Chapter 713 He's willing to be someone's stepfather.

Chapter 713 Willing to be someone's stepfather

When Shen Anning and Qi Yue came out of the office, Chu Yuke and Xiaoxue were both leaning on the front desk, their heads close together looking at their phones.

Shen Anning walked over and gently patted Chu Yuke's shoulder. "What are you looking at?"

Chu Yuke turned around and saw Shen Anning and Qi Yue, and immediately stood up straight.

"Entertainment gossip!" Chu Yuke pointed to Xiaoxue's phone. "Two rising actresses are taking turns exposing each other's dirty secrets on the trending topics for a guy. It's like watching a TV series, quite interesting!"

Shen Anning doesn't follow celebrities and doesn't pay attention to things in the entertainment industry.

Are you ready?

Xiaoxue put away her phone and nodded: "Bridesmaid number one is ready!"

Shen Anning smiled at Xiaoxue, then turned her head and scanned Chu Yuke from head to toe, finally fixing her gaze on Chu Yuke's bare face. "Senior sister, do you want to change your clothes and put on some makeup?"

"Isn't that unnecessary?" Chu Yuke looked down at herself. "My business suit is perfectly normal. I don't need to wear makeup. It's not like I'm going on a blind date. Why be so formal?"

Shen Anning, "..."

Well, Chu Yuke isn't bad even without makeup. She has delicate features, fair skin, and is 1.65 meters tall with a slender figure. She can even pull off a model-like look in a business suit.

"Let's go then." Shen Anning stepped forward and took Chu Yuke's arm.

Chu Yuke immediately pulled her arm away and took three steps back: "You're a married woman, so I'd better be sensible and stay with Xiaoxue!"

Shen Anning glanced at her, but before she could speak, Qi Yue stepped forward and grabbed her waist. "It's rare for your senior sister to be so perceptive. You can't let her down. Let's go."

Shen Anning: "..."

...

The gathering place was Tianye Mountain Villa, a place that Qi Yue and a few of his buddies often went to.

Located on the outskirts of the city, the resort is situated within a vast expanse of fields, dotted with wooden cabins, each a private private room.

Spring and autumn are the peak seasons.

The resort operates on a membership basis, and reservations are required in advance.

The waiter led Shen Anning and her group across a long wooden bridge to their reserved private room.

Everyone else had been there for a while.

Inside the private room, seven or eight people were scattered around a large round table that could seat 20 people.

The first person Shen Anning saw was Zhou Jingye.

The reason I noticed Zhou Jingye first was because he was holding a little boy in his arms.

The little boy looked to be about six or seven years old, with a delicate and beautiful face. At first glance, his eyebrows and eyes looked exactly like Yun Qin's.

As Shen Anning was wondering, a light, cheerful male voice rang out—

"The bride and groom have arrived!"

Jiang Xun was the first to step forward, extending his hand to Shen Anning and saying warmly, "Sister-in-law, my name is Jiang Xun. This is our first meeting, so I'd like to wish you a happy marriage in advance!"

Shen Anning smiled slightly at him and shook his hand. "Hello, Mr. Jiang, I've heard so much about you."

Jiang Xun: "?"

Seeing his puzzled expression, Shen Anning reminded him, "It's a blind date."

Jiang Xun suddenly realized what was going on and scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "Sorry, I'm a staunch non-marriage advocate. My elders made the decision for me, so I resorted to this. I didn't expect that the girl would happen to be my sister-in-law's friend. Sister-in-law, could you please explain this to your friend for me?"

“You should explain it to her yourself.” Shen Anning said, pulling Chu Yuke to her side. As Chu Yuke winked at her, she introduced her to Jiang Xun: “This is my senior sister, Chu Yuke, who is also your actual blind date.”

Chu Yuke: "..."

Jiang Xun: "!?"

"You guys chat," Shen Anning said with a smile. "Qi Yue and I will go and meet the other people."

"No... Shen Anning, you..."

“Senior sister, Xiaoxue is young, I’ll take care of her.” Shen Anning pulled Xiaoxue along, “You and Mr. Jiang can talk slowly.”

Chu Yuke: "..."

Shen Anning pulled Xiaoxue aside.

Qi Yue followed Shen Anning, passing by Jiang Xun, and patted Jiang Xun on the shoulder: "Take good care of your sister-in-law's friends."

Jiang Xun: "..."

...

The private room is very large, divided into a dining area and a relaxation area.

The lounge area is equipped with card tables, a bar, and audio-visual equipment.

Wen Yanbai sat down at the tea table to brew tea, and first offered the first cup to Shen Anning. "Nice to meet you. My name is Wen Yanbai. I am a little over a month older than Qi Yue. Do you mind if I call you sister-in-law?"

“Qi Yue told me that you guys are as close as brothers. Since you’re older, I’ll call you Brother Wen from now on.” Shen Anning smiled slightly at Wen Yanbai, then asked, “But what’s your relationship with Wen Yusen?”

“We’re cousins, I suppose,” Wen Yanbai explained. “Our family split up in our grandfather’s generation. Wen Yusen’s grandfather and my grandfather were brothers, but after the split, my grandfather took the whole family to settle abroad. It wasn’t until my father got married that he brought the whole family back to China because of a job transfer. However, two generations have passed, and since Wen Yusen’s family is in business while my parents are in academia, we have very little contact. So our two families don’t have much contact now.”

"I see." Shen Anning nodded.

“Yan Bai is a director who has made many documentaries and won numerous international awards,” Qi Yue introduced to Shen Anning. Then, he picked up Shen Anning’s cup of tea and looked at Wen Yanbai, saying, “I’ll drink this cup of tea for her. She’s pregnant and can’t drink tea.”

Wen Yanbai suddenly realized what was happening and laughed awkwardly, "Sorry, sister-in-law, it's a common problem for single people like me. We have freshly squeezed juice here. What would you like to drink? I'll have them send it over."

"It's okay, I'll just drink lemon water." Shen Anning smiled slightly.

She found that Qi Yue's friends all had pretty good personalities.

She originally came with the intention of introducing Chu Yuke to a potential partner, but since entering the room, she has felt that the atmosphere is quite pleasant.

Shen Anning and Wen Yanbai chatted in a relaxed atmosphere. As expected of someone from an academic family, Wen Yanbai had a broad knowledge base and high emotional intelligence. In just a few words, Shen Anning and he became familiar with each other.

Xiaoxue is young and not as intelligent as these people with high emotional intelligence and high IQ. Listening to them talk about topics outside their profession is simply 'unintelligible' (internet meme). So after saying hello, she went to play with the little boy.

Shen Anning's gaze kept falling on the little boy.

Zhou Jing also sat in his seat, watching the little boy and Xiaoxue play. He looked somewhat dazed and seemed to be in a bad mood.

It looked very different from how it looked when I first saw it.

Shen Anning turned her head and whispered in Qi Yue's ear, "Whose child is that little boy?"

Qi Yue glanced at the child and looked at Shen Anning: "He is Yun Qin's son, everyone calls him Yun Bao, he is six years old."

“Six years old…” Shen Anning looked at Yun Bao again.

Rainbow Dash is playing a clapping game with Snowball. The little girl is quite cheerful and keeps calling Snowball "Sister Snowball," which is very endearing.

Shen Anning glanced at Zhou Jingye again; he still looked downcast.

For some reason, Shen Anning suddenly remembered some of the things Yun Qin said at the coffee shop that day.

A bad feeling inexplicably welled up in my heart.

She turned to look at Qi Yue and asked again in a low voice, "Why didn't Yun Qin come?"

"She can't come."

Shen Anning was taken aback, and turned her gaze to Wen Yanbai, who had spoken. "What does this mean?"

Wen Yanbai looked at Shen Anning and sighed softly: "Zhou Jing only just found out what happened, but that kid won't tell anyone, not even the few of us. He's willing to be someone's stepfather."