Chapter 748   - Zhang Leyan’s Birth (4)

The awkward silence within the room was dispelled when Leyan chose to cry, wanting to be fed once more by her mother. Zhang Jiren took the baby from her cot and gently placed Leyan in her mother's arms.

Meng Yanran took the seat Madam Li vacated earlier and gave Zhang Leyan a good look.

"She's beautiful." Her throat tightened at the sight of the beautiful baby in Li Meili's arms as she nursed.

"Thanks," Li Meili smiled as Leyan released her n.i.p.p.l.e and chose to doze off.

"I think she's finished for now. Do you want to hold her?" she asked Meng Yanran.

"May I?" Meng Yanran was surprised.

"Of course." Li Meili then held out her baby.

Meng Yanran took the baby carefully into her arms. Zhang Leyan smelled so nice and looked adorable. Dark hair dusted her head and her skin was rosy.

"Aren't you a pretty baby?" she cooed at the baby before helping her burp.

Li Meili and Zhang Jiren stared at her, both surprised to see her able to make Leyan burp so easily while they were having trouble with it.

"Where did you learn to do that?" Li Meili asked. She supposed Meng Yanran learned it from her cousin, Lin Qianrou, by looking after her nephew.

"Just something I picked up from Qian," Meng Yanran lied.

In fact, she had learned this a long time ago when she was still married to her ex-husband. She had taken classes on how to tend and care for newborn babies and learned skills that she wasn't able to use in the end.

She'd done it because she wanted to be prepared for her own child, the one she ended up not having, but her ex-husband's mistress had. Meng Yanran smiled at the baby who seemed content at where she was and continued to sleep in peace.

"She's a wonderful baby. I'm happy for you, Meili."

Of course, she knew that Zhang Jiren wasn't the real father of this child but she wouldn't dare mention it.

"Let me take Leyan so she could sleep comfortably. We didn't want to spoil her too much," Zhang Jiren said.

Meng Yanran handed the baby back and a sense of emptiness and longing surged inside of her, so strong that it made her eyes turn misty.

One day, she told herself. One day, she would have a child of her own. Maybe someday when Li Yuanyi's parents finally accepted her as part of their family, they could have a baby she would love with all her heart.

"Dad already knows about you and my brother, doesn't he?" Li Meili didn't beat around the bush and asked Meng Yanran.

The other woman nodded and looked down towards her hands on her l.a.p, her long locks falling over her c.h.e.s.t.

"Because your father insisted on setting him up on a date with other women. Yuanyi had enough of it and decided to introduce me, a divorcee, as his girlfriend," Meng Yanran answered.

Li Meili didn't need to ask what happened next. There was no doubt that her father disapproved of Meng Yanran for her brother. She still couldn't understand why her father refused to leave them to decide their own future.

Aside from Tang Beixuan, Li Meili didn't know anyone who could be as patient and loyal at the same time as her brother. Li Yuanyi had liked Meng Yanran since years ago and had regretted not being able to let his feelings known to her before she suddenly married another man, courtesy of Meng Yanran's mother.

Now that the two were finally together, of course, Li Yuanyi wouldn't want to lose his dream woman a second time. It didn't matter that she had been married before, as long as they both understood and respected each other.

In Li Meili's opinion, their old man should just leave them be. If her brother wanted to marry Meng Yanran, so be it.

"There's nothing wrong with you being a divorcee. In fact, it's a great thing that you had some sense and divorced that cheating bastard," she told Meng Yanran. "You are lucky you didn't give birth to that bastard's child either."

Meng Yanran winced, and Li Meili realized that she had said too much.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you, Miss Meng," she apologized at once.

Meng Yanran shook her head and patted Li Meili's hand with a gentle smile on her face.

"No, it's alright. What you said was right."

"But you wanted to have a baby…" Li Meili's words trailed off. The look on Meng Yanran's face as she held her Leyan spoke volumes to her more than words could tell.

Meng Yanran didn't have to say anything. Li Meili had eyes. It was a look of a woman longing to have a child of her own.

"I do. I really do." Meng Yanran didn't deny what Li Meili said. "In fact, it's what I've always wanted."

She had already confessed her fears to Li Yuanyi and he had accepted it. Nevertheless, it still bothered Meng Yanran that there's a possibility that she might never be able to conceive a child for him.

"There's a good chance that I might not give your brother an heir even if your parents allowed us to be together." Li Meili froze at that. She had no idea it was that bad.

"I wasn't able to conceive a child with my ex-husband after years of being together and I don't know why," Meng Yanran continued.

"Didn't you and your ex-husband seek a doctor's opinion?" It was Zhang Jiren who asked her the question.

Meng Yanran shook her head.

"He didn't want to."

Her ex-husband was too prideful to admit that maybe there's something wrong with him, but given how his mistress was able to give him a child, he pushed all the blame on Meng Yanran.

Li Meili scoffed in a very unladylike manner.

"Your ex-husband was a piece of work. I would beat the hell out of him if we cross paths in the future."

"Meili, keep violence at the minimum for Leyan's sake, okay?" Zhang Jiren sighed.

"And what did my brother tell you when you told him?" At this point Li Meili was more curious about how her brother answered Meng Yanran.

"He said he want to have children with me…" This time, Meng Yanran's face flushed. "But he also said that if we can't have them, it's alright with him. Yuanyi said that we can try some fertility treatment once we are married. If it still didn't work, he said it wasn't just meant to be."

Meng Yanran remembered bursting into tears when she came clean to him but Li Yuanyi had been patient and understanding towards her that she felt bad about it.

"He said we can adopt if I want, and my ability to conceive wouldn't change his love for me. He said he would never regret choosing me."

Li Meili wanted to give her brother an applause right then. She had no idea her older brother could be this sweet to the woman he loved.

"Well, if he said it's alright, then you should trust him," she told Meng Yanran. "I know my brother well, Miss Meng. He's head over heels for you that it would be impossible to change his mind no matter what."