Chapter 18 Returning Home
They won't have children
The stata command in the computer finished running, and the final result was completely different from what he wanted. Zhang Ying called and Zhao Yan walked out of the laboratory.
"Your grandpa said he'd host a small family dinner for you. The Zhang family is all here. Remember to be polite at the dinner table. Don't leave as you did before."
Zhao Yan could count on one hand the number of times he had returned to the Zhang family since he was a child. The last time he had been back was during the Mid-Autumn Festival seven years ago. That day, old man Zhang Sheng had been drinking and, in a fit of rage, he insisted on arranging a marriage for his grandson, Zhao Yan, too, to marry the daughter of Qingchuan's eldest daughter.
At that time, the Zhang family's real estate company was competing with several large companies for land in the north of Qingchuan City, and Mr. Zhang had a clear plan.
At that time, Zhao Yang had just graduated with a master's degree and was preparing to study for a doctorate. He was young and frivolous, and had long been fed up with the old man's feudal patriarchal and self-centered style. He could not tolerate the jokes at the dinner table, so he pushed the stool away and left, driving back to Yunjing overnight. It is said that the old man was furious, but Zhao Yan did not care about it. He packed his luggage and went abroad to study for a doctorate.
"Zhao Yan? Are you listening?"
Zhao Yan lazily leaned on the windowsill, half-closed his eyes, and replied in a thick Beijing dialect: "No, and don't play tricks on me and let Jiang Siyue take the blame for this."
Seeing through her, Zhang Ying coughed uncomfortably a few times and said angrily, "It's up to you to go or not! I'm going with Siyue anyway."
The call was hung up. The faint ringing of the class bell and the sound of students talking could be heard from the stairs. Zhao Yan put his phone in his pocket and walked towards the laboratory.
*
At seven o'clock on Friday morning, when the alarm clock rang, Jiang Siyue quickly turned it off. She didn't dare to turn on the light. She got out of bed in the dark and washed up. It was rare for Zhao Yan not to get up early, so she couldn't do anything to disturb his sweet sleep.
Zhang Ying had said in advance that if Zhao Yan and Zhao Yunshan didn't go, they would be the only ones going. Jiang Siyue didn't really want to go to Qingchuan, but she was too embarrassed to refuse, so she had to go anyway.
The person in the mirror was so sleepy that she couldn't even open her eyes. Jiang Siyue finished washing up and walked out in a daze. She left her clothes in the living room yesterday for fear of disturbing Zhao Yan.
Halfway through taking off her nightgown, she suddenly felt something was wrong. Zhao Yan, who was supposed to be sleeping, was sitting on the sofa with a glass of water in front of him, looking at her with deep eyes.
Jiang Siyue was stunned for a few seconds, then her face turned red as she reacted. She frantically loosened the hem of her pajamas to hide the view underneath, and pretended to be calm as she asked, "Did I wake you up?"
"No." Zhao Yan retracted his gaze, "I'll go with you."
"Oh, okay." Jiang Siyue didn't know why he suddenly changed his mind, but she couldn't think about the reason in the current situation. She hurriedly picked up her clothes and rushed to the bedroom, "I'll go change clothes."
"etc."
Jiang Siyue stopped and looked back after a moment.
"Don't change clothes in the living room anymore."
Zhao Yan's commanding, cold tone made Jiang Siyue a little uncomfortable, but she still agreed: "Okay."
Jiang Siyue walked towards the master bedroom with clothes in her arms. A piece of scientific knowledge flashed through her mind, saying that men would do this in the morning... She quietly glanced at a certain part of Zhao Yan, but she couldn't see clearly in the dim light.
After walking a few steps, he felt that this physiological reaction could not be blamed on her, and wanted to clear his name, so he said: "You can't blame me for changing clothes for this, right?"
Zhao Yan took a rare two seconds to react before finally realizing she was distracted. He chuckled, "I was worried the drone might film you. What else are you thinking?"
At that moment, Jiang Siyue almost lost her soul, "I, I just want to give you some popular science."
Zhao Yan glanced at her and said meaningfully, "You know more about these things than I do."
"No... not as good as you understand." Jiang Siyue's mind was already in ruins. She gave up struggling first and fled with her clothes in her arms. "It's too late. I'll go change my clothes."
Zhao Yan's lips curled up slightly, and he caught a glimpse of the black bra exposed on the sofa. The scene of Jiang Siyue walking out of the bathroom reappeared in his mind.
…
He stopped smiling, his Adam's apple rolled, his dark eyes became even darker, he picked up the ice water in front of him and drank it all in one gulp.
*
Qingchuan is about a three-hour drive from Yunjing. When Zhang Ying saw Zhao Yan, a gleam of light flashed in her eyes. Zhao Yan looked at her for a second, then lazily moved away and opened the car door for Jiang Siyue.
Zhang Ying didn’t care what Zhao Yan thought, she only knew that she had made the right bet.
Zhang Ying didn't have any feelings for Zhang's relatives, but they were her parents after all, so she would go back to visit them during the holidays. It was just too boring to go back alone, so Zhao Yunshan usually accompanied her. This year, Zhao Yunshan didn't have time, so she thought of calling Zhao Yan and Jiang Siyue.
There were a lot of cars traveling during the Qingming Festival, and the highway was jammed into the morning rush hour. The drizzle drifted on the car windows, blurring the view outside. The navigation screen was already red, and I didn't know how long the traffic jam would last.
Zhao Yan’s WeChat messages have accumulated over 99 messages. You don’t need to look to know that people in his childhood group are discussing how to spend the holiday. In the middle of the conversation, someone @ him.
【Fang Ming: Do you want to go camping? 】
Zhou Yan: Go ahead, bring your wife along and introduce her to me. I've never met her.
[Sun Yao: +1. I'm also curious about how beautiful she must be to have attracted you.]
…
The replies below were becoming more and more gossipy, Zhao Yan couldn't stand it anymore and typed a reply.
【Zhao Yan: Back to Qingchuan. See you next time.】
[Meng Ran: Why did you return to Qingchuan? ]
Zhao Yan glanced sideways. Jiang Siyue lowered her head, struggling with a small game. The Zhang family had all been pampered, their arrogance ingrained in their bones. Zhang Ying was so busy reminiscing about the past that she certainly had no time for Jiang Siyue. He was worried about the little white rabbit entering a wolf's den.
【Zhao Yan: Something happened.】
【Meng Ran: Because of Jiang Siyue?】
【Zhao Yan: Yes, I’m worried.】
Meng Ran vanished, and the others began to cheer and tease each other. Zhao Yan's cold eyes softened. After closing his phone, he saw Jiang Siyue rubbing her stomach out of the corner of his eye.
She didn't buy breakfast in the morning because she was afraid of being late.
"Huh..." Jiang Siyue sighed and closed her eyes again. Go to sleep. You won't be hungry when you fall asleep.
"Hungry?"
Jiang Siyue opened her eyes and looked at Zhao Yan, who had a bag of biscuits in his palm.
"Fill your stomach first." Zhao Yan handed her the food. Jiang Siyue nodded, took it, tore open the package, and tried to chew quietly.
With Zhang Ying in the car, she didn't dare to act recklessly.
Zhang Ying observed her all the way and asked doubtfully, "Siyue, you can sleep and eat well, are you pregnant?"
"Puff—cough cough cough..." Jiang Siyue hurriedly stuffed the biscuit into Zhao Yan's hand, took out a tissue, covered her mouth, and coughed softly.
Zhao Yan handed her a bottle of water. After taking two big gulps, her cough finally stopped. She rubbed the bottle and said, "Probably not. I was born with the ability to eat and sleep."
"Oh." Zhang Ying sighed, her tone full of disappointment.
Zhang Ying definitely wanted to have a grandchild, but she didn't have that thought at the moment, and the topic ended awkwardly. Jiang Siyue looked around, feeling a little uncomfortable.
"It's okay, you're still young, you'll be pregnant soon." Zhang Ying's tone was bright, but for Jiang Siyue, it was like a mountain weighing down her heart. Forced labor was terrifying, and being forced to do so by an elder she couldn't refuse was even more terrifying.
"us……"
"She won't get pregnant." Zhao Yan suddenly said, his tone firm, "Didn't you know this a long time ago?"
Zhang Ying: "Zhao Yan!"
The awkward atmosphere suddenly turned into a tense confrontation. Jiang Siyue, who was at the center of the vortex, was left out. She looked at this and that, and felt that there was nothing to persuade, so she simply pretended to be silent.
No one spoke in the car for the rest of the journey. Jiang Siyue didn't eat the biscuits anymore, and didn't want to sleep. She leaned against the window and stared blankly.
Zhao Yan said that she would not get pregnant, so Zhao Yan was indeed infertile. Jiang Siyue was a little surprised. Meng Zhuqing's guesses were usually wrong before, but this time she was right.
Being in his thirties and still not married, Zhang Ying must have arranged many blind dates for him, but none of them worked out. This means that Zhao Yan had been rejected all the time before marrying her. How miserable.
If I can't reproduce, is it because of the sheep's tail? Or is it because the survival rate of gold is too low? Or...
Zhao Yan noticed that Jiang Siyue looked at him with sympathy. He frowned slightly and asked in a deep voice, "What are you thinking about?"
"Ah?" Jiang Siyue came back to his senses and waved his hands quickly, "No, I didn't think about anything." If Zhao Yan knew that the reason why he was thinking about his sheep's tail... It was related to a man's dignity, and he would not be able to reach Qingchuan alive.
Fortunately, Zhao Yan didn't ask too many questions. Jiang Siyue moved aside and gently stroked her chest a few times.
The rain was getting heavier, and at three in the afternoon, the car finally stopped outside a villa. Before entering, Jiang Siyue could hear the commotion inside, and she slowed down her pace.
Zhao Yan stopped and asked, "Nervous?"
Jiang Siyue nodded, gently pulled his sleeve, and asked: "What are your grandparents like? Do they like well-behaved or enthusiastic ones?"
Zhao Yan fixed his gaze on her, his eyes flickering several times in succession. He took her hand, interlocking their fingers tightly. "Do whatever makes you feel comfortable. I'll take care of everything."
The rain was heavy and the air was filled with moisture, which blurred Jiang Siyue's vision but also allowed her to feel the warmth from her hand more clearly.
She pursed her lips and nodded.
After entering the room, there were people everywhere. There were seven or eight men and women of her age. Jiang Siyue followed Zhao Yan and called people. After going around, she only remembered the appearance of her grandparents.
Jiang Siyue heard all kinds of greetings and chatter, and she didn't know which one to respond to. In the end, she just listened to Zhao Yan and let him do it all.
Jiang Siyue was confused all day, eating and sleeping randomly. When she woke up the next morning, Zhao Yan was still not by her side. Jiang Siyue was not surprised.
I heard someone say last night that the Zhang family was holding a ancestral worship ceremony, and all the men had to go while the women stayed at home.
Jiang Siyue sat down on the first floor and a servant immediately asked her what she wanted to eat. Jiang Siyue had eaten casually for dinner yesterday and was very hungry now. After asking the servant to bring more food, she sat at the dining table and waited quietly.
After a while, another girl came downstairs yawning and sat on Jiang Siyue's right. Jiang Siyue felt that she looked familiar. After trying hard to recall, she remembered that this was Zhao Yan's second uncle's daughter, named Zhang Cheng.
She came home the latest yesterday, and Grandpa Zhao Yan even criticized her a few words.
After the dumplings were served, Jiang Siyue concentrated on eating.
"Sister-in-law, can't you even afford dumplings?" Zhang Cheng pointed at the dumplings in her bowl, greatly surprised. Without waiting for Jiang Siyue to answer, she shouted to the servant, "Sister Lanlan, bring us a portion of breakfast. My sister-in-law rarely eats breakfast. Oh, poor thing."
Jiang Siyue frowned, put down her chopsticks, and looked at her quietly, "What do you mean?" Jiang Siyue has the habit of putting herself in a difficult position in front of her elders, but that doesn't mean she will indulge her peers.
Moreover, she is sitting here now, representing Zhao Yan. If she endures it vaguely, she will be stabbing Zhao Yan in the back.
"It's nothing special." Zhang Cheng smiled brightly and maliciously, "I just thought you haven't eaten anything this good before, so I asked the servants to give you more to try so you can see the world."
Jiang Siyue smiled calmly and asked calmly, "In your eyes, having eaten a few different breakfasts means you've seen the world?"
Zhang Cheng approached her and said with a grin, "Isn't it true for you, sister-in-law?" After she finished speaking, she casually picked up a piece of bread from the table and left with a disdainful tone, "Neither humble nor arrogant, huh, isn't it just a kind of humbleness."
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