Chapter 391: Seeing Yan Li Is Born, and the Aristocratic Struggle Begins?

As April approached, the two most important things for Seeing Yan Li were Yian's IPO and Qin Lan's childbirth.

That's right, Qin Lan was about to give birth, with her due date falling at the end of March to the beginning of April.

Before becoming a listed company boss, Seeing Yan Li had to become a father first.

Since mid-March, Qin Lan had moved into a high-end private hospital in Jingcheng, with luxurious accommodations and extreme secrecy; though its medical standards might not match those of top hospitals like Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Seeing Yan Li had used connections to bring in top specialists to oversee her care.

Because Yian's IPO was involved, Seeing Yan Li had tightly controlled all information regarding Qin Lan's pregnancy to avoid any impact.

Of course, there's no wall that doesn't let wind through.

Due to Qin Lan's prolonged absence from public view, coupled with whispers from insiders, small rumors had surfaced online and in the gossip circles—but they remained scattered and failed to spark any real discussion.

This surprised Seeing Yan Li somewhat.

Paparazzi were one thing—they knew who they could and couldn't touch.

But Seeing Yan Li wasn't without enemies or rivals; yet Tencent, Sina, Huayi, and Chengtian—all competitors on Weibo or in the entertainment industry—hadn't made a single move, rendering many of Seeing Yan Li's preparations useless.

Later, Seeing Yan Li looked into it and roughly understood their thinking.

Some felt this issue wouldn't matter much—everyone knew what Seeing Yan Li's reputation was, and Qin Lan's blog scandal was already legendary; their relationship had long ceased to be a secret.

Having a child out of wedlock would only stir minor gossip and give people something to chew on—it couldn't seriously damage Seeing Yan Li.

In contrast, Fan Xiaopang's pregnancy might have had greater impact, at least on her own career.

Yeah, if Qin Lan's pregnancy got exposed, it would affect her too—perhaps drawing fierce mockery from the Four Dan and Two Bing fans, accusing her of raising someone else's child and so on.

In truth, a listed company founder's private life does affect stock prices, but primarily through financial disputes and legal risks.

If the founder broke the law or triggered a family property dispute causing drastic upheaval in company operations or control, it might shake the company's very foundation.

Personal conduct and moral risk, however, are matters of subjective judgment.

Some might think such lax self-discipline, lack of propriety, and high risk indicate questionable integrity and focus, lowering their trust and confidence in the company.

Others think it doesn't matter—especially for capable people, whom people trust to grow and strengthen the company; private life is merely a minor skin rash.

Put simply, most investors buy stocks because they want to know how much money you can make them, not how many women you sleep with or how many children you have.

Of course, there's also a crucial persona issue here.

If you cultivate a persona as a good husband, moral exemplar, and promote corporate culture and branding with positive energy,

these personas and campaigns inevitably bring significant benefits to both you and the company.

But if your private life is exposed as chaotic, it becomes a major character flaw and public relations crisis, triggering severe crises for both you and the company—potentially causing irreversible, even devastating damage.

In contrast, Seeing Yan Li had openly presented himself as a scoundrel from the start, rarely put on airs, and cultivated a persona centered on realism and capability, with low moral expectations.

This came at a cost to the company's development, but Seeing Yan Li had borne it and demonstrated his stance.

This was his nature and style—you either didn't buy his stock, or you accepted it; he was confident he could make back any losses the company suffered.

Everything was clear—no fraud existed; investors and shareholders knew exactly what kind of man he was and had already factored in the risks.

So as long as he didn't go too far, the negative impact of his personal life on the company was extremely limited—perhaps even serving as free advertising for the stock.

Thus, Qin Lan's pregnancy neither crushed Seeing Yan Li nor seriously hindered Yian's IPO—it couldn't stop the listing, at most causing a minor stock fluctuation.

The damage was insufficient, but the intent was extremely malicious—it had angered both Seeing Yan Li and Yian beyond repair.

Once things calmed down, given Seeing Yan Li's petty nature, he'd surely go after those responsible—though it wasn't worth the trouble.

Others had reservations too; after all, the whole thing was a bit uncouth. Of course, many businessmen had no morals—uncouth was uncouth.

But the key was: Seeing Yan Li would retaliate!

If Sina or Tencent exposed Qin Lan's pregnancy today, tomorrow the top trending topic on Weibo would be Xiao Ma's ancestral genealogy for eighteen generations.

Seeing Yan Li had a wife and children; they had wives and children too. They could compete without breaking ties—on certain matters, everyone needed to maintain a certain tacit understanding.

Besides, there were those who desperately wanted Yian's stock price to soar.

Huayi's two-Wang structure was slightly inferior to Seeing Yan Li's, but they still understood the stakes.

The higher Yian's stock price climbed, the larger the entertainment market became—and Huayi benefited along with it; attacking Yian now meant attacking themselves.

When Seeing Yan Li had once helped Huayi, Huayi couldn't assist Yian now—but neither would they lightly sabotage it.

Thus, after surveying the whole situation, the incident Seeing Yan Li had originally viewed as a minor crisis had never erupted—he'd wasted his energy battling thin air.

…

Hospital, ward

Qin Lan's ward was top-tier, comparable to a five-star hotel presidential suite, complete with bedroom, living room, balcony, bathroom, and study.

For the past few days, whenever Seeing Yan Li wasn't busy, he stayed by her side; the Teddy Sisters also took turns visiting Qin Lan to comfort her and ease her loneliness.

"Sis, we're here."

Huo Siyan and Li Xiaolu stepped into the ward and saw Qin Lan sunbathing on the balcony while Seeing Yan Li fed her fruit.

"Whoa."

Huo Siyan stared at Seeing Yan Li, barely concealing her surprise: "Bro-in-law, you know how to serve people?"

Seeing Yan Li ignored her, skewering a piece of fruit with a small fork and holding it to Qin Lan's lips; she waved it off, indicating she wanted water, so Seeing Yan Li obediently went to pour it.

"Qin-jie, you're awesome."

Li Xiaolu winked and gave a thumbs-up; Qin Lan looked slightly proud and added a defense for Seeing Yan Li.

"The days of using the baby to command the dad are almost over—better make the most of it while you can."

In private, Seeing Yan Li wasn't nearly so arrogant—at least with Fan, Qin, and Dong—he lived a fairly ordinary life; being bossed around by his wife was normal.

Even with Wang Ou and the others, he occasionally showed affection to maintain closeness, though rarely.

Huo and Li had rarely experienced such treatment from Seeing Yan Li.

It wasn't that Seeing Yan Li deliberately mistreated them—it was that both were troublemakers; give them an inch and they'd take a mile, prone to becoming spoiled and arrogant.

Yang Rong, by contrast, was naturally uncompetitive and uncomplaining; pampering her didn't cause trouble but instead made her even more loyal—so Seeing Yan Li naturally softened toward her.

As always: different monkeys, different ropes—treat each person according to their nature.

In addition, Seeing Yan Li had another purpose: occasionally showing proper emphasis on Qin Lan in front of them would help Qin Lan's leadership and prevent the two from developing rebellious feelings.

Qin Lan has remained the core of the Teddy Sisterhood because both Li and Huo were involved with Seeing Yan Li yet still obeyed her—none of this would have been possible without Seeing Yan Li's behind-the-scenes efforts.

"Alright, you two chat. I'll go check my emails."

Seeing Yan Li strongly supported the Teddy Sisterhood coming to visit Qin Lan; with them around, she could free herself up.

"Go on, go on, work hard."

Li Xiaolu waved her hand—before, when she followed Seeing Yan Li, various reasons had kept her restrained.

Now that they were separated, she was bolder and more casual than when the two had no relationship at all.

After all, when they had no relationship, Seeing Yan Li was still the big boss, and Li Xiaolu still had reservations. Now, with their past bond as foundation, and having even gone to the hospital for Seeing Yan Li, she no longer worried Seeing Yan Li would punish her over minor things.

Li Xiaolu was relatively wealthy, had little ambition, asked little of Seeing Yan Li, feared nothing, and needed nothing—so naturally, she let loose.

Huo Siyan lightly kicked her. Li Xiaolu was fine, but Huo was still tied to Seeing Yan Li.

Li Xiaolu shot her a sideways glance. In the past, Huo Siyan had controlled her by leveraging Seeing Yan Li—without Huo's approval, she couldn't get near Seeing Yan Li, and could only serve as Huo's junior.

Now that she was "clean," Huo had guilt inside, and was instead the one being controlled.

Of course, she didn't dare go too far. Seeing Yan Li ignored small things, but if things blew up, he'd still punish her. Huo Siyan herself wasn't someone to mess with, so she only subtly asserted control, just enough to reclaim some of her old ground.

Qin Lan watched their small gestures, unbothered, and merely sighed: "You two are nearly thirty, still acting like children."

"In front of my sister, I'm still a child."

Huo Siyan flattered her, then gently stroked Qin Lan's belly, murmuring softly.

"Good son, come out soon—your godmother's golden lock is already ready."

"Shameless—you want to be godmother? Did my sister agree?"

That Qin Lan was carrying a son was no secret; at this stage, gender was easy to determine, and the hospital wouldn't hide it from a client like Seeing Yan Li—just ask, and you'd know.

Precisely because of this, this child was extraordinary—a genuine Yian Crown Prince.

The Teddy Sisterhood all wanted to be godmothers, but too many godmothers would devalue the title. Qin Lan wasn't keen on giving the child so many godmothers, so she said only one or two would be recognized, the rest would be aunts.

But who exactly would be chosen was still undecided. Huo Siyan had forcibly claimed one spot, and Li Xiaolu was naturally dissatisfied.

"No need to decide—it's definitely me."

Huo Siyan had absolute confidence. Of all those close to Qin Lan, Liu Yun was one, and she was the other. When it was first mentioned that only one or two godmothers would be chosen, it was clearly meant for the two of them.

Moreover, she wasn't just close to the child's mother—she was also close to the father. From his side, wasn't she entitled to the title of "mother"?

As she spoke, Huo Siyan looked at Qin Lan's belly and chuckled: "Your fourth aunt is jealous—but jealousy won't help. Even if she's jealous, I'm still your godmother."

Huo Siyan truly loved children, but she didn't know what her own future held, so she poured all her affection into Qin Lan's child.

Li Xiaolu pouted, unwilling to argue with Huo Siyan, and turned directly to Qin Lan.

"Sister, have you chosen the baby's name yet?"

"Yan Xin, Yan Yi, Yan Xiao—pick one."

Qin Lan explained: "Xin was chosen by the old man. Yi comes from Yian. Xiao was picked by me from your brother-in-law's suggested characters."

Li Xiaolu murmured a few times: "I think these names aren't as nice as Jiye or Chengsi. Yan Jiye, Yan Chengsi—the meanings are so much better."

Huo Siyan scoffed: "You're naming him to go fight, aren't you?"