Chapter 2 – Marriage Registration, Surrounded by Reporters

The moment little Sui Ning heard her mother call, the butterfly lost all attraction. She grinned, showing her small white baby teeth, and stumbled happily into her mother’s arms.

Tilting her head up, she looked at the tall and unfamiliar figure standing behind the bench. Sui Ning felt puzzled and a little afraid.

This man was so tall, so big—taller than her mother and grandma. He didn’t smile when he saw her, just like those people inside the house.

He looked fierce. She didn’t like him.

“Ningning, be good. This is your daddy. Call him daddy.” Shu Hui lifted her daughter into her arms, coaxing her with playful affection.

Sui Ning laughed even more, giggling nonstop.

Glancing at the tall figure behind her mother, she didn’t really understand what “daddy” meant. To her, it was just a form of address.

Mommy told her to call him, so she wanted to be a polite child.

Sui Ning giggled, her words not quite clear: “Ba…ba…Daddy.”

But the man she called “Daddy”… didn’t respond. He ignored her completely. He didn’t smile either…

Her round, grape-like black eyes blinked at Qin Yu Shen. The longer she looked, the more her lips pouted. Finally, she buried her face into her mother’s neck.

She didn’t like it here at all. She wanted to go home. She wanted Grandma—Grandma gave her candy and always smiled.

Qin Yu Shen stared at the plump, fair little girl in the slender woman’s arms.

That crisp little “Daddy” stirred something faint in his chest—but he quickly pushed it down, his face returning to cold indifference.

The child was innocent. But the woman who had schemed to trap him—her actions filled him with disgust.

Without a word, Qin Yu Shen turned and walked forward. He didn’t want to give Shu Hui another glance.

Soon, a soft mother-daughter conversation floated up behind him.

Sui Ning’s childish voice complained: “He…he ignored me. Bad. All bad.”

“No, sweetheart.” Shu Hui hugged her with a smile. Her sweet, gentle tone carried words sharp enough to cut.

“Daddy is mute. Our Ningning is such a good girl, you’ll understand him, won’t you?”

“Is—is he like that person in Super Baby JoJo… the ah-ah-ah one?”

She lifted her little hand to her mouth, making silly “ah-woo ah-woo” noises.

Shu Hui nearly burst out laughing, quickly nodding. “Yes, exactly.”

Since he was mute, he couldn’t reply even when hearing his own daughter call him “Daddy.”

Zhang, Qin Yu Shen’s assistant following behind, nearly twisted his ankle in shock at that exchange, almost falling to the ground.

One icy glance from Qin Yu Shen shut him up. Out of the corner of his eye, he glimpsed the pair still chatting cheerfully by the bench…

But Qin Yu Shen said nothing, walking straight toward the main hall.

Zhang kept his head down, terrified, focusing on each step lest he stumble again. The would-be “future madam president” had a tongue sharp enough to kill—she dared say it, but he didn’t dare hear it.

Not long after Qin Yu Shen entered, shrill screams and sobbing from Lian Min Fang rang out.

The autumn wind carried her noise into the garden.

Shu Hui smirked faintly. In her past life, Lian Min Fang had always criticized her for being from a humble background—not elegant, not refined, not presentable.

But in truth, Lian Min Fang was the one most easily provoked, the one who screeched like a banshee.

The autumn afternoon sun bathed the garden warmly. Shu Hui guided her daughter among the flowers.

Bright blossoms bloomed in riotous colors—giant hibiscus and ink chrysanthemums dividing the autumn hues.

Children loved vibrant colors, and Shu Hui happily let her play.

If events repeated themselves, this very garden would soon be demolished—because Qin’s aunt would develop a pollen allergy. Another scene of drama to come.

Time slipped by. Footsteps sounded again along the main path.

Shu Hui bent to steady Sui Ning, then raised her eyes—Qin Yu Shen was back.

After that meeting, his face looked even colder, darker than before.

“Let’s go.” His deep gaze pressed down on her, his words clipped and sparing, as if every syllable was too much effort.

Shu Hui understood. In the main hall, the old master had won completely, using his deciding vote to declare that she and Qin Yu Shen must marry.

Bending hard, Shu Hui finally managed to lift plump little Sui Ning—who was made chubby by her grandmother’s doting hand.

Seeing her approach carrying the child, Qin Yu Shen’s disapproval showed openly. He clearly opposed bringing the child along.

This scandal had shaken the entire city. Reporters would surely stake out the marriage office.

He was just about to stop her when a voice called from the garden’s side.

“Big brother… Shu Miss is here too.”

A woman, visibly six months pregnant, approached with a three- or four-year-old boy in tow.

With a bright, poised smile, she offered warmly: “If big brother and Miss Shu have business outside, you can leave the little one with me. Just right—Yao Yao can play with her.”

Holding her daughter, Shu Hui turned. The scene mirrored her past life almost exactly. On this same garden path, they had run into second sister-in-law Yao Shan Shan.

Back then, Qin Yu Shen had disallowed bringing Ningning, so Shu Hui had entrusted her to the seemingly gracious Yao Shan Shan.

But Yao Yao turned out to be a mischievous bully.

That very day, after their marriage registration, Shu Hui returned to hear her daughter crying inconsolably, her small palms scraped raw from being pushed down.

This time, Shu Hui would never make the same mistake. With gentle firmness, she declined: “No need. I can’t leave Ningning.”

It wasn’t that the child couldn’t leave her. It was that she couldn’t leave the child.

Qin Yu Shen’s brows pinched. This woman’s words always carried thorns, no matter how soft her tone.

Yao Shan Shan immediately fell silent. She had offered kindness without disdain, yet Shu Hui repaid it by rejecting her so bluntly.

From such a small background, did she lack even the most basic social tact?

Qin Yu Shen gave Shu Hui a cold glance, reminding her: “There will be reporters waiting. It’s not good for the child to appear.”

“Ningning is very well-behaved. She’ll stay in the car and won’t run around.” Shu Hui refused flatly, hugging her daughter tighter as she headed toward the estate gates. She even urged impatiently:

“Hurry up.”

“…”

The Bentley SUV slowly rolled out of the hillside estate.

Little Sui Ning lay on her mother’s chest, watching the scenery slip past the window, smiling brightly. “Mama! Home!”

“No, sweetheart. Mommy and Daddy have something to do first.” Shu Hui’s voice was as patient and gentle as ever with her daughter.

“You’ll sit nicely in the car with Uncle Driver and wait for Mommy to come back, okay? If you behave, Mommy will take you home to see Grandma, alright?”

It took the little one a moment to digest the long sentence. Then she nodded happily, her double chin wobbling adorably.

Shu Hui teased her, while stealing glances at the man beside her—still working diligently on his laptop, expression cold and mute.

The cold, silent jerk. Her daughter had called him “Daddy,” and he hadn’t even responded.

If she hadn’t come back from her past life—knowing that one day Qin Yu Shen would treat their daughter very well—Shu Hui would have already smacked him across the face.

They arrived at Hong Kong’s marriage registry.

Through the tinted windows, they could already see the reporters swarming forward like bees. Bodyguards rushed to form a shield, forcing space between the crowd and the car.

Qin Yu Shen cast a glance her way—his disapproval at her bringing the child was crystal clear.