Chapter 14: Unforeseen Consequences

Old memories rise up like murky sediment, and that mistaken first love is nothing but a stain in Ying Yun’s life.

Fortunately, those memories that should have been buried will eventually settle back where they belong.

After all, who hasn’t made mistakes in their youth?

As long as you change, it’s fine.

There’s no need for life to be halted by the mistakes made in ignorance in the past.

Ying Yun believes that his future will always open up before him.

Mistakes are just experience for later success, so he can recognize the right people in the future.

So, even if it was a mistake, there’s nothing that shameful about it.

At the very least, Ying Yun is absolutely certain he won’t make the same mistake again.

Right now, he has no intention of paying any attention to Meng Chengyun, nor does he want to contact Yang Xueyi.

Would contacting her really make her clarify things properly?

She’d only make things worse.

That hypocritical woman must be doing it on purpose.

She’s always good at putting on a front, but behind the scenes, she’s a completely different person.

Outwardly, she’s all smiles, looking like she’s getting along so well with you that you could wear the same pair of pants, but who knows how she’s cursing you in her heart.

Ying Yun is no longer that naive eighteen-year-old.

He no longer harbors any expectations for Yang Xueyi, and he’s long since seen through her nasty nature.

He truly doesn’t understand why Yang Xueyi acts so infatuated and affectionate toward him as if she’s lost her mind.

He doesn’t know what kind of trap she’s setting for him this time, but Ying Yun figures that as long as he ignores her and doesn’t fall for it, he can just disregard her little games.

If he pays her any mind, she’ll only get more worked up.

So as long as she doesn’t go too far, Ying Yun will try his best to turn a blind eye.

What Ying Yun didn’t expect was that today’s unexpected disaster was far from over.

Just as the lunch break was about to end, he heard Yu Shi’s loud voice behind him.

“Ying Yun, do you have a spare notebook I can borrow? I forgot to bring mine for the meeting this afternoon!”

“No.”

Ying Yun glanced at Yu Shi.

“I didn’t bring any extra notebooks.”

Unfortunately, Yu Shi clearly didn’t believe him. He started rummaging through Ying Yun’s desk on his own.

Ying Yun originally thought Yu Shi would give up after searching in vain, but a moment later, he heard Yu Shi cry out in surprise—

“Hey, you do have one!”

Ying Yun looked up and saw Yu Shi pulling out a strange notebook from his pile of textbooks.

Ying Yun frowned.

“That’s not mine.”

“Then whose is it?”

Yu Shi flipped through it as he spoke.

After a few pages, his expression grew complicated, and he looked at Ying Yun with a meaningful gaze.

“Ying Yun, this really isn’t yours, but it’s written for you.”

Yu Shi spread the notebook open in front of Ying Yun.

“It’s a whole love diary! Almost every page is about you, with your name written all over it!”

“Look at this page. It says just seeing you from afar every day makes her happy.”

“And here, Je suis Prêt à vous donner un enfant., she’s even using French! I mean, wasn’t she just being all innocent and saying seeing you made her happy? How come it suddenly gets so direct and explicit?”

Ying Yun frowned.

“What does that mean?”

“Lucky for you, today you ran into me, a former exchange student in France who’s fluent in French. Let me translate for you. This sentence means—”

Yu Shi made a show of clearing his throat.

“I’m ready to have your child!”

“Who left this notebook? Who’s this crazy person? There’s a name on the cover, /Xiao Xue/? Who’s Xiao Xue? This kind of confession is a bit much, isn’t it?”

“These days, some people are just wild—falling for their instructor during military training, their coach when learning to drive, their doctor when seeing a physician. It’s all excess hormones, and they’re hard to deal with. But this one is skipping straight to wanting to have your child, Ying Yun. Be careful! This kind of affection is a little pathological!”

Yu Shi sounded genuinely concerned.

“Do you know who this Xiao Xue is?”

Ying Yun’s face darkened.

“I know.”

How could he not?

He’d just been flamed online for hundreds of posts because of her.

“You know her? Did she harass you before? Do you want to call the police?”

“No need.”

Ying Yun sneered.

“I’ll handle it myself.”

***

Yang Xueyi had submitted two resumes online, and adjusted them for positions she was interested in, planning to keep at it.

Just then, outside her room, she heard the sound of the big door to the underground parking lot being unlocked.

That annoying Ying Yun was back.

Yang Xueyi kept her door tightly shut.

Because of her impulsive resignation, she was feeling irritable and had no mood to bother Ying Yun right now.

She was just waiting for this young master to take the elevator from the basement up to the top floor, as if heading straight for Heaven.

But the expected “ding” of the elevator reaching the floor never came. Instead, Yang Xueyi heard Ying Yun’s footsteps stop right outside her nanny room door.

“Yang Xueyi, open the door.”

As if he knew for sure she was inside, Ying Yun’s voice outside was cold and carried the tone of someone in command.

Great, with that tone, he was probably just full and looking to pick a fight.

But Yang Xueyi was living under someone else’s roof in the nanny’s room; she had no option not to open the door.

She’d originally planned to let Ying Yun off tonight, but she couldn’t help it if the annoying guy came knocking himself.

There’s a road to heaven but you won’t take it; there’s no door to hell but you insist on barging in.

Yang Xueyi recalled the house arrest order Yang Meiying had given her and couldn’t help but get angry.

Let’s see if she didn’t give Ying Yun a piece of her mind.

She composed her expression, put on a bashful look, opened the door, and said softly, “Ying Yun, you’re back.”

Outside the door, Ying Yun stood tall and well-dressed.

Even after a day’s work at the hospital, there was no sign of fatigue on his face.

He still looked like a refined young master, his expression as cold as ever.

Yang Xueyi’s eyes dropped and she saw her “Love Diary” in his hand.

He saw it?

In that case, shouldn’t she seize the opportunity to press her advantage and put on a show?

“You came straight to see me after work. Is there something urgent?”

Yang Xueyi said gently.

“I’ve already clarified the post you asked me to. Don’t worry, when you really like someone, you’re willing to do anything for them.”

Ying Yun looked at Yang Xueyi expressionlessly.

“Is that so.”

“Of course. I’ll never go against you again. I’ll listen to everything you say from now on.”

As she said this, she pretended to only just notice the notebook in his hand, and immediately put on a look of surprise and nervousness.

“My diary… Why is it with you… No wonder I couldn’t find it today. I distinctly remember taking it to the dining room on the first floor last night. Did you take it by accident?”

After she finished, she acted as if her thoughts had been exposed, looking like a startled fawn.

“Did you… read what’s inside…?”

“I did.”

Yang Xueyi immediately put on a flustered, nervous-to-the-point-of-exploding expression.

“Then… you…”

Ying Yun glanced at her, his voice calm and emotionless.

“Is what’s written inside true?”

Some people, when nervous or afraid, cover it up with a blank face and forced calm, but inside, they’re already scared out of their wits.

Ying Yun looked so composed on the outside, but maybe he was already panicking inside.

Once he confirmed it, he’d probably run away.

Yang Xueyi met his gaze, biting her lip tightly, and gave a shy little nod, putting on a “what’s there to hide” attitude.

“Since you saw it, I have nothing left to hide. Actually, I… was attracted to you a long time ago. You’re so outstanding—it’s only natural for me to like you. You didn’t believe my feelings before and accused me of being a nymphomaniac. I cried all night over it…”

Ying Yun didn’t reply, only said blandly, “So you think of me at night and can’t sleep?”

That was something Yang Xueyi had copied; she vaguely remembered it, so she nodded bashfully.

“And just one look from me makes you nervous?”

That sounded like something she’d copied too.

Yang Xueyi nodded bashfully again.

“And you even learned French to confess to me?”

She had indeed copied a French sentence.

Yang Xueyi pretended to be embarrassed and nodded again.

“Some things just sound too cheesy in Chinese or English. I’m not that familiar with French, so it made me feel a little bolder, and it was easier to express. Besides, French always feels more romantic.”

She looked at Ying Yun with deep emotion.

“But you don’t have to doubt me. Whether it’s in Chinese, English, Japanese, or French—even if the language is different, my feelings are sincere.”

Ying Yun smiled.

“Is that so. It’s very sincere, all right—so sincere you want to have my child. I really didn’t expect that.”

Did she ever write something like that?

How could that be!

That’s so over the top and gross!

Could Ying Yun be delusional?

Did her fabricated “Love Diary” get him so worked up that he started making up things about her wanting to have his child?

Now that’s slander!

“I definitely didn’t mean it like that…”

Yang Xueyi couldn’t just blow up, but as she was about to gently deny it, she heard Ying Yun say coldly, “How could you not mean it? Didn’t you write it sincerely in French?”

He turned to a page in the diary.

“Prêt à vous donner un enfant., ready to give me a child.”

Yang Xueyi’s pupils shook a little.

Wait, did that French not mean ‘baby’ as in ‘darling,’ but literally ‘baby’ as in ‘child’?

Put together, does it actually mean that?

Ying Yun’s dark, silent eyes bore into her, and Yang Xueyi met his gaze stubbornly.

The more critical the moment, the less she could show weakness.

Since things had come to this, Yang Xueyi braced herself and said, “Now that you mention it, I do remember. I saw some kindergarten kids getting out of school that day—they were so cute, and I suddenly wanted to be a mom myself…”

Since things had gone this far, she might as well give Ying Yun a fatal blow.

Men at this age—so young—how many of them actually want to be tied down with kids?

If he hears she wants to have his child, won’t he run for the hills?

Yang Xueyi looked up at Ying Yun, her eyes full of affection.

“You have such good genes. If I were to choose a father for my future child, of course I’d pick you.”

Ying Yun raised his eyelids.

“I suggest you think it over calmly and pick a different father for your future child.”

Yang Xueyi decided to be shameless to the end.

“No way! I only want you!”

With this heavy dose, Ying Yun should be disgusted enough to slam the door and leave.

The next second, sure enough, Ying Yun did slam the door.

But what Yang Xueyi hadn’t expected was that, though the door was slammed, Ying Yun was still standing inside the room.

Huh?

Yang Xueyi had never thought the nanny’s room was small when she lived there with her mother.

But now, with Ying Yun’s tall, broad-shouldered figure inside, the room instantly felt cramped and oppressive.

Before she could ask why he hadn’t left, Ying Yun pushed her straight down onto the bed.

She was completely caught off guard.

Ying Yun came forward, pressing over her.

Is he crazy?!

“Ying Yun! What are you doing?!”

Yang Xueyi instinctively sensed danger.

She questioned him while struggling to get up, but her resistance was no match for Ying Yun.

With just one hand, he pinned her down.

She’d dislocated one arm and had it immobilized, so the only arm she could move was no match for Ying Yun.

He easily grabbed her wrist and pinned it above her head—she couldn’t move at all.

Ying Yun’s face was calm as he used his other hand to slowly unbutton his own shirt.

What is he trying to do?!

Yang Xueyi started to panic.

“Right now, neither your mom nor my mom is home. We’re a man and a woman alone—shouldn’t we avoid suspicion? Get out of my room!”

“Why should I leave? This is my house. I’ll go wherever I want.”

Ying Yun’s face was still handsome, the overhead light in the nanny room casting a soft golden glow over his flawless features, making them seem almost unreal.

Yang Xueyi had never been this close to him before.

Forced to look into his eyes, she could even hear both their breaths in the silence.

At this moment, all of Yang Xueyi’s shamelessness, boldness, and persistence instantly lost their effect.

She no longer had the upper hand in this game.

She started to get nervous, her palms sweating, her face flushing red.

She didn’t know what to do.

She’d let her guard down!

How could she have forgotten that someone who looked as much like a scumbag as Ying Yun might really be a scumbag?

Yang Xueyi had often teased Ying Yun, but never had she so clearly felt the difference in size and strength.

Right now, Ying Yun was looking down at her, his expression still cold, but with a calm madness on his face.

He… he wouldn’t really do it, would he?

Heavens!

The next second, Ying Yun lowered his head, leaned in close to Yang Xueyi’s ear—

“You said you like me so much you want to have my child, didn’t you?”

Looking at Ying Yun’s cold face so close, if she hadn’t heard it with her own ears, Yang Xueyi would have thought she was imagining things.

Yet the instigator himself was still speaking in the calmest voice, saying things that Yang Xueyi could hardly believe—

“So, since they’re all out, I’ll help you fulfill your dream of becoming a mother.”