Volume One, Chapter Two: Husband, Feel the Baby

Lin Ranran, her voice trembling with tears, leaned softly against Ji Junxiao’s chest.

Since she became pregnant, she seemed to have turned into a different person. The affection of the past had vanished, and for Ji Junxiao, even the briefest touch had become a distant luxury. Now, as she willingly fell into his arms, Ji Junxiao’s heart was a tumult of emotions.

He closed his eyes slowly. As a soldier, he had never once flinched on the battlefield, but before this woman, he was filled with nothing but helplessness and anger.

Through gritted teeth, he said, “Lin Ranran, are you still planning to make a mockery of the Ji family? Do you really want to force everyone to kneel before you before you’re satisfied?”

He truly could not understand—she had already achieved her goal. Why did she continue to provoke him so deliberately? To what extent did she wish to humiliate him before she would finally stop?

Ever since marrying her, Ji Junxiao had fallen from being a respected soldier in the eyes of others to an object of ridicule, a man blinded by desire. As a guardian of the nation, he ought to possess a will of steel, able to resist any temptation. Yet before her, he had still succumbed.

“No, no, darling, I really do like you. I love you. It was because I was attracted to you at first sight that I was so determined to marry you. I know I’m not worthy of you, so I drugged you. As for whatever scheme my cousin was plotting, I truly knew nothing about it—I was deceived and used by him. I just wanted to marry you, to be your officer’s wife and live a good life with you,” Lin Ranran explained anxiously, her eyes full of pleading.

But Ji Junxiao, his heart battered by countless past deceptions, no longer believed a word she said.

That first month of marriage, she had showered him with sweet words, clinging to him like a gentle kitten, leaving him utterly bewitched. But after she became pregnant, she seemed to become someone else—constantly shouting at him and his family. She knew the entire Ji family anxiously awaited the arrival of her child, and relying on this, she grew more brazen, even refusing to let him so much as hold her hand.

A month of sweetness dissolved into cold indifference, and he couldn’t fathom why. It wasn’t until the Ji family was framed that he finally understood. Now that she had achieved her aim, there was no need for pretense—so why, at this moment, revert to false affection? Was she hoping to humiliate him one last time before the divorce, to test her own allure?

Ji Junxiao’s expression was icy, his voice as cold as frost. “Let go, or I won’t be gentle with you.”

“No, darling, think about the loving days we shared. Can you really bear to divorce me?” Lin Ranran clung tightly to his arm, tears glimmering in her eyes.

A wrenching pain twisted Ji Junxiao’s heart. How could he bear it? But her heart had never truly belonged to him. Even if he gave her his life, she would never truly love him. One disappointment after another had long since chilled his heart.

“Lin Ranran, it’s because I’ve indulged you too much that you’ve played me again and again, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not like that. We have a child,” Lin Ranran tried to move him with the mention of their child.

“You have the nerve to mention the child! They say even tigers don’t eat their young, but you? I must have been blind, deceived by your beauty. I knew you had the cruelest heart in this world, yet I still gave you chance after chance, convincing myself you might change. But the truth is, I lost—completely.”

Recalling all that had happened, Ji Junxiao’s emotions surged, his chest heaving.

“No, it’s not like that—” Lin Ranran panicked. “Darling, won’t you touch the child? The baby just kicked me.”

Ji Junxiao stared at her in disbelief. What was she saying? Since her pregnancy, he had longed so many times to touch his child, but she never let him near. How could he dare to ask for such a thing?

A father’s longing for his unborn child showed in his eyes. “Are you telling the truth?”

It was his own flesh and blood. Before she could make the decision to get rid of it, even being allowed to touch the child once would be a great comfort.

Lin Ranran nodded earnestly.

Ji Junxiao crouched down slowly. As a soldier, his hands had wielded steel to protect the nation. Faced with the enemy, his hands had never trembled. Yet now, they shook uncontrollably. After a long moment, he finally placed his hand gently on her belly.

This was his child.

The thought that this little life might be ruthlessly snuffed out made his eyes redden instantly, his heart stabbed by countless needles, pain suffocating him.

Child, it’s because your father is useless—he can’t protect you.

He had even considered using force—keeping her by his side for the rest of her life, even imprisoning her if necessary. That way, his child would be saved.

But as a soldier, he could not allow himself such actions.

After a long while, Ji Junxiao looked up, a mixture of pleading and struggle in his eyes. “Lin Ranran, I agree to the divorce. But the child is innocent—please, give birth to the baby. In all my life, I’ve never begged anyone. Don’t worry, I won’t let you sacrifice for nothing. I’ve saved up one thousand yuan. If you give birth and send the child to the countryside for me, the money is yours.”

A thousand yuan was a fortune in those days. Lin Ranran was surprised to learn that her handsome husband actually had savings. What a good provider! There would be money for milk powder!

After the Ji family was sent to the countryside in the book, life was not as prosperous as before, but not destitute either.

Lin Ranran nodded. “Alright, I promise you.”

Ji Junxiao looked at her in disbelief. “Really?”

This was the only hope he could offer his child. Even though this woman had deceived him again and again, as long as there was a glimmer of hope, he couldn’t give up.

“Of course. You know how much I love money,” Lin Ranran said with a smile.

Yes, she loved money more than life itself. She dressed extravagantly every day and refused to go out without a car. Ji Junxiao handed over his entire monthly salary to her, but it still wasn’t enough for her expenses. After she became pregnant, the whole Ji family doted on her, each giving her money, yet she still wasn’t satisfied—demanding full control of the household finances.

The family, afraid she would harm the baby, reluctantly handed over all their wages to her. But instead of using the money to improve their lives, she spent it all to curry favor with Pei Yu’an.

At the thought of Pei Yu’an, anger once again blazed in Ji Junxiao’s chest.

Yesterday, that man had mocked him, “Ji Junxiao, so what if you married the most beautiful woman? She’s just a pawn I placed at your side. She only married you to help me rise in the ranks. More than once, it was she who revealed the whereabouts of you and your father and brothers. And not only that, she’s been spending your family’s money to please me. Now, I’ve taken your position and I want her to abort your child, divorce you, and marry me. Soon, I’ll be sleeping with your ex-wife, leaving my mark on her. Guess what kind of mark I’ll leave?”

How could Ji Junxiao endure such humiliation? He’d beaten Pei Yu’an so badly the man couldn’t even find his own mother.

But that fight brought disaster upon him.

His father and younger brother were already at the center of a corruption scandal, and now, because of his own “conduct issues,” all three were sent down to the countryside as educated youths. It was likely they would never recover their standing for the rest of their lives.

“Ranran, are you telling the truth? You really are willing to keep the child?”

Ji’s mother, who had been eavesdropping at the door, could barely contain her tears when she heard her daughter-in-law agree to keep the baby. Heaven had finally shown mercy—the Ji family would have an heir!

Lin Ranran hurried to reply, “Of course I mean it.”