Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan got married at the age of twenty-two, and they held a luxurious beach wedding in the Maldives that same year, stepping far ahead of their friends and classmates in life’s journey.
They invited Wang Youfu to be their wedding witness.
When Wang Youfu received the invitation, he was thrilled and readily accepted.
Before going, he even prepared a set of relatively high-end attire for himself, making sure to tidy up his usual unkempt appearance. However, all these preparations seemed somewhat excessive considering the treatment he received as a wedding witness. In his own words, it was almost like receiving the hospitality reserved for welcoming a national leader.
A few years ago, when Shen Xingruo achieved the top score in the provincial arts exam, the school awarded Wang Youfu, her homeroom teacher, a generous bonus. At that time, he used the bonus to take his family on a trip to the Maldives with a tour group. However, this trip to attend the wedding felt entirely different from his previous tour group experience in the Maldives!
Upon returning, he didn’t hesitate to boast to his colleagues about the trip, nor did he shy away from discussing it with his former classmates. He even forcefully talked about how knowledge can change one’s destiny, emphasizing that with hard work, even an ugly duckling can become a swan.
However, the current students are not easily fooled, and the more they listen to Wang Youfu’s boasting, the more they feel something is off.
Shen Xuejie, who graduated many years ago, has always been a legendary figure known for her outstanding manners and accomplishments. It’s hard to imagine her as an ugly duckling. As for Lu Xingyan, he comes from a wealthy family and is a true handsome and successful young man, with no connection to any ugly duckling story.
Moreover, even if one were to consider the metaphor of the ugly duckling, the ugly duckling was always a swan, to begin with, so there’s no question of transformation; it’s not like it underwent a genetic mutation.
In addition to Wang Youfu, friends and classmates who were close to Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo also received wedding invitations.
The invitations came with a warm reminder, essentially stating: if you can make it, we’ll arrange round-trip flights for you, provide accommodation in a seaside hotel, and cover all expenses incurred during the event.
Just graduated from college, everyone was busy, and many people, upon receiving the invitation and seeing that it was being held overseas, planned to just send a WeChat red envelope as their gift.
But upon noticing the warm reminder, everyone, without any prior arrangement, genuinely and sincerely bowed to money.
Back when they were classmates, everyone knew that Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo came from well-off families, but back then, they were all students, and the two didn’t live particularly extravagantly. They wore school uniforms when necessary and ate instant noodles when needed, so the noticeable gap wasn’t felt.
But after graduation, this wedding truly broadened their horizons.
The wedding guests were all flown in and out, each person was assigned a luxurious seaside room, and the souvenirs were luxury items like necklaces and cufflinks.
It was said that the bride’s wedding dress and the four or five sets of dresses worn during the wedding were all custom-made by a well-known designer half a year in advance, and the multi-faceted star diamond ring was dazzling.
Of course, what people envied the most was the relationship between Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo, who had been together for several years and were still as sweet as ever.
Lu Xingyan treated Shen Xingruo like the apple of his eye, always referring to her as “my wife” in every sentence.
This time at the wedding, Lu Xingyan’s former “unrequited love” Bai Yueguang, Chen Zhu, also attended. Everyone teased him about Chen Zhu, asking if he still frequently liked Chen Zhu’s posts on social media, suggesting that he might still harbor feelings for her.
Holding a glass of red wine, Lu Xingyan explained to everyone, “The thing about liking her posts, well, it’s true. Hey, do you know why I always like them?”
“I mainly like them to make a point. Whenever my wife is upset, I show her this friend’s silly social media posts, and it cheers her up every time.”
There was silence for three seconds, then everyone burst into laughter.
After chatting with them for a while, Lu Xingyan raised his glass again and then said he needed to find his wife.
Chen Zhu, who had just broken up with her ex-boyfriend, posted on her social media: [Even single dogs shed tears today for someone else’s beautiful love story. Feeling wronged.jpg]
Perhaps because the two got married early but still had a stable relationship, in the following three to four years, many old classmates followed suit and entered the institution of marriage.
Speedy couples boarded the marriage train first and then bought tickets, while slightly slower ones also had good news within one or two years of marriage. Only the first-to-marry Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo, who displayed their affection publicly regularly, hadn’t announced any good news.
He Siyue and Ruan Wen, who were also classmates from the same liberal arts class, surprised everyone when they revealed their relationship. Afterward, they wasted no time and progressed swiftly, getting married during their second year of graduate school and having a child during their third year. Now, their baby is almost a year old.
He Siyue used to be quite serious; his social media feed often featured news about national affairs, legal cases, and updates. But ever since his son was born, his feed has been filled with a grid of his son’s adorable photos and a series of animated GIFs. Normally, such spammy posts would annoy people, but He Siyue’s baby was exceptionally cute, with sparkling eyes, long and thick eyelashes, and chubby cheeks that made hearts flutter.
During her moments of mental strain, Shen Xingruo couldn’t help but open her social media and scroll through He Siyue’s updates, using them as a way to relax her mind, much like sucking on candy someone else’s child.
Shen Xingruo used to avoid children, but perhaps due to a change in mindset with age or influenced by those around her, she gradually started to anticipate the arrival of a new life in their world. A few years ago, she and Lu Xingyan had to focus on their studies and weren’t ready for parenthood. But now that Lu Xingyan had returned to China and worked at Jinsheng for over a year, and she had stayed in the capital busy with projects for more than a year, they spent at least two or three nights a week doing something unspeakable, without any precautions taken… yet still no news.
In Xingcheng, Pei Yue and Lu Shan were also eagerly anticipating and warmly expecting grandchildren.
Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan would receive calls from them now and then, where they would chit-chat and, in a roundabout way, inquire about when the couple would start having children, trying to figure out when they would put parenthood on the agenda. Due to Lu Xingyan’s concealment, Pei Yue and Lu Shan still thought the couple simply didn’t want children, never considering that they might not have conceived yet.
In the office, after the assistant finished reporting on the progress of their work, they brought up some personnel changes. “By the way, Sister Ruo, A Yao told me she wants to resign.”
Shen Xingruo looked up. “Reason?”
The assistant replied, “She, she’s pregnant. It’s still early, and she’s not very stable. She needs to go home and rest properly.”
Shen Xingruo paused for a moment, then returned her gaze to the documents. “Understood. Give her three months’ salary and find someone to replace her.”
“Okay, Sister Ruo.”
After the assistant left, Shen Xingruo paused her hand movements and drifted into deep thought for a while. The gray marker pen in her hand happened to draw on a sentence on the A4 document, and the color slowly seeped in until it reached the paper underneath, before she finally put down the pen.
During Shen Xingruo’s graduate studies, she caught the tail end of the heyday of public accounts. Initially, she had started a personal account to record reviews of books and movies she enjoyed in her spare time. Unexpectedly, her sharp yet humorous writing style attracted a large number of readers. Coupled with her extensive knowledge from reading numerous books and watching countless movies, her articles always offered fresh insights. By her second year of graduate school, the readership of her public account had almost reached hundreds of thousands per article.
After graduating from graduate school, she established her studio in the capital. After more than a year of operation, her public account “Little Star” has become one of the top-tier KOL (Key Opinion Leader) accounts nowadays.
In fact, during this past year, Shen Xingruo had also polished several film scripts that she had intermittently written over the years. She had already considered withdrawing to pursue her other dreams, but she was afraid that if she got too busy, she wouldn’t have time to focus on having children for the next two or three years. So now, she found herself stuck in a quagmire of indecision, unsure whether to move forward or not, and afraid to make any rash decisions.
Leaving the office, she found a few of the studio’s young women snacking and chatting.
“…Of course, you have to be careful. Although A Yao is still young, pregnancy is unpredictable. If it’s not successful this time, it might take several years to conceive again.”
“How is that possible? My cousin didn’t even know she was pregnant, ate snacks, took cold medicine casually, had an abortion, and then got pregnant again after a few months.”
“That’s because your cousin was lucky. I told you about my friend before, right? Her husband’s family is very wealthy, but his sperm quality is poor, so they can only resort to IVF.”
“IVF is expensive, but more importantly, it’s extremely painful and damaging to the body. She’s done it twice already, and it hasn’t worked out. Now, she cries to me now and then, saying that if it doesn’t succeed this time and her mother-in-law pressures her to get pregnant again, she’ll divorce her husband!”
The young women expressed their sympathy.
Shen Xingruo stood at the doorway for a while, then retreated into her office, supporting her head with her hand, lost in thought.
Not long after, Lu Xingyan sent a WeChat message:
【Darling, what time will you finish work today? Do you want to go watch a movie tonight? I’m free, I’ll come pick you up.】
Shen Xingruo hesitated over her phone screen for a while before replying with a simple “okay.”
Lu Xingyan now manages a subsidiary of Jinsheng in the capital. Although the scale of this subsidiary cannot be compared to Jinsheng itself, it still employs several hundred staff members. Furthermore, the small size of the company means that he not only has to make decisions but also actively participates in various tasks. After being tempered by work for over a year, he occasionally shows a more mature demeanor.
In the evening, Lu Xingyan drove to pick up Shen Xingruo, and they went to try out a newly opened hotpot fish restaurant together. As the new restaurant was popular, they had to wait in line for a while outside, during which they placed their order.
Once inside the restaurant, Shen Xingruo took off her coat and casually commented when she saw the large pot of hotpot fish on the table, “Why isn’t it sea bass? It has skin and bones.”
Lu Xingyan scooped up a bowl and teased her, “Why are you in a hurry? Isn’t it always me who picks the bones for you?”
“I’m afraid of tiring you out,” Shen Xingruo replied calmly, opening her bubble tea and inserting a straw.
Lu Xingyan smirked mischievously, “I’m not tired. You’re the one who gets tired at night.”
Shen Xingruo: “…”
Without missing a beat, she changed the subject, “By the way, how did things go with that piece of land you mentioned the other day?”
“We secured it, but the price was a bit higher than expected.”
Seeing Shen Xingruo about to speak again, Lu Xingyan quickly pushed the prepared fish meat with hot soup in front of her, interrupting her, “Okay, let’s eat. Can you not talk about work during our meal? Whenever I hear about land or property now, my temples start throbbing.”
“If we’re being honest, it’s all your fault. If you hadn’t pressured me into studying hard and bringing out my hidden talents, my dad wouldn’t have bothered me with so much stuff. I’d be living a much easier life, a rich and leisurely second-generation, hanging out with friends and racing cars for fun, rotating among a few mistresses for enjoyment.”
Shen Xingruo didn’t even lift her eyes. “Young Master Lu is full of energy. If you want to keep mistresses now, I won’t stop you.”
“Come on, how could I? I feel like I’m one of those miserable emperors from ancient times, where all the political power is controlled by you, the empress. I work hard to make money, but I have no real authority. If I don’t perform well, I might get kicked out by you at any time. So, I dare not cause any trouble.”
Shen Xingruo gave him a “you’re smart” look and nudged the grilled squid towards him.
That evening, the two watched a newly released Hollywood blockbuster, which had a high turnout, with quite a few children in the theater. It seemed that some parents were completely unaware or indifferent to restraining their children, using the excuse of “kids being kids” to allow them to cry, scream, and make a racket in public places without any consideration for others.
Before the movie started, Shen Xingruo was kicked several times by a little boy behind her. After the kicking, the boy even started pulling her hair. When Shen Xingruo turned around, she saw the boy’s parents sitting beside him, chatting and laughing, completely indifferent to their child’s behavior.
Before Shen Xingruo could react, Lu Xingyan turned to the boy and raised his chin slightly. “Hey, young man, why are you so rude? Haven’t your parents taught you not to make noise in the cinema and not to disturb others?”
Finally, the boy’s parents reacted, but it was just a casual admonition to him not to move, without even reaching out to restrain him.
Perhaps knowing that his parents didn’t care, the boy became bolder. Not a minute passed before he reached forward boldly, blatantly grabbing Shen Xingruo’s popcorn with his syrup-stained hand and then using the same hand to grab her hair.
This time, Lu Xingyan didn’t mince words. He stood up directly and grabbed the collar of the boy’s shirt from behind, his patience wearing thin evident in his expression.
Startled, the boy burst into tears, “Wah!”
His parents were taken aback, and after a moment’s hesitation, they hurriedly shouted, “What are you doing? Let go of our Hao Hao!”
Ignoring the parents, Lu Xingyan didn’t lower his gaze but threatened the boy with a raised eyebrow, “You little rascal, your name is Hao Hao, right? Let Uncle tell you, if you cry, make a scene, or touch my wife again, Uncle will teach you a lesson that you won’t be able to get out of bed for three days.”
The child was startled and choked up, but managed to hold back his tears in a split second.
Seeing that his threat had worked, Lu Xingyan released the child and glanced at his parents.
The mother of the child’s face turned pale, still yelling for an explanation, “Kids will be kids, it’s just a little bump, nothing serious! Are you capable of taking responsibility for scaring my child!”
Lu Xingyan shrugged off her accusations, retorting sarcastically, “Oh, so if kids can be excused for not knowing any better, does that mean you can too? Haven’t you heard of not making noise in public places? According to your logic, if I just lifted him, that’s not a big deal either. Scare him and take responsibility? Is he going to establish a constitutional monarchy or reinstate the emperorship? It’s unbelievable how fragile he is, like a delicate porcelain doll.”
Pointing a trembling finger at Lu Xingyan, the child’s mother stuttered, “How dare you! This is a movie theater, it’s normal for kids to talk. If your wife can’t stand it, why don’t you just book the whole theater!”
Lu Xingyan replied nonchalantly, “Whether I book the theater or not is none of your business. Even if you live in Antarctica, you can’t control whether penguins eat fish or not, stop meddling in things that don’t concern you.”
“And another thing, if you parents don’t know how to teach your child, then don’t bring them out to embarrass yourselves. I’m being patient here, but if I encounter a few hotheads, I won’t be responsible for what happens to your precious little flower.”
“You!”
Lu Xingyan continued casually, “Ma’am if you don’t want to waste your movie ticket, then hold your child down and make him watch quietly. Otherwise, don’t waste time and just call the police. I’ll gladly confirm the assault charges while I’m at it.”
The child’s mother was seething with anger but couldn’t utter a word. She could only watch as Lu Xingyan, like a patriarch, sat back down in his seat.
The moment he sat down, admiring and appreciative gazes came from all directions. A hero! A warrior! His straightforward and forceful rebuke had silenced the entire theater!
Shen Xingruo quietly grabbed his hand and, in his palm, wrote four words: Well done!
With a slight smile playing on his lips, Lu Xingyan kept his eyes on the screen but replied in her palm with four words: Thanks for the praise.
The movie ended, with Shen Xingruo and Lu Xingyan walking out hand in hand. Lu Xingyan, while shielding Shen Xingruo from the crowd and feeling quite pleased with himself, imparted his seasoned wisdom, “These people have no shame, no backbone. They won’t listen to reason. But they’re afraid of someone like me, ruthless and tough. A good beating and they’ll behave. Did you see that family just now? They didn’t dare utter a word.” Shen Xingruo absentmindedly swayed his hand, not saying anything but feeling oddly content inside.
From childhood, she was never one to tolerate injustice, nor was she one to beat around the bush. If she felt wronged, she’d take matters into her own hands. But when she was with Lu Xingyan, he always stood in front of her, reclaiming her dignity.
She had to admit, that being protected felt rather nice. But the joy lasted less than a minute before Lu Xingyan brought up a touchy subject, as he often did, “But speaking of which, we should educate our future children well. They don’t have to be extraordinary, but at least they should have some manners. I can’t understand how their parents can be so complacent with their behavior.”
Shen Xingruo paused for a moment, feeling a bit stifled. Once they were in the car, Lu Xingyan helped her fasten her seatbelt. Suddenly, she said, “I think maybe we should go to another hospital for another check-up.”
Lu Xingyan looked up, “Check-up for what?”
After a few seconds, he realized, “What’s there to check? Didn’t the doctor say both of us are fine? Whether we get pregnant or not depends on fate. We’re only twenty-five, no rush.”
Shen Xingruo remained silent. She understood what Lu Xingyan was saying, but she had always been used to feeling in control. Suddenly facing something that was entirely up to fate made her particularly uneasy.
Lu Xingyan rested his hand on the steering wheel, turning to look at her, a look of amusement crossing his face as if he had discovered something extraordinary. He leaned in, affectionately ruffling her hair, and said, “Empress Shen, are you worried that without an heir, you’ll be replaced in the palace? Do you still insist on having a son? How come I never noticed before? Even though the Qing Dynasty fell hundreds of years ago, you’re still so traditional?”
“I’m talking about something serious with you.”
Shen Xingruo pushed his hand away.
Lu Xingyan’s voice became more serious, “I’m talking about something serious too.”
“To be honest, Shen Xingruo, whether we have a child or not doesn’t matter to me. If it’s not meant to be, so be it. I can convince my parents about it too. The main thing is, don’t put too much pressure on yourself. If you like kids, we can always adopt one later on. You’re still young, can’t you be a bit more carefree?”
Shen Xingruo remained silent.
As the car moved forward, turning onto the main road, Lu Xingyan picked up speed and resumed his unserious tone, “But there are many ways to increase fertility in bed.”
“Let’s try that when we get back. Put a pillow under your waist, and don’t get up too quickly. Put your legs up against the wall at a ninety-degree angle for a while. Wait half an hour before taking a shower, or better yet, wait until tomorrow morning. Let things stay inside a bit longer.”
“You shouldn’t talk anymore,” Shen Xingruo said, her embarrassment evident as she turned to look out the window.
“But I’m just imparting my wisdom to you,” Lu Xingyan insisted, wanting to tease her further, he rattled off several more methods. He spoke confidently as if he were an expert, claiming that as long as they kept trying and didn’t give up, it would work.
For the next month and a half, Shen Xingruo found herself subjected to Lu Xingyan’s experimentation with various strange methods in bed. Whether it would increase their chances of conception, she didn’t know, but she did know that she was being squeezed dry.
Two months passed at a steady pace. Just as Lu Xingyan’s company completed a project, Jiang Che saw that both he and Shen Xingruo had some free time. He invited them to Dubai to attend Jiang Xing’s annual meeting and take a vacation.
Shen Xingruo had heard Lu Xingyan mention that Jiang Che and Zhou You had bonded in Dubai while traveling, and they met again by chance in China. They fell in love, got married, and had been happily together for many years. Every year on their anniversary, they made time to go to Dubai and skydive together.
At that moment, Shen Xingruo found the idea of skydiving for their anniversary unique and memorable. Before they went to Dubai, Lu Xingyan asked Shen Xingruo several times if she dared to skydive. Shen Xingruo thought to herself that if his seemingly delicate sister-in-law could do it every year, it shouldn’t be too terrifying. So she readily agreed.
On the second day in Dubai, they woke up early and headed to the skydiving center. The preparation process went quickly, but once they were on the plane, Shen Xingruo suddenly felt very uncomfortable, though she couldn’t pinpoint why. With the howling wind at high altitude and the instructor loudly repeating the instructions, her discomfort only grew stronger. When the cameraman approached her with the camera, asking her to record a message before the jump, she suddenly called for a halt.
Half an hour later, Lu Xingyan drove swiftly, taking Shen Xingruo to the nearest hospital. The result of the examination: five weeks pregnant. After confirming multiple times that it was indeed five weeks of pregnancy, both Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo were stunned.
Back at the hotel, Lu Xingyan lay on Shen Xingruo’s stomach for a while, then sat up and asked, “Five weeks, didn’t you notice your period was missing?”
Shen Xingruo replied, “My irregular menstrual cycle is normal. Don’t you know that?”
Lu Xingyan: “…”
Fair point.
The two sat in silence for half a minute, staring at each other wide-eyed, before Lu Xingyan couldn’t resist reaching out to touch Shen Xingruo’s stomach. Shen Xingruo lowered her gaze to her belly, feeling a sense of wonder. Even though she didn’t feel anything at the moment, there was already a new life growing inside her.
Both of them were feeling a mix of emotions, a surprise tinged with the relief of narrowly escaping disaster. The doctor had just said that if Shen Xingruo hadn’t called off the jump in time, the child would likely have been lost. Shen Xingruo found it hard to recall why she had been so firm in stopping the jump on the plane. Perhaps it was a moment of hesitation, and she might have jumped despite her discomfort in the next moment. Unable to pinpoint the reason, perhaps it was because the baby didn’t want to see them sad.
Shen Xingruo’s pregnancy was a big deal. After returning to China, Pei Yue and Lu Shan rushed to the capital. The first thing Pei Yue said when she entered was, “Oh my precious grandchild!”
Shen Xingruo: “…”
Lu Xingyan: “…Mom, can you please not be so dramatic?”
Pei Yue took off her oversized sunglasses, put down her platinum purse, quickly changed her shoes, and swept past Lu Xingyan like a gust of wind, appearing in front of Shen Xingruo. “Quick, sit down, sit down! What’s with your posture, child!”
Pei Yue helped Shen Xingruo sit on the sofa, her face full of grandmotherly smiles as she glanced at her belly. Then her gaze moved up, and she frowned, “Ruo Ruo, is Lu Xingyan mistreating you? Or are you having morning sickness? Why have you lost so much weight? Look at your chin!”
“I’ve been having morning sickness these past few days.”
“I’m fine, Mom, Dad, please sit. I’ll go make some tea.”
Before she could get up, Pei Yue pressed her back down, “Make tea for what? Tea is for entertaining guests. What would your father and I need tea for?”
Pei Yue and Lu Shan’s visit this time was mainly because they were worried that the young couple might not know how to handle things properly, so they wanted to help arrange regular check-ups at the hospital and also visit Lu Xingyan’s grandfather at the mansion.
When they mentioned visiting the grandfather, Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo said they wanted to go together. Pei Yue immediately refused without thinking, “You two shouldn’t go recently. Wait until you’ve chosen a name for the baby.”
Lu Xingyan instinctively asked, “Why?”
Pei Yue: “Don’t you know about the incident when he named Jiang Che’s children Jiang Baoguo and Jiang Aihua? Jiang Che got mad because he didn’t use his name. Are you planning to name your child this?”
Lu Xingyan and Shen Xingruo remained quiet as chickens.
That night, Shen Xingruo lay on Lu Xingyan’s lap, staring at the ceiling in silence. After a while, she suddenly asked, “What do you think we should name our baby?”
“You’re the top scorer in the Xingnan Province’s liberal arts examination and a top student at P University’s literature department. Can’t you come up with a name?” Lu Xingyan glanced at his phone and casually replied.
Shen Xingruo reached out to rub his face.
Lu Xingyan caught her hand, “Stop messing around, I’m showing you a recipe.”
Shen Xingruo stared at him for a few seconds before asking again, “I haven’t decided on a full name yet, but how about we call our baby Xiaogui a nickname?”
Lu Xingyan put down his phone and thought for a moment, “Our baby is indeed quite well-behaved in your belly, quiet and peaceful. Isn’t that right?”
Shen Xingruo: “…”
“Baby’s movements won’t start until the eighteenth week. It’s not time to make a fuss yet. Don’t you, as the dad, have any common sense?” Shen Xingruo remarked.
Lu Xingyan remained silent for a moment, then sat up a bit, as if he was about to have a serious discussion with her. “Me, lacking common sense as a dad? How did you successfully get pregnant relying on the secrets I shared with you? And isn’t it because of my diligent efforts that we’ve reaped the fruits of love?”