Yi Anguo had just picked up Hu Qian when, on the very next evening, Li Sisi, after making a great effort to please him, dropped a piece of news. Her parents and two younger sisters were coming to Shenzhen, and she asked him what they should do. She also wanted to know if he had a house available for her family.

Yi Anguo couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Your parents and both of your sisters are all coming? What's going on?"

Li Sisi hesitated for a moment before replying, "I've graduated from college now, and my parents want me to go back home to take the civil service exam. I don't want to go back, so I told them I already have a formal job here—and that it's a civil service position at the Local Taxation Bureau."

"I also lied and told them that you and I have already registered our marriage," she continued. "After hearing that, they decided to come see you, their new son-in-law, and check on how I'm living."

Yi Anguo frowned. "So, what did you tell your parents about me? Did you mention that I have a daughter? Do they know that you'll become a stepmother the moment you marry me?"

Li Sisi hesitated again. "I haven't figured out how to tell them yet."

"You can't hide the truth forever," Yi Anguo pointed out. "Won't they find out about my daughter as soon as they arrive?"

"What if your parents are dead set against it and cause a scene? What will we do then?"

Li Sisi was silent for a while before she finally said, "I'm already your woman, so what if they object? They can't change the fact that we're together. The worst that can happen is they get angry, but it will only be temporary. They can't stay mad at me forever, right?"

Yi Anguo felt uncertain. He hadn't expected this day to come so quickly, but he knew that if he wanted to be with Li Sisi, he would have to face her parents sooner or later. The problem was, he wasn't mentally prepared to marry her, which made him hesitate.

He wasn't an irresponsible man. Back when he got together with Yi Xinyi's mother, Wang Liping, it had been on an impulse. After that, Wang Liping never worked again, relying entirely on his income to support her. When she first became pregnant, she had wanted an abortion, but Yi Anguo forbade it. If it hadn't been for their child, the two of them might have broken up long ago.

Previously, Yi Anguo had suggested getting a marriage certificate several times, but Wang Liping had shown no urgency. In hindsight, she probably never intended to build a long-term life with him. After all, Yi Anguo was just an ordinary man whose income was barely enough to support a family of three. He was also quite frugal, saving every penny and reluctant to spend.

It wasn't that he was naturally stingy; an ordinary person with a limited income has to be careful. As the saying goes, those who don't plan for the future will soon have troubles at their doorstep. What sensible person spends money extravagantly?

But Wang Liping was different. She loved to shop for brand-name cosmetics, trendy clothes, and handbags. She would spend five to six hundred yuan a month on cosmetics alone and still feel wronged, believing she was being extremely thrifty.

But how much does an ordinary person earn in a month? She was spending hundreds on cosmetics, buying clothes, and playing mahjong. She was quite addicted to it, often playing until eleven or twelve at night, sometimes until one or two in the morning, and occasionally even pulling all-nighters. She wouldn't cook either. When her child was hungry, she would just give her a few yuan to buy a pack of instant noodles, asking the shopkeeper to prepare it.

To be honest, Yi Anguo had put up with her for far too long. If it weren't for his daughter, he would have found it intolerable much sooner. So, when Wang Liping ran off with another man, he felt no sense of loss, only concern for his daughter.

However, his daughter, after initially asking where her mother had gone, seemed to have mostly forgotten her by now. In any case, she hadn't asked about her for a very long time.

Now he was with Li Sisi. Even though he wasn't ready for marriage, he had never intended to be irresponsible.

"Darling, I want to discuss something with you," Li Sisi began, finally voicing her idea after much hesitation. "Could we move into a bigger house? Then, while my parents are here, we could have Xin Yi stay here with Huan Huan for a while. Let's just get past this hurdle with my parents first."

"You can deceive them this time, but what about the future? Do you plan to lie to your parents for the rest of your life?" Yi Anguo asked with a frown.

"Why would I have to lie forever?" Li Sisi explained. "Once we have our own child, what does it matter if my parents find out? Could they really stop us from being together then?"

"Didn't you say you would treat Xin Yi as your own child? Why the sudden change of heart?" Yi Anguo said, a wave of discomfort washing over him.

"I haven't changed! I am treating Xin Yi as my own daughter, but my parents definitely won't see it that way! I can't expect them to treat Xin Yi like their own granddaughter, can I?" Li Sisi retorted.

"Do you want my parents to oppose our relationship because of Xin Yi?

"You have to consider things from my perspective! Wouldn't it be better to avoid arguments and conflict with my parents?

"Making Xin Yi feel a bit wronged temporarily is just a stopgap measure. Once I give birth to our child, my parents won't make a fuss anymore, even if they find out."

…

In the end, Yi Anguo compromised. He realized he couldn't be selfish and had to consider Li Sisi's difficult position. He figured he could find opportunities to spend more time with his daughter during the day to make up for it and use work as an excuse at night.

Yi Xinyi was well-behaved, sensible, and obedient, so it shouldn't be a major issue.

As it happened, a spacious five-bedroom, two-living-room apartment had just become available in the second phase of Blue Coast, so Yi Anguo and Li Sisi temporarily moved there.

Of course, they had to explain the sudden move to his older sister, brother-in-law, and Fu Huanhuan. His sister and brother-in-law were at a loss for words but understood Li Sisi's concerns. To be with Yi Anguo, she truly had to get past the obstacle of her parents.

No parents would willingly let their daughter marry a man who already had a child, making her a stepmother right away. Being a stepmother isn't easy. If you do a good job, it's considered your duty. If you don't, you're criticized from all sides. If the marriage didn't work out and ended in divorce, she would be on her second marriage.

Therefore, any parents in their shoes would almost certainly react with firm opposition. Li Sisi was young, beautiful, and well-educated. What kind of man couldn't she find? Why did she have to choose one who came with a child? Not only were Li Sisi's parents baffled, but many other people would probably be, too.

However, the feelings between a man and a woman often come down to fate. When destiny brings you to someone, falling in love requires no reason.

It was precisely because Yi Anguo had casually put in a few good words for Li Sisi to the developers, leading her to receive a 300,000 yuan commission bonus, that she developed a great fondness for him. Later, when he needed help renting out his properties, she offered to do it for free, which in turn made him grow fond of her. Coupled with Li Sisi's youth and beauty, and with mutual interest brewing, it was only natural for them to get together.

「Three days later.」

Yi Anguo and Li Sisi each drove a car to the airport to pick up her family. He had bought her a white BMW a while ago to make her commute easier and to ensure she wasn't looked down upon by her colleagues. With her parents and two sisters, a single five-seater car wouldn't be enough, so they had no choice but to take two.

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