Chapter 154: No, I Can't Let the Eldest Have a Child!

Hearing this, Qi Yuancheng didn’t dare delay for a second and rushed in to stop them.

Of course, the person he cared about most was his wife, Qin Rou. Even though the other person was his own mother, Qi Yuancheng knew very well who truly had his best interests at heart.

Inside the room, Qin Rou was crying as she spoke to Qi Yuancheng, “Even before there was any treatment, I never agreed to adopt your younger brother’s child. Now that you can get treatment, we actually have hope of having our own baby.”

“Qi Yuancheng, I can’t live under the same roof as her. You need to make her leave. Otherwise, we’ll just get a divorce!” Qin Rou knew that, strictly speaking, it wasn’t really Qi Yuancheng’s fault that her mother-in-law had brought her brother-in-law’s youngest son over. But right now, she just needed to vent her anger at him—after all, it was his mother.

“A’Rou, don’t talk about divorce. I’ll never divorce you.” Qi Yuancheng gripped Qin Rou’s shoulders with both hands, gently wiping away her tears. “Honestly, I feel the same way you do. I don’t want to adopt my brother’s child either. I’ll go explain everything to my mother right now.”

With that, Qi Yuancheng turned and left the bedroom.

He came out to see Shuanzi still eating canned fruit, completely indifferent to the chaos going on around him. Qi Yuancheng’s eyes turned cold—his younger brother’s sons had all been spoiled rotten by their parents, to the point of being heartless. Just now, while his mother and A’Rou were fighting, Shuanzi, the one being protected, just kept eating as if nothing was happening.

Qi Yuancheng knew he couldn’t change his younger brother’s sons, but just as Qin Rou said, there was no way they would ever take in a child like that.

He shot a glance at Shuanzi, then headed straight to his mother’s room.

As soon as he entered, he was met with his mother’s complaints about Qin Rou. Bai Lanhua was crying pitifully, her words filled with attempts to drive a wedge between Qi Yuancheng and Qin Rou.

Qi Yuancheng listened to her rant without saying a word.

Only after she finished did he speak, his voice firm. “Mom, you should take Shuanzi and go home. A’Rou and I will not adopt him.”

“Yuancheng, what do you mean by that? Everything I’m doing is for you! You’ve been married to that woman for so many years and still have no children. She’s just a hen that can’t lay eggs, and—”

“The one who can’t have children is me!” Qi Yuancheng’s words cut Bai Lanhua off instantly.

Bai Lanhua stared blankly at her eldest son.

“You—you must be joking. Are you just saying that to protect that woman?”

“Mom, it really is my problem. The doctor found out, and I’ve already started treatment. The doctor said that once I’m cured, A’Rou and I can have our own child. So there’s no need for us to adopt my younger brother’s son. You don’t need to worry—just take Shuanzi back home.” Qi Yuancheng admitted the truth calmly, feeling no shame. At the very least, he wasn’t going to let A’Rou be misunderstood any longer.

Normally, around this time yesterday and today, he would have gone for his treatment.

But with his mother’s arrival—especially with everything that happened today—he simply couldn’t leave, and missed his appointment.

Bai Lanhua was completely stunned. She wanted to say it was impossible, but seeing how serious her eldest son looked, she knew him well enough to realize he wasn’t lying.

So, the problem wasn’t with Qin Rou, but with her eldest son?

And he was getting treatment? There was hope for a cure?!

If he was cured, and he and Qin Rou had their own child, then there’d be no need to adopt her third son’s child?

Then… what would happen to her third son’s family?

Yes, Bai Lanhua’s first reaction wasn’t to be happy that her eldest son might finally have his own child, but to worry about her third son’s family.

They say parents can’t help but play favorites when they have several children.

Bai Lanhua’s favorite had always been her third son, the one she raised herself and who always knew how to sweet-talk her.

As for her eldest and second sons, they’d been raised by their grandmother. Especially her eldest—he’d joined the army when he was barely a teenager, so she’d hardly spent any time with him. Yet, ironically, he was the most successful.

Bai Lanhua knew what her third son’s family was like—neither she nor her husband had much ability, and their personalities were lazy and undisciplined.

Luckily, her third son and his wife had three sons, while her eldest and his wife couldn’t have any.

So she’d always planned for her eldest to “help out” her third son’s family.

She figured that since her eldest had no children, everything he had should eventually go to her third son.

But now, everything had changed. Her eldest was about to have a child of his own. What would happen to her third son’s family then?

Even after Qi Yuancheng left, Bai Lanhua was still in a daze, taking a long time to process it all.

No, I can’t let the eldest have a child!

If he has a child, her third son’s family will lose his support and have to suffer. Just thinking about it made Bai Lanhua’s heart ache.

So she couldn’t let her eldest have a child!

But how could she stop him from having one?

“If he doesn’t get treatment, he won’t have a child. That’s it—the doctor!”

Bai Lanhua quickly came up with a plan. She decided to find out who was treating her eldest son, and then figure out what to do next.

—

Gu Jianing had no idea that trouble was brewing.

When she noticed Qi Yuancheng hadn’t come for treatment again, she just frowned slightly and didn’t think much of it.

Even though she genuinely wanted to help him and Qin Rou have a child, if they chose not to continue treatment, there was nothing she could do.

It didn’t affect Gu Jianing’s mood at all.

When she got home for lunch, she saw that Sheng Zexi had already returned and even cooked for her.

Gu Jianing was pleasantly surprised. “You’re home so early today?”

“Mm, I have good news.”

Gu Jianing went over and hugged him, blinking. “What’s the good news?”

“I’ve been promoted to deputy regiment commander. That makes you the deputy regiment commander’s wife now.”

Gu Jianing’s eyes lit up. “Really? That’s wonderful! I knew you could do it.”

Seeing Gu Jianing so happy made Sheng Zexi happy too.

Actually, if it hadn’t been for his father holding him back, he’d be more than just a deputy regiment commander by now. After completing his last mission, his father finally couldn’t suppress him anymore, which was why he got promoted.

Back in the old compound, the only person who could compare to him was Li Tingxuan from the Li family.

He remembered that Li Tingxuan was already a regimental officer now.

But…

Back when his mother was alive, he and Li Tingxuan were always the “model children” in everyone’s eyes. After his mother passed away, he became the “rebellious son” in his father’s eyes, and the contrast to Li Tingxuan.

Thinking of Li Tingxuan, Sheng Zexi remembered something else—he’d heard from friends in the capital that Li Tingxuan was planning to transfer to the Northwest Military District.

Why?

Sheng Zexi found it odd.

After all, anyone with half a brain would know that working in the capital’s military district was far better than being in the Northwest.

So why was Li Tingxuan so eager to come to the Northwest Military District?"