After waking up, Chen Bin went to the bathroom to freshen up.
When he came out, Li Mengying and Zhao Xinmei were already seated at the dining table.
The two were eating and chatting, and the atmosphere appeared to be harmonious.
Especially Li Mengying, whose cheeks were faintly flushed, resembling blossoming peach flowers, her complexion very radiant.
Even though she was wearing a long white dress, completely concealing her alluring figure.
She still exuded a captivating charm.
When Chen Bin sat down, Li Mengying maintained a calm expression.
Feigning nonchalance, she asked, "Chen Bin, little brother, how did you sleep last night?"
Thinking of how she had been conquered by him last night, Chen Bin couldn’t help but feel proud in his heart.
But with Zhao Xinmei present, he didn’t dare act too brazenly.
"Pretty well. Thank you for your concern, Mengying jie."
During the meal, Chen Bin had intended to speak with Zhao Xinmei.
But she didn’t show him a friendly face.
To avoid ruining this pleasant atmosphere, he chose to remain silent.
After the meal, Chen Bin went to the kitchen to wash dishes by himself, while the two women sat on the sofa chatting.
Glancing unconsciously toward the kitchen, Zhao Xinmei jokingly remarked.
"Mengying mei, seeing your radiant face this morning, did you dream about something good last night?"
Covering her mouth with a couple of mischievous laughs, Li Mengying’s eyes gleamed with an irresistible charm.
"I dreamed of a handsome guy who looks exactly like Xiao Bin. He took care of me all night, and now I’m still itching down there."
Upon hearing this, Zhao Xinmei instinctively frowned.
Her expression gradually darkened.
Seeing this, Li Mengying teased directly.
"What’s wrong? Are you jealous?"
Forcing out a faint smile, Zhao Xinmei pretended to dismiss her concern.
"Someone’s rushing to become my daughter-in-law, why would I get jealous? But liking Xiao Bin comes with a price, you’d better start by calling me mom."
"Tsk, you just want to take advantage of me. If you could really help me win him over, I wouldn’t mind calling you mom—or even grandma!"
"Oh, get out of here!"
Their playful banter had already reached its conclusion.
Based on Zhao Xinmei’s observation, it was almost certain—Li Mengying absolutely liked Chen Bin!
If that were the case, it would be best to minimize their chances of meeting each other.
Otherwise, trouble would be inevitable sooner or later.
After chatting for a little while longer, Li Mengying decided to leave.
At this moment, her gentle temperament in a long dress was a stark contrast to her wild and uninhibited outfit from yesterday.
Just as Chen Bin was silently marveling at this, Li Mengying threw him a flirtatious wink.
"Chen Bin, little brother, let’s meet again next time. Bye!"
With Zhao Xinmei present, Chen Bin naturally didn’t dare act out of line.
He could only summon courage and respond, "Goodbye, Mengying jie!"
As the door closed, the atmosphere in the room instantly dropped to an icy chill.
Chen Bin walked slowly to the sofa and sat down.
Facing Zhao Xinmei’s piercing gaze, he felt his heart trembling.
Swallowing nervously, he tentatively asked, "Mom, are you thirsty? Should I prepare something for you to drink?"
Zhao Xinmei only stared at him silently, without any intention of speaking.
Chen Bin took her silence as implicit consent.
He walked to the fridge and casually grabbed two cans of chilled beer.
"Why not try this? It’s hot; a beer might cool you off..."
Before he could finish his sentence, he noticed Zhao Xinmei’s face suddenly shift.
Her almond-shaped, narrow eyes narrowed sharply.
Surging anger was evident within them.
Chen Bin quickly returned the beer to the fridge and swapped it for a carton of milk.
Walking back over to Zhao Xinmei, he awkwardly smiled.
"Uh... I grabbed the wrong thing earlier—milk would be more suitable."
Zhao Xinmei didn’t say a word. She simply placed the milk on the coffee table after taking it.
Deliberating for a long time, Chen Bin decided to clarify that incident from that night.
He tentatively began, "Mom, that night actually..."
Faced with Zhao Xinmei’s stern rebuke, Chen Bin was terrified and swallowed the rest of his words.
For some time, the two stared at each other in silence—large eyes meeting smaller ones.
Eventually, Zhao Xinmei broke the silence and suddenly asked, "Do you like Li Mengying?"
The abruptness of the question startled Chen Bin, causing his eyelid to twitch.
His first thought was that the events of last night had been discovered.
But after careful consideration, he concluded that might not be the case.
If it truly had been exposed, his godmother would’ve exploded long ago; would she still be calmly speaking to him now?
Thinking this, Chen Bin’s nerves eased slightly.
"No... No, of course not. She’s your close friend—why would I like her?"
"Is it that you don’t want to, or you don’t dare to?"
As she asked this question, Zhao Xinmei fixed her eyes firmly on Chen Bin.
It was as if she intended to read something from his gaze.
Afraid to hesitate, Chen Bin hurriedly replied.
"Don’t want to, and don’t dare."
Satisfied with his answer, Zhao Xinmei let out a cold snort.
"If you have nothing else to say, you can head back to the county now. Your dad’s not home, and I don’t want to stay here with you."
This comment made Chen Bin feel deeply uncomfortable. He couldn’t help but say.
"Mom, I’ve been an orphan since I was young, and Grandpa never taught me how to be a proper person. I know I was wrong last time—I apologize. Please forgive me."
Zhao Xinmei turned her head away without a word.
Chen Bin pressed on, "I know what I did was unforgivable, but I still hope you can give me a chance to make amends."
Still, Zhao Xinmei remained silent.
However, the anger on her face had noticeably subsided.
She seemed somewhat softened.
Brushing away tears, Chen Bin’s voice quivered, almost breaking into sobs.
"Mom, you and Dad are the only family I have in this world. Dad doesn’t care about me, but if even you ignore me—what am I supposed to do?!"
This prompted a deep sigh from Zhao Xinmei.
"Xiao Bin, it’s not that I don’t want to care about you, but... it’s because of what you’ve done... Oh!"
Before she could finish her sentence, she suddenly clutched her abdomen, her expression twisted in pain.
Alarmed, Chen Bin rushed to ask, "Mom, what’s wrong?!"
"I... My stomach hurts," she muttered, her body trembling uncontrollably.
Chen Bin felt like his head was buzzing, completely losing his sense of direction.
Meanwhile, Zhao Xinmei was already sweating profusely from the pain.
Although she gritted her teeth, painful moans escaped from her throat.
"Mom, hang on—I’ll call an ambulance!"
After saying this, Chen Bin immediately grabbed his phone and dialed emergency services.
As the ambulance arrived, he carried Zhao Xinmei in his arms and rushed downstairs through the open door.
Fortunately, the People Hospital was nearby, and they encountered the ambulance at the street corner shortly after.
On the way to the hospital, Zhao Xinmei tightly gripped Chen Bin’s hand, looking deeply pained.
Unfortunately, Chen Bin didn’t know anything about medicine and could only offer her verbal reassurances.
Upon arriving at the hospital and undergoing tests.
They discovered Zhao Xinmei had acute appendicitis and required immediate surgery.
While the condition wasn’t severe, seeing his godmother being wheeled into surgery still made Chen Bin feel anxious.
After completing the hospital admission process, he sat quietly outside the operating room to wait.
In moments like these, Chen Bin instinctively thought of contacting Wang Jun.
But upon further reflection, Wang Jun was currently busy with his promotion and paperwork.
Even if he could arrive, he would merely wait outside the operating room like Chen Bin.
Since that’s the case, there wasn’t any real reason to notify him.
Minute by minute passed, and after less than an hour, the surgery was finally complete.
When the doctor confirmed that everything had gone smoothly, Chen Bin let out a deep sigh of relief.
Entering the ward, he saw Zhao Xinmei lying in the hospital bed in her patient gown.
Her eyes remained shut, seemingly lost in thoughts of something painful.
Chen Bin tiptoed inside cautiously.
As he moved to adjust her blanket, she suddenly clenched onto him.
"Husband, is it a boy or a girl?"
Chen Bin froze in confusion.
It was just an appendicitis surgery—why did it sound like childbirth?
Before he could fully grasp the situation, Zhao Xinmei slowly opened her eyes.
Scanning her surroundings briefly, she let out a bitter laugh.
"You scared me. I thought I’d given birth!"
She then retracted her hand calmly.
To break the tension, Chen Bin couldn’t resist asking.
"Mom, you’ve been married to Dad all these years—why haven’t you had any children?"
Sighing deeply, Zhao Xinmei’s face revealed a trace of melancholy.
"I’m afraid that besides you, I’ll never have children in this life."
After staring at Chen Bin for a while, Zhao Xinmei finally divulged an earth-shattering secret...