Chapter 482: Bizarre Request

"What did you say?" Qin Wenze thought he must have misheard.

Gao Lan stared him in the eye and repeated what she had just said.

"I want to adopt my nephew. The Qin family owes me a child. Since I can no longer have children, I can’t be left with no one to depend on."

Qin Wenze found it difficult to process the news.

He thought Gao Lan had gone mad.

So, he tried to reason with her. "Qin Yue and Qiaoqiao are the ones you can rely on—"

But Gao Lan was in no mood to listen.

"They’re the ones *you* can rely on, not me. No matter how good a stepmother I am, they will never truly be on my side. Besides, all I want now is a child who is related to me by blood."

Her older brother’s child was her biological nephew—that counted as a blood tie.

"Rest assured, if you agree to this, then I’ll drop the matter of Qin Yue running into me. From now on, I’ll treat both him and his sister as my own children."

Qin Wenze stared at her. It was a long moment before he finally spoke. "Gao Lan, no. I don’t agree—"

’I already have two children, why would I adopt another one?’

’And my brother-in-law’s son, no less.’

"If you don’t agree, then I don’t want to live anymore. Since I can’t have children, there’s no point in living anyway."

Gao Lan’s words made Qin Wenze’s expression turn thunderous.

He took a deep breath and then compromised, "If you really want to adopt a child, then let’s adopt someone else’s. But your brother’s child is out of the question."

Gao Lan stared at him in disbelief.

"Why not? Are you looking down on my brother?"

Qin Wenze frowned.

"I’m not looking down on him. Your brother has two sons. They have no reason to give one to us. Aren’t you just tearing their family apart? Besides, if we get relatives involved like this, will our home ever be peaceful again?"

"My brother, my sister-in-law, and my parents have all agreed to it. Besides, I only want to raise a child who’s related to me by blood. Otherwise, I’ll never feel secure."

Gao Lan’s eyes grew red. "You have your own son and daughter. After what’s happened to me... don’t I deserve to adopt a child who can make me feel secure?"

Qin Wenze looked at her, his voice much calmer. "We could adopt a newborn—"

"No. I’m adopting my brother’s son. I’ll give you one day to think about it. If you don’t agree, you can come collect my body tomorrow!"

Qin Wenze looked at her unyielding expression.

His head was pounding.

He simply walked out of the ward, left the hospital, and went home.

When Mrs. Qin saw him return, she asked, "Why are you back? And with that look on your face—has Doctor Xie been by?"

Just yesterday, her eldest son had told her that Doctor Xie would be examining Gao Lan today.

"Doctor Xie came. The diagnosis is the same as before. Oh, Mom... Gao Lan—"

Seeing his expression, Mrs. Qin was suddenly overcome with a very bad feeling.

"What did Gao Lan say?"

"—Gao Lan said she wants to adopt her older brother’s younger son."

The moment Qin Wenze said this, he stunned not only Mrs. Qin but also the other two Qin family elders present.

They had never imagined Gao Lan would make such a demand.

Mrs. Qin was truly speechless.

She didn’t even know what to say about the matter.

"Qin Wenze, first of all, the Qin family has wronged her. We failed to protect her properly while she was pregnant. However, that doesn’t mean all the blame can be pushed onto your son."

"Qin Yue didn’t do it on purpose."