Chapter 886: Fifty

In the living room on the second floor of the Li household, silence reigned, so complete not even a pin could drop.

Warm light fell on Li Luo's face, striving to highlight his sincerity and earnest expression.

But the elder generation's eyes stirred with shock, then their expressions gradually darkened, unreadable and shifting.

Grandmaster Ying gazed at Li Luo, then turned to look at his close friend beside him.

Li Luo's grandfather had known of this matter in advance, so he remained silent, too embarrassed to meet his friend's gaze.

Seeing this, Grandmaster Ying also chose silence, shifting his gaze toward Ying Chanxi and Yuan Wanqing, wanting to first gauge their thoughts.

But neither Ying Chanxi nor Yuan Wanqing spoke immediately.

Yuan Wanqing looked even more torn, glancing between Li Luo and the man beside him, Xu Youyu.

Though she had found it odd before, she and Ying Chanxi had always found excuses to defend Li Luo—but now Li Luo had confessed outright that he truly wished to be with Xu Youyu.

This left Yuan Wanqing momentarily unable to accept it.

After all, their two daughters having chosen to be with Li Luo, and the parents ultimately accepting it, had already been a tremendous concession.

Back then, Ying Chanxi's father had said that if Li Luo dared seek a third, he'd kill him.

Thinking of this, Yuan Wanqing couldn't help turning to look at Ying Chanxi's father; seeing his expression was off, she instantly grew worried.

Meanwhile, on the other side, Xu Rongsheng also remained silent, his gaze fixed on Li Luo with deep meaning, a flicker of regret and sorrow passing through his eyes.

At this moment, Cui Suling could no longer hold back.

Perhaps because Li Luo's achievements were too dazzling, and she herself had always liked him, she hesitated to directly confront him.

So she turned sideways, fixing her gaze on Xu Youyu, her eyes tinged with anger, and demanded of her daughter, "What exactly is going on?"

"W-what do you mean, what's going on? It's just… like this…" Xu Youyu avoided her mother's eyes, speaking softly, "Li Luo already explained it clearly."

"Do you even know what you're doing?" Cui Suling's temper flared at Xu Youyu's casual tone.

She leapt to her feet, pointing at Xu Youyu's head, "What do you mean, four people living together? Isn't that polygyny? Do you think that's a normal mindset in modern society?"

"Mom, that's not right," Xu Youyu whispered back. "No matter the belief, our only goal is to live happily in this world."

"If a rule or regulation only blocks our path to happiness, why should we obey it?"

"Life isn't mass-produced—it always has unique choices, options belonging solely to our own lives. I won't abandon my happiness just to conform to some societal norm."

"Do you really think this is normal happiness?" Cui Suling took a deep breath. "I think you've been spoiled rotten by your father—always spouting nonsense. Xu Rongsheng!"

At the end, Cui Suling had no choice but to turn to Xu Rongsheng and shout, "Look at your daughter—what is she saying? Don't you have anything to say?"

Xu Rongsheng frowned, the shrill noise from his wife grating on his ears. He sighed, gently pressing her back into her seat: "Stop talking for now. Don't rush. Since it's already happened, let's think about how to solve it."

With that, Xu Rongsheng turned to Ying Chanxi's father, his gaze calm and steady, conveying his signal.

Ying Chanxi's father met Xu Rongsheng's eyes, then took a deep breath, suppressing the ache in his chest, and turned to look at Ying Chanxi.

Ying Chanxi noticed her father's gaze and immediately lowered her head further, avoiding his eyes.

"Xixi, look at me," Ying Chanxi's father said calmly.

"Mm…" After a pause, Ying Chanxi reluctantly lifted her head. The instant her gaze met her father's, she flinched away as if shocked.

"You tell me—what exactly is going on?" Ying Chanxi's father said. "Dad knows you've loved Li Luo since childhood. You grew up together. Can you truly be okay sharing the same man with others?"

"I…" Ying Chanxi fell silent for a moment, then remembered the scene last night—the four of them curled up on the same bed.

They had talked so much; she had grown completely accustomed to such moments.

Zhusheng always teased and provoked her, but if she never heard those words again, she'd probably miss them.

The senior was always bold—every year on Li Luo's birthday, she came up with new tricks. But because of her, Ying Chanxi had tried things she herself would never have dared to do.

Recalling these years, it wasn't that Zhusheng and the senior were her rivals—they felt more like family.

"Dad…" Ying Chanxi, who had dared not meet her father's gaze before, now lifted her head and looked him straight in the eyes, speaking seriously: "I'm not sharing a man with Zhusheng and the senior. We're sharing our very existence with each other."

"If I didn't love this life, I wouldn't have let Li Luo come this far."

"I wouldn't have agreed to let him lay it all out so plainly."

Hearing these words, Ying Chanxi's father was speechless. His gaze swept over Li Luo standing there, his teeth clenched with rage—he wanted to stand up and beat the damn brat right now.

But remembering he might lose a fight against Li Luo, Ying Chanxi's father forced his anger down, took several deep breaths, and slowly calmed.

At this moment, Yuan Wanqing spoke up.

"Zhusheng, what about you?" Yuan Wanqing had intended to mimic the others' tone and question Yan Zhusheng.

But the moment the words left her mouth, she regretted them.

She knew Yan Zhusheng's nature too well—asking this question was pointless.

Yet Yan Zhusheng was already eager, and as soon as her mother asked, she replied earnestly: "What's wrong with this?"

"Didn't Dad, Mom, Uncle Li, and Auntie Xu all come over for birthday dinners before?"

"We traveled together, celebrated New Year together."

"You even said New Year is more fun with more people—so why must marriage be only one husband and one wife?"

"Why can't marriage be lively with more people?"

"And look how happy you all were during these New Year days—Mom, Lin Yi, and Auntie Cui played mahjong."

"Dad, Uncle Li, and Uncle Xu went fishing, played cards, and chatted nonstop on the sofa."

"Will all this suddenly change just because we say we're going to be together?"

"But really, nothing's changed—it's only that you've just found out."

As she spoke, Yan Zhusheng blinked her big eyes, unafraid, staring directly at Yuan Wanqing.

She even blinked innocently toward Ying Chanxi's father, then turned to look at Xu Rongsheng and Cui Suling on the other side.