I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 92
The two of them stayed downstairs for a long time, whispering words to each other until they were sleepy. When they moved towards their bedroom, they discovered the little spy sleeping against the railing.
Han Feixu and Ye Mingxin: “…..”
They didn’t need to ask, the little kid must’ve sneaked out to eavesdrop on them again. Since neither of them left midway this time, Yiyi didn’t have to sneak back to her room. Then, as she continued to listen to their conversation, sleep eventually overcame her and she promptly fell asleep on the floor.
With a resigned expression, Han Feixu walked over and picked her up to put her
Han Feixu, in a hushed tone, righteously criticized Ye Mingxin: “See, this must be one of your genes. At such a young age, she’s already eavesdropping on adults’ conversations repeatedly. She’s even good at hiding herself so no one would find out.”
“…But I don’t like eavesdropping,” Ye Mingxin felt wronged, “If I recall correctly, you were the one who was always defiant behind the adults’ backs as a kid. Skipping classes, copying homework off of others, ignoring what the adults said – weren’t those your usual antics?”
“….”
Forget it, all crows under the sky are black* after all. Let’s not point fingers anymore = = (*T/N: chinese idiom that means “no matter where you are, bad people will always be bad” )
After Yan Yuerong returned home, she held back for a day without telling anyone about the incident. The next day was the 29th, the day for pasting Lunar New Year couplets* and so the whole family was present, even Ye MingDe, who was usually away. (T/N: these are like red wall stickers with good luck couplets/words on them PIC)
Upon returning, MingDe’s first order of business was to sleep in and he refused to get up until 10:30 a.m. When he saw his niece downstairs, he immediately ran over with a smile, “Oh, isn’t this our little beauty? Hurry, call me ‘’Uncle’, and I’ll give you a big red envelope.”
Yiyi, holding a Chinese knot* wider than herself, blinked and chirped, “Uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle, uncle. uncle….” (*T/N: A chinese knot = single cord of red thread that is woven into shapes that are supposed to symbolize good luck PIC)
A certain uncle: “…”
After a year of not seeing her, his little niece had turned into a money-asking machine.
Ye Ming’An didn’t return to the old residence yesterday. Yan Yuerong figured she was too scared to return. After pondering for a while, she approached Ye Mingxin, “After lunch, you take Feixu and Yiyi back to your place, and then come back early tomorrow.”
Usually, Yan Yuerong wished they could stay longer, but today she took the initiative to ask them to leave early. Ye Mingxin glanced at the harmonious atmosphere around her, “Are you going to confront her directly?”
Yan Yuerong huffed, “Of course. If she’s brave enough to say those things, then she’s brave enough to face the consequences. Listen to me now, you three should return first. Some things are better not discussed with you around, and….”
She glanced at Han Feixu, who was decorating the windows and then sent a look to Ye Mingxin.
Han Feixu isn’t stupid and can handle important matters with a rational mind, but she is known to be soft-hearted. If someone begged her with tears, she’d find it hard to remain unmoved.
Ye Mingxin understood, “We’ll leave after lunch. But take it easy, you don’t want to upset Grandpa during Lunar New Year.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll stick to the facts. It’s normal for the younger generation to be disobedient or ignorant and a scolding or punishment won’t upset your grandpa.”
After lunch, Han Feixu and the others left. MingDe, reluctant to part with Yiyi, wanted to follow and stay at his sister’s for the night, but Yan Yuerong stopped him. MingDe would be her great support soon and she needed him to help set the stage.
After Ye Mingxin and the others left, Yan Yuerong casually mentioned to Grandpa that Ming’An hadn’t been home for a long time, and on a day meant for family reunion, she shouldn’t be wandering outside. Grandpa agreed with her words and immediately ordered the second aunt-in-law to call Ming’An back while also reminding her to make Ye MingYong, that unfilial grandson of his, to call more often. He didn’t usually mind their comings and goings, but with Lunar New Year approaching, all Ye Family members must return home.
Grandpa’s word was law in the family. Once he spoke, those two had no choice but to return. Ye Ming’An had specifically checked in with her mother but found that her mother didn’t know about the matter yet. Han Feixu was gone too, and the family looked normal as usual.
Ye Ming’An had the same idea as Zhong Yuanyuan. She thought Han Feixu was holding onto the recording for a bigger move or to blackmail her with later. She secretly cursed Han Feixu in her heart for being an evil person, and when she returned to the Ye Family’s old residence, she realized her cursing was right on the money = =
Yan Yuerong played the entire conversation between Han Feixu and Ye Ming’An in front of everyone. Grandpa was living, his face turned pale with anger while Grandma remained confused in her addled state. The reactions from her own family were more interesting, with a whole mix of emotions from everyone except for Ye Mingyong and Ye Pinlan.
The former didn’t care about such matters, while the latter treated the situation as an entertaining spectacle. In his heart, Yan Yuerong was more like his grandmother, and Han Feixu more like his aunt than Ye Ming’An ever could be.
That day, Ye Ming’An lost all face. Yan Yuerong was relentless, while Ye MingDe accused her of being a white-eyed wolf*, and even her own parents, who initially defended her, joined in on the criticism when they realized they couldn’t win. Especially her mother. The recording clearly revealed she had shared what her mother said about Han Feixu behind her back with Han Feixu. Her mother, baffled by how she could have raised such a foolish daughter, felt faint with rage. (*T/N: idiom for an ungrateful person)
Grandpa made the final decision, and after saying that they should’ve disciplined her more, lowered Ming’An’s monthly allowance to fifty thousand yuan*. He said he would restore her allowance only once she’d learned to respect others. (*T/N: ~$7000, lol I wished I had allowance like that )
Although Ye Ming’An’s father managed their Xiuzhi Daily Chemicals company, he wasn’t the true owner as most shares were still held by Grandpa. The reason behind it was he feared his second son would squander all their family’s hard-earned wealth so he wasn’t as hands-off as he was with his first son, Ye Junyuan. In other words, the second son’s family was essentially living off of Grandpa.
Fifty thousand yuan might be a fortune to ordinary people, but for Ye Ming’An, it wasn’t enough for even a few outfits. She was so furious that she whined and made trouble, but was instead ridiculed by Ye MingYong.
The next day, she had to swallow her pride and set aside her resentment as she acted humbly towards Han Feixu.
In response, Han Feixu adopted an air of superiority reminiscent of her role as Imperial Concubine Wen Shan, and the look on her face nearly made Ye Ming’An vomit three liters of blood.
The third floor of the old residence was where Han Feixu and Ye Mingxin lived after their wedding before moving. The room they claimed as their bedroom remained unchanged even now.
Many old items were still there, like an iPhone 5, its side as thick as a centimeter, and now considered a collectible antique. After examining it, Han Feixu set it down and joined Ye Mingxin, who was setting up a camera given by Qi Yu for a half-hour livestream. The livestream was set up to send Lunar New Year’s wishes to Ye Mingxin’s fans and share some news.
In preparation for this livestream, Ye Mingxin had decorated their balcony to look more cozy than usual and even adjusted the angle several times before finally being satisfied. She sat on a fabric stool, looking homely in her tight-fitting cashmere sweater.
Han Feixu pulled up a chair opposite of her, flipping the chair around so she could rest her arms on the chair back, ““Have you prepared a script?”
“No, I’ll just say whatever pops into my head,” Ye Mingxin replied, fixing her hair with a mirror, then looking up, “Isn’t that how livestreams are supposed to be? The more natural, the better the audience likes it.”
That is what people say but….
“But wouldn’t it be embarrassing if you can’t think of anything to say and suddenly freeze up?”
Ye Mingxin smiled slightly, “Don’t worry, I have a lot to say today, so there’s no risk of me freezing up.”
Han Feixu hummed noncommittal. She took an orange from the fruit plate nearby and began to peel it while watching Ye Mingxin open her makeup bag. After a moment, she suddenly looked at Han Feixu, “Did you bring any makeup today?”
“No, since I came with my makeup on,” Han Feixu shook her head, then posed flirtatiously, supporting her chin with both hands, her voice sweet, “I dressed up so beautifully today just to anger your cousin.”
Ye Mingxin chuckled and looked down, then said, “Go put on your slippers.”
“It’s fine, I don’t feel cold.”
Ye Mingxin frowned slightly, “You should still put them on. The floor is dirty, and it’s not good for your health to go barefoot on such cold floors.”
Han Feixu felt she was being particularly fussy today. The floors at Ye Mingxin’s grandpa’s house were heated and cleaned daily by servants so not even a speck of dust was left. How could such floors be dirty and cold?
With great reluctance, she stood up to find her slippers.
As she was looking for her slippers, Ye Mingxin had already started the livestream.
When the news came out that Ye Mingxin was going live today, many fans started eagerly waiting in the chatroom as early as this morning. When the host finally came online, their comments nearly crashed the stream.
Ye Mingxin greeted everyone with Lunar New Year wishes, and Han Feixu, who was bending over to look for her slippers, turned her head when she heard the sound of Ye Mingxin’s and immediately pouted.
Why was Ye Mingxin smiling so flirtatiously at the camera? Hmmph, it’s simply not ethical!
There was a large oval carpet placed on the balcony area. Han Feixu had kicked her slippers aside when she stepped on the carpet and so she found them under the bed after searching for a while. She then returned to her chair, and continued to eat her orange while watching Ye Mingxin conduct her livestream.
After the Lunar New Year’s greetings, it was time to promote her movie. The wrap-up was delayed, and so was the release date. The initial release date coincided with ?Barrier Lake? but now it was nearly a month later than the initial date. Han Feixu didn’t mind and she was quite confident that she had outperformed Han Yiren.
After all, she had put so much effort into her filming, and in terms of script and plot, ?The Sleeper? definitely had the upper hand.
After finishing the orange, Han Feixu started munching on a pear. She had eaten very little that morning, so she was very hungry now.
On the other side, after Ye Mingxin finished promoting the movie, she picked a few comments from fans to respond to directly. Realizing that their goddess was replying to comments personally, the chat exploded with even more messages and came at Ye Mingxin’s screen like a tsunami.
One fan mentioned how much they loved her portrayal of Ying Xiu in her recent drama and asked if she would take on more TV dramas next year. Ye Mingxin replied apologetically with a smile, “Probably not. I’ve been very busy these years and owe it to my family a lot of lost time. Starting next year, I plan to gradually pull back on my work and focus on family. Although I won’t be retiring fully, I won’t be doing as many films as before.
The chat was immediately overwhelmed with wailing. Han Feixu opened her Weibo and glanced at the live broadcast only to see the screen filled with pleas of “No!” and “Don’t go!”. Han Feixu felt a little emotional. When she retires one day, will there be many fans crying and begging her with words like “No, please, don’t do it~” as well?
…Wait a second, why does that sound so strange?
Ye Mingxin continued to answer her fans’ comments, “I can’t say for sure what the exact schedule will be, but it might be one film per year or one every few years, depending on if I feel a connection to the film. If there’s a script or role I like, then I’ll take it.”
As the cries of dismay grew louder, Ye Mingxin made a regretful expression, “I can’t help it. My child is still young, and both her other mother and I are busy. Her mom has been taking care of her for the past few years, and now it’s my turn to take care of her. Otherwise, when the child grows up, she’ll blame me for not spending more time with her.”
Han Feixu looked at her with mixed feelings. Although Ye Mingxin was speaking the truth, placing all the blame on Yiyi was a little too evil. By saying this was for Yiyi, her fans couldn’t not agree to her semi-retirement. After all, a parent needs to take care of their child. She may be their idol, but she was also a mom and how can you ask a mother to put their career before their child?
When Ye Mingxin mentioned the child and the other mom, the fans’ focus shifted. They already knew their goddess was a lesbian, and now they strongly demanded that the goddess also show her wife and child in the live stream, or else they would riot.
Their threats were merely for show, a mere expression of their faux anger for the sake of presence. But unexpectedly, Ye Mingxin stopped talking for a moment and then raised her head to look over at Han Feixu, who was still nibbling away at her pear, “Little Xu, could you go downstairs and call Yiyi up here?”
…What the-?
…Why are you saying my name?
…The fu*k????
Han Feixu was so shocked that she dropped the pear she was holding. She stared wide-eyed at Ye Mingxin, who looked back at her unflinchingly, her voice becoming even gentler, “Hurry up, the fans are waiting. It’s Lunar New Year and we should let Yiyi also give everyone a Lunar New Year’s greeting.”
With that, she shifted her gaze back to the camera, smiling, “Please wait a moment, she’ll be right here. Now do you all have any more questions? You can ask them now.”
There were many questions.
They had countless questions.
But thousands of words could all be condensed into one sentence.
— Ye Mingxin and Han Feixu, you bit*hes, you were married this entire time??!!!
It took Han Feixu about three seconds to recover from her shock, then she regained her composure. What has been said can not be taken back, like water that has been spilled. They had agreed a long time ago to go public and Ye Mingxin had always mentioned about finding the right day. Now that she thought about it, Lunar New Year’s Eve seemed quite appropriate. ?Return of the Phoenix? has been airing for twenty days now, so if they revealed their status now it wouldn’t seem like they were just trying to promote traffic for their drama. And since it was Lunar New Year’s Eve, everyone was probably in a good mood and more forgiving of them for dropping this on them.
Han Feixu wasn’t sure if this was a spur-of-the-moment decision or if Ye Mingxin had planned this all along, but with several million excited fans waiting, she hurried downstairs to bring Yiyi up.
Yiyi was playing games with Ye Pinlan. After Han Feixu fetched her, they hurried upstairs. On the way, she kept instructing Yiyi on what to say.
Upon entering, Han Feixu let Yiyi go to Ye Mingxin’s side. Yiyi looked at Ye Mingxin, then back at Han Feixu. Ye Mingxin told her, “Look here, this is the camera, lots of people are watching you. What do you want to say to everyone?”
Yiyi didn’t understand the significance of a livestream. Although her Mama had emphasized saying “Happy New Year” countless times, Han Feixu had spoken too fast and urgently and so Yiyi, who was rubbing her, spoke too fast and urgently. Yiyi rubbed her face tiredly. She couldn’t remember what her Mama said at all. She looked at Han Feixu, “Mama, what year thing was I supposed to say?”
Han Feixu: “……”
She quickly mouthed to her, “Happy New Year!”
Yiyi couldn’t read her lips and said dumbfoundedly, “Happy what?”
It’s over, her daughter will definitely be called an idiot from now on…
Many fans, however, were charmed by Yiyi’s confused remarks, but the strong fans stood their ground as they flooded the screen with one comment over and over again.
— Mama, we dare you to show your face!
Han Feixu wished she could find a block of tofu to bash her head against. With her face in her hands, she couldn’t bear to look at them anymore. Ye Mingxin stood up and had Yiyi sit on the stool. Since the stool was too high, she had to lift Yiyi onto it. Once seated, Yiyi’s legs began to dangle restlessly in the air.
Ye Mingxin gently pressed down, and Yiyi immediately understood as she stopped kicking her legs. Ye Mingxin then walked over and grabbed Han Feixu’s hand.
As she felt herself being pulled, Han Feixu realized what Ye Mingxin was going to do. After a moment’s hesitation, she joined her.
Both of them sat beside Yiyi and Ye Mingxin spoke first, “I’m sorry for not telling everyone from the very beginning. I didn’t want my loved one to suffer from cyberbullying or stalking, so I chose to hide it. I hope it’s not too late now, and I’d like to introduce you to my family. First, this is my wife, Han Feixu.”
Ye Mingxin’s voice had always been naturally neutral and cold. So when her voice softened, her words sounded even more convincing than usual. Furthermore, the various rumors and hints from the past few weeks had already prepared everyone. Even those who don’t follow the entertainment industry have heard of a possible relationship between the two, let alone the fans of Ye Mingxin and Han Feixu.
From the moment Han Feixu showed her face, the live audience, which was already at twenty million, instantly increased by another ten million, half of whom were passersby just there for the spectacle while the other half were fans of Han Feixu.
Han Feixu also smiled, “We got together when we started filming ?Blossoming Dreams?together and then married after dating for about a year. Now, it’s almost been seven years since we’ve been married. We’d like to thank all the paparazzi who cared enough for our family to not have photographed us together these past few years.”
Although her words sounded sincere, they were laced with sarcasm. In an instant, everyone felt a little disappointed in the usually hated paparazzi.
Eight years, and not a single agency was able to uncover their relationship!
Paparazzi, the whole country is disappointed in you.
After Ye Mingxin said a few more words, Yiyi finally managed to say “Happy New Year” completely, with the help of her Mama, and then she was allowed to leave and continue playing downstairs. Han Feixu and Ye Mingxin stayed in front of the camera to continue the broadcast.
They both answered as many questions as they could, as since they were going public, they might as well be thorough about it. They talked about their past, about how things will be like now in the future, and how neither of them was considering participating in couple-themed shows nor were they going to use this relationship to promote each other’s work. They also mentioned that there would be no more livestreams like this one again.
There were more questions for Han Feixu than for Ye Mingxin, as Han Feixu had disappeared from the public eye for several years. People were naturally curious, and now they could guess that Han Feixu must have taken a break from her career to get married and have a child.
There was also a very important question.
How did Han Feixu and Ye Mingxin have a child like Yiyi?!
Han Feixu smiled slightly, “I’m one-quarter French, and Cloe Dumont is my aunt. My genes lean more towards my Asian side, so it doesn’t show, but Yiyi’s genes lean towards her European ancestors more despite her parents’ genes.”
Fans were shocked.
They could understand a secret marriage.
They could also understand concealing a pregnancy.
But they couldn’t understand why Han Feixu hid the fact she was mixed-raced.
All celebrities wish they could be mixed-race*, so why did Han Feixu do the opposite?! Being low-key is one thing, but this was hiding a significant personal advantage! (*T/N: It’s true, in China mixed-raced people are considered really beautiful and treated with a lot of privilege. However, it depends on what type of race you’re mixed with (sorry, colorism is still a thing, unfortunately) and if you speak Chinese or not.)
Seeing the comments in the chat, Han Feixu innocently looked at the camera, “Is that considered an advantage? I’m also the prized disciple of Teacher Yang Dun, and I was the first violinist in the opening concert of the 2008 Beijing Youth Orchestra.”
Her description was so complex that those who weren’t interested in music couldn’t understand. These were people who only cared about pop music and celebrities, not classical music. Those watching the broadcast blinked and began searching for the Beijing Youth Orchestra and this person named Yang Dun.
After their search, they fell silent.
They still had one question though.
With such a background, talent, and experience, why on earth did you choose to enter the entertainment industry?!
Netizens were outraged at the loss of talent and began to comfort each other until one tremblingly pointed out a familiar pattern: “Doesn’t this seem familiar? It took several years in the entertainment industry before everyone realized that Ye Mingxin was actually the heiress of the Kangxuan Group, and her childhood friends and acquaintances were all significant figures, right?”
“… Oh.”
This must be the case of ‘birds of a feather flock together.’
After the livestream ended, the wounded netizens closed the page and went to their beds to lick their wounds. Han Feixu raised an eyebrow at Ye Mingxin, “Why didn’t you tell me beforehand that you wanted to go public today?”
“I decided on the spot. It would be a waste to dress up so beautifully only for our family to see,” Ye Mingxin said with a smile as she leaned in for a kiss, “Well done, Mrs. Ye.”
“Likewise, Mrs. Han.” Han Feixu, not wanting to argue, simply gave her a look and gave up.
Han Feixu was about to go check on Yiyi when suddenly Ye Mingxin grabbed her hand. She turned around and saw Ye Mingxin playing with their linked hands as she said, “How about we leave for Iceland on the second day of Lunar New Year?”
Han Feixu was surprised, “Can we even get tickets for a flight right now?”
“There’s no need to buy tickets, we can take our private get and make a stop in Switzerland before transferring.”
The Ye Family had landing agreements with Switzerland but not with Iceland. It was too late to apply now, but a stopover in Switzerland would make things much easier.
It felt like a spontaneous trip. However, Han Feixu felt pleased, “When will we return?”
“Whenever we want. As soon as we feel like coming back, we can return immediately. If we don’t want to, we can stay a few more days.”
Excited, Han Feixu nodded, “I’ll go tell Yiyi right now. Should we invite your parents to join us?”
“Yes, and let’s also invite MingDe. It’ll be like a family vacation.” Ye Mingxin suggested with a smile.
Hearing her answer, Han Feixu quickly ran off to spread the news. Ye Mingxin looked at her back with an unreadable expression, her mind busy with calculations.
If it were just the three of them, they would surely be exhausted by their playful child and wouldn’t be able to enjoy any alone time together. Bringing the grandparents and siblings would mean having more people to help watch over Yiyi, especially Ye MingDSe who had lots of energy and was perfect for taking care of children.