Chapter 4: Can We Delay Having Children?

"Sister, stop teasing me." Bai Shuruo felt very embarrassed.

"I heard from Aunt Fen that you've already moved in, and you're still shy? Is Han Yangting treating you well?" Bai Shunan asked again.

Bai Shuruo thought about it carefully, then said: "It's quite good, it's just..."

"Just what?"

"It's just that I'm quite clumsy; I don't know how to do anything after coming here." Bai Shuruo was very self-conscious about this.

"Silly girl, it's enough that he knows how. He's older than you, so he should be letting you have your way. Tell me, how has he treated you today?"

Bai Shuruo told the truth: "He cooked, didn't let me lift a finger, and wouldn't let me eat spicy strips."

"That's great, someone is finally keeping an eye on you, you little fool. Unlike that scumbag Gu Yunting, he wouldn't care even if I drank myself to death."

"Then you should drink less."

Bai Shunan changed the subject: "Let's not talk about me, let's talk about you. You're so pretty, has Han Yangting done anything to you? Has he kissed you?"

"Not really, he..." Bai Shuruo wanted to say that he didn't seem interested in her.

But Bai Shunan continued: "Don't worry, he's 31 years old, at the age where he's like a wolf or a tiger. Just prepare yourself to be pampered to the heavens by him every night."

"Sister, stop talking nonsense." Bai Shuruo lowered her voice. Han Yangting was still staying in the house; what if he heard?

"I won't talk to you anymore, I still have to work overtime. I'll come see you when I have time."

After hanging up the phone, Bai Shuruo felt a sense of emptiness in her heart.

Her sister was the person closest to her in this world, but she was always busy. After this phone call, it would be several days before she could contact her again.

Bai Shuruo lay on the bed playing games for an hour, and when she went out again, it was already dark.

Han Yangting was not at home. There was a note on the coffee table: I went out for something. Remember to eat dinner on time. There is bread and noodles in the fridge.

Eat again?

Bai Shuruo felt that the meal she had in the afternoon hadn't even been digested yet.

But since he wasn't home, she wouldn't eat.

This house was so big, and with him not home now, it felt even bigger.

She happily wandered around inside, visiting every room. There were three rooms, and Han Yangting's was the largest, but there weren't many things in it; it was so simple that it made one suspect he had a germaphobic streak.

Besides the three rooms, there was also a gym filled with various fitness equipment, and there were many dumbbells on the floor. She tried to lift a 10-kilogram dumbbell, but couldn't lift it; it was so heavy.

She watched TV for a while out of boredom.

The 108-inch television was almost as big as a wall, and it was connected to speakers; it must be great to watch movies on it.

But she was still a poor student. The movies she wanted to watch all required a VIP subscription. She would rather buy a 15-yuan milk tea than pay for a 15-yuan VIP, so she opened a movie at random, experienced only the first few minutes, and went back to her room to open her laptop.

She was a senior now and had to write her graduation thesis.

She was an engineering student studying industrial design, and the topic of her graduation thesis was "A Brief Discussion on Function and Humanistic Industrial Design."

She had always been diligent in her studies and was even more focused on her academics; otherwise, she wouldn't have been admitted to Fengcheng University.

Before she knew it, she had already written over two thousand words.

Until she heard the sound of the door opening outside.

Han Yangting was back!

Her heart tightened again.

The thesis that had been flowing smoothly was now stuck.

Just as she was hesitating whether to go out, Han Yangting had already walked to her door. She couldn't help but stand up and politely and softly called out, "Brother Han."

Han Yangting was wearing a gray shirt and dark suit trousers, looking stern and arrogant.

Every time she saw him, she was so nervous she couldn't control herself.

Han Yangting raised his hand to look at the designer watch on his wrist, then asked her: "Have you eaten dinner?"

"... No," she said truthfully.

Then, she also raised her hand to look at the 20-yuan watch she had bought on Taobao, and laughed, "It's only 8:30, still early."

Han Yangting looked at her speechlessly: "It's 9 o'clock."

"Is it?" This watch was inaccurate again.

Han Yangting loosened his tie: "Let's go, come out with me for a late-night snack."

"..."

Actually, she was a little hungry, so she might as well go.

The place for the late-night snack was a private restaurant. She didn't know how Han Yangting found such a place; even she, a native of Fengcheng, didn't know there was such a uniquely decorated restaurant in this alley.

The food available at night included seafood porridge, hairy crabs, chicken feet, and various dim sum.

Bai Shuruo couldn't help but calculate the price of this meal in her heart; would it cost 500 yuan?

That was her living expenses for two weeks.

She had no biological father or mother left, and her stepmother struggled to support herself, providing no financial help. Her college tuition was covered by a loan, and her living expenses were provided by her sister. Although her sister had a high salary, she felt bad asking for more and refused to take more than 1,000 yuan a month.

She had thought about working part-time, like tutoring, but her sister didn't support it, telling her to just focus on her studies, saying it was easy to run into bad parents, and besides, she was still like a primary school student herself, how could she manage students?

She would occasionally help the department with some design work to earn some pocket money, but the work was sporadic—sometimes there was some, sometimes there wasn't.

"What are you thinking about?" Han Yangting asked when he saw she wasn't eating, while putting away the receipt for 3,000 yuan that the waiter had brought.

Han Yangting scooped her another bowl of seafood porridge; there was very little porridge, and the crab and shrimp were overflowing.

Bai Shuruo came back to her senses and smiled at him, "Nothing."

But her thoughts drifted away again shortly after.

They say it's easy to go from frugality to luxury, but hard to go from luxury to frugality. She was afraid that if she ate these delicacies too often, if one day she couldn't live with him anymore, she wouldn't be able to stomach the 5-yuan steamed buns at the school gate.

"Eat," Han Yangting urged her again.

As expected of a Libra, being so indecisive even over a late-night snack.

"You don't need to worry about getting fat; girls are healthier a little plump," he thought she was dieting.

Bai Shuruo bit her lip; eat then, she would eat.

Enjoy the wine today while you have it; she was almost graduating, and if she wanted a bite of this in the future, she would just spend her own money.

She began to eat in large mouthfuls.

Han Yangting ladled a bowl of porridge for himself and ate in small bites, his table manners particularly elegant and pleasing, making Bai Shuruo worry that her own table manners didn't look good.

She ate a few spoonfuls of porridge, then picked up a chicken claw and nibbled on it in small bites.

Han Yangting then asked her, "You're a senior now, right? Do you have any plans after graduation?"

Bai Shuruo paused, wanting to speak but hesitating.

He encouraged her, "You can say whatever is on your mind; there's no need to be so reserved."

"I..." Bai Shuruo then spoke plainly, "I plan to have children in a few years, is that okay?"