Staying at Ziyan's Home

"Bad Auntie Feifei, I won't let you say that about my papa!"

Zhang Han showed no expression, but Mengmeng was unhappy. She glared angrily at Zhou Fei as she spoke.

"You little traitor!" Zhou Fei rolled her eyes irritably and swallowed the words she had been about to use to continue mocking Zhang Han.

"All right, Xiaofei, stop fooling around."

Ziyan shot her a look, removed her hood and sunglasses, let down the long hair coiled atop her head, and shook it out.

With her long hair flowing and her eye-catching figure, even Zhang Han couldn't help glancing sideways at her.

She really is beautiful.

Zhang Han couldn't help murmuring inwardly.

"Wow, Mommy is so pretty." The Little Princess praised her in a childish voice, apparently wondering when she would be able to toss her own long hair around.

"You're beautiful too." Ziyan smiled and stroked Mengmeng's head, then glanced at Zhang Han. "Let's go upstairs. Mengmeng, Zhou Fei, and I live upstairs. Apart from Auntie Wang's room, there are two guest rooms on the first floor. You can stay in one of them tonight."

"Mm."

Zhang Han nodded and followed Ziyan upstairs.

The second floor was quite spacious too. It had a large living room, and mesh railings had been installed beneath the stair banister. The stairs were carpeted as well.

"Papa, Papa, put Mengmeng down."

As soon as they reached the second floor, Mengmeng began squirming in Zhang Han's arms.

Once Mengmeng stood on the floor, her face lit up with delight. She ran excitedly ahead. The sofa was covered with little cloth dolls, and there were plenty of toys on the coffee table in front of it.

"Papa, come quickly."

Mengmeng led Zhang Han around, sharing her toys with him one by one.

"Wow, this is so pretty. Ah, this big tiger is scary. What's this? Mickey Mouse?" Zhang Han played with Mengmeng in an exaggerated tone.

Mengmeng giggled nonstop, constantly saying, "Pretty, right? Does it look like Mengmeng? Papa, let me tell you, this tiger can even bite people. Look... Papa, this isn't Mickey Mouse. It's Donald Duck. Papa is so silly..."

"Hmph, he's really good at coaxing children!" Zhou Fei muttered with a curled lip from the doorway of the room behind them.

"You can't say things like that in front of Mengmeng anymore. She's getting along well with him now." Ziyan spoke from inside as she changed clothes.

"Sis Yan."

Zhou Fei entered the room and closed the door. In a low voice, she asked, "Why did you let that guy come up?"

Ziyan was slightly stunned before answering, "Because Mengmeng was crying so hard, I let him come up."

Mengmeng's crying might have been only part of the reason. The main reason was that Ziyan had seen everything Zhang Han had done for Mengmeng. She had seen his change and the deep fatherly love in him.

He really was doing everything he could for Mengmeng.

She hadn't expected that after only a few days of knowing her, Zhang Han would already dote on Mengmeng so much. Perhaps that was the bond of blood after all.

"Sis Yan, that won't do!" Zhou Fei said nervously. "If you let that guy spend too much time with Mengmeng, what if he takes her away? You haven't had much time left to work. You can't let him take advantage of the situation. Think about it, Sis Yan. What if he finds Mengmeng a stepmother in the future? A stepmother might not necessarily treat a child who isn't her own well!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Ziyan's gaze sharpened.

Her thoughts began running wild. An image of Mengmeng being beaten by her stepmother flashed through her mind, and she shuddered involuntarily before saying firmly:

"No! I absolutely won't allow that to happen!"

"Oh, right." Zhou Fei's eyes shifted as she said, "I have an idea that might work!"

"What idea?" Ziyan asked.

"If nothing else works, Sis Yan, you could sacrifice yourself a little and make do with that guy outside. That way, you'd both be Mengmeng's biological parents, and there'd be nothing to worry about!" Zhou Fei said, holding back a laugh.

"Stop talking nonsense."

Ziyan pushed her irritably and rolled her eyes. "I don't like that kind of stubborn idiot."

"Agreed. He's not even as good as Young Master Li." Zhou Fei nodded deeply.

"Don't say that."

Ziyan's brows drew together slightly. Deep down, she felt somewhat repulsed by a playboy like Young Master Li.

After changing into comfortable pajamas, she left the bedroom and saw Mengmeng having a wonderful time playing with Zhang Han.

She forcibly carried the Little Princess into the bedroom and changed her into pajamas. The moment she let go, Mengmeng dashed out and continued playing with Zhang Han.

Normally, the house wouldn't be noisy. In fact, the Little Princess would usually be asleep by this time. But Zhang Han's arrival had instantly brought the whole home to life.

The living room was filled with Mengmeng's bell-like childish laughter, occasionally joined by Zhang Han's hearty laughter. Even Auntie Wang, in the bedroom downstairs, could hear them.

It was already eleven-thirty at night. The Little Princess was still having fun, but Ziyan sternly ordered her to go to bed.

"Hmph! Bad Mommy, Mengmeng hasn't had enough fun yet!" the Little Princess said angrily.

Unable to do anything with Mengmeng, Ziyan simply glared at Zhang Han. Only after Zhang Han coaxed her did the Little Princess agree to go to bed—but only if Papa told her a story.

Thus, Zhang Han entered Ziyan and Mengmeng's bedroom.

Mengmeng had a small bed, while Ziyan slept in a normal-sized one. The beds were different sizes, but they shared one feature: both were covered with plenty of fluffy dolls.

It seemed Ziyan still had a girl's heart.

Zhang Han smiled faintly.

After telling Mengmeng stories for a while, she fell into a deep sleep.

Zhang Han gently tucked Mengmeng's little blanket around her, then quietly left.

As soon as he opened the door, he heard Zhou Fei speaking angrily in the living room:

"I picked out the songs and went to the production department, but they said the songs weren't good enough. They wouldn't spend so many resources and so much effort specially filming a music video, and could only make a simple, ordinary one. It made me furious! Later, I went to find that old witch. Guess what? She wouldn't even acknowledge me, and she said, 'If you're dissatisfied with the quality of the company's music videos, then spend your own money to hire a good team!' What kind of thing is that to say? Are we not artists under the company too?"

Ziyan's brows furrowed slightly as she said softly, "I'll try talking to Sis Mei tomorrow."

"Sis Yan, it won't help even if you go. You're already out of favor with that old witch, and what she said is true too. The quality of these songs really isn't good. Why don't you reconsider releasing an album?"

"If I don't release an album and keep putting it off, I won't have any opportunities either." Ziyan shook her head slightly.

She had seen through some things. The company had no intention of investing resources in her for the time being. Perhaps it was because it was difficult for a faded star to make a comeback, or perhaps Li Cheng, Young Master Li, was interfering behind the scenes. Regardless, the result was the same: Ziyan wouldn't be receiving any resources anytime soon.

Rather than continue like this, she might as well release an album outright.

Although the songs on the album were somewhat lacking in quality, it could still awaken people's memories of her. Besides, Ziyan believed that the many fans she had once possessed still adored her!

"Release an album?" Zhang Han sat on the sofa to the side and glanced at Ziyan. "Didn't you switch from being a singer to an actress? Why do you still want to release an album?"

"I haven't appeared in public for five years. I'm not what I was back then. And isn't this all thanks to you?" Ziyan shot Zhang Han a look as she spoke.

"Uh..."

Zhang Han was momentarily speechless.

This woman always sounded as if she had swallowed gunpowder whenever she spoke to him!

"The songs on your album aren't good. How about..."

Before Zhang Han could finish, Ziyan's expression turned cold. "My affairs are none of your business!"

With that, Ziyan stood and walked toward the bedroom.

She looked furious.

"Hmph, sticking your nose in where it isn't wanted. Serves you right!" Zhou Fei curled her lips, then swayed toward her bedroom.

Zhang Han frowned slightly and got up to head downstairs.

On the stairs, he muttered:

"Trying to help, only to be treated like a donkey's liver and lungs. If you weren't Mengmeng's mother, I wouldn't even bother asking about you."

Zhang Han had meant well. The course of events in this life differed slightly from that of his previous one, and some celebrities had never appeared at all. However, he knew their works by heart. He also understood music, so reproducing those songs would not have been difficult.

He had only wanted to help a little, but she clearly had no interest. Zhang Han felt there was no need to keep offering kindness where it wasn't wanted.

Ziyan, however, had no idea what Zhang Han was thinking.

She remembered the words from their previous argument very clearly. She thought the unfinished sentence he had been about to say was: How about you just retire? What's the point of being an actress on screen?

Ziyan instinctively didn't want to discuss such things with Zhang Han, and she disliked the topic as well, so she had coldly interrupted him.

Even after returning to her bedroom and sitting on the bed, Ziyan continued muttering angrily under her breath.

They were nothing more than words like, "Bastard! Stubborn idiot! Bad temper!"

Zhang Han entered the bedroom arranged for him downstairs. It was laid out like a hotel room, with a private bathroom, and the bedding and other supplies were all new. He took off his clothes, lay on the bed, and fiddled with his phone for a while before soon falling into a deep sleep.

Originally, he had not wanted to stay there. His status was rather awkward. He was not Ziyan's husband, yet he had a child with her. Under those circumstances, he felt a little uncomfortable spending the night at Ziyan's home.

But he wanted to take Mengmeng out to play the next day, so he endured the awkwardness and stayed there.

The next morning, at eight o'clock.

Wang Juan had already prepared breakfast. It was fairly simple: sweet-potato porridge that Mengmeng and Ziyan liked, a plate of six or seven boiled eggs, some packaged milk-flavored steamed buns bought from the supermarket, and a little pickled vegetable.

Zhang Han sat casually watching television in the first-floor living room. He had gotten up a little after six, but there had not been the slightest sound from upstairs. It was not until eight that the two adults and Mengmeng came downstairs, still groggy with sleep.

"Papa!"

Mengmeng ran and skipped over, leaping into Zhang Han's arms with a blissful expression.

This was the first time she had ever woken up to see Papa and Mommy together.

"Oh my, what a little traitor. Ever since you met that guy, you don't even love Auntie Feifei anymore. Tsk, tsk." Zhou Fei's face was full of jealousy.