The Overnight Chosen Wife: darling, kiss me deeper

Li Yuming paused her movements in surprise. She was not a young woman, she comprehended Neil’s hint and was quite surprised about his implication.

"Yuming, can I ask you an audacious question?" He asked.

"Go ahead." She didn’t want to jump into conclusions and hoped his question was not too personal.

"Have you ever thought of remarrying?" He asked directly, knowing that beating around the bush wouldn’t work with Li Yuming.

She let out a soft sigh as she mixed the ingredients in a large ceramic bowl. She didn’t want to talk about her past since it was nothing but a pain in the butt. However, she had already allowed him to ask so she could only answer him. "I would have done so twenty years ago if I wanted to. I don’t think relationships are worth my time anymore."

"Not even if you get a man who loves you?" He gently asked, trying not to sound pushy.

In response, she tilted to look at him, knowing why exactly he was asking but pretending not to know. "I would have done so if my babies really needed a father in their lives but they don’t anymore." Lanni had needed a father before but soon after reuniting with him, she found out just what kind of man she had been pining for. On the other hand, Luna was still devastated after finding out that the man she trusted the most was a murderer and a scumbag who was only using her and her sister. It was certain that she didn’t need a father either.

Neil had heard bits and pieces about what had transpired, which made him uncertain what to say about it.

A long spell of silence passed before he cleared his throat. "My daughter has already found her parents. She doesn’t need a mother since she already has one. However, I need a wife. I didn’t realize this until I met you."

"Neil..." His words took her by surprise, and she looked up at him in shock.

"We don’t have to talk about it." He knew what he was going to hear and he was not ready for it so he evaded the topic.

Li Yuming looked down at the bowl instead, hoping they wouldn’t bring up the awkward topic anymore. She took a baking tray with heart-shaped slots. "Here. Once the batter is ready, pour it in the baking trays. The slots determine the shape. Don’t fill it." As she spoke, she carefully poured the batter into each of the slots, shaking it slightly to equalize it.

"Why did you apply butter on the trays before pouring in the batter?" He asked curiously, even though he didn’t have a particular interest in baking.

"For ease of taking it out later. But you don’t even need to learn it. Ruby won’t eat it." Li Yuming remembered how he had mentioned that his daughter no longer liked pastries and cakes.

The oven had already preheated, so she put in the tray and set the timer.

"We can wait in the living room." She said, tired from standing in her high heels.

He noticed her shifting and was embarrassed. "Forgive my manners. I’ll get you a pair of indoor sandals."

Before she could respond, he had already rushed away and returned with white slippers. "They are new and no one has worn them before."

She couldn’t bring herself to reject his kind gesture. Not to mention, she was indeed tired so she changed into the sandals before heading to the living room.

"But if we don’t watch the cupcakes." He pointed at the kitchen, afraid that the cupcakes would burn.

"Don’t worry, I set the timer." Li Yuming chuckled. He had indeed never baked before. Heaven knew what he was going to bake on his own.

The cupcakes were ready soon, and she let them cool before getting a pastry box with cookies and cakes drawn on it.

"Can I have one?" He glanced at the inviting cupcakes that now had strawberry cream on them.

"Of course, go ahead."

Taking her permission, he took a bite of a cupcake and was puzzled. Why didn’t he ever realize that cupcakes could taste this delicious? He had always thought that sweet foods were for kids and that he had overgrown his love for them.

Li Yuming sealed the box and took it in her hand. "I’ll drop these by Lanni’s apartment."

"Okay... I’ll see you out." He knew that she wouldn’t stay any longer even if he tried to convince her so he didn’t try and led her to the door instead.

"Let’s have lunch together when you’re free." He boldly stated, hoping that she wouldn’t have anything against it.

Before he could walk her to her car, another car pulled over and out of it walked Ruby.

"Ruby?" He was pleasantly surprised.

The young woman was more surprised. Why was Li Yuming leaving her father’s house?

She kept her curiosity to herself and offered the older woman a smile. "Miss Li, hello."

"Hello." She averted her gaze. "I’ll get going now."

...

When she left, Ruby continued to give Neil curious looks.

"If you have anything to ask, go ahead and ask." Neil chuckled at her obvious curiosity.

They headed to the house and she sat opposite him, across the coffee table. "Uhm Dad, is she the woman you like?" She would never have had such a suspicion even if a woman left his house, but she had seen how excited he looked to be around her.

Neil neither acknowledged nor denied it, reclining in his seat. "What do you think of her?"

She took his response for a yes, and her eyes widened. "Are you kidding me? Her daughter is my sister-in-law! Wouldn’t that kind of relationship be incestuous?"

"There isn’t any blood relationship, nor am I related to Lanni in marriage. It’s alright for me to court Li Yuming." He shrugged. It would have been wrong of him to marry Li Yuming if he was Xiehan’s biological father, which would have made him and Li Yuming relatives through Lanni and Xiehan’s marriage. However, the only link between him and the Ji family was Ruby, who was no longer his daughter since her family had taken her back.

Ruby thought about it and although she didn’t think it was totally right, she didn’t find anything wrong with it either. "As long as the law allows it. The most important thing is your happiness, dad."

He had been afraid that she would oppose it, so he was overjoyed and patted her head. "Thank you, princess."

"Dad, I’m no longer a little girl." She laughed at how he still treated her like he did when she was a child, tousling her hair and kissing her forehead when she went to sleep. If she didn’t stop him, he might have continued reading her bedtime stories too!

"What’s that awesome aroma?" She headed to the kitchen following the waft of the cupcakes, making his heart lurch.

He followed her to stop her, but she had already seen the cupcakes that were still on the kitchen counter.

"Ruby, that..."

She stalked towards them and picked one, listlessly taking a bite because they looked too tempting. A few seconds after having a taste, she wolfed the whole thing down and he was overwhelmed.

"You didn’t bake this. Of course, you can’t even boil water." She laughed as she exaggerated his lack of experience in the kitchen.

He shook his head. "It was Yuming."

He thought she would be mad at Li Yuming for bringing up unpleasant memories but instead, she picked up a second cupcake. "No wonder Lanni likes them so much."

"I like them a lot too." He picked another cupcake and sat in front of the kitchen island to savor it.

"Dad, you have to work hard. Should I help you out by bringing out my cute daughter skills?" She joked, even though she was serious about wanting to help him out.

"I will do my best." He promised. He felt they were meant for each other after all, he only needed to make her realize this.

___

Jiang Mansion.

"Xingyu, I’m tired!" Luna complained as Xingyu made her do exercise for expectant women.

He glanced at the timer and didn’t give in to her pleas. "Five more minutes."

"Five! I will be dead before it’s over." She groaned lazily. "Tell me the truth. Is it because you are tired of me that you are trying to kill me indirectly?"

He laughed at her theatrics. "No, my love. On the contrary, it’s because I love you that I’m making sure you don’t have too much trouble later."

"Then let’s take a short break. Please." She leaned against him to plead with her puppy dog eyes, which he could hardly resist.

"You’re becoming more and more of a lazy bum." He rubbed his palm against her protruding belly, and had no choice but help her back into their room.

That night.

Xingyu was just about to drift to sleep when he felt Luna shift uncomfortably beside him.

"My love, what’s wrong?" He patted her to ask worriedly.

She grabbed her arm and squeezed on it. "It hurts so much!"