Chapter 1376: Every Child Isn't Raised on Thin Air

"Beep, beep, beep..."

A busy signal came from the phone.

Shi Ran didn't even have time to say goodbye to her mother before she hung up.

"Honey, make some formula, quick!"

"Huh? Right!"

Shi Ran's words woke the dreamer.

Yun Qitian performed a carp leap, sprang up from the sofa, and went to the nursery to find the bottle and formula.

His entire mind had been on what illness the child might have, yet he hadn't thought about hunger—such a simple problem!

Studying medicine sometimes really gets in the way; with one's head full of professional knowledge, the most routine possibilities get overlooked.

Making formula was like fighting a war; they were in a frantic rush.

But it was made nonetheless. Baobao's eyes lit up at the sight of the bottle, and two little chubby hands grabbed wildly in the air.

Finally, the baby grabbed it and started drinking while holding it.

Crystal-clear teardrops still hung on the chubby little cheeks, but the baby didn't cry a sound, gulped down more than half the bottle, and then fell asleep clutching it.

They placed the child in the small bed.

The couple collapsed onto the big bed, completely lacking any composure, exhausted.

A couple with a combined IQ of over three hundred, yet they didn't know the child was crying in the middle of the night because they were hungry?

If this got out, people would surely laugh their heads off.

Thus, the couple reached a tacit understanding and kept this secret together.

But the mother-in-law found out anyway.

It was Yun Zhe Hao's birthday.

They invited the in-laws' whole family, along with several friends and their families, to be guests at their home.

When Shi Youxuan saw her daughter at the in-laws' house, the first thing she asked was: "The child was crying in the middle of the night, and you didn't know to feed them—what were you two thinking at the time?"

Just this one sentence, and it exploded!

The atmosphere was instantly ignited and quickly reached a climax.

"What did you say? Is it true?" Jian Yixin ran over; her ears were quite sharp.

Her eyes were shining!

She thought she was scatterbrained enough, but she hadn't expected that someone as smart as Shi Ran would be even worse than her—that she didn't even know the child was crying in the middle of the night because they were hungry?

"Isn't it true? She called me in the middle of the night, asking if the child's crying meant they had some incurable disease..."

Within a sentence or two, everyone had come over.

Everyone started asking about the situation, one after another.

Since everyone present was family, Shi Youxuan glanced at her daughter and said to everyone: "Why don't you ask her what happened later? I want to know, too."

Shi Ran:...

It seemed there was no escaping it today.

She didn't fear bad luck, only bad people; her own mother was truly a pitfall.

Why didn't she think about whether her mother-in-law would be unhappy if she found out about this?

As it turned out, Shi Ran had overthought it.

Of course, the parents-in-law knew, but they weren't unhappy; the two of them even felt a little relieved!

Ma Ling'er said happily: "I told you, adopting this child was the right thing to do. With him to practice on, when Ranran and the others have their own biological children later, they will know how to take care of them."

Shi Ran:...

For the first time, she discovered that her mother-in-law, Ma Ling'er, was the one with great wisdom—thinking deeply and seeing far!

"Young Mistress, there is a woman named Yuan Li outside looking for you. Should I let her in?"

Yuan Li?

When Shi Ran heard this name, she was slightly stunned at first, feeling it was familiar but unable to recall where she had heard it.

Yun Qitian reminded her: "The Black Widow is here."

Right!

That was it; the Black Widow's real name was Yuan Li. The character after Shi Yuan's name was the Black Widow's surname, and she had actually forgotten.

She grabbed her husband's hand tightly and said nervously: "Qi Tian, why do you think she came out? How did she find this place? Is she here to take the child away?"

Although they hadn't been fostering the child for long, they had built a very deep bond.

Now that the child's biological mother had come, if she wanted to take the child away, they had no reason to stop her!

"Don't worry, let's have her come in and talk first, and see how things go."

"Mm."

Qi Tian had the butler invite the Black Widow in, and soon, the Black Widow walked in gracefully from outside.

Her attire was as bright and beautiful as ever; she had the most fashionable hairstyle currently in Jiangzhou, her facial skin was well-maintained, and she wore exquisite makeup, looking radiant.

"Happy birthday, Uncle!"

The Black Widow had actually brought a gift—an exquisite gift box, wrapped tightly; it was unclear what was inside.

"You are too polite. Coming is enough, why bring a gift?"

Though he said that, Yun Zhe Hao took the gift and unwrapped it on the spot.

He was worried it might be something dangerous, like a bomb.

This woman was a dangerous person herself; it was better to be careful. There was no harm in being cautious.

The gift was unwrapped; it was a bouquet of roses crafted from pure gold!

There was a receipt in the box containing the roses, bought at a mall near the Yun Family.

You cannot poison gold, and there is no place to hide explosives in a rose made of gold.

Of course, a gold rose does not need to be packed tightly in a box like this; everyone present was smart, and they quickly realized they had been played by Black Widow.

Actually, saying it like that is not entirely accurate either.

If it hadn't been opened in front of everyone, it would just be a valuable yet appropriate birthday gift.

"Thank you, stay and have a meal with us." Yun Zhe Hao's old face flushed slightly, and then he invited Black Widow to join the banquet.

"Thank you, Uncle, but I will leave after saying a few words to Shi Ran. I still have things to do, so I won't stay for the meal."

Shi Ran took Black Widow to an empty room and said to her, "Say whatever you have to say here; it's quiet."

Black Widow got straight to the point: "I am being extradited back to my country by the government and am leaving at noon. It is inconvenient for me to take the child; can he continue to be raised at your home?"

Although the things she had done in Jiangzhou were not considered major, they were enough for her to serve seven or eight years in prison. Yet, after only two months, she was out and about, and even Shi Ran admired Black Widow's capabilities.

"That's fine. Do you intend to foster the child with me, or do you want me to adopt him?" Shi Ran asked.

"Is there a difference between the two?"

"There is a difference."

Shi Ran explained, "If he is fostered with me, the child is still your child. You are Baobao's legal guardian, and you can take him away at any time. Of course, I can also regret it at any time and decide I don't want him."

"After adoption, Shi Yuan will be my son. Even if you come back to see him, he will call you Auntie instead of Mom. I will be his mother, Qi Tian will be his father, and we will love him as if he were our own biological child, doing our best to raise him to adulthood..."

Black Widow interrupted Shi Ran, "Adopt him. It was meant for you to adopt him from the start, and it is still the same now; there is no difference."

Everyone was smart, so many things did not need to be said too clearly for the meaning to be understood.

Shi Ran wanted to keep this child, but she did not want Black Widow to frequently use visiting the child as an excuse to interfere too much in their lives.

Therefore, if Black Widow had changed her mind and stated that Baobao was only being fostered, she would rather endure short-term pain than long-term suffering and would have let her take the child away right then.

Black Widow had made her stance clear: it was adoption!

This was fine; the child would stay, and you, Black Widow, could go wherever you pleased to live your life!