Chapter 14
He admired her for coming back from that awkward encounter at the hotel at noon and eating so much as if nothing had happened.
She had been in such a mess when she had just eaten, but in the blink of an eye, she was walking around the courtyard, shaking her arms and legs like nobody's business.
A heartless talent of sorts!
Ling Yichen stayed in the study until nearly ten o'clock in the evening, when he came out.
The living room was empty and there was no one there.
He went up to the first floor, raised his hand and pushed open the bedroom door. The woman was still sitting there as before, reading a book carefully.
Ling Yichen's eyes glanced at her stomach and raised his hand to knock lightly on the door twice.
The woman didn't raise her head, still concentrating and keeping her head down.
Ling Yichen increased the force and knocked twice more.
"Ah..." The woman heard it this time, but was startled again and looked at him with a low scream, "You, why are you here?"
This was a question that put Ling Yichen in an unpleasant mood.
But for the sake of her pregnancy, he decided to pretend he hadn't heard it.
He walked over to the table and looked at the cursive paper full of arithmetic she had listed, "Preparing for the university entrance exam?"
Xia Mao pursed her lips, withdrew her gaze, lowered her head, gathered all her things, put them all together and put them by the table, and said in a low, polite voice, "I just stay every day with nothing to do, I'm just doing the math for fun."
Ling Yichen's eyes were deep as he looked at the top of her head, although he didn't see her little face, he could imagine that she must be beeping and blinking her long, curly eyelashes at this moment.
"Go to bed early!" He turned to the bed, lifted the covers and got into bed, lying on the side where he had been lying before.
Summer couldn't help but feel sorry for the sheets she had only just changed, then she thought of all the times she had been in bed with him before and her face flushed slightly.
"I'm pregnant." Xia Mao bit her lower lip and squeezed the corner of her shirt with both hands as she looked up at Ling Yichen.
"Pregnant so you don't have to sleep?" Ling Yichen owed up and leaned half against the bed with a sullen face, deliberately misinterpreting her meaning.
"Eh?" Xia Mo froze, raised her hand and scratched her head twice, racking her brain for half a day before saying, "Pregnancy should require rest ...... not ...... be able to do exercise, especially strenuous... ..."
"Just by you?" Ling Yichen couldn't help but snicker out, "Just your little airfield-like body, you still want me to ......"
"Who's a flyer?" Xia Mao's mouth was so fast that she almost didn't bite off her tongue, she was busy turning her mouth to say, "Then I'll go sleep in the guest room downstairs."
"Are you going to sleep or not?" Ling Yichen wanted to tease her some more, but once he heard her say she wanted to go to the guest room, his voice immediately rose, "The guest room downstairs is for guests, the only place you can sleep is this bed!"
Xia Mao's eyebrows rose and she wanted to retort, but all the words that came to her lips were held back when she saw the man's cold and stern frown, and not a single word came out.
"Are you going to sleep or not?" The man asked once more, with a look that suggested that if she dared to say "no", he would jump on her and beat her up on the ground.
"Yes!" Xia Mao's cherry lips pouted, and she went to bed without any backbone, but in her heart, she cursed him more than a hundred times.
Ling Yichen looked at her with a sullen face and a panting look, even her breath seemed to become thicker but in his heart he thought, "Can she bite herself later?
He stretched out his long arms and swept her up in his arms, his large warm hands touching her body.
The man's big hand went down the waist of her trousers and into her trousers.
Xia Mao pursed the corners of her mouth nervously and closed the double moon tightly, not knowing what she should do next.
But instead of going further down, as she had imagined, the man stopped at the smooth small of her back and gently rubbed it twice.
"Go to sleep!" The coldness in the man's voice was lost, and there was a slight hint of tenderness.
Xia Mao's heart was slightly relieved, but her body could not relax for a moment, until she felt as if the man really had nothing else in mind, then she softened her body and closed her eyes.
In the old Ling family residence, Lu Wanru had been standing in front of the window, looking out.
"Madam, go to bed early, it's after ten." Wu Ma stood behind her and advised in a heartbreaking manner.
"Wu Ma, do you think it's right for me to do this?" Lu Wanru's heart said with some hesitation, "What if Mr. can't forget her by then?"
"Miss Xia looks more proper, it's better than Second Miss." Wu Ma said pertinently.
"I'm not worried about Xia's side, I have Bo Wen, but I'm worried about Mr. Xia's side." Lu Wanru's heart suddenly started to think, should she ask Bowen to get some infertile medicine?
If Ling Yichen is unable to have children, then Lu Wanqiu is just jumping up and down. What can she do if she is happy again?
"Sir is also a man of great affection, so madam should not worry about it." Wu Ma was busy advising, "Madam mustn't think otherwise, if you break sir's heart, it will really be more than worth it."
"I know." Lu Wanru was busy collecting her thoughts and glanced at Wu Ma with a pout, "You old man should also go back to bed."
"I'll go back to bed when Madam is asleep."
Lu Wanru looked at Wu Ma's loving eyes and the corners of her eyes reddened slightly.
All these years, the only one who had always treated herself with sincerity was Wu Ma.
"Go down and rest, I'll go to bed soon too," Lu Wanru said with some heartache as she lifted her hand and gently tucked the white hair around Wu's mother's ear behind her ear, "Why has your hair turned white like this?"
"I am over sixty years old, it is normal to have white hair." When she saw the watery glint in Lu Wanru's eyes, she laughed, "But don't worry, I'm in good health, I can still bring the young master up again."
Lu Wanru smiled along with her, "That's right, the young master is still counting on you to help me bring him up."
The thought of a child calling herself 'mother' made Lu Wanru excited and she took Wu's hand, "I've heard people say that boys follow their mothers, what kind of beautiful child do you think Xia Mao will have?"
"I've heard old people say that children look like whoever raises them. I think if you raise the young master, he will look like Madam." Wu's mother said with certainty, "Madam was ...... in D City back then."
"I know, I know," Lu Wanru was busy laughing and interrupting Wu's mother, "You keep mentioning this! What's the point?"
"I'm telling the truth ......," Wu's mother followed suit and laughed.
"I know, you never tell lies." The corners of Lu Wanru's eyes warmed slightly as she remembered her own youthful frivolity.
Who would have thought that the once so proud and flamboyant self would one day have the turn to rely on the favours of the previous generation to hold on to her position as the rightful wife?
"Madam should listen to the old slave's advice, the old saying is true, the child who can scream will have milk to eat, if Madam can lower her head a little, Sir will definitely lower it more." Wu Ma said bitterly.
"Wu Ma is late," Lu Wanru laughed bitterly, "back then when the child was gone, if I had cried and screamed, it might have worked, but now Lu Wanqiu has used the same trick countless times, will it still work if I use it again?"
Chapter 15
At this moment, Ling Yichen was lying in bed, unable to sleep no matter what.
The little woman was curled up in a ball, huddled in Ling Yichen's arms, pressed tightly against his hot body, sleeping soundly.
Ling Yichen's palm kept gently stroking the small belly of the little woman who was softened into a ball in his arms.
Her skin was so good, so fine, so smooth, so soft and supple that he could not let go.
This woman's belly, surprisingly, had his child in it. The thought stimulated him to not sleep at all.
His heart could not help but recall that four years ago, he too had almost had a child.
However, because of an accident, the child was stillborn and Lu Wanru could not have any more children.
He had been married to Lu Wanru for six years.
But the time when they really called each other respectful was exactly four years ago when Lu Wanqiu died in the womb.
Sometimes, he could not help but regret that if he had been more resolute back then and had not married Lu Wanqiu, would this not be the situation now?
He and Lu Wanqiu had been classmates since kindergarten and had never been separated from each other in primary and secondary school, but he never expected that in his second year at university, his family would force him to marry Lu Wanru, who was two years older than him.
What he didn't expect was that Lu Wanqiu could really wait for six years for himself just because of a joking remark he made back then.
But she had waited for six years, so what could she do?
There was no way he could divorce Lu Wanru himself, as long as he didn't want to piss off his mother.
But Lu Wanru said that as long as she gave her a child, she would no longer interfere with her private life, but this private life could not include Lu Wanqiu.
But Lu Wanqiu can't live without herself, and she has watched her wait for so many years, and it will be all for naught?
And this woman beside herself, after she gives birth to her child, will she really give her money and let her go, like Lu Wanru said?
What if one day, someone knew that the mother of his child was with another man, where would he and his child's face be?
In contrast to his tossing and turning, Xia Mao slept extremely well.
Summer felt as if she was in a hot spring, her body was warm and comfortable, but slowly she felt that something was wrong.
This hot spring pool, why is it still entangled with people?
Her arms and legs seemed to be tightly wrapped in numerous vines, and it was hard for her to move.
The more she struggled, the more tightly she was entangled. In the end, she felt as if something had tightened the grip on her plumpness in front of the moon, and the painful sensation made her body numb and tingly for just a moment, turning her struggle into a breathless rubbing.
Ling Yichen looked at the slightly red cheeks of the woman in his arms and forced himself to take a deep breath before releasing his grip and sitting up from the bed.
This woman didn't look old, but she was also a demon, and sleeping with her all night was really going to be torturous!
He glared at the woman on the bed with what he thought was anger, but there wasn't actually a trace of it under his eyes.
The woman, who had suddenly lost her warmth, grunted twice in displeasure and rolled over, hugging all the covers in her arms, revealing her snow-white beautiful back, and fell back into a deep sleep.
Ling Yichen leaned down and gently pulled the blanket back for her, leaving her face exposed outside the blanket.
Don't be careless and cover herself up.
He put on his clothes and looked again at the woman in the bed with her mouth slightly open and her little face pink with sleep.
How could a woman be so cute when she was asleep?
He watched for a moment, this woman was killing him!
Only then did he turn around and go downstairs, leaving without eating his meal.
Xia Mao, on the other hand, slept until almost nine o'clock before she woke up.
As soon as she stretched her arms, she realised that the clothes she was wearing were gone, when did she take them off? Why did she have no memory of it at all?
Then she remembered the man and she was busy turning back and looking around, he should have been long gone.
She sat up in bed, put on the pyjamas she had thrown on the side of the bed, and rubbed her messy hair hard before she got out of bed slowly.
In the bathroom, she brushed her teeth while her mind was on that man.
What was he up to? What was he doing here now that she was pregnant?
At night, she sat on the sofa in the living room, her eyes on the television but her ears perked up to listen to the sounds outside.
Her heart was incredibly nervous, she didn't know if the man would still be able to come.
She waited until ten o'clock, when the man had not yet come, before she climbed into bed with a slight sigh of relief.
From that day onwards, the man had never appeared again.
The lady, Lu Wanru, only came once, but Wu's mother came three times.
It wasn't until three months later that Lu Wanru took her to the hospital again for a more detailed examination.
When she found out that she and the baby were fine, she put her mind at ease and started to count the days on her fingers, seven months away.
Before the Chinese New Year, Wu's mother brought in many things, including maternity clothes for Xia Mao.
Xia Mo discussed with Wu's mother, "I want to call my friend and my mother, is that okay?"
Wu's mother didn't dare to decide on her own, so she asked Lu Wanru again, and only after she agreed did she bring her a mobile phone.
Xia Mao took the phone, hesitated for half a day with red eyes, and gave it back to Wu's mother.
"Why don't you call?" Wu's mother said in a warm voice: "A phone call will also help your mother to relax."
"It's better not to call," Xia Mao shook her head and sniffled, "I won't tell a lie."
Wu's mother then took the phone and left.
Lu Wanru could only sigh softly as she listened to Wu Ma's words.
In the blink of an eye, she was five months pregnant.
The baby had already started to move, and on sunny afternoons she would sit on the floating window on the first floor and play games with the baby in her belly, watching him move around inside her belly.
By the time she was seven months old, the weather was heating up and Xia Mao's belly was so big that she couldn't see the tops of her feet with her head down.
Lu Wanru took her to the hospital for another check-up.
In the car on the way back, Xia Mao looked at Lu Wanru holding the ultrasound sheet and happily talking to Wu's mother about the baby in her belly.
Xia Mao raised her hand and touched her stomach, her heart ached.
Time had gone by so quickly, in less than three months, she was going to give birth to her baby?
When she returned to the small courtyard, her mood became inexplicably irritable. She walked around the courtyard several times before being dragged back into the house by Feng Ma and Xiao Cui.
But as she lay in bed at night, she tossed and turned, unable to sleep and feeling as uncomfortable as a cat scratching her heart.
She suddenly didn't want to give up her baby to someone else.
Chapter 16
Summer sat up from her bed and looked at the time, ten o'clock in the night.
She found a coffee-coloured crushed flower maternity dress and put it on, draped a light pink knitted shirt, then quietly went downstairs.
Surreptitiously, she ran out of the small courtyard.
She didn't have anything with her and she didn't know where she wanted to go, all she knew was that she wanted to get out of here, she wanted to find a place where there was no one and have her baby, she didn't want to give away the baby she had spent so much time with!
She didn't have a penny on her and had no idea where she was going.
With tears in her eyes and her big belly in her hands, she walked along the road, until she just couldn't walk any more, so she sat down on a long wooden chair next to her and gently pounded her somewhat puffy legs.
Dazed and overwhelmed, he looked off into the unknown distance.
Suddenly a car with its headlights on whizzed past her on the road in front of her, startling her.
Xia Mao glanced up at the license plate number, all 8's, "Rich, just bullish."
There was no shortage of envy in her words.
How great would it be if she was rich too?
She wouldn't be here, pregnant with someone else's child.
She would have been able to sit in the classroom, studying with her classmates, waiting to take the entrance exams.
But not only did she have no money, her family owed so much money that she had to sell herself to cover her debts.
The car braked sharply a dozen metres ahead, then made a sharp turn, turned back and squeaked to a halt beside her.
From the car a tall man, dressed in a silk nightgown, came towards her step by step.
"What do you want?" The man's voice was thick with anger.
Xia Mao sat there, tilting her head, surprised, looking at the man who hadn't appeared for over half a year.
"Where do you want to run off to in the middle of the night?" Her silence caused the man's eyebrows to furrow tightly.
"I ......" suddenly saw this man, Xia Mao somehow felt an unusual sourness in her heart, her eyes slowly gathered tears, she gently blinked her long eyelashes, "I just ...... want to come out for a walk."
Ling Yichen looked at her pitiful look and tensed his jaw, "Can't you come out for a walk during the day? You have to come out in the middle of the night?"
The man's hard and reproachful tone made all of Xia Mao's heartfelt words stick in her throat.
She secretly grimaced, she must have been in over her head just now, and had the urge to say a few words to him.
In fact, he, and Feng Ma, Xiao Cui, Wu Ma and Madam, they were all in the same group, and she was the only one who was alone.
She lost the urge to talk, stood up from her chair with her stomach in her hands, turned her head and started to walk back.
"Which way are you going?" Ling Yichen reached out and took her by the arm, his eyes resting on her stomach.
Why was her stomach so big?
"I'm sorry for bothering you to come out to me so late, thank you." Xia Mo gently wrestled her arm out and walked back with some resignation, "I'll go back now."
Ling Yichen looked at her big belly and didn't dare to use brute force, so he could only say in a cold voice, "Get in the car."
The more she thought about it, the more she felt aggrieved and sad, but she knew that she had betrayed her trust by doing so today, and that she had indeed done something wrong.
But her heart just doesn't feel good, just doesn't feel good, just wants ...... to be capricious, yes! She just wanted to be capricious!
But she knew that she did not have the capital to be capricious.
"Get in the car!" The man repeated impatiently.
"I want to walk back by myself!" Xia Mao held her breath with a hint of stubbornness.
"It's the middle of the night, you're a pregnant woman, what else is there to walk?"
The anger in Ling Yichen's heart shot up, but seeing that she was carrying a big belly, he had no way to lash out at her.
"I told you, I want to walk back by myself!" Summer's eyes were slightly red as she glared at him.
"What the hell do you want?" Ling Yichen took a breath, suppressing the anger in his heart, and asked in confusion, "Didn't the checkup today say that everything was fine?"
"The baby is fine, but I'm not fine!" Xia Mao looked at the man in front of her, her big eyes blinked and two teardrops flowed down her cheeks, she had no way to say the words in her heart to Lu Wanru, because Lu Wanru was only her golden master.
But this man was different from Lu Wanru, he was the father of the child in her belly, and although her heart did not like him, and she was even a little afraid of him, he was still different in her heart, an existence that was closer than anyone else's.
"Are you ill? Where are you not feeling well?" Ling Yichen still didn't quite understand.
"I regret it now, I don't want to give the baby away, can you talk to Madam? Tell her not to take my child, I can slowly earn money to pay her back, so that she doesn't want my child anymore, can you?"
Xia Mo's brain was hot and suddenly impulsively went forward and hugged the man's arm, pleading in a low voice through tears, "Selling and buying a child is against the law and immoral, I can't do that, in the future if the child knows that his own mother sold him, how sad will he be? How sad will he be?"
"After this child is born, it will no longer have anything to do with you." Ling Yichen's voice was slightly cold, and even a chill aura emanated from his body. "Wasn't that the deal at the beginning?"
Does this woman still want to take over as the "mother" of his child?
"You should have known this would be the outcome, are you now trying to back out?" The man asked once again.
Xia Mao looked at the man's handsome face with annoyance and disdain, she gently pulled up the corner of her lips, wiped the back of her hand on her eyes and said loudly, "No, I don't regret it."
The man's eyes narrowed slightly, as if he was contemplating the truth of her words.
But the woman didn't have the heart to talk to him any further, instead she smiled bitterly at him, then opened the door of the back seat of the black Mercedes, stepped up, closed the door, lowered her eyes, and leaned back against the car seat.
Ling Yichen looked at her despondent and bitter, but incomparably poignant smile and only felt his heart tighten.
This smile was imprinted in his mind, and until much later, he could still clearly recall this poignant smile that called to his heart to tremble.
He stood outside for a while longer, he did not want to drive when his heart was angry.
Ling Yichen had never known the woman before him, not even her name or age, he hadn't even thought to check.
He had always treated her as a tool to have children, but since he had discovered a few months ago how good it felt to hold her in his arms when he woke up, he had deliberately avoided her.
As a businessman, he knew that money relationships were the easiest of all, and that everyone's rules had to be followed, and if they weren't, they would cause a lot of unnecessary trouble.
These days, he has thought very clearly, this woman can no longer have a single relationship with the Ling family after she has given birth, this is a must, whether it is the best arrangement for the child in her belly, or for Lu Wanru and himself.
So he would not allow himself to have any feelings for her outside of his employer, and even if he did, he would have to erase them in time, otherwise there would be endless consequences for his future life.