On the other end, Qin Nanshan seemed startled but kept his cool. His reply was steady, showing no sign of being caught off guard: “You don’t need to bring anything. Just come yourself.”

“Alright.”

Wei Yuan left in a huff, his face a mix of black and green, while Wen Yi sighed, patting her belly and muttering, “Your mom is in for some rough days ahead.”

At a villa in the eastern suburbs, Qin Nanshan put away his phone, his usually calm and expressionless face showing a crack. Wen Yi had spoken loudly enough that Xuan Ying and Qin Heng heard everything clearly. They exchanged glances and suddenly realized something — so this was the type of woman their son liked? It seemed they had been going about things the wrong way before!

…

The next morning at 7:30, Qin Nanshan arrived at the entrance of Yuting Mansion and called her. Wen Yi ignored the first two calls, but when the third one came through, she finally picked up, sounding like an angry little lion with a fiery temper: “Who the hell is calling so early in the morning?!”

Qin Nanshan cleared his throat lightly. “It’s me. We have your prenatal checkup today.”

His voice, carrying the chill of a winter morning, made Wen Yi shiver and feel a bit wronged. She complained, “It’s all your fault! I was throwing up until 2 AM and couldn’t sleep. It was horrible.”

There was a brief pause before Qin Nanshan’s voice softened, “Which building are you in? I’ll come up.”

“Don’t come up. Give me half an hour.”

Wen Yi reluctantly got out of bed. She didn’t put on makeup, skipped her high heels, and opted not to wear a dress since she was getting an ultrasound. Before leaving, she glanced in the mirror and sighed deeply.

The carefully maintained image she’d upheld for years was slowly slipping away, and that made her a bit sad.

She put on her hat and mask, wrapping herself up tightly before getting into the car without taking them off.

The moment she got in, Wen Yi said mournfully, “I’m so hungry.”

“You have to fast. You can’t eat breakfast yet.”

Wen Yi pouted. “I know.”

It was rush hour on a weekday, and the streets were packed with cars, moving at a snail’s pace. Bored, Wen Yi started a conversation. “Aren’t you working today?”

“I took the day off.”

“Is it that easy to get time off?”

The man kept his eyes on the road. “No, I had to push back a lot of things.”

“…”

Wen Yi didn’t know how to respond to that and changed the subject. “Do you have any hobbies?”

“What do you mean?”

“Hobbies. Things you enjoy doing.”

“Studying mathematics.”

“…”

“What about on weekends? What do you usually do?”

“Read papers or work on research projects.”

“…”

Qin Nanshan then heard her sigh lightly. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Nothing. It’s just that pregnant women are prone to mood swings. You’ll have to get used to it.”

She said it casually, but he nodded seriously, “Yes, I read online that’s normal.”

“And?”

“You should rest more and keep a relaxed mindset.”

“That’s it?”

He thought for a moment. “Yes, that’s the most important part.”

At this point, a more seasoned man would’ve been showering her with comforting words like, “I’ll be with you” or “Don’t worry, I’m here,” even if they couldn’t always follow through. At least it would give the woman a sense of security in the moment. But Qin Nanshan stopped his thought process there, making Wen Yi doubt whether he had ever really been in a relationship before.

Realizing she couldn’t count on him to say something sweet, she bluntly asked, “You’re so busy and not really good at this. How are you going to raise a child? Make them do math problems with you?”

Qin Nanshan had never considered this before. He glanced over at her and saw her sitting with her eyes closed, fists clenched, muttering something under her breath.

Curious, he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Making a wish, hoping the baby inherits your intelligence and my emotional intelligence.”

Qin Nanshan furrowed his brow slightly. Wen Yi noticed and panicked, “Oh no! What if the baby inherits my intelligence and your emotional intelligence? What then?”

The man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he sighed, helplessly replying, “My parents and grandmother are all research-oriented people. Our child won’t be too far off. As for emotional intelligence and personality, that’s more shaped by upbringing and environment than genetics. The baby will take after you.”

Wen Yi immediately felt reassured, blurting out, “Yesterday, when I talked to your mom, she seemed lively and enthusiastic. How come you’re so…?” She stopped mid-sentence, realizing she might have overstepped. She quickly apologized, “I didn’t mean anything by that. Don’t take it the wrong way.”

Qin Nanshan was quiet for a moment before calmly replying, “When I was born, my parents were in the peak of their careers, always working overtime, so they weren’t home much. They noticed I had a talent for math and bought me lots of math workbooks. I could spend entire days doing problems.”

“I do enjoy solving problems, but it led me to neglect social interactions. But I don’t think you need to worry too much about that. I understand how society works.”

Wen Yi felt a pang of guilt, thinking back to her own childhood, and fell silent.

Wen Hongyu had also been busy when Wen Yi was young, working hard to support the family. But unlike Qin Nanshan, Wen Yi didn’t deal with her emotions by solving problems. Being alone made her more anxious, so she sought solace in friends, balancing out her inner fears and loneliness.

As she grew older, she came to admire those who could be at peace with themselves. Having the ability to cope alone and be in harmony with oneself was something incredibly difficult.

Wen Yi said, “I hope the baby is like you—self-sufficient and capable of managing themselves.”

As they stopped at a red light, Qin Nanshan turned to look at her. This time, he held his gaze long enough.

As they neared the hospital, Wen Yi clenched her fists and asked her final question, “Qin Nanshan, if I decide I don’t want this child, what will you do?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

As they turned into the hospital and scanned the code to enter, he finally responded before she got out of the car, “I respect your decision.”

“And what’s your decision?”

Qin Nanshan looked over, his eyes darkening slightly. “I want the baby.”

He had overturned all his previous calculations and was now building a new formula, a new order. The initial stages might be hard, and there might be setbacks, but one thing was certain: there was no going back to the way things were.

Wen Yi stared at him deeply for a moment, then got out of the car.