The Sea Queen of 1985

Chapter 384: Chapter 384: A Worldview-Shattering View on Marriage

Han Xiaorui consoled her, ”Grandma, we’re family. My aunt is family too, so of course I’m concerned about her. You and Grandpa are getting older; you shouldn’t get so worked up.”

”Yes. Your grandpa is already angry, so I can’t say much to him. Ye Feng is a man, and it’s awkward to discuss these things with Yingying,” Old Madam Xu lamented. At this point, Han Xiaorui was the only one she could talk to.

The empathetic Han Xiaorui did her best to console Old Madam Xu.

Old Madam Xu felt a little better and waited for Han Xiaorui to report back.

Han Xiaorui went upstairs and walked to Xu Yingying’s door.

She had barely knocked twice when the door swung open.

Han Xiaorui was surprised. ”Auntie, were you heading out?”

”I’m not going out. I knew you were coming. I figured Mom would tell you about my love life, and you’d come over to talk me out of it. When I heard the knock, I knew it had to be you,” Xu Yingying said with a smile. ”Come in. I’ll explain everything.”

Han Xiaorui had thought she was coming in prepared, but it turned out Xu Yingying was even more ready for this conversation. ”Grandma is very worried about you.”

”I know.” Xu Yingying sat in a chair on the balcony and poured Han Xiaorui a glass of lemonade.

”So, Auntie, what’s your take on all this?” Han Xiaorui asked, deliberately not starting with accusations that what she was doing was wrong.

Xu Yingying was a mature adult—emotionally stable and very rational.

’There had to be a reason she was doing this.’

Seeing that Han Xiaorui wasn’t judging her, Xu Yingying breathed a sigh of relief. ”Thank you, Xiao Rui, for letting me explain instead of just attacking me right off the bat.”

Han Xiaorui chuckled. ”Well, how should I put this? While I don’t approve of you being with a married man, it’s ultimately your life to live. You have the right to make your own decisions, and you’re capable of handling the consequences. I’m in no position to judge you.”

Xu Yingying smiled, a look of relief in her eyes. ”To be honest, I know there’s no future with Luo’er. I went to the hospital for a check-up, and my reproductive health is excellent. I saw that Luo’er was handsome and his medical exam showed no communicable diseases, so... I wanted to ’borrow his seed’.”

”Huh?” Han Xiaorui was stunned. She had imagined love at first sight, uncontrollable passion, a thrilling affair... The one thing she hadn’t considered was that Xu Yingying simply decided she was healthy and wanted to find a sperm donor.

Seeing Han Xiaorui’s shock, Xu Yingying gave a wry smile. ”Sounds absurd, doesn’t it?”

Han Xiaorui shook her head. ”Not absurd, exactly. Just... completely unexpected.”

Xu Yingying explained, ”The truth is, there are many wonderful men in my life, but they’re all married. How could I destroy someone’s family? Besides, I just want a child, not a husband. I’m not looking for a lifelong commitment with a man.”

”Luo’er is French, passionate, romantic, and handsome. He’s far from home and lonely, and I want a child. So, I poked a bunch of big holes in the condoms. When the time comes for Luo’er to leave, we’ll make a clean break, and that will be the end of it.”

Han Xiaorui took a sip of her lemonade. ”Auntie, when did you first come up with this idea?”

Xu Yingying answered, ”Back when I was in the United States helping your uncle, I tried to convince him to get married and have kids. He didn’t want to get married, and he didn’t want children. It wasn’t that he disliked kids; he just didn’t have the time or energy and had no desire to raise them.”

”As for marriage, he’s a total research fanatic. Sometimes he won’t come home for a month because of his work. By the time he got back, his wife might not be *his* wife anymore, if you know what I mean. He figured it was better to just date and not get married or have kids than to risk being cuckolded.”

”When I pushed him too hard, your uncle finally snapped and said, ’If you want a kid so badly, why don’t you go find someone and have one? There’s nothing physically wrong with you. Maybe the reason you never got pregnant before was because you and Wen Tao were biologically incompatible. It’s a medically proven phenomenon.’”

”I originally planned to use a sperm bank in the United States, but there have been recent scandals about falsified donor information. I was worried I’d get some ’subpar tadpoles,’ so I had to scrap that idea. As soon as I got back to Shencheng, I started scheming about this.”

Han Xiaorui blinked. ’What an eye-opener!’

”Auntie, since you’ve clearly thought this through, I respect your decision.” Han Xiaorui didn’t know how to argue against it, so she decided not to try.

Xu Yingying let out a huge sigh of relief. ”Xiao Rui, I’m so glad you’re not arguing with me. Mom and Dad think I should get married first and then have a child. But at my age, it’s so difficult to find true love.”

”I just want to have a child of my own while I’m still young enough and have a good chance of getting pregnant. As for men... they really aren’t that important to me.”

”Luo’er is passionate, and he’s interested in me. I, on the other hand, lust after his body. I can make a clean break from him when this is over; we laid down some ground rules about that from the start. He loves his wife and kids very much. So, we’re each getting what we want out of this. It was a perfect arrangement.”

”If he loves his wife and kids so much, shouldn’t he be faithful to them?” Han Xiaorui finally voiced the question that had been nagging her. ”If his wife found out he was having an affair, could she possibly love him the same way?”

Xu Yingying snickered and raised an eyebrow. ”And why not? Luo’er told me that while he’s away from France, his wife is free to date other people. The only rule is that she can’t get pregnant and have another man’s child.”

Han Xiaorui gasped, blinking in disbelief. ”They can do that?”

Xu Yingying laughed. ”I was just as surprised as you are. But Luo’er said that when he works abroad, he finds himself attracted to other women, so how could he expect his wife not to be attracted to other men? I asked him if he wasn’t afraid his wife would run off with someone.”

”Luo’er told me that if that happened, it would only prove that he’d lost his charm and the other man was more appealing. He would admit defeat. He’s so confident it borders on arrogant. But, since he put it that way, I figured I wouldn’t hold back. And so, here we are.”

Han Xiaorui tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear, a convenient gesture to hide her shocked and awkward expression. ”I’ve always heard that the French have a rebellious spirit, and that France is the birthplace of many new ideas. Now I see there’s a reason for that reputation. The French don’t just dare to think it, they dare to do it!”

Xu Yingying nodded. ”Yes. And for me, this is the simplest solution.”

”Alright, I’ll talk to Grandma and Grandpa for you,” Han Xiaorui said with a smile, taking Xu Yingying’s hand. ”Auntie, as long as you know what you’re doing, can handle yourself, and are prepared to accept the consequences, that’s all that matters.”

”I’ve thought this through from every angle. This isn’t an impulsive decision,” Xu Yingying answered, her voice firm.

When Han Xiaorui relayed Xu Yingying’s reasoning, Old Madam Xu was stunned.

After a long moment, Old Madam Xu sighed. ”Ah, forget it. I won’t meddle anymore. The younger generation will make their own way. Since this isn’t something she’s doing on a whim, I won’t stand in her way.”

Even Mr. Xu didn’t say anything more. He had also been puzzled; his daughter was clearly healthy, so why hadn’t she been able to have a child?

If they couldn’t control it, they wouldn’t try.

Han Xiaorui had assumed it would take Xu Yingying some time to succeed, but to her surprise, just half a month later, an excited Xu Yingying came speeding over to Jinshan Bay.

”Xiao Rui! Xiao Rui! Look, quick! Does this mean... I’m pregnant?” Xu Yingying asked loudly, holding out a pregnancy test.