Huayu: Starting from joining the mainstream entertainment industry in 96

Chapter 427, Part 425: A Great Grandson Falls from the Sky
The afterglow of the setting sun bathed the row of old Soviet-style apartment buildings in the Beijing Film Studio residential area in a warm, nostalgic golden hue.

Wang Sheng's car quietly stopped downstairs. After the engine was turned off, all that could be heard around him was the faint sound of cooking coming from the neighbors' houses and the children playing, a typical evening scene.

He carried a simple briefcase upstairs, inserted the key into the lock, and made the familiar "click" sound.

"Dad, Mom, I'm back."

Wang Baoguo was sitting on the living room sofa wearing reading glasses, reading a newspaper. Hearing the sound, he looked up, grunted, and acknowledged the greeting.

Zhang Xiulan, wearing an apron and holding a spatula, poked her head out of the kitchen. Her face showed the natural joy of seeing her son, but her tone carried a habitual reproach: "Oh, you busy man, you still know to come back? Have you eaten? If not, I'll make more noodles."

"Not yet, just grab something quick." Wang Sheng placed his briefcase on the shoe cabinet in the entryway and bent down to change into slippers.

Sweet Potato excitedly rushed over, wagging its tail vigorously around his trouser leg, making affectionate whimpering sounds in its throat.

Wang Sheng casually rubbed its head.

Everything was the same as countless other times I returned home: ordinary, warm, and with a touch of the mundane details softened by time.

Wang Sheng washed his hands, walked to the living room and sat down, and Digua obediently lay down at his feet.

Zhang Xiulan was busy in the kitchen, muttering to herself about what other vegetables were in the refrigerator.

Wang Baoguo put down his newspaper and casually asked, "You were away for quite a while this time, did everything go smoothly?"

"It's alright," Wang Sheng said casually.

Zhang Xiulan came out carrying a plate of sliced ​​fruit and placed it in front of her son: "You, you're always running around, and I never even see you. You should settle down and start a family soon."

Wang Sheng picked up a piece of apple, but didn't eat it immediately. He paused, then looked up at his parents and said, "It's going to be tough getting married, but you're going to be grandparents. Yuanyuan is resting in Qiongzhou and should give birth in a little over a month."

"Oh, just focus on resting during pregnancy... What?!" Zhang Xiulan's smile froze instantly, and the rag in her hand fell to the ground.

Wang Baoguo suddenly raised his head, oblivious to the newspaper slipping to the ground, his eyes wide and fixed on his son.

Even the sweet potato lying on the ground seemed to sense the sudden freeze in the air. It perked up its ears, abandoned its adorable demeanor, and a look of anthropomorphic confusion appeared on its dog face as it looked at this and then at that.

The living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; only the water in the pot of noodles in the kitchen continued to gurgle and bubble.

Zhang Xiulan was the first to react. She seemed not to have heard clearly, or perhaps she couldn't believe it, her voice trembling: "You...you just said...Yuanyuan...she's pregnant?"

"Hmm." Wang Sheng nodded, confirming that he was not hallucinating.

"You...your?!" Zhang Xiulan's voice suddenly rose, carrying an almost absurd demand for confirmation.

Wang Sheng remained calm: "Of course it's mine."

"She's over eight months pregnant?! She's about to give birth?!" Zhang Xiulan's voice was already trembling with tears, not from joy, but from pure shock and the immense impact of being kept in the dark.

She lunged forward and slapped Wang Sheng's arm several times with considerable force. "You brat! This is such a big deal! A huge deal! How could you keep it from us until now?! Are you trying to drive your father and me crazy?!"

Wang Baoguo's chest heaved violently a few times. As the head of the family, he managed to maintain his composure, but his voice was frighteningly deep as he asked the most crucial question: "You...you're not married yet! What...what's going on? Do Yuanyuan's parents know?" Wang Sheng put the uneaten apple back on the plate, took a tissue to wipe his hands, and said in a calm tone, "I don't plan to get married. I'll acknowledge the child and take responsibility. As for Yuanyuan's parents, she hasn't told them yet. She wants to wait until the child is born before discussing it further."

"Nonsense! This is utter nonsense!"

Wang Baoguo slammed his hand on the sofa armrest, his face flushed with anger. "Not getting married? What will happen when the child is born? A single-parent family? How is Yuanyuan supposed to face people in the future? What will her parents think? Do we, the Wang family, have any face left?!"

The old ideas that had been ingrained all their lives were shattered by the "atomic bomb" dropped by their son.

Pregnancy before marriage may seem like a personal choice to the child, but to their generation, it is a shocking scandal that could bring the world to a close.

Zhang Xiulan panicked and, forgetting her scolding, grabbed Wang Sheng's hand: "Where is she? I have to go see her right away! She's been pregnant for over eight months, how can she be without an elder by her side? What if something happens to her... Oh my God!"

She was so anxious that she kept spinning in circles, wishing she could sprout wings and fly over immediately.

“I’m in Qiongzhou. The environment there is good, and there’s a professional medical team with me. It’s very safe,” Wang Sheng reassured them. “If you want to go, I’ll have my assistant book the tickets. We can go tomorrow.”

“I’ll go! I have to go!” Zhang Xiulan immediately declared, her heart already flying to her “daughter-in-law” whom she had never met in Qiongzhou and to her soon-to-be-born grandchild.

"Your mother can go, but your mother can go!" Wang Baoguo took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging anger. His expression was more serious than ever before as he pointed at Wang Sheng. "You! You're not allowed to go anywhere tomorrow! You're coming with me to Yuanyuan's house! To pay your respects! To apologize! And to explain everything to me in detail!"

He stared at his son, his eyes filled with unwavering resolve: "I don't care how capable you are, or how many people fawn over you, this is something you owe the girl and her parents! If you get scolded, you have to listen! If you get beaten, you have to take it! This is the most basic principle of being a decent human being! Do you hear me?!"

The air was quiet again.

Zhang Xiulan stopped spinning around, looked at her husband, then at her son, her lips moved, but she ultimately said nothing.

She knew the old man was right. This was something she couldn't avoid, nor could she escape it.

Wang Sheng remained silent for a moment.

His original plan did not include "immediately going to apologize".

He is used to being in control of everything and to solving problems in his own way.

But looking at his father's eyes, slightly reddened with anger and worry, and his mother's bewildered yet concerned expression, he realized that he might not be able to handle this matter in the same way he would handle a business negotiation.

This concerns two families, responsibility, and the most basic values ​​of parents.

He let out a soft sigh and nodded: "Okay. I'll go with you tomorrow."

When Wang Baoguo saw that he had agreed, his tense expression eased slightly, but his brows remained furrowed, and he sighed heavily.

Having received her son's confirmation, Zhang Xiulan felt half relieved, but immediately began to worry about tomorrow's meeting, which was destined to be unpleasant: "This... how can I bring myself to say this... Sigh, Yuanyuan, that child, how can she just let you do whatever you want..."

She kept rambling on, feeling sorry for Gao Yuanyuan again and worrying about the pressure she was under.

Sweet Potato seemed to sense the easing of the atmosphere and cautiously nuzzled its head against Wang Sheng's feet.

(End of this chapter)