On the way back, Qiao Anchen was still deep in thought, driving with a serious expression and not saying a word.
Chu Yi found it a little strange, but Qiao Anchen often acted this way, and she had almost gotten used to his sudden silence.
She hugged Li Yan beside her and whispered something to him.
"Is Grandpa and Grandma's house fun?"
"It's fun." Li Yan smiled sweetly, her little face tilted up, and Chu Yi's expression softened even more.
"Does Xiaoyan like her grandparents?"
"I like it!" the child exclaimed immediately. His voice was loud but not shrill, a tender child's voice with a touch of babyishness.
Chu Yi couldn't help but lower her head and nuzzle his forehead, her voice incredibly gentle.
"Grandpa and Grandma also really like Xiaoyan!"
Qiao Anchen took in the whole scene through the front-view mirror. He watched the two of them, one big and one small, snuggling together intimately, and his gaze finally settled on Chu Yi's smiling face.
Something broke through the ground.
He was restless, but gradually became resolute.
32. Chapter 32
After playing all day, the child was exhausted. When they got home, Li Yan started yawning and blinking his eyes sleepily.
Chu Yi asked Qiao Anchen to take him to take a bath. After the bath, Li Yan quickly crawled into the quilt, only sticking out his little head, and obediently said goodnight to her.
Chu Yi watched him fall asleep before turning off the light and going back to her room.
There was the sound of water coming from the bathroom. Qiao Anchen hadn't come out yet. Chu Yi climbed onto the bed by herself and was about to lie down.
The door was opened.
Qiao Anchen changed into his pajamas. His hair was slightly damp from the hot water, revealing fair and moist skin. His eyes were a clean and lustrous black, as if they were filled with water.
"By the way, there's something I'd like to discuss with you," he said casually. Chu Yi paused, then simply sat on the bed and crossed her legs.
"What's up?"
For some reason, looking into her clear eyes, Qiao Anchen paused for a moment before speaking.
He moved his lips, softened his voice, and unusually seemed a little embarrassed.
What do you think about us having a child?
As soon as he finished speaking, the air fell silent. Chu Yi stared at him in disbelief, her eyes wide with surprise.
After a while, she realized what was happening and was incredulous.
“Qiao Anchen…” Chu Yi frowned, and said with difficulty, “Why would you suddenly have such an idea?”
"Is it strange?" Qiao Anchen was also puzzled by her expression, and his brows furrowed slightly.
"We've been married for almost a year, and we're not getting any younger. Isn't it normal to have a child?"
"But..." Chu Yi's mind was in turmoil as memories came flooding back, replaying scenes from when the two first got married until now.
Her heart grew heavier and heavier, and the panic made it hard for her to breathe.
"I don't think it's the right time for us to have children." She concluded firmly. Qiao Anchen's face darkened, his expression turning serious.
"Why?" he asked her, puzzled. Besides the unexpectedness, there was also a strong sense of loss, as if something else was mixed in, causing Qiao Anchen's heart to churn and his internal organs to twist together.
"Don't you think we're in a really bad situation right now?" Chu Yi asked seriously. Qiao Anchen's brow furrowed even deeper, and the words almost slipped out of his mouth.
What's wrong with it?
"Nothing is good." Chu Yi sensed that his mood was off and his tone had become unpleasant. Qiao Anchen took a deep breath to calm himself down and looked at her calmly.
"Chu Yi, I don't understand why you suddenly have this view, but in my opinion, there are no problems between us, and we've always gotten along very well since we got married, haven't we?"
"That's what you think." Chu Yi sat on the bed, wearing a light pink nightgown, her eyes wide open, her expression solemn, and she looked up at him with righteous indignation.
“We have nothing in common. We’ve never gone out on a fun date together, never tried to get to know each other, have nothing in common, never explored each other’s social circles, and certainly never lived like a normal married couple.”
Chu Yi finished speaking in one breath, releasing all the pent-up frustration that had been building up in her heart for so long. She looked at Qiao Anchen with a mixture of lingering satisfaction and relief, and then, without a care in the world, raised her voice to announce it.
"This shows that our marriage is already in grave danger!"
Qiao Anchen: "..."
He spent a full three minutes confirming before realizing that Chu Yi really wasn't joking.
Qiao Anchen's feelings at this moment were hard to describe, and even had a sense of unreal absurdity. He stared intently into Chu Yi's eyes and remained silent for a long time.
Is the problem with him or with the world?
Qiao Anchen couldn't help but ask a soul-searching question, feeling that his long-held worldview had been severely impacted.
"Then... what do you want me to do?" His mind was racing, countless thoughts flashing through his mind, but in the end, he could only manage to utter this sentence with difficulty.
Chu Yi remained silent for a moment before quietly saying, "It's not about what I want you to do, but what you should do."
Qiao Anchen looked utterly devastated.
After Chu Yi finished speaking, she realized that she might have put him in a difficult position, but at that moment, she really had neither the mood nor the patience to continue the topic with him.
From the moment she concluded their marriage, Chu Yi felt utterly exhausted, accompanied by intense bitterness and sadness, as well as a faint sense of sorrow.
She felt that she couldn't possibly be in the same space as Qiao Anchen at that moment.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, I got out of bed and put on my shoes.
"I'm going to sleep with Xiaoyan tonight."
After saying that, Chu Yi didn't wait for Qiao Anchen's reply or look at his expression. She lowered her eyes and left. When she closed the door, she stopped and whispered without turning her head, "You should go to sleep early too."
The room returned to silence, almost too quiet. The change had happened too quickly; in just a few minutes, Qiao Anchen's understanding had been completely overturned.
Even now, he was still a little dazed, wondering if what had just happened had really occurred.
But the empty room and the bed in front of him, now empty, reminded him that everything that had just happened was real.
Qiao Anchen stood there with his head down for a long time. The wind from the balcony blew in, chilling him to the bone. He couldn't help but shiver. He snapped out of his daze and looked around blankly, but could no longer find any trace of Chu Yi.
No one slept well that night. Chu Yi was alright, but Qiao Anchen went to work looking haggard with dark circles under his eyes. He bumped into Jin Ran and was startled.
"Qiao Anchen, what's wrong with you?"
"Did you work overtime all night again yesterday?"
"Hey, don't work so hard. Will the hospital give you a bigger bonus or a banner or something?"
Qiao Anchen was known for his serious and responsible work ethic, even to the point of being reckless. To put it nicely, he was serving the people; to put it bluntly, he was stubborn.
He could work overtime all night for a case, but he toned it down a bit after getting married. Before, he really made it impossible for his colleagues in the procuratorate to live their lives.
Qiao Anchen was driven crazy by Jin Ran's noise. He hadn't slept for almost a whole night, and his temples were already throbbing. Now they were even more throbbing.
He rubbed his temples, ignored Jin Ran, and walked past him toward his office.
"Hey, you can talk to your brother about anything. The wise Jin Ran is here to help you solve your problems..."
He continued to use his sharp tongue as always, and loved to tease Qiao Anchen. Every time he saw the broken expression on Qiao Anchen's face, he felt a strange sense of accomplishment.
Jin Ran smiled, expecting to receive Qiao Anchen's coldness as before, but to his surprise, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
Qiao Anchen looked at him with an inscrutable expression, and Jin Ran's smile froze instantly. He swallowed hard.
"W-What's wrong, brother?"
...
In the early morning, in an empty office, Qiao Anchen put down his bag, pulled out a chair and sat down. He looked at Jin Ran across from him and asked, seemingly casually, as he turned on his computer.
"If, and I mean if, your wife suddenly tells you that your marriage is on the verge of collapse, what would that mean?"
Jin Ran's expression went blank for two seconds, then her eyes widened, and she stared at him in disbelief.
"It can't be..." He was so shocked that he couldn't speak, pointing at Qiao Anchen with trembling fingertips.
“That’s not important,” Qiao Anchen interrupted him impatiently. “Get to the point.”
Jin Ran abruptly withdrew his hand, swallowed hard, and pondered for a long time with a serious expression before slowly and cautiously saying, "Generally speaking... judging from the literal meaning, it's about the same..."
He looked up at Qiao Anchen, hesitantly and fearfully speaking.
"It probably means she wants a divorce."
Qiao Anchen had just picked up his cup to pour water when he heard this, and with a 'bang,' the cup fell heavily onto the table.
Luckily it didn't break...
Jin Ran stared blankly at the cup, his mind blankly racing.
"Think carefully before you answer," Qiao Anchen warned him fiercely, snapping out of his daze. Jin Ran cried out innocently.
"Didn't you say yourself that your marriage was on the verge of collapse? Otherwise, describe the scene to me again. Maybe your wife was just joking with you, taking it as a kind of fun between husband and wife?"
Romance?
If Qiao Anchen thinks Chu Yi's serious expression is just a joke, then he must be really crazy.
He remained silent with a dark expression. Jin Ran, sensing the situation was not right, quickly slipped away and said goodbye, leaving Qiao Anchen alone in the office, lost in thought.
When they got back that evening, the situation hadn't improved at all. It was as if Chu Yi had vented all her pent-up frustrations from the past few days. She no longer maintained the facade of peace and didn't say a word to him throughout the entire meal.
Even Li Yan sensed something was wrong, so he kept his head down and ate his rice, not daring to utter a sound.
When Chu Yi noticed, her expression softened, and she put a piece of food on his plate.
"Eat slowly, don't choke," she said softly. "How about I bake you some cookies tonight so you can take to school tomorrow?"
"Okay." Li Yan swallowed the food in his mouth and nodded quickly. The two smiled at each other.
Qiao Anchen sat alone to the side, feeling even more miserable.
Before going to bed, Chu Yi went to Li Yan's room again with her pillow. Qiao Anchen stared at the book in her hand for a long time but couldn't concentrate. Finally, she threw off the covers, got out of bed, and went to the next room to knock on the door.
"Chu Yi," he called softly. A reply came quickly from inside, the voice the same as always, but devoid of warmth.
"What's up?"