Grandma Su was sleeping in her room. When Su Zhan wasn’t around, Chen Xue would take care of her. Upon hearing his question, Chen Xue told him everything about the fortune-teller and the ritual.
“The man said that Qin Ya should have to sleep in her room.”
Su Zhan knew how desperately his grandma had wanted a great-grandson, but he had no idea that she would resort to something this superstitious.
He went to the bedroom that he had shared with Qin Ya. Upon pushing the door open, he saw an incense burner table with a Guanyin deity on it. The incense was still burning, so the whole room reeked of smoke.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. If Qin Ya were here, she would have erupted in fury.
He himself was about to go crazy any minute!
Fortunately, I didn’t bring Qin Ya back. Su Zhan began to mull to himself. Hurriedly, he took his luggage out and packed their clothes.
After packing up, he was about to leave when Grandma Su woke up. She saw his luggage and questioned, “Where are you going? Where is Qin Ya? She’s supposed to come home today, right?”
“I sent her to C City. We have some business there—”
“Nothing is more important than getting pregnant. There was an evil spirit in our house, so the first failed attempt wasn’t her fault. I’d invited someone over to chase the evil spirit out, so the next attempt will succeed for sure. Hurry, bring her back.”
“Grandma, she’s a living being. You can’t think of her as a reproductive tool—”
“What are you talking about? She’s your wife! She should give birth to your child!” Grandma Su demanded. “Hurry, bring her back home!”
“I can’t do that. She’s no longer here.”
Grandma Su punched him angrily. “Hurry, bring her back home!”
“Nope.” Su Zhan’s tone was firm.
Grandma Su was increasingly furious. “Do you want me to die? Fine. I’ll die right in front of your eyes!”
She pushed her wheelchair to hit the wall.
Su Zhan was unfazed. “Grandma, you haven’t seen your great-grandson yet. If you die now, how will you explain it to your ancestors? You can’t die now.”
With that said, he left with the luggage in hand.
Utterly enraged, Grandma Su hurled a teacup on the table at Su Zhan’s back.
“Su Zhan!” Chen Xue shrieked.
Su Zhan turned and avoided the teacup easily.
He told Chen Xue coolly. “Take care of her. If you make her happy, I’ll increase your salary.”
“Su Zhan!”
“Grandma, I’ll be in C City for some time. When Ya gets better, we’ll be back to visit you.” He spun around and left without hesitation.
Grandma Su slammed the handles of her wheelchair in frustration. “Su Zhan, do you really want me to die?”
Su Zhan didn’t turn back no matter how hard his grandma had yelled.
He knew that she wouldn’t have wanted to die now. She hadn’t seen her great-grandson in person yet.
The rented place wasn’t huge. There was a room, a living room, a kitchen, and a bathroom. It was just perfect for the two of them. As it was fully renovated, they only had to bring their clothes and essential stuff.
This neighborhood was near his office, too.
When Su Zhan returned, Qin Ya was resting on the bed. As there was one bedroom and one living room, both spaces were vast. The bedroom wasn’t overly decorated, while the walls were painted light pink. There was a huge white bed, a simple lamp, and pastel-colored curtains. A hanging chair was placed on the balcony. On it was a fluffy blanket and a pink pillow. Opposite the hanging chair was a plant stand with plenty of plants and cacti. A fishbowl was placed on the stand, too. It was adorned with seaweed and colorful pebbles. A few unnamed fish were swimming in it lively.
The whole house seemed inviting and warm.
Qin Ya couldn’t help but worry when she saw Su Zhan hanging up the clothes in the wardrobe. “Will Grandma get mad at us for moving out?”
Without looking back, Su Zhan replied, “She’s always mad, right? It’s her problem.”
He hung the clothes up and placed the luggage above the wardrobe. Coming over to the bed, he sat down. “I know that you’ve been stressed out at home. I feel the same way. I don’t want to see you suffer.”
Qin Ya pursed her lips.
Su Zhan tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “Qin Ya,” he uttered in a low voice.
“Mm?”
He continued, “What do you want to eat? I’ll cook it for you.”
Truthfully, Su Zhan wanted to tell her to rest well and not to worry.
However, he was worried that she would overthink things after hearing that.
“You can cook?”
Qin Ya was surprised. She didn’t even know that he could cook.
Smiling, Su Zhan tucked her into bed. “Let’s be happy while we can.”
Qin Ya murmured softly in acknowledgment.
“Take a rest. I’ll wake you up when dinner’s ready.”
“Okay,” came Qin Ya’s reply.
Su Zhan rose to his feet and shut the door behind him.
Qin Ya lay on her side and glanced at the unfamiliar surroundings. Strangely, she felt more relaxed here.
She was afraid to see Grandma Su because the IVF attempt had failed.
What will Grandma Su say? I don’t think that she’ll say something nice.
Shaking her head to abandon such horrible thoughts, she mused, Fortunately, I’m not at home now. Even if she talks badly about me, I can’t hear her.
Qin Ya couldn’t fall asleep, so she put on a jacket and headed to the hanging chair on the balcony. Upon sitting down, she toyed around with the fishes in the fishbowl.
