Perhaps more than Tongtong, what Wen Ning found even harder to adapt to was Xu Yan standing right in front of her.
After all, the blood relation between Tongtong and her could not be faked.
Yet between her and Xu Yan, there were none of the experiences that led from a relationship to the wedding hall.
There were none of those experiences deep enough to let two people love each other without burdens.
In fact, this was only the second day the two of them had known each other.
At the mere thought that she would marry this boy in the future...
Wen Ning felt a very strange sensation.
She did not know what attitude she should adopt to get along with him.
"I need to go back at noon. I'm worried about leaving Tongtong alone at home."
Xu Yan asked, "It's not far. Are you coming?"
Wen Ning hesitated.
Go to his house on only their second meeting?
Yet to her great surprise, although she felt somewhat embarrassed, she didn't feel much resistance at all.
Perhaps it was because the lovely and well-behaved Tongtong was there, or perhaps...
Wen Ning knew her own temperament; if her future self hadn't truly fallen in love with Xu Yan...
she would never, under any circumstances, have married him.
"Okay."
Only then did Wen Ning take the bottle of mineral water: "Come back early, I still have practice papers to finish."
Xu Yan nodded: "Alright, let's go. We'll take the bus."
At this hour, there weren't many people on the bus—or rather, in this era, very few people took the bus anymore.
The two walked to the very back row of the bus. Wen Ning fidgeted slightly before taking the seat beside him.
"I..."
"Um..."
The two of them spoke at the exact same time.
Xu Yan closed his mouth and signaled with his eyes for her to speak first.
"After I went back, I thought a lot about things concerning Tongtong."
Wen Ning took a notebook out of her school bag.
Various matters were listed on it line by line, the handwriting neat and pretty.
An honor student was truly an honor student; no matter what she did, she could make it orderly and well-organized.
It was completely different from those crooked, Maoshan-Taoist-spell-like things in Xu Yan's notebook.
Wen Ning took a deep breath and pointed the tip of her pen at the first item.
"First and most importantly, all the money you spent on Tongtong must be tallied up."
Her expression was very serious: "Half of this money needs to be covered by me. My allowance usually isn't very much... but I will definitely pay you back."
Xu Yan was quite surprised.
He hesitated for a moment: "You... are you really thinking about these things?"
Wen Ning looked a bit puzzled: "Didn't the test results come out?"
"I don't mean that."
Xu Yan explained: "Normally, wouldn't people go through the trilogy of surprise, unacceptance, and avoidance? But you seem to have accepted the fact that you're Tongtong's mother awfully quickly."
Wen Ning was momentarily stunned.
"Tongtong... since she really is my daughter."
After a moment, Wen Ning turned her head aside and tucked her long hair behind her ear: "To run away from it would be a bit too much."
"Well, by your logic."
Xu Yan thought about it: "You don't need to give me this money. I'm Tongtong's father; making money to support my wife and child is completely normal."
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Wen Ning turned her head back and glared at him fiercely: "Who's your wife!"
Only the tips of her ears inevitably turned slightly red.
This was a physiological reaction she couldn't control herself.
"......"
Xu Yan gave a dry laugh: "Go on then."
"I'm living with my family right now... and there's no way I can tell them about this."
Wen Ning's tone lowered a bit: "So, Tongtong can probably only stay at your place. Maybe when I'm in university... I'll be able to move out."
It seemed that when it came to Tongtong, she couldn't help with anything.
After much deliberation, matters that seemed terribly troublesome on her end all seemed to ultimately rely on Xu Yan.
"Yeah, that's not a big deal."
Xu Yan nodded: "But Tongtong really wants to see you, so try to spend time with her every day."
Although this campus belle looked aloof and pure, he found that deep down inside...
Well, not exactly cold on the outside and warm on the inside, but she was definitely much more complicated than she appeared.
Wen Ning pressed her lips together and took a long time to slowly nod.
"Also... Tongtong's identity."
Wen Ning finally pointed out the most crucial problem: "If she wants to integrate into this society and grow up like a normal little girl, if she wants to go to school, she needs an identity."
This was also the problem that troubled Xu Yan the most and was hardest to solve.
In this society, if a little girl simply appeared out of thin air, no one would care.
Yet wanting her to grow up properly and healthily was not that simple.
Right now, Tongtong had nothing.
Xu Yan closed his eyes, massaging his temples as he thought.
Wen Ning didn't disturb him further, lowering her gaze to look at the notebook in her hand.
Her slender fingers absentmindedly twirled her pen as all sorts of miscellaneous thoughts kept surfacing in her mind.
She hadn't read any sci-fi novels, and her concept of time was limited to the most basic understanding.
If life followed its normal course, she would marry Xu Yan one day in the future and then give birth to Tongtong.
Then... what about now?
Tongtong had come back from the future, and she and Xu Yan had gotten to know each other ahead of time.
Had their life trajectories already been altered, then?
In the future... would they still marry and then give birth to Tongtong?
Wouldn't there be two Tongtongs, then?
Wen Ning couldn't figure it out; her thoughts were a tangled mess.After I don't know how long, Xu Yan opened his eyes: "I'll figure this out."
Wen Ning snapped back to reality, her expression still somewhat dazed: "What?"
"About Tongtong's identity."
Xu Yan said with certainty: "I'll think of a way."
Could a high school student really come up with any solution...
Wen Ning instinctively licked her lips: "Will it be very troublesome?"
Xu Yan shook his head: "Just a little. Anyway, I'll handle it, you don't need to overthink it."
Wen Ning had a bad relationship with her family and couldn't possibly tell her father about Tongtong either.
Compared to Xu Yan, she, as Tongtong's mother, seemed utterly incompetent.
Wen Ning felt somewhat depressed and took a thousand yuan out of the partition of her school bag: "Here is the money for the paternity test."
Xu Yan didn't decline and took it directly.
He still had to support Tongtong, and making money was likewise giving him a headache.
Finally, the bus arrived at their stop.
The two of them walked together toward the rented apartment.
When Xu Yan opened the door, the little sprite-like girl darted out from the bedroom.
When she saw Wen Ning standing prettily behind him, her eyes lit up instantly.
"Mom!"
Xu Miaotong threw herself straight into her arms: "Welcome home!"
Wen Ning's expression was very unnatural, but she still couldn't help squatting down, reaching out to hug her.
Xu Miaotong stood on tiptoe and gave her mom a little peck on the right cheek, then ran over to Dad and did the exact same thing.
Watching Xu Yan find slippers for the little girl beside her, a very strange thought suddenly welled up in Wen Ning's heart.
Why does this feel a bit like an old married couple...