Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Little Bei’s voice was filled with excitement. Mu Jingzhe tilted her head in the darkness and looked at the cloth doll Little Bei had placed aside. It seemed like she was thinking of dressing her younger sister up like a cloth doll.

  However, upon hearing Little Bei’s fantasy, Mu Jingzhe fantasized for a while and found it very cute. She was even a little tempted. “A younger sister… That would indeed not be bad.” There were already many sons, but there was only one daughter.

  “Mommy, you have to remember to give birth to a younger sister,” Little Bei immediately said.

  Mu Jingzhe was embarrassed. “Uh, the gender isn’t up to me to decide.”

  “Then who’s the one making the decision?” Little Bei frowned when she remembered that even though most of the women in the village wanted to give birth to a son, sometimes they would have a daughter.

  Mu Jingzhe: “…”

  It seemed a little strange to suddenly discuss the issue of having a boy or a girl with Little Bei in the middle of the night. Mu Jingzhe thought for a while and said, “The man’s chromosome determines the gender of the baby, but that doesn’t mean that everything will be determined by Daddy. It depends on fate, but it definitely isn’t up to Mommy to decide.” Mu Jingzhe briefly mentioned the XY chromosome.

  “Oh? So what the villagers said about some mothers not being able to give birth to boys is wrong?”

  “That’s definitely not correct. If you insist that it’s up to someone to decide, that must be the father.”

  Little Bei clenched her fists. “I know. In the past, I only knew that it was wrong to say that, but I didn’t know what was going on. Now that I know, I’m going to tell my classmate and ask her to go back and tell her grandma and daddy that it wasn’t their mommy’s fault.”

  There were indeed many people in the village who favored boys over girls. Mu Jingzhe stroked Little Bei’s head. “Alright, Little Bei. Let’s sleep.”

  “Wait, I have another question.” Little Bei was already completely awake. How could she go back to sleep obediently? “Mommy, we all know that giving birth to a younger sister is decided by the father, so let’s find a father who can give birth to a younger sister. Let’s find a father with an X chromosome, not one with a Y chromosome. Can we know in advance whether they have an X or Y chromosome?”

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  Little Bei asked a series of questions. “Mommy, does Daddy have an X or Y? What about Uncle Ji? We’ll find someone with an X. If they do not have one, we’ll find someone else.”

  Mu Jingzhe: “…”

  Mu Jingzhe was speechless. “No, Little Bei, we can’t tell. They all have both…” Mu Jingzhe tried her best to explain in a way that Little Bei could understand.

  “Ah, so that’s how it is. That’s true. Just now, you explained to me that it’s up to fate. I was stunned again.” Little Bei quietened down. After a while, she thought a bit and said, “Actually, a younger brother would be nice too. I just want a younger sister so she can be my companion. But I’d like a younger brother too. Xiao Wu is so cute. I can even braid his hair.”

  Mu Jingzhe: “…”

  It was only because Xiao Wu had a good temper that every time Little Bei’s hands got itchy, he would let her play with his hair if she wanted to braid it. He would even let her stick a hair ornament in his hair or something.

  However, Xiao Wu indeed looked very cute with his short hair braided up. He was soft and adorable now, and he looked good no matter how one looked at him. She was also tempted and she had secretly taken photos before, but in the end, she hadn’t participated much. Although Xiao Wu was already old enough to know that he was a boy, she couldn’t be willful and keep letting him dress like a girl. She couldn’t blur his gender.

  It was easy for children to experience gender confusion when they were young. Better not take the risk.

  “Little Bei, if it’s a younger brother, you can play with him occasionally, but you can’t dress him up like a doll. It won’t be good if he thinks he’s a girl.”

  “Got it.” Little Bei nodded.

  “Alright, go to sleep.” Mu Jingzhe patted Little Bei and coaxed her into taking an afternoon nap. It was only after she calmed down that she realized that there was no one there. She had spoken too early.

  Little Bei hugged Mu Jingzhe tightly as she was patiently patted by Mu Jingzhe. It was a while before she calmed down from her excited state and slowly fell asleep.

  In the next few days, Mu Jingzhe still took Little Bei to film. Shao Qihai brought Shao Nan and Xiao Wu back first, leaving only Little Bei and Mu Jingzhe in Ocean City.

  Their summer vacation was short, and the movie was filmed quickly, but it wouldn’t be finished anytime soon. Little Bei might need to take some time off school.

  She had expected this and gotten prepared.

  Most of the people in the production team had heard about the Cao Yang incident. Those who hadn’t happened to be present had also heard from others later on. There were comments of all sorts, but no one approached Mu Jingzhe to say anything.

  Xiao Mei still had scenes to film, so she came back as usual, the only difference being that Cao Yang no longer accompanied her. Xiao Mei specifically explained to others that she had already broken off her engagement to Cao Yang and asked the security officers to stop letting him in.

  This exceeded Mu Jingzhe’s expectations a little, but she didn’t say anything.

  Xiao Mei didn’t specifically approach Mu Jingzhe and the rest. On the other hand, Cao Yang was probably unwilling to give up, as he kept looking for Xiao Mei. He brought her breakfast, lunch, dinner, and even fruits. Xiao Mei ignored him, so he waited at the door, wanting to change her mind.

  Perhaps to express how devoted he was, he came no matter the weather. Seeing that it wasn’t working, he directly waited under the sun. On the first day, his face turned red and oily from the exposure to the sun, and the next day, he fainted from the heat.

  When he fainted, the security guard called Xiao Mei, who wasn’t moved. “It’s none of my business whether he fainted or not. I’ve already said that I have nothing to do with him.” Xiao Mei didn’t like Cao Yang’s methods.

  “Woman, why are you so heartless? He fainted because of you. Even if he did something wrong previously, how can you ignore him when he’s already in this state?” The security guard felt indignant on Cao Yang’s behalf.

  At first, when Cao Yang had come to make a fuss, no one had helped him. Now that he had fainted, he caught the attention of the production team, and they felt that Little Mei should go take a look. They all spoke up to help him.

  Xiao Mei’s face turned green. “Why should I care? How would I be able to help? I’m not a doctor.”

  The security guard was about to continue when Mu Jingzhe raised her voice and said, “Isn’t there a doctor in the production team? Hurry up and get him to check him. If the heat stroke isn’t handled properly, he might die. Now isn’t the time to argue about this.”

  When everyone heard that, they quickly got the accompanying doctor to visit Cao Yang. Like the security guards, the accompanying doctor was also a part-time employee. He had previously learned some simple medical knowledge from his family, but that was usually enough.

  Cao Yang’s condition wasn’t very serious. After he woke up, he was sent away.

  This matter was considered over for the time being, but everyone could tell that Xiao Mei was determined to draw a line between them.

  Xiao Mei thought that Cao Yang wouldn’t come again after seeing her determination. She didn’t expect him to come again on the third day. He kept begging Xiao Mei to give him one last chance.

  That day, he couldn’t get a heat stroke because it was a cloudy day. She had no idea if Cao Yang had chosen a cloudy day because he happened to have just recovered or if he was afraid of getting a heat stroke again.

  Xiao Mei still didn’t go out. Like before, Cao Yang stood outside for a long time, but this time, the crew couldn’t care less about him.

  It was rare to have a sunless day, so everyone had to hurry up and film. No one had the time to care about Cao Yang.

  In the evening, it started raining heavily, so everyone quickly went to hide from the rain.

  The pouring rain was heavy but went away quickly. Just as the rain was getting lighter, someone suddenly rushed in from outside and knelt in the rain, shouting, “Xiao Mei!”