“Wait, waiiitt! Give me a moment.” Xiao Yu’s world had suddenly flipped upside down.
Yan Jin didn’t mind being interrupted and patiently waited.
Xiao Yu took a few moments of silence to think. “…So you preferred to be misunderstood than reveal the truth to Chu Ge?”
“That was my original intention.” Yan Jin heaved a long sigh. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem like I’ll be able to hide this much longer.”
“If you explain everything, will you two be able to reconcile and be friends again?”
“Who knows.”
Despite Yan Jin’s uncanny knack for predicting the future, even he didn’t know this.
Xiao Yu fell silent for a period again. Then…
“The Gene Project you mentioned, what is it actually?”
“Basically, it’s a practical application of gene manipulation for better memory. The initial goal was to create a baby with superb memory. As it developed, they began to be able to control other abilities through the genes as well. For example, I can understand small creatures. Have you ever considered this strange?”
“…It’s not from natural intuition? That sense was artificially created?” Xiao Yu was stupefied.
“Mhmm, exactly. Disappointed?”
“No… it just sounds so unbelievable.”
“That’s what I thought too when I was younger, but then I got used to it.”
“Is Chu Ge like this too? What can he do?” Xiao Yu couldn’t think of any ability of Chu Ge that stood out like Yan Jin’s. Surely his tendency to start chattering away at the mention of any patient or medical topic couldn’t be considered a power?
Yan Jin couldn’t stop laughing at Xiao Yu’s thoughts written all over his face. Once he’d managed to calm down, he deadpanned, “Maybe that’s a side effect?”
“…Oi, is your household skill expertise also a side effect?” Xiao Yu shot back.
“Sorry, that’s just talent,” Yan Jin boasted. “Are you in awe of your husband’s domestic skills?”
“Quit messing around; go back to the original topic.”
Yan Jin felt it was a pity to abandon this topic and ruefully shrugged his shoulders before doing as ordered. “The primary objective of the gene project was memory enhancement. Everything else was just extra. Truth be told, I don’t think the research ever arrived at a clear answer. For the Nan Family, Chu Ge was the last experimental generation, if memory serves. The research institute shut down shortly after for some reason.”
“Such an amazing research institute shut down like that? How?”
“I don’t know either. I was very young at the time. I only heard that it had something to do with a woman.”
“What a pity.”
“Do you really think the project is so amazing?”
“Hey, memory enhancement sounds pretty awesome to me. I’d want a more retentive memory,” Xiao Yu said half-jokingly. Then, he became serious again. “No, but really, it’s obvious that some things went wrong with this experiment. Even a random nobody like me can be sure of it.”
“It’s rare to see you so astute,” Yan Jin teased.
Xiao Yu pouted. He moved over to Yan Jin’s side, wrapped an around his waist, and leaned his head on his shoulder.
Yan Jin ruffled Xiao Yu’s fluffy curls with a warm gaze.
“That’s how your mother ended up like that, right?”
Yan Jin didn’t respond for a long time. An uncomfortable silence filled the air.
Xiao Yu didn’t rush him. He simply put a little more force in his arm around Yan Jin’s waist.
Finally, Yan Jin softly said, “Yes.”
It was very soft, but Xiao Yu could still hear it.
“When I was young, Aunty Fang always told me that hardships are more bearable when shared.” This was a lie. Aunty Fang had indeed said those words, but they hadn’t been said to him.
But it was alright. No one would mind this small lie.
“It isn’t an interesting story. Do you still want to hear it?”
“Yes.” Xiao Yu nodded firmly. He reached a hand out and found Yan Jin’s hand gripping his knee.
Anticipating that Xiao Yu would ask about this, Yan Jin had already made mental preparations to tell this story. But, when the time came to actually open his mouth, he realized they weren’t enough.
It was like an old scab that never healed. Every time it reopened, it would cause additional pain.
In spite of his trepidation, Yan Jin was surprised to discover that after the first syllable, it gradually became easier and easier to talk until his words flowed out like spring water.
As it turned out, telling this story wasn’t that difficult.
At least, in front of his beloved, he’d always have the courage to talk.
“It’s a long story…”
……
Her whole life had been smooth sailing.
In her first eighteen years, she did anything she wished. Nothing was impossible.
Her family was rich enough to compete with countries. As the youngest daughter, she didn’t have any pressure to become the family successor. Neither did she have any worries for the future.
At age five, she picked up dancing. At age ten, she discovered a love for painting. At eighteen, she was a world renowned dancer, and her art skills were sufficient to hold her own exhibition.
Like the princesses of childhood fairytales, she grew up under the doting protection and care of people around her.
Then, at the perfect age, she met a stunning man.
She immediately fell head over heels for his elegant demeanor. Likewise, he was enchanted by her family background.
That year, she experienced love. Lying on the grass under the spring cherry blossoms, they hugged and kissed on the school campus, declaring their mutual love every which way. They made a promise that changed her life.
Then, she encountered the first obstacle of her life.
Her family did not want her to marry someone with such an unsuitable background.
At eighteen, she couldn’t understand. Why was her father, who was willing to do anything for her, so opposed to their marriage? Even her grandfather who always doted on her the most was unwilling to help her.
In fairytales, the princesses always bravely marched on for love without regard for anything else. Similarly, she jumped headfirst into a romantic inferno at the cost of incinerating her life’s paradise.
She had no regrets.
She thought, if she could conceive a child, her family would have no further reason to stop their marriage. She never expected fate to play such a cruel joke on her. She was infertile and would never be able to conceive.
In those dark days, she scurried from hospital to hospital. Each time she entered full of hope. Each time she exited to a deeper despair. Every dawn and dusk was welcomed with a lifetime’s worth of tears.
She had never cared so much about bearing a child before, but now she desperately sought to substantiate her love for her dearest. Even if she didn’t need it as a bargaining chip to convince her family of the marriage, she still wanted to leave a part of herself to the future generation.
She had thought she would never see the light of hope again. Fortunately, she didn’t believe in the wrong person. She didn’t love the wrong person.
In the depths of one night, he returned, weary with dark circles under his eyes. In his voice was a despair she couldn’t quite identify. However, the news he brought was joyous indeed.
An old doctor returning from overseas perhaps had a way to help her conceive.
She didn’t dare to hope again after having her hopes shattered time and again. Could she survive another disappointment? But, her love for him gave her courage. Once more, she approached the operating table.
Long into the future, in her rare moments of clarity, she would recall those warm hands clasped around her own as she laid on the ice-cold surface. She hoped those hands would never leave.
This time, fate played no tricks.
After the surgery, she quickly found herself with their baby in her belly.
When her family learned of this, they finally assented to their marriage.
A gun salute rang out among the crowd of caring people. With a hand supporting her abdomen, the other was pulled forward by her now-husband, toward the hall of blessings.
She now had a one-of-a-kind diamond ring to match the most expensive wedding dress. At twenty years old, in City S’s grandest hotel, she exchanged the vows that would last her lifetime.
The final bugle sounded.
Her eyes swept across the sea of envious spectators, to the mass of glittering flowers atop the chandelier, and finally to his deliriously happy and deep eyes.
At that moment, she thought that she had already overcome all her setbacks and misfortunes.
She thought she had ascended from the naive little princess to an experienced empress.
She thought she would soon give birth to the world’s greatest prince or princess.
She thought that as she began her new life, she would offer all of her life’s love to the heavens.
Her baby prince arrived on a rainy night.
Lying weakly on the hospital bed, she planted a soft kiss on her little prince’s forehead.
As her strength began losing out to consciousness, she smiled, naively believing she was the world’s most fortunate woman.
Her little prince grew up day by day with incomparable talent and unmatched features, as if he was one of those princes from fairy tales that exhausted all description. A true prince.
Quickly, she discovered that she could no longer tutor him. At only seven years, her little prince already had a library’s worth of knowledge.
Her small sense of disappointment was outstripped by her pride.
Look! This was the life she’d brought into the world against all hardship.
He was so perfect in every respect that she wanted everyone to satisfy his every happiness no matter the cost.
Their days passed together blissfully. Her only annoyance was that her little prince was growing up too fast. She didn’t have the time to record his every step into adulthood.
Even this minor annoyance was covered with sweetness without any hint of acridity.
