Chapter 20

The price of my rash decision was several days of pain, and my stomach still hurts now.

Ding Yushu felt a little regretful and scared. She was annoyed that she didn’t try harder to make the child fall out.

But when she was told to try again, she didn’t dare.

That experience was truly awful.

As she thought, the door opened.

Ding Yushu looked up to see Zhang Zhi coming in with a gloomy face. Just as she was about to ask him to get her some water, she heard his cold voice ask, “Did you fall on purpose?”

Ding Yushu froze and instinctively denied, “No! You’re just making things up!”

Zhang Zhi looked at her coldly: “You want to take the college entrance examination, so you give up the baby, right?”

He wouldn’t betray Dabao, but he just stared at her, waiting for her to confess.

How could Ding Yushu be foolish enough to admit that?

She almost bit her tongue but refused to back down. Her voice grew sharp and flustered: “I didn’t do that! You’re wrong, Zhang Zhi. You have no conscience. I worked hard to have a child for you, but you treat me like this. My stomach still hurts, and you still say this. Do you think aborting a baby won’t hurt me? Oh, it hurts so much…”

She was a good singer and songwriter, and her face showed sadness as she spoke. She even made herself cry.

She felt unlucky. If she had known about this sooner, she would never have gotten pregnant.

But after talking for so long, Zhang Zhi still looked at her coldly and remained indifferent. She started to panic. Her eyes rolled back, and she hugged her stomach, crying.

As she cried out, her stomach really started to hurt.

Zhang Zhi quickly gave her medicine and waited for her to drink it. Only then did he feel a bit relieved.

However, he couldn’t say the remaining words.

Zhang Zhi looked at her not-so-pretty face, his eyes dark. After all, they had been together for many years, and he could see her guilt. She really wanted to abort this child.

Ding Yushu felt uneasy under his gaze. She pulled his hand and acted sweetly, “What are you doing? Are you tired? Come and rest.”

This was a rare moment of concern, but Zhang Zhi just felt disheartened. He shook his head and turned to cook.

He swallowed his words and decided to wait for the outcome.

…

Zhang Zhi held back, but the Zhang family couldn’t. Such a big event had happened, and the atmosphere at home was heavy for days.

Xu Qiu and Tian Jiao, who knew what was going on, silently felt sorry for Zhang Zhi, as he would soon be a single father.

In the book, they did not break up. Although they had frequent arguments over the years, Zhang Rui did not stay at home much, and none of the children had enough good food to compare with her. Things didn’t escalate until this year, when Zhang Dong returned and Zhang Yanran appeared.

The same unequal treatment continued. Li Mizhen and Zhang Dagen both spoiled their eldest son’s only child. Even the little bully Dabao had to take a back seat, not to mention Ding Yushu. This led to many arguments. Zhang Yanran didn’t act directly, but she resisted. Ding Yushu did not get what she wanted.

However, since she was pregnant, it wasn’t really a bad thing, just a few comments.

After hearing about the college entrance examination being reinstated, Ding Yushu could no longer sit still. It was similar to this time, but it was much more serious. Maybe Li Mizhen had worries every day back then.

Life has become a bit more comfortable now, so she doesn’t use as many tricks and just acts straightforwardly.

Anyway, the end result was failure.

Ding Yushu gave birth to a child, but the baby was weak and sickly. After her recovery period, Ding Yushu took some money from the family and disappeared.

Zhang Zhi never remarried after that. Later, when Ding Yushu found out that the Zhang family had become wealthy, she returned to them. In an extra story, she even tried to use the law to force Dabao and Erbao to pay her support.

However, with Zhang Yanran’s help, the two children successfully sued her for abandonment, scaring her away.

But neither of them expressed these feelings out loud.

Some things cannot be changed. Tian Jiao has known Ding Yushu for a long time and understands what kind of person she is. However, she wants to try to help improve the child’s weak health.

She looks for an opportunity to touch her belly.

But considering their relationship, will Ding Yushu let her?

****

In October, the news of the college entrance examination returning was finally announced. The first college entrance exam after the return would take place in winter. Though it wasn’t far off, they had received hints about it long in advance. Most people chose to believe it and started studying, so everyone felt confident.

Tian Jiao wanted to take the college entrance exam, but as soon as she mentioned it, the heroine shook her head.

“Many of those taking the exam have waited ten years. They’ve waited too long. Those of us who are still young should not go yet.” Only the two of them understood their own abilities. Even though they hadn’t covered all the high school material, the college entrance exam wouldn’t be an issue. Usually, the first year’s exam wouldn’t have difficult questions, and the admission scores would be much lower.

Tian Jiao nodded obediently, “Okay, I won’t go.”

The heroine was more aware of the situation.

Xu Qiu walked by and overheard this, smiling as she raised her voice, “Zhang Rui, something is wrong with my cabinet. Can you help me take a look?”

Zhang Rui, who had been squinting in the sun, had a slightly stiff expression.

Xu Qiu looked at him kindly and said with a smile, “Hurry up! This place has always been unstable. If something falls, it could hurt someone.”

Zhang Rui immediately stood up, “I’m coming!”

Oh, his daughter sleeps in the same room as Xu Qiu. She must not be hurt.

Tian Jiao and Zhang Yanran exchanged glances and made faces at each other.

Tian Jiao watched Xu Qiu pursue Zhang Rui calmly. After all, it was her father’s matter, and she couldn’t make a decision for him.

Moreover, since Xu Qiu is someone who came from a book, she probably stayed here because of the future success of the Zhang family and the heroine. She liked Zhang Rui because of his achievements in the story. However, if they could live together happily and have common goals, that would be fine.

After all, if her husband marries her in the future, she will definitely be drawn to his looks, given her appreciation for appearances.

Suddenly, Xiao He’s face appeared in her mind, and she felt embarrassed for a moment before quickly pushing it away.

Still, there doesn’t seem to be any mention of Zhang Rui’s other half in the book. Zhang Rui is a playboy who enjoys business, travels all over the country, has had affairs, and even brought back a Western beauty. This scared Li Mizhen so much that her heart broke. Under her strong opposition, nothing was resolved. Later, Li Mizhen regretted opposing it, realizing she shouldn’t have. Anyway, he never got married in the book.

…

Tian Jiao quickly dismissed these thoughts and focused on Zhang Dong’s second visit to the military hospital for an examination.

Last time, Zhang Yanran suggested letting Zhang Dong take Xiao He for a check-up, but it was too late by then. Zhang Dong had just had his check-up and needed to wait three months for the next one.

Look, a car was coming to pick them up for the inspection this morning.

This time, the people accompanying them were not her. Zhang Yanran, Xiao He, and Zhang Rui were there, but she was not.

She felt a little sour. Could it be that Xiao He, the villain in the book, really fell in love with the heroine again?

But no matter how she felt, the car arrived.

Xiao He came too.

The handsome boy was wearing a dark blue cloth suit today, looking neat. He was only twelve years old and not very tall. He stood shorter than Zhang Rui, but he had a slim figure and looked striking alone.

Xiao He’s lips were slightly pale, and he habitually pursed them. Especially after seeing so many strangers and the fancy car, he nervously stepped behind Tian Jiao.

Tian Jiao immediately took his hand and comforted him, “Don’t worry. It’s okay. Just be honest when you see the doctor, okay?”

Xiao He tightened his lips, appearing unhappy or scared.

He was now taller than Tian Jiao. She stood on her tiptoes and gently pressed his fluffy short hair down a bit while releasing calming energy to soothe him.

The warm touch on his head made him feel happy. Xiao He squinted his eyes and nodded obediently.

Tian Jiao smiled with satisfaction.

Zhang Rui felt both amused and helpless. He secretly said to Zhang Dong, who was being helped into the car, “Look at these two children. If they don’t end up together, I won’t be named Zhang anymore!”

Zhang Dong glanced at him and asked, “Are you willing?”

Zhang Rui chuckled, “This would be marrying into the wife’s family. Xiao He is quite charming; only a fool would refuse.”

Zhang Dong sighed and looked at his daughter, “I don’t want that. You can’t marry too early, even if it means marrying into the wife’s family.”

As they talked, everything was ready. Tian Jiao stood on her tiptoes and ruffled the boy’s hair, “Be good, go inside, and don’t be scared.”

After stroking his hair, Xiao He’s lips turned down. He was led step by step by her, looking at her without blinking. Slowly, tears gathered in his eyes.

Seeing him like this made Tian Jiao feel strangely happy, as if she were being depended on.

Tian Jiao took Xiao He’s hand and led him to the car, closing the door behind them as she waved goodbye. Dabao, watching from the side, wore an expression of longing. “I want to go too,” he said wistfully.

“Next time,” Tian Jiao reassured him, pinching his still-chubby cheeks. “Next time, Xiao He won’t go.” This made Dabao even more eager for the next opportunity.

****

The examination took a long time, and with everyone away, the house felt unexpectedly empty. Only Li Mizhen, Zhang Dagen, Dabao, and Tian Jiao remained.

In just two days, Tian Jiao returned to school. This time, Zhang Yanran had taken a leave of absence. As the heroine, she was quite popular, especially with her beauty. Now that she was a 14-year-old girl, no longer a child, many handsome boys approached Tian Jiao, asking shyly, “Student Zhang Tian Jiao, what happened to your sister? Is she sick?”

Tian Jiao replied, “No, she’s with our father at the hospital and took a week off.” Some boys understood and left, while others earnestly offered, “My family knows some doctors who can help if you need them.”

After responding, Tian Jiao couldn’t help but sigh at how charming the heroine was.

The inspection took a whole week, and Saturday rolled around, which meant Tian Jiao was home. As the car crawled through the village, she heard a neighbor call out, “Jiaojiao, your father is back.”

“Oh, got it,” she responded, quickly putting away her notebook and heading outside.

With the situation changed, she no longer needed to hide her things; she could now put everything in Zhang Rui’s room and paint when she was home.

Just as she stepped outside, she heard the sound of a car pulling up at the gate.

Soon after, the gate opened, and they began to descend from the vehicle.

Xiao He was the first to get out, and as Tian Jiao approached him, she noticed Zhang Yanran stumble slightly when stepping down behind him.