The air in the library instantly froze.
All surrounding sounds seemed to vanish.
Only Lin Fan’s slightly heavy breathing and Mu Qingxue’s suddenly accelerated heartbeat remained.
White paper, black text, cold numbers.
The seal of an authoritative institution.
And that glaring figure—99.99%.
Every single word was like a heavy hammer, striking Mu Qingxue in the chest.
Composure, rationality, pride… shattered in an instant.
All the color drained from her lovely face, making her frighteningly pale.
Her lips trembled; she wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
Her straight spine involuntarily collapsed, as if she could no longer bear the crushing weight that threatened to overturn her world.
"No… impossible…"
She finally forced out a voice, faint, trembling, filled with bewilderment.
"The sample… fake, it must be fake…"
It was as if she were trying to convince herself, yet also interrogating Lin Fan.
Those cold, aloof eyes now held only shock and chaos.
Then, a tear rolled down.
It struck the report paper, blooming into a small water stain.
Followed by a second, a third…
Her tears broke like a severed string, gushing forth.
Mu Qingxue, the school belle known throughout the campus as an iceberg.
At this very moment, in the corner of the library, in front of Lin Fan and Mengmeng.
Amid the occasional glances cast from around them.
She completely broke down.
She covered her mouth, trying to suppress her sobs.
Yet her shoulders shook violently.
Tears blurred her vision, washing away the cognitive framework of her eighteen years.
Seeing her like this, Lin Fan felt a sharp pang in his heart.
He had anticipated Mu Qingxue's shock, anger, and disbelief; he had even imagined she might fling the report right back in his face and curse him as a lunatic.
The one thing he never expected was that she would cry.
Crying like this… so helpless, so fragile.
It was as if an iceberg that had always stood tall had melted and collapsed in an instant.
This caused the triumph and toughness he had prepared—carrying a hint of "let's see what you have to say now"—to instantly vanish into thin air, replaced by a flustered sense of helplessness and even a trace of… inexplicable heartache?
"Hey, you…" He opened his mouth, wanting to say something comforting, only to find himself at a loss for words, his throat dry.
At that moment, Mengmeng, who had been quietly standing by and watching everything with her little head tilted up, also scrunched up her small face.
Seeing her mother cry, that pair of dark-grape-like eyes quickly misted over with a layer of moisture.
On her short little legs, she trotted patter-patter over to Mu Qingxue, stretched out her chubby little hand, and cautiously reached for Mu Qingxue's cheek, using the back of her soft little hand to gently wipe away the rolling tears.
"Mommy, don't cry, don't cry…" Her little milky voice carried a soft, nasal twinge, full of childish worry and comfort. "Mengmeng will give you candy. Once you eat the candy, you won't cry anymore."
As she spoke, she really did dig around again in her washed-faintly-white T-shirt pocket, pulling out another strawberry-flavored fruit drop wrapped in colorful candy paper, and raised it high, holding it out right in front of Mu Qingxue's eyes.
This childish and sincere comfort was like a faint yet warm beam of light piercing through the thick layer of ice in Mu Qingxue's heart.
She slowly lowered the hand covering her mouth, looked down through her tear-blurred eyes at the little girl standing on tiptoe, desperately trying to shove the candy into her hands.
The little one’s face was full of worry, and those crystal-clear eyes reflected her own disheveled, weeping reflection.
An unprecedented, unfamiliar, and warm emotion quietly sprouted and spread within her heart, like a tender shoot breaking through the soil.
It was an instinctive pull that scientific reports could not explain, transcending reason and logic.
As if guided by some unseen force, Mu Qingxue slowly squatted down.
She extended her still-slightly-trembling hand—not to take the candy, but instead gently, almost clumsily, pulling this tiny, milk-scented body into her arms.
Tightly.
As if grasping a straw to save her life.
Mengmeng was a little dazed by the embrace, resting her small head against Mu Qingxue's shoulder, feeling the faint, pleasant fragrance of her body, along with her slightly trembling frame and wet tearfulness.
Instead of struggling, she wrapped her little arms around Mu Qingxue's neck, rubbed her small cheek against the crook of her neck, and acted spoiled in a soft, milky voice: "Mommy… don't cry… Mengmeng is here…"
This utterance of "Mommy" no longer carried the confirmation and probing of before; it was full of reliance and reassurance.
To Mu Qingxue's ears, it was like a key unexpectedly unlocking a previously untouched corner deep within her heart.
The warm, soft touch in her arms, the little one's warm breath in the crook of her neck, and that soft "Mommy" were all undeniably real.
That word "Mommy."
No longer a test.
It was reliance, it was comfort.
Like a key, it abruptly burst open a certain corner deep inside Mu Qingxue's heart.
The warm and soft sensation in her arms, the breathing against her neck, that "Mommy"… extraordinarily real.
Maternal instinct?
This unfamiliar word flooded over her like a tide at this moment.
She hugged Mengmeng tighter, her cheek pressing against the little one's soft hair.
Tears were still falling, but the roaring waves in her heart miraculously began to calm beneath the warmth of the embrace.
How did this happen? What about the timeline?
How on earth did she and him… have a child?
Countless questions intertwined.
Yet the DNA report was undeniable ironclad proof.
The little girl in her arms was real, warm, carrying an affinity forged by shared blood.
Scientific evidence, combined with Mengmeng's reliance at this moment.
Her line of rational defense began to loosen and crumble.
Perhaps… this entire absurdity was like a dream…
Could it actually… be true?
This little girl was truly her daughter?
Once the thought arose, it became impossible to suppress.
Amidst Mengmeng's pampering and warmth, she was forced to face this reality that had disrupted everything.
What should she do?
Accept this daughter?
And then there was… the "father of the child" with that complicated expression standing nearby?
For Mu Qingxue, who was accustomed to independence and aloofness, this was far too difficult.
It even filled her with panic.
After quite a while.
Mu Qingxue's emotions gradually settled.
She released Mengmeng, yet still let the child lean against her.
She raised her head and looked at Lin Fan with red, swollen eyes.
Her gaze remained complex, lingering with shock and bewilderment.
Yet that layer of ice had melted by more than half.
In its place was confusion, and even… a trace of an appeal for help that she herself hadn't noticed?
As if asking: What on earth is going on?
What comes… next?
Lin Fan understood.
Under the heavy hammer of science and the warmth of a little child, this iceberg was truly beginning to disintegrate.
His trump card had been played, and the effect was outstanding.
Yet what came next… seemed even more troublesome.
Looking at the school belle with red, crying eyes, holding her "daughter" in bewilderment.
Then looking at Mengmeng, who wore an innocent expression beside them.
Lin Fan experienced a flurry of mixed emotions.
This grand drama of "suddenly becoming a dad" had only just begun.
In the future, the three of them… what would become of them?
Everything remained unknown.
Outside the library window, the sunlight remained bright.
Yet it could not pierce through the complex and unspeakable atmosphere between the three of them.