With the approval of Xia Xun from her mother, Mei Youxun and his wife gained more confidence to announce the situation.

After meeting with Xia Yuan’s parents and Lin Youxi’s parents, they quickly found an opportunity to explain their desire for the three of them to be together at home.

“So, this is the situation… We plan to be together as three people, and build our family of three.”

Since Lin Youxi had already laid the groundwork for many years, when Mei Fang held Lin Youxi’s hand with one hand and Xia Yuan’s with the other to explain the situation, the whole room fell into silence. Liang Meijuan was the first to speak up in agreement:

“This… this seems pretty good, right? You grew up together, now you all don’t want to be apart from each other, and as adults, it’s easier for us… Otherwise, the rest of them wouldn’t even know how to find someone, right? Right? Hmm?”

The idea of the three of them being together was often discussed by Liang Meijuan and Lin Guochuan in bed, and it didn’t take long for Lin Guochuan to go from completely rejecting the idea to slowly compromising.

He knew how reliable Mei Fang was, and he knew how much his daughter Youxi loved him.

Now, Lin Youxi was the financial pillar of the family, and because of his early debts to the family, he had little say in the matter. He could not reprimand the three of them for what they were planning. So now, he was eagerly waiting for the other two families to express their opinions.

“I knew about this matter earlier since I came here first.”

Xiang Xiaoxia stroked her thigh, then stood up with a serious expression and said, “No matter how much you try to argue, my son did do something that goes against social morals, and this is indeed a failure of our parenting. Here, I’ll shamelessly apologize to both your families on behalf of my son.”

“However, that being said, Youxi and YuanYuan are still kids I’ve watched grow up… In terms of public standing, economic conditions, and emotional foundation, there’s no better choice than my child — just talking about the boys.”

“Personally, I also hope to become a true family with them and become in-laws with you all.”

Even though Mei Fang was often scolded by Xiang Xiaoxia at home, she would still fulfill her responsibilities as a mother when it came to things outside of the Mei family. This made Mei Fang feel the brilliance of a mother’s love for the first time.

Xiang Xiaoxia, who stood in front of the group, quickly gained the support of Teacher Yu, “Actually, the thing I was most worried about was the kind of relationship that childhood sweethearts have, because it’s so easy for them to become very close, almost like siblings… But we’ve known each other for so many years, it’s good, right?”

Teacher Yu then asked Mei Fang, “So, where have you decided to hold the wedding? Bali with its blue seas and skies? Lavender fields in Provence? Or perhaps the windmills in the Netherlands… I also like that… Have you considered holding the wedding in the Arctic, watching the aurora as you marry? That would be so romantic.”

“Wow! Mom, you know all this! But we’ve already planned for Bali, though we did consider a high-latitude place, but Youxi is afraid of the cold.”

“Bali’s good, it’s closer—”

While Teacher Yu was lost in thoughts about what to do, she was quickly scolded by her husband, Xia Xun:

“How are you back to acting like a child? Is this the right occasion to be acting like this? Your daughter’s about to be sold off, and you’re helping others count their money.”

“Dad! Watch your language! We agreed on this before we left!”

Although it was her precious daughter reprimanding him, Xia Xun didn’t seem to care, his gaze now shifting to Mei Fang.

Due to an early and substantial investment in a share, Xia Xun’s assets had increased along with Yuanxi Interactive’s rise. Xia Xun also became the major shareholder of the group, which made him the only person among the families who could stand up to Mei Youxun and his wife on the financial front.

“Mei Fang, you promised you wouldn’t let our YuanYuan down, so is this your answer to me?”

“The time when I said I wouldn’t let you down was when I was dating Ah Fang, and at that time, I dumped him—”

“YuanYuan, let’s not deceive ourselves now.”

Xia Xun furrowed his brow, his sharp eyes scanning Mei Fang. “Tell me honestly, did you three plan to be together a long time ago?”

“How could we have planned this? At that time, we didn’t understand what love was. We just tried to date first, and realized it was impossible without one of us—”

Mei Fang squeezed Xia Yuan’s hand, signaling her to stay calm. “YuanYuan, don’t say anything more… YuanYuan, just be honest.”

Then Mei Fang’s gaze turned toward Xia Xun. “Yes, Dad… We did plan to be together back in high school.”

“Don’t call me Dad now. Our family hasn’t agreed to this marriage yet, understand?”

“…”

Mei Fang neither nodded nor shook her head, clearly expressing an intention to get him to be her father-in-law, standing there foolishly, which made Xia Xun feel a bit overwhelmed.

“Instead of this, what exactly are your concerns, Dad?”

Suddenly being called “Dad” by Lin Youxi confused both Lin Guochuan and Mei Lijun, who thought she was calling them, only to realize her gaze was directed at Xia Xun.

Of course, Xia Xun wasn’t the easy-to-sway kind like Mei Lijun. He didn’t often have opportunities to interact with Lin Youxi, but he could keenly sense that, in their triangular relationship, Lin Youxi at least had the upper hand with their daughter YuanYuan.

“Don’t rush to call me Dad… Even if you three are together, it doesn’t mean we’ve agreed to this yet.”

Xia Xun’s response was very direct: “Of course, there are many concerns. First of all, if you three want to be together, you can’t openly prepare for a wedding. At least, you can’t invite family and friends to attend. No one will think YuanYuan and Mei Fang are together, or you and Mei Fang.”

“If you want a formal status, I can give it to you.”

Lin Youxi responded calmly and composedly: “Ah Fang can have a wedding with YuanYuan alone, or to the public, he can marry YuanYuan. I don’t need status. I just want the three of us to be together.”

“No, I don’t agree.”

Originally, Lin Guochuan hadn’t intended to join in on this discussion, but when he heard Lin Youxi speak as though she were putting herself second, he couldn’t hold back, standing up to immediately refute: “Why should our Youxi be neglected?”

Lin Youxi was busy dealing with Xia Xun and didn’t expect her father to interfere. She was a bit frustrated:

“Dad… I’m not being neglected. Stop flattering yourself, okay?”

“Flattering myself… Why are you so disrespectful? Even if you’re living well now, you’re still my daughter. This kind of thing—”

Lin Guochuan’s emotions were too agitated, his hands trembling, and he ended up coughing.

Having undergone surgery on his chest earlier, although it was a minor procedure for lung nodules, his long-term work had worn down his body. Seeing him cough like this made everyone anxious, and Xia Yuan quickly intervened: “I don’t need to have a separate wedding with Ah Fang. I don’t want so many strangers involved. Not everyone would genuinely wish me well; and Youxi, if she gets too close to Ah Fang, people will talk. Even if she doesn’t care, I’ll be upset seeing it. I don’t want that. Dad, don’t flatter yourself.”

Xia Xun had been trying to fight for his daughter’s interests, but now he found himself caught in a counterattack, which left him feeling helpless. Meanwhile, Lin Guochuan drank a glass of water from Liang Meijuan, feeling much better, before speaking again:

“You all are successful adults now. Many things are decided by you, but I’m old and useless. I know I can’t help Youxi with anything. But marriage is the most important thing in life; it must not be taken lightly.”

Lin Guochuan now placed all his hope on Mei Fang. For a man who had never achieved much in life, this was a sad situation. “I’ve talked to you a lot before, Ah Fang. To be honest, even though I don’t really understand why you three want to be together, I won’t oppose it. I just hope you can treat Youxi and YuanYuan well and not turn bad.”

“I won’t turn bad, Dad.”

At this point, Mei Fang also addressed Xia Xun as “Dad,” “I hope you’ll let me marry your daughter, and I won’t let you down.”

“Won’t let us down… Saying it is easy. If not for the wedding, just talk about children. If you have children in the future and they grow up, when they’re asked what their father’s name is, do you think the child won’t say it? Or will you not tell them?”

“We’re telling you this because we want children… Otherwise, we could just continue living like we are.”

Xia Yuan took a deep breath, pressed her hands against her chest, and then slowly sank them down to her abdomen, making a motion as though she were practicing energy flow:

“Forget it, Dad. I should have dragged you outside to argue, but for the sake of the little treasure, I can’t get mad. Getting mad would be going against my own child.”

“What… What little treasure?”

Xia Xun was left stunned. “What… What little treasure?”

“Ah, you’re so silly.”

Teacher Yu twisted Xia Xun’s head, then smiled and gently said, “Our YuanYuan is Yuanbao, so naturally, the little treasure is the baby in YuanYuan’s belly.”

Xiang Xiaoxia was the first to pass on the news to Teacher Yu after hearing it, as Teacher Yu had always been open to her daughter being with Youxi and Mei Fang. When Teacher Yu found out, she was just happy and urged Xia Xun to quickly come to Pengcheng to meet their daughter.

It was hard to believe she had held this in until now to share it!

…

?

??

!!!

Meanwhile, Xia Xun’s face alternated between red and white with a strange, uncontrollable expression, staring directly at Mei Fang. Mei Fang was certain that his nightmare was about to come true, and Xia Xun was indeed ready to kill him.

Try to imagine the situation!

You fear that it will be dirty if you hold it, and it will melt if you put it in your mouth. For years, playing the role of the little doll adored on horseback, always showing a sweet smile. Now, you’re being told that someone else took it, and even put on another layer of their little jacket—how would you feel about that?

The cabbage was plucked by the pig!

“You haven’t even formally married yet, and how can you… how can you…?”

“Come on, dear. What era are we in now? Don’t make the kids follow the customs of our time! It’s completely normal for boys and girls to live together…!”

“Ah, Mom, you’re really shameless. How can you talk about such things with so many people looking?”

At this moment, Liang Meijuan could no longer hold back her excited feelings:

“So, so YuanYuan is really pregnant? Boy or girl? Have you done an ultrasound? How many months along? You can’t tell at all…”

Lin Guochuan nudged the already baby-crazy Liang Meijuan, “Don’t ask about that, gender testing is illegal.”

“I was wondering why you’re suddenly in such a rush to clarify things… Are you afraid you won’t be able to hide the belly when it gets bigger?”

Liang Meijuan said, then turned her gaze to her daughter Lin Youxi, “So Youxi, what about you… have you not reached that stage yet?”

“Not yet, but we’re preparing for it.”

Lin Youxi smiled, and Liang Meijuan nodded.

“Alright, alright… Don’t rush these things, take it slow, ah, hmm…”

At this point, Xia Xun’s mental state had entered a more frantic state. He wasn’t sure what to say anymore.

“Wait, hold on… So you called us over just to inform us, not to ask for our opinion, right?”

“Well, what else did you expect?” Xia Yuan put her hands on her hips.

“YuanYuan, don’t say it like that… Aiya!”

Mei Fang pulled Xia Yuan aside to calm her down and then continued to play the role of the “good cop,” “There’s no disrespect intended here… I’ll prepare everything that needs to be prepared. As for what Dad said about a formal marriage and a single wedding, we’ll discuss it properly… If there’s really no good way, we’ll do it like you suggested before, get married, then get a divorce, and remarry… At least that way, the child will have a clear legal position with both a mom and dad.”

Mei Fang continued explaining, “As for other opinions you have, as long as it’s within my power, I’ll make it happen.”

“Are you short on money? In the end… this is still just an announcement, isn’t it? Acting on your own… Do you three even care about us, the parents? Having a child is such an important thing, at least discuss it with the family first!”

At the beginning, Xia Xun felt that Mei Fang and Xia Yuan’s intimacy was already crossing the line, let alone jumping straight to the last step—so as he spoke, he stood up.

Seeing that his state wasn’t looking good, Mei Lijun quickly stepped in and tried to pull him back to avoid things escalating.

“Old Xia, hey, Old Xia, calm down… We’re all family here, don’t talk about it like it’s between three separate families, what’s the point of this—”

“Let go, let go of me—”

The slender Xia Xun was completely powerless against Mei Lijun’s strong grip.

At this moment, YuanYuan’s mom, Teacher Yu, looked up and asked her increasingly irritated husband:

“Then do you want YuanYuan to terminate this pregnancy?”

Terminate… terminate… terminate…

“That’s my daughter’s precious baby, how could she terminate it!”

“Then that settles it…”

Teacher Yu slapped her thigh and smiled as she turned to everyone around her, “So, can we go play now?”