Can't Afford to Keep

[The main story is complete. Bonus chapters will be updated from time to time. Thank you for supporting the official release.]

1.

Shen Zhuo had just finished arranging his parents' funeral when he found out he was pregnant.

He was an only child, and his parents' deaths had come without warning. They hadn't even had time to make a will.

The only thing of value the family owned was a little house in the countryside, and his relatives had taken most of even that.

With the few thousand yuan he'd been given, Shen Zhuo buried his parents back home.

When he returned to the capital, he had less than a thousand yuan left to his name.

He wanted to terminate the pregnancy, but the doctor said it could very well kill both him and the baby.

With nowhere else to turn, Shen Zhuo had no choice but to seek out the baby's father.

The baby's father was rich, but Shen Zhuo now had a new problem.

If the baby stayed with the Lin family, would a stepfather or stepmother treat her well?

After much thought, Shen Zhuo steeled himself to seduce Lin Ting'an, hoping only to stay by the baby's side.

By chance, Shen Zhuo overheard the maids chatting.

They said he was carrying a girl, and since he could only have this one child, Lin Ting'an would surely find someone else in the future.

That night, Shen Zhuo sat on the balcony and thought it over until morning.

Just before dawn, he finally made the bravest decision of his life.

2.

The first time Lin Ting'an met Shen Zhuo, the kid stole one of his cufflinks.

The second time, Shen Zhuo rushed in front of his car, clutching his stomach and saying he was pregnant.

Lin Ting'an had always been gay and had never thought about getting married, yet suddenly he had a child.

At first, he really wasn't used to it. But later, he began to think that spending the rest of his life with Shen Zhuo might not be so bad.

But can someone tell him why, after a week away on a business trip,

he came home to find his wife, carrying his child, laughing and chatting with his sworn rival in a cafe?!

*

The top and bottom are nine years apart. When they met, the bottom was 18 and the top was 27.

A semi-alternate setting.

Theme: A happy family and a safe, contented life.