Hard work after winning the lottery

Her final question, like a needle chilled to the bone, with its resolute sharpness, pierced the scalding yet deathly still air between them.

Zhou Yanjin's handsome eyebrows furrowed almost imperceptibly for a moment.

A fleeting emotion flashed across his deep eyes, too quick to be detected.

Was it surprise? Anger? Or... a hint of embarrassment at being exposed by her words?

Hua Yun's every word was like a precise scalpel, dissecting his proud composure and revealing the most unbearable possibilities that he had never spoken of, laid bare before him in a bloody manner.

He was blackmailed with the child.

I gave her a check to get rid of her.

Let Yao handle this "trouble".

These ruthless and efficient business tactics were indeed the choices that he, the Zhou Yanjin of the past, was most likely to make.

He couldn't refute it.

Because even he himself didn't know what choice he would have made if that timid yet stubborn girl had actually stood in front of him six years ago with a pregnancy test report.

The air seemed to solidify into a tangible substance.

The cicadas' tireless chirping pushed the afternoon heat and anxiety to their peak.

Hua Yun's chest heaved violently; that desperate outburst had almost exhausted all her strength.

Her legs were slightly weak, but her eyes were like obsidian tempered by fire, incredibly bright and incredibly hard.

Finally, Zhou Yanjin made a move.

His hands, hanging by his sides, clenched at the knuckles and then slowly relaxed.

When he looked up at her again, the ripples in his dark eyes had completely subsided, leaving only an unfathomable depth.

Hua Yun's heart sank little by little with his momentary silence.

She could almost foresee the cold and hurtful words he would say next.

However, to her surprise...

Zhou Yanjin did not answer her pointed question.

He simply looked at her, at her red-rimmed eyes, at her eyes filled with defensiveness and despair, and then, in an unprecedented, almost hoarse voice, he slowly spoke.

There was a complex emotion suppressed in that voice, one that terrified her.

"So, you chose the worst one."

He wasn't asking a question; he was stating a fact.

A fact she created with her own hands, which he had been resentful about for six years.

You were convinced I would be the worst jerk, so you didn't even give me a chance to choose.

These words, more powerful than any direct accusation, struck Hua Yun's heart like a heavy hammer.

The flame in her eyes flickered violently, almost extinguished by the sudden force.

Yes.

She didn't even give him a choice.

She simply assumed the worst possible outcome based on her own humility and cowardice, and then fled in panic.

But can we blame her?

At that time, they were worlds apart.

One is a high-ranking, privileged individual, surrounded by admirers.

One is the most inconspicuous grain of sand in the dust.

How could she dare to gamble on that one in ten thousand chance?

How could you risk your own life and your unborn child on his momentary compassion?

A thousand grievances and bitterness welled up in her throat again, choking her so much that she couldn't utter a single word.

She could only bite her lower lip hard, using the pain to stop her tears from overflowing.

In that brief moment of distraction, she suddenly felt the wet T-shirt she was clutching tightly in her hand being gently pried open, finger by finger, with an irresistible force.

Then, he took away the garment that belonged to Sanbao, which she had clutched so tightly it was deformed, and casually draped it over the clothesline next to him.

His fingertips inevitably touched her palm.

It has a slightly rough, thin callus and a scorching temperature.

Hua Yun recoiled as if burned, abruptly pulling her hand back.

She saw his deep eyes fixed on her, and then she heard the voice in her heart, in a broken and trembling tone, issue a final warning.

"Zhou Yanjin, the child is mine!"

The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a barely perceptible tremor, like a bowstring stretched to its limit, ready to snap at any moment.

"I carried them for ten months, I almost lost half my life to bring them into this world!"

"I fed them with milk and rice cereal, raising them from such tiny little things to this age!"

"I held them all night long, afraid to close my eyes, when they had fevers!"

"I patiently comforted them again and again when they cried and fussed!"

"I was there for them every single day and night of their lives! Only me!"

By the end, her words had become somewhat incoherent, sounding like both a confession and a declaration of sovereignty.

Like a female beast whose territory has been invaded, she raised all the spikes on her body and glared at the man who was trying to invade her world with all her might, defensively and even fiercely.

"No one can take them away from me!"

She shouted out her last words, and tears, finally unable to hold back, slid down her cheeks.

The liquid, glistening and scalding hot, evaporated instantly upon hitting the bluestone slab beneath our feet, leaving no trace.

Seeing her intense yet vulnerable state, Zhou Yanjin felt as if an invisible hand was gripping his heart tightly.

A sharp, stabbing pain spread rapidly throughout my body.

He had never seen such elegance before.

Even six years ago.

But now, for the sake of her child, she can be like a fearless hedgehog, showing him her softest belly and her sharpest quills.

The anger that had been building up in his chest due to being deceived and misled was miraculously extinguished the moment he saw her tears.

He softened his tone, and the oppressive and questioning tone of the previous words faded from his deep voice, replaced by a hoarseness that he himself was unaware of.

"I'm not here to take the child away."

His voice was soft, yet exceptionally clear, each word striking Hua Yun's ears.

Hua Yun's crying abruptly stopped.

She raised her eyes, which were made even brighter by her tears, and looked at him warily, as if trying to discern the truth in his words.

"So what do you want?"

Her voice still had a heavy nasal tone, but she retorted without backing down an inch.

Like a cat with its fur standing on end, it was still trembling, yet stubbornly brandishing its claws.

Zhou Yanjin looked at her with an unprecedentedly serious gaze.

"They are my children."

He slowly and clearly stated the fact that she could no longer escape.

"Hua Yun, this is an unchangeable fact."

His tone was calm and firm, carrying an undeniable power.

You can hate me, resent me, it's all up to you.

"But you cannot, and have no right to, deprive them of their right to have a father."

"You can't stop me from fulfilling my responsibilities as a father."