"Sir, your fertility score is so high. Would you be willing to help me conceive for a fortune? I'll pay one million." A wealthy woman in a black sheer, figure-hugging dress, with a sable draped over her shoulders, gazed at Su Chen with satisfaction as he received his fertility test results.
As she spoke, she even winked at Su Chen and deliberately hooked one of her long, black-stockinged legs around his thigh.
Su Chen rejected her outright.
When she said she wanted to pay a fortune to have his child, what she really wanted was to sleep with him, take his sperm, and have a baby.
The child wouldn't even be his, and wouldn't bear his surname. He'd just be a tool who took the money and provided the sperm.
These days, rich women really dared to get up to anything.
They dared to buy anything.
Even if she offered a million, he wouldn't sell.
Men had to protect themselves when they were out in the world, too.
He'd come in for a fertility test today because he was already thirty-seven and still single. He was worried about the fertility of his sperm.
Now that he'd seen his fertility score was far higher than that of an eighteen-year-old, he felt reassured.
At least his parents wouldn't have to worry that he might be unable to have children someday.
When it came to having children, women had an ideal age for giving birth, and so did men.
The ideal age for men to father children was thirty to thirty-five.
He was already past that ideal age.
For the past six months, his mother had often called to urge him to get married and find a girlfriend.
She was afraid that once he got older, his sperm quality would decline and he wouldn't be able to have children, leaving him without an heir in his old age.
Now, with this solid proof in hand, his parents could stop worrying.
Su Chen ignored the wealthy woman in the sable, put the fertility test results in his briefcase, and walked out of the testing center.
The wealthy woman watched Su Chen's departing figure, her delicate brows knitting slightly.
"Wow. He actually turned me down."
"Su Xiang, are you sure he's the direct heir of the top Imperial Capital Su family, the one who's been wandering outside the family?"
"Sure."
"Show me the proof."
"I can show you the proof, but it won't be for the same price as before. You'll have to pay extra."
"How much extra?"
"At least twenty million."
"...!! Get lost!"
"Think about it. He's the direct heir of one of the top wealthy families in Imperial Capital. If you have his child before he returns to the Su family, you'll be the matriarch of a true wealthy family someday. When that happens, twenty million will seem like a drop in the ocean."
"Save that great opportunity for your sister!" the wealthy woman said, then walked away in high heels, swaying her ample backside.
One million was reasonable enough.
Twenty million? Did he think she was a sucker?
Was every handsome guy on the street the long-lost direct heir of a top wealthy family?
Ha!
She'd wanted to have Su Chen's child for a fortune because of his looks and fertility score. As for what Su Xiang had said about his identity, she didn't believe a single word.
Watching his benefactor leave, Su Xiang looked pained. "Why doesn't anyone believe the truth these days?"
"Ugh, I've got a scoop this huge, but I don't dare let it out and make big money, in case the Su family comes after me. I only want to make a little side money, and I can't even manage that."
"Life is hard."
"But, yeah, it really is hard to believe. After all, that man is a big shot whose awesome strength has stunned the entire circle of wealthy families in Imperial Capital. If he had a son who was just an ordinary person, wouldn't everyone think I was lying? Sigh..."
Su Chen had just left the testing center when his phone rang. It was his mother.
He answered.
"Son, I just got back from Aunt Wang's place. Aunt Wang has a niece who happens to work in Imperial Capital. I had someone check your birth charts, and you two are a good match. How about finding a chance to meet and see how things go? Then you could bring your girlfriend home for the New Year this year. And when you see your friends and classmates, you won't have to worry about them asking, right?"
Su Chen said, "Mom, I don't want a girlfriend just yet. And you don't need to worry about my fertility, either. I just got my fertility test results, and my numbers are great."
"I could wait a few more years to get married and have a child, and I'd still be able to give you a chubby little grandson."
"By the way, Mom, I'm about to enter the subway station. I'll let you go."
With that, Su Chen hung up.
Then he took a deep breath and looked at the crowded subway station, a trace of loneliness in his eyes.
Imperial Capital was so huge, with so many homes, yet not a single light in any of them was lit for him.
There were so many beautiful women in Imperial Capital, yet not one was willing to marry him and sign a marriage certificate with him. The reasons were simple: being handsome couldn't be spent like money, being handsome couldn't buy a home, and being handsome couldn't get him an Imperial Capital household registration.
He breathed out a cloud of cold air, then stepped into the crowd and entered the subway station.
He took the subway back to Imperial Capital University of Economy and Trade.
This winter was truly cold.
At least they'd already turned on the heating.
He ran a bookstore at Imperial Capital University of Economy and Trade. The income was decent enough—he could make two or three hundred thousand a year.
But buying a home in Imperial Capital and putting down roots there, let alone getting an Imperial Capital household registration, was a pipe dream.
As he lifted the insulated curtain at the entrance to his bookstore and prepared to go in, he happened to collide with someone coming out.
"I'm sorry," a clear, apologetic voice said.
It was a girl.
Touching her forehead, the girl took a few steps back and looked up at him apologetically.
When she saw him, it was as if a light suddenly appeared in her eyes.
The girl called out, "Su Chen!"
"You know me?" Su Chen asked in confusion.
The girl before him was exceptionally beautiful, with a refined, otherworldly prettiness. Her long, straight black hair fell casually down her back. Her eyes were large and dark, full of life, and her skin seemed to glow.
She was every inch a campus belle!
"Mm. This is my student ID." The girl nodded, then took off her backpack, pulled out a student ID, and handed it to Su Chen.
"Why are you showing me your student ID?" Su Chen took it reflexively.
Then his gaze fell on the card.
Su Zihan, eighteen, Imperial Capital University, computer science.
Well, well!
She was a student at Imperial Capital University next door!
That was one of Long Nation's top-tier universities, and she was one of its top students!
Su Chen looked at Su Zihan. She took out a slightly yellowed photograph and handed it to him. "Uncle, could you help me check whether the person in this photo is you?"
Su Chen handed her student ID back and took the photograph.
As he looked at the person in it, he froze for a moment.
The person in the photograph really was him, but it had been taken eighteen years ago, back when he was in college.
It had been a turbulent time. If you didn't dress in a bold, flashy way, people would bully you.
So back then, he'd worn his hair down to his ears, grown a beard, and dressed in bell-bottom pants and a bright red sweater his mother had knitted for him. He'd even draped a jacket over his arm, a foxtail grass stem in his mouth, and leaned against a big tree with a swagger.
"It's me. How did you get this photo?" Su Chen asked, puzzled.
After getting his confirmation, the girl immediately cried out excitedly, "Dad!"
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