“Are… you planning on staying over?”
Little Bean blinked innocently. “May I, Aunt Yan?” He had already informed his great-grandfather that he would be spending some time with Aunt Yan before going back to be with him.
As Yuchi Jin had not been back for a long time, his daughter Song An had been accompanying him recently. At least he still had his daughter by his side now that his great-grandson was not around. Even though his daughter was harsh and was rarely nice to him, her presence was enough to make him happy.
“Of course, you can stay here as long as you want.” Then, Yan helped Little Bean carry his duffel bag and brought him upstairs. Coincidentally, she ran into the nosy Mrs. Zhang from next door. “Oh, dear! Yan, is your friend’s son here again?”
Yan nodded mechanically and forced a dull smile. “Mrs. Zhang.”
“Hi, Mrs. Zhang.”
Mrs. Zhang’s eyes were all over Little Bean’s face. At last, she turned her glance to the duffel bag in Yan’s hand. “This is…”
Yan awkwardly hid the duffel back behind her. “Just some little things, Mrs. Zhang. I think Mrs. Wang is waiting for you downstairs. You don’t want to be late for the square dance, do you?”
Seeing that she was reluctant to divulge, Mrs. Zhang mumbled something and left.
When they were at the door, Little Bean was slightly worried. “Aunt Yan, is that Mrs. Zhang going to talk behind your back?”
“What can she say?” She can’t possibly turn things around, can she? Besides, I’m not the kind of person who cares about what people think about me. If I were that kind of person, I wouldn’t have been best friends with Muzi when everyone in the company disliked her.
Standing there, Little Bean poked his index fingers again and again. He whispered, “Aunt Yan, perhaps… I should just go home.”
Yan was startled. She continued, “What are you talking about? Do I care about what others say? You’re staying, and what others say is not our business. Why do you care when I don’t even care?”
After Yan finished, she pushed him into the bathroom and got him some clothes for him to change into. “Alright. Go and take a shower. After we finish our dinner, you’ll just stay home while I go to the hospital. You can watch TV before you go to bed.”
Little Bean was rendered speechless after being made known of the arrangements for tonight. I don’t wanna watch TV, and I don’t wanna go to bed early either.
…
Good news would never go beyond the gate, while bad news tended to spread far and wide. No one knew if it was out of jealousy or something else, but the news about Yan taking a child home spread throughout the entire neighborhood like wildfire.
Yan’s parents had many old friends in this neighborhood as they had lived here for a long time, and those who lived in this neighborhood had been around since ages ago. Even though they might not be close to everyone, they would still smile and greet each other whenever they saw each other on the streets. Then, they would start showing off and talking down on each other, after which they would pretend to go home with a laugh.
As time went by, everybody would know how many daughters and sons each family had as well as their occupations. They would talk about the good as well as the bad. They would praise those who were deemed successful and make fun of those who were not doing so well. This was the late afternoon gossip for many.
As such, the news that Yan brought a child home had spread like wildfire in a short time. Before she realized it, everyone had caught wind of it. Yan moved abroad for five years just to get cast away by her boyfriend. Now dejected, she moved back with her child.
When Luo Huimei told Yan about what had been going around, Yan became furious. I got cast away? And I brought a child back with me? If this news came to Young Master Ye, he would be furious; if Yuchi Jin heard about this, he would probably flip and shake up the entire North City—how could his beloved great-grandson become someone else’s child?
Yan did not know whether to laugh or cry over this ridiculous news.
“Initially, Mrs. Zhang wanted to matchmake you. But seeing that you brought a child with you, she no longer wants to do it as she thinks you might get despised,” Luo Huimei added, not knowing how Yan was feeling.
“Mom! Little Bean is not my child. You know that!”
Luo Huimei nodded ignorantly. “I know that, but they don’t! Had I not known that you weren’t capable of giving birth to such a gorgeous child, even I would’ve wondered if he’s your child since you’re keeping a child at home like that.”
Yan was rendered speechless. Whatever. Just let me bang my head against the wall.
“I believe you, but the others don’t. Besides, what matters to those people isn’t whether or not Little Bean is your son, but the fact that you brought him home.”
Her words silenced Yan. She’s right. Those people don’t care about the truth. Even if someone tells them the truth, they wouldn’t buy it. They only believe what they choose to believe in and then continue to deceive themselves that the child is indeed mine. After that, they’ll tell the others that I brought home a child from my previous relationship.
Yan was frustrated. She reckoned that people would gossip about it but she did not foresee that it would be this ridiculous.
“What’s your plan now? Are you still going to let him stay with you?”
“Mom, what do you mean? Little Bean is just a kid. He doesn’t know anything. If I were to send him home just because of these gossips, wouldn’t that hurt him?”
Luo Huimei moved her mouth and nodded in agreement. “I feel so too. After all, facts speak louder than words. We should just go along with it and ignore what they say.”
“Mom, don’t you mind?”
“Why would I? Since you’re not desperate to get married, why would I mind? Besides, this news has already spread to every corner. There’s nothing I can do.”
She’s right. Even though the rumors are ridiculous, they would save me a lot of trouble. If everyone thinks that Little Bean is the child that I brought home from my previous relationship, then I won’t have to be worried about matchmakers.
At this point, Yan shrugged. “Fine. I’ll just let them be. Doesn’t matter to me anyway.”
“Tsk.” Luo Huimei clicked her tongue. “I was still discussing with your dad two days ago that you might never get married. Now, I feel like there’s a real possibility of that happening.”
Yan responded, “I can still make money and feed myself. Marriage is not a route in life that I must take.”
