The Scheming Ex-Husband's Courtship-Chapter 636 - 550 Surfacing

However, fate did not let Jian Si off so easily. On the day she watched her classmates receive their college acceptance letters and step through the university gates, she awoke in the morning startled by a wave of nausea and ran to the bathroom to vomit until her face turned pale, yet nothing came out. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

She thought she had just upset her stomach, but at lunchtime, upon seeing the dishes on the table, she ran to the bathroom and threw up intensely again.

Jian Hedong took her to the hospital anxiously for a checkup, and the doctor told them Jian Si was pregnant.

This news struck like a bolt from the blue, leaving both Jian Si and Jian Hedong momentarily unable to react.

It wasn’t until they walked out of the hospital that Jian Hedong broke down and cried while holding her.

He said, "Uncle has let you down, Uncle is incompetent."

At that moment, the 18-year-old Jian Si was even calmer than usual. She comforted Jian Hedong while looking up at the glaring sun, which was so strong it hurt her eyes.

But she did not shed a tear; instead, she said to Jian Hedong, "Uncle, I want to have the baby."

Jian Hedong looked at her in shock, thinking his niece had gone mad, "You’re an unmarried girl; do you plan to live with a child? Like this, who would dare to marry you? Don’t be foolish, child. This child with an unknown father - we can’t keep it."

Jian Si, however, was adamant about giving birth to the child, and since Jian Hedong couldn’t persuade her otherwise, he had no choice but to let her have her way.

During that time,

"This child is a disaster, a scourge; our family cannot accommodate him."

For a while, Li Ronghua’s son even came over wanting to sell the child once it was born, which scared Jian Si into hiding at Feng Piaopiao’s place for a month.

The child was born on a rainy day when, in the hospital, only Jian Hedong was there with her.

Although Jian Hedong was always against her giving birth to a child with an unknown father, seeing this tender little one, he happily held it in his arms.

Jian Si said, "Uncle, please give him a name."

Jian Hedong thought for a while, not without guilt, "Uncle has been an incompetent man all his life, achieving nothing. I hope when this child grows up, he can accomplish something and stand tall in the world. Let’s name him Zhengzheng."

Zhengzheng, Jian Zheng.

Jian Si liked the name very much; she looked at the baby, who could only cry, and smiled.

Jian Zheng gradually grew up, and Jian Si told him she was his sister.

She had to admit that Li Ronghua’s words affected her.

Jian Si was only nineteen years old when she gave birth to the child, and since the child was fatherless, Jian Si knew how illegitimate children were mocked and cursed behind their backs, and she didn’t want Zhengzheng to suffer such pointing fingers. The reason of being orphaned was better than being the product of a transaction.

Jian Si made a meager income from her paintings, and she moved out of Jian Hedong’s house.

～

In the middle of the night, the rain kept pouring harder and the window was blown open by the wind.

Jian Si got up to close the window, but ended up getting drenched in the rain.

After closing the window, she stood in front of it in a daze for a while. The dream she just had was still haunting her and made it hard for her to fall back asleep.

Over the past few years, the journey had been tough, but luckily, she and Zhengzheng supported each other and made it through. Although life now was far from perfect, it was slowly improving. Even if the pace was slow, both she and Zhengzheng were content; they didn’t want riches, only to stay together and support each other.

The next morning, she ran into Nan Zhan in the kitchen who was boiling dumplings.

This time, he was using the exhaust fan, his spatula stirring continuously in the hot water. The dumplings had started to float to the top, indicating they were almost ready to be served.

She once shared with him the trick to boiling dumplings, which he had apparently listened to despite his dismissive attitude at the time.

Recalling the awkwardness of last night, Jian Si involuntarily lowered her head and walked in out of habit, "Need help?"

"Help?" His voice carried a chill, "That’s supposed to be your job anyway."

Jian Si silently took over the spatula from him.

"During the meal, Jian Si asked him.

Nan Zhan took a bite of the dumpling. This processed food tasted quite different compared to her homemade meals; he decided to throw away these dumplings tomorrow and replace them with ones she handcrafted and stored in the freezer.

"Last time your uncle invited me for a meal, but I couldn’t make it. Why don’t we go for a meal there again?" Nan Zhan’s sudden suggestion caught Jian Si by surprise.

"Why do you want to eat at my uncle’s house all of a sudden?"

"Do you not welcome it?"

Jian Si: "...."

Jian Si called Jian Hedong and told him she would bring a friend over for a meal. Jian Hedong readily agreed.

Jian Si also had a purpose for going to Jian Hedong’s house; she wanted to take the chance to visit Jian Chuan.

Unfortunately, Jian Chuan was not at home. Jian Hedong said he hadn’t come back since yesterday, had called to say he was busy at work, but Jian Si knew that the composure he showed to others, and the immense pain of losing a loved one behind the scenes, was only known to himself.

Jian Si actually wasn’t in the mood for eating. She was just helping her father Jian Hedong with the cooking in the kitchen, where he had prepared his specialty, boiled fish. The slices of fish were all cut and ready to be cooked.

"How is the investigation going with that case in your neighborhood?" Jian Hedong asked as he heated the oil in a pot.

"We’ve got some leads now, found the primary crime scene, a few eyewitnesses, and also..." Jian Si’s words were cut off abruptly by someone—it was Nan Zhan.

He had appeared at the doorway without notice, holding a towel in his hand: "Zhengzheng wants to wipe her face, is this towel alright to use?"

"Let me do it." Jian Si wiped her hands and stepped out.

Nan Zhan still stood there, but now he politely offered, "Need any help?"

"Sure." Jian Hedong smiled and nodded to him.

Nan Zhan wasn’t particularly skilled with kitchen tools, and he even disliked them profoundly. In his view, dedicating mind and effort to cooking was a sheer waste of brainpower. Therefore, such low-IQ activities were best left to dummies like Jian Si.

Nan Zhan handed a plate to Jian Hedong, who paused momentarily but still took it, even though there was no actual need for the plate.

"Lawyer Nan, are you pursuing Sisi?"

Although Nan Zhan had offered his help, he wasn’t much of a helper; he just stood there fiddling with the bean sprouts in the bowl. Hearing Jian Hedong’s question, he was taken aback for a moment, but quickly responded with a definite answer: "No."

Pursue that woman? What a joke!

Jian Hedong smiled and nodded, "Mr. Nan, when you have time, maybe you should seriously consider your relationship with her. Sometimes, participants are perplexed."

This was the third time Jian Hedong had met Nan Zhan. Although he appeared rather cold on the outside, he wasn’t unpleasant, and most importantly, his demeanor towards Zhengzheng reassured him.

"What did uncle use to do?"

"Odd jobs here and there. No one really wants an old man anymore, and now that my son is back, he insists I stop working. So, now I just buy groceries and cook every day." Jian Hedong picked up the bowl of fish, "Mr. Nan, step back a bit, don’t get splashed by the oil."

Nan Zhan stepped back, watching Jian Hedong skillfully slide the fish into the pot.

"Brother, come pick strawberries with me," Zhengzheng burst in excitedly from outside.

Jian Hedong said, "Right, and pick a couple of tomatoes too, Sisi loves tomato-braised beef."

In the backyard, where the plants were lush, Zhengzheng headed for the strawberries, while Nan Zhan made for the tomatoes and picked two big, red ones.

So, that woman likes tomato-braised beef. Unfortunately, that happens to be the dish he hates the most.

"My sister has really odd tastes, able to stomach a dish like tomato-braised beef," Zhengzheng commented, stuffing a strawberry into her mouth, "It’s really awful."

Nan Zhan couldn’t help but chuckle. So he disliked tomato beef as well, truly a chip off the old block.

"Does your second uncle often bring you vegetables?" Nan Zhan asked casually.

"Yeah, we get to enjoy his vegetables all year round. During winter when it’s cold, the potatoes he sends can last us through the whole season."

Zhengzheng pointed to an electric tricycle parked not far away, "That’s my uncle’s ’BMW.’ He always uses it to deliver vegetables to us, even the security guards at the complex give him the green light, it’s more reliable than a BMW."

Nan Zhan walked up to the tricycle, glancing over it discreetly.

"Come on, let’s go back inside." Nan Zhan took the strawberries from his hand, "You can’t eat things that haven’t been washed."

"It’s fine, my uncle grows purely organic food." Although Zhengzheng said this, she obediently refrained from eating more.

Half an hour later, the meal was ready.

While serving the dishes, Jian Hedong asked Jian Si, "Has your older brother been troubled by something lately?"

Jian Si was uncertain whether to reveal what had happened to Feng Piaopiao to her father but ultimately decided to be truthful: "Piaopiao was murdered."

"What?" Jian Hedong was quite surprised. "You mean that little spitfire?"

Jian Si wanted to say that she was also your son’s girlfriend.

"She must have offended someone in society and gotten revenged. I’ve told you before not to associate with her, to avoid trouble. Fortunately, you weren’t hurt this time, or it would be too late for regrets." Jian Hedong shook his head, "Ah, it’s a pity, indeed."

Jian Si remembered that Jian Chuan had mentioned Feng Piaopiao to Jian Hedong before, and it had met with his strong disapproval.

"Let’s eat first." Jian Hedong passed the freshly cooked tomato beef stew to Jian Si.

At the dinner table, Jian Hedong continued to inquire about Nan Zhan, asking him if being a lawyer was hard. Nan Zhan, not a man of many words, still courteously offered brief answers.

On the way back, Nan Zhan drove in a contemplative silence, refraining from saying much because Zhengzheng was in the car.

It wasn’t until after getting out of the car, with Zhengzheng hurried back to her books, taking the keys and running ahead, that Jian Si took out some fruits and vegetables that Jian Hedong had packed for her from the trunk.

As she looked up, there was Nan Zhan leaned against the car, gazing at her with clear, sparkling black eyes.

"What do you want to say?" Jian Si blinked.