Chapter 41
The nurse came over and removed the IV from Chen Zui's wrist. "The child's fever has subsided. You can continue to observe him in the hospital for a while, or you can go home to observe him."
"We'll go home and observe."
Li Chi'an's current rented house is very close to the hospital.
"I'll see you off." Chen Li stood up, yawning, his eyes red.
Li Chi'an was also tired. She no longer felt sorry for Chen Li's exhaustion as she used to. "I'm tired. Can you hold our son?"
Chen, the youngest child, was asleep, and it was very heavy for Li Chi'an to pick him up.
Chen Li bent down and picked up his son. "Let's go."
The two walked silently toward the parking lot.
Chen Li drove, and Li Chi'an sat in the back seat holding Chen Zui, and silence filled the car.
Finally, the car arrived at the entrance of the residential area where Li Chi'an now lives. After parking the car, Chen Li said, "Take good care of the child when you get back, and you should also get some rest."
Li Chi'an glanced at him, then opened the car door and got out.
"You've worked hard." Chen Li finally said something sensible.
Li Chi'an looked at the gradually brightening sky above and said, "I'm not doing this for you, but for our son."
"I know," Chen Li nodded. "Let's go back quickly."
After that incident, Li Chi'an began allowing Chen Li to see his son more often under special circumstances.
Li Chi'an would send messages to Chen Li about Chen Zui's birthday, school parent-child activities, and anything his son wanted his father to attend.
Although Chen Zui would feel a mix of joy and disappointment after each visit, Li Chi'an would try his best to fulfill his son's requests.
However, Li Chi'an could never let go of Chen Li, Lin Ying, and the baby she had never seen.
Until one day, she ran into Lin Ying, who was with her child, at the mall.
It was a boy whose forehead resembled Chen Li's, and whose other features resembled Lin Ying's. He was about a few months old and was being held in the arms of the nanny. If Li Chi'an hadn't recognized Lin Ying, he wouldn't have realized that it was Chen Li's son.
Lin Ying also saw her, paused for a moment, then pushed the stroller to her side, "Li Chi'an".
Li Chi'an nodded to Lin Ying and prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Lin Ying called out from behind.
Li Chi'an stopped and looked at her warily.
"Don't you want to see our son?" Lin Ying took the child from the nanny's arms. She was thinner than a few months ago, and her face was covered in makeup. However, her hair was much thinner, which showed that she had been under a lot of mental stress lately.
Li Chi'an's gaze naturally fell on the child in her arms. The baby was only a few months old, plump and healthy, with round, clear eyes.
No matter how much she hated Chen Li and Lin Ying, Li Chi'an wouldn't have any ill intentions towards such a young child. Just then, the baby grinned at her, and she smiled back at him, saying, "Your son is very cute."
Her praise was genuine.
Lin Ying paused for a moment, then remained silent, her eyes filled with deep doubt and inquiry.
She seemed not to believe that Li Chi'an would praise her and Chen Li's child, but Li Chi'an only did what he felt was right. "What's his name?"
“Lin Hao,” Lin Ying said, “the ‘Hao’ of ‘bright moon in the sky’.”
"It sounds very nice." Li Chi'an was surprised. This child had the same surname as Lin Ying, but he just smiled and waved to little Lin Hao. "Hello Hao Hao, nice to meet you. Please give me your guidance."
Seeing that there was no resentment on her face, Lin Ying unconsciously relaxed a little and casually praised her, "Your son is very polite, and he knows a lot of words."
Li Chi'an smiled, pursed his lips, and left without saying anything more, making an excuse to leave.
There was nothing to talk about between her and Lin Ying, regardless of what the other person was thinking when she called out to her.
That night, Chen Li unusually took the initiative to call Chen Zui, and then asked Li Chi'an to transfer the call.
Li Chi'an took the smartwatch from his son, and the other party bluntly asked, "I heard from Lin Ying that you saw her and my son today?"
Li Chi'an was slightly stung by the words "my son," and his tone was not good, "Yes, so what?"
"It's nothing." There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone before Chen Li's voice came through. "Lin Ying is very good to Zui Zui. Every time we meet, she takes Zui Zui to eat what he wants. She even bought Zui Zui a toy today. When is it convenient for you to send it over to Zui Zui?"
"No need," Li Chi'an said calmly. "If you don't have anything else to say, I'm going to hang up and go to sleep."
"Li Chi'an," Chen Li called out urgently, "Can you not be so wary? You are my son's mother, would I ever harm you?"
Li Chi'an took a deep breath. "Chen Li, just say what you want to say. We're no longer in a relationship where we can just talk nonsense. My time is valuable, OK?"
"Can I introduce Zui Zui to Hao Hao?" Chen Li asked. "Lin Ying said they are brothers, so it's better for them to get to know each other so they can help each other when they grow up."
"Ha!" Li Chi'an simply couldn't understand Chen Li and Lin Ying's thought process. "Chen Li, what kind of brothers are my son and Lin Ying's son? Do you expect me to become sisters with her?"
"Can you please not say such harsh things?"
"I'm being rude," Li Chi'an said, utterly speechless. "Given all the disgusting things you did back then, I'm already being kind by not making my son your enemy. How could you possibly expect me to improve our relationship? To become a loving family?"
"Even if you are narcissistic, there should be a limit, okay? My son doesn't need a younger brother. If it weren't for the fact that you are his father whom he can't let go of, and that you carry the fatherly love that my son can't let go of, I would rather never have anything to do with you again."
After saying that, Li Chian hung up the phone.
After hanging up the phone, she went to her son's room.
Chen Zui, the youngest, was already asleep, clutching the dinosaur doll he had brought back from his last outing with Chen Li. A thin down comforter covered his chubby little belly, and he slept sprawled out on his back.
Even when his son is asleep, Li Chian finds him adorable.
However, she still plans to confirm with her son tomorrow whether the dinosaur was bought by his father or by Aunt Lin.
If Lin Ying bought it...
She gently stroked her son's hair, her heart filled with mixed emotions.
The next morning, when Chen Zuizui woke up, the first thing she asked her mother was, "Mom, what did Dad call you about last night?"
Li Chi'an paused for a moment, then chose to tell his son honestly, "Your father said he wants to take you to see your younger brother."
Chen Zui's eyes widened. "Dad's taking me to see my little brother?"
Li Chi'an hesitated for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, are you willing to go?"
Li Chi'an never hid anything from his son about Chen Li. Chen knew best that his father had another child outside, a little boy, whom Li Chi'an didn't call his brother.
Chen thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "Mom, would you like me to go see my little brother?"
Looking into her son's soft eyes, Li Chi'an's heart melted. She hugged her sensible son tightly and said, "Of course I don't want you to see that younger brother, but if you really want to see him, you can go see him."
Chen Zui stretched out his little hands and hugged his mother tightly. "Mom, I don't want to see my little brother. He's not that important anyway."
Holding her soft, warm son, Li Chi'an once again deeply felt that if someone asked her whether she regretted marrying Chen Li.
She would definitely say she has no regrets.
Because Chen Zui is her son.
So while her son was brushing his teeth in the bathroom, she looked at the message her ex-husband had just sent her: "Lin Ying has bought the VIP guided tour tickets for Disneyland next week. We'll pick him up then."
Reply: "I'm taking Chen Zui to the Mu Zi Art Museum next week."
There was no reply from the other end, and Li Chi'an was too lazy to wait. He put down his phone and went to the kitchen, took out the sesame paste he had made that morning, added a spoonful of sugar, and placed it in front of his son's table.
The sun is shining brightly outside the window; it's another sunny day.
There are laws governing the relationships between people. If you don't insist on seeking something good in a worldly sense, then respecting yourself is the most important thing.
Just when Li Chi'an thought that she and Chen Zui would live far away from Chen Li, she unexpectedly received a court summons one day.
It turns out that the Chen family hired a senior lawyer to recover the gold that Li Chi'an had taken from the Chen family. The lawyer argued that the gold jewelry was a gift from Li's mother to Chen's youngest son, and that Chen Li, as Chen's youngest son's father, had the right to keep valuables while he was a minor.
Without hesitation, Li Chi'an hired a lawyer to sue the other party.
The litigation process was longer than expected.
In court, the two sides engaged in a heated exchange, and Li Chi'an saw Chen's mother look at her with such hostility for the first time.
Three months later, the court ruled that Wang Hui must return all the gold jewelry and bear the litigation costs.
The judge clearly stated in the judgment that there was sufficient evidence to prove that the gold jewelry was purchased and given to Chen Zui by Li's mother, and that as the guardian, Li Chi'an had the right to keep these items.
However, before the joy of victory had faded, Chen Li filed a custody change application, claiming that Li Chi'an was "overly focused on material interests and neglected the child's emotional needs."
“This is retaliation.” Attorney Liu frowned as he reviewed the application documents. “But the court will take every custody case seriously, and we must be prepared.”
Li Chi'an was speechless. "They want to steal Zui Zui from them?"
“Not necessarily, but the custody arrangements could indeed be adjusted,” Attorney Liu reassured her. “But don’t worry, we have evidence to prove that you are the primary caregiver.”
The days that followed were like a nightmare.
Social worker home visits, psychological assessments, countless court hearings... Li Chian had to brace himself to cope, which affected both his work and his mood.
What pained her most was that her youngest son, Chen, became taciturn and often woke up crying at night.
One evening, after putting his son to sleep, Li Chian received a call from Chen Li.
“Let’s talk,” he said, his voice weary. “Not in court.”
They met at a park near their neighborhood.
The early autumn wind carried a chill, and Chen Li looked much more haggard than the last time we met, as did Li Chi'an.
“You should drop the charges,” she said bluntly. “There are no winners in this fight.”
Chen Li looked at her with indignation, "Why?"
“Zui Zui hasn’t been talking much lately, and he often cuts his hands with a ruler.” Thinking about her son’s recent condition, Li Chi’an was heartbroken, and tears silently streamed down her face. “He doesn’t want to go to school. How long are you going to hurt our son? Are you trying to force him to die? Do you really think he doesn’t understand anything?”
“What did I do? I just wanted to help him develop good habits so that he could learn independently.” Chen Li was clearly annoyed by his son’s education, but he resolutely refused to admit that it was his fault. “You’ve spoiled our son so much that he can’t do anything all day long.”
Li Chi'an was so angry that his vision blurred. "Do you know he's only six years old? He's only six years old. What do you want him to do? Do you want him to be like an adult, able to arrange and do everything by himself, so you can be a father without any worries?"
"Are you helping the child develop good habits? Chen Li, this is selfish! This is laziness!" Li Chi'an roared. "Our divorce has already caused irreparable trauma to the child. This is a critical time. If you don't give him more love and care, and instead suddenly make demands on him, are you afraid he'll die young and not even live to adulthood?!"
"This is his fate!" Chen Li said sternly. "He's a boy. If I don't have high expectations for him, how will he amount to anything in the future?"
"Chen Li, I really wish I could kill you!" Looking at the unrepentant Chen Li, Li Chi'an gritted her teeth in anger. Her eyes were red with heartache for her son, but the man in front of her could not feel her son's pain at all. "You trash, selfish ghost, rotten person, you don't deserve to have children, you are not qualified to be a father."
"I came to you to solve a problem, not to see you going crazy." Chen Li paced back and forth, his brow furrowed so deeply it could trap a fly. "If you keep swearing, I'm leaving. I'll take care of the child myself, and whatever the outcome, don't blame me."
"Why don't you just die, damn it?" Li Chi'an clenched his fists, trembling with rage. "Do you know how high the rate of depression is among primary and secondary school students these days? More than 30%. Your son's current behavior already shows depressive tendencies, do you understand?"
"Does it mean it is just because you say so?" Chen Li remained stubborn.
"Are you fucking deaf?" Li Chi'an was furious. He turned around and looked around. He found a stone on the grass at his feet, quickly squatted down, picked up the stone, and hurled it at Chen Li, who was still standing there with an arrogant expression.
She was so angry that her whole body felt like it was on fire, and she couldn't calm down at all. But her hand was surprisingly steady, and she smashed it directly into Chen Li's forehead.
With a "thud," the stone fell to the ground, and Chen Li swayed twice. A hole immediately appeared on his broad, full forehead, and bright red blood slid down his cheek.
He was stunned by the blow, and reflexively looked up to touch his head, only to find his hand covered in blood. It wasn't until his vision turned completely red that he realized the pain.
He grimaced as if he wanted to curse, but Li Chi'an didn't give him a chance. He grabbed the bag and pounced on him, giving him a good beating with a series of "thumps, thumps, thumps."
The bag she was carrying today was also nice; it was made of pure cowhide, with a square cut, stiff and with sharp edges—it would hurt terribly if it hit someone.
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