Chapter Twenty-Three: Li Jingyan’s Secret

The door opened, and Li Jingyan stood on the threshold, looking haggard. "You're back. Did the work go smoothly?" Wen Yan greeted him, stepping forward.

"It was fine," Li Jingyan said, rubbing his brow. "I have to go to the hospital again this afternoon. I’ll take a shower first, then drop off the documents at the office. Do you want to come along?"

"No, I’ll stay here and prepare dinner for you. You’ve been exhausted these past few days," Wen Yan said with a smile.

Li Jingyan looked at her and suddenly fell into a trance. The Wen Yan before him seemed changed; the usual submissiveness in her eyes had faded, replaced by a radiant vibrancy that made it hard for him to look away.

"Then I’ll be back early tonight," he said, shaking off his thoughts as he hurried into the bathroom.

"Host, what’s the next move? Liu Yanyan must have been having a comfortable time these past few days," the System asked.

A smile curled the corners of Wen Yan’s mouth. "Let’s add some fuel to her fire."

She pulled a red dress from her closet, applied a layer of red lipstick, and adjusted her appearance in the mirror. Afterward, she set candles on the dining table and prepared a candlelight dinner.

"Host, are you doing this to..." The System caught on. "If Liu Yanyan knows Li Jingyan came back here first, she’ll be furious."

"Tit for tat," Wen Yan murmured, lowering her head to arrange the tableware.

After delivering the documents, Li Jingyan went straight to the hospital. Wang Xiulian was still in the ICU; he had arranged for 24-hour nursing care and a VIP suite. He recalled the day of the accident: he had reached out to Liu Yanyan first, but she had dragged her feet, showing up late and leaving after only a few sentences without following up. In contrast, Wen Yan had taken care of everything perfectly without him even asking.

In comparison, a sense of guilt stirred in Li Jingyan. Remembering Wen Yan’s request for him to return home early, he hailed a cab.

A knock sounded at the door. When Wen Yan opened it, the candlelight reflecting on her face was so beautiful that Li Jingyan found himself swallowing hard. "You today..."

"Do I look good?" Wen Yan smiled and pulled him to a seat. "I know I look good, so stop staring and come eat."

With the warm, soft lighting, the flickering candles, and Wen Yan’s beauty, the fatigue of the past few days instantly dissipated for Li Jingyan.

For five years, he had never looked at Wen Yan this closely. After they married, he discovered he suffered from sexual dysfunction and had been seeing a therapist in secret, though there was no improvement. Outsiders assumed the problem lay with Wen Yan, and he secretly felt relieved. When Wen Yan eventually found out, she didn't expose him; instead, she helped him find doctors and kept his secret, taking all the blame upon herself.

It wasn't until he met Liu Yanyan that he was drawn to her liveliness. After a drunken night, Liu Yanyan became pregnant. He convinced himself that Liu Yanyan had helped him overcome his dysfunction, so he hid her away, keeping her as a mistress while keeping it from Wen Yan.

Yet, he knew in his heart that Liu Yanyan was merely a tool for continuing the family line, while Wen Yan was his true harbor. He wanted neither to give up Liu Yanyan’s passion nor to lose Wen Yan’s gentle companionship.

"Let’s take a picture; we haven’t had a meal like this in ages." Wen Yan took out her phone, sat beside Li Jingyan, and deliberately leaned in close for a selfie.

She edited the photo briefly and posted it to her social media with the caption: "It doesn't have to be an anniversary to make every day feel like one."

Wen Yan had meticulously arranged the dinner, looking enchanting in her red dress. The romantic atmosphere she intentionally crafted, combined with the intimate photo of them leaning together, served as a precision-guided bomb for Liu Yanyan.

Less than ten minutes later, a video call from Liu Yanyan came through. Li Jingyan hesitated before answering.

"Brother Jingyan, are you back?" Liu Yanyan’s voice was filled with grievance.

"Yes, I was too busy today. I’ll visit you tomorrow," Li Jingyan said.

"No, I want to see you now!"

On the screen, Liu Yanyan’s face, struggling to maintain a sweet expression that couldn't hide her twisted jealousy, made Wen Yan sneer inwardly. She leaned closer to Li Jingyan, acting as the lady of the house, "caring" for him in a way that poured oil on the fire of Liu Yanyan’s rage. Every word she spoke was calculated, especially when mentioning the arrangements for his mother, which highlighted Liu Yanyan’s selfishness and lack of commitment.

Wen Yan leaned in and smiled at the screen. "Sister Yanyan, are you alright? Jingyan just got back and is exhausted; let’s discuss things tomorrow. By the way, I’ve settled everything for Mother. Have you found a nanny yet?"

"I have. Brother Jingyan found one for me the day before yesterday. Didn't you know, Sister?" Liu Yanyan said triumphantly.

"Oh, I didn't," Wen Yan feigned surprise, then turned to Li Jingyan. "Well, we’re going to eat now. Rest well, Sister Yanyan, we’ll come see you tomorrow."

Before Li Jingyan could speak, Wen Yan hung up the call.

Li Jingyan looked at her as if he could see through her, feeling a strange, secret thrill. He suddenly spoke: "You don't need to be jealous of her. I won't divorce you, and I certainly won't marry her. This is all just a misunderstanding."

"I'm not jealous," Wen Yan arched an eyebrow.

"I thought you were a smart person," Li Jingyan sighed. "Her pregnancy was an accident, but the Li family cannot end with me. You know that for five years you haven't been able to conceive, and we've seen doctors. My psychological treatment requires both time and money; I can only choose between my career and a child."

Wen Yan’s hand, holding her water glass, paused. "Treatment for what?"

"I was blacked out that night," Li Jingyan avoided her gaze. "But she is pregnant—perhaps it’s a gift from God. From now on, you two will not interfere with each other; the position of Mrs. Li will always be yours. Once my career is stable, we can continue the treatment and see if we can have a child of our own. For now, just be magnanimous and treat her child as your own."

Wen Yan looked at him, her eyes turning cold. "Why should I be magnanimous? And why do you keep saying it was an accident?"

"I couldn't be with you—that was my psychological block. You’ve tried many ways to help me, but we truly haven't found a way to have our own children."

Wen Yan hurriedly asked the System, "What is going on? What psychological condition?"

"I don't know! This isn't part of the original plot..." the System replied, frantic.

Wen Yan was utterly baffled. Staring at Li Jingyan’s back, a ridiculous thought suddenly popped into her head—could it be that Li Jingyan was impotent?

She quickly asked the System in her mind, "System, do you know about this? Is Li Jingyan... does he really have that problem?"

The System’s voice was filled with confusion. "I don't know! This isn't in the original story; it was never mentioned that Li Jingyan was impotent."

"Then where did Liu Yanyan’s child come from?" Wen Yan frowned, speechless. "If he truly is impotent, the child doesn't make any sense."

Li Jingyan, unaware of Wen Yan’s thoughts, assumed she was still fixated on the child. He took a step forward, trying to grab her hand, his tone urgent. "But Yanyan helped us. Now we have a child of our own, and my condition has improved a lot."

"What?" Before Wen Yan could react, Li Jingyan added, "Shall we try?"

Before the words had even faded, Li Jingyan picked Wen Yan up and turned toward the bedroom.

"Wait, what?" Wen Yan was startled and struggled. "Put me down!"

Li Jingyan didn't listen. He laid her on the bed and turned to rummage through the nightstand drawer, clearly looking for a condom. He searched for a long time, nearly emptying the drawer, but couldn't find what he wanted.

"I remember I put some here," Li Jingyan frowned, his voice full of doubt.

Wen Yan quickly sat up and took the opportunity to explain, "I saw they were expired, so I threw them away."

"Expired?" Li Jingyan paused, then waved his hand with a helpless look. "It’s fine, it doesn't matter. Even if we do conceive, that would be a good thing."

As he spoke, he leaned down to kiss her. Alarm bells rang in Wen Yan’s heart, and she turned her head away in resistance, her mind nearly exploding—was he serious?

But just then, Li Jingyan suddenly stopped. The urgency on his face slowly faded, replaced by a wave of embarrassment. He bolted upright, a thin layer of sweat on his forehead. After a few seconds of silence, he threw off the quilt and got out of bed, his voice laced with defeat. "It’s still not working... I... I’m going out for a walk."

Without daring to look into Wen Yan’s eyes, he turned and headed for the bedroom door.

Wen Yan sat on the bed, stunned. "Huh? He really is?"

The System’s voice was filled with shock, sounding like a complete dunderhead. "What is happening? Huh? I’m going to go check the hidden settings of the original plot right now!"

Li Jingyan didn't look back; he grabbed his coat and hurried out the door. He felt he had completely humiliated himself today and couldn't bear to stay in the room a moment longer.

Watching his retreating back as he fled in defeat, Wen Yan held her breath for a few seconds before finally bursting into laughter.