Something wasn't right here.
Bai Ci thought.
She was a bit confused. How had the conversation suddenly taken this turn? Wasn't this plot progression getting a little too absurd?
Suppose you were a normal person. You were pregnant, but it wasn't by choice. You were a victim, and the thing inside your belly might not even be human.
If a stranger overheard you discussing this with your friend and learned your secret, what would you do?
Setting aside extreme measures like silencing them forever or destroying the evidence...
You would at least have to say something—either try to cover it up, or beg or threaten them to keep quiet.
Yet Shen Tan did none of those things.
Relying solely on a faint trace of perfume, she had accurately pinpointed the hiding spot and dragged the person out.
And then, she had immediately asked that person to act as a judge, deciding whether she should keep the anomalous entity in her womb.
Bai Ci's gaze fell on Shen Tan.
The young woman was still wearing that loose, flowing, pure white gown. Its design was baggy, blurring her waistline and wrapping her body tightly from head to toe, leaving absolutely no curves visible.
It was precisely this dress that perfectly concealed her figure. If Bai Ci hadn't just overheard their conversation, she wouldn't have had the slightest clue that Shen Tan was pregnant.
And it wasn't just Shen Tan; there was also Shen Jiayi.
She had actually accepted Shen Tan's bizarre behavior so calmly and was seriously going along with it.
Was the mental logic of these two women really within the realm of sanity?
Their extraordinarily strong psychological fortitude and unconventional way of handling things left Bai Ci temporarily speechless.
Noticing that both of them had their eyes fixed on her, waiting for her to speak and pass judgment, Bai Ci knew she couldn't remain silent anymore.
As for what to say... Bai Ci thought about it. To avoid causing complications or being dragged down their rabbit hole, she decided to just answer honestly.
“I was only hiding for a brief moment and didn't hear much, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to make a definitive judgment. Because of that, my answer is based purely on common sense.”
First, Bai Ci laid out her disclaimer.
“Generally speaking, if this child is not something you actively chose to conceive, the safest and most sensible choice is to let it go.”
“Setting aside the fact that this child might not even be human, carrying it to term could cause irreversible damage to your body.”
“After all, even when normal people carry ordinary human babies, the mother's body can still suffer long-term health issues. That's even more true for something that isn't human.”
She had said 'setting aside,' but she had actually summarized it all anyway. It was just that she lacked deep knowledge in this area, so she couldn't go into detail.
“Just its origin alone would constantly remind you of that painful past. It would be a living shadow, hanging over you forever, and you might never be able to move past it.”
“Secondly, raising a child on your own as a single mother is incredibly difficult. Gossip and rumors alone can crush a person.”
“On top of that, there are all kinds of financial expenses like food, clothing, education, and so on. Carrying that burden all by yourself would be extremely heavy.”
Bai Ci laid out all the difficulties she knew a single mother might face right in front of Shen Tan.
To put it bluntly, for a single mother, having a child was all drawbacks and zero benefits.
The moment Bai Ci finished speaking, the veiled Shen Tan tilted her head slightly and murmured weakly, “My perfume is worth a lot of money.”
Bai Ci choked on her words, a lump forming in her throat. A profound sense of helplessness washed over her.
Fine.
The financial hurdle was instantly cleared.
Composing herself, she patiently continued.
“Fine, you're entirely self-sufficient financially and don't need to worry about money. But what about how other people look at you?”
“People gossiping and pointing fingers at you will take a heavy toll on your mental health over time. No one is completely immune to the opinions of others.”
“I don't care what others say,” Shen Tan interrupted flatly once again. “Why should I care about the opinions of irrelevant people? Their gossip doesn't affect my life.”
How to put it... in any other context, Bai Ci would have admired Shen Tan's clear-headed attitude toward life.
But in this current situation, it just felt like a frustrating exercise in futility.
“It's fine if you ignore the bad things people say. Listening to that garbage is pointless anyway and only ruins your mood.”
“But you won't listen to good advice either. You're seriously stubborn,” Shen Jiayi chimed in, bluntly threatening, “Shen Tan, sooner or later, I won't be able to stop myself from slapping you in public.”
Bai Ci was amused by their back-and-forth bickering. A helpless smile tugged at the corner of her lips, feeling as though all the emotional groundwork she had carefully laid down had gone down the drain.
Letting her smile fade, she looked back at Shen Tan, adopting a completely different angle and speaking seriously. “Alright, let's say you truly don't care about money or rumors. Let's look at this from the child's perspective.”
“What child doesn't yearn for a complete, loving family where affection goes both ways? What child doesn't need both parents to grow up alongside them?”
“If you raise a child alone, no matter how much love you give, there will still be emotional gaps. Lacking a father's presence, the child will very likely grow up insecure and sensitive. When they grow up, they might think, ‘I'm not happy at all. I wish I was never born.’ What will you do then?”
“So for the child's peace and happiness, and to save yourself a lot of trouble, it really is best not to let it be born.”
Honestly, Bai Ci didn't even know what nonsense she was spouting anymore.
She had been so derailed by their interruptions that when she mentally reviewed what she had just said, even she found her own logic absurd.
What kind of argument was 'for the sake of the child's happiness, it's better if they aren't born'?
Fewer, better births, a happy life?
If she posted this kind of argument online, Bai Ci felt her inbox would probably blow up. Yet here she was, saying it out loud so casually.
What made Bai Ci's scalp tingle even more was that Shen Tan actually seemed to be pondering her words quite seriously.
The distance between them was very close—less than an elbow's length. Shen Tan was sitting in a spot facing the light.
The sunlight filtered through the mesh of her veil, illuminating her face and clearly revealing her downcast eyes.
It wasn't just a facade. Shen Tan was genuinely analyzing and breaking down Bai Ci's flawed logic, rather than just brushing it off.
A few seconds later, Shen Tan slowly raised her eyes. Through the hazy veil, her voice sounded firm and in agreement. “You're right. A child without a father won't be happy.”
Just as Bai Ci let out a quiet sigh of relief, thinking she had at least made some headway, Shen Tan's tone shifted, bringing back that same bizarre logic.
“But I will never accept that thing as the child's father.”
“So, to ensure my child has a proper family and a lifetime of happiness... I'll just find a suitable person to be his father.”
Even after all this, Shen Tan was still determined to keep the child.
This made Bai Ci suspect that Shen Jiayi's earlier remark might have accidentally hit the nail on the head. To ensure its own survival, the child was actively influencing its mother's mental state.
Rate on N.U.
