The baby-making system is unreliable

In late spring of that year, beneath the willows, the green shade was like a woven tapestry, and the water was shrouded in mist. The branches drooped like silk, and the new leaves, with their jade-like hue, gently touched the ground in the breeze, stirring up wisps of fine dust.

Today, the Ye Family Chamber of Commerce is filled with the fragrance of sandalwood, and wisps of pale gray smoke rise from the celadon incense burner, winding around the carved beams and painted rafters.

The hall was furnished in an antique style, with portraits of past family heads hanging on the four walls. Their gazes were calm, as if they had traveled through a hundred years, and were staring at the nineteen-year-old Ye Yiming, who was sitting in the main seat at the moment.

He leaned back on the ancestral carved nanmu chair, the back of which was engraved with soaring dragons and auspicious clouds, symbolizing the prestige and inheritance of the Ye family's century-old business tradition.

He wore a moon-white brocade robe with dark gold cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs. His fingertips gently caressed the edge of the teacup, and his eyebrows and eyes were filled with a dazzling light. He seemed to be smiling but not smiling, and he seemed to be tired but not tired.

Those eyes were deep black and piercingly bright, as if they could see right through people's hearts.

"I wonder where Father and Mother have gone?!" he suddenly whispered, his voice not loud, but like a thunderclap in the silent hall. "To entrust such a large Ye family to me, to let me deal with those old merchants... Ha, they really think highly of me."

Before he finished speaking, a series of light footsteps came from outside the hall, like the wind rustling through the bamboo forest.

Nineteen-year-old Ye Yizhuo walked in slowly, his dark blue robe hanging down like ink, the hem fluttering lightly, as if he were coming with the night.

He had a handsome face and exquisite features, yet he always carried a sense of aloofness and calmness, like a deep pool with a calm surface but turbulent undercurrents within.

He stood quietly beside his elder brother, gazing down at Ye Yiming's spirited eyebrows and commanding demeanor, a slight stirring in his heart.

In that instant, he seemed to see the shadow of his father in his youth, the head of the Ye family who once used a single contract to repel the merchant alliance of three provinces.

But the person before him was his blood brother, sharper and more dangerous than his father.

"Brother!" Ye Yizhuo finally spoke, his voice clear and gentle as a spring, "Don't you still have me to help you? With us brothers joining forces, what is there to be afraid of?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Yiming chuckled softly, glanced at him, and a hint of doting affection, mixed with a touch of helplessness, flashed in his eyes. He picked up the celadon teacup beside him, gently blew on it, and the tea rippled slightly, reflecting his handsome but slightly tired face.

"You?!" He raised an eyebrow, his tone suddenly becoming stern. "You'd be lucky if you didn't cause me any trouble! Don't think I don't know who you've been messing with outside?"

Ye Yizhuo was taken aback, then his lips curled up into a simple smile, as if his secret had been exposed, yet he was unwilling to deny it: "Brother... I do, do like her a little."

When the word "she" was uttered, the entire hall seemed to fall silent for a moment.

Liu Yuewei is the eldest daughter of the Liu family and the most talented woman in Jiangnan. She is proficient in all the arts, including music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. What is even more remarkable is that, despite being born into a merchant family, she never indulges in worldly affairs.

Ye Yiming looked at his younger brother with a complicated expression. Of course, he knew Liu Yuewei, and he also knew about that rainy night.

On the fifteenth of last month, a light drizzle fell. Ye Yizhuo braved the rain to go to the "Listening to the Rain Pavilion" in the west of the city, just to hear her play a piece called "Three Variations on Plum Blossom".

"Brother, do not worry, I have a plan."

"You've made up your mind?" Ye Yiming asked calmly, a slight smile playing on his lips. "In that case, if you can get Miss Liu to agree, then I won't stop you."

Ye Yizhuo lowered his eyes, his fingertips tightening slightly, and thought seriously for a long time: "Brother, I'm not a child anymore. I like Liu Yuewei, but I also know what's important. I want to try!"

Ye Yiming fell silent. He gazed at his younger brother and suddenly realized that this boy, whom he had always regarded as an "immature little brother," had grown into a man capable of standing on his own.

Those eyes no longer held only youthful spirit, but also a touch of composure and decisiveness.

"Do you know," he said slowly, silently acknowledging his younger brother, "that Miss Liu is willing to marry you?"

“Then I’ll fight for it, fight until she agrees!” Ye Yizhuo raised his eyes, his gaze sharp as a sword. “Just like you fought for the future of the Ye family, brother.”

Outside the hall, a gust of wind blew, causing the copper bells under the eaves to tinkle. Sunlight slanted in, falling on the two brothers, one bright and one dark, yet both as sharp as blades.

Ye Yiming finally smiled. He put down his teacup, stood up, walked to his younger brother, and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright. Since you have this intention, I will give you a chance."

Ye Yizhuo bowed deeply: "Brother, rest assured, Yizhuo will not fail your trust."

Three months later

In the stillness of the night, Ye Yizhuo sat alone in the small building of the academy, the moonlight outside the window as clear as water. He held a scroll of the "Classic of Music" in his hand, but did not turn a single page for a long time.

On the table lay a plain sheet of paper with only two words written on it: "Moonlight".

He gently stroked the paper, as if he could feel its warmth. He remembered that night in the Listening to the Rain Pavilion, she was dressed in plain clothes, her fingertips lightly plucking the strings of the zither, the music like snow falling into a cold pool, clear and aloof.

She looked up at him once, and in that one glance, he knew that he would never be able to turn back in this lifetime.

“Do you know,” he murmured to himself, “that I did not go to see you just for the sake of the Ye family. In my entire life, I, Ye Yizhuo, have never longed for anyone so much.”

Meanwhile, in the Liu residence south of the city, in the embroidered chamber, Liu Yuewei was applying makeup in front of a bronze mirror. She wore a light pink ruqun (a type of traditional Chinese dress), and a white jade plum blossom hairpin adorned her hair, making her look as beautiful as a painting.

The maid asked softly, "Miss, is the second young master of the Ye family really as dashing and unrestrained as the rumors say?"

Liu Yuewei's fingertips paused slightly, the pen tip trembled, but a very faint smile appeared on her brows: "If he were just a playboy, why would he have braved the rain to listen to me play the entire 'Guangling San'?"

She gently closed her makeup box, gazing at the bright moon outside the window: "I want to marry him! I love him and want to spend the rest of my life with him!"

In July of that year, the second young master of the Ye family and the young lady of the Liu family got married, causing a series of excitements in Haicheng.

Yun Xinrou and Ye Qianyao also chose to return at this time to witness the children's happiness.

A cool breeze blew across the sea, carrying a faint scent of the sea and the fragrance of unknown wildflowers, gently brushing against the ends of Yun Xinrou's hair that fell to her waist.

"Madam, shall we set off again?! I can't wait any longer!" Ye Qianyao turned to the side, looking at the distant sunset, and sighed softly, as if a sigh condensed into a thin mist in his throat.

The sea breeze, carrying a salty scent, brushed against his neck, but he was completely unaware, his fingertips unconsciously rubbing the hem of his clothes.

"Alright, alright! I knew you were anxious, let's go out to sea!" Yun Xinrou smiled and took his hand, leaning against his strong chest.

The sea breeze suddenly intensified, lifting the hem of Yun Xinrou's shirt, but it couldn't dispel the warmth of their intertwined embrace.

The setting sun cast its last rays upon the sea, the shimmering waves shattering into gold leaf at their feet before quietly disappearing with the surging waves.