——

The villa in the western part of the city.

Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning were the last to arrive. Yan Jingjang and his wife Yu Cheng, Yan Jing’an and Lu Mumu, as well as Yan Yunning and Wu Cheng, were already seated around the dining table waiting.

The two of them exchanged greetings and took their seats.

“Look at that, all paired up nicely,” Yan Jingzhi said, pouring a glass of liquor for Yan Jingjang and Yan Jing’an, his tone carrying just a faint trace of envy.

Yan Jingjang curved the corner of his mouth. “If you’re envious, go find yourself a girlfriend.”

Yan Jingzhi raised his eyebrows. “Can you rush these things?”

Yan Jingjang gave him an unhurried sideways glance, then picked up the red wine and poured a glass for Xuan Yanyu.

Mindful of the fact that Xuan Yanyu had only just come out of the hospital, Yan Yunning intercepted the stemmed glass on his behalf. “We won’t be drinking.”

“What, are you two trying to conceive?” Yan Jingzhi asked, all ears.

Yan Yunning: “……”

“Yan Jingzhi!” Yan Yunning looked at him with an expression caught between wanting to laugh and wanting to scold.

Yan Jingzhi gave a light cough. “Not another word, not another word.”

“Speaking of trying for a baby — I have something to announce today.” Yan Jingjang’s voice carried a smile at the end of his words. He looked at Yu Cheng with tenderness. “Orangey is pregnant. We waited until after three months before feeling comfortable sharing the news. The baby is four months along now, and perfectly healthy.”

While everyone else was offering their congratulations to Yan Jingjang and Yu Cheng, Yan Yunning quietly hooked Xuan Yanyu’s finger and used her eyes to signal to him: “Why don’t we announce ours too?”

It was something that would have to come out sooner or later.

The man understood what she meant. He clasped her hand and gave a nod.

“Ahem.” He cleared his throat, cutting through the conversation around them.

“We also have something to announce.” Under the curious gazes of everyone present, Xuan Yanyu lightly pressed his lips together, his slightly low voice carrying a deep note of warmth. “I’m going to be a father.”

“Thud.” A wine glass was set down on the table with a sharp clatter. Seven pairs of eyes snapped in unison to Xuan Yanyu and Yan Yunning.

“You two…” Before Yan Jing’an could finish speaking, Yan Yunning cut in with a smile. “Brother, we’re engaged, we’re about to get married — having a baby at this point is pretty normal, isn’t it?”

Yan Jing’an pinched the bridge of his nose.

Lu Mumu patted his hand and smiled gently. “Alright, what Ningning says makes sense. It’s not as though they had the baby before the engagement, or that they’re getting married because of the baby. After getting engaged and setting a wedding date, having a baby is perfectly natural.”

Yan Jing’an let out a cold scoff.

“When did you find out?” Yan Yunning asked.

“I only found out a few days ago,” Yan Yunning replied — and it wasn’t a lie. She really had only found out a few days ago.

“Do Mom and Dad know?”

Meeting her brother’s faintly displeased gaze, Yan Yunning shook her head and said dryly, “I haven’t told Mom and Dad yet.”

“When are you planning to tell them?”

Yan Yunning dragged the last syllable out thoughtfully for a moment. “I’ll tell Mom and Dad as soon as I get back.”

Yan Jing’an gave a smile and said nothing more. He called the housekeeper over to bring several bottles of baijiu, poured a full glass, and set it down in front of Xuan Yanyu with a “thud.” “Have a drink.”

Yan Yunning slowly furrowed her brow. “Brother…”

“Yan Yunning, you stay out of it!” Yan Yunning, Yan Jingjang, Yan Jing’an, and Yan Jingzhi all spoke in unison, cutting off whatever Yan Yunning had been about to say without a shred of ceremony.

Yan Yunning opened her mouth, but under the serious gazes of the four of them, she lowered her head and said nothing.

Halfway through dinner, Yan Yunning set down her chopsticks, a slight pout in her voice. “Big brother, you four can’t all gang up on Xuan Yanyu together.”

No matter how well Xuan Yanyu could hold his liquor, he couldn’t hold out against the four of them drinking with him continuously.

Yan Yunning smiled slightly. “Little Ningning, you’ve finished eating, haven’t you? Come watch a variety show with me in the living room.”

“I haven’t…”

“If you haven’t finished eating, then stop eating.” Yan Yunning stood and tugged Yan Yunning by the arm, pulling her out of the dining room.

Yan Yunning: “……”

At ten-thirty at night, a light drizzle began to fall from the pitch-black sky. The group in the dining room had still not dispersed.

Men were slow drinkers to begin with, and on top of that, Yan Jingjang, Yan Jing’an, and Yan Jingzhi — plus Wu Cheng, who was deliberately making things difficult for Xuan Yanyu — were not about to let the gathering end easily.

“It’s raining. Everyone just stay over tonight,” Yan Yunning said, spitting out a sunflower seed shell as she looked at Yan Yunning, Yu Cheng, and Lu Mumu in turn.

Yu Cheng and Lu Mumu smiled. “Alright.”

Yan Yunning was curled up on the beanbag sofa, her mind not really on the variety show. She kept glancing toward the dining room and didn’t reply.

Yan Yunning tossed a sunflower seed at her and said without patience, “How did our family end up with someone this lovesick?”

Yan Yunning made a face at Yan Yunning.

She was worried about Xuan Yanyu’s health — he had been in the hospital just that morning.

“Yan Yunning, can you use your head a little? The only reason those men are limiting themselves to just drinks is because you and Xuan Yanyu are engaged and have set a wedding date. If that weren’t the case, it wouldn’t stop at drinks.”

Yan Yunning hugged a throw pillow to her chest and said unhurriedly, “Sis, isn’t it possible that things are not at all the way you and the others are imagining?”

Yan Yunning widened her eyes. “How is it different? Is the baby not his?”

Yan Yunning touched her nose. “It is.”

Yan Yunning let out a cold scoff. “Then the drinks are well-deserved. Is buying a packet of contraceptives really going to bankrupt him?”

They were about to get married — couldn’t they have waited for the baby until after the wedding?

“……” Yan Yunning had nothing to say in her own defense.

——

At one o’clock in the morning, as Yan Yunning lay in a half-asleep haze, she felt the mattress dip beneath her.

Mingled with the man’s breath, the thick scent of liquor flooded her nose. She opened her eyes, her small head nestled in the curve of Xuan Yanyu’s neck, her voice soft and drowsy. “Are you dizzy?”

The man’s lips brushed against her ear, his low magnetic voice sounding particularly lovely. “Not dizzy.”

“Mm…” Yan Yunning scratched at her tingling ear and shifted herself a little farther away from him.

Seeing that Yan Yunning had lost her sleepiness, Xuan Yanyu crooked a finger under her chin. “Haven’t showered yet. Can’t do it myself — can’t stand steadily enough.”

Yan Yunning: “……!!!”

“How did you make it upstairs?” Yan Yunning asked curiously.

The man furrowed his brow in thought for a moment, then nuzzled his cheek against her palm. “Walked.”

“You can walk, but you can’t stand steadily.” Half a beat after he said it, Xuan Yanyu added the second part as a follow-up.

Yan Yunning: “……!!!”

Looking at the man’s damp, unfocused eyes — so unlike his usual composed self — she took his hand and said with resigned helplessness, “Take off your outer jacket yourself. I’ll go run you a bath.”

Xuan Yanyu shook his head. Like glutinous rice cake sticking to one’s teeth, he wrapped his arms around Yan Yunning from behind. “I want to use the showerhead.”

Yan Yunning blinked. “You can’t stand steady. How are you going to use the showerhead?”

The man pressed a kiss against the side of her face and made a soft whining sound. “You help me.”

Yan Yunning laughed lightly. “Be reasonable — I can’t hold you up. What if we both end up falling?”

“We won’t.” Xuan Yanyu rested his head on Yan Yunning’s shoulder, and over and over in a slurred murmur, he said, “Won’t let you fall.”

Yan Yunning pressed a hand to her forehead and negotiated with him. “How about this — you go in the bath, and I’ll help wash you. Does that work?”

The man’s eyes lit up. “Okay.”

Yan Yunning: “……”

It made no difference where he bathed. What mattered was that she had to help.

Yan Yunning resigned herself to her fate and got out of bed to adjust the water temperature in the bathroom.

Two minutes later, Yan Yunning walked out of the bathroom to find a pile of clothes strewn on the floor, and then looked at the man sitting blankly on the bed. Her breath hitched and a flush crept up to the tips of her ears.