The sound of footsteps grew louder at the park entrance as many people gathered in the same direction. When the mother and son rushed over and made their way through the crowd to the inner circle, the handsome man was kneeling on the ground, performing chest compressions on someone who had suddenly fallen ill.

All eyes were fixed on the man and the patient lying flat on the ground.

His hands were clasped together, long fingers rhythmically pressing down on the person’s chest. His head was bowed, hair falling forward and covering the edges of his brows. The scene around them was chaotic, but his expression remained calm, inexplicably putting others at ease.

The surroundings quieted. The onlookers waited anxiously for the patient to resume breathing and regain consciousness.

Shu Yuan suddenly came to a realization. No wonder the man had seemed so pleasing to the eye earlier; his features bore a striking resemblance to Xiao Man’s. He was Chen Zai.

She hadn’t even recognized him!

But she didn’t blame herself. Back when they were in the countryside, Chen Zai had dressed plainly and rarely spoke. If not for his outstanding looks, he could’ve easily vanished into a crowd without anyone noticing.

He had once concealed all his brilliance, quietly lying low like a snow-hidden leopard. He was nothing at all like the spirited and confident man he was now.

The patient regained a heartbeat and consciousness, slowly opening their eyes, and the crowd erupted into cheers and applause.

“Good thing there was a doctor here.”

“This man’s lucky. That doctor snatched him right back from the hands of the King of Hell.”

Amid the noisy chatter, Shu Yuan bent down and softly said to Xiao Man, “That’s your dad.”

Xiao Man’s mouth fell half open. “Wow.”

So Dad was that amazing, saving lives and healing the sick. One more point for Dad.

Chen Zai brushed the dust off his knees and stood up, scanning the crowd before asking in a steady voice, “Who’s the family member? The patient needs to be taken to the hospital for a checkup as soon as possible.”

“Alright, alright, we’ll go to the hospital right away.”

Once the crowd had dispersed, Shu Yuan took Xiao Man by the hand and walked up to greet him. “Dr. Chen, long time no see. I’m Shu Yuan, and this is Xiao Man.”

Chen Zai lifted his eyes to look her over. Good, at least she recognized him in the end.

The words “Dr. Chen” felt unfamiliar. She had only addressed him so lightly before she got pregnant. After that, it was like she had become a completely different person.

His gaze then shifted to Xiao Man’s delicate little face. The child’s eyes were pitch-black, his features distinct. Shu Yuan was right. Xiao Man did look a lot like him. Just from appearances alone, they could confirm their relation.

Noticing the way Chen Zai was examining Xiao Man, Shu Yuan picked the boy up, turned him so he faced forward, and wrapped her arms around his waist from behind to let Chen Zai get a better look. “He looks like you, doesn’t he? He’s your son.”

Compared to when he was just born, the child’s features had developed considerably. His facial structure now closely resembled Chen Zai’s.

If there was any difference, it was that Xiao Man’s eyes were bigger than his. That must have come from Shu Yuan, and he had inherited the best parts of her looks.

There was absolutely no way he could be Shen Zhongcheng’s child.

Chen Zai gave a reserved nod. “Mm.”

Was that an acknowledgment?

Good enough. As long as he admitted it.

So the acknowledgment turned out to be this simple.

Xiao Man spoke up in a crisp, clear voice to promote himself, “I’m a healthy and clean child, you know.”

“Call him Dad, Xiao Man,” Shu Yuan said.

The father and son kept their eyes on each other, but Xiao Man couldn’t bring himself to say it. His father was still observing him, unlike when he first met his mother, whose eyes had been filled with warmth.

Seeing that Xiao Man remained silent, Shu Yuan wanted to help strengthen the bond between father and son. Holding Xiao Man in her arms, she stretched her arms forward and said, “Why don’t you hold him?”

To her surprise, Xiao Man pulled back slightly, not wanting anyone but his mom to hold him. Chen Zai’s reaction was even more intense. He took a full step back and said calmly, “Sorry, I’m allergic to children.”

Shu Yuan: “……”

She had heard of people being allergic to peanuts or mangoes, but never to children.

Yet judging by his expression, he didn’t seem to be saying it just to avoid acknowledging the child.

Xiao Man was stunned. What did “allergic” mean? Why did Dad step back? Did it mean he didn’t like him? All the goodwill he had built up earlier when his dad saved someone was gone in an instant. Minus ten points for Dad.

Seeing the shocked faces of the mother and son, Chen Zai looked at them and said sincerely, “Sorry, Xiao Man.”

Shu Yuan took a step back and adjusted Xiao Man in her arms, holding him differently as she said, “Oh, it’s fine. What kind of allergy is it? Do you break out in hives or is it the kind that could kill you?”

Chen Zai answered honestly, “Red spots.”

His allergy to children had developed later in life. If he had to pinpoint when it started, it would be after Shu Yuan gave birth to Xiao Man. Since then, whenever he came into contact with children, red spots would appear on his skin.

Shu Yuan was genuinely curious. “This is the first time I’ve heard of someone being allergic to children. So, are you allergic to women too?”

Chen Zai looked at her earnest expression and fell silent. “……”

The conversation wasn’t going smoothly. Chen Zai suggested, “There are a lot of people at the entrance. Let’s walk inside the park.”

The topic they needed to discuss involved personal matters, so it was best not to be overheard.

He bought two tickets, and after the three of them passed through the gate, they entered the park. Just inside the entrance, there was a vendor selling candied hawthorn skewers. He bought two of them. Considering how generous and proactive he was, the atmosphere became a little more relaxed.

Across the street, the two girls watched as the trio’s backs disappeared through the park gate. Shu He let out a breath of relief. “That shady-looking guy from earlier really scared me. Xiao Man’s dad actually looks alright. He has a decent appearance, and he’s a doctor. His character should be decent too, right?”

Her friend said, “You can relax now. Your second brother-in-law is pretty handsome.”

Shu He objected, “Don’t talk nonsense. He’s not my brother-in-law. Come on, let’s get to class.”

Shu Yuan walked in the middle, holding Xiao Man’s left hand, keeping the man who was allergic to children on the other side of the child. She said to Xiao Man, who was holding up the skewer, “Be careful not to poke yourself.”

Chen Zai unfastened a nail clipper from his belt and took a handkerchief from his trouser pocket to wipe it clean. Then he walked over to Xiao Man’s side, took the candied hawthorn skewer from his hand, and carefully clipped the tip of the bamboo stick into a rounded shape before handing it back to him.

“Thank you.” Xiao Man’s voice was soft and cheerful.

The word Dad lingered on his lips but still wouldn’t come out. Even so, he mentally gave his father another point.

With no one around, it was the perfect time to talk. Chen Zai got straight to the point. “What are your thoughts on raising Xiao Man?”

Shu Yuan tilted her head and gave him a glance. Their eyes met briefly before quickly shifting away. She replied, “I brought Xiao Man back from the Northeast because I want to raise him myself. I don’t have a job right now, so I need you to contribute some child support. But don’t worry, my financial difficulties are only temporary. Once I have a stable income, I won’t need you to pay anymore.”

Chen Zai’s pupils were dark, like a bottomless pool. His voice was cold. “So when you need money, you come to me. And when you don’t, you kick me aside?”

Shu Yuan: “……”

Seeing her speechless, Chen Zai continued, “You’re still not married? I thought you would have married long ago. Was it because the other person didn’t want to?”

Shu Yuan instantly picked up on the mockery in his tone and was so furious she puffed up like a pufferfish.

This man was too much!

She stopped walking and snapped, “You’re impossible to talk to. I’m done. I’m going home. Xiao Man, let’s go.”

Xiao Man, biting into his candied hawthorn, also came to a halt. He looked between the two with a troubled expression and suggested, “Mom, calm down. We finally got to meet Dad, maybe we should talk a bit longer.”

Both adults fell silent for a moment.

Chen Zai, trying to keep the conversation going, softened his tone and asked, “I asked you twice before if Xiao Man was my child, and both times you said no. Why?”

He truly couldn’t understand her behavior.

Shu Yuan was still fuming, but she had already prepared her answer. She spoke up, “You were being sent down at the time, how could I say Xiao Man was your child? Dating someone, having a child out of wedlock, it would have dragged you down and had unimaginable consequences for you.”

A storm stirred in Chen Zai’s dark eyes. His lips pressed into a tight line. After a few seconds of silence, he said, “Then why were you so close to Shen Zhongcheng?”

He had no desire to unearth those buried memories.

Shu Yuan had to make something up. She said, “To protect you. To hide Xiao Man. If I stayed close to him, no one would suspect anything between you and me.”

As for the business with Shen Zhongcheng, she had to clear her name forcefully. She hadn’t done any of it, how could she explain something she wasn’t responsible for?

Chen Zai’s sharp, handsome features were tense. Her answer was so absurd it was almost laughable.

A scoff escaped his well-defined throat. “Heh.” Then he said, “Go on, I believe you.”

He turned to look at Xiao Man. “Xiao Man, do you believe her?”

Xiao Man had licked off the sugar coating and was now eating the hawthorn underneath. The sourness made his little face scrunch up. Hearing his father’s question, he quickly began to think. In his dream, his mom had abandoned him in the countryside, which didn’t match what she was saying now. But he was willing to believe what she said now.

Xiao Man nodded repeatedly. “I believe, just like Dad.”

Chen Zai: “……”

Since he couldn’t get a truthful answer from Shu Yuan, he went straight to his demand. “There’s no point dwelling on the past. No need to bring it up again. I want to take Xiao Man with me to the northwest.”

Shu Yuan’s eyes widened instantly. She had never imagined Chen Zai would suggest something like that.

She immediately objected, “No. You’re busy with work, and you’re allergic to children. How could you possibly raise him? You’d just end up finding him a stepmother. Then you’d get married and have another child, and Xiao Man would become the pitiful one.”

Xiao Man’s body tensed immediately, and he said, “I don’t want to leave Mom.”

Chen Zai’s tone was calm and steady. “I have no interest in starting a family. I’ll hire a nanny to take care of Xiao Man.”

Shu Yuan rubbed her forehead. “You don’t need to raise him. I’ll handle everything. Just contribute some money.”

His voice took on a mocking edge. “You’re going to get married with Xiao Man in tow? Marry someone who’s divorced and has a kid? You’ll end up taking care of someone else’s child, and Xiao Man will be the extra.”

He continued, “I believe you will marry him. If I take Xiao Man, you’ll be free to start a new life without any burdens.”

Shu Yuan: “……”

The “him” he referred to was still Shen Zhongcheng.

And he was right. The original host had intended to marry Shen Zhongcheng and help raise another person’s child. Even Shu Yuan herself couldn’t make sense of that.

Maybe it was the power of the plot. After all, Shen Zhongcheng’s son was the male lead.

The wind nearly took her breath away. When he calmly, bluntly, and nakedly laid out what the original host had intended, Shu Yuan felt like the conversation could barely go on.

She chewed two hawthorns fiercely, then said solemnly, “I have no interest in men, no interest in Shen Zhongcheng, and no intention of starting a family. If it weren’t for Xiao Man, I wouldn’t marry or have children at all. I’m going to raise Xiao Man on my own and won’t marry anyone. I don’t need a man. Could you not bring up Shen Zhongcheng in front of the child?”

She knew Chen Zai didn’t believe her. That was why he had suggested taking Xiao Man away.

Chen Zai looked at her with eyes full of doubt, inquiry, and scrutiny, as if trying to analyze her true thoughts from her expression.

Her behavior, so inconsistent and contradictory, was impossible for him to make sense of.

He couldn’t be sure whether her words came from the heart.

“Sorry,” he said in a quiet voice.

Xiao Man tilted his head, his gaze shifting from his mother’s face to his father’s. The two of them didn’t seem to be having a pleasant conversation.

“Mom, who is Shen Zhongcheng?” Xiao Man asked in confusion.

Was he the father of the kid who made Mom so angry she almost died? Then he must not be a good person.

Shu Yuan’s voice was gentle. “Children don’t need to worry about things like that.”

The negotiation had reached a stalemate, and they walked in silence for quite a while. Eventually, Shu Yuan spoke. “I don’t know how to continue this conversation. Think it over carefully. Either pay child support, or if you won’t, I’ll raise Xiao Man on my own. You’re probably afraid I’ll keep coming back to ask for money, aren’t you? You gave me twenty-four hundred before, and raising Xiao Man hasn’t cost that much. Once I start earning, I’ll pay back the extra.”

Chen Zai was surprised. He couldn’t understand her logic at all.

He spoke with difficulty, but his tone was sincere. “Shu Yuan, it’s not about the money. When it comes to raising Xiao Man, money is the least important part. What we should be focusing on is how to get along, and how Xiao Man can grow up well.”

He said it as if he were some rich man. But for Shu Yuan, money was the biggest problem right now. If she had enough money to raise Xiao Man on her own, she wouldn’t even need to contact him.

He pointed to a bench not far away. “Xiao Man, you must be tired. Let’s sit down for a bit.”

“Okay.” Xiao Man held up his candied hawthorn and ran over on his short legs.

So Xiao Man did have his lively moments too.

Shu Yuan sat on one end of the bench with Xiao Man, and Chen Zai sat on the other. The trees around them had sprouted tender green buds. The breeze brushing their faces carried no chill, gently sweeping away the stifling tension between them.

Chen Zai said in a calm voice, “I came back in a hurry this time. I only have two days to settle Xiao Man’s custody. The day after tomorrow I have a meeting, and after that I’ll return to the northwest.”

His tone was genuinely earnest. “I had a terrible father. If I have a child of my own, I want to raise him well and give him the full love of a father.”

Shu Yuan chuckled softly. “What a coincidence. I grew up with no parents, raised in loneliness. I want to give my child the full love of a mother too.”

Oh no, she had let that slip. Before she transmigrated, her parents had left her a large inheritance, but they had passed away early.

She quickly tried to cover it up. “No, what I mean is, after my father passed away, it wasn’t easy for my mom to raise the three of us sisters on her own.”

Xiao Man was quite surprised. Just a few days ago, he had felt like an unwanted child. And now, both his parents were fighting for custody of him.

He leaned forward, tilted his little face up, and looked at his parents with uncertainty and suspicion. “Am I like a hot commodity now? Both Mom and Dad want me?”

Shu Yuan was amused by his words and scooped him up into her arms, holding him close with her cheek pressed against his soft hair. Laughing, she said, “What hot commodity? Xiao Man’s just a bun, and I’m going to take a bite. Chomp!”

Xiao Man quickly ducked to the side to avoid her playful “bite.”

Chen Zai’s gaze remained fixed on the harmonious mother-and-son pair. He still couldn’t understand why Shu Yuan had hidden Xiao Man’s identity. The child could have had a much more secure upbringing. And he couldn’t make sense of why she had waited more than a year after returning to the city to bring Xiao Man back.

Perched sideways on Shu Yuan’s lap, Xiao Man turned to Chen Zai and spoke with great seriousness. “Dad, Mom, I have a suggestion. You can raise me together. Why don’t you two just get married?”

He said it so easily, as if marriage were the simplest thing in the world.

Shu Yuan immediately raised her voice in protest. “No way. I can raise a child on my own. I don’t want to drag along a whole family.”

She had accepted the fact that she had a child after transmigrating. But having a child’s father along with it? No thank you.

She had originally just wanted a bit of child support to get through her current financial trouble. It was supposed to be simple. She had no intention of making things that complicated.

Xiao Man was a child more mature than his peers. He first looked up at Shu Yuan, then turned to Chen Zai and said, “But there are a lot of benefits if you two get married. I can be registered properly, no longer a child without a household record, and no one would say bad things about Mom anymore.”

Chen Zai’s expression shifted slightly. “What do they say about your mom?”

Shu Yuan spoke lightly, “Nothing much. Just gossip, that’s all. I already had a child without being married. What else is there to be afraid of?”

He could easily imagine the kind of rumors she must have faced. His voice sank with remorse. “I’m sorry, Shu Yuan.”

All the guilt he had long buried in memory suddenly surged up, breaking through and flooding his heart.

Shu Yuan didn’t seem too bothered by it. She said matter-of-factly, “I’m fine, really. It’s just that Xiao Man also hears unpleasant things.”

Chen Zai’s voice grew heavier. “What do they say about Xiao Man?”

Shu Yuan didn’t want to repeat those ugly words. But Xiao Man turned to face Chen Zai, his pitch-black, bright eyes fixed on him, his handsome little face tense. “They say I’m a bastard.”

Chen Zai’s breath caught for a moment.

It wasn’t hard to imagine how many slanders and attacks Shu Yuan must have endured raising Xiao Man alone. Rumors and insults would have followed the two of them for a long time.

Why was she so unwilling to let him take Xiao Man?

Xiao Man soon returned to his lighthearted tone. “Mom says we need to have strong hearts. She and I don’t care what others say.”

Shu Yuan praised him, “Xiao Man is amazing. That’s right, we don’t need to live our lives under other people’s judgment.”

With the negotiations at a standstill, the three of them began walking toward the park entrance together. Shu Yuan held Xiao Man’s hand and said her goodbye to Chen Zai, “If the child and the mother are both unwilling, you can’t force them apart. I’ve made up my mind. I won’t ask you for child support anymore, and I’ll return sixteen hundred yuan to you.”

Letting go of the money issue brought a sense of ease and relief through her whole body.

Xiao Man clutched Shu Yuan’s hand tightly. “Mom, don’t worry about money. I won’t eat for free. I’ll earn my own.”

Chen Zai’s heart sank. Then continued sinking.

“I’ll think it over and contact you,” he said, his voice hoarse.

Shu Yuan smiled brightly. “Next time you call the electronics factory, don’t mention Shu Yuan. Some people there don’t know my name. Just say you’re looking for the flower of the factory. Everyone knows that’s me.”

Xiao Man nodded earnestly. “That’s right, my mom is the flower of the electronics factory. Everyone knows her.”

Chen Zai: “……”

She really did still seem like that same optimistic, radiant, full-of-life girl.

“Goodbye, Xiao Man,” Chen Zai said, waving to him.

“Goodbye…”

Xiao Man hesitated, then finally spoke the two unfamiliar words: “Dad.”

He knew his parents hadn’t come to an agreement, and his dad was about to leave for another city. Who knew when he’d see him again? If he didn’t say it now, he might not get another chance.

Hearing that unfamiliar title, a swirl of complicated emotions rose in Chen Zai’s chest.

He had once thought he would spend his life alone, growing old by himself. He never expected to have a child. Mother and son had completely disrupted the rhythm of his life.

His state of mind could no longer return to what it once was: monotonous, dull, enjoying solitude and finding contentment in it.

Shu Yuan bent down and scooped Xiao Man up from the ground. “Let’s go, Xiao Man, time to set up the street stall.”

Xiao Man turned his head and looked at his father one more time, waving his little hand.

He wanted to etch his father’s face into his memory.

Chen Zai watched the mother and son walking away with light, carefree steps. His gaze darkened further.

Setting up a street stall?

Xiao Man was so young, and he was already out there working a street stall!