Volume One, Chapter 139: Girlfriend vs. New Dad

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[You finally remembered me…]

[Aggrieved.jpg]

A plaintive message.

A big-faced cat emoji with two pools of tears in its eyes.

An overwhelming wave of grievance and accusation.

Sang Wan: …

[What did you do today?]

[Missed you.]

[…You didn’t go back to the old residence? Didn’t you meet up with any friends?]

[No.]

[Then where are you now?]

[Photo.jpg]

The photo Lou Ye sent showed the night view outside the windows of the hillside villa.

Reflected in the bright glass, one could also see the corner of a set of loungewear.

It was covered in wrinkles.

Who knew how long he had been sitting beside the floor-to-ceiling window?

Her mind filled with images of him sitting alone in that vast house, bored and absent-minded, his lonely back radiating desolation.

Sang Wan’s heart ached.

[Why did you go back there to live?]

[Living on the twentieth floor, I can never stop my feet from wanting to come downstairs and find you. But I don’t want to disturb your world for two, so…]

[Little Mu really likes you. Besides, we don’t think you’re in the way at all! Didn’t the three of us have a wonderful time at the amusement park last week?]

[But do you like me?]

She wanted to say, That’s not the point!

The point was that he lived on the twentieth floor and could come downstairs whenever he wanted. He would always be welcome.

But as she looked at that question in the chat window, Sang Wan curved her lips and answered obediently.

[I do. Lou Ye, I like you very much!]

[Then…can we have dinner together tomorrow? Just the two of us. You and me.]

She wanted to say that she couldn’t exactly send Little Mu home early.

He would be sad.

Her fingers had just typed the words when her mind filled with images of Lou Ye spending the entire day alone in that enormous house, lonely, cold, and pitiful.

Sang Wan decided to call Lu Jinyan early the next day.

She would ask him to pick up Lu Mu before dinner, just as he had the previous week.

That way, Lu Mu could go to bed early.

And she could fulfill…her duties as a girlfriend.

At the thought of being a girlfriend, Sang Wan’s cheeks grew warm.

[Of course. What would you like to eat?]

[Let’s eat out!]

[All right.]

[Seven tomorrow evening. The rooftop restaurant at Imperial View Tower.]

Sang Wan fell silent for a moment.

The rooftop restaurant at Imperial View Tower offered the most beautiful view of the capital’s nightscape.

But precisely because of that, getting a table there was nearly impossible.

For their wedding anniversary the previous year, she had called a month in advance to make a reservation, only to be told that bookings were already filled for the next three months.

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Yet now, Lou Ye was saying they would eat there tomorrow evening.

She wanted to suggest another place.

But a tiny voice leaped in her heart: He was Lou Ye!

Sang Wan smiled.

[All right! See you tomorrow night!]

[Sang Wan, I love you!]

Her heartbeat stopped.

Sang Wan froze.

The next instant, the chat window showed that the message had been withdrawn.

When it appeared again, it had become something else.

[Sang Wan, good night!]

Beside the floor-to-ceiling window of the hillside villa, regret filled Lou Ye’s eyes and brows.

He was supposed to say those words while looking into her eyes tomorrow night.

How had he sent them by accident?

She probably…hadn’t seen them, right?

Forget it.

Never mind!

In any case, tomorrow—no, today.

Lou Ye glanced at his phone screen, which had already passed midnight, his expression bright and unrestrained.

In nineteen hours, he would be able to look openly into her eyes and tell her that he loved her.

At worst, he could send it again at this time tomorrow.

His spirits bubbled with delight.

Only a moment ago, the house had seemed as empty as a haunted castle.

Now he was already imagining the blissful scenes of Sang Wan moving in, the two of them coming and going together.

Lou Ye stretched lazily, then rose and ambled toward the bedroom.

…

The night passed without dreams.

Sang Wan slept wonderfully.

When her face began to itch, she rubbed here and scratched there.

But it was as though an annoying mosquito were deliberately harassing her.

The itching spread everywhere.

When she opened her eyes again, she found Lu Mu beside her, covering his mouth as he giggled, while Two-S sat sprawled over his shoulder, its face filled with speechless disdain.

“Mommy, the sun is already shining on your bottom…”

Lu Mu clutched Two-S’s tail and scratched Sang Wan’s face again.

“Time to get up…”

This was the scene at the Lu family villa whenever she woke Lu Mu.

Only now, he was the one waking her.

Sang Wan sat up, her good mood soaring from the depths of her heart.

“Ah! The monster is coming…”

“My mommy is a superhero. I’m not afraid of monsters!”

“Meow…”

A mother, a son, and a cat, accompanied by tiny cat hairs drifting through the air.

Their cheerful laughter and playful cries floated far beyond the half-open window.

For breakfast, they had fragrant pork-filled pastries with preserved vegetables.

Lu Mu’s little hands were slick with grease, yet he still remembered to ask Sang Wan, “Mommy, why haven’t I seen Uncle Ye?”

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“Because he wanted Mommy to devote all her attention to you…”

Sang Wan smiled and wiped the grease from the corner of Lu Mu’s mouth.

“Oh.”

Lu Mu answered, his little mind apparently turning something over.

After a long while, he asked with a solemn expression, “Mommy, if you marry Uncle Ye, won’t that mean I’ll have two daddies?”

“...Cough, cough, cough…”

A mouthful of millet porridge went down the wrong way.

Sang Wan coughed for quite some time before recovering.

“That’s a matter for adults. You’re just a little rascal, so all you need to do is grow up happily and healthily! You don’t need to worry about anything else!”

Especially not the matter of having two fathers.

“I’m not a little rascal!”

Lu Mu puffed out his chest and lifted his chin.

“I’ll be six years old soon. I’m already a little man!”

“All right, all right, a little man…”

Sang Wan smiled until her eyes curved.

Remembering that she had promised to have dinner with Lou Ye that evening, Sang Wan pinched Lu Mu’s cheek.

“Would it be all right if Daddy came to pick you up around sunset?”

Lu Mu’s dark eyes rolled mischievously.

“Are you going to have a candlelit dinner with Uncle Ye?”

Uh…

That probably…counted, didn’t it?

While Sang Wan hesitated, Lu Mu seemed to have already guessed the answer. He nodded repeatedly with a grin.

“All right!”

“Mommy, if my new daddy is Uncle Ye, I’ll be very happy. Do your best!”

Watching her son encourage her with such a solemn expression, Sang Wan could not help laughing.

She remembered how, back then, he had wanted Lin Zhaozhao to become his new mother.

A child’s affection was truly that simple.

Whoever was willing to play with him, whoever could make him happy, was someone he would like.

She simply had no idea what Lu Jinyan would think upon hearing those words.

She sent Lu Jinyan a message, asking him to pick up Lu Mu at five.

Lu Jinyan quickly replied that he would.

At exactly five, Sang Wan’s phone rang.

Lu Jinyan said he had arrived downstairs and asked whether she would bring Lu Mu down or whether he should come up to get him.

“Wait a few minutes. I’ll bring him down.”

After hanging up, Sang Wan took Lu Mu by the hand, helped him put on his shoes, and went downstairs.

The moment they stepped out of the apartment building, they saw Lu Jinyan standing in front of his Mercedes.

He was holding a bouquet of pink spray Juliet roses.

Sang Wan’s favorite kind of rose.

“Wanwan, these are for you!”

Handing her the bouquet, Lu Jinyan said gently, “I asked the florist. They said these flowers are harmless to cats.”

It was difficult to reject someone offering such a warm smile.

After a moment’s hesitation, Sang Wan accepted the flowers.

“Thank you.”

Lu Jinyan seemed to let out a breath of relief. The light in his eyes grew visibly gentler and brighter.

He opened the rear door and let Lu Mu climb in.

Then he called out to Sang Wan, who was about to leave.

“Wanwan, are you free tomorrow? Could we sit down and have a proper talk?”