Give me your phone.
She jumped back, trying to run away, "You want to take my phone and lock me up?"
"I don't want you to ask your parents for help."
Hu Li pushed Xiang Yuan away and said, "Talk to Lanlan properly and tell her not to contact anyone today, okay?"
Xiang Lan hurriedly said, "I swear, I won't contact my parents today. I'll wait until you decide how to execute me by slow slicing."
Xiang Yuan glared at her resentfully, unable to bring himself to hit her, and knowing that scolding her would only anger himself. He left with the words, "I'll discuss with my parents how to handle this tomorrow," and then locked himself in his study.
Xiang Lan looked indifferent, tossed her schoolbag onto the bed, and half-reclined on the chaise lounge to rest.
Hu Li looked at her exquisite makeup and fingernails and said, "Go and remove your makeup, wash your face, and clean your fingernails too."
"Why?"
"Since you've decided to have this child, you have to be a good mother. Some ingredients in cosmetics and nail polish aren't good for the baby, so it's best to avoid them. Also, although it may be a little late now, it's better than not taking anything at all. Start taking folic acid tomorrow."
Xiang Lan rolled over, lay face down, and nodded, "Okay—"
"And—" Hu Li felt she was being earnest and practically a mother to Fang Zi, "For the baby's safety, it's best if you and Fang Zi don't have sex for the first three months."
Xiang Lan looked up at Hu Li and said dejectedly, "Sister-in-law, Zidu and I didn't want this to happen either. I'm just unlucky. I even encountered a one in ten thousand chance."
"What's wrong?"
"If I told you I'm still a virgin, would you believe me?" Xiang Lan said seriously.
Hu Li paused for a moment, then suddenly realized, and then burst into laughter. The three changes in his expression in that instant were absolutely brilliant.
Xiang Lan got angry. "They only said that because they consider you one of their own. I haven't said that to anyone else, and you're still laughing at me like this."
"I'm sorry—" Hu Li's apology was completely insincere.
Xiang Lan got up, sat cross-legged, and sulked.
Hu Li changed the subject, saying, "The Fang family seems alright, and they're reasonable. His father is very polite. According to him, he's in the foreign trade business and owns a small company, and his mother is a doctor. He's very proud of Fang Zidu. Although he outwardly respects his son's decisions, I think deep down he probably still feels that you're a burden to Zidu, and it's unlikely he'll accept you easily."
"Oh, whatever. We won't live with him anymore anyway—"
“His mother didn’t come. Apparently, she’s too busy with work to come.” Hu Li looked at Xiang Lan. “Has he mentioned anything about this? Is he genuinely busy, or does he simply not want to come?”
"No! Didn't I say they're in Haicheng, which is far from here!"
"You make it sound so easy!" Hu Li thought for a moment. Although the two families had temporarily reached a consensus to teach them a lesson, she still wanted to give her a hint, saying, "We haven't had much contact with them yet, so we can't really see anything clearly. The things your family prepared for you might not be given to you for the time being. So, how will you live in the future?"
“Zi Du said he can handle it!” Xiang Lan tilted her head. “I’ll listen to him.”
"Do you know how much you pay on your credit card every month? Do you know how much a young man who just graduated from school, even if he's a genius and a returnee from overseas, can earn in a month?" Hu Li's eyelids twitched. "Especially now, with a child on his hands, do you even know how you're going to manage your life in the future?"
"Sister-in-law, what do you mean by this?"
"Does your sister-in-law mean that now that you're married, you're still going to rely on your family's money?" Hu Li asked. "If that's the case, what will Fang Zi think?"
"He wants me to spend his money." Xiang Lan was very satisfied.
Is that enough?
"Then I'll try to save some money?" Xiang Lan asked tentatively.
"Oh, it's rare to think about this now. Since you've thought of it, then think about it carefully and thoroughly."
Xiang Lan watched her sister-in-law walk out, scratching her head, feeling strange. She was still a student, and her family had given her a credit card, with Xiang Yuan's company secretary handling the monthly repayments. As long as her expenses were within reasonable limits, she could spend freely. Therefore, she had never lacked money or worried about it. Her sister-in-law had been subtly and overtly mentioning money; were they planning to use this as leverage?
Xiang Lan racked her brains for a long time, but couldn't come up with any solutions. She just kept one thought in mind: could her parents and brother really bear to let her suffer? Anyway, she had houses and shares under her name. Although her parents kept the annual dividends, if things really got tough, she could always get money by being cute or throwing a tantrum, right?
While Xiang Lan was still trying to figure things out, Fang Zidu was facing the same situation. He was dragged to his hotel by Fang Haoping.
"I was on tenterhooks for a long time after boarding the plane, but seeing Xiang Lan and her family put my mind at ease. They seem to be doing well and shouldn't be a big burden on you—"
"Dad, I don't want to hear you talk about this."
"Don't like what you're hearing?" Fang Haoping laughed. "When you're doing experiments, you only succeed and get the data you want when the experimental conditions are perfect. Life is the same as an experiment. If you want a good life, you have to consider all the factors that will affect you, and marriage is the biggest one. How could you not consider this? You're being too casual."
Fang Haoping said, "You've seen the Xiang family's attitude. They don't approve of you either; in fact, they're quite annoyed."
Fang Zidu seemed thoughtful. "Are you not satisfied with me?"
"Their family probably has other plans for their daughter, and you've interfered."
"Xiang Lan likes me," Fang Zidu said. "As long as she's willing to be with me, that's enough."
Fang Haoping shook his head. "You're oversimplifying things. If I'm not mistaken, their family should be quite well-off. When you meet her parents tomorrow, they'll definitely make some demands on you."
What are the requirements?
"It's just some restrictions," Fang Haoping sighed. "You've always focused on your studies and haven't had much contact with society. I'm worried that facing these more realistic scenarios directly might shock and affect you. It's all about money—"
"If it's about money, it doesn't matter. I can handle it myself." Fang Zidu said confidently, "I don't think these things will affect my life."
"You really are—" Fang Haoping shook his head, "What Xiao Xiang wears, what she carries, what bags she carries—none of them are cheap? With your salary, you can't support her?"
Fang Zi frowned and looked at his father, "Really?"
"Don't you have eyes to recognize quality?"
Fang Zi was a little confused, "Is there any difference?"
Fang Haoping was speechless at his son's words. He waved his hand and said, "The difference is huge. Go and study it yourself."
Fang Zidu looked at Fang Haoping and suddenly asked, "Dad, what did you talk about with them?"
"We exchange information about each other's family backgrounds and chat about random things," Fang Haoping said casually.
"Have you agreed on how to deal with us?"
"Let's wait until tomorrow and hear what her parents have to say."
"So there's already an agreement, and we're just waiting for everyone to arrive tomorrow to announce it?" Fang Zidu thought for a moment, "You've repeatedly talked to me about money, which means that Xiang Lan and I will both face your economic sanctions?"
Having a son who is too smart makes him hard to fool.
"That's not quite it," Fang Haoping cleared his throat. "The main problem is that you haven't known each other for very long, so there hasn't been any time for you to get to know each other—"
"So, you've considered the reality and concluded that you can't force us to divorce, nor can you be so cruel as to deal with my child harshly, so you've adopted a roundabout approach. Cutting off our financial support and forcing us to live together under these circumstances will naturally lead to various conflicts and contradictions." Fang Zidu, on the contrary, calmed down. "If we can't get along, we'll divorce in a very short time, and neither of us will suffer much loss. Child custody can be discussed separately, but it's an acceptable outcome for both of us. If we can continue to live together, then we won't go through all this trouble?"
"That's a perfectly normal consideration, don't you think?"
“From a financial perspective, it’s normal, but from an emotional perspective, I’m a little uncomfortable with it.” Fang Zidu thought for a moment, “Okay, I can accept it. It’s not a harsh condition.”
Fang Haoping felt a little guilty. "Son, you need to consider your parents' feelings. We want what's best for you too. You've always been honest and reliable, steady in your actions, and have extremely strong self-control; but that Xiang Lan, it's clear, has a free-spirited and undisciplined personality, no plans, and is more emotional than rational—"
Fang Zi instinctively resisted hearing about Xiang Lan's shortcomings and interjected, "It's my own decision, and I can take responsibility for it. Thank you for your help, and thank you, Mom—"
Fang Haoping said helplessly, "Your mother doesn't care, but she even scolded me for meddling. Am I meddling? If I hadn't come, you would have been tormented to death by Xiang Yuan. Her brother is really no good."
Fang Zi had roughly figured out the thought processes of both sets of elders. Although he didn't quite understand them, he didn't object. What he was thinking now was that he had always been able to pass all kinds of exams with perfect grades. But this time, there was another person taking the exam, Xiang Lan, and the two of them would be scoring together. It seemed like he was a little unsure of himself. His knowledge was a bit narrow, and he needed to fill in the gaps immediately.
He took out his phone, wanting to discuss it with Xiang Lan, and dialed her number, but then stopped himself. Knowing Xiang Lan's personality, she probably wouldn't even notice something like this. He decided it was best not to worry her and let her focus on her pregnancy.
He put his phone down, ready to put it back, when he received a text message from her with her detailed home address, reminding him to be on time and make a good impression on his parents.
Fang Zi looked at her phone and laughed because her sister-in-law had sent her a pitiful emoji, saying, "My sister-in-law just told me that I can't wear makeup or nail polish anymore, for the baby's health. When you see my face tomorrow morning, you absolutely can't look disappointed, okay?"
"It seems there's a lot of pregnancy-related knowledge that we don't know. I'll buy some books tomorrow to catch up," Fang Zi replied.
“My sister-in-law is also trying to conceive. She knows, so I can ask her.”
"It would be great to have a companion to discuss things with, but I also want to be involved throughout the process. How about this, I'll create a growth observation file specifically for him, starting today?"
"Observe what?"
"everything."
"Are you treating him like an experimental subject?" Xiang Lan asked with a smile. "You can't do that, he'll get angry."
"Oh, okay."
"Let's go back to school together after lunch tomorrow afternoon."
"What's wrong?"
"Li Xingda and Yifan have found the person who spread rumors upstairs. I'm going to treat them to a meal to express my gratitude."
"Okay, my treat. Has that person been arrested yet?" Fang Zidu asked one more question.
"It seems not," Xiang Lan said lazily. "They will give me a written apology letter and also issue a public apology statement online."
"You didn't call the police?" Fang Zi frowned.
"I didn't have time. Just as I was about to report it, I found out I was pregnant. I was terrified and didn't have time to deal with it."
"Then don't worry about it, leave this to me," Fang Zidu said calmly. "You just focus on your graduation project."
"Okay." Xiang Lan sent a funny face and changed the subject, "Honey, we might be in big trouble in the future. My sister-in-law scolded me today, saying that once we're married, we can't use our family's money. Do you think we'll starve to death?"
She seemed to be in good spirits and not at all discouraged. Fangzi replied with a smile, "Of course not, you can live the same life as you are now."
"It's okay. If we really run out of money, we'll just leave the baby at my mom's house and let him cry as much as he wants. My mom's soft-hearted; she won't bear to see him like that—"
Fang Zi was speechless. He had been thinking too much about her fragile ego and wanting her to shoulder the burden alone. This girl was thick-skinned and oblivious to any danger. He had a feeling she might cause both sets of parents a lot of trouble.
Xiang Lan and Fang Zi finished their chat and, satisfied, put down their phones. She went to the kitchen to get some fruit, and as she passed the study, she pressed her ear against the door. She could hear Xiang Yuan yelling and banging on the table—it was terrifying. She stuck out her tongue, thinking her older brother was really problematic; even talking to their parents was so rude. She, on the other hand, was completely different. She obediently buried her head in her hands and went back to her room to sleep.
Author's Note: Okay, you guys are bearish... I've added it.
My little angels, if a comment is worth 0 points, could you please not post it? *crying* The story will lose points.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The Fang father and son got up very early. Fang Haoping went to the hotel to check out the venue and menu, while Fang Zidu went directly to Xiang Yuan's house to pick up Xiang Lan. He was unfamiliar with the city's public transportation system and was worried about encountering rush hour, so he hailed a taxi. When he arrived at Xiang Yuan's house, it was still dark.
There were few pedestrians outside the residential area. He guessed that Xiang Lan must not have gotten up yet, so he randomly found a small shop to have breakfast. But he saw Xiang Yuan coming over to buy steamed buns in sportswear.
"Big Brother," Fang Zidu greeted him.
Xiang Yuan looked at him, gave a cold "hmm," and waited for the boss to finish packing before sitting down in front of him.
"Want to eat together?"
Xiang Yuan shook his head, watching him quickly and silently drink his porridge and eat his side dishes, and asked, "Can you cook?"
"A simple meeting."