So, among all the choices, Nan Yu unconditionally chose him.
To Tan Linyuan, she was the kind and merciful god.
Nan Yu swallowed hard and said somewhat embarrassedly, "Actually, I never thought about having an abortion. I just thought you wouldn't want the baby."
Tan Linyuan was a man accustomed to taking full control and making careful plans.
Maybe he already had other preparations or other urgent matters to attend to.
But when she learned that she was pregnant, her first reaction was that this unexpected baby might disrupt all of Tan Linyuan's plans.
Or it might become another weakness of his.
Tan Linyuan was a bit stunned. "How could I not want him?"
Nan Yu didn't know how to explain, so she just said in a muffled voice, "Just assume I've watched too many idol dramas."
After she said that, Tan Linyuan couldn't help but let out a soft laugh and then said in a deep voice, "It's actually something I've been longing for."
What good fortune did he have to have such an illusory and unreal dream?
Nan Yu thought everything was happening too fast. Didn't he feel the same way?
Tan Linyuan pursed his lips tightly, opened his arms and pulled her into his embrace.
He pressed his chin against the crook of her neck and said in a deep voice, "Thank you, Yu Yu."
Thank her for her courage.
She was always braver than him. There was no doubt about that.
He hugged her for a long time before finally reluctantly letting go. "Let's go home."
---
After they got home, Nan Yu took out the box Qu Jiaran had given her and handed it to Tan Linyuan.
She said, "I think you might have some ideas."
Tan Linyuan opened it and, as expected, saw a stone seal.
It was exactly the same as what they had predicted before.
However, unfortunately, there was only half of it.
Tan Linyuan raised his eyebrows. "Only half?"
"Qu Jiaran said Shen Suhai only sent half of it."
Hearing this, Tan Linyuan took out the seal and examined the texture of the broken part in front of his eyes.
It wasn't cut recently. It looked more like a mark left over from years of wear and tear.
Tan Linyuan told Nan Yu that this seal was indeed the genuine work of his master, Master Wen Jing.
More than a decade ago, the old master liked to study ancient seal scripts, and the characters on this seal were also in ancient seal script.
But it was too damaged, and with only half of it, it was completely impossible to make out the original characters.
Nan Yu blinked. "Is it still valuable with only half of it?"
Tan Linyuan glanced at her. "Any genuine work of Master Wen Jing would be bid up once it enters the market."
Even if it was no longer complete, it still had a certain collection value.
Nan Yu looked at Tan Linyuan and asked the question in her heart, "Then does this seal have something to do with the previous..."
"It should be the key to the stone gate," Tan Linyuan knew what she was thinking. "The size matches."
Nan Yu was first overjoyed, but soon became a bit worried. "We can't open it with only half, right?"
Tan Linyuan nodded.
Nan Yu was a bit deflated. "Then what should we do? Ask Shen Suhai for the other half? But he may not give it."
"It's not that he won't give it. It's that he doesn't have it," Tan Linyuan analyzed calmly. "It's possible that he only got half of this seal."
A complete seal would be much more valuable than a damaged one.
"The other half has probably circulated outside, but I haven't heard of any half of the old master's genuine work in recent years."
Apart from circulating in the domestic market, many collectors abroad also appreciated Master Wen Jing's artworks.
The antique market was a chaotic one. Besides the overt transactions, there were also covert deals.
Trying to find this small half of a seal was like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Nan Yu took the seal from Tan Linyuan's hand and tightened her fingers, holding the seal in her palm.
A few seconds later, she asked Tan Linyuan, "Can you repair it?"
She asked this question tentatively.
Tan Linyuan had been Master Wen Jing's disciple for so many years. Maybe he had learned some stone - carving skills just by being around the master.
After she asked, Tan Linyuan was silent for a while.
"Master Wen Jing never taught me."
Nan Yu didn't force him. "It's okay. We can think of other ways."
"But I can give it a try," Tan Linyuan said again.
Just because he wasn't taught didn't mean he didn't learn.
Every day he spent with Master Wen Jing, he was constantly improving himself.
Not only in stone - carving, but also in interpreting ancient scriptures, playing Go, and dredging meridians...
He didn't just muddle through his days.
That was why he was able to reach his current position step by step.
Nan Yu was taken aback for a moment, then smiled slightly and placed the seal in his hand.
"I trust you."
...
After washing up at night, Tan Linyuan urged Nan Yu to go to bed early.
She wasn't alone now. There were two of them.
She had just had a brain examination a few days ago, and Nan Yu could stop taking the medicine.
Moreover, now that she was pregnant, she definitely couldn't take the medicine anymore.
However, the previous medicine had a soothing effect. Now that she didn't need to take it, Nan Yu wasn't very sleepy.
She lay in bed early and watched Tan Linyuan carry a table into the room. It seemed that he was going to copy scriptures.
Nan Yu sat up curiously. "Are you going to copy scriptures?"
Tan Linyuan nodded.
Copying scriptures every night was his unchangeable evening ritual.
"I'll do it with you," she lifted the quilt and was about to get out of bed. Tan Linyuan stopped her. "Put on your shoes."
He didn't know when this little habit had developed, but he found that Nan Yu always liked to run around bare - footed.
"Okay," Nan Yu stuck out her tongue, bent down to put on her slippers, and sat opposite him.
Tan Linyuan looked at her. Her eyes were bright, and she didn't seem sleepy at all.
He sighed helplessly and gave her some paper and a writing brush.
The two of them sat opposite each other and copied scriptures.
This scene was no different from the one in the meditation room of Changuang Temple before.
The warm yellow light in the room made the atmosphere between them extremely gentle.
It seemed that everything had become peaceful.
Nan Yu asked, "What scriptures are you copying?"
"Scriptures for praying for peace."
"Who are you copying them for?"
Tan Linyuan clearly heard her rhetorical question. He didn't stop his hand and still held the writing brush steadily. "Guess."
Nan Yu's face flushed a bit.
"For me... and the baby?"
Tan Linyuan didn't say a word. He just lifted the corner of his lips slightly.
It was a rhetorical question.
Nan Yu was obviously just doing it on a whim. After copying scriptures for a short time, she got bored.
"I don't want to copy anymore."
Tan Linyuan didn't look up. "Then go lie in bed and get ready to sleep."
Nan Yu didn't want to go to sleep either.
She lay on the table and twirled the writing brush boredly. She glanced at Tan Linyuan from time to time.
When he was concentrating, his handsome features became even more cold and detached from the world.
It made people want to defile him.
She wanted to see those calm eyes sink into depravity.
Nan Yu continued, "I want a hug."
She saw his hand visibly pause.
Nan Yu couldn't help but feel secretly happy.
"Wait until I finish copying this page," Tan Linyuan compromised.
But Nan Yu didn't want a compromise.
She was best at pushing her luck in front of Tan Linyuan.
She wanted to step into his bottom line step by step and become his special existence and privilege.
Nan Yu pouted. "If you don't hug me now, it means you don't love me."