Huo Jin was slightly taken aback and asked, "How could that be? Is the child born with some defect?"
"No," Shu Yan replied, afraid Huo Jin would mock her when she saw the child.
Seeing her reaction, Huo Jin was almost convinced of what Susu had said. She couldn't help but ask, "Shu Yan, what exactly is going on? Were you deliberately framing Qin Tianyi from the start? But how did this child come about, and whose child is it?"
Huo Jin's words were like a knife, piercing through her hypocritical lies.
She finally understood that Huo Jin already knew something and had come specifically to question her.
But who had told Huo Jin about these things?
It shouldn't be Xiao Anjing. He had promised her he would keep his mouth shut. Besides, Xiao Anjing wasn't familiar with Huo Jin, so there was no reason for him to tell Huo Jin these things.
"You also think I'm cheap, despicable, and shameless... don't you?" Shu Yan no longer hid the child, placing the child in front of her, letting her see it to her heart's content.
Huo Jin had intended to hold the child, but upon seeing the child's golden hair and innocent blue eyes, she was so shocked that she didn't extend her hand. She asked, "How could this be? Is the father a foreigner?"
Shu Yan couldn't help but laugh at her reaction. "Yes, a foreigner whose appearance I didn't even get a clear look at."
Huo Jin quickly took the child and examined it carefully. Due to being mixed-race, the child was quite beautiful. She asked her, "Where did you meet that person? What does he do? Such a cute child, you could try to contact the child's biological father!"
Shu Yan said in embarrassment and anger, "Why would I look for that person! I don't plan to keep this child either. They will only ruin me!"
Huo Jin was even more shocked and asked in confusion, "You already have his child. Why not try to let go of Qin Tianyi, find the child's biological father, and resolve this together?"
"Are you kidding me?" Shu Yan stared at her and asked, "If something like this happened to you, what would Uncle Huo do?"
Huo Jin thought of her father whipping Huo Zheng with a belt and said, "I don't know, but he would definitely beat me..."
"My father would kick me and my mother out of the Shu family. And my so-called brothers and sisters would definitely make a big deal out of this."
Huo Jin couldn't understand her thinking. She said, "But even if my father kicked me out of the house, I wouldn't abandon my own child. Shu Yan, don't overthink it. Even if you leave the Shu family, can't you survive? You and Aunt Shu have hands and feet, are you afraid you can't support yourselves and this child?"
As she spoke, Huo Jin held the child and rocked it. The child smiled at her.
"It's easy for you to say. Is living like a beggar considered living?" Shu Yan felt she was speaking from a position of privilege.
"Shu Yan..."
"Don't try to persuade me. You're not me, you don't understand my difficulties." Shu Yan snatched her child from her hands.
Huo Jin was temporarily confused as to why she had become like this. She asked, "Didn't your ill-intentioned sister harm you, causing you to lose your fertility? But how do you have a child?"
"I've been getting treatment. My mother found many famous doctors for me, and after much effort, I was cured. I originally thought, how wonderful it would be to have his child, but it turned out to be like this!"
Huo Jin realized she had been deceived by her and had been wrongly blaming Qin Tianyi. She wanted to scold her, but seeing her current situation, the scolding words wouldn't come out. Instead, she worried about her child.
"Qin Tianyi and Susu have remarried. After much hardship, they are finally happily together, and no one can interfere with them anymore. Wake up. Don't keep going down this dead end. It's not too late to let go of the past and start anew."
"Remarried? How can they remarry! Wasn't that woman with another man? Does she still have the face to remarry Tianyi?" Shu Yan muttered to herself, almost obsessively, not hearing Huo Jin's words at all.
Suddenly, her gaze turned sinister as she stared at the child in her arms. Although the child was small, it seemed to sense the danger and began to cry loudly.
"Cry, cry, cry! All you do is cry! You little beast, why don't you look like me at all? You came into this world to harm me." As she spoke, she reached out and pinched the child's tender neck.
Huo Jin quickly stopped her and shouted, "Are you crazy? He's your own flesh and blood! Stop it!"
"Get away, it's none of your business!" Shu Yan pushed Huo Jin away like a madwoman.
Huo Jin hadn't expected her to have such strength. Pushed by her, she lost her balance and stumbled backward, tripping over a small stool and falling to the ground.
Seeing her fall, Shu Yan sobered up. She placed the child in the cradle and quickly went to squat down to help her up, asking, "Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself? I didn't mean to."
Huo Jin stood up with her help. Although she felt some pain from the fall, it wasn't too bad. She said, "I'm fine. Hiding in the countryside like this isn't a solution. How about I ask my father to talk to Uncle Shu? With my father's intervention, Uncle Shu might give some face. I'll also send people to look for the child's biological father abroad. Regardless of whether you have feelings for that man, finding him will surely make him responsible for the child."
Shu Yan felt this was a possible solution upon hearing this. Xiao Anjing had also suggested helping her find the child's biological father, but she had sternly refused.
She was afraid of facing that foreign man, and even more afraid of facing her own mistakes again.
"Can this really work? If Uncle Huo intervenes, won't my father blame me, dislike me, and kick me out of the Shu family?" Shu Yan was slightly swayed. "But my mother didn't say this. She said my father absolutely cannot know about this."
Huo Jin wanted to help her. She held her hand and tried to persuade her with a mix of gentleness and firmness. "The child is already born. As a mother, how can you bear to abandon her? Besides, how long can this be hidden? I think Uncle Shu will know the truth sooner or later. In any case, I absolutely will not allow you to abandon this child. If you dare to abandon this child, I will let the entire Lancheng know about it!"
Shu Yan looked at her fearfully. "No, please don't spread it around..."
"Then don't be so cruel to your own child." Huo Jin actually just wanted to scare her; she certainly wouldn't spread the word.
"I understand. I'll listen to you. You have better ideas than me." Shu Yan said, her heart filled with turmoil. "Actually, I don't know what to do right now. Fortunately, you came tonight."
Huo Jin was glad she had come at the right time. She smiled at her and said, "Don't worry, it's not as serious as you think. I'll go back to Lancheng to find my father later."
Shu Yan hummed and said, "Sit down for a while. Would you like something to drink? It's very simple here, but I have coffee and alcohol."
"I drove here, so I can't drink. I'll have a cup of coffee," Huo Jin said, then began to play with the child in the cradle.
This mixed-race child was truly like a doll, so adorable. As Huo Jin played with the child, she couldn't help but think how wonderful it would be if her and Qingchuan's child could be this beautiful in the future.