The mysterious CEO's endless pampering

Li Shengtian thought that Li Xintong was no longer a child and had such a strong sense of self-esteem, so he didn't say anything more to her. After all, the focus of the whole family was Shen Yanran and Lin Ruoqi.

"Come, Ruoqi, and Yanran, try the blackfish soup that Grandpa specially made for you two. It's very nutritious and good for replenishing protein." As Li Shengtian spoke, he instructed the butler Han, who was serving him, to serve two bowls of fish soup over.

Shen Yanran thought it smelled delicious and said, "Thank you, Grandpa."

Lin Ruoqi seemed to be thinking about something while drinking the fish soup.

She subconsciously glanced at Shen Yanran's slightly protruding belly. She was really lucky; she got pregnant with twins so easily, while she had gone through a lot of pain, taking medicine and injections, almost collapsing from the pain, before she finally got pregnant with just one child.

If it were a boy, she would definitely gain status in the Li family by having a son, but if it were a girl, wouldn't she have to suffer Jiang Meiling's torment all over again?

Should she ask someone to find some folk remedy for conceiving a child?

While Lin Ruoqi was lost in thought, Jiang Meiling suddenly asked in a serious tone, "Besides finding out you're having twins at your prenatal checkup today, do you know the sex of the babies? Are they boys?"

Sun Mingyan glared at her with displeasure and said, "Meiling, what are you doing? Why are you bringing up the child's gender out of the blue? Whether it's a boy or a girl, aren't they all children of the Li family?"

Jiang Meiling immediately shook her head and denied it, saying, "Mom, you're wrong about that. Boys and girls are different. Boys will inherit our Li family business and be the pillars of our Li family. As for girls, they will get married sooner or later. As the saying goes, a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup, and she can no longer be considered a member of our Li family."

Shen Yanran put down the fish soup in her hand and asked indifferently, "So you mean that once Li Xintong gets married, you'll just ignore her?"

Jiang Meiling immediately denied it, saying, "How could that be? Tongtong is my biological daughter. No matter who she marries, our Li family will never abandon her."

A chill ran through Shen Yanran's eyes. "Li Xintong is your biological daughter, you can't just abandon her. Does that mean the daughter I give birth to in the future won't be your granddaughter? Isn't that a bit unfair?"

Jiang Meiling scoffed twice and said disdainfully, "Fairness? You have the nerve to talk to me about fairness? Wait until you give birth to a son before you talk to me about fairness!"

Sun Mingyan couldn't listen anymore. "Jiang Meiling, that's enough! You're clearly a woman yourself, and you've received higher education, so how can you have such a serious preference for sons over daughters?"

"Mom, this isn't about favoring boys over girls, it's the truth. Otherwise, look at Haicheng and even the whole world, which wealthy and powerful family doesn't have men in charge? I'm saying this for the sake of the Li family's future!" Jiang Meiling said with an air of righteous indignation.

“I don’t know what the future of the Li family will be like. I only know that whether a child is a boy or a girl is not determined by the woman, but by the man’s chromosomes. So I hope you can read more books when you have time, it will help you cultivate your character.” After Shen Yanran finished speaking without changing her expression, she wiped her mouth and looked at Sun Mingyan and Li Shengtian apologetically, saying, “Excuse me, everyone, I’m full. Please enjoy your meal. I’ll go upstairs to rest now.”

As soon as Shen Yanran got up, Li Zhanting got up and left with her.

Jiang Meiling's face darkened instantly. What did Shen Yanran mean by what she just said? Was she implying that she was uncultured?

Just as he was about to call out to Shen Yanran and give her a good scolding, he heard Sun Mingyan, the doctor across the table, slam her chopsticks down on the side of the table. "You, you really are something. What can I say to you? I'm not eating anymore."

As the head of the family, Li Shengtian didn't want to argue with his daughter-in-law, but some of the things she had just said were indeed a bit harsh. He said in a low voice, "Meiling, you don't need to worry about the future of the Li family. You must remember that you are just Zhongnan's wife. It's not your place to make the decisions in this family."

As if realizing something, Jiang Meiling quickly explained, "No, Dad, I meant well, please don't misunderstand."

Li Shengtian rolled his eyes at her impatiently and said, "What I fear most is that you mean well but end up doing bad things. Alright, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm full. You guys can eat slowly."

With Li Shengtian and Sun Mingyan leaving their seats, the remaining people felt it inappropriate to continue eating and put down their chopsticks.

Looking at his somewhat impatient mother, Li Yanchen couldn't help but sigh, "Mom, why do you have to do this? Why bring up such things when Grandpa and Grandma are so happy?"

Jiang Meiling said matter-of-factly, "If I don't say it now, when will I? Do you expect me to wait until Shen Yanran gives birth? Will that be too late? She's so weak, and it's twins. What if she has a difficult delivery and can't have children in the future? Your brother won't divorce her. Do you want our Li family line to end? Don't forget how much those people from the Li family pressured your father when you were in a coma after your car accident. It was your brother who turned the tide and suppressed them! If it were your sister, do you think she would have the same ability?"

Li Xintong immediately protested, "Mom, what's going on? Why am I being dragged into this just because I'm eating a meal?!"

Li Xintong's silence only fueled Jiang Meiling's anger. "How dare you say that? What have you been doing these past few days? I've called you so many times and you haven't come home. Are you trying to rebel?"

Li Xintong said reluctantly, "I already told you I'm going to my friend's house for a few days and I won't be coming back, why are you always rushing me!"

"Why did I urge you? I've arranged so many blind dates for you, and you haven't gone to even one of them."

“I’m not going. What era are we living in? We’re still going on blind dates. Besides, I’ve told you so many times that I have someone I like and I don’t want to go on blind dates.”

"Then why don't you bring the person you like home to meet us? Why haven't you come over yet after all this time?"

"He's busy with work, he doesn't have time, okay? It's so annoying." Li Xintong really didn't want to listen to Jiang Meiling's nagging anymore, so she ran upstairs after saying that.

"Li Xintong, stop right there! I haven't finished speaking yet!" Jiang Meiling pointed at Li Xintong's back and was about to chase after her.

Li Yanchen stepped in and blocked her way, saying, "Alright, Mom, Tongtong is a girl. If you arrange blind dates for her, she won't be able to handle it. Besides, she's only twenty years old. She should be enjoying herself. She shouldn't get married so early."

Jiang Meiling stubbornly insisted, "What's wrong with being twenty? Twenty is the legal marriage age. Back then, your mother was already pregnant with you at this age."

Li Yanchen tried his best to persuade her patiently: "Mom, times have changed. Nowadays, it's not just twenty-year-old women who don't get married, but even forty-year-olds and fifty-year-olds don't get married. You really should change your mindset."

Jiang Meiling said dismissively, "I think I'm fine the way I am, there's nothing to change. Oh, right, I haven't mentioned you yet. Your wife is pregnant now, and she has to have a boy. Anyway, there has to be a boy among the children of the Li family. Your father and I have already discussed it. When the child is born, as long as it's a boy, we will give him half of our shares. Even if you don't think about yourself, you have to think about your child's future. Am I right, Ruoqi?"

Lin Ruoqi nodded in agreement and said, "Yes, Mom is right. You can rest assured about this. The baby in my belly is conceived through IVF, which allows for gender selection. This one is definitely a boy, and it will not disappoint you."

Jiang Meiling finally nodded in satisfaction, "Okay, I'll be waiting for your good news."

Li Yanchen disagreed with Lin Ruoqi's idea, "Qiqi, how can you be so sure to your mother that you are having a boy? When we did IVF, didn't we say that as long as we could get pregnant, it didn't matter if it was a boy or a girl?"

Lin Ruoqi really didn't know whether she was carrying a boy or a girl. "Yanchen, what if Mom gets angry with me again if I don't say it?"

Li Yanchen immediately felt guilty. If he hadn't become disabled because of the car accident, his wife wouldn't have suffered so much injustice in this family. "I'm sorry, it's my fault for making you suffer."

"It's okay, Yanchen, I don't blame you. Besides, I have a feeling that the baby we're having is really a boy," Lin Ruoqi said melodiously, touching her belly.

Even if God is truly blind and she's so unlucky as to have a girl, she still has a way to turn her into a boy!

Upstairs, in Li Zhanting's room.

Perhaps because of her pregnancy, Shen Yanran's nose became unusually sensitive. As soon as she entered the room, she smelled a perfume scent that she didn't like, and it seemed like she had smelled it somewhere before.

The smell became even stronger when I got to the bedside.

When Li Zhanting saw Shen Yanran standing motionless by the bed with her nose wrinkled, he assumed the bed was dirty. But when he went over, he saw nothing and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong with the bed, wife?"

Shen Yanran sniffed the air and then said with certainty, "This bed has been slept in by other women."

"?" Li Zhanting instantly drew a big question mark in his mind.

He has slept in this room by himself since he was a child. Apart from the servants cleaning the room regularly, no woman would dare to sleep in his bed.

Shen Yanran pointed to the most obvious scent on the pillow and said, "If you don't believe me, smell it. It smells like a woman's perfume, and I never wear perfume."

Li Zhanting bent down slightly and took a closer sniff. He could indeed smell a faint scent of roses. Among the women he knew, only Lin Ruoqi wore this scent of perfume.

Li Zhanting's gaze instantly turned sinister and terrifying, "Lin Ruoqi, that disgusting woman!"