My Youth Began With Him

”I said, I’m pregnant,” Wu Xiaoxue repeated.

”Are you kidding?” Ning Zhiyuan gave a dry laugh.

”Of course not. Why would I joke about something like that? I didn’t think this would happen either. I did take birth control. Maybe this baby is just too lucky.”

”But… I feel like it’s all happening too suddenly.”

At this, Wu Xiaoxue’s face fell. She shoved Ning Zhiyuan away.

”What is that supposed to mean? You want me to get rid of it? I’m telling you, I won’t get an abortion. It’s not good for my health. I’m an OB/GYN doctor so I know this better than anyone.”

”That’s not what I meant. Calm down.”

”I can’t calm down. Ning Zhiyuan, just tell me this, are you going to marry me or not? If you still can’t let Huo Mian go, then go find her. I’ll let you two be together.”

”Xiaoxue, what does this have to do with Huo Mian?” Ning Zhiyuan replied, exasperated.

”Don’t think that I didn’t know that you’re still hung up on that woman.”

”No, you’re overthinking it. Huo Mian and I broke up a long time ago.”

”Then why won’t you marry me?” Wu Xiaoxue pressed.

”I just feel like I’m not good enough. I’m just an intern right now, and my home was bought on a mortgage. I’m scared I won’t be able to give you and our child a good life financially. Do you understand?”

Hearing him put it this way, Wu Xiaoxue’s attitude immediately changed. She smiled, ”I wouldn’t look down on you because of that, Zhiyuan. I already have a condo and a car. My parents bought them for me. After we get married, you can come live at my place. You can save that place of yours for your parents. Your car, too. We’ll get you a new one. My dad said he’ll get you a Mercedes-Benz GLK. Also, you don’t have to worry about your job at all. I’ll go and talk to my uncle later and get you a permanent position right away. You can be in charge of the first Optometry Clinic.”

Everything Ning Zhiyuan had dreamed of could be made a reality with one simple statement from Wu Xiaoxue.

He suddenly realized that it was true what people said: get a rich wife, and you can be spared at least ten years of toiling.

”Why aren’t you saying anything?” Wu Xiaoxue asked.

”It’s nothing. I’m just a little embarrassed to ask you to help with everything. I’ll look down on myself.”

”Zhiyuan, don’t overthink it. You’re outstanding, and these things should be yours anyway. Did you know, I really admire you. You were born to be a prodigy in the optometry field. I read all of your academic papers and they are amazing. Even my uncle said you’re a talented man, and you are sure to do great things in the future.”

Hearing Wu Xiaoxue mentioning this, Ning Zhiyuan’s sense of unease grew.

This was because none of those acclaimed academic papers were written by him. Huo Mian had written all of them for him in the past.

Now that Huo Mian was no longer by his side, he wouldn’t be able to produce any new material. He could only rely on the articles from before to attract people’s attention.

”Zhiyuan?”

”Uh huh?”

”What do you think about my suggestion? Let’s get married. What do you think?”

Ning Zhiyuan paused for a moment. ”Okay,” he squeezed out from between his teeth.

Wu Xiaoxue’s expression instantly brightened. She hugged Ning Zhiyuan’s neck tightly.

Just as Huo Mian was about to get off work, she received a WeChat message on her phone.

It was from Zhu Lingling. The message said, ”Mian, go check our high school classmates group.”

To prevent herself from being distracted on the job, Huo Mian had turned off all group notifications. Unless she checked the groups manually, she wouldn’t know about anything new that happened there. With Zhu Lingling’s prompt, she immediately opened the group chat window for her high school classmates.

There, she saw a photo. It was of Qin Chu, sitting by a dining table.

The one who uploaded the photo was Liu Siying....

After the photo was uploaded, her classmates immediately exploded with questions.

”Ying, what’s going on? Are you and Qin Chu dating?”

”Ying, when did you have dinner with Mr. Hottie Qin? Why didn’t you invite me? Meanie.”

”You’re amazing, Liu Siying. How did you get Qin Chu to go out with you? That’s no simple feat.”

Of course, they were all kissing up to her...

On the other hand, Zhu Lingling replied with the following, ”Did you take this photo yourself? You wouldn’t steal someone else’s photo, would you?”