The Cold Side Character from a Male-Lead Novel is Pregnant - Chapter 26

The moment Chen Kan finished speaking, Yan Yu’s eyes dropped almost instantly, and his fingertips tightened ever so imperceptibly. After a moment, he gave a flat response: “Is that so?”

Yan Yu suddenly became very busy. He never usually wiped the tables, but now he pulled out two tissues and began slowly wiping the edge of the table where noodle soup had splashed. Although his movements remained steady as always, the tips of his ears flushed a faint red. Of course, it was only a tiny bit.

Yan Yu felt bewildered, abrupt, and at a loss; however, notably, he did not feel much moved. Even though he knew that as a Consort, he ought to play along with Chen Kan’s game of love regardless, he found himself somewhat reluctant.

“Sorry,” Yan Yu finally spoke coldly after a long silence. “I can give you anything you want, except for this one thing.”

Chen Kan watched his hand wiping the table and did not speak immediately. After a while, Chen Kan asked, “Except for which thing?”

“A heart full of mutual affection,” Yan Yu’s voice was very level. “Since he died, I likely will not fall in love with anyone else for the rest of my life.”

“Who?” Chen Kan asked, but the answer struck him the moment the question left his lips. “Fu Guanqi?”

As expected, Yan Yu did not try to hide it. He admitted it frankly: “Yes. Fu Guanqi.”

When that name was mentioned again, the large room became so quiet you could hear a pin drop, save for the purring of the little kitten. The silence in the air was eerie, and Chen Kan’s breath hitched. He truly had not expected that “Comrade Crush” would have such a profound impact on Yan Yu, so much so that Yan Yu would repeatedly mention him on various occasions.

Over the past few days, Chen Kan had tried his best to discard his jealousy. He had repeatedly read the original novel Yan Yu had projected himself into, Seven Cubs in Hand, The World is Mine: Survival Records of a Cold Prince Consort, searching for every scene involving the protagonist’s late husband. Fearing he might miss something, he read it from beginning to end every time.

However, aside from those unspeakable NTR plotlines, the book dedicated very little space to the late husband who died early. Every time the author mentioned this plot device character, it was essentially just to drive the protagonist’s psychological changes. The author’s ultimate goal was always to reach the more explicit scenes. After reading it so many times, Chen Kan’s only clue was that the protagonist loved the late husband quite a bit, and the late husband was indirectly killed by the Chen father and son, causing the protagonist to grieve for a while.

As for exactly how deep that grief went, not even the readers knew, and likely the author had not given it much thought either. Yet, this background character, “Brother Wang,” who did not even have a formal name, had been given an elegant name by Yan Yu. This person’s influence was so great that Yan Yu brought him up repeatedly.

Could this be related to why Yan Yu projected himself into this book and developed a mental demon?

“You mean to say you and Fu Guanqi were so deeply in love that you will not love anyone else?” Chen Kan tried his best to suppress the jealousy in his heart, choosing his words carefully. “What did he ever give you?” He added, using Yan Yu’s own logic, “If you want gold and silver, fiefdoms, a comfortable sexual relationship, or to send your cubs to any particular academy, I can give you all of that too.”

The tissue in Yan Yu’s hand was slowly balled up and then released. His gaze dimmed as if he were weighing things for a long time. Finally, he hummed an affirmative sound, perfunctorily dismissing the current Chen Kan in the same way he had dismissed him when they broke up years ago.

Yan Yu tilted his head slightly, shifting the topic smoothly and directly. “Fu Guanqi would send my cubs to school. What about you?”

Chen Kan remained silent.

Yan Yu added, “Fu Guanqi would give me all his money. What about you?”

Chen Kan still had no reply.

Yan Yu thought for a moment and continued, “Fu Guanqi respected my thoughts very much. Because he was afraid I would be in pain and afraid I was too small to take it, he never forced himself on me. What about you?”

After Yan Yu finished speaking, he turned his gaze toward the window, leaving Chen Kan with a cold, calm profile. The topic seemed to end there. Everything regarding Fu Guanqi was quietly set aside, replaced by a concrete and practical demand.

Chen Kan’s expression grew darker as he listened. He stared at Yan Yu’s calm face, did not press further, and simply nodded with his arms crossed. Chen Kan was not a stingy man. He did not think what Yan Yu asked for was difficult. From this day forward, he would not force Yan Yu either. He would send the cubs to school immediately, and he could also give all his money to Yan Yu.

After all, he was not obsessed with money. He had worked like a madman to earn it back then only because he wanted a home.

“Fine,” Chen Kan stood up abruptly. “Then tomorrow we go to the bank to handle the transfer, and then we will discuss the children’s education.”

Though the words were spoken, the air felt like a tightened string. That tension did not loosen even the next morning when the two drove to the bank. The car was silent, save for the occasional prompt from the GPS.

At the bank, the duty manager recognized them at a glance and enthusiastically invited the two striking men into the VIP room. She remembered they had come in frequently a while ago to consult about a family trust, asking all sorts of bizarre questions, though nothing ever came of it. Today, however, the two men sat down and did not mention trusts. Chen Kan directly pushed a slip of paper over, which had an account number and an amount written on it.

“Transfer this amount. Do it now.”

The manager took the slip, her professional smile faltering slightly when she saw the string of numbers: over 89 million. She instinctively glanced at the cold Mr. Yan beside him. He was looking down at the tea in his disposable cup as if none of this concerned him.

“Mr. Chen, Mr. Yan, this amount, are you both sure this is a personal transfer?” The manager tried to keep her voice steady, but her finger secretly wiped a non-existent bead of sweat from her brow.

“Confirmed,” Chen Kan said succinctly.

The protocol had to be followed. The manager brought out thick risk-disclosure documents, explaining them one by one. Chen Kan frowned slightly and interrupted, “Understood. Just do it.”

Yan Yu remained silent until he needed to enter the password for the receiving account. Only then did he reach out. His fingers were long and clean, pressing the keys steadily and quickly. His face showed no ripple of emotion, as if he were transferring nine dollars instead of nearly 90 million.

As the manager processed it, her mind was racing. Is this how handsome guys express their feelings now? Nearly 90 million, just transferred like that!

“It is done. The funds have been sent. Mr. Yan, please check your account,” the manager’s voice was a bit airy.

Mr. Yan’s phone screen lit up right on cue, showing the bank’s notification of the deposit. However, the cold gentleman simply picked up the phone, calmly scanned the staggering number, then turned off the screen. He gave Mr. Chen an extremely slight nod and replied, “Mhm.”

With that, Mr. Chen stood up. “Thanks.” He then looked at his partner. “Let us go.”

The two walked out of the VIP room one after the other, leaving the manager staring at the massive transaction on her screen, unable to snap out of it for a long time.

As it happened, the bank manager was not the only one with news to share. There were also Zhu Que and Yu Jing. The two had been inseparable lately, completely unafraid of gossip. They had just returned from outside and walked into the office, running into Old Zhu and Yu Jing.

“Yo, arrived together?” Old Zhu’s eyes darted between them, seizing the chance to ask, “I heard you two are really living together lately? Is that for real?”

Yu Jing leaned against the desk and laughed, his gaze landing precisely on a faint red mark on the back of Yan Yu’s neck. “More than that. Look at the mark on Director Yan’s neck. The battle must have been intense.”

Several other people in the office, who had been buried in work, quietly pricked up their ears. Yan Yu did not stop walking. He went straight to his workspace by the window, his face expressionless. He replied flatly, “The cat scratched it.”

“Oh, the cat scratched it,” Yu Jing drawled, looking at Chen Kan with a grin. “Brother Chen, did that Alaskan Malamute of yours change its name to ‘Cat’?”

Chen Kan did not take the bait. He did not intend to explain to them just yet that their household had gained seven new members. He was holding a cup of coffee he had brought from outside. He naturally walked over to Yan Yu’s desk and placed it gently next to his keyboard. It was the Americano Yan Yu always drank: no sugar, no milk.

“Is it because there have not been many cases lately that you are all idle?” He spoke with the air of a leader. “If you are not busy, how about writing a few more debriefing reports and turning them in by the end of the day?”

The office went silent for a few seconds. Most heads shrunk back timidly. Only Yu Jing was stubborn, continuing to tease despite the pressure. “Aiyoyo, Captain Chen, is everyone not just concerned about whether you and our Director Yan can make it work? Look at you being so unkind. Do you not want to ask how many good things our colleagues in the forensics lab usually say about you to Brother Yan?”

Since someone had started it, Old Zhu, relying on his seniority, added, “Kan, do not forget who set you two up in the first place. Remember when Xiang Wenyuan was asking around about Xiao Yan’s ex-boyfriend? If it was not for me, where would you be now?”

Yu Jing smirked. “Exactly. I think he is just being stubborn. He is clearly the one chasing our Director Yan.”

As those words landed, Yan Yu’s movement as he was about to take a sip of coffee paused almost imperceptibly. He remained silent, looking down, his thick lashes hiding the flicker of emotion in his eyes. However, hearing this, Yan Yu seemed to remember something. He frowned slightly and looked at Chen Kan with a bit of unease.

He did not know how it had happened. Yan Yu had intended to ask about Chen Kan’s needs, but it had turned into Chen Kan fulfilling his needs one by one. Yan Yu had intended to chase Chen Kan, but somehow, the initiator of the pursuit had become Chen Kan himself.

Chen Kan’s brow was furrowed as if he were brewing a reprimand, though he did not look like he was going to explain. Meanwhile, Yan Yu gripped the fresh bank record of those 89 million yuan, took an inconspicuous sip of coffee, and then very gracefully stepped in to smooth things over.

“No,” Yan Yu said. “I am the one chasing him.”

The words were like a stone causing a thousand ripples. At this, a knowing chorus of “Oh” rang out through the office, accompanied by many people trying to stifle their laughter. Only Yu Jing, Yan Yu’s biased fan, protested with some indignation. “No way! Based on what?!” After his instinctive protest, he immediately realized it was inappropriate. “Wait, I do not have a problem with Captain Chen! Our Captain Chen is handsome and capable, but the problem is, to match our Director Yan, well, he still needs to work a bit harder, right?”

Yu Jing actually wanted to say something else but did not dare. Their Director Yan was such a cold, abstinent figure. For many years, he had looked like someone who had locked his heart away, never to love again.

So, this whole thing was weird. He was not saying Captain Chen was not good; he just felt it was strange that Yan Yu would completely change his original state of life just because of a joke and an accidental setup, and even move in with Captain Chen so quickly. Based on what? How did their pristine Director Yan get claimed by Chen Kan so inexplicably? Was it just because Chen Kan was handsome?

It was truly baffling.

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