“That’s not to say this behavior is necessarily right—it’s just a very common phenomenon.”
“Modern society is very different from the past. A lot of families only have one child now, and of course they treat them like precious treasures. Plenty of people have already graduated college and still act like children.”
“It’s really not that rare.”
“So, from that perspective, do you still think being eighteen makes you mature?”
My voice grew weaker. “But I am mature.”
Su Liumeng went for the kill. “Only kids go around saying they’ve grown up and think they’re already adults. Some even go online and pretend to be mature people in their thirties. Real adults? They never admit they’re getting old—in fact, they go out of their way to talk and dress younger. It’s called acting cute.”
… I suddenly went quiet.
I strongly suspected Su Liumeng was throwing shade at me.
After all, I had pretended to be a man in his thirties online using my Yan God persona, hoping people wouldn’t see me as just some teenager.
“Alright, that’s enough!” I was seriously afraid that if she kept going, she’d end up dragging out the color of my underwear.
As they say, the more you don’t want something to happen, the faster it will.
Su Liumeng’s next sentence made steam practically shoot out of my head. My cute little face burned with embarrassment and indignation.
“So hard to guess—who’s the one still wearing cartoon-print—”
I pounced like a fluffed-up ragdoll cat, not looking like someone nearly three months pregnant at all. I lunged at her and slammed my hands over her mouth just as she was about to spill it.
“Alright, alright! I get it! Don’t say another word.” My teeth were clenched over my trembling lips, my eyes flashing with the same panic. I looked like I just wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear.
Ugh. I was really about to explode.
The truth is the sharpest blade.
Please, I’m begging you—can we not speak so much harsh truth all the time?
Su Liumeng looked at my soft pale hands still clamped over her mouth. Her eyes were brimming with laughter she could barely hold back.
“Mm, okay, I won’t say anything,” she mumbled, her voice muffled beneath my hand.
I let out a small sigh of relief. In the name of adult dignity, I held onto the last shred of pride and emphasized again, “Also, could you please stop treating me like a little girl…”
“I’m already a soon-to-be mother. If someone overhears you, it’s so embarrassing.” My voice grew even quieter.
“Mm, an eighteen-year-old young wife, right?” Su Liumeng responded smoothly, naturally reaching up to clasp my hand. Her soft, delicate fingers laced perfectly with mine in an instant.
My cheeks turned even redder. “You really didn’t need to emphasize the eighteen part…”
“Okay,” Su Liumeng agreed just as smoothly.
Then, out of nowhere, I dropped all expression from my face, clutching my belly as I sat down on a nearby chair.
“What’s wrong?” Su Liumeng stopped joking and her face turned serious.
“It aches,” I said, bending slightly. “My stomach feels sore. It’s a bit… uncomfortable.”
“Don’t bend over—sit up straight.” Su Liumeng quickly helped me up. The moment she touched me, I leaned heavily against her like I’d finally found my anchor. I let my entire weight press onto her shoulder.
Right now, I really was fragile—so much more than before.
“Is it serious? Should we go to the hospital?” Su Liumeng looked flustered and helpless.
After all, she’d never been pregnant before.
She was still an innocent girl with zero experience in this area—just like a blank sheet of paper.
“I think… it’s fine,” I murmured weakly. I didn’t even want to lift a finger.
This wasn’t the first time I’d felt pain like this.
It wasn’t just my stomach—my thighs and other places too. Sometimes the pain would turn into soreness, and then that soreness would swell into an unbearable pressure.
All in all, it was really uncomfortable.
No wonder my temper had gotten worse lately—if you feel awful every day, how could your mood possibly stay good?
I’d heard others talk about it.
They said it was because the baby’s developing during early pregnancy. The uterus expands too fast, which causes all sorts of side effects.
To put it simply: as long as nothing serious happens, just endure it and it’ll pass.
There’s also stuff about pregnancy hormones and whatnot—but I didn’t want to understand too much about that. I just automatically ignored it.
Mostly because… I was too lazy to think about it.
“Shall we go home?” Su Liumeng asked, seeking my opinion.
“Alright,” I replied softly.
“Want me to carry you back?”
I didn’t catch the eager excitement in Su Liumeng’s voice—I thought she was just feeling sorry for me.
“No need.” I still got a good scare.
If she carried me like that in public, forget tomorrow morning—I’d be plastered all over the confession wall by tonight.
Su Liumeng alone was already famous enough. Add me into the mix and we’d be walking attention magnets.
Not to mention, being princess-carried by the rich young lady across campus? That would be the hottest topic of student life.
I mumbled in an odd tone, quietly grumbling about her behavior, “Miss Su, you don’t want your mom to find out so soon that you’re dating a girl, do you?”
To my surprise, Su Liumeng didn’t react the way I expected. Instead, she beamed and said cheerfully, “Wait, so we’re already dating?”
“Well, then I definitely need to tell my mom! Her daughter’s bringing home a girlfriend for inspection.”
Of course, she was joking. She wouldn’t dare go that far just yet.
But Su Liumeng had already made up her mind.
Once she passed the sixth trial, she’d be brave just this once.
I was speechless.
You win. You walk my path and leave me nowhere to go, huh?
Su Liumeng, you really know how to roast yourself.
After resting a bit longer, I stood up from the bench and slowly made my way toward the villa district.
If even Su Liumeng didn’t dare, then there’s no way I’d dare either.
Madam Su’s presence weighed on me just as heavily as it did on her daughter.
If she found out I was actually Si Xinyan, I’m sure just one command—”Kneel”—would have me surrendering on reflex.
Honestly, at that moment, I felt a bit relieved that I wasn’t related to the Su family by blood, and that I hadn’t passed the fifth trial, which would have officially transferred my household registration into the Su family.
Facing Madam Su’s stern and traditional face every day… I didn’t think my emotionally fragile self could handle it right now.
Oh right—something suddenly clicked in my head—if my surname really had become Su, then even without a blood relationship, as long as we were legally family, I wouldn’t be able to date Su Liumeng.
Everything really had turned out to be a perfect coincidence.
The commercial villa district was about 1.5 kilometers away.
Even that short distance had me stopping once or twice for breaks along the way. Su Liumeng was very patient, holding my hand the whole time, guiding me down the safest path.
*****
Inside the villa.
I was watching TV while Su Liumeng had gone out again.
I held the remote and flipped through countless channels. When I landed on the kids’ channel, I instinctively switched to something more mature in less than a second.
Thinking back to what happened recently, I had no desire to be misunderstood again—especially not as someone who enjoyed watching cartoons.
Especially—
Especially when the one misunderstanding me was my own unborn daughter.
I had explained to Si Zhiruo more than once that I didn’t like cartoons—that I only played them for her.
But in return, I’d get one of her big eye-rolls.
“Ew, Mommy, if you want me to take the blame, just say so, okay?”
“Zhi-Zhi can like cartoons if she wants to.”
That little rascal. After saying that, she’d even reach out her tiny hand to pat me comfortingly. “Don’t worry, it’s just us here. I won’t tell anyone Mommy’s already an adult but still watches the kids’ channel every day at home.”
In short, the misunderstanding had grown out of control.
It felt like one of those cases where even jumping into the Yellow River couldn’t wash me clean.
Beep.
The digital lock clicked open, and Su Liumeng came in carrying a stack of textbooks.
She walked up to me and dropped them onto the coffee table.
“Did you join the freshman group chat? The class rep should’ve sent out the schedule by now, right?”
“Classes start tomorrow morning. If you’re really not feeling up to it, then skip the morning session, but try to attend the afternoon one. If you lie around all day, you’ll rot.”
Her tone carried a rare bit of seriousness.
Su Liumeng knew she’d have to leave eventually, so she was already planning ahead—thinking about what Si Xinyan needed to do after she was gone.
She was still attending school, so she could take me out for walks every day.
When she wasn’t around, attending class could be a way to pass the time.
Anyway, if I wasn’t paying attention during lectures, class was actually kind of fun.
If I did the math carefully, the second trial would take one to two months, and by then I’d be in the middle stage of pregnancy—about the time when the bump would become obvious.
But it wouldn’t yet be the late stage, so it shouldn’t be to the point where I’d struggle to go out without someone supporting me.
Still, Su Liumeng couldn’t help but worry a little.
The first person who came to mind was Shangguan Xiyue. If it really came to it, I could just stop going to class.
I mean, come on, I’d be several months pregnant—why would I still need to go to school?
By then, just having Shangguan Xiyue take me on daily walks would be more than enough.
Su Liumeng frowned slightly as she mentally planned everything that needed to be taken care of after her departure, including safety measures.
She even had a secret team of her own. Once she left, they’d all be transferred to Beiqing. That should ensure nothing would go wrong.
Su Liumeng thought long and hard, and in the end, she still decided to ask for my opinion.
She wanted to hear what I had to say. “Xiaoyan, what do you plan to do?”
“Afterwards, do you want to keep attending classes, or just stay at home?” Su Liumeng hadn’t yet mentioned that she was going to leave.
“I’ll go check out the classroom first,” I said crisply. “If it really gets too inconvenient to move around, I just won’t go anymore.”
“Anyway, I’ll take it one step at a time. As long as I can still move, I don’t really want to stay cooped up at home.”
“I’m afraid I’ll go stir-crazy.”
I was becoming more and more afraid of boredom. On days when I could go out, I made sure to take a walk. If I stayed in my room all alone, I’d just end up overthinking everything. Getting outside helped distract me, helped keep me from constantly thinking about all the little discomforts I was feeling. If that dragged on too long, wouldn’t it end up making me sick?
Besides, it wasn’t like I had bad grades. Just because we were studying mystical arts didn’t mean everyday knowledge like astronomy and geography had no value.
This was the modern age. Clinging to outdated thinking would only hold us back and get us eliminated.
Cultivation was fine.
But it needed to be scientific cultivation.