40
In the dark, Bian Xun knew clearly.
He should restrain himself.
At the very least, he shouldn't appear too impulsive.
The biggest taboo was showing that he couldn't control his feelings.
It would make it seem as if he had never walked out of the dream from six years ago.
But at this very moment, with the warm breath and the skin wrapping around him, everything, just everything.
He fell vertically into the dream he had had countless times.
Just like the dim chaos in his dreams, the lights in the room were not turned on, the curtains were tightly drawn, and the light and air became heavy with moisture, lying dormant in the gloom.
He couldn't see any details in front of him clearly.
Thus, his sense of touch and breathing became even more distinct.
Bian Xun was breathing heavily.
His panting was silent, not appearing overly agitated, but the rise and fall of his chest inadvertently brushed against her.
Her palm still covered the corner of his lips. It seemed Bian Xun no longer needed to ask his unfinished question—
His throat felt slightly parched.
With her and him, like this right now, what else could it be?
Bian Xun allowed himself a restrained, unhurried, silent smile.
This time, at a different time, in a different place, nothing was his fixed routine anymore, yet the abandoned order began to rebuild itself.
He closed his eyes, his palms burning hot, but his movements remained methodical, even taking a moment to chuckle softly, "In a rush?"
She nodded honestly, rubbing against him shyly, "I am!"
Bian Xun's dark eyes were moist, so deep they blended into the night.
He had a precise grasp of time, knowing there was enough time left for foreplay, so he forcefully held himself back, tilting his head up to trace her expression in the dimness.
"How much of a rush."
"Let me see."
After speaking, his own Adam's apple bobbed.
Ning Ye's cheeks flushed red instantly, knowing the other party was teasing her for lacking reserve.
But Ning Ye was very open-minded about it. The two had a clear purpose and knew exactly what they were doing; it was all so that Taotao could be born smoothly.
Otherwise, given their former relationship as exes, they would never have rolled into bed together under any circumstances.
So Ning Ye, blushing, patted him lightly on the shoulder, as if silently expressing: Don't laugh at me.
It was the weight of a kitten scratching.
A certain someone's Adam's apple bobbed even harder.
This feeling of being actively scratched and rubbed against was astonishingly pleasurable. Yet, even though his spine was tingling all over, the arm strength with which he held her up remained staggering.
Despite the clamor of his heartbeat, he was steady and firm, seemingly in complete control of the situation.
There was no light in the room.
She looked down but couldn't see his face; only the ends of her hair fell onto him like countless fingertips, like their intersecting lines of fate, about to create a focal point at this moment—
A cute, round focal point.
So she leaned down, taking the initiative to touch the side of his ear in the blurry entanglement.
This tiny bit of initiative completely ignited the madness.
At this moment, Bian Xun's expression in the dark was restrained.
The curves beneath his palms, the warm smoothness his fingertips touched, ignited the deep-seated memory of knowing the taste of pleasure.
When the faint scent of jasmine began to turn rich, the cold sandalwood essence on his bones turned into burning incense, permeating into endlessly released hormones that invaded every inch of the space.
The man said nothing, drawing in a deep breath of air through his sharply contoured nose. At certain moments, it was as if he lacked oxygen. He deeply tightened his throat and raised his hand to turn on the light, to illuminate the scenery in the room—
But was stopped by a pair of slender, gentle arms.
"Don't..."
That gentleness was like water, as if it was going to melt into the night, and that wave of water was as proactive as fireflies under the moon, turning into an endless arc of light that enveloped and wrapped around him.
It seemed capable of bearing any weight.
He did not respond, yet his strength was simply irrepressible, barely balancing between violence and beauty as it fiercely shattered more syllables.
But like a blind man feeling an elephant, he constantly paid attention to and figured out every inch of her reactions, trying to piece together a complete picture of vivid sensuality in the dark.
He couldn't see her eyes, but he could hear her soft, fragmented moans.
He couldn't see her flushed skin, but he could touch the even slicker damp clothing beneath a thin layer of sweat.
Indulging in it, it was flowing.
His jaw tightened; he almost wanted to swallow her whole.
Ning Ye gradually lost focus amidst the earth-shattering impacts, her pupils dilating slightly due to the intensely scattered nerve signals, and she thought intermittently amidst the surging waves of sensation.
Flexion position... lateral recumbent position...
Posterior position...
Which one was more scientific again...?
She held an academically rigorous attitude, but her wealth of knowledge was burned to ashes by the heat she hadn't tasted in years, not even knowing how much time had passed at all.
There was only the dimness, and his obsidian-like eyes brightened by sweat.
At the moment approaching release, Ning Ye struggled to hold onto his arm, discovering that her voice had turned as soft as mud when she spoke.
"...Hold me up."
She asked him to support her waist with his arm, letting her hips suspend higher.
Flowing into the depths.
Those three short words nearly caused his commanding presence to collapse, completely surrendering his weapons, almost entirely exposing his restrained emotions.
In that culminating moment.
He was completely captivated.
And Ning Ye finally let out a long, relieved sigh in the afterglow, her heart swelling with a tender, aching fullness.
Joy, tranquility, being moved^^
...
Bian Xun rarely fell into a deep sleep.
The two hours of madness before midnight made him frantically pour in everything.
In the depression of the pillow, the man's brow bone to the bridge of his nose rose and fell, his eyes closed, breathing deeply and evenly, wearing a relaxed expression.
He had a dream.
In the dream, he was still on campus. In front of the familiar weather-beaten school gate, the girl in his vision was slender and stubborn, her almond eyes slightly red. She didn't have much strength, her voice wasn't loud, but she still slowly broke free from his hand.
The empty sensation in his palm was branded deep in his mind. The girl turned and walked in the opposite direction. That back figure was still clear, just like the bitter resentment in his heart that hadn't faded over the years, a dark anger at the bottom of his heart.
However, this time, she hadn't taken many steps before suddenly turning around.
The stubborn and sad face was gone, the neat ponytail turned into a loose bun tucked behind her ear. She was beautiful and gentle, coming back with a smile and throwing herself into his arms.
The embrace airtightly filled his chest, the two of them fitting perfectly together, as if no time had flowed between them.
From a boyfriend, to an even further position.
This subtle sense of pleasure was like the true afterglow of a climax.
So much so that when he woke up, the corners of Bian Xun's lips were actually still curled up.
The windows in the room weren't open. After a night, the air was stagnant, like the epilogue of an intense entanglement.
Dark and dizzying.
The morning after.
The blanket over him was a mess. Bian Xun smiled silently and turned around contentedly, intending to pull something into his arms.
However, as he turned, the other side of the bed was empty.
The man paused, frowned, and propped himself up on the bed. Then he remembered that the child was still next door and pinched the bridge of his nose.
It was just morning now; she must have gone to check on the little one.
Bian Xun casually slipped on a pair of lounge pants, grabbed his shirt, and walked into the bathroom.
The man walked bare-chested to the mirror and turned on the mirror light, only to see a few nail marks resembling kitten scratches on his lean left abdominal muscles.
They were especially obvious in front of the mirror. Bian Xun's gaze fell there, and his Adam's apple bobbed unconsciously once again.
...Still wanting more.
Bian Xun closed his eyes and curled his lips, speeding up his grooming before walking out looking neat and refreshed.
Yesterday, because Ning Zhitao was overly satisfied with dad's performance at the sports meet, the child took the initiative to ask to go to dad's house to play, and so their first time after a long separation was left here.
As Bian Xun walked around, he began to nitpick the house.
The flat was spacious, but the bedrooms had been knocked through, the functional zones were simple, there was no children's room, and no family play area.
It seemed he needed to move house.
Would she be willing to move in?
Bian Xun recalled his performance last night, her reaction, and his lips curled up by another three degrees.
It was impossible for her not to be willing.
It wasn't as if she didn't have needs.
...Wet like that.
The CEO took a deep breath, feeling that even the morning air was refreshing.
Deciding to be kind to the world for a day, he calmly placed his hand on the door handle, pulled it down, and a smile appeared on his lips.
"Are you awake—"
The words fell, and the room was empty.
Both the adult and the child were no longer in the house.
The pillow the child had slept on was straightened, the quilt was folded into a neat square by an adult, and the two or three picture books scattered on the floor had been put in their proper places.
Bian Xun paused, his brow furrowing deeply.
What was the meaning of this.
The heatwave of last night and the coldness of this moment formed some sort of huge contrast.
Bian Xun looked around the house before he was really sure.
Not only did they not wake up hugging each other afterwards, but she actually just patted her butt and left.
What was the meaning of this?
Bian Xun's dark eyes were cold and heavy as he turned and went back to the side of the bed in the bedroom, picking up his phone. Ning Ye had indeed left him a message.
Without any ambiguity or romance, her tone was light and gentle.
[Bian Xun, I've taken Taotao home to change clothes and go to kindergarten first]
[Thank you for yesterday]
? Thank what.
[I still used your place this time, I definitely won't have to do this again in the future~ About ten days after this time, I'll go to the hospital to draw blood and check my HCG to see if the value has risen. If I need you to take care of Taotao, I'll tell you directly, and if you want to see Taotao, you can come anytime~]
[If there are any other questions, we can talk in detail later~ I'll reply when I see it [Rose]]
Bian Xun, with a cold face, finally slowly understood what the other party meant.
He walked into the bathroom of the guest bedroom. There were water droplets on the glass of the shower area, and the mist hadn't dissipated, showing that Ning Ye had cleaned herself before leaving.
But Bian Xun looked down at the ground, and there wasn't a single drop of water on the slippery floor tiles; they had been wiped clean.
A bathroom used by a girl would normally have a few hairs dropped, but whether it was the washbasin or the floor drain in the shower room, it was unexpectedly spotless, and all the dropped hairs had been meticulously cleaned up.
Even the bag in the rubbish bin had been replaced with a new one.
She respected the other party's obsession with cleanliness to the greatest extent and cautiously expressed her own sense of boundaries.
But this sense of alienation felt like staying over for a night, rather than having just intensely made love.
Bian Xun stared blankly for a long time, his jawline tightening, the color of his eyes dark and shifting.
What was the meaning of this?
The crazy feeling of pleasure, both physiological and psychological, had finally passed its effect by this time.
Pulling out and being ruthless?
He would maintain a dead feeling until the other party gave him a reasonable explanation.
...
Ning Ye simply didn't know what she needed to explain.
She arrived at work on time and was in a very good mood today.
When sending the little one to school, she gave the child a loud kiss on the cheek.
Ning Zhitao bounced her way into the kindergarten.
Sitting at her desk, that porcelain-white face was bright and radiant. With a smile in the corners of her eyes, she ticked the calendar and drew a little grape.
With the heavy stone in her heart lifted and the child's major livelihood issue resolved, Ning Ye walked much more easily. Psychologically, she also felt that there was something extra in her body, and she began to carefully protect herself, not daring to run, jump, or be bumped.
If she got pregnant with Taotao on time, would there be any changes in her body?
According to the logic of the original plot, at this point in time, the female lead needed the male lead to have a four-year-old daughter just like her, so when the time advanced to five years later, the male lead's daughter traveled over.
Theoretically speaking, there should only be one Ning Zhitao in the same timeline, otherwise the reason why the child traveled over wouldn't hold. It was the development of the plot that made the child arrive early to the present, so the things that originally happened would no longer exist because of the power of the plot.
So she just preserved and supplemented the child's logical "existence," and there was a high probability that she wouldn't really get pregnant and give birth.
Otherwise, if she, a female supporting character who asked for money with an illegitimate daughter, "got pregnant" with the male lead's child again, wouldn't the original plot collapse.
So she called it a cyber pregnancy.
But objectively speaking, last night they did this and that, turning the world upside down... Physiologically, she was indeed in a state of conception now, and maybe she would also have those pregnancy reactions mentioned on the internet?
But she wasn't married yet, and she didn't have maternity leave.
Marry Bian Xun? That was naturally impossible too. Capitalists always attached the most importance to property security and couldn't easily establish a relationship that would take away half of their family property. What's more, they weren't in that kind of relationship.
While she was pondering, Sister Zhou next to her slid her chair over to check data with her.
After chatting about work, Sister Zhou looked up, blinked, and said, "Ningning baby, are you in a very good mood today?"
Ning Ye touched her cheek. "You can tell?"
"Mhm," Sister Zhou nodded, playfully touching her smooth and fair cheek. "Your complexion is a bit different today, white with a touch of red, and moist, like a peach."
This texture, hiss, Sister Zhou was a bit envious of her future husband. Stinky men ate so well.
Ning Ye didn't know what she thought of, but her face suddenly turned a bit red, and she defensively tidied her already clean desk.
Although it was cooperating to make a baby, last night was indeed... very intense.
Calm down, calm down, phew.
This is what parents should do.
The two chatted for a few words and happened to see a girl carrying a bag at the front of the department, following Director Ma into the meeting room, looking unwell.
Without needing to be asked, Sister Zhou knew it like the back of her hand and lowered her voice to gossip with her. "That girl used to be in our department too, and she was fired before you joined. Do you know why?"
Influenced by her mysterious tone, Ning Ye also asked in a low voice, "Why?"
Sister Zhou sighed and shook her head. "Because when that girl joined, she said she had no plans for marriage and childbirth, but three months after joining, she got married and pregnant in a flash, and wanted to ask for more than a hundred days of maternity leave. Director Ma was angry at the time, and the two sides couldn't agree, so the higher-ups found a reason to fire her."
Ning Ye blinked.
"This matter... both sides are wrong. Logically, the company shouldn't affect employment decisions because of female employees' marriage and childbirth, but this girl was indeed a bit unauthentic... So regarding marriage and childbirth, it's better to report in advance, so the department can plan work well, and there won't be a reason to fire people."
Ning Ye nodded repeatedly as she listened, her arms quietly wrapping around her lower abdomen.
After Sister Zhou finished rambling, she saw Ning Ye's concerns and remembered that she might also face similar problems in the future, so she quickly comforted her.
"But at that time, the boss of Wujiang hadn't changed yet, and our Boss Bian hadn't taken power. Now that the immediate superior has changed, the policy shouldn't be so cold-blooded—"
Ning Ye hugged her arms and rubbed them.
From the perspective of the child's father, Bian Xun naturally couldn't be that cold-blooded.
But if you didn't use connections and looked at it from the perspective of the relationship between capitalist and employee, it was really hard to say.
A black-hearted boss definitely wouldn't make any concessions on this matter.
Besides, even if she really had pregnancy symptoms, she couldn't possibly let the child's father take care of her, right?
Ning Ye threw herself into her work with even more dedication. Personal ability was the only true foundation; relying on the child's father was unreliable.
As a result, she didn't look at her phone at all the entire morning.
...
Making it to noon, the higher-ups called the people from the business department for a meeting, and she heard that President Bian was also attending.
But Ning Ye didn't go, staying behind to hold a group meeting instead.
There was an international business trip at the end of the month, and many colleagues were excited, secretly inquiring about the quota for the trip. Because the timing was perfect, going abroad would coincide with Christmas, allowing for a company-paid vacation on the side.
Christmas—that was Taotao's favorite magical holiday, one she would start looking forward to weeks in advance. Ning Ye pondered absentmindedly.
Halfway through, the director came back to call her to the meeting, but Ning Ye happened to have work on hand, so she declined.
A meeting that Bian Xun was attending meant it was an important agenda. Whether she went or not would have no impact.
After finishing the tasks at hand, Ning Ye received a wedding invitation from Yue Shiqing, telling her to bring Taotao along to have fun.
After meeting at the engagement banquet last time, the two had exchanged contact information and gradually became quite familiar with each other.
After sending the invitation, Yue Shiqing gloatingly sent her a voice message: "Do you know who else I sent one to? Xu Lanyi! She might go crazy with anger if she knows I married into the Bian family, hahahaha."
Ning Ye hadn't paid attention to Xu Lanyi's recent situation since the last time. Right now, the plot had changed drastically, and the female lead's status had little to do with her.
All she needed to do was take good care of herself and the little one.
After replying to the other party, just as she was about to turn off her phone, Ning Ye suddenly remembered something and refreshed the future photo album.
Ever since she got the photo last time to reverse the plot, Ning Ye faintly felt that setting up this album and having the child come with a black card seemed like a subtle form of protection, allowing them to avoid the plot's influence as much as possible and gain more information.
Today, a new photo appeared in the album; it was a blurry surveillance frame.
She clicked it open, and her pupils suddenly shrank slightly.
The watermark of the Wujiang Big Data Model was marked in the lower right corner of the image. Ning Ye knew that it was a project of the Wujiang R&D department, an AI intelligent model supporting global retrieval based on powerful computing power and search engines.
At the development conference for this project a few years ago, its social value was mentioned, capable of providing technical assistance for social issues such as missing persons and child trafficking.
And that was also one of the reasons why Ning Ye initially wanted to join Wujiang.
Now, the progress of this project at Wujiang was still moving forward, but it seemed to be a step slower than on the original timeline.
However, Ning Ye unexpectedly saw a familiar figure in the album screenshot. It was actually her mother, Ning Cuizhen, appearing right in Jing City.
She had been missing for seven years since Ning Ye graduated from college, but Ning Ye could still recognize her at a glance.
Her mother was a very complex person.
She had a bad temper, loved to scold people, spoke harshly, and was irresponsible. Yet she fiercely protected Ning Ye, ensuring she never suffered a single beating growing up. After confirming that Ning Ye could get a student loan from Jinghua to finish her studies, she disappeared without a trace, dragging her newly diagnosed, severely ill body. At that time, Ning Ye had just been admitted to the capital university and had a bright future ahead; if her mother had stayed, she would only have been a burden. So she didn't even give Ning Ye a chance to choose.
Seeing this screenshot at least proved that she was still around now.
Ning Ye put down her phone, her heart skipping a beat. She wondered if her mother's appearance was the original catalyst that made her choose to become a mother too.
But on the current timeline, this technology from Wujiang hadn't been fully developed yet.
It just so happened that Ning Ye ran into Assistant Zhang in the printing room and wanted to ask him about the progress of that large search model.
Assistant Zhang, however, had a lingering look of fear on his face. "The higher-ups are still in a meeting. President Bian is in a terrible mood today and scolded several senior executives."
Ning Ye's eyes were clear and puzzled. "Bian Xun? What's wrong with him?"
Last night he was... he was quite happy.
Assistant Zhang originally thought the CEO was upset because of Miss Ning, but looking at it now, he wasn't so sure.
Ning Ye also reflected on herself. She had gotten up in the middle of the night to clean the floor of the room, cleaned the bathroom after using it, and didn't leave the child's things lying around. There shouldn't be anything to make him unhappy, right?
Assistant Zhang recalled the situation of the project she asked about. "The smart search large model is already wrapping up. It's just that due to the CEO's financial security being hit by unknown forces over the past two months, coupled with fluctuations in stock prices and market value, R&D costs have been forced to tighten to some extent."
Ning Ye nodded understandingly. Alas, no one could predict these things in business warfare.
"But it's not a big problem. It's just slightly delayed from the expected completion time, but it will go online next quarter."
Ning Ye breathed a sigh of relief.
When Assistant Zhang returned with the documents to the meeting room, which was in a halftime truce, he stepped through the metaphorical smoke of gunpowder to the head seat and hurriedly reported to the CEO about meeting Ning Ye just now.
Bian Xun, radiating a deadly aura, slightly relaxed his cold, arm-crossed posture and lifted his eyelids.
The entire morning, no news.
Called her for a meeting, and she didn't come.
Assistant Zhang immediately said, "Oh, Miss Ning also has a message for you."
The man sitting in the seat of power parted his thin lips slightly. "What did she say?"
"Miss Ning said she hopes your wealth will continue to grow, your asset security will never be attacked, and you will become the most important cornerstone of the Wujiang Group."
Bian Xun: "..."
His bank balance had indeed been fluctuating recently, but his private accounts had always had dense inflows and outflows, and his net worth changed every second. Bian Xun didn't have the leisure time to look into it deeply.
Compared to his money, shouldn't she be caring about something else?
Using money to divert attention, a new type of cold war?
The CEO stood up indifferently, picked up his coat, and liberated the senior executives in the meeting room.
He decided to pick up the child first.
A father's status rises with his daughter, understand?
...
Bian Xun arrived early today. Ning Ye hadn't gotten off work yet, so he picked up Ning Zhitao first.
Children's memories didn't refresh that quickly. The kids in the kindergarten still had fresh memories of yesterday's Papa-lord performance, and as soon as they saw him, there was a series of respectful greetings—
"Hello, Papa-lord!" "Goodbye, Papa-lord!"
Although it was noisy, and although Bian Xun didn't want to admit it, he actually found a slight sense of normal order in it.
Children would react to things that had already happened.
Some people made a child and acted like nothing happened?
Last night, from start to finish, they did it for two hours.
He didn't believe she could just pull away and forget.
The CEO stood at the kindergarten entrance with a cold and arrogant face.
Quite a few fathers even recognized him and greeted him.
Not long after, Ning Zhitao came out following Teacher Youzi. She saw him at a glance and waved happily: "Daddy!"
The child's attitude was the same as always, her grape-like eyes full of bright intimacy.
It had to be said that the moment he saw the child, Bian Xun's heart, which had been anxious all day, finally steadied a bit.
After last night, Bian Xun couldn't help but ponder. His daughter had time-traveled from five years in the future, but she had only just been conceived now. Could two identical individuals exist at the same time? The little one had appeared suddenly; how could he ensure that she wouldn't disappear just as suddenly?
Ning Zhitao held her father's hand, looked up and asked, "Daddy, where is Mommy?"
Bian Xun led the child along the path where Ning Ye would be coming from after work. "She'll be here soon."
As if remembering something, Ning Zhitao suddenly asked curiously, "But Mommy said she would be with me all day today. Why haven't I seen her?"
Bian Xun raised an eyebrow. In a sense, that was indeed true.
If he could get the child to understand her own existence, it might not be a bad thing.
Holding her hand, Bian Xun carefully chose his words. "Because right now, you might be in your mommy's tummy."
Ning Zhitao's eyes widened in surprise. She suddenly looked around at the bustling traffic, the vast world. Sijie and her mom had just passed by. Was all of this inside her mommy's tummy?
Ning Zhitao was shaken to her core. "Mommy's tummy is thaaaat big!"
She turned to look at Bian Xun standing beside her. "Daddy, are you in Mommy's tummy too?"
Bian Xun: "?"
Bian Xun patted the child's head.
In a sense, he was last night.
The father and daughter talked at cross-purposes for a while until, in the distance, that slender figure appeared right on time.
Bian Xun's expression instantly sharpened. He straightened his back, looking tall and handsome, and walked slowly toward her.
As they met, he got a clear look at Ning Ye's outfit. Today, she wore a black turtleneck sweater under a thin down jacket. She looked delicate and elegant, but only Bian Xun knew the real reason why—
Because when he was pressing her down and shuddering at the very end, he had left a hickey on the side of her neck.
And she had whimpered softly in the dark, yet did not stop him, allowing herself to be softly ravaged.
His irritability from the entire day changed its flavor at this moment, finally transforming into a lingering, wicked fire. It was hard not to crave more after tasting such sweetness.
He had come to end this post-coital cold war.
However, Ning Ye trotted over in a few quick steps. Seeing that Bian Xun had already picked up their child, her clear almond eyes slightly curved in a smile, and even her voice was soft and melodious.
"Thanks for going through the trouble of picking her up."
She didn't seem to have any intention of a cold war at all.
Her attitude was wonderful.
Even better than before.
As the two walked side by side, Ning Ye spoke in a casual, conversational tone, glancing sideways at him. "Assistant Zhang said your meeting ran really long today. Are all the work issues resolved?"
Bian Xun glanced at her.
And glanced at her again.
It was as if she had completed a mission, looking relaxed and relieved. Her attitude toward him was even friendlier than before. She listened to him earnestly and naturally stopped whenever Bian Xun paused his steps.
Bian Xun tried to find traces of last night on her face.
But they hadn't turned on the lights all night. Those moans of pleasure, that expression of biting her lip while covered in a thin layer of sweat—there was no way to verify them now, nor could he overlap them with her current expression.
They slept together for one night.
They hadn't become more intimate.
Their relationship hadn't changed.
And she didn't want to live with him...?
Was it just a sleep for the sake of the child?
The wicked fire in his chest, combined with a sense of disappointment, tangled together into a dark fury. Of course, there was a proper term for this emotion: his ego was completely bruised.
The CEO would never admit it, but his tone began to turn caustic. "You left so early this morning. Why didn't you sleep a little longer?"
Ning Ye paused, noticing his unkind tone, but she was feeling very accommodating toward him right now, so she just smiled.
Thinking of last night, Ning Ye felt a bit shy. As she lowered her head to smile, her hair fell gently. "I didn't know your current sleep schedule. I had to leave early for work this morning and was afraid of waking you."
Hearing this, Bian Xun's mood improved slightly. He freed a hand to hold hers, observing her expression from the corner of his eye. "You could have asked me during the day."
"There's no need, right?"
The young mother's voice was light and gentle.
By now, they had reached the entrance of her apartment building.
Ning Ye looked up with a soothing gaze. "It won't happen again in the future, so it's fine. You don't need to worry."
The man's sharp jawline visibly clenched.
Under his overcoat, his chest heaved twice before he suddenly spoke.
"How did last night feel?"
His attitude had become erratic again.
Ning Ye was taken aback. She covered the child's ears and nodded. "It was very good."
Bian Xun closed his eyes slightly, forcing himself to calm down. "Let's go upstairs and talk."
"Oh, okay."
Ning Ye took the child from his hand, and the two took the elevator upstairs. Once inside the apartment, the little one went into the room to watch an English cartoon on the tablet, while the two adults sat in the living room.
Ning Ye still maintained an excellent temper.
After all, ever since Bian Xun accepted his role as a father, he had helped her a lot. Last night, the two of them had cooperated perfectly to complete the child's lifelong matter.
"Do you have any other requirements for the child?" she asked proactively with a great attitude. "Taotao said you used to sign her up for a lot of extracurricular classes and arrange her schedule. If you still plan to do that, we can discuss it thoroughly, but we must prioritize the child's wishes."
The gentler she was, the more a certain thread in Bian Xun's mind threatened to snap.
"Anyway, the biggest livelihood issue for the child has been resolved. From now on, we will just fully cooperate..."
Every word and sentence she spoke, when strung together, had only one core idea.
I am the mother.
You are the father.
Nothing more.
I. Do. Not. Like. You.
Bian Xun felt his taut nerves snap with a pop.
But his powerful self-control made him instantly enter a defensive mechanism, preventing anyone from seeing the slightest possibility that his ego was bruised.
"Oh, is that so? Sure, fine, I have no objections."
He adopted the posture he used when negotiating with people.
"Then tell me how you want to cooperate with me. Let's hear it."
The icy demeanor of someone in a position of power was fully displayed.
Ning Ye frowned slightly, not particularly liking his attitude, but she still made a detailed division based on their respective abilities to contribute money and effort.
"That's it?"
Don't you think the parents' romance is also an important part of a child's upbringing?
But saying such a thing out loud would be entirely too undignified, like begging for love. Bian Xun could only stare at her, letting out a wretched sneer.
Meanwhile, Ning Ye, feeling inexplicably jabbed: "?"
She was talking to him so nicely; why was this man so emotionally unstable?
There was indeed a reason why an ex-boyfriend was an ex-boyfriend.
She held her patience, not wanting to start an argument in front of the child. "If you have any brilliant ideas, you can bring them up."
The CEO straightened up, his dark eyes surging with emotion. He leaned toward her dangerously and sneered. "I just want to know, besides all this, is there nothing else you need from me?"
A sense of security, companionship, sexual needs—these were hard to say out loud, or perhaps even, "What about money?"
He could provide it.
And only he could provide it.
However, in his triggered state, a certain someone failed to realize something.
That sentence sounded way too much like sarcastic mockery.
Ning Ye finally understood what he was so angry about.
Did he find out that she could swipe his card?
After all, he could receive notifications for the things she bought with his card, and these items could all be found in Ning Ye's home. Now that everything about the child had been confessed, there was no need for her to hide the various clues.
Then all of his attitude could be explained!
Combined with what Ning Ye had heard from Assistant Zhang—that Bian Xun's funds had taken a hit and he didn't even have enough for research and development costs, making him naturally sensitive about money—the fact that she could freely swipe his card had definitely touched a nerve.
That was why he was questioning her with such sarcastic hostility.
Ning Ye stood up, her cheeks taut, looking as if she were about to show a guest the door.
"Don't worry. Starting today, I won't spend your money anymore."
Since the rent was no longer an issue, she could afford the remaining child-rearing costs. She would figure out a way for the education expenses too; she wouldn't split the bills with him anymore.
Bian Xun closed his eyes, feeling his vision go dark in waves.
He wanted to take the mother and daughter to his big house right now and spoil them to death, but he surprisingly had no standing to do so.
Bian Xun suddenly stood up. For a moment, his dark eyes flashed dangerously, wanting to kiss her right then and there until she remembered her body's reactions from last night. His imposing aura startled Ning Ye into taking a half-step back.
"Mommy~ Daddy~ Don't be mad."
A soft voice rang out, and an obedient little head popped out from the edge of the bedroom door.
Ning Ye suddenly snapped back to reality. They actually made the child come out to break up their fight!
She immediately ended the conversation and pushed Bian Xun toward the door. "We're not mad, Taotao, it's just that your daddy has something to do and has to leave now—"
Bian Xun also took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Words of courtship rolled around in his throat, spicy and unpalatable.
"We aren't fighting, we're just—"
Ning Ye had already shut the door in his face with a loud bang.
She leaned her back against the door and pursed her lips. Having been provoked by him all night, she felt a little aggrieved too.
She would never let Bian Xun in again.
The outside of the door was quiet for a while before Bian Xun's cold, hard voice sounded, "You can keep spending the money."
No reaction from inside.
Standing in the narrow entryway, Bian Xun pinched the bridge of his nose.
After being stubborn for so long, his heart was aching now. He quietly and awkwardly offered a way out, "...I didn't mean it like that just now."
The CEO lowered his head, let out a breath, and softened his tone, though still maintaining his dignity.
"...I have a lot of money, just spend it however you want."
Still no reaction from inside.
Bian Xun slightly tilted his head up, then cast his blank gaze downward. He absentmindedly opened his phone to check his bank account balance; it was just a string of cold numbers.
The loss of tens or hundreds of millions seemed unimportant at this moment.
He closed his eyes tightly, feeling a bit lost, as a sentence rolled off the tip of his tongue.
Aside from being the child's father, her ex-boyfriend, and her company boss... couldn't he have another identity?
Bian Xun opened his eyes again.
The long string of numbers was still in front of him, but something seemed wrong.
His usual transactions were massive bills, so he never really stared at his balance.
Today, accidentally looking at it for a bit longer, he discovered something.
His balance was decreasing every second...?
That string of numbers was deducting money at a steady pace. Perhaps it had been deducting for a while, and he only just happened to notice today.
"?"
At this moment, the door in front of him was suddenly pulled open. Ning Ye, with a tense face, shoved the black card the child had brought her into Bian Xun's hand.
When her fingertips touched him, the speed of the money deduction suddenly stopped.
Ning Ye closed the door again: "Goodbye."
As her hand left, his balance began to decrease at a steady pace again.
Her footsteps faded toward the living room, and the money deduction actually sped up visibly.
Bian Xun fell silent.
He suddenly realized something terrifying.
Bian Xun raised his hand to rest on the doorframe and said to her calmly, "Open the door, I have something to tell you."
Bian Xun paused again and again: "...I'm sorry."
As the words fell, Ning Ye's response finally came from inside the door.
"From now on, let's maintain our social distance. Unless absolutely necessary, always stay at least a hundred meters apart."
Bian Xun swayed slightly, cold sweat breaking out on his forehead.
"If necessary, we can interact indirectly through the child."
"Goodbye."
^^ It's starting, it's starting. All the buildup leads to the end. (Singing loudly) How can a domineering CEO's growth not be painfully bitter—
