The Sleepless Midnight

[Second Chance Romance] [Sharp-Tongued Jerk of a Man vs. Strong-Hearted Beauty] [Whose Child Is It? Turns Out the Jerk Is Me]

“Every sleepless midnight, the answer to every question is your name.” - Lu Qiye

At an old classmate's engagement party, Qin Wan ran into Lu Qiye again, holding her tiny daughter in her arms.

They arrived late, and only two seats next to each other were left at the table. The child's chair was placed between them.

Someone asked, “Qin Wan, what's your precious daughter's name?”

As Qin Wan wiped grains of rice off her daughter's little hands, she replied, “Qin Lu'an.”

“...”

The whole room fell silent. Everyone knew Qin Wan had gotten pregnant before marriage, and to this day had never said a word about the child's father.

Now they all turned to look at the only man there with the surname Lu: her ex-boyfriend, the one she'd once had such a passionate relationship with.

Back then, everyone at No. 1 High School knew that the pretty, good-student Qin Wan had fallen for the advances of Lu Qiye, the school's resident troublemaker.

The eldest young master of the Lu family had been a sensation in the district. One day he'd beat up the dean, the next he'd kick around some punk with dyed hair. He came from a wealthy family, was exceptionally handsome, and had women around him one after another.

To anyone watching, he and the reserved, well-behaved Qin Wan seemed to come from two completely different worlds.

But Qin Wan was the only one he'd acknowledged as his girlfriend, posted about on social media, and introduced to his buddies, coaxing her into giving him a sweet kiss.

Then, on the eve of the college entrance exams, they broke up. No one knew why.

Qin Wan brushed back her dark hair and calmly added, “It means I wish her a life of peace and good fortune.”

Everyone tamped down their curiosity. It was impossible, after all. It had been six or seven years since high school graduation, and her daughter was still so little.

Lu Qiye leaned back in his chair, flicked his lighter on with a click, then snuffed it out. A cold smile tugged at his lips. “No need to explain. Who would think she was mine?”

Lu Qiye hardly spoke that evening, but he downed one glass of liquor after another.

When everyone was ready to leave, he stood up and raised his glass. “Let me make a toast.”

The Lu heir, son of the richest man in the country, and prospective successor to the publicly listed Fortune 500 Changsheng Group wanted to make a toast. No one present would dare refuse, so they all set down what they were holding and raised their glasses.

Someone asked, “Seventh Master, what are we toasting to?”

Lu Qiye smiled and gave an answer that stunned the room. “To my daughter's lovely name.”

One person, a couple of beats slow, asked, “Seventh Master, you have a daughter too? How old is she?”

Lu Qiye's dark eyes were eight-tenths clouded with drink, and now a little more bewilderment crept into them. He turned to Qin Wan. “Wanbao, how old is our daughter?”

Qin Wan: “...”

That night, Lu Qiye never found out how old little Lu'an was, but he did learn how awful it was to get a face full of liquor from a woman. It had gone right into his eyes, and it really fucking hurt.

That same night, he also learned that the bedroom in her home wasn't soundproof, the bed was hard, and they had to provide their own condoms. The birthmark on her lower back was paler than before. When they were done, the curtains brushed over his sweaty back, and both the midnight breeze and her lips were cold.

Once Lu Qiye confirmed the child was his, he drove over a thousand kilometers through pouring rain to find Qin Wan. He knocked on her hotel room door, soaked through, but the flowers and ring in his hands were still dry.

He wanted to marry her.

At the time, Qin Wan's stepfather had gotten into trouble, and her mother was busy taking care of him, stretched too thin to help. She had no choice but to care for the child herself, and was already struggling. Her friends urged her to give the child a complete family.

So she and Lu Qiye registered their marriage. As a sales manager at Lu Qiye's company, she agreed with him to keep the marriage secret and leave romance out of it, fulfilling only their duties as parents. No one at the company knew she was the president's wife.

Then one day, Lu Qiye brought little Lu'an to the office. The sweet, lively child was showered with affection. One person fed her, another brought her toys, and she had everyone laughing with her funny faces.

Qin Wan returned early from a business trip. Her colleagues dragged her over to see the president's adorable little girl. She was about to turn and leave when a small figure burst out of the crowd, arms open, and ran toward her. “Mommy! Daddy and I missed you so much!”

Qin Wan: “...”

That night, Lu Qiye slept on the sofa.

First posted on February 5, 2025

Theme: Be self-reliant and love yourself.