Fang Yuming slowly realized something: as a divorced man with two children, his attractiveness on the marriage market was undeniably much lower than before.
No matter how respectable his job was or how steady his income, these realities would make many women hesitate.
“I understand your concerns,” he said, trying to maintain a gentlemanly demeanor despite the sting of defeat rising inside him. “And thank you for being honest.”
Seeing the troubled look on Li Huiru’s face, he thought for a moment, then tried to salvage the situation:
“Actually, Xiaolei is mainly taken care of by my parents. I’m busy with work most of the time, and they handle everything for him. He wouldn’t be too much of a burden to you.”
But Li Huiru raised her hand to stop him, her tone firmer now:
“Comrade Fang, it’s not just about who takes care of the child. To be honest… I plan to have children of my own in the future.”
Fang Yuming frowned, not quite understanding what this had to do with Liu Xiaolei.
In his mind, if she wanted a child after they married, they could discuss it easily—his income and family conditions were stable. Raising a second child shouldn’t be a problem.
Seeing his confusion, Li Huiru realized he hadn’t grasped the key point. She took a slow breath and clarified:
“Before meeting you, I looked into the current policy.” Her voice became serious.
“In your situation—having two children already—after remarriage, you cannot have any more children. Even if I’m marrying for the first time, the rule still applies.”
Her words hit him like a hammer. He froze.
He had never considered it from this angle.
In this era of strict population control, every family’s birth quota was tightly regulated. Even though Niannian lived with Su Minzhi, the policy still counted her as his child.
And since Liu Xiaolei’s household registration was filed under the Fang family, Fang Yuming legally already had two children.
Which meant… he no longer had the right to have another.
Seeing the shock on his face, Li Huiru felt a twinge of sympathy, but she held her ground:
“Comrade Fang, I do understand your situation. And honestly, if not for what you just told me, your conditions aren’t bad at all. But I hope you can understand me as well. I’m only twenty-four—I naturally hope to become a mother someday and have a child of my own.”
A swirl of emotions rose in Fang Yuming’s chest.
He couldn’t say she was wrong. It was only natural for a young woman to want her own biological child.
“I understand,” he said finally, voice slightly hoarse. “It’s my fault for not explaining things clearly beforehand.”
Li Huiru sighed, stood up, and picked up her handbag. “Let’s leave it at that. I’ll pay for the meal—just think of it as meeting a friend.”
He immediately shook his head. “No, I should pay. I still have some gentlemanly manners left.”
After a brief exchange of polite refusals, she left the restaurant quickly, leaving Fang Yuming sitting alone, staring at the barely touched dishes. A deep sense of defeat and helplessness washed over him.
He finally understood: choosing to take responsibility for Liu Xiaolei wasn’t just a moral decision—it was one that would alter the entire course of his life.
After his date left, he sat quietly for a moment.
He glanced over at Su Minzhi and her daughter. Their meal was nearly finished. Niannian was eating her last egg tart, and Su Minzhi was elegantly dabbing her lips with a napkin.
Instead of wallowing in self-pity, he thought, he might as well go say hello to his daughter.
He stood, straightened his clothes, and walked over.
When Niannian saw him, her eyes widened. “Daddy! Why are you here?”
He wanted to explain the blind date but felt it too awkward to mention such a thing to a seven-year-old.
He cleared his throat, trying to sound casual. “Daddy was having dinner with a friend.”
His eyes shifted toward Su Minzhi as he asked tentatively, “What made you two decide to eat out today?”
Her expression was calm, voice flat. “We wanted to eat out, so we did.”
So brief and closed-off that the conversation simply ended there.
Fang Yuming felt a flush of embarrassment.
Turning to his daughter, he quickly changed the subject. “Niannian, how’s school? Everything going well?”
Niannian beamed. “Great! I got another perfect score on my midterms!”
“That’s wonderful.” He smiled, then remembered the upcoming winter break. “Winter vacation is in a month. Do you want to stay at Grandpa and Grandma’s for a few days? You can play with Xiaolei.”
Niannian immediately shook her head, then said excitedly, “I’m going to Guangzhou! To see Grandpa and Grandma!”
A wave of disappointment hit him, but he swallowed it down and looked at Su Minzhi. “Will you take leave to bring her there?”
“No need,” she answered simply. “Minyan’s break is coming soon. He’ll come to pick her up and take the train together to Guangzhou.”
Hearing that, Fang Yuming felt painfully redundant.
Her answers were always short and distant—clearly refusing deeper conversation. And Niannian’s excitement about going to Guangzhou made him realize his place in her heart wasn’t what he imagined.
The air turned awkward.
Thinking for a moment, he decided to tell her about what he learned from Li Huiru—the birth policy. He figured she deserved to know.
But after listening, Su Minzhi’s expression didn’t change at all.
In the same calm tone, she replied, “I don’t care about that. I have Niannian—that’s enough. I have no plans to have another child.”
Then she suddenly smiled faintly.
“I think it affects you a lot more than it affects me.”
Silence fell again.
Only Niannian continued focusing on her dessert, blissfully unaware of the tension among the adults.