156: clear

“I know all of this happened... too fast.”

Hain only pleaded with her.

“Please don't accept Kong Jiamu's proposal, okay? Give me a chance to handle all of this.”

Tu Nan pulled his hand away.

“No.” She was firm. “I can handle it myself.”

If a decision needed to be made, it had to be made by her alone.

On this point, she would absolutely not yield.

Despite his anxiety, Hain gritted his teeth and agreed to Tu Nan's request.

He had no standing to refuse.

“I'm staying at a nearby hotel. I'll wait for you.”

He desperately wanted to ask to stay with Tu Nan, but he held back.

Nor could he continue to stay at Kong Jiamu's house.

Hain left.

Tu Nan didn't see him off; instead, she dragged Lance, who was still lingering in bed, out from under the covers.

***

“The reproductive characteristics of Cat Beastkin?”

Lance wasn't sure what Tu Nan was asking; the scope was too broad.

“Fertility...?” Otherwise, why would there be so many cats among the Foster Mothers.

Tu Nan actually had an incredible thought in her heart. In her previous life, she knew a little about cats as national pets, and vaguely remembered a shocking characteristic they possessed.

This was one of the reasons why she immediately shut up after the System spoke and didn't tell Hain about her calculations.

“I mean, do Cat Beastkin experience 'Heteropaternal Superfecundation'?” The fact that she could articulate the term so precisely was because that piece of knowledge had completely shattered her worldview once before.

Although it was the first time she had heard such a term, Lance immediately understood.

“You've coined an amazing term.”

Lance commented on this first. As a research-oriented professional, she was interested in any vocabulary that could accurately categorize and name a specific symptom.

“Oh, so you mean the situation where a Cat Beastkin mates with different Male Beasts and gives birth to Children with different fathers? Theoretically, it's possible, because Cat Beastkin are induced ovulators, so as long as it's within the same ovulation period...”

She chuckled and made a gesture everyone understood.

“Then it's possible to give birth to a litter of cubs of different species, hahahaha, Ao Ao and Miao Miao sound exactly like this situation.”

She was suddenly stunned.

“No way...”

“No.” Tu Nan stopped her from speculating. “Their father is a Chaotic Beast.”

“Oh, oh, oh, you mentioned that, sorry, hahahaha.” Lance scratched her short hair.

“This situation only exists theoretically. First, the person must be a Cat Beastkin, capable of giving birth to more than Two Children in one litter... and also capable of sleeping with more than two Male Beasts.”

“Wow!” Lance joked playfully, “What, is your heart getting wilder, and you want to bet on this probability? Listen to me—the probability of winning the entire Interstellar Grand Lottery might even be higher than this.”

But Tu Nan had a 90% probability of conceiving twins.

She was, indeed, a Cat Beastkin, and she had... already slept with two Male Beasts within the same ovulation period.

Calculating everything, the probability was terrifyingly high.

“Lance.”

Tu Nan suddenly raised her voice, startling Lance, who was still rambling on about lottery probabilities.

“Can you contact a reliable place that can test the... species of the Children in early pregnancy?”

“Gah?” Her voice cracked, and Lance's jaw nearly dropped.

“You... why are you testing this!!”

She stared at Tu Nan in disbelief, quickly reviewed the Male Beasts around her, swallowed, and cautiously raised her hand.

“When did you sleep with Hain?”

Bullseye. Even muddled Lance possessed such keen intuition.

She protested, “Last time you said you hadn't gotten him.”

“It was an accident... I just found out too.” Tu Nan pushed Lance, who was leaning into her face, away, not planning to share further details.

She wiped her face. “In short, that's the situation. Hain came to propose.”

He didn't say the words, but that was the gist of it, and Tu Nan was certain she hadn't misunderstood.

“Wuwuwu, Hain is acceptable. Mama approves of this marriage.” Lance had completely defected.

Tu Nan sighed.

Seeing a leopard through a spot, the fact that Lance, this Man-Hating Weirdo, approved of Hain showed just how good his reputation was.

“Kong Jiamu also proposed, yesterday.” Yes, Kong Jiamu being so serious was also unexpected.

“Burn him! Dream on!” Lance completely opposed it. “Forget that Peacock. Just sleep with him and leave it at that. Why are you hesitating?”

Tu Nan wasn't hesitating.

She hadn't considered marrying either of them.

This was a strange kind of mental fastidiousness; she felt sleeping around was fine, but marriage was too sacred.

That truly meant a commitment. A commitment she was unable to give.

“Is there a place for testing? It absolutely must be confidential.”

First, see if things have progressed to that point, then discuss anything else.

“This kind of testing requires either a large hospital or a research institute.” Lance shook her head. “I don't have resources here on Xiuyin Star.”

“Do you mind if one more person knows...” Lance asked Tu Nan's opinion.

“The Uncle can definitely handle this kind of thing.”

“Can I trust him?” Tu Nan was actually asking Lance how much she truly trusted that Male Beast.

Lance was very certain. “Don't worry. If I could only choose three people in this world to trust, it would be Mama, you, and The Uncle.”

Fearing Tu Nan wasn't reassured, she patted her chest and promised, “I'll tell him that if the secret gets out, I'll pay for it with my life, so he'll definitely take it seriously.”

“...” Tu Nan was truly alarmed by Lance's denseness.

Did she really not realize that this level of trust had gone beyond friendship and crossed into another category?

“Please.”

***

Under Lance's coercion, Yi Xingye's efficiency was astonishing.

Late the next night, the three of them appeared at an empty private clinic.

“There's no one here, how do we do this?” Lance frowned.

Yi Xingye effortlessly switched on a machine, adjusted it, and spoke calmly.

“I came to learn during the day. I'll do it.”

He gestured for Tu Nan to lie down on the table and briefly explained the procedure.

First, he would operate the machine to confirm the number of fetuses. If it was twins, Tu Nan would be continuously supplied with anesthesia and pain relief. Then, he would operate under the visible screen, inserting a long, thin needle into Tu Nan's uterus.

To extract a small amount of amniotic fluid.

Tu Nan didn't make a sound. She lay on the examination bed.

Soon, the image appeared on the display screen.

Lance and Yi Xingye were both captivated by this rare sight.

“It really is twins...”

When Lance heard Tu Nan say that her cultivation focus at the institute was twins, she hadn't asked further.

Tu Nan wasn't a researcher; the fragmented information she heard didn't necessarily mean anything.

Perhaps she was just misled by the births of Ao Ao and Miao Miao.

But when she saw this with her own eyes, she felt that Tu Nan's early registration number at the Central Breeding Farm might indeed mean something.

Tu Nan had already had Two Children, but this was the first time she had seen Children still inside her womb.

They were so tiny, each the size of a grape, yet she could still see their hearts beating.

Displaying their vigorous vitality.

“They're so small... won't a puncture be too dangerous?”

Tu Nan wanted to give up.

Yi Xingye frowned. “It's impossible for me to fail an operation of this precision level.”

“Mhm.” Lance vouched for him. “Don't worry, it's just taking amniotic fluid. I used to force him to help me strip cell walls.”

Tu Nan lost consciousness under the effects of the anesthesia.

When she opened her eyes again, she saw Lance's face right by the pillow.

Her chin rested on the headboard; she was sitting on the floor, perfectly still.

Seeing Tu Nan open her eyes, Lance spoke in a daze, as if sleepwalking.

“Tu Nan... you won the Interstellar Grand Prize.”