The awkward silence within the room was dispelled when Leyan chose to cry, wanting to be fed once more by her mother. Zhang Jiren took the baby from her cot and gently placed Leyan in her mother's arms.
ng Yanran took the seat Madam Li vacated earlier and gave Zhang Leyan a good look.
"She's beautiful." Her throat tightened at the sight of the beautiful baby in Li ili's arms as she nursed.
"Thanks," Li ili smiled as Leyan released her n.i.p.p.l.e and chose to doze off.
"I think she's finished for now. Do you want to hold her?" she asked ng Yanran.
"May I?" ng Yanran was surprised.
"Of course." Li ili then held out her baby.
ng Yanran took the baby carefully into her arms. Zhang Leyan slled so nice and looked adorable. Dark hair dusted her head and her skin was rosy.
"Aren't you a pretty baby?" she cooed at the baby before helping her burp.
Li ili and Zhang Jiren stared at her, both surprised to see her able to make Leyan burp so easily while they were having trouble with it.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Li ili asked. She supposed ng Yanran learned it from her cousin, Lin Qianrou, by looking after her nephew.
"Just sothing I picked up from Qian," ng Yanran lied.
In fact, she had learned this a long ti ago when she was still married to her ex-husband. She had taken classes on how to tend and care for newborn babies and learned skills that she wasn't able to use in the end.
She'd done it because she wanted to be prepared for her own child, the one she ended up not having, but her ex-husband's mistress had. ng Yanran smiled at the baby who seed content at where she was and continued to sleep in peace.
"She's a wonderful baby. I'm happy for you, ili."
Of course, she knew that Zhang Jiren wasn't the real father of this child but she wouldn't dare ntion it.
"Let take Leyan so she could sleep comfortably. We didn't want to spoil her too much," Zhang Jiren said.
ng Yanran handed the baby back and a sense of emptiness and longing surged inside of her, so strong that it made her eyes turn misty.
One day, she told herself. One day, she would have a child of her own. Maybe soday when Li Yuanyi's parents finally accepted her as part of their family, they could have a baby she would love with all her heart.
"Dad already knows about you and my brother, doesn't he?" Li ili didn't beat around the bush and asked ng Yanran.
The other woman nodded and looked down towards her hands on her l.a.p, her long locks falling over her c.h.e.s.t.
"Because your father insisted on setting him up on a date with other won. Yuanyi had enough of it and decided to introduce , a divorcee, as his girlfriend," ng Yanran answered.
Li ili didn't need to ask what happened next. There was no doubt that her father disapproved of ng Yanran for her brother. She still couldn't understand why her father refused to leave them to decide their own future.
Aside from Tang Beixuan, Li ili didn't know anyone who could be as patient and loyal at the sa ti as her brother. Li Yuanyi had liked ng Yanran since years ago and had regretted not being able to let his feelings known to her before she suddenly married another man, courtesy of ng Yanran's mother.
Now that the two were finally together, of course, Li Yuanyi wouldn't want to lose his dream woman a second ti. It didn't matter that she had been married before, as long as they both understood and respected each other.
In Li ili's opinion, their old man should just leave them be. If her brother wanted to marry ng Yanran, so be it.
"There's nothing wrong with you being a divorcee. In fact, it's a great thing that you had so sense and divorced that cheating bastard," she told ng Yanran. "You are lucky you didn't give birth to that bastard's child either."
ng Yanran winced, and Li ili realized that she had said too much.
"I'm sorry. I didn't an to offend you, Miss ng," she apologized at once.
ng Yanran shook her head and patted Li ili's hand with a gentle smile on her face.
"No, it's alright. What you said was right."
"But you wanted to have a baby…" Li ili's words trailed off. The look on ng Yanran's face as she held her Leyan spoke volus to her more than words could tell.
ng Yanran didn't have to say anything. Li ili had eyes. It was a look of a woman longing to have a child of her own.
"I do. I really do." ng Yanran didn't deny what Li ili said. "In fact, it's what I've always wanted."
She had already confessed her fears to Li Yuanyi and he had accepted it. Nevertheless, it still bothered ng Yanran that there's a possibility that she might never be able to conceive a child for him.
"There's a good chance that I might not give your brother an heir even if your parents allowed us to be together." Li ili froze at that. She had no idea it was that bad.
"I wasn't able to conceive a child with my ex-husband after years of being together and I don't know why," ng Yanran continued.
"Didn't you and your ex-husband seek a doctor's opinion?" It was Zhang Jiren who asked her the question.
ng Yanran shook her head.
"He didn't want to."
Her ex-husband was too prideful to admit that maybe there's sothing wrong with him, but given how his mistress was able to give him a child, he pushed all the bla on ng Yanran.
Li ili scoffed in a very unladylike manner.
"Your ex-husband was a piece of work. I would beat the hell out of him if we cross paths in the future."
"ili, keep violence at the minimum for Leyan's sake, okay?" Zhang Jiren sighed.
"And what did my brother tell you when you told him?" At this point Li ili was more curious about how her brother answered ng Yanran.
"He said he want to have children with …" This ti, ng Yanran's face flushed. "But he also said that if we can't have them, it's alright with him. Yuanyi said that we can try so fertility treatnt once we are married. If it still didn't work, he said it wasn't just ant to be."
ng Yanran rembered bursting into tears when she ca clean to him but Li Yuanyi had been patient and understanding towards her that she felt bad about it.
"He said we can adopt if I want, and my ability to conceive wouldn't change his love for . He said he would never regret choosing ."
Li ili wanted to give her brother an applause right then. She had no idea her older brother could be this sweet to the woman he loved.
"Well, if he said it's alright, then you should trust him," she told ng Yanran. "I know my brother well, Miss ng. He's head over heels for you that it would be impossible to change his mind no matter what."
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