Chapter Seventy-Five: Forgive Me for Falling Short of Perfection

Hearing this, Bai Yunchuan’s father also noticed Xiaoxiao, who had remained silent all along. Xiaoxiao waved her hands in panic, “No, no, Auntie, you’ve misunderstood!”

But Mrs. Bai ignored Xiaoxiao’s defense, intent only on her son’s answer: “Yunchuan, be honest with me. Isn’t it true? Isn’t the reason you keep dragging things out just so you can see Miss Ni a few more times?”

The thoughts of the elderly are truly peculiar, leaving Xiaoxiao so startled she could not find a response. Mr. Bai patted his wife’s shoulder gently, urging her to calm down, but the calmest of all was Bai Yunchuan. Without a word, he placed the money on the table and said to Xiaoxiao, “I’m sorry you had to witness this. I’ll go to your company later and cancel the information. Thank you for your help during this time.”

With these words, he was declaring an end to their cooperation. The two elders of the Bai family were left utterly at a loss, unable to comprehend their son’s intentions. Supporting his mother, whose face was pale as a sheet, Bai Yunchuan spoke with a sense of helplessness, “I won’t shirk the responsibilities that are mine to bear, but forgive me, I cannot be perfect.”

Mrs. Bai nearly collapsed, barely managing to stand with her husband’s support, and pushed Bai Yunchuan’s hand away with trembling force, tears streaming down her cheeks as she wept in silence.

It was a long time after they left before Xiaoxiao finally walked out of the café. When a rose meets a carnation, even love finds its steps heavy.

“They still can’t accept me in the end.”

Startled, Xiaoxiao turned to see Yu Xin had returned. She quickly glanced in the direction the Bai family had gone, afraid they might turn back, but Yu Xin was unruffled. “Don’t bother looking. They won’t come back.”

Seeing the sorrow in Yu Xin’s eyes, Xiaoxiao tried to comfort her, “Don’t be sad. Maybe they’ll come around. Bai Yunchuan’s constant reluctance must surely tell his parents what he really wants. Perhaps, once they think it through, they’ll realize you’re the best choice.”

Yu Xin shook her head with a bitter smile. “No. As long as I can’t be cured, as long as I can’t have children, they’ll never accept a hen that can’t lay eggs.”

So she knew everything! Xiaoxiao was so stunned she could hardly describe it. She had always thought Yu Xin was a blissfully naive woman, living in Bai Yunchuan’s affection without a care for anything else. She’d never imagined Yu Xin harbored thoughts so deep—not truly naive, but able to play the part.

“When did you find out?”

“I knew from the very start,” Yu Xin replied, her tone full of resignation. “The day I went to get the test results, the doctor’s words shattered all my hopes. But what frightened me wasn’t the fact that I might never be a mother—it was the fear that Yunchuan would reject me because of it. Standing in the hospital corridor, I thought about calling and telling him, but in the end, I gave up. I left the results with the doctor and pretended not to know a thing. I’ve been pretending ever since, and maybe I’ll keep pretending for the rest of my life.”

Xiaoxiao had thought Bai Yunchuan had woven lies to let Yu Xin live more peacefully, but it turned out Yu Xin herself had chosen, from the very start, to be a clever fool. Happiness, for a woman, is not about seeing through the world, but knowing when to play dumb and act innocent.

Yu Xin murmured to herself, “Even he pretends not to know—so why should I insist on being clear-headed?”

Xiaoxiao was suddenly moved to pity and asked in an exceptionally gentle voice, “If—just if—his parents never agree, are you really going to wait your whole life like this? I doubt your own family would understand, either.”

“If this were ancient times,” Yu Xin said, half serious, half in jest, “and I told you I’d be willing to arrange a concubine for Yunchuan to continue his line, would you believe me?”

Yu Xin’s mix of earnestness and humor left Xiaoxiao at a loss for words. Whether she believed it or not hardly mattered; what mattered was how Yu Xin herself felt. If love had reached the point where she’d even consider surrogacy, Xiaoxiao truly didn’t know whether to call it unwavering devotion or foolishness. In any case, if surrogacy could have solved it, they would have done it long ago.