Chapter 158: Unwarranted Laughter

As for the real reason why her mother disliked Lu Yan, she would probably never tell him in this lifetime.

Although she felt she had long since drifted apart from her mother, it did not change the fact that she had personally experienced how deeply her mother once loved and cherished her.

In the dead of night, her mother would carry her on her back to see a doctor; whenever she saw pretty clothes on other people's daughters, she would insist on buying a set for her too.

If she hadn't become a mother herself, she probably would have never trusted her again, purely based on those four years of indifference.

After hearing Shen Qingyi out, Lu Yan stroked her back with a heart full of tenderness. "Alright, don't overthink it. Just do whatever your heart tells you to do. Even in the worst-case scenario, you still have me."

He had never experienced the goodness of parents, nor could he fully understand Shen Qingyi's trust in Aunt Han, but he respected her.

After finishing this topic, Shen Qingyi's gaze fell upon Lu Yan's desk, which was littered with papers. "What have you been busy with today?"

"I'm designing new styles for Uncle Hong's patent. We need to develop ten different designs within two months so he can start production as soon as possible, and you can get your second payment," Lu Yan said.

Shen Qingyi smiled. "Aren't you afraid that I'll run away with the money and never come back?"

"If someone would run away just for this amount of money, their vision would have to be far too short-sighted," he said casually, pressing his face against the crown of her head and rubbing it gently.

Shen Qingyi suddenly realized that Lu Yan no longer bothered to hide the arrogance deeply ingrained in his bones when talking to her. Her voice carried a hint of a smile. "Does that mean you'll be making even more money?"

Lu Yan gave a soft hum of assent. "Money is merely the most superficial way to satisfy desires. Social status and respect come second, while a sense of accomplishment and contributing value are the highest-tier survival experiences. So you must learn to play the long game to catch a big fish."

Shen Qingyi suddenly found Lu Yan rather endearing, and finally understood his indifferent attitude toward money. "Yet out of all those things you mentioned, I'm only getting the money."

"How could that be? As long as you stay with me, social status and respect come right along with it. As for the sense of accomplishment and contributing value, aren't those just me and An'an?"

Shen Qingyi: !!!

"I'm rather shallow!" Shen Qingyi's lips curved upward.

Lu Yan tidied her hair. "It doesn't matter. As long as you want it, I will also have plenty of money."

Shen Qingyi felt that Lu Yan's mouth had suddenly become quite eloquent.

The television shows Lu Yan had been binge-watching over the past few nights had not gone to waste; studying was, after all, one of his strongest skills.

He seemed to have finally figured out how to coax his wife.

"Second Brother, Second Sister-in-law, dinner is ready!" Lu Qing's voice echoed from outside.

The two of them quickly pulled apart. Shen Qingyi smoothed down her clothes and, feeling a guilty conscience, raised her voice to reply, "Coming!"

Lu Yan, on the other hand, walked over quite naturally, pulled the door open, and stepped out with his long legs.

After lunch, Shen Qingyi turned on the television to continue watching, flipping through various channels to catch the news.

Lu Yan came out to get a glass of water and saw his wife standing right next to the television, turning the channel knob. He said gently, "Even chasing breaking news doesn't happen that fast.

The public opinion only started brewing this morning. Now that Wang Mingyi has been sent to the police station, the earliest we can see the Li family's interview will be around six-thirty this evening."

Shen Qingyi looked up in surprise. "How do you know?"

"A deduction. Yesterday, the television station's interview time was six o'clock, and it didn't air until ten-thirty at night. There was a four-hour gap in between, so from the interview to the broadcast, it takes at least four hours.

Li Qiong is pregnant, and with an incident like this, she will inevitably be emotionally agitated; she is definitely not the best person to interview.

The only direct party those reporters could interview is Li Wang. Even if they stake out his workplace, they would have to wait until he gets off work at midnight.

Subtracting the interview time and the reporters' travel time back and forth, about an hour is roughly enough. Although the preparation time before broadcasting doesn't take four hours, isn't the local station's current affairs news broadcasted at six-thirty?"

Shen Qingyi suddenly understood and turned off the television. "I'm going to take a nap!"

Just as Lu Yan was about to turn back to his room, he saw Lu Caiqing walking over to ask him, "Second Brother, you've been acting very abnormal today."

"What's abnormal about me?"

"You keep smiling for no reason."

Lu Yan immediately denied it. "No, I haven't. Did you see wrong?"

"How is that possible? My eyesight is great," Lu Caiqing said, pointing to her eyes, and continued, "You smiled during dinner, and you were smiling just now."

It was just bizarre; Second Brother was a man who rarely smiled.

Lu Yan was indeed in an exceptionally good mood, but surely it wasn't written all over his face, was it? He began to doubt himself slightly.

Seeing the absolute certainty on Lu Qing's face and having no evidence to refute it, the corners of his mouth flattened into a straight line. "I'm going back to my room to work."

With that, he hurried away.

Lu Caiqing leisurely walked over to the sofa, sat down, and turned on the television to find her favorite drama.

When afternoon school dismissal time arrived, the two of them went together to pick up An'an.

On the way back, An'an held his father's and mother's hands respectively, chattering away about what had happened at kindergarten.

Lu Yan responded to every single sentence.

Walking alongside them and listening in, Shen Qingyi felt the corners of her lips curve upward slightly. An'an was indeed a child well-suited to being taught by Lu Yan.

After answering An'an's question, Lu Yan looked up and saw his wife. Her lips bore a faint smile, her brows and eyes brimming with gentleness. As she gazed at the setting sun, the warm light falling upon her face made her look breathtakingly beautiful.

He thought to himself that once the matter regarding the professor was resolved, his wife would probably remain this way forever.

When the three of them returned home, Lu Caiqing had already prepared the meal.

After dinner, Shen Qingyi stationed herself in front of the television once again.

She switched to the current affairs news channel, and Lu Caiqing sat down beside her with a smile. "If you're in such a rush, why don't you come with me to set up the stall early tomorrow morning, and we can stop by Wang Chunhua's place on the way."

Shen Qingyi shook her head repeatedly. "I'm still not suited to show up in front of Wang Chunhua right now."

If He Xiangcao's affair led people to associate it with her father, then her appearance before Wang Chunhua would also easily make people suspect whether this matter had anything to do with her. Wang Chunhua's public exposure was so high right now; if she went, it would be difficult not to draw attention to herself.

After saying this, she added, "You shouldn't go either."

"Got it!"

With that, the two of them sat shoulder to shoulder on the sofa.

In his room, Lu Yan was intently helping his son modify a machine.

Switching a robot into a four-wheel-drive vehicle on the fly proved extremely difficult, and after failing multiple times, An'an looked a bit discouraged.

Looking at his son's puffed-up cheeks, Lu Yan smiled and comforted him, "Sometimes, failure is actually quite fun. Even genius scientists face failure as the norm when conducting research, and many accidental inventions come about precisely because of failure."

An'an felt his father was just trying to make him feel better. "Like what?"

Without stopping his hands, Lu Yan blurted out, "Like the telephone, the cardiac pacemaker, and the accidental invention of X-rays."

He then began telling An'an how those inventors had accidentally stumbled upon these inventions during failed experiments, and An'an listened with rapt attention.

Meanwhile, on the sofa outside, the current affairs news finally began broadcasting, and Shen Qingyi stared nervously at the news program's opening teaser.