Chapter 76 Extra-Eight: Raising Baby 4

On the second day of Wei Lai’s business trip to Beijing, her longing for her daughter surged.

After work in the evening, she could hardly wait to video call Zhou Sujin as soon as she stepped out of the elevator.

Zhou Sujin held their daughter in front of the computer, connecting the video call so that the image was large enough for their daughter to see Wei Lai clearly.

“Mommy.”

“Mommy.”

Chen Chen flailed her little hands, wanting Wei Lai to hold her.

Zhou Sujin told their daughter, “Mommy is on a business trip.”

Chen Chen had no concept of video calls or business trips; she just kept trying to escape his arms, crying out “Mommy, Mommy.” She couldn’t say anything else, just repeating her mother’s name.

Wei Lai felt a pang in her heart, understanding for the first time her mother’s sacrifices when she switched careers to open a supermarket.

Zhou Sujin hugged their daughter closer, realizing that if the video continued, she would start crying, so he had to end the call.

After handing their daughter over to the nanny, he called Wei Lai on voice chat to ask if she was tired.

Wei Lai laughed. “Not tired anymore.”

Seeing their daughter and hearing his voice made all her fatigue disappear.

Zhou Sujin said, “Tomorrow is the weekend. I asked the housekeeper to prepare hot pot. You can invite your friends over for dinner.”

“Honey, I miss you.”

“I know.”

She reminded him, “Don’t fly over here; stay home with Chen Chen. Otherwise, I won’t feel at ease.”

“Okay.”

Wei Lai put away her phone and was about to start the car when Lu Yu’s call came in. He knew she was on a business trip and wanted to invite her to dinner.

He had just returned from Jiangcheng, and Chen Jiarui had deleted him; he couldn’t figure out why.

Perhaps Wei Lai could provide some answers.

The fact that Zhou Sujin and Wei Lai had once been contract lovers had stirred up rumors in their circle, but Zhou Sujin had always claimed that he was the one pursuing Wei Lai.

Both parties denied it vehemently, leaving no one able to confirm the truth of the rumors.

However, he vaguely felt that there was a possibility their meeting with each other’s parents had indeed been contractual; as for why they later got married, perhaps it was due to mutual feelings that they couldn’t let go of each other.

In any case, whether their contract was similar to his situation with Chen Jiarui, he believed Wei Lai might understand the reason behind Chen Jiarui deleting him.

They arranged to meet at S.Z. restaurant, and he arrived before Wei Lai.

“I saw Chen Chen yesterday; she’s getting cuter, looking like Zhou Sujin and you.”

That was the first thing he said upon seeing Wei Lai.

Wei Lai was surprised; he had gone to Jiangcheng again.

Lu Yu laughed, “What kind of look is that?”

Wei Lai smiled back, picking up the warm water he poured for her. “You still can’t let go of my sister?”

Lu Yu calmly explained, “I really went on a business trip.” He gave a helpless smile. “You probably don’t believe me.”

Wei Lai replied, “I do. Why wouldn’t I believe you?”

“Do you remember my classmate, Chen Jiarui?”

“I remember.”

Lu Yu fell silent for a moment. “She deleted me, and I have no idea when she did it.”

It might have been recently, or perhaps a few years ago.

Wei Lai took a few sips of warm water, trying to put herself in his shoes.

The more she empathized, the more uncomfortable she felt.

After she and Zhou Sujin separated, they had no further contact. She hadn’t deleted Zhou Sujin.

“You invited me to dinner today because you want me to analyze why Chen Jiarui deleted you?”

Lu Yu nodded. If anyone else had deleted him, he wouldn’t care at all.

But Chen Jiarui was different; they had once shared something special. He didn’t want such an ending, and even if they parted on bad terms, he wanted to know why.

Wei Lai said, “You should ask her directly; other people’s guesses are just assumptions, including mine.”

Lu Yu hesitated, “…If she’s deleted me, wouldn’t asking her make it awkward?”

Wei Lai countered, “Then what’s the point of asking me to analyze it?”

Lu Yu couldn’t articulate a reason.

“Regardless, it’s not like if I analyze it for you, she’ll suddenly add you back, right?”

Lu Yu had one good quality—he listened to advice.

The next morning, after finishing work, he drove to Chen Jiarui’s company.

During the year he pretended to be someone else, he often picked her up after work, so he was familiar with the place.

Years had passed, and with her capabilities, she should have been promoted by now.

He went to the front desk to make an appointment, but the receptionist looked confused. “Are you sure you want to see Chen Jiarui? She hasn’t been here for over three years, and her name isn’t on the staff list.”

After checking, the receptionist confirmed there was indeed someone named Chen Jiarui.

“Sorry, the person you’re looking for left the company long ago.” She had left years earlier, before the receptionist had even started.

Lu Yu was stunned for a few seconds. “Okay, thank you.”

After the pretense ended six months ago, he had often contacted her, asking about her well-being. She was never very chatty, so her replies were usually late and brief.

Gradually, their contact became less frequent.

He couldn’t remember when they last spoke until that time he ran into her outside the hot pot restaurant.

Back in the car, he found her phone number and called.

He hadn’t been blocked; someone picked up.

“Hello, who is this?”

Even though he hadn’t been blocked, she had deleted him and removed his contact details.

Lu Yu took a deep breath. “It’s me, Lu Yu.”

Chen Jiarui paused, bringing the phone closer to see the familiar last four digits.

She hadn’t noticed earlier and had thought it was a client contacting her about a project.

Putting down her project materials, she said, “Sorry, I’m a bit busy. Is there something you need?”

Lu Yu replied, “Nothing urgent; just wanted to catch up.” He asked when she would be free.

Not wanting to have any further contact with him, Chen Jiarui declined, “The company just assigned me a project, and I’ll be working overtime. I’ll treat you when I have some free time.”

Lu Yu understood perfectly well that “some free time” was just a polite way to refuse.

“Old classmate, may I ask why you deleted me?”

That was the most awkward thing he had ever said as an adult.

Chen Jiarui took a few seconds to gather her thoughts. “I filled my contacts and couldn’t add more, so I deleted some people I hadn’t spoken to in a while.”

Her words were blunt, and she didn’t bother to elaborate.

The call fell into silence.

“Was it because I didn’t handle some things well, or something else? I’m actually downstairs at your old company and found out you had already left.”

“Changing jobs is pretty normal; who can work at just one company their whole life?”

Lu Yu felt too defeated to argue. “…Can we meet and talk?”

Chen Jiarui didn’t give herself a chance to hesitate. “No meeting. Whatever you have to say, just say it over the phone.”

Lu Yu knew very well that once this call ended, she likely wouldn’t pick up his calls again. He seized the only opportunity he had to express his thoughts.

“I’ll wait in line at your side; if you ever plan to get married, you can consider me first.”

Another silence ensued on the phone.

Lu Yu gripped his phone tightly, unsure where to place his other hand. He squeezed the steering wheel and picked up the car keys, not knowing where to put them for a moment.

He had never felt this anxious since dealing with Zhao Yihan back in college.

“Chen Jiarui?”

After a long wait, the other party finally responded.

Chen Jiarui said, “Your family background and personal assets make you a prime candidate for marriage. When I had less money, I would’ve definitely considered someone like you. But my views have changed; I won’t settle for money anymore.”

She had him in her heart, while he had someone else in his.

Being together was too tormenting.

“If there’s nothing else, I’ll get back to work.” She hung up.

Lu Yu pondered her final remarks, uncertain of their meaning, so he sought help from Wei Lai.

He relayed Chen Jiarui’s words almost verbatim. “Can you help me analyze this?”

Wei Lai understood Chen Jiarui; with her earning potential, she certainly hoped her partner valued her.

“Chen Jiarui isn’t rejecting you; she’s rejecting the you that she doesn’t like. Understand?”

Lu Yu replied, “I understand.”

Wei Lai hoped he truly did understand.

---

Wei Lai was on this business trip for five days, including the weekend.

Whenever she traveled for work on weekends, Zhou Sujin would try to take a double weekend off, silencing his work phone to spend time at home with their daughter.

On Saturday morning, Chen Chen woke up before seven.

She had many one-piece outfits. Wei Lai bought them whenever she found something cute. Zhou Sujin brought four or five pieces for her to choose from, but Chen Chen didn’t understand what looked good, randomly pointing at one.

She chose a (off-white) jumpsuit, with two brown little ears on the hat.

Zhou Sujin picked up the beige one, and while getting dressed, Chen Chen couldn’t stay still, her little feet moving like they were keeping a beat.

“It’s snowing outside; Daddy will take you to see the snow.”

Chen Chen didn’t understand what snow was, but she nodded in agreement.

Once the jumpsuit was on, Zhou Sujin found a pair of matching socks.

As soon as Chen Chen saw her father trying to put socks on her, she rolled and crawled away to the edge of the other bed, turning back to look at him.

“Chen Chen, come here.” Zhou Sujin couldn’t help but laugh.

Chen Chen giggled, huddled in the corner of the bed, covering her face with her hands, sticking up her two little fingers and peeking at her father through the wide gaps, which she thought were narrow.

His daughter hated wearing socks the most; every time she had to put them on, Zhou Sujin would have to engage in a battle of wits with her.

Next came the laughter that filled the room until Chen Chen, tired from crawling, was caught in Zhou Sujin’s arms.

“Do you still want to see the snow?”

Chen Chen didn’t understand that this was a threat, so she just said, “Hmm.”

“Daddy.” Her chin rested on his chest, her round, grape-like eyes blinking, “Mommy.”

Zhou Sujin understood his daughter’s innocent words, “Mommy will be back tomorrow.”

When tomorrow would come or how far away it was, Chen Chen didn’t know; she just knew she would see her mommy.

After having breakfast, the snow that had fallen all night had mostly stopped.

This year, Jiangcheng’s snow came early; it was just mid-December.

The nanny expressed concern, “It’s cold outside.”

“It’s fine; just wear more.” Zhou Sujin took out the thickest down jacket for his daughter, put on gloves, wrapped her in a scarf, and bundled her up tightly, leaving only her two eyes exposed.

He also brought out a blanket to wrap around her legs while holding her.

The roads in the community were clear; the property management had already cleaned them early in the morning.

Zhou Sujin pointed to the bushes and told his daughter that was snow.

Chen Chen seemed to understand but thought that snow was either something fun or something tasty.

Seeing the white expanse excited her; she tried to break free several times to get down and walk, but Zhou Sujin didn’t let her go until they reached the grass beside the garden.

Older kids were having snowball fights and building snowmen, and Chen Chen watched them with wide eyes, full of curiosity.

Zhou Sujin half-squatted down, letting his daughter leave footprints in the untouched snow.

When Chen Chen saw a little friend lying in the snow, she couldn’t tell if that was a fall, so she imitated them, not leaving any footprints, and with a “thud,” she fell right into the snow.

By the time Zhou Sujin realized and grabbed her, it was too late; her face and scarf were covered in snow, and she couldn’t stop laughing.

He wanted her to leave a proper footprint, but there was no way; as soon as he let go, she would either want to sit down or lie down.

Zhou Sujin only let his daughter play in the snow for a little while before picking her up: “Daddy will take you to the supermarket to buy bread.”

Chen Chen stopped making a fuss and obediently laid her head on her daddy’s shoulder.

Exiting the gate of Jiang’an Yunchen, Zhou Sujin turned towards the Weilai Supermarket nearby.

At that moment, a brown sedan drove past the road in front, and the person in the back seat glanced towards the entrance, just in time to spot Zhou Sujin, who was holding a child bundled up like a snowball.

Zhang Yanxin looked at the child again, but from a distance, he couldn’t see clearly.

Over the years, he had walked this road countless times, and each time, he would subconsciously glance at the supermarket and then at the gate of Jiang’an Yunchen.

He had never encountered Weilai.

He knew she had a child now, over a year old.

Zhou Sujin bought a bag of original sourdough bread for his daughter; Weilai loved this kind of bread when she was little, and now his daughter also had a fondness for it.

Back home, after taking off all her thick clothes and just wearing the jumpsuit, Chen Chen finally felt liberated; she plopped down on the carpet and struggled to remove her socks with all her might.

The house had underfloor heating, so Zhou Sujin didn’t mind her.

In fact, even if he wanted to manage her, he couldn’t; in the time it took him to turn around, she had already pulled down her socks.

His older brother called him, asking him to reply to an email about a project.

“On it,” Zhou Sujin said, hanging up and heading to the study.

The nanny had washed Chen Chen’s hands and was about to give her some bread.

“Daddy!” Chen Chen didn’t forget to grab the bread, taking a bite before chasing after him.

Zhou Sujin squatted down, “Slow down; no rush; Daddy will wait for you.”

Chen Chen leaped into her daddy’s arms, “Daddy.”

Zhou Sujin held his daughter and took her to the study, opening the computer to log into his email.

Chen Chen nibbled on the bread, sitting in his lap and managed to be quiet for a while.

But it only lasted a few minutes; she grabbed her father’s arm, trying to stand up.

Zhou Sujin looked down, “What’s up?”

Chen Chen raised one foot and placed it on the desk; he immediately understood—she wanted to sit on the table.

Zhou Sujin put his daughter on the desk to sit properly, wrapping his arm around her while he replied to the email with one hand.

He had just typed a line when suddenly, the reply box uncontrollably filled with the number 6666666666, scrolling down endlessly; looking again, he saw Chen Chen’s toes were pressing the number keys.

He hurriedly picked her up; Chen Chen did a little flip, and he almost couldn’t hold on to her.

“Have you done something bad? Do you know that?”

Chen Chen giggled, bringing the half-eaten piece of bread to his mouth.

“Daddy doesn’t eat.” Zhou Sujin kissed his daughter’s forehead, pulling her into his arms, and continued replying to the email while keeping an eye on her to prevent her from reaching for the keyboard.