Ye Zhen got a headache from hearing the aunts loudly going back and forth about domestic trifles.

Ye Zhen didn't respond much to these unfamiliar relatives. She casually nodded and made a few noncommittal sounds. Fortunately, Father Ye soon came to the table to fetch her. He wanted her and Lu Beichuan to cut the cake.

***

During the banquet, Father Ye had gotten drunk and kept saying, "Ah, my good son-in-law, my good son-in-law.” He was walking on clouds from everyone fawning over him. Who knows how many times he had patted his chest and guaranteed favors?

***

Mother Ye held her older daughter's hand and quietly asked her, "How did it go?"

Mother Ye had spent several days talking to Ye Qing before persuading her to apologize to Ye Zhen.

Mother Ye knew that her older daughter had a stubborn temperament, and it had taken a lot of persuading to get her to agree to apologize. Even though Ye Qing would feel wronged, it was better than having Ye Zhen become her enemy in the future.

"Mom, don't worry. I already... apologized to Ye Zhen."

Mother Ye looked at her in distress. "That must have been hard on you."

Ye Qing showed a faint smile. She comforted her mother by saying, "I'm okay. I'm willing to do anything as long as Zhenzhen will reconcile with us."

She said these words as if she had been horribly wronged. She put on a brave smile with tears in her eyes as if she was enduring a great injustice. Seeing her older daughter like this, Mother Ye felt even worse for her. She tightened her grip on her daughter's hand.

***

For Lu Beichuan, the other guests at the banquet were insignificant people, so he didn't chat long with them. Concerned about Ye Zhen's health, he took her away after they had mingled with the guests and the main part of the banquet had concluded.

On the way home, Lu Beichuan told Ye Zhen every big and small thing that had ever occurred between him and Shen Weiyin. There hadn't been anything special going on between him and Shen Weiyin. They merely saw each other occasionally because their grandfathers were friends. He didn't have the tiniest bit of interest in Shen Weiyin.

Ye Zhen naturally already knew this. In the novel, Lu Beichuan was practically an ascetic monk when it came to his lack of interest in women. Other than Ye Qing, no women ever caught his interest, seriously or otherwise.

"Mr. Lu, you're such an excellent man. It's very normal that you would have a few admirers. Don't worry, I'm very magnanimous. I won't get jealous about that sort of thing.” Ye Zhen slyly looked at him and said, "I'm actually very curious what you think of Ye Qing."

Lu Beichuan's brow deeply furrowed. He didn't understand why Ye Zhen would suddenly mention Ye Qing.

From the time that he had woken up from his coma to now, he barely had any interactions with Ye Qing. How could he have any thoughts about her?

Ye Zhen's behavior was strange. When they talked about Shen Weiyin, she seemed to genuinely not care at all. But, when she mentioned Ye Qing, it was as if she was facing a formidable foe.

Lu Beichuan indifferently said, "She's the type to seek short term-benefits. That's the only thought I have about her."

Ye Zhen carefully thought over his words. Yes, he was right.

Although she didn't know why Ye Qing was so different from her book counterpart, since she had transmigrated here, Ye Qing had been acting like someone that couldn't think beyond short-term benefits. Even a slightly clever person, much less an astute person like Lu Beichuan, would be able to see right through Ye Qing's bad intentions.

Ye Zhen pensively thought about the novel's Ye Qing.

In the novel, Ye Qing was beautiful, clever, kind-hearted, and generous. She had bone-deep pride, but she wasn't arrogant. Perhaps, she was the type of woman that the novel's Lu Beichuan liked.

As for now....

"Mr. Lu, what kind of woman do you like?”

Lu Beichuan closely looked at her and lightly said, "I like a kind-hearted and clever woman that isn't spoiled."

Day by day, the temperature dropped. In the blink of an eye, it was the end of the year. Everywhere in the city, there was a celebratory air for the upcoming new year.

Ye Zhen's belly also grew bigger with each passing day. It was now the fifth month of her pregnancy, and there was a clear baby bump. The morning sickness was gone, which lifted up Ye Zhen's mood and increased her appetite. Under the careful care of the Lu's, her slender figure had visibly grown plump.

Old Master Lu had returned from the ancestral home, and the household was bustling about in preparation to celebrate the upcoming lunar New Year. As soon as Old Master Lu saw Ye Zhen, he gave her a big red envelope.

Ye Zhen didn't make a big deal out of it and simply accepted the elderly man's kind intentions.

Old Master Lu looked at Ye Zhen's baby bump in delight. While asking Ye Zhen if there was anything she was missing, he ordered for the servants working in the ancestral home that had experienced pregnancy to be transferred here.

When he had been staying in the ancestral home and heard the news of Ye Zhen's pregnancy, he hadn't thought it was a big deal. But now that he was seeing the baby bump for himself, he felt overwhelmed by the fondness he felt for it.

He wanted to bring over the best things in the world to here. He could now understand his daughter-in-law's desire to buy any child-related item that she came across.

Old Master Lu had been reticent and listless for almost half a year, but now, he was always talking and radiating health and vigor. Because of Ye Zhen's unborn child, he couldn't bear to remain idle.

Seeing Old Master Lu smiling and laughing without restraint, the butler could finally put down his nervous heart. He had been worrying about Old Master Lu for almost half a year. Once the baby was born, he believed that Old Master Lu would be able to completely walk out of the shadow caused by his son.

***

The butler brought tea to Old Master Lu's study. Seeing that the desk was covered in high quality rice paper that had words written all over them, he smiled and persuaded, "Old Master Lu, you've been writing all morning. Take a break and drink some tea."

Old Master Lu was currently holding up a brush. His brow was furrowed as he pondered. His pondering lasted so long that the ink beaded at the tip of his brush and dripped down, ruining a large piece of the high quality rice paper.

Old Master Lu didn't look up. He waved his hand. "Stop nagging. I'm not tired."

The butler sighed, put down the tea, and crouched down to pick up the sheets of high quality rice paper that had fallen onto the floor.

"You've been practising calligraphy all morning. You should go take an afternoon nap. If you keep this up, it'll be bad for your health."

"I'm not practising calligraphy." Old Master Lu suddenly thought of something and wrote something on the rice paper.

"If you're not practising calligraphy, then what are you..."

Old Master Lu put down the brush. His gaze lingered over the sheets of rice paper in front of him. "Zhenzhen is already five months pregnant. She'll be giving birth soon in a few months, but Lu Beichuan that brat hasn't even chosen any baby names yet. I can't place my hopes on him. I'll choose a name for the baby myself."

The butler couldn't help laughing. "So... you were thinking of baby names?"

Old Master Lu asked, "What did you think I was doing?"

The butler nodded and chuckled.

Old Master Lu looked back and forth at the names he had written, but none of them were satisfactory. He tossed the used rice paper to the side and went back to contemplating.

"Take a look, do any of these names look good to you?"

The butler examined the names back and forth for a long time. "All of the names you chose look good."

Old Master Lu shook his head. He sighed. "None of them will do."

"Don't worry too much about this. There's still a few months left. Take your time."

Old Master Lu put down his brush. "A few months will be gone in a flash. It won't be wrong to prepare in advance."

After saying that, he seemed to have thought of something. "I'll write out a list of items. Send someone out to buy those items."

The butler was puzzled. There were already heaps of stuff in the villa. What else was there left to buy?

"What do you want to buy?"

"Why would I need anything? It's for the baby! Gold, jade, and whatnot has to be purchased now. It'll be too late to start buying things after the baby is born." Old Master Lu ordered, "And that jade has to be sourced from Myanmar!"