Jin Zhao insisted. Meng Yanxi suddenly asked, “Didn’t I still owe you money?”

Jin Zhao: “?”

How was that possible? How could a big capitalist possibly owe her money?

Jin Zhao: “Probably not.”

Meng Yanxi looked at her thoughtfully and suddenly asked, “Back when you were in your second year of high school, the goji berry and chrysanthemum tea you stuffed into my desk every day—didn’t that cost quite a bit of money?”

Jin Zhao was caught completely off guard; her face flushed red all at once.

When she was young, she’d had a crush on him, but could only hide her girlish feelings in her heart. The boldest thing she’d ever done was, after hearing him mention his eyesight wasn’t great, arriving at school ten minutes early every day and secretly stuffing a bottle of goji berry and chrysanthemum tea into his desk.

She’d thought it was a secret crush no one knew about. She never imagined that after all these years, it would be suddenly exposed face to face by the person involved. For a moment, Jin Zhao didn’t know whether she should feel shy or angry.

Shy that her hidden feelings had been discovered; angry that he didn’t leave her any dignity at all, actually exposing it on the spot.

As a result, Meng Yanxi seized the moment and swiftly paid for the phone.

Jin Zhao: “……”

She had to admit—Meng Yanxi could be pretty annoying sometimes.

Jin Zhao muttered softly, “How did you know it was me?”

Meng Yanxi replied in a thoroughly punchable tone, “Do you think someone like me would drink water from just anyone?”

Jin Zhao stubbornly retorted, “It was just a few yuan, I did it on a whim.”

The implication being: it wasn’t worth much, it wasn’t especially for you, don’t get too pleased with yourself, and there’s no need to remember it for so long.

Meng Yanxi raised an eyebrow and said calmly, “A few yuan every day adds up to a few hundred yuan. If invested properly—say, buying some Bitcoin—ten years later, it’d be two or three hundred thousand by now.”

Meng Yanxi: “Jin Zhao, I owe you three hundred thousand.”

Jin Zhao: “?”

Meng Yanxi: “I’m the same as my girlfriend—I don’t like owing people money. Remember to send me your bank account number later. I’ll transfer it to you.”

Jin Zhao: “……” Speechless in sheer amazement.

With just a flick of someone’s lips, thirty hundred thousand appeared out of thin air.

With a mouth like yours, Suiyi’s GDP would have to take another big leap forward!

Jin Zhao stared blankly at him for a long while before finally squeezing out, “Meng Yanxi, don’t be so outrageous.”

Meng Yanxi directly tossed his phone to her. “The growth of Bitcoin over the past ten years—look it up yourself. See if I’m lying.”

Jin Zhao: “But I don’t know how to buy Bitcoin.”

Meng Yanxi: “I do. I’ll buy it for you.”

Jin Zhao: “……”

Unable to outargue him, Jin Zhao stopped struggling and turned to go get her SIM card replaced.

Meng Yanxi followed her into the service hall and said, as if casually, “Since it’s already been soaked, maybe it means there’s no more fate. How about just getting a new number?”

The way she’d cried that day—he never wanted to see it a second time in his life.

He wanted her to cut things off with the Jin family once and for all.

Jin Zhao naturally understood what he meant. But that card didn’t just have the Jin family—it held her work, her social connections. Just like her life wasn’t only about the Jin family; she had many, many other things too.

She really had been impulsive that night.

These past years, she’d been rational most of the time. But in the end, she wasn’t a purely rational person. When emotions were violently shaken, she could act on impulse too, let feelings take the lead.

But she didn’t regret it.

If, because of that, she really did end up having a child with Meng Yanxi, she would be very happy. Even if a child arriving at this moment might slow her progress—so be it. In the end, both sides were things she liked.

This and that—she liked them both.

As for the bad things, after the impulsiveness passed, she would deal with them seriously—but not just by running away.

Jin Zhao reissued her old number. Meeting Meng Yanxi’s dark, fixed gaze, she explained calmly, “Better to reissue it. What if the Nobel Committee needs to notify me to collect my Nobel Prize in Literature and can’t reach me?”

Meng Yanxi, who had been a little unhappy: “……”

He and his wife really were a perfect match—out of the vast sea of people, falling in love at first sight with his fellow patient.

Unfortunately, his fellow patient refused to go home with him, insisted on returning to her own talent apartment, and heartlessly shut the door on him, rejecting his request to stay over.

Even though she still had a whole week of vacation left. Meng Yanxi felt it was a terrible waste, while Jin Zhao only wanted to rest.

Those three days at the hotel had really been too crazy.

Meng Yanxi was—she actually was too… aside from eating and sleeping, she’d been lost in pleasure.

Back in Suiyi, Jin Zhao only wanted to properly recuperate.

Meng Yanxi took some time to return to the Meng family home.

The extreme torrential rains in Jiangcheng—Zhou Huaichen led the Leopard Team to disaster relief. Meng Zhuxi missed him dearly. Meng Shixu couldn’t bear to see his little cotton-padded jacket like that, so he found her something to do, having the school move her graduation project deadline up by a week.

A bolt from the blue. Meng Zhuxi wailed at the top of her lungs. Her old father was ruthless and unmoved. Meng Yanxi watched the spectacle from the side, gleefully insufferable.

As a result, his joy turned into sorrow. Meng Shixu wanted to make a donation and had him personally take supplies to Jiangcheng.

Meng Yanxi: “……”

Why don’t you let Meng Zhuxi go? She seems quite willing.

Meng Yanxi once again went to Jiangcheng, working hard without complaint.

With a new phone and a new number, when she turned it on, aside from messages from work group chats and the indecent insinuations sent by Meng Yanxi, there was no other activity at all.

The Jin family had not contacted her.

Though she wasn’t expecting apologies or explanations, when there truly wasn’t a single word, she inevitably felt like a joke.

All those expectations and sadness—just jokes.

Her boyfriend, on the other hand, looked for her at all times. When it rained, he wanted to take photos; when it was sunny, he wanted to take photos; even seeing a sheep by the roadside, he had to tell her about it.

If she replied a few minutes late, he would even accuse her of neglecting him.

He was in Jiangcheng for almost a week, deliberately trying to make it back before her school term started.

Jin Zhao slept soundly for several days. On the day Meng Yanxi returned, he messaged to say he was sick—infected by Meng Zhuxi.

Though Jin Zhao sometimes found him annoying, the moment she heard he was sick, she felt distressed and immediately rushed to Shanshui City.

As soon as she opened the door, she was pulled into his arms, kisses raining down all over her.

“You’re pretending to be sick!” Jin Zhao accused.

The bad man pressed against her and chuckled softly. “I told you, it was the ‘illness’ my sister infected me with.”

Jin Zhao was confused.

Meng Yanxi said, “That girl deliberately made herself catch a cold to stay at Zhou Huaichen’s place while chasing him. It gave me some inspiration. See? I tricked you over.”

As he spoke, he picked her up and strode toward the bed.

Jin Zhao: “……”

Meng Yanxi was very self-aware. Ever since she said she didn’t need it anymore, he truly hadn’t used protection even once.

Jin Zhao didn’t say anything and tacitly allowed it.

She went over in the afternoon; when it ended, it was midnight. The man held her close, lingering with contentment.

He hugged her from behind, his hand resting on her lower abdomen, his tone intimate and pleased. “What if you really get pregnant? …No, you should already be pregnant.”

Jin Zhao: “…Such terrifying confidence.”

Meng Yanxi said, “Mm. I’m just that kind of person—pretty respectful of facts.”

Jin Zhao was speechless for a moment, then said, “If I get pregnant, the child is mine. Don’t you think about the future.”

Meng Yanxi fell silent for a beat.

Jin Zhao was sensitive; he was perceptive. He understood her—and was even more willing to indulge her.

He laughed very softly. “Mm. I won’t fight you for it. Just let me borrow a title.”

Jin Zhao: “A title?”

Meng Yanxi kissed her earlobe. “The title of dad.”

The word “dad” was spoken low, carrying a gentle, lingering warmth that slipped into her ear, sending a tingling softness through Jin Zhao’s whole body.

Truthfully, it had been her lone, reckless courage—wanting a piece of kinship that belonged only to her, willing to do anything for a child—but she seemed to have forgotten to ask what Meng Yanxi wanted, when he, after all, also had that right.

Jin Zhao was quiet for a long time before finally asking softly, “Are you ready?”

Meng Yanxi gave a light scoff. “Do I look like I’m not ready?”

He didn’t even know how long he’d been waiting for this day. Otherwise, why would he have wanted a cat for no reason before? It was just that someone hadn’t understood.

Meng Yanxi’s palm pressed gently against her lower abdomen. “If it wants to dream a thirty-million dream like its mom, I can fulfill it immediately. Tell me—am I ready or not?”

Jin Zhao lowered her eyes and said softly, “It’s not about money.”

Meng Yanxi’s hand closed on her shoulder, turning her back to face him.

Their gazes met, the light dim and quiet.

Meng Yanxi lowered his eyes, fixing on her. “Do you remember what I told you before? People from different worlds will eventually part ways. There’s a second half to that sentence.”

Jin Zhao asked softly, “What is it?”

Meng Yanxi said, “People from the same world will eventually reunite—just like you and me.”

“Lingling, you and me—we’re people from the same world.” Meng Yanxi’s dark eyes looked straight into hers. “We’ll always be together. And if you want… there’ll be a child too.”