Back in Luoping...
"Happy birthday to you!"
As Xiaoyun and his wives finish singing the song together, Lily quickly leans forward before blowing out the candles.
"Cake! Cake!"
The babies cheered as they tried to reach it with their hands, only to have their mothers hold them back in their arms.
"Be patient... Lily, you don't want to make a wish?" Nami curiously asked as she gently flicked on Qiaolan's ear.
"My wish already came true."
The kitchen fell into silence as everyone turned towards Xiaoyun before looking back to Lily, who was looking him in the eyes.
"Ahem, let's cut the cake. Lily, you want me to cut the cake for you?" Xiaoyun asked as he reached over to the cake knife.
"I-I want to cut the cake with you."
"No problem."
As Xiaoyun moved all the way behind Lily, she was given the knife before his hands wrapped around hers.
With a clean two cut, the first slice of the cake was out onto a plate as they handed it over to Leyan.
"Mom, you can have the first slice," Lily said softly.
"Aw, thank you."
After cutting the first slice, the two of them paused for a second before cutting a smaller one next.
"Here's yours, Nami."
"Why is mine so much smaller?" Nami questioned as she gently put Qiaolan into a baby chair.
"We just realized we wouldn't have enough if we cut it normally," Xiaoyun explained, with Lily nodding in agreement.
"How did you both coordinate that without even talking?" Wuli curiously asked as the two of them cut the next slice for Shuli.
"Just by looking."
As more and more cake gets sliced up into different plates, everyone soon got a slice for themsleve, even the babies got a very small slice to have a little taste.
The only one that didn't get a slice was Xiaoyun, who purposely chose to leave his slice of cake over to Lily's plate.
"Xiaoyun, you don't want one?" Lily curiously asked.
"I can't really eat chocolate... Don't worry about me. You guys can enjoy it."
Seeing Xiaoyun just standing there empty-handed, Lily quickly turned over to Leyan, who shrugged her shoulders as a response.
"His taste bud is weird. There's nothing you can do to convince him to eat chocolate," Leyan explained.
"Really? He actually dislikes chocolate?"
Kate looked genuinely surprised as she couldn't believe someone who stood in front of him hating chocolate.
"Yeah, what about it? You got a problem with that?"
"I mean, it's just weird seeing you drink black coffee every day but have an issue with chocolate."
"I like the bitter taste to keep myself awake. Chocolate just tastes way too bitter for me." Xiaoyun explained.
"Should have told me that... I would have asked Mom to get a different one." Lily shyly murmured, eating her face with a hint of disappointment.
"I know you always wanted chocolate cake. Don't change something just because I like it, okay?"
As Xiaoyun gently patted Lily on the head, she looked much more cheerful as she quickly finished up her slice.
"Okay, now that the birthday is over... Let's all take a seat and talk about something very important."
Seeing Leyan's face suddenly getting all serious, everyone was a little caught off guard as she carried the remaining of the cake box into the trash.
"Lily, now you're an adult, I know it's tempting to have sex with Xiaoyun right away. But you're not allowed to do that yet."
"What?"
Lily was in complete shock as she couldn't believe what had just come out of Leyan's mouth.
"She isn't officially married to Xiaoyun yet, and she has to wait two years before she can marry him."
"Why three years?" Anna asked in confusion.
"Because the law says marriage only happens at 20 for women and 22 for men. I'm not the one who makes the rule." Leyan explained.
"B-But how did sister Nami marry Xiaoyun? She was only 18 when she married him." Lily immediately argued back.
"That was a mistake——"
"Mom, why are we suddenly it? Didn't we literally talk about this before? Why are you going back on your words?"
Nami interrupted, her face not looking happy a single bit as she couldn't believe Leyan describing her marriage as a mistake.
"Mom's right. I mean, not the mistake part. But Lily really should wait for a bit before marrying XIaoyun."
"Yueyue? Why are you against Lily?" Nami questioned.
"I'm just saying what's on my mind. I think you two should really hold off. You know, it's just two years."
Seeing both Leyan and Yueyue now against Lily, Nami immediately realized something was off as she looked over to Yuqi for help.
"The law is the law... Mom is right as in the marriage between Nami and Xiaoyun should be nullfied.
But she's allowed to be grandfathered in since we didn't enforce it in the past... I think Mom is right in letting Lily wait."
"You can just change it... Xiaoyun, say something. Why are you just sitting there?" Nami questioned, her voice starting to sound more and more worried.
"Yuqi, Leyan, why are you two talking about marriage law all of a sudden?" Xiaoyun asked, his face remaining calm.
"Because people are watching. We have a reputation to uphold." Leyan replied before Yuqi could answer.
"Reputation, you say... Then what does that make our relationship? Half of the town knows we're silbing."
"Adopted silbing. They don't know we're real siblings." Yuqi immediately argued back, rejecting Xiaoyun's answer.
"So we only care about appearances, not actual laws... But then why do you all willingly participate in polygamy?"
Both Leyan and Yuqi fell into silence, but Yueyue spoke up to fill in the gap.
"You're the governor. You're an outlier."
"Then why not allow Lily into the outlier? What differences does it make for me to have another wife?"
"I-It's just not okay. I don't agree with it, no matter what."
As Leyan refused to be reasonable with both Yuqi and Yueyue, they chose to remain on her side with no further explanation.
"Wuli, Shuli, what do you two think?" Xiaoyun asked as he turned towards the two of them who had just been sitting there.
"Um... I-I don't know." Wuli answered, not wanting to pick a side.
"I think Leyan is right. Lily, can you just wait two years? Or at least just another year at the very least?" Shuli asked softly.
"I..."
"Ahem, I changed my mind. Leyan is right. I can definitely see the two of you being together, maybe in a year or two."
Seeing the tension starting to overpressure Lily as Wuli switched sides, Nami quickly turned over to Kate and Anna.
"Kate, Anna, shouldn't Lily have the liberty to marry the person she loves as an adult?"
"I got no problem with that. You guys have some stupid marriage law... Can't believe people have to be 20 and 22." Kate commented.
"Yeah. I don't see why it needs to be so high up, especially when people don't even know when they are going to die next."
With two people on their side, Nami finally regained some confidence. But the cards were still stacked against them.
"Tianci, what do you think?"
"I... I don't know——"
Before Tianci could finish talking, her pupil suddenly changed to blood-red as her alternate self took over.
"I hate you guys' twist and turns. Can none of you just be straightforward with it? It's so obvious why Leyan is saying this——"
Once again, before Tianci could finish, her pupils quickly changed back to normal as she covered her mouth and her hands.
"What is Leyan saying?" Xiaoyun curiously asked.
As everyone looked towards Leyan in silence, she let out a small sigh before finally confessing why she had changed her mind.
"Her body is way too young. Here, are you happy with the answer now?"
Lily's face immediately started to blush, looking down to the floor as the disappointed look was instantly replaced by embrassment.
All of Xiaoyun's wives who sided with Nami earlier soon realized what Leyan was talking about as well.
"Huh... That's the reason? Just because her body is too small compared to mine?" Xiaoyun questioned.
"Yes. Just look at your cock size compared to hers. You're going to break her if you dare to try anything at all."
This time, he didn't speak up again, unable to argue back as he had personally witnessed Lily's size down below himself.
"I-It's not that small."
Nami nervously argued back, her voice starting to sound a little desperate as even Lily seemed to have given up trying to fight back.
"Nami, tell me with a straight face. If it wasn't for Xiaoyun being so careful with you, do you really think you would have gotten used to his size?"
"B-But——"
"There is no but. The two of us both know it. Lily's size is even smaller than yours. There is no way her body is mature enough for sex yet."
The entire table fell into silence until Tianci suddenly raised her hand and spoke up.
"Can she really be smaller than me?"