The atmosphere in the library corner was as oppressive as if the air had been sucked out. The sound of turning pages and footsteps had all become distant noise.
Lin Fan looked at Mu Qingxue across from him. Her face was as pale as paper, and her knuckles gripping the DNA report were white.
Beside her, Mengmeng looked at him, then at Mu Qingxue. Her large eyes were filled with curiosity and a hint of fear.
Lin Fan's heart skipped a beat. With so many eyes and ears around, this was no place to talk. His throat bobbed, and his voice came out dry: "This place... isn't convenient. Want to go to my place to talk?"
Mu Qingxue didn't react. Her gaze was nailed to the report, her body trembling slightly. Her tears seemed to have dried up, leaving only a numb blankness.
Bracing himself, Lin Fan repeated it, his tone firm. He gently touched Mengmeng.
The little girl immediately raised her small face, her watery eyes gazing at Mu Qingxue as she called out in a tiny, nasal voice, "Mom..."
Mu Qingxue's eyelashes fluttered violently, as if she had been scalded. Her lips moved.
Finally, under Lin Fan's persistent gaze and Mengmeng's expression that could melt anything, she nodded stiffly, as if using up every ounce of strength in her body.
The journey from the library to the rented room took a dozen minutes, but it felt as long as a century. Lin Fan walked in front, his steps heavy and his mind in chaos. Mu Qingxue followed a few steps behind, staring down at the ground with empty eyes. Mengmeng was right in the middle between the two of them, her short legs working hard as she alternated between looking at "Daddy" ahead and glancing back at the forlorn "Mommy."
The air was so silent you could wring water from it.
Mu Qingxue's gaze occasionally swept across the surroundings: mottled walls, hanging laundry, narrow alleys, mixed with the damp odors of everyday life. All of this was worlds apart from the world she knew. A sense of absurdity and bewilderment grew even stronger. How could her life have become entangled with this place, and with the boy walking ahead in a faded school uniform?
Mengmeng seemed to sense the gloominess. Looking at one, then the other, she reached out her little hand, wanting to hold onto both of them at once. But Lin Fan walked fast, and Mu Qingxue lagged far behind. Her tiny hand grabbed only empty air. Her little face was filled with incomprehension and loss.
Finally, they reached the dilapidated rental building. Lin Fan took out his key and pushed open the creaking wooden door.
"Creeeak—" A smell of instant noodles and stale air rushed out to meet them.
The space of a dozen square meters was packed with things: a single bed, an old desk covered in books and test papers, a simple wardrobe, and a few unthrown instant noodle bowls in the corner.
Mu Qingxue's brow furrowed instantly, and she instinctively stopped at the doorway.
Lin Fan's cheeks burned "bang" hot, even hotter than in the library. He knew the place was messy, and being "toured" like this by her made his sense of embarrassment overflow. In a flurry of panic to tidy the desk, his elbow knocked over a leftover instant noodle bowl.
"Clatter!" The bowl rolled to the floor, spilling out a few dried-up noodles.
The scene was excruciatingly awkward. Lin Fan wished he could find a crack in the ground to crawl into.
Yet Mengmeng poked her head in with curiosity. "Daddy, this place is so small! It's not even as big as Mengmeng's playroom!"
This devastatingly innocent remark broke the deadlock. Lin Fan's face flushed even brighter; caught between laughter and tears, he gave a couple of dry coughs. Mu Qingxue's lips seemed to twitch slightly, and her tightly furrowed brow relaxed just a fraction.
In the end, all three squeezed into the cramped space.
Lin Fan brought over the only clean chair for Mu Qingxue. He and Mengmeng sat on the edge of the bed. The three of them surrounded the broken little table, forming a bizarre triangular formation.
The "family meeting" officially began.
Lin Fan cleared his throat, wanting to take control of the situation, but his mind was overwhelmed by a thousand threads. Asking "When did we have a kid?" was just too ridiculous.
Mu Qingxue kept her head down, staring with a complex expression at the wrinkled DNA report on her lap, her fingertips pale. She was still digesting this cognition-shattering fact.
It was Mengmeng who broke the silence once more. She looked at Lin Fan, then at Mu Qingxue, and asked with curiosity, "Mommy, are you going to live with Daddy and Mengmeng from now on?"
These words struck Mu Qingxue like a needle. She snapped her head up to look at Lin Fan, her gaze carrying a final shred of struggle and suspicion.
"This report..." She finally spoke, her voice carrying an imperceptible tremble. "I don't believe it... I want to take the test again!"
Lin Fan was panicking inside as well, but he forced a calm exterior. Meeting her gaze, he displayed a composure beyond his years: "Alright. I'll cooperate with you anytime, at any institution you designate." He paused and explained, "As for the samples, mine was hair, and Mengmeng's was too. That strand of yours was the one Mengmeng picked up for you last time, with the hair follicle. The testing center is the most authoritative in the city, the report has a serial number and an official stamp, and it can be verified at any time—or we can go together."
His tone was calm, without evasion.
Watching his calm and earnest demeanor and listening to his well-organized explanation, Mu Qingxue felt the last sliver of wishful thinking in her heart begin to waver.
Seeing her emotions stabilize somewhat, Lin Fan cut straight to the core: "Arguing over whether the report is real or fake right now doesn't mean much; it can be verified at any moment. The most important thing is, what about Mengmeng? We can't just ignore her."
His gaze fell on the clueless Mengmeng, and his tone turned exceptionally firm: "No matter what happened between us or what the future holds, right now, we must temporarily 'cooperate' and take good care of Mengmeng together."
The word "cooperate" made Mu Qingxue's body stiffen slightly. But looking at the little girl before her who shared her own bloodline, she could not refute him.
After a moment of silence, both of them simultaneously realized another grim problem—exposure was absolutely out of the question! High school students, unmarried, a "future daughter"... any single one of these labels was enough to spark a storm.
Especially in Mu Qingxue's family, where the situation seemed even more complicated.
"This matter must be kept secret," Mu Qingxue said, her voice hoarse and her tone decisive.
"Right. We can't tell a soul," Lin Fan nodded immediately.
An invisible, fragile alliance quietly formed.
Next was the division of responsibilities. "Mengmeng can only stay at my place for now," Lin Fan took the initiative to say. "I'll take care of her daily life." After all, this was currently their only "stronghold."
Mu Qingxue pressed her lips together, glancing at the narrow, messy environment, and then at Mengmeng, who was wearing one of Lin Fan's old T-shirts. She said in a low voice, "I can... provide some financial support."
"No need!" Lin Fan refused immediately, his tone blunt, carrying the stubbornness and self-esteem of a youth. "Raising my daughter is my responsibility!"
Mu Qingxue was choked up by his retort. Looking at his stubborn gaze, words hovered on her lips, unsaid.
Eventually, they reached a tentative agreement: Mu Qingxue would find opportunities to visit Mengmeng, help take care of her, and provide necessary supplies such as clothes, food, and daily necessities.
The atmosphere in the room softened slightly. Mengmeng seemed to sense that the adults' taut strings had relaxed a bit. She slid off the edge of the bed, ran over to Lin Fan, and hugged his arm. Then she raised her small face to look at Mu Qingxue, speaking in a milky, baby voice: "Daddy and Mommy, don't fight anymore! Mengmeng will be a good girl and listen!"
"When Daddy makes big money in the future, we can live in a big house, and Mommy won't have to sneak around to see Mengmeng anymore!"
As soon as these words came out, both Lin Fan and Mu Qingxue froze.
Awkwardness filled the air once more, yet it was mixed with an indescribable warmth. The "future" painted by Mengmeng was like a glimmer of light shining into their chaotic states of mind, bringing a hint of illusory yet genuinely existing shared purpose.
As Mu Qingxue looked at Mengmeng's innocent smile, a spot in her heart melted into an utter mess.
Just then, the hands of the watch on her wrist pointed to a certain number.
Her heart tightened; she had to go home. If she was any later, that stepmother of hers would make an issue of it again.
Taking a deep breath to suppress her myriad thoughts, she stood up: "I... I have to go."
As soon as the words fell, Mengmeng, who had been well-behaved all along, seemed to sense something.
With a wail, she burst into tears! Her little body shot forward like a cannonball, wrapping her arms tightly around Mu Qingxue's calf, crying so hard she was out of breath: "Mommy, don't go! Mengmeng doesn't want Mommy to go! Sob, sob... Mengmeng wants Mommy!"
Mu Qingxue's body instantly froze.
She looked down at the sobbing little girl clutching her leg, then instinctively glanced over at Lin Fan, who was equally at a loss.
A fierce battle raged within her!
Reason told her she had to push the child away and leave this place. But feeling the scorching reliance and reluctance radiating from her leg, and hearing those tearful cries of "Mommy," her feet felt as though they had taken root, completely unable to move.
What should she do?
Could this newly established, agonizingly fragile "cooperative" alliance start off smoothly?
The first test had arrived, unannounced.