Chapter 50: Sophistication

Anan nodded. “Yes, but I can’t beat them.”

Lu Yan crouched down and patted his son’s head. “Are you scared?”

Anan nodded hard. “I am!”

“If you’re scared, you can admit defeat now. Daddy won’t laugh at you. After all, you’re still little.” Lu Yan looked at his son. That’s what he said, but in his heart, he thought differently.

His son could admit defeat, but not before trying.

A smile flickered in Anan’s dark eyes. “I want to give it a try.”

Lu Yan breathed a sigh of relief and stood up. “Go ahead!”

Soon the children gathered again in the center, hugging their knees, exposing one foot as they hopped and charged at each other.

Anan had to try several times before he managed to lift his knee and hold it.

“Anan, come over here!” a child called, waving him over.

Just then, an adult stepped forward. “Be careful, Anan is still small. Don’t be reckless.”

“We know. As long as he’s willing to admit defeat, that’s fine. Otherwise Grandpa will only praise him for everything, as if he can do it all,” another child laughed.

Anan hopped in place a few times, finally getting the hang of it, then charged forward with his knees hugged tightly.

Soon enough, Anan was knocked down. But with adults keeping order, as soon as the knee he was holding touched the ground, he was considered out, and no one would keep pushing him. So Anan just took a fall and quickly got back up.

Shen Qingyi couldn’t bring herself to watch her son, but Lu Yan looked on with lively interest as his boy failed again and again, only to get back up and charge once more.

Anan didn’t feel hurt at all; in fact, he was exhilarated.

Soon, all the fair-skinned children turned into little mud creatures.

“Haha, Anan lost! He’s not the strongest, and not the prettiest anymore!” one of the kids laughed happily.

Anan shouted, “Losing is still a lot of fun!”

“Haha!”

Lu Yan looked at his son with satisfaction. Only when they were called for dinner did he scoop Anan up, hoisting him onto his shoulder, and headed for the water basin to wash up.

Shen Qingyi’s feelings were complicated.

After dinner, on the way home, Anan was cradled in Lu Yan’s arms the whole time.

Both their clothes were smeared with mud, but neither paid it any mind. When Cheng Youqing came out and saw them, she couldn’t help but ask, “Anan, you’re covered in mud! Won’t your mother scold you when you get home?”

Lu Yan laughed. “I’ll do the washing!”

Once home, Anan darted toward the backyard, but was stopped by Lu Yan. “Daddy will take you to the river to bathe.”

“Yay!”

Father and son grabbed soap and towels and headed out.

Cheng Youqing stared in astonishment, then Shen Qingyi said, “If your son keeps this up, he’ll grow up rough. Lu Yan may look gentle, but there’s a wild streak buried deep inside him.”

Shen Qingyi looked perfectly at ease. “It’s fine—saves me trouble. How did your talk go today?”

Only then did Cheng Youqing remember her own affairs. “Oh, not bad. I told him relationships take effort from both sides. Let’s try for half a year. If it works, we’ll marry; if not, that’s that.”

“You’re quite straightforward.”

“It saves trouble. And he has a job—working with Xia Xiyue on business in the capital. He makes over a hundred yuan a month—a proper high salary.” Cheng Youqing was quite pleased about that.

“Is it stable?”

“Are you stable?” Cheng Youqing shot back, then laughed. “You’re not stable either, but you’re doing better and better. Thanks for everything. I’ll just go with the flow for now and report back to my mother later.”

“Good.”

Cheng Youqing sighed again.

Shen Qingyi was a bit surprised. “What’s wrong? Are you still not satisfied?”

“I only realized today how hard it is for you, mingling in their circle—always watching people’s faces, being edged out.” Cheng Youqing had only known the Xia family had money and treated Shen Qingyi well; she hadn’t realized that even in the capital, the Xia family had to curry favor just to get by.

Shen Qingyi’s livelihood was no easy feat.

Shen Qingyi smiled. “I just work for the Xia family to earn my living. What others think doesn’t concern me much.”

“Don’t go next time! It wouldn’t look good if Lu Yan found out.” Cheng Youqing reminded her.

“He’s Anan’s father. Since we’ve decided to live together from now on, there’s no need to hide anything from him. Better than misunderstanding later,” said Shen Qingyi.

Cheng Youqing understood, and was surprised as well. “So you’re not planning to divorce him?”

“If he doesn’t feel wronged, I don’t want to bring it up either. If he ever changes his mind, I won’t stop him.” Lu Yan had always fulfilled his responsibilities as a husband.

As for feelings, she wanted to try. If affection grew, so be it. If not, as Aunt Xia Guifen said, she could still live a good life; at least he truly cared for Anan.

“He’ll fall for you eventually. Compared to that Chen Haixia, you’re better in every way.” In Cheng Youqing’s eyes, Shen Qingyi had always been admired by others.

Only after visiting the Qian family today did she feel the stark contrast. Even as an outsider, it was hard to bear; she wondered how Qingyi coped with such a shift in fortune.

Shen Qingyi simply smiled and said nothing.

After Cheng Youqing left, Shen Qingyi returned to her room, fetched fresh clothes, and went to the bathhouse to wash up. She changed into something loose and comfortable.

Back in her room, she took out the handbag Xia Xiyue had given her and sat at her desk, studying its design in detail.

When father and son returned from their bath, Lu Yan immediately heard a familiar melody coming from Shen Qingyi’s room: “So sweet… your smile is so sweet, just like flowers blooming in the spring breeze…”

His restless heart suddenly relaxed.

Hearing Anan’s voice, Shen Qingyi stepped out, only to see father and son swaggering in, both shirtless.

She quickly covered her eyes. “Lu Yan, could you… could you please be a bit more careful with Anan?”

With that, she retreated into her room.

Lu Yan was a bit baffled by his wife’s reaction. All the men came home shirtless after washing in the river.

But since she didn’t like it, Lu Yan quickly hung their washed, wet clothes on the backyard clothesline, then took Anan into their room to change.

Anan grinned at Lu Yan. “Doudou’s mom always scolds my mom for being too particular.”

“Then let’s be a little more particular,” Lu Yan said. He knew that raising Anan had already broken too many of his wife’s rules. Where he could compromise, he would.

Anan’s little eyes darted. “But they say Mom is raising me into a little girl. I don’t want to be a little girl. I want to do what boys like.”

Lu Yan suddenly felt he’d missed out on so much of his son’s life. “What do you like to do?”

“Seeing who can pee farther than Doudou, swimming in the river in just shorts, and playing fighting games like today. Although I lost a lot, I still feel a bit regretful.” Anan’s eyes shone as he spoke.

Hearing his son mention regret, Lu Yan was a little surprised. He asked, “Do you know why you lost?”

“I’m younger, not as strong, and I never played before.”

Lu Yan laughed. “So, it’s no surprise you lost. Knowing why you lost means it doesn’t really count as losing. After all, these games aren’t played only once. For you, Anan, this is just the beginning.”

Anan brightened up at that. “Yeah! Dad, have you ever lost?”