would you be willing to be a case study so I can write a paper? I can secure funding—if you agree, all your medical expenses will be covered by me. I’ll also invite several top specialists to form a dedicated team for you, to help this miracle baby arrive safely into the world… Ahem. Of course, if you’re unwilling, I’ll respect your choice.”
After saying that, he looked at Shen Yuan eagerly, pitifully.
Shen Yuan: “…”
Qiao Hailou: “…”
Qiao Hailou glanced at Shen Yuan, who looked back at him—clearly unwilling.
So Qiao Hailou shook his head. “I want to protect my loved one’s privacy. I’m not short on money. I can pay to assemble a team of specialists just for us.”
Disappointment was written all over Dr. Hayward’s face. “Alright, then.”
After the brief joy passed, Shen Yuan grew fearful of the unknown road ahead.
All he could do was face things one by one.
If he wanted to focus on the pregnancy and later raise the child openly by his side, there was no way he could hide it from his uncle.
Sooner or later, it’d be a blade—might as well take it sooner.
He decided to come clean with his uncle early on. That way, his uncle could help cover things up with Xiao Lin, at least until Xiao Lin finished his college entrance exam.
After making up his mind, Shen Yuan returned to the country with Qiao Hailou.
Standing at the entrance to the Li family home, Shen Yuan felt nervous for the first time. His palms were slick with sweat.
Hearing him come back, Li Chen walked downstairs, smiling. “You’re back?”
Then he saw Qiao Hailou, and his smile vanished instantly. “Why are you here? Why did you bring him?”
Shen Yuan summoned his courage. “Uncle, there’s something I need to tell you…”