Chapter 8: The Wife’s Secret
Chapter 8: The Wife’s Secret
Yu Meilin said, “The child’s name is Li Xiaomei, your surname and my given name.”
Li Zian tried hard to hold back his anger, “Do you want me to believe she is my child?”
Yu Meilin spoke calmly, “I know what you’re misunderstanding, but she really is your child. If you don’t believe me, you can take her for a Paternity Test.”
Li Zian laughed bitterly out of extreme anger, “We’ve been married for four years, and I haven’t even held your hand. And you’re telling me the child is mine?”
“Do you remember? On the night of our wedding four years ago, you were drunk, and I slept with you.”
Li Zian’s mind buzzed and froze.
He was indeed drunk that night of the wedding, and when he woke up the next day, Yu Meilin had already left.
Did he really sleep with her?
He had no memory of it at all.
“That night happened to be my dangerous period,” Yu Meilin’s tone was still plain, as if talking about something unrelated to her, “Then I got pregnant and gave birth to Xiaomei.”
Li Zian stayed silent for a long time before saying, “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“What would be the use of telling you?”
Li Zian said angrily, “I am the child’s father, yet you only brought her back for me to see when she’s already three years old. You ask me what’s the use of telling you? What do you mean?”
Yu Meilin said indifferently, “I’ve kept many things from you, not just this one.”
Li Zian almost collapsed from anger at these words.
Yu Meilin continued, “Our Yu Family is a very large clan. My father is Yu Taishan, the Chairperson of the Dajiang Group. It’s a family business, and all the Board of Directors members are from the Yu Family. My mother passed away when I was very young. My father remarried a woman, and she gave him a son…”
This was the first time Li Zian heard her talk about his father-in-law and mother-in-law. It felt like listening to a story.
“Four years ago, my father fell ill. The family members fought for power. I was appointed as the Chairperson in a crisis. But according to the Yu Family’s rules, the one in charge must be married and settled. So I needed a husband, and that’s why I married you. To make them believe and have nothing to say, I forced myself to sleep with you and then gave birth to Xiaomei. In such an environment, what use would it have been if I told you?” Yu Meilin looked at Li Zian, her eyes still calm.
Li Zian gave a bitter smile, “Why me?”
Yu Meilin paused before saying, “Because you are simple and honest, and wouldn’t covet our family’s wealth. Besides, I saw you before; you are good-looking. At that time, I didn’t have a better choice, so I chose you.”
Li Zian: “…”
Being called simple and honest in this era was almost an insult.
After hearing all this, it seemed she married him only because he was good-looking, and that seemed to be the only quality of his that met her standards.
“I’m sorry for keeping it from you for so long, and thank you for taking care of Grandma for four years.” A trace of guilt finally flickered in Yu Meilin’s eyes.
Li Zian had been very angry, but seeing her apologize and thank him, his anger mostly subsided, and the thought of divorce vanished.
The child was already three years old; how could he divorce?
His own father had passed away when he was very young. He knew how important a father was to a child’s growth. He didn’t want his child to grow up without a father.
“Then why are you telling me all this today and bringing the child back?” Li Zian asked.
Yu Meilin said, “My father has recovered. I expect the Board of Directors will soon remove me from my position. I have many things to do and can no longer take care of the child. So I need your help, and the child also needs her father’s company. That’s why I came back this time to take you and Grandma to Shanghai.”
A bitterness rose in Li Zian’s heart. So in her eyes, he was just a nanny, whose only value was to take care of her grandma and child.
But he was self-aware.
He was from the countryside, hadn’t even attended university. He and she were like people from two different worlds. If not for the child, she probably wouldn’t even consider living with him.
This marriage was a transaction from the start, without any emotional foundation.
“Go pack up, and then we’ll leave,” Yu Meilin said.
Li Zian hesitated for a moment before nodding. He turned and went into the room to pack.
He didn’t have much to pack. He just put a few changes of clothes, underwear, and socks into a backpack. He was reluctant to leave the ingredients and herbs he gathered from the mountain and wanted to take them, but after a second thought, he gave up. Those ingredients and herbs could be bought. He was leaving by Helicopter, and bringing those things would make people laugh at him.
He was a father now. He wanted to build a shining image for his child.
When he came out of the room, Li Xiaomei was picking flowers in the yard. Yu Meilin and Lin Shengnan were not there; Kun Li was watching nearby.
She worked really fast; she was already back.
Li Zian stared at Li Xiaomei, his eyes dazed.
Lin Shengnan said Li Xiaomei looked like her mother, Yu Meilin, but he could see his own reflection in Li Xiaomei’s face.
After all, being handsome was a strong gene.
Li Zian walked over and said with a smile, “Xiaomei, can Daddy hold you?”
Li Xiaomei looked up at Li Zian and said in a childish voice, “You didn’t tell me if there are flowers and butterflies on Mars. I don’t want you to hold me.”
Li Zian squatted in front of Li Xiaomei, unable to hide his joy, “Then Daddy will tell you, there are no flowers or butterflies on Mars; only Earth has them. Mars might have coal, but Daddy didn’t dig for coal on Mars.”
“Then what did you do there?”
Li Zian thought for a moment and said, “Daddy was learning skills from an Old Immortal, and it took several years.”
Li Xiaomei’s big eyes instantly shone with admiration, “Wow, Daddy is so amazing! Can you make Chocolate? Can you make a whole pile for me?”
Li Zian’s mind froze again with a clang.
“Just one piece is fine,” Li Xiaomei lowered her standard.
“Daddy will make a pile of Chocolate for you later. Come, let Daddy hold you.” Without waiting for Li Xiaomei’s agreement, Li Zian picked her up.
The little one was quite heavy.
They say daughters are their fathers’ Little Cotton-padded Jacket. Li Zian never understood it before, but now he did. Holding Li Xiaomei felt really wonderful, like a warm sun in winter.
“Xiaomei, do you want Daddy to lift you high?” Li Zian really wanted to win over this daughter he was meeting for the first time.
“What is lifting high?” Li Xiaomei’s big, dark eyes were full of curiosity.
Li Zian lifted Li Xiaomei high with both hands, then brought her down, and lifted her up again, never getting tired of it.
“Giggle, giggle!” Li Xiaomei laughed continuously, her laughter as crisp as a silver bell.
Kun Li, standing nearby, said, “Be careful; don’t drop the child.”
Li Zian stopped but couldn’t bring himself to put the child down. He still held her and said to Kun Li, “She is my daughter; of course I will be careful.”
A hint of disdain flashed in Kun Li’s eyes.
Li Zian didn’t care. If he cared about what others thought, he would have been exhausted to death over the years.
Li Zian played with the child in various fun ways.
Li Xiaomei usually had no one to play with. Now that someone was playing with her, she quickly bonded with Li Zian, giggling nonstop and feeling very happy.
“I’m not trying to pour cold water, but the environment you’ll face is very complicated. Those people are scheming and deceitful, each more cunning than the last. Can you adapt?” Kun Li spoke to Li Zian again.
Li Zian smiled faintly, “I’m not someone who was raised delicately. What environment couldn’t I get used to? As long as I can be with Xiaomei, I don’t care about any environment.”
“You’re thinking too simply,” Kun Li said.
Li Zian replied, “You’re the one overcomplicating things.”
“Your mother-in-law, Gao Shengmei, is a malicious woman. The people around her are very capable. What ability do you have to protect Meilin and Xiaomei?” Kun Li’s eyes still held a trace of disdain.
What ability could a rural youth who farms and takes care of the elderly have?
It was their first meeting, and Li Zian hadn’t intended to make the atmosphere so tense, but this Kun Li was going too far.
Li Zian smiled, “Miss Kun, how about I read your fortune?”
Kun Li was slightly stunned and said in surprise, “You can read fortunes too?”
Li Zian said calmly, “I know a little. Want to give it a try?”
Kun Li snorted disdainfully, “Not focusing on proper work.”
Li Xiaomei said, “Aunt Kun Li, just give it a try. My dad learned from the Old Immortal. Let him make chocolate for you, and we’ll split it fifty-fifty.”
Li Zian: “…”
Kun Li glanced at Li Zian and said flatly, “Fine, I’ll try it. But you’d better use some brains to trick me, or I’ll look down on you even more.”
Li Zian focused his mind. The Great Sluggish Cauldron appeared in his thoughts. Every symbol and every pattern on the cauldron glowed with a green light, mysterious and sacred.
Where his thoughts pointed, the secret technique followed.
In Li Zian’s sight, Kun Li was still Kun Li, but what appeared in his mind was a “dissected” face: forehead was forehead, eyes were eyes, nose was nose, cheeks were cheeks, even the philtrum and lips were separated, and every part was measured by the secret technique.
This was the face-reading secret technique sealed within the Great Sluggish Cauldron: the Anatomy Physiognomy Technique.
Other people’s face-reading only scratches the surface, like a superficial check. But the Anatomy Physiognomy Technique sealed in the Great Sluggish Cauldron was like an MRI scan—a complete examination!
Seeing Li Zian just staring at her without speaking, Kun Li sneered, “Stop acting mysterious. You don’t actually know how to read faces, do you?”
Only then did Li Zian speak: “Born on the seventh day of the seventh month in the year of Ding Chou, which is 1997. Your fate carries the number three and seven. One seven takes away one part of your soul. You are not destined for a long life.”
Kun Li exclaimed angrily, “How do you know my birthday? And are you cursing me?”
Li Zian ignored her and continued: “Your nose bridge is high and straight, which should be a sign of wealth, but your nose bone has a knot, which is a sign of bringing misfortune to your husband. You are unmarried, yet there’s a love mole between your eyebrows. Have you had a boyfriend who is no longer here?”
Kun Li was stunned.
Li Zian stretched out a hand and said calmly, “Draw anything on my palm. I’ll tell you when to stop.”
Kun Li hesitated for a moment, but eventually stretched out a finger and drew randomly on Li Zian’s palm.
She had never met Li Zian before, and she had certainly never shown him her ID, yet he accurately stated her birthday. Not only that, he even guessed that she had once had a boyfriend who had passed away. That painful memory—she had never even told Yu Meilin about it!
“Okay.” Li Zian pulled his hand back.
Kun Li stared straight at Li Zian, her eyes complex.
“You drew a peach blossom on my hand. Your luck in love is about to come,” Li Zian said.
“Nonsense!” Kun Li felt she was being teased.
Li Zian paid no mind and added, “Also, you drew a pile of poop on my hand. I can’t tell what kind it is, but you are definitely going to step in poop.”
“Ridiculous! Do you think I would believe you? You must have looked into my background. You’d better hope I don’t find out you have any bad intentions!” Kun Li turned and walked away. She intended to ask Yu Meilin if she had mentioned anything about her to Li Zian.
Li Zian just smiled faintly. Whether his reading was accurate or not was clear from her angry reaction. There was no need to ask for further proof.
He picked up Li Xiaomei again.
Li Xiaomei said in her childish voice, “Daddy, is Aunt Kun Li really going to step in poop?”
“Ah!” Kun Li suddenly let out a sharp cry, freezing in place as if she had stepped on a landmine.
A yellowish substance oozed out from under her shoe.
She had really stepped in poop.
It was dog poop.
Some dog must have come in and left it there, and she happened to step right in it.
“Daddy is so awesome!” Li Xiaomei clapped her little hands and cheered.
Kun Li looked back at Li Zian, her eyes as if she had seen a ghost.
Li Zian suddenly felt a bit dizzy.
The Anatomy Physiognomy Technique used so much energy. Such a small secret technique with such high consumption!
It seemed he had to use it carefully from now on.
Kun Li cleaned the dog poop off her shoe in the flower bed, but the smell on her foot made even herself disgusted.
Li Zian struggled hard not to laugh.
“It was my own carelessness, not your accurate reading!” Kun Li said angrily.
Li Zian smiled and said, “I didn’t charge you a divination fee. You know whether it was accurate or not. Let’s just drop it and not talk about it anymore.”
At that moment, Yu Meilin and Lin Shengnan came out of the room. Yu Meilin was pulling a suitcase.
Kun Li went over and took the suitcase from Yu Meilin. Her lips moved as if she wanted to ask if Yu Meilin had told Li Zian about her, but she didn’t speak in the end.
Yu Meilin said, “Zian, let me hold the child.”
Li Zian was reluctant, but before he could say anything, Li Xiaomei quickly said, “I want Daddy to hold me.”
Yu Meilin was slightly taken aback.
Lin Shengnan chuckled and said, “She really is your own child, sticking to you as soon as you arrive.”
A faint smile appeared on Yu Meilin’s lips. “Then let’s go.”
“Daddy, I want to ride the horsie,” Li Xiaomei said.
“Okay, Daddy will be the horsie for Xiaomei.” Li Zian lifted Li Xiaomei onto his shoulders, carefully holding her little feet with both hands. As he walked, he made horse sounds, “Neigh, neigh, neigh!”
Li Xiaomei tugged on Li Zian’s ears, then whispered into his ear, “Daddy, can you make chocolate for me? I won’t eat it in front of Mom. She won’t know.”
Li Zian: “…”
Child, what grudge do you have against chocolate?
A short while later, a helicopter took off from Crescent Moon Village and quickly flew away.
The whole village watched eagerly.
Crescent Moon Village’s Wu Yanzu really went to live off his wife’s wealth—and he was taken away by a helicopter.