After My Flash Marriage with the Movie Queen - Chapter 112

Sometimes you really have to admit that when people reach a certain age, their hearts tend to overflow with affection. Take Zhao Xunyin, for example. If you had asked her ten years ago, she would have never imagined that one day she’d get married and have a child. But now, watching Shi Nanbei bustling around, taking care of the baby and looking after her, she couldn’t help but think: Ah, this life was truly worth living.

An He scolded her, “Can you stop talking about your wife’s virtues every time I’m around? You sound like a lovesick fool! Let me remind you: you’re a double Best Actress winner. Even though you’ve retired, in the eyes of your fans, you’re still an unshakable legend.”

Three days after giving birth, her best friend came over—with her wife and daughter. According to her friend, the main reason was to let her daughter meet her future mother-in-law.

As she said this, Boss Qi stood silently nearby, her face colder than ice. Zhao Xunyin glanced at her, then at the little girl standing beside her—barely two years old, a perfect miniature of Boss Qi.

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Honestly, she worried that her daughter might freeze to death marrying into this family.

Boss Qi’s daughter had inherited all the family traits: cold-blooded yet money-minded, sharp yet solemn. While most children of one or two were crying nonstop, this little girl carried herself with the composure of a tiny adult.

You really have to admit it: genetics are incredibly powerful.

“Come on. Unshakable legend? I’m almost forty, for crying out loud,” Zhao Xunyin rolled her eyes. Since she had to stay in the hospital for a week, she was still lying in the VIP ward. The upside was that she had a natural birth and was recovering quickly, so she had enough energy to scold An He properly. “Are you here to see me or my daughter?”

“Of course, I came to see my future good daughter-in-law,” An He replied without hesitation.

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Zhao Xunyin said coolly, “Nanbei’s bathing the baby now; she’ll be back soon.”

An He smiled, trying to console her. “Sister, don’t look so resentful. You know I love you. Even after all these years of marriage, I still think back at night about those days when we lived in that tiny apartment, sharing a bed.”

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Shut up!

Boss Qi’s face grew even colder: “…”

It looked like she wanted to say something, but for some reason, she said nothing at all and just glared at Zhao Xunyin lying on the bed.

Zhao Xunyin: “…”

Honestly, she was as pure as a bunny—not messing around with An He.

But to outsiders, their bond was always a topic of speculation. Especially when their little one turned three and Qitian Entertainment launched the LGBT parent-child variety show Where Are You Taking Me?, the internet went wild with excitement about the legendary “Harmonized Voice” pairing.

That year, Zhao Xunyin had just turned forty, while Shi Nanbei was twenty-seven—the prime of her youth.

Truthfully, the little one brought a lot of joy to their family, but some problems couldn’t be solved by just having a child—especially all the admirers Shi Nanbei attracted.

Shi Nanbei’s charm wasn’t a secret. Zhao Xunyin knew it six years ago when they married. But some people only become more alluring as they grow older, and Shi Nanbei was definitely one of them.

At twenty-six, Dr. Shi had graduated and was immediately recruited by the affiliated hospital of her school—even before graduation, in fact.

A top student is always a top student. Both her department head and the hospital leadership had high expectations for Shi Nanbei, the neurology prodigy.

After all, she had published five SCI papers in her second year of graduate school.

Zhao Xunyin didn’t really understand what SCI papers were; all she knew was that Shi Nanbei spent almost every waking hour in the lab or the study.

Even so, Shi Nanbei still handled all the childcare and took care of Zhao Xunyin. Even after years of marriage and beyond the peak of their honeymoon phase, Shi Nanbei’s devotion hadn’t waned.

Back then, their daughter was just over seven months old. After giving birth, Zhao Xunyin spent a long time in a state of idle helplessness—Shi Nanbei was simply too attentive.

Feeding, changing diapers, bathing, dressing, washing hair, trimming hair—Shi Nanbei did it all, even bringing the baby to classes.

Thankfully, their little one was an angel—well-behaved from birth. When she accompanied her mother to class, she only fussed a little when the teachers and classmates fussed over her, otherwise she quietly sucked on her pacifier and slept.

Their daughter didn’t drink breast milk. Partly because Zhao Xunyin couldn’t produce enough, partly because she worried about her figure. Shi Nanbei had only to hear her mention it once before deciding to feed the baby formula.

“Won’t that be bad for the baby?” Zhao Xunyin had worried.

“Breast milk and formula aren’t that different. When I was little, I drank rice water,” Shi Nanbei said nonchalantly.

How to describe Shi Nanbei? She loved the baby—truly. From the moment their daughter was born, Shi Nanbei had single-handedly managed everything.

Before the little one could crawl, Shi Nanbei had spent a whole week crawling around the house herself, making sure every sharp corner or potential hazard was safely padded. Even hier grandmother would praise her, saying Shi Nanbei was reliable.

But she often had a very casual attitude toward the child—not particularly doting, not overly attentive.

When the little one grew a bit and entered the stage where everything went straight into her mouth, Shi Nanbei never intervened. She would just let the child explore, while Zhao Xunyin was constantly on edge, fearing that her daughter might eat something unclean and get sick. But Nanbei would always say, “Once she learns the hard way, she won’t do it again. You don’t need to worry so much.”

Looking at Shi Nanbei’s calm, breezy expression, Zhao Xunyin couldn’t help but worry that if their daughter inherited her mother’s laid-back tendencies, she might grow up to be extraordinarily absent-minded.

As for the fact that the child wasn’t breastfed, Shi Nanbei’s parents had no objections. But Zhao Xunyin’s parents were far from pleased.

During Zhao Xunyin’s pregnancy, her estranged relationship with her parents—frozen for over a decade—finally began to thaw. Largely, this was thanks to Shi Nanbei winning over the older generation. If it wasn’t for Nanbei, Xunyin guessed her parents might still refuse to acknowledge her.

Zhao’s parents were extremely controlling. And after more than ten years apart, Xunyin wasn’t some puppet nor a mama’s girl—they clashed repeatedly over how to raise the child.

Her parents always thought Xunyin was selfish. Her youth spent trying to make it in the entertainment industry was forgivable, they claimed. But the child was still so young, and Xunyin had chosen not to breastfeed in order to maintain her figure. Zhao’s parents could not tolerate this.

By contrast, Shi Nanbei’s parents were supportive. They even called and said, “Dear in-laws, when it comes to raising children, it’s best to let the young parents decide. Children are loved by their parents, naturally. As for us, well, we’ve never really doted on Nanbei; she’s always managed on her own.”

Zhao’s parents were left speechless. Who could possibly compare to you two?

“But I can honestly tell you, Xunyin absolutely loves children. If she hadn’t been blind back then, my daughter would probably still be single today,” said Shi Nanbei’s mother.

Again, Zhao’s parents had no words. But in the end, they didn’t pursue the matter further.

It wasn’t that Zhao Xunyin didn’t love her child. It was just that, as an entertainer, from the moment she entered the industry, the rest of her life would largely revolve around maintaining her public image and figure.

Later, for the sake of her overbearing parents and to give herself something to do as she approached middle age, Xunyin decided to study directing in France.

At that time, the child wasn’t even a year old. She stayed home with Shi Nanbei.

Nanbei seemed completely unbothered—she didn’t even show a hint of sadness at being separated from her wife for a year. At that time, Nanbei was still in graduate school and interning at a hospital.

Juggling childcare, work, and studies, Nanbei didn’t even see Xunyin off at the airport. This provided perfect fodder for paparazzi, who were always hoping for a scandal at Xunyin’s home.

They reported that the actress and Shi Nanbei were living apart, with divorce imminent.

“Actress heartbroken, goes abroad to heal,” read the tabloids, both blunt and melodramatic.

The news stirred a huge uproar.

Weibo crashed, and An He (Xunyin’s friend) was gloating.

Apart from a small group of diehard fans mourning the couple’s supposed separation, most netizens went into celebration mode.

Some cheered that Zhao Xunyin would finally belong to all women of the world again.

Others celebrated that Shi Nanbei would finally be single.

Who wouldn’t want a woman like Nanbei—beautiful, smart, into games and skateboarding?

Everyone wanted her.

During the supposed divorce period, netizens were ecstatic.

Shi Nanbei’s colleagues and classmates were equally thrilled. Many had secretly admired her, but dared not express their feelings because Xunyin, a superstar, was in the picture. Now that the couple was “separated,” there was no excuse to hold back.

In fact, during that period, Nanbei received over twenty confessions of love.

When Zhao Xunyin later found out, she was green with envy. She hadn’t received a single confession herself. She was especially annoyed when Nanbei decided to stay at the university-affiliated hospital after graduation.

The hospital was unreliable; the doctors there were more interested in chasing after her wife than focusing on medicine. How could they do proper work and research?

So Xunyin was increasingly inclined to have Nanbei join Boss Qi’s private hospital. Both the salary and work arrangements were clearly better there.

Most importantly, if Nanbei went to Boss Qi’s hospital, Xunyin could openly use her connections to clear away all the suitors swarming around her wife.

Nanbei’s assessment of this was simple: “Childish.”

Xunyin: “……”

“You dare say that again?”