Growing Fond of You, Mr Nian

Jiang Peiying was amused, too. “Haven’t you been looking at her all this time?”

“Not enough.” Yan Jin pouted.

“Let your sister have a look first.” Jiang Peiying placed the delicate infant in Yan Su’s arms.

It was the first time she had held a baby, and her hands were shaking. When peering into the infant’s delicate face, which was the size of her palm, she felt as if she was in a dream.

She was a mother now.

She never imagined she would be a mother at this age.

The baby had rosy cheeks and delicate, exquisite features, but Yan Su saw no resemblance to herself.

Jiang Peiying remarked, “They say that little girls look like their dad, thank goodness… The man you were with that drunken night isn’t too bad looking. Look at how pretty Yan Yan is, am I right?”

She looked over at Yan Su meaningfully.

Yan Su felt a little awkward.

“You are my daughter. I know you would never be with an ugly man no matter how drunk you were,” Jiang Peiying said casually. “Shi Xiang was quite good looking too.”

“Ma, I’m not so superficial,” Yan Su insisted. “I think a man’s character is far more important than his appearance.”

“As long as you know that.” Jiang Peiying nodded her head. “Thank goodness we moved our trip to Germany ahead by a few weeks. I didn’t expect you to go into labor at 38 weeks, which is still considered full term.”

Yan Su was warmed and comforted. She was grateful her parents were around when her water burst. If she had been all alone in a foreign country, she wasn’t sure if she would have made it to the hospital on her own.

“I don’t think anyone saw me giving birth here, right?” Yan Su asked tentatively.

“Don’t worry. This is a private hospital. There aren’t many Chinese nationals here, and your dad put in a special request with the hospital director that we should be able to keep things under wraps,” Jiang Peiying said.

…

After three days in the hospital, Yan Su returned to where her parents were staying in Germany.

Xiang Wan took a flight over on the fourth day. After stuffing a red packet to Yan Su, she looked at her and said, “Thank goodness you only put on a little bit of weight on your face. We can easily say that you were fed well while you were doing your apprenticeship in the US.”

Yan Su smiled. “Thank you, Sister Xiang. Things must have been tough on you recently. You can arrange work for me once I finish my confinement.”

“What about your baby?” asked Xiang Wan gently.

Yan Su looked sad all of a sudden. Her baby was the most important thing in the world to her now, of course. “I can’t bear to be away from her, but I have to earn money to support her. I want to provide the best care for her, and I don’t want to rely on my parents.”

“That’s good then, a good goal to strive toward,” Xiang Wan sighed. “It’s not a bad thing to have a baby this early. Director Li’s movie wrapped about half a year ago; they’re planning to release the movie around Christmastime and are doing their publicity in the next couple of months. The crew has already contacted me a few times. They’re generating a lot of buzz. You can use this as an opportunity for a comeback.”

“Director Li’s movie?” Yan Su was stunned. Her expression was a little awkward.

Mo Liuxi and Shi Xiang were involved in Director’s Li movie? Did this mean she would be running into them again?

What ill-fate did she have with these two men? It would be awkward seeing other each. Can I skip this?

“Shi Xiang still bothers you?” Frowning, Xiang Wan asked, “Frankly, there’s still a lot of rumors about you and Shi Xiang. I wasn’t keen on you sharing the stage with him again, but there’s no choice. When you signed the contract to take on Director Li’s movie, it included your commitment to their publicity efforts. You’re a newcomer. It wouldn’t look good if you went against the clauses in the contract. Who would ask you to sing their main soundtrack in the future if you did?”