Nan Yu chatted merrily with the nanny.
The nanny told her with a smile that her child was very easy to take care of. He cried and fussed less than ordinary kids and would obediently drink milk powder on time.
"At first sight, he was so tiny," the nanny said, shaking her head with emotion. "The poor thing was so frail with skinny arms and legs. It really tugged at my heartstrings."
Hearing these words, Nan Yu felt a pang in her heart.
The nanny, in high spirits, took her back to the room and taught her how to hold the baby, how to feed him and how to lull him to sleep.
Nan Yu learned with exceptional earnestness.
Li Guanyue said to Nan Yu, "If you can't manage on your own, let Aunt Zhang move in with you for a while."
He smiled. "Anyway, Aunt Zhang is fond of this child. It won't be any trouble for her to take care of him for a few more days."
Aunt Zhang readily agreed with delight and joked, "If the baby were suddenly taken away, I'd be quite reluctant to part with him. Moving in with Miss Nan would let me stay with him longer."
Nan Yu didn't decline. She immediately expressed her gratitude and said that she would pay Aunt Zhang's salary from then on.
She really had no experience in taking care of a child alone. It would be much easier with an extra pair of hands.
As the evening drew near, it was time to leave.
Li Guanyue invited Nan Yu and Liang Yi to stay for dinner, but they politely declined.
Before leaving, Liang Yi whispered, "This might not sound nice, but the baby should stay at Li Guanyue's place for a while."
Nan Yu didn't show the expected resistance. Instead, she nodded in agreement. "Okay, I agree."
Liang Yi was a bit surprised. He had thought Nan Yu would immediately demand to take the baby away.
After all, as the baby's biological mother, she hadn't spent a whole day with him since his birth.
"The environment here at Mr. Li's is very good. I'm at ease leaving the baby here," Nan Yu said unexpectedly calmly. "It's just too much trouble for him. I'll find an opportunity to invite him for a meal later."
When leaving, Nan Yu was still a bit reluctant. She lingered in the baby's room for a few minutes before coming out.
Li Guanyue said that she was welcome to visit the baby at any time.
Liang Yi drove Nan Yu back to her apartment.
On the way back, neither of them spoke first.
Liang Yi, who usually had a carefree and flippant personality, was also unusually quiet at the moment. He just followed the navigation and drove all the way.
Finally, Nan Yu broke the silence. "How... is he lately?"
"He's still alive, at least," Liang Yi couldn't help joking. Then he resumed his playful expression. "What? Are you really concerned about his well - being?"
Nan Yu pursed her lips. "Please don't tell him about the baby."
She meant the fact that the baby was still alive.
Liang Yi was taken aback for a moment and then laughed. "Of course. That's exactly what I was thinking. Great minds think alike."
The sentence "Only by deceiving yourself can you truly deceive others" that Liang Yi had said before didn't mean that Tan Linyuan had seen the whole picture.
The only one who had seen the whole picture was Liang Yi. Now there was an additional Nan Yu.
At first, Liang Yi had his concerns, but today he was almost certain that Nan Yu was more rational and calm than he had imagined.
Liang Yi felt sorry for his previous speculation. "The situation in the Tan family is extremely complicated. If we outsiders interfere, it will only hamper his efforts."
Nan Yu knew it well.
Seeing her silent, Liang Yi felt a twinge of pity in his heart. "But don't worry. In at most a year, he will definitely sort things out. Then you two can... "
"No need," Nan Yu looked out of the window. "I'm quite content with my current life."
Liang Yi was stunned. The second half of his sentence got stuck in his throat.
Indeed.
Nothing in this world is permanent.
And what right did he have to ask her to wait for Tan Linyuan there all the time?
Parting on good terms was the rule and order to be followed in the adult world.
She said softly, "As long as I know he's doing well, that's enough."
...
In Jiangcheng, the news of Tan Linyuan's retreat for religious practice spread far and wide. The whole city of Jiangcheng had heard about it, and the Tan family was no exception.
For the outside world, Tan Linyuan's retreat could only be regarded as a divine oracle, a path to self - purification and spiritual cultivation; but for the Tan family, it was of great significance.
The period of religious retreat could last from one year to three to five years. According to the rules, during the retreat, one was not allowed to deal with worldly affairs, let alone take care of family matters or manage the family finances.
So this responsibility was temporarily placed on Tan Jinxian.
The word "temporarily" meant that he couldn't really take over the power.
The will of the old master Tan, which had been legally notarized, was by no means a mere fairy tale.
Even if Tan Linyuan voluntarily gave up his position, the new person in charge would still be under great pressure and might be criticized behind their back.
Tan Jinxian was getting old. Even if a new person was to be appointed, it had to be a trustworthy and reliable young person.
Tan Linyuan's retreat provided an opportunity for a new person to replace him for a long time.
Now that Tan Linyuan was no longer in charge, the Tan family had to hold a family meeting to discuss the follow - up matters.
Finally, it was decided that Tan Wanyu, Tan Jinxian's daughter, would serve as the interim CEO of the Tan family's enterprise, and her husband, Wei Zhengdong, would assist and manage together.
As soon as this news came out, it caused a huge stir in the business circle of Jiangcheng.
There were both those who were optimistic and those who were not, but this couldn't change the decision of the Tan family.
Tan Linyuan himself didn't respond in person. He just had the company issue a brief announcement and then gracefully retired.
The whole Tan family almost immediately perked up.
After all, over the years, there had been numerous rumors that Tan Linyuan was an outsider in the family. Now that this "outsider" finally stopped interfering in their family affairs, the whole family naturally celebrated.
However, within less than three months, Tan Wanyu was complaining non - stop.
First of all, several major companies that had previously cooperated with the Tan family stopped their cooperation. Or during business dinners, they were extremely tough on her. Tan Wanyu had planned to have a second child, but the nightly drinking sessions had taken a toll on her health, making the plan for a second child almost impossible. As for her husband, Wei Zhengdong was a soft - tempered man. Although he was good at taking care of his wife and children, he couldn't get rid of his timid personality in the company. Several major shareholders simply ignored his instructions, and the morale of the company's senior management was getting lower and lower every day.
Tan Wanyu went home and complained to her father that this high - position was really unbearable. She was constantly being forced to drink by those good - for - nothings until she vomited blood, but they still wouldn't even sign a single contract.
Tan Jinxian couldn't help getting angry. "Why didn't they force Tan Linyuan to drink before? Isn't he well - known for not drinking at all!"
How could Tan Wanyu know? She had also hinted with a smile that she was just as bad at drinking as her younger brother, but those people seemed to have gone crazy. They either forced her to drink or put forward all kinds of conditions. In short, they were constantly setting obstacles for her.
The root cause was that those people didn't recognize Tan Wanyu and didn't give her any face.
She vomited her guts out in the bathroom and heard someone in the men's restroom next door laughing and saying, "The Tan family with Tan Linyuan and the Tan family without him are really like heaven and earth."
This made her extremely annoyed. When she got home, she didn't even give Wei Zhengdong a good look. The once loving and harmonious couple were now either arguing or giving each other the cold shoulder every night.
Finally, Tan Wanyu confronted her father and said that this position was too difficult to hold. She really didn't want to stay there for another day.
Tan Jinxian flew into a rage at home. "If Tan Linyuan can hold this position, why can't you? Do you really need someone to chew the duck within reach and feed it to you?"
Tan Wanyu's pent - up anger finally exploded. "Wasn't that exactly what we used to do? Tan Linyuan chewed things up and fed them to us. What's wrong with that? You're so eager to take over the power. Why don't you see if your daughter is capable of it?"