Jiang Zhibai pressed his forehead against hers. “Can you not make me take it?”

Ever since bringing Shen Ruochu back to Yuanjin Manor, she had sent Yiyi to deliver elixir pills to him every single day.

She had said that taking them for a period would be good for his health. He had no desire whatsoever to take them, yet Yiyi had believed they were beneficial, and each time she would watch him swallow them before she would let the matter rest.

“No.” Shen Ruoyi hummed softly. “A’Bai, open your mouth.”

Jiang Zhibai resignedly swallowed the elixir pill from her hand.

“A’Bai.” Shen Ruoyi took his hand and placed it on her lower abdomen. “We have a child.”

Jiang Zhibai froze for a moment, then gently touched her abdomen. “Yiyi, we have a child?”

The man held his emotions in check, his voice catching slightly in his throat.

Shen Ruoyi pinched his arm, her fair cheeks flushing pink, and said in a small voice, “You, every night…”

And he was still surprised they had a child!

“Hmm? I, every night?” Jiang Zhibai was a little bewildered.

He every night…

Understanding dawning on him, Jiang Zhibai’s throat bobbed, and he laughed freely. “Yiyi, go on then, say it — what do I do every night?”

Shen Ruoyi buried her face in his chest, her ears suddenly turning crimson.

Jiang Zhibai pinched her little cheek and laughed with delight.

……

On the other side, Yan Yunning and Xuan Yanyu sat side by side.

Qi Qingchen was stealing glances at them.

Yaoyao had said he must listen to them.

Yan Yunning glanced sideways at Xuan Yanyu. “A’Jie has us both watching over him? Isn’t she worried Qi Qingchen will start crying again without end?”

Were they not the very ones who had just made Qi Qingchen cry endlessly?

And yet A’Jie felt comfortable leaving Qi Qingchen in their care!

If he cried again, she was not going to coddle him.

Xuan Yanyu rested his head on one hand, smiling lazily. He was not staying here to watch over Qi Qingchen — it was simply that Yan Yunning was here, so here he would remain.

“When is Yaoyao coming back?” Qi Qingchen muttered under his breath.

Xuan Yanyu placed a finger to his lips, a mocking smile hanging on his handsome face. He genuinely was looking forward to the day Qi Qingchen recovered.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Xuan Yanyu, restrain yourself a little.” Yan Yunning shook her head. “You’re being far too obvious about taking pleasure in his misfortune.”

The man lightly raised an eyebrow, his gaze drifting lazily to rest on her.

“I want to eat.” Qi Qingchen smacked his lips and pushed the fruit box in front of Yan Yunning.

Yan Yunning looked at the lychees inside the box and frowned. “You want me to peel them for you?”

Qi Qingchen stared at the lychees and swallowed, then nodded.

The vein at Xuan Yanyu’s temple gave a faint throb. “Peel them yourself.”

Qi Qingchen’s eyes slowly reddened. “I want Yaoyao.”

Xuan Yanyu narrowed his eyes and growled low, “Shut up.”

He was even more aggravating than a woman who cried.

Qi Qingchen pressed his lips together, tears falling silently.

Yan Yunning rubbed her temple. She wanted A’Jie too — why was she still not back?

Qi Qingchen’s eyelids quivered, tears pooling more and more. “Yaoyao…”

“Fine, fine, fine — I’ll peel them, just stop crying.” Yan Yunning wordlessly picked up a lychee and began peeling it.

Qi Qingchen blinked and stared fixedly at the lychee in Yan Yunning’s hand.

Once it was peeled, Yan Yunning took her handkerchief and wiped the juice from her fingers.

She was just about to hand it to Qi Qingchen when Xuan Yanyu suddenly reached out and gripped her wrist. The lychee that the young woman was pinching between her fingertips was drawn between the man’s lips.

Qi Qingchen rubbed his eyes, and seeing that the lychee in Yan Yunning’s hand had vanished, the grievance in his heart became impossible to contain. Teardrops rolled down from his eyes.

“Xuan Yanyu!” Yan Yunning glared at him.

The man spoke with a trace of dissatisfaction. “What? He cries a little and asks you for something, so you do it?”

“You were the one who told me not to quarrel with him — so why are you now quarreling with him?”

Xuan Yanyu’s voice was thick with undisguised jealousy. “I have never once eaten a lychee you peeled. On what grounds does he get to eat one?”

“You’ve eaten one now, so he can…”

“He cannot. I have eaten one, and he still cannot eat lychees you have peeled.” The man’s voice was low and brooding.

Yan Yunning gritted her teeth and slapped him on the shoulder. “Go and comfort him.”

She did not want A’Jie to return and think she and Xuan Yanyu had teamed up to bully him.

Struck out of nowhere, Xuan Yanyu’s mind went briefly blank.

He had been hit?

From the time he was small until now, only the Emperor had struck him once, and today marked only the second time he had ever been hit.

Yan Yunning looked at the man’s dazed, handsome face, and poked his cheek with the tip of her slender white finger. “Did you not hear me? Go and comfort him.”

Coming back to himself, Xuan Yanyu said through clenched back teeth, “You want me to go and comfort him?”

Yan Yunning looked at Qi Qingchen, who was crying so hard he could barely catch his breath, and raised an eyebrow. “If you won’t go, shall I?”

“No.” The man said it instinctively.

Yan Yunning’s voice carried a smile. “Xuan Xizi, you’re in trouble.”

Xuan Yanyu frowned. “?”

Yan Yunning’s lips curved up lightly. Falling for her would certainly be quite the trouble — Xuan Yanyu was already minding her interactions with other men.

The next step was for him to like her properly. If she ever found out that Xuan Yanyu had feelings for her, she could torment him every single day.

She had already been restraining herself considerably with him, and besides — if she suddenly went home, odds were he would cry even harder than Qi Qingchen.

Though perhaps not; after all, he detested all this weeping and wailing.

“I… I need to use the washroom.” Qi Qingchen hiccupped.

“Then go.” Yan Yunning said without thinking.

“Will you come with me?” Qi Qingchen wiped at his tears.

Xuan Yanyu’s pupils filled with fury. “What did you say?”

Qi Qingchen recoiled at his icy voice, shrinking back.

The man’s expression turned dark, a flash of murderous intent passing through the depths of his eyes.

“I… I want Yaoyao.” Qi Qingchen wailed.

“I want Yaoyao too.” Yan Yunning dabbed at tears that were not there.

All this crying!

If she tried to sleep tonight, she would surely close her eyes and have her head full of Qi Qingchen’s sobbing.

“Then… let us go find her.” Qi Qingchen said, red-eyed and hiccupping. “I… I need to use the washroom.”

Yan Yunning’s thoughts were in a muddle. “You… every time you go… did Yaoyao go with you?”

Qi Qingchen nodded.

Yaoyao waited outside for him.

Yan Yunning’s scalp prickled. She sneaked a glance at Xuan Yanyu, who patted her on the head and let out a cold snort. “I am not going with him. Don’t look at me.”

Yan Yunning lowered her eyes slightly. He did not care?

Sure enough, it was just as Fafa had said — he only cared whether A’Jie would marry him. Everything else he was indifferent to. Put plainly, he simply did not love A’Jie at all; he had other motives where A’Jie was concerned.

“Elder Brother Qi.” The moment Yan Shiyao stepped into the room, she saw that Qi Qingchen had been crying until his eyes were completely red.

Xuan Yanyu was stroking Yan Yunning’s hair, the two of them watching Qi Qingchen cry.

“Yaoyao…” Qi Qingchen’s eyes lit up faintly, and he broke into a small trot, flinging himself toward Yan Shiyao.

Yan Shiyao tenderly wiped away his tears. “Elder Brother Qi, why have you been crying like this?”

Qi Qingchen pointed at Yan Yunning and Xuan Yanyu, pouting to tattle. “Yaoyao, I was well-behaved. Ningning was not well-behaved — she would not peel the lychees for me.”

“I did peel them.” Yan Yunning protested.

Even in this state, he still knew how to tattle?!

Qi Qingchen hummed softly, and the more he thought about it, the more aggrieved he felt. “Yaoyao, she peeled them and gave them to Elder Brother Xuan — she never gave me any…”