I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 79
In the end, Ye Mingxin still followed Lin Yi’s suggestion.
After finishing her Long Island Iced Tea, Ye Mingxin left the pub by herself. Lin Yi stayed behind, as she had canceled her remaining plans, and so, with nothing to do, she decided to stay a bit longer here.
The pub was very quiet in the afternoon, with no customers around and even the resident singer absent. Lin Yi took off the mini umbrella from her cocktail glass and played with it in her hands.
“Um…”
A shy and hesitant voice sounded in front of her. Lin Yi raised her head, unable to recognize the voice that didn’t match the explosive nature of Jiang LingYuan she had witnessed earlier.
Lin Yi looked up questioningly, only to see Jiang LingYuan smiling sheepishly at her, “My name’s Jiang LingYuan.”
Lin Yi blinked. “I know, you mentioned it earlier.”
Jiang LingYuan grew even more sheepish. She lowered her head, subconsciously tucking her hair behind one ear. She then asked in an almost inaudible voice that carried expectation in it, “You’re really amazing. From now on…can I call you jie-jie?” (*T/N: Friendly reminder that jie-jie = older sister (not always blood relation) and is usually a title of respect towards older women. Can be shortened to just –jie)
Lin Yi nodded indifferently, “Sure.”
Jiang Lingyuan stamped her feet excitedly, lifted her head suddenly, and sincerely said, “Lin Yi jie-jie, I’ll go make another drink for you!”
With that, she immediately turned around, took out a huge, almost barrel-sized glass from under the bar counter, and ran to the alcohol barriers behind her to start mixing drinks with a series of glug-glug sounds.
Lin Yi: “…”
Is that a glass? It’s more like a bucket!
When Ye Mingxin left the small pub, it was already around three in the afternoon. Unable to drive after drinking, she called Lan Zhu to pick her up. Lan Zhu arrived quickly, and in less than five minutes, she appeared at the entrance of the small pub. She drove Ye Mingxin to the address she provided, glancing at Ye Mingxin’s face through the rearview mirror as she drove.
“Mingxin-jie, why are we going to this place?”
Ye Mingxin fell silent for a moment. “Because I am a fickle woman.”
“…”
Lan Zhu parked the car in an upscale residential area. After registering at the entrance, they entered and parked the car below a certain building. Ye Mingxin asked Lan Zhu to turn off the engine, and then she sat quietly without saying a word.
Knowing that Ye Mingxin didn’t like small talk, Lan Zhu took out her phone and started playing a new puzzle game she had downloaded. Ye Mingxin lay back with her eyes closed, relaxing in her seat.
The phone vibrated twice, and Ye Mingxin opened her eyes, frowning as she looked at it.
In the tranquil car, Ye Mingxin’s piercing question suddenly broke the silence: “Why did Chi Qiu ask me for your contact information?”
Lan Zhu: “…”
Oh no.
Ever since that night, Chi Qiu returned home and waited for a long while, but didn’t receive the expected friend request. Thinking that the young girl might be shy, she patiently waited for another day. The next day, there were still no friend requests nor messages. Chi Qiu thought again, and assumed the other party might be afraid of appearing overly eager and must be intentionally acting aloof to make her curious. So she patiently waited another day.
Day after day, she continued to wait until today. Chi Qiu finally couldn’t wait any longer, so she decided to take the initiative = =
Lan Zhu nervously looked at Ye Mingxin, who calmly stared back at her. With just a brief eye contact, they had looked at each other for less than a second, Lan Zhu quickly conceded. She recounted in detail everything that happened at the party that night.
Ye Mingxin couldn’t help but fall into silence, feeling that she had only heard half of the story.
Lifting her eyelids, she asked, “Do you want to explain it to her, or should I do it for you?”
Lan Zhu, with a pitiful look, asked, “Can we not explain…If we explain, Chi Qiu will lose face, and it will be awkward when we meet in the future.”
“Wouldn’t it be awkward even without an explanation?”
Lan Zhu stayed silent. Oh, it would still be awkward.
“T-Then, I’ll explain it myself.”
A true hero must have the courage to accept the consequences of their own actions, and so Lan Zhu extended her hand, and Ye Mingxin handed her phone over, “Don’t use my WeChat. You must add her, then use your own phone to explain.”
Lan Zhu agreed, and Ye Mingxin thought for a moment before adding, “Explain this to Little Xu later when the time comes.”
Lan Zhu blinked her eyes, not understanding why she had to do this.
Ye Mingxin, with an unchanged expression, informed her, “Little Xu also misunderstood and thought you fell in love with Chi Qiu.”
Lan Zhu froze, “Why would she think that?”
Ye Mingxin raised her chin slightly. “Have you finished yet? Hurry up, I still need to use my phone.”
“Oh, oh, right away.” Lan Zhu quickly lowered her head, and entered Chi Qiu’s WeChat ID into her phone, before handing Ye Mingxin back her phone.
Ye Mingxin immediately put her phone away after receiving it. Lan Zhu was too absorbed in checking her WeChat and completely forgot that Ye Mingxin hadn’t answered her initial question.
After waiting for about an hour downstairs, Chloe finally arrived. This residential area is actually where Chloe lives, and it’s a place with no high-rise buildings, with the tallest one having only six floors. Her building was even shorter, with only four floors and eight units in total.
Ye Mingxin had checked in advance that there was no elevator or underground parking in this building, so they didn’t have to worry about Chloe entering through the parking lot. She would have to pass by this entrance if she wants to go in.
Seeing Chloe, Ye Mingxin asked Lan Zhu to get out of the car and invite Chloe over. Lan Zhu did as he was told and when Chloe heard Lan Zhu introduce herself as Ye Mingxin’s assistant, her face suddenly changed. There was no happiness on her face, and instead there was a little uneasiness in her expression.
Approaching the car, the door automatically opened and Lan Zhu walked to the other side, opening the driver’s door. Before she could get in, she heard Ye Mingxin say, “Lan Zhu, I remember seeing a supermarket outside the neighborhood when we came in. Go play there for a while, buy some things, anything you like, and I’ll cover the bill.”
Lan Zhu looked at Chloe, then back at Ye Mingxin, before obediently agreeing.
After Lan Zhu left, Chloe sat beside Ye Mingxin, and asked her quietly: “What’s the matter?”
Chloe thought Ye Mingxin was here to warn her away from Han Feixu again, who knew that after waiting for a while, Ye Mingxin said: “I thought about it again after I returned. Ultimately, this matter is between you and Little Xu. I shouldn’t make decisions for her without her knowledge.”
Chloe looked at her, waiting for her next words.
“That’s why, tonight, I’ll explain everything about your matter to Little Xu and then have her make her own decision.”
Upon hearing this, Chloe tightly gripped her knees, scrunching up the fabric of her pants, “Do you really have to tell her? She might end up hating me…”
Ye Mingxin was too embarrassed to say that according to her understanding of Han Feixu’s temperament, the word ‘might’ was perhaps too modest. There was a 99% chance Han Feixu was going to end up hating Chole by the end of this.
Ye Mingxin pursed her lips, “I don’t want to tell her either, but since I know about it now, if I don’t tell her and she finds out on her own….she will be very angry, that anger will land on me.”
Chloe fell silent and then spoke again, “I understand. Then…thank you for your trouble.”
Ye Mingxin gave her a comforting smile. For a moment, neither of them spoke. Suddenly, Chloe asked her, “How did you know I was living here?”
Ye Mingxin paused, “I investigated many things about you…”
“You hired a private investigator?”
“No,” Ye Mingxin shook her head, “Didn’t you entrust your asset management to XinDe Asset Management Company?”
Chloe nodded, “Yes, what about it?”
Ye Mingxin smiled slightly, “It’s nothing, but XinDe Asset Management Company belongs to my family.”
She widened her eyes and furrowed her brows with uncertainty, “I remember that XinDe is part of the Kangxuan Group. I chose them because of the group’s long history in China, fantastic reputation, and overflowing operating funds.”
Ye Mingxin nodded again, “Kangxuan Group is also owned by my family.”
Chloe: “…..”
Mamma Mia.
Chloe fell silent. It was fortunate that Ye Mingxin did not continue bidding against her during that auction, otherwise, even if she sold herself, she wouldn’t be able to outbid the daughter of the Kangxuan Group = =
Despite that shock, Chloe felt a bit happy. Based on Ye Mingxin’s attitude, it meant that Han Feixu was doing well mentally. Now knowing she was also doing well financially, she felt even more relieved.
Ye Mingxin observed her change in expression and asked with a somewhat puzzled tone, “You and Little Xu are practically strangers, and there are past grievances between your parents. Why do you…”
She dragged out her last few words, unsure how to continue. Chloe helped her out, “Treat her so well?”
Ye Mingxin nodded slightly.
Chloe smiled very faintly, “Do you have a family?”
“Yes.”
“How many relatives?”
“A lot.” So many that she couldn’t count them all. Every year, relatives would come to visit, and even those distant relatives try to establish even the most basic relationship with her family, not to mention those who were actually related by marriage to her family.
“Then you won’t understand someone like me who has lived almost half a lifetime without the warmth of a family.”
Ye Mingxin really didn’t understand. She had wanted to in the beginning in order to understand Han Feixu better, but even after so much time had passed she still couldn’t begin to comprehend Han Feixu’s thoughts. Back then, she had just felt sorry for Han Feixu and agreed to her every request when it came to family matters.
When they first started trying for a child, Han Feixu would even skip classes at her university without saying anything. She would often be in a bad mood and had quite a short temper too. After several unsuccessful attempts, Han Feixu refused to give up and kept trying. Han Feixu’s mother, Zhang Rui, told her several times that it would be a stressful ordeal on her body and that she should try again when she was older. However, Han Feixu didn’t listen to her.
From that time onwards, she no longer accommodated Han Feixu’s requests. It was also that moment that was a turning point in their marriage, when their conflicts slowly started to intensify and escalate, until finally, their marriage itself was in danger of collapse.
Looking back now, Ye Mingxin also knows that the reason for their fallout and eventual almost divorce wasn’t solely about having a child or not. It was because she never understood Han Feixu’s feelings. Han Feixu didn’t need her blind accommodation and tolerance; she needed someone to accompany and confide in.
Ye Mingxin didn’t say anything. Everything that needed to be said was said. Chloe was also about to leave, but before that, she had one more question, “When I told you I am Serge’s daughter, I noticed you were shocked. Which means you had no idea I was his daughter.”
Ye Mingxin nodded.
Chloe became more puzzled, “Then how did you know I was connected to Serge?”
Ye Mingxin looked at her for a while, then lowered her head and took out her phone. Since she was afraid of losing her phone, she never kept any photos related to Yiyi in her phone. She had to scroll through Yan Yuerong’s WeChat Moments before finding a photo of Yiyi taken in February of this year. She then enlarged it, and pointed to Yiyi’s face, “Take a look.”
Chloe looked over with confusion and then froze. The child in the photo looked like an exact replica of Chloe. If one didn’t think of the two of them together, then the thought of the two people resembling each other would not cross their mind. It made sense. Their hair and eye color didn’t match after all and Chole’s features matured with age. However, as soon as the thought crossed into one’s mind, then anyone would suddenly realize that they looked eerily alike.
This made Ye Mingxin rather depressed. In terms of appearance, Yiyi had no resemblance to Ye Mingxin. Yiyi had only inherited some of her personality, intelligence, and small quirks, but no looks.
Actually, she didn’t resemble Han Feixu much either, but Han Feixu had a filter in her eyes. As a mother, in Han Feixu’s eyes, Yiyi was carved from the same mold as her. If that were really the case, however, someone would have raised this question long ago. Yiyi had been attending kindergarten for half a year now, and no one ever said she looked like the actress Han Feixu = =
Ye Mingxin used to think that although Yiyi didn’t look like either of them, she also didn’t resemble anyone else. This line of thinking used to console her, but now, that piece of comfort was gone.
Chloe was stunned for a while, then she lifted her head, “This is…”
“My daughter. Do you understand now?”
Chloe couldn’t help but smile, “I understand now. What’s her name?”
“Her Chinese name is Nianyi, but her English name is Nancy. She doesn’t have a French name.”
The expression on Ye Mingxin’s face was less than happy as she spoke, it seemed she was still resenting the fact that her daughter didn’t look like her. Chole didn’t notice this however as she continued staring at Yiyi’s photo.
Chole got out of the car and Ye Mingxin called Lan Zhu, asking her to come back. After about five minutes, Lan Zhu returned with an armful of shopping bags, and the first things that entered the car were two large bags that both seemed heavier than Lan Zhu. Ye Mingxin was startled, “What’s all this? What did you buy so much of?”
Lan Zhu cheerfully replied, “Food! Usually, I don’t splurge, but today I bought everything. Here are the receipts, remember to reimburse me.”
Ye Mingxin always thought that scenes in movies where receipts rolled from the counter to the floor only happened in cartoons, until she got a receipt almost as long today.
Ye Mingxin: “…..”
This isn’t shopping; Lan Zhu’s clearly making a large profit off of her.
Luckily, Ye Mingxin was preoccupied with how to tell Han Feixu about this incident and didn’t pay much attention to Lan Zhu’s extravagant spending behavior. Lan Zhu also didn’t have the heart to tell her that she had bought more than just these two big bags; there were many more items like rice, flour, cooking oil, milk, and seafood, but they were too heavy for her to carry. She left them at the supermarket, planning to get her dad to pick them up after work.
Thanks to Ye Mingxin, their family wouldn’t need to buy groceries for an entire month!
Compared to Zhong Yuanyuan, Lan Zhu’s salary wasn’t high. However, the best part of working with Ye Mingxin wasn’t the salary but the perks that came with the relatively stress-free work environment of an established actress. Looking around the entertainment circle, there wasn’t any assistant who had it easier than her. Her boss cared about her subordinates, even giving her bonuses for no reason. The manager is also an incredibly warm-hearted man, never making her do any physically exhausting tasks. The boss’s wife is also very easygoing, not only avoiding making things difficult for her but also often showing concern during their interactions. The most jealousy-inducing pero of all, however, was that she could casually play with the boss’s child. Her other colleagues are raising their actresses’ cats, while she got to accompany a kid and do fun things with the kid–just the thought of it all made her very happy.
At that moment, Lan Zhu even thought about working for Ye Mingxin for the rest of her life and never changing jobs again.
But in the next moment, she received a WeChat call from Chi Qiu.
Lan Zhu: QAQ SAVE ME! Is she going to interrogate me?
She had just sent a lengthy message to Chi Qiu, essentially apologizing for the misunderstanding and hoping a great person like Chi Qiu would forgive the offense committed by a lowly person like her. And that someone with such an open mind and large heart like her would forget about this matter. After editing her message, she went into the supermarket. After she came back out, she checked her phone only to find no messages. She thought Chi Qiu had decided to ignore her and wash her hands of her.
But just when she breathed a sigh of relief, the call came.
Ye Mingxin sat in the back, but with her eyesight, she couldn’t clearly see whose caller ID was lighting up Lan Zhu’s phone screen. She could, however, see Lan Zhu’s facial expression. Lan Zhu was driving with a beaming smile just now and now she was driving with anxiety written all over face.
Lan Zhu was already feeling nervous when a gentle question came from the back, “Why aren’t you answering?”
“I don’t dare to…It’s Chi Qiu calling.”
Normally, Ye Mingxin might have urged her to answer the call immediately because she didn’t like seeing such a timid Lan Zhu. She was of the opinion that as her assistant, Lan Zhu should be able to handle her personal problems, otherwise why hire an assistant to deal with problems if they couldn’t handle their own?
But today, Ye Mingxin was unusually understanding because she had encountered a similar situation – that of someone who doesn’t want to say anything but couldn’t remain silent. Someone who wants to delay the conversation as much as possible, but couldn’t stop the inevitable…
Tough times indeed = =
By the time Ye Mingxin returned home, Yiyi had already been picked up by Wei Xun. So Han Feixu opened the door when she knocked and scanned Ye Mingxin from head to toe, but didn’t say anything.
After dinner, Han Feixu was rehearsing lines in her room when Ye Mingxin walked in with a smile much more gentle than usual, “What are you doing?”
Han Feixu silently stared at her, closed her script, tilted her head, and looked at Ye Mingxin. “You’ve been acting really strange today. What’s going on?”
Ye Mingxin put on a confused expression and Han Feixu looked at her incredulously, “Please, I’ve known you for almost half a year now. You think I can’t tell what you’re thinking?”
Actually, it’s been 16 years since we knew each other, and 8 years since we’ve been together = =
Since it had already been noticed, there was no need to put up a front. Sitting beside her, Ye Mingxin slowly recounted Chloe’s identity and situation. Finally, she concluded with “She didn’t intend to tell you who she was. It was only because I found out that she had to reveal it. Originally, she just wanted to get to know you as a normal friend.”
Han Feixu’s current expression… Ye Mingxin didn’t know how to describe it. However, Han Feixu had remained quite calm. There was no rage, no cursing, and no mocking sarcasm.
The three actions/emotions above were Han Feixu’s usual go-to reactions when encountering the word “cheating”, even if it’s just hearing about someone else’s affair or hearing comments about their cheating behavior. This time, facing her own grandfather’s illegitimate daughter, she was unexpectedly composed, which made Ye Mingxin feel extremely uneasy.
After a moment of silence, Ye Mingxin continued, “I told her if you don’t want to see her, she can’t appear in front of you again. So… what do you intend to do?”
Han Feixu lowered her eyes. Ye Mingxin couldn’t see her face nor her emotions. After a long, long silence, Han Feixu finally raised her head, softly saying, “I finally get it now.”
Ye Mingxin asked, “What?”
“I get why she felt so familiar and dear to me now. It’s because she looks similar to Yiyi.”
Ye Mingxin: “….”
Is that the important point right now? They’re related to each other so isn’t it normal if they look similar to each other??
Han Feixu straightened out her clothes and then said slowly, “I don’t want to see her again, and don’t mention her in front of me again in the future.”
Ye Mingxin was not surprised at all by her answer. After a moment of silence, she reached out her hand and pulled Han Feixu over to her, “Ok.”
No matter what decision Han Feixu made, she would not question it, but she still had a question to ask her.
“Little Xu, was it right for me to tell you this?”
Han Feixu slowly rested her head on Ye Mingxin’s shoulder. Hearing these words, she paused, “It was right. Whether it’s good or bad, if it’s related to me, I would want to know. Thank you for not hiding it from me.”
Ye Mingxin tilted her head, and then lowered it to plant a kiss on Han Feixu’s hair. Meanwhile, silently in her heart, she thanked Lin Yi. She made the right decision by listening to her.
Later that night, as she lay in bed with the lights off, Han Feixu, who had her eyes closed, suddenly opened them. She stared at the dim ceiling, not quite understanding why she didn’t feel much shock upon learning about Chloe being her grandfather’s illegitimate daughter.
She was certain that she had never known about Serge having an illegitimate child. So why was her initial reaction upon hearing such shocking news was one of someone who already knew?
Unable to figure it out, even after wracking her brains for a while, she eventually fell asleep.
In her dreams, she saw Chloe.
The Chloe in her dream was short and petite, and they were in a familiar yet unfamiliar house.
It was only much later that she remembered this place. It was her grandmother’s house, where she had spent most of her childhood.
In another scene, her grandmother sat on a fabric-covered round stool, reading a newspaper underneath the sunlight filtering in through the windows. Han Feixu sat on the floor nearby, taking out things one by one from a nearby cabinet.
Grandma didn’t care about her playing with the decorations inside the cabinet, but strictly forbade Han Feixu from touching the safe next to the cabinet. While her hand was reaching into a hollowed-out ivory ball decoration, she glanced at Grandma surreptitiously.
Seeing Grandma wasn’t looking, she quietly crept over to the safe. Last time, when Grandma took money from the safe to pay for cleaning fees, she secretly noted down the password her Grandma put in. She wasn’t sure if Grandma had changed it, but she was going to try and see what was inside.
Just as she reached for the safe, the doorbell suddenly rang. Grandma called out, but received no response. She had to stand up and open the door. Taking this opportunity, Han Feixu quickly opened the safe. There were many things inside, but Han Feixu had a specific target in mind. She had seen Grandma’s jewelry box inside the safe long ago, but no matter how much she pleaded, Grandma never allowed her to look at it.
Finding that jewelry box, she stretched her hand to take it out. After closing the safe, she immediately stood up. Afraid that Grandma would return soon, she opened the box and found a bracelet shaped like a twisted doughnut* inside. She curiously looked at it for a couple of seconds before putting the bracelet on her wrist. The bracelet was too big, and her arm was too thin. She had to use her other hand to hold it in place. Then she hid the box in the deepest part of the bookshelf installed above the cabinet. (*T/N: The twisted doughnut = ?? which is more accurately translated as fried dough twist and has a braided look to it)
She was about to run back to her room when she suddenly heard a man’s voice at the door. She recognized that voice; every time she heard it, something terrible happened in her house. Han Feixu furrowed her brows, walked to the entrance, and saw that her grandfather had returned.
He was accompanied by two women—the older one was dressed extravagantly, while the younger one was staring straight at her.
T/N:
Ye Mingxin’s bracelet should look something like this: CLICK HERE