Chapter 82
I spent a sleepless night.
The next morning, as the morning light streamed through the French windows, Yun Zhan rubbed his eyes and got up to see Shi Mingyue in front of his dressing table.
The morning light shone from the side, casting a very faint halo around her.
The silk robe was unbelted, the fabric draped along the shoulder line, the waistline subtly visible through the fabric, like a carefully drawn stroke, the curve clean and soft.
Shi Mingyue sat upright in front of the mirror, her back straight, her neck long, and her shoulder blades gently sliding under her skin.
Her face was reflected in the mirror. Her base makeup was light, and her skin was so radiant it was almost porcelain-like. Her brows were lightly brushed with a brow brush, the lines soft yet carrying a noble curve.
Her eyelashes were curled, each one distinct, fluttering like butterfly wings when she blinked. Her lips were only adorned with a light layer of lip gloss, glossy as if glistening with morning dew.
When Shi Mingyue turned her head, the corner of her eye held a faint light that had just been drawn, clear and affectionate, like spring water just beginning to melt, a gentle glance conveying warmth to Yun Zhan's heart.
21: "Wow, beautiful."
Yun Zhan was completely stunned, forgetting to keep his breath.
Shi Mingyue was amused by her silly look, and the corners of her lips curved up. Her voice was soft, as if she had just woken up: "What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?"
Yun Zhan snapped out of his daze, pulled the blanket over half his face, leaving only his bright eyes showing. His voice, muffled by the blanket, couldn't hide his embarrassment: "You...you're beautiful."
Shi Mingyue chuckled softly, lightly tapping her fingertips on the mirror. Of course, she knew she was beautiful.
She got up and walked to the bedside, bent down and pulled back the corner of the blanket, placing a very light kiss on Yun Zhan's forehead, her voice low and gentle: "Good morning, from now on, I'll make sure you see me every time I wake up, okay?"
Yun Zhan buried his face in the pillow, his ears turning almost transparently red, but he nodded vigorously.
So this is what a morning bombarded by beauty can be like.
Afternoon.
Yun Zhan followed Shi Mingyue to Shi Ke's study.
Yun Zhan walked lightly, her eyes lowered. She was somewhat anxious. Yun Zhan knew that Shi Ke had once disapproved of them being together, and for this, he had severely punished Shi Mingyue. Yun Zhan still remembered the whip marks on Shi Mingyue's back.
Therefore, Shi Ke remains the obstacle she dares not relax her vigilance over the most.
Shi Ke sat in a high-backed chair with a thick book open on his lap. Hearing footsteps, he looked up, pushed up his glasses with his fingertips, and his gaze swept between the two of them before finally landing on Yun Zhan. His gaze was not scrutinizing, but rather calm and appraising.
When are you planning to get married?
Shi Ke spoke, his voice not loud, but carrying his usual authority.
Yun Zhan subconsciously straightened his back, afraid that his posture would be improper.
Shi Mingyue quietly reached out and grasped her wrist, gently stroking it with her fingertips, and whispered in her ear, "Don't be afraid."
Shi Ke turned a page in his book and said calmly, "We can postpone getting the marriage certificate, but since Miss Yun has already moved in, we can't break the rules of the Shi family. Let's hold the engagement ceremony first."
He paused, his gaze returning to the pages of the book, but added, "You can choose the date, I'll write the invitations."
Yun Zhan was stunned. Shi Mingyue pinched her fingertips, and she came back to her senses. She quickly nodded and said, "I'll listen to Uncle."
Shi Ke hummed in response, as if satisfied, yet also as if responding casually.
Upon hearing the word "engagement," Yun Zhan's eyes lit up at first, but in an instant, that brightness was covered by a barely perceptible gloom. Yun Zhan's hands, hanging at his sides, unconsciously clenched, and his brows furrowed slightly.
Shen Qingyi was standing diagonally behind Yun Zhan. She immediately noticed his unease and asked gently, "Xiao Yun, what's wrong?"
Shi Mingyue leaned closer, her fingertips probing her wrist, her voice low and urgent: "Is something wrong?"
Yun Zhan shook his head, but when he looked up, he was a little embarrassed: "The Shi family is getting married... they must need a lot of gifts, right? I don't have much on me, just some jewelry and a property."
Her voice grew softer and softer as she spoke, and for the first time in all her worlds, she felt constrained by economic concerns.
Admittedly, she has enough money to live comfortably for the rest of her life, but that little bit of money is nothing compared to the wealth of a rich family.
Shen Qingyi hurriedly waved her hand, her voice rising half an octave higher than usual: "Xiaoyun, you're marrying into our family, how can we let you pay for it? Just give us a token dowry; on the contrary, we'll give you a large betrothal gift."
Shi Mingyue held her hand, her fingertips gently stroking the back of her fingers, which were cold from nervousness. Her voice was gentle yet firm: "Money is just an external thing. Don't worry about it. It's enough that you're willing to marry into this family."
The wrinkles between Yun Zhan's brows finally relaxed.
She took a deep breath, as if exhaling the last trace of worry, and nodded in a soft but clear voice: "Okay."
As Yun Zhan stepped out of the study, she finally breathed a sigh of relief. Shi Mingyue smiled and pinched her earlobe: "What are you so nervous about? Didn't we already agree on this?"
Yun Zhan muttered in a low voice, "But I'm still a little worried. It's my first time getting married."
Shi Mingyue leaned closer, her voice soothing: "Then I will protect you and take care of you from now on."
Once the door was closed, the floor lamp cast a soft, honey-colored glow on the carpet.
Shi Mingyue held the teacup, the steam rising from it onto her eyelashes. She took a deep breath and whispered, her voice almost touching the carpet, "Baby... can I talk to you about something?"
Yun Zhan draped his coat over the back of the chair and turned around: "What is it?"
Shi Mingyue lowered her eyes, her ear tips slowly turning pink: "Can we...have a child?"
Shi Mingyue, afraid of frightening Yun Zhan, quickly added, "I'll be happy in my next life. As long as you cooperate with a small surgery, it really won't hurt."
Yun Zhan froze, his brows furrowing slightly as if he were carefully dissecting each word of the sentence: "But what the Shi family wants is your bloodline. If you give birth, it seems... they don't even need to ask for my opinion?"
Yun Zhan's knowledge was still limited to the original world. In the original world, if same-sex couples were to have a child, only one parent's genes could be passed on, and artificial means would be required.
The Shi family is short of children, so they definitely need Shi Mingyue's own bloodline. So... why does she need to have surgery?
Shi Mingyue paused, her fingertips unconsciously tightening on the teacup, the porcelain trembling slightly.
"Yun Zhan! Of course I need to ask for your opinion... The child is our child, our daughter. How can I not ask you?"
After saying that, her bright eyes dimmed instantly, her eyelashes fluttered frantically a few times, and she managed to find her voice: "You...don't want to have a child with me?"
The last syllable was so low it was almost inaudible, yet it was filled with grievance.
She lowered her eyes, and the light cast a ring of dappled shadows on her eyelids, like butterfly wings dampened by rain, trembling slightly.
Yun Zhan's words, "It seems there's no need to ask for my opinion," echoed repeatedly in her mind, like being pushed back half a step, or like having a boundary drawn.
Shi Mingyue bit her lower lip, her breathing became shallow and rapid, and a thin layer of mist rose in her eyes, but she stubbornly refused to look up, afraid that if she did, she would reveal her disheveled state.
She loved Yun Zhan so much that she was willing to feel anxious and expectant about having a daughter who belonged to both of them.
But Yun Zhan's response seemed to leave her a crack, through which a cold wind blew, making her suddenly uncertain: was she too eager, or had she put the other person in a difficult position?
"I'm sorry..." Her voice was hoarse, her fingertips clenched so tightly they turned white, "I was too hasty."
That trembling final note fell into the air like a pressed piano key, the lingering sound filled with disappointment.
They are getting married, and Yun Zhan is his wife.
If her partner doesn't welcome the child, then she... will be very sad.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I... I didn't mean that. I just felt that, technically speaking, it seemed like I wasn't needed."
Yun Zhan also became anxious and carefully took a tissue to wipe away Shi Mingyue's tears.
“Baby, it makes me a little sad and a little wronged when you say that…” Shi Mingyue’s eyes were red. She was always quite sensitive when it came to matters of the heart.
After a two-second silence, the orb of light from 21 floated out from the wall, breaking the awkward silence: "An information gap has emerged. In the host's original world, the two women could not have a child with shared blood; they could only borrow external genes."
Shi Mingyue suddenly realized, she gripped Yun Zhan's hand, choked up a few times before saying, "This technology was phased out a hundred years ago. Now we can extract oocytes from both of us and use an in vitro fertilization chamber to complete fertilization and embryo development. The child's genes belong entirely to the two of us, and there are no outsiders."
Shi Mingyue held Yun Zhan's hand, her palm burning hot, her voice low but tinged with anticipation: "And... I also really like children, and I want to have a daughter with you."
Yun Zhan was silent for a moment, her gaze falling on their intertwined fingers. She looked at Shi Mingyue, her tone more serious than ever before: "Do you think... we can be good parents?"
She had traveled through countless worlds, but she had never imagined the role of "parent".
Shi Mingyue was also very young, and in her eyes, she was not yet fully mature. This topic made her feel unfamiliar and bewildered.
Shi Mingyue looked up, her cheeks flushed red by the lamplight, like the first rays of sunset.
She nodded solemnly, her voice soft yet firm.
"I will be very, very good to our daughter... I will take good care of her and educate her."
"If she doesn't like me, or does something wrong later, it must be because I'm not good enough..."
"I will definitely spend a lot of time with her and give her the best of everything. We only need one child."
Shi Mingyue was afraid that she wouldn't be able to balance things, so she only wanted one daughter and would give all her resources and care to her.
As she spoke, her eyelashes trembled slightly, and a girlish shyness spread across the corners of her eyes.
Yun Zhan's breath hitched, and his heart felt like it had been scalded by warm water, so soft it ached.
That was the first time someone said to her: Let's have a daughter.
Yun Zhan stared blankly at the girl in front of him, whose cheeks were flushed but whose eyes were bright. So this is what it feels like to be part of someone else's future.
Yun Zhan lowered his eyes, his fingertips gently stroking Shi Mingyue's knuckles, as if soothing a ruffled kitten. After a moment of silence, she nodded, her voice low but earnest:
"You're still too young, can we... talk about it in a few years? I don't want you to..."
Having children is always a burden. If it weren't for the Shi family's request, Yun Zhan probably wouldn't have allowed Shi Mingyue to give birth.
She didn't want Shi Mingyue to suffer so much.
Before she could finish speaking, Shi Mingyue's eyes crinkled into crescents, like a lamp suddenly lit up in the night.
She nestled into Yun Zhan's arms, her earlobe pressed against his heartbeat, her voice so soft it was almost melting: "Yes, we will. We'll consider this after we get our marriage certificate, which will probably be a few years later..."
She paused, gently rubbing her cheek against Yun Zhan's shoulder, as if trying to wipe away the remaining shyness, before whispering another sentence, filled with the unique joy and bashfulness of a young girl.
"Yun Zhan, I'm really looking forward to...our daughter."
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