L&H - 83

Yu Jingze’s head had already started to ache. Once Yu Qing stirred up trouble, there would be no more peace in his life.

He got into the car and instructed the driver to go pick her up first.

Zhou Siyuan closed her makeup mirror and turned off the overhead light. “Didn’t you say she was already on the way? Why do we have to go pick her up again?”

Yu Jingze leaned back in the seat with his eyes closed, resting. “Her car broke down.”

Zhou Siyuan inwardly scoffed. It really had “broken down.” “I haven’t offended her, so why is she targeting me at every turn?”

Yu Jingze: “She’s not targeting you. She just doesn’t like me.”

Zhou Siyuan turned her face, wanting to say something but stopping herself. He was too protective of Yu Qing, and without any principles.

________________________________________

Yu Qing’s car was parked less than a kilometer away from the club on the roadside. The driver had propped open the hood, put on gloves, and was inspecting it with a serious expression.

He didn’t know what caused the forced “breakdown.” Yu Qing had told him to stop, so he stopped here.

Yu Qing leaned against the car door. This spot was windy, and the early summer breeze swept in from all directions, brushing against her face and feeling particularly refreshing.

She gazed at the road, watching cars and people pass by.

She felt this place was familiar but couldn’t remember when she had passed through here before.

“Uncle Yang, once Yu Jingze picks me up, you can head back first.”

“Yes, alright.”

The driver agreed.

Yu Qing asked again, “Uncle Yang, have you driven me along this road recently?”

The driver thought for a moment. “Probably not.”

Yu Qing nodded. Maybe she had been here before, but she had a poor sense of direction and couldn’t remember.

Earlier, she had sent her location to Yu Jingze, and soon, his car arrived.

Yu Jingze opened the rear door from inside, moved himself to the middle seat, and offered the more spacious and comfortable spot to Yu Qing.

Originally, he wanted to sit in the front passenger seat and leave the backseat for them, but then he suddenly remembered their earlier confrontation at the hotel entrance.

If they were to argue indirectly, Yu Qing might get upset with him again.

By sitting between them as a wall, he ensured a safe distance.

Yu Qing got into the car, and it slowly started moving.

Zhou Siyuan glanced in Yu Qing’s direction. Through Yu Jingze, she could only see Yu Qing’s profile, which she found as detestable as Leng Wanning’s. “Why did the car break down? What’s the issue?”

Even with Yu Jingze in between, it didn’t hinder their seamless communication.

Yu Qing smiled. “I’m not really sure why it broke down. Only the car itself and the mechanic know.”

Zhou Siyuan: “….”

If she tried to retort, she wasn’t sure she’d come out on top, so she decided to endure for now.

She nudged Yu Jingze’s arm and talked to him about SZ. “Find some time these next couple of days to talk to Zou Lexiao for me. Find out what conditions she has for transferring her shares. Others who’ve tried to contact her have all been rejected. I actually wanted to ride with you this afternoon to discuss this.”

Since Yu Qing had taken the initiative to come, she seized the opportunity to complain.

Yu Jingze grunted in acknowledgment, not saying much.

Yu Qing patted his shoulder. “Brother, I suddenly feel like having Sichuan hot pot.”

Yu Jingze: “….”

Zhou Siyuan said to Yu Jingze, “It’s too late. I don’t want hot pot; it’s unhealthy and makes you gain weight. You two go ahead and eat first. After you’re done, come back to accompany me.”

Yu Jingze rubbed his temples. He instructed the driver to return to Zhou’s villa. “I’m not hungry. You two can order takeout when you get home. I need to work overtime tonight.”

Zhou Siyuan suppressed her temper. She knew Yu Qing had come to disrupt.

Actually, she wasn’t that hungry either, having eaten some at the banquet. But she couldn’t swallow the humiliation from earlier at the hotel entrance, so she had specifically come to find Yu Jingze, only to be annoyed by Yu Qing again.

Their late-night snack was ruined once more.

She composed herself, her tone appearing normal. She told Yu Jingze, “I’ll let bygones be bygones. Tomorrow night, you treat me again to make up for tonight.”

Yu Qing shook Yu Jingze’s arm and showed understanding. “Then tomorrow night, I won’t embarrass you. First, I’ll accompany you to SZ Restaurant. After you finish eating, you can take me out for hot pot separately.”

Yu Jingze: “….”

He felt like he was going crazy.

His head, liver, spleen, lungs, and kidneys all hurt. He felt chest tightness and shortness of breath.

Having both Zhou Siyuan and Yu Qing in the same car with him was something he never wanted to experience again. Tonight’s situation was truly a nightmare.

At the entrance of Zhou’s residential area, Zhou Siyuan got out and waved to Yu Jingze. “Goodnight.”

Once the car door closed, Yu Jingze felt the world quiet down.

Yu Qing stretched lazily, feeling relaxed and content.

Yu Jingze glanced at her. “So, you’ve clashed with Zhou Siyuan?”

Yu Qing nodded. “For the next five months, I’ll basically have nothing to do at work, so I’ll come to play with you every day. When Little Fish is born, you can stay home in the evenings to help me take care of the baby. From then on, Little Fish and I will be your sweet burden.”

Yu Jingze: “….”

With her currently pregnant, he couldn’t let her feel even the slightest unhappiness. “How can you let me off the hook?”

Yu Qing was waiting for him to ask that very question. “When you have a girlfriend, that’s when I’ll let you go.”

________________________________________

In the Yu family villa, the lights from the first to the third floor were all on, brightly lit.

Yu Jingxin was leaning on the terrace, waiting for Yu Qing to return, fearing that Zhou Siyuan might have upset her.

The knocking sound came, and she only heard it on the second round.

It was late. It must be Ji Qingyuan looking for her. She hadn’t yet allowed him to move in.

Yu Jingxin wore a thin-as-cicada-wing sleep dress, and it was short. She grabbed a bathrobe to cover herself before going to open the door.

Ji Qingyuan looked her over. “Are you cold?”

“A little.” Yu Jingxin asked what he wanted.

Ji Qingyuan closed the door behind him. “I’m not sleepy. I want to talk to you for a bit.”

Yu Jingxin pointed to the sofa. “Let’s sit there.”

She poured two glasses of water and placed one in front of him.

Ji Qingyuan looked at the glass on the coffee table, then back at her.

Late at night, sitting side by side on the bedroom sofa chatting with serious expressions—perhaps only Yu Jingxin could pull that off.

“I’m not thirsty.”

Immediately after, he added, “This kind of distance affects our conversation, like a boss checking in on an employee.”

Yu Jingxin adjusted her bathrobe. When his deep gaze fixed steadily on her, she couldn’t handle it and shifted her eyes, glancing past his face.

She half-rose and moved closer to him.

This time, Ji Qingyuan didn’t actively accommodate her. Lately, he had been the one taking the initiative, and her level of coquettishness seemed to regress overnight.

“Still too far.”

He turned off the bedroom light. The curtains on the floor-to-ceiling windows weren’t drawn, leaving a faint layer of light in the room, barely outlining objects. He sat back down.

With the room darkened, the atmosphere became intimate.

Yu Jingxin steeled herself, sat sideways on his lap, and gently wrapped her arms around his neck.

This act of coquetry had no ulterior motive. Sitting in his embrace, she could quietly breathe in the fresh scent of his freshly showered body.

Then, pathetically, her heart started racing.

Even though their child was nearly a year old, this fluttering feeling was just like when they first met.

Ji Qingyuan held her quietly for a while. Earlier in the kitchen, he had overheard her conversation with Yu Qing. It turned out that she had always been like this, bottling everything up inside.

“Jingxin, can we have an open-hearted chat?”

He didn’t expect her to change much overnight or to suddenly start talking nonstop about the past. He directly asked her, “That time, I prepared roses and dinner, sent the baby to my mom’s place, and wanted to spend a romantic evening with you. But you ended up going home to eat barbecue with your dad and returned in the early hours.”

That incident had triggered their conflict, followed by a cold war, and later she decided to move back to her mother’s house.

Of course, he had also been wrong, throwing his laptop downstairs.

“That time, I actually wanted to pursue you. Seeing how well Fu Jichen treated Yu Qing made me reflect. Every holiday, apart from giving money, I hadn’t done anything else.”

Yu Jingxin slightly raised her head. “You wanted to pursue me?”

Ji Qingyuan lowered his eyes. “Yes, but I didn’t know how.” He only thought of sending flowers. At that time, he was also planning their next date. “Tell me what happened that day.”

Yu Jingxin instinctively hugged him tighter. She didn’t want to mention Leng Wanning at this moment, ruining the mood. She just wanted to quietly nestle in his embrace.

Ji Qingyuan kissed her forehead. “If you don’t talk about it, the knot in your heart won’t untie itself.”

After much hesitation, Yu Jingxin finally spoke. “Maybe it wasn’t intentional, but it left an impression.”

“What kind of impression?”

“It was your anniversary with Leng Wanning that day, and you came to find me to spend it together.” She looked into his eyes. “If it were you, would you still want to stay at home?”

Ji Qingyuan frowned. “What anniversary?”

Yu Jingxin: “How would I know?”

Ji Qingyuan rephrased his question. “How did you know it was my anniversary with her?”

“Don’t want to say. It’s embarrassing.” If he found out she had secretly been following Leng Wanning’s alternate account, where would she put her pride?

Ji Qingyuan comforted her. “Then don’t say it. But regardless of where you heard it from, it’s not true.”

He paused.

“To be honest, I had forgotten which day I planned to spend alone with you. That day just happened to be a weekend. I wasn’t busy, and you weren’t working overtime, so…”

Yu Jingxin believed him. Since their relationship had improved, the things she used to dwell on were gradually fading. As for Leng Wanning, she didn’t even think about paying attention anymore.

“Your past, starting today, we won’t mention it anymore, okay? Those are stories with others. From now on, let’s talk only about you and me.”

Ji Qingyuan was still uneasy. “Are you sure you don’t want to untangle that knot in your heart? The source of your information isn’t reliable. Who knows what upsetting news might pop up every few days?”

Yu Jingxin: “It’s fine. I’ve already stopped caring because I’ve been posting unreliable updates myself.”

Lately, she often posted affectionate moments on Weibo. ‘Ning Jing Zhi Yuan’ might have been so upset that they probably abandoned the account, never updating again.

Ji Qingyuan guessed, “Is it Weibo?”

Yu Jingxin: “….”

He laughed. “So, you were showing affection for this reason?”

Yu Jingxin didn’t respond, nestling into his embrace.

Ji Qingyuan held her tighter. “From now on, you can stop updating all your social media accounts. When I have time, I’ll occasionally post something on my account. Isn’t that better than you doing it?”

Yu Jingxin hummed in agreement and asked a question she had always harbored but never dared to ask. “Ji Qingyuan, why did you decide to marry me so hastily back then?”

“Hasty?”

“…Wasn’t it hasty? From meeting to deciding to get married, it was only a few days.”

Ji Qingyuan grabbed one of her hands, interlocking their fingers. “Don’t get mad at what I’m about to say. I was quite shallow. At that time, I fell for your looks and wanted to marry you. As for whether you had substance, I didn’t consider it. If you didn’t, I would accept it anyway.”

Yu Jingxin: “….”

Finally, there was an appropriate opportunity. Ji Qingyuan explained, “Men’s breakups are different from women’s. For me, breaking up means it wasn’t a good match. But back then, everything coincided so perfectly. No matter what I said, no one believed me—it only made things worse. Even if I explain now, you might still not believe me. But I have a clear conscience.”

Yu Jingxin found it hard to believe. “Not because of anything else?” Not because of being provoked by Leng Wanning?

Ji Qingyuan countered, “Apart from liking you and wanting to marry you, what other reason would make me stake my marriage?”

As he carried her back to bed and she lay beneath him, Yu Jingxin’s ears still echoed with his words.

________________________________________

The lights on the third floor went out, and several rooms in the side building also turned off.

The yard quieted down, occasionally interrupted by the chirping of insects.

Yu Qing hadn’t returned yet, and Fu Jichen was fishing by the lake.

Throughout the evening, he caught two fish and released them both.

He realized Yu Qing was like a fish—never tired, swimming day and night, carefree and seemingly never sad.

While waiting for the fish to bite, Fu Jichen had nothing to do.

On the wooden table were cigarettes, a lighter, and a transparent ashtray.

The butler placed these items there daily for the father-in-law’s occasional nighttime fishing breaks.

However, three-quarters of a pack of cigarettes were usually smoked by Ji Qingyuan and Yu Jingze.

He took one out, lit it.

“Boss Fu, there’s smoke. There’s an alarm here. Do you see the smoke? Is there an open flame?” Yujiale rotated its not-so-agile body.

Fu Jichen, bored at night, had brought Yujiale down to play and keep him company.

He realized he needed this robot more than Yu Qing did.

“It’s not smoke. I’m smoking.”

Yujiale: “Oh heavens, you’re smoking behind Little Fish’s back. You men say one thing and do another.”

Fu Jichen: “….”

He put Yujiale into sleep mode.

It was getting late, so Fu Jichen extinguished the cigarette and packed up the fishing rod.

He messaged Yu Qing: [Do you want me to pick you up? You can nap in my arms on the way.]

Yu Qing: [I’m not sleepy. I slept for two hours at noon.]

[I’ll be home soon. Wait to welcome me.]

Her “soon” was truly imminent. As soon as he finished reading the message, the courtyard gate opened, and Yu Jingze’s car entered.

Yu Jingze, exhausted, went inside.

Yu Qing saw Fu Jichen by the lake and walked towards him. She greeted him.

Fu Jichen extended his hand to her. “Did you resolve everything?”

Yu Qing nodded. “More or less. It addresses the root cause and achieves two goals with one move. But we’ll know the final result tomorrow if it aligns with my expectations.”

Fu Jichen led her to the lakeside. “If it’s resolved, can I hang a dating expert sign?”

They sat down in front of the wooden table. Yu Qing rested her chin on her hand. “Where does Boss Fu feel unwell?”

“Hard to say.” Fu Jichen rolled up his shirt sleeves and extended his hand to her. “Feel my pulse. See what’s wrong with me. I’ve already fallen behind Ji Qingyuan, and I can’t afford to be surpassed by Yu Jingze again.”

Yu Qing sat upright and placed her hand on his pulse.

Suddenly, her stomach gurgled.

She quickly took Fu Jichen’s other hand and placed it on her belly. “Did you feel that? Little Fish must be happy too.”

Fu Jichen pressed his entire palm against her belly. He could clearly feel the fetal movements. Each movement of Little Fish traveled back to his heart through his fingers.

This was probably the mystery and charm of life.

Yu Qing looked up at Fu Jichen. He was gazing at her, and her fingers were still on his wrist. She applied slight pressure, and his pulse throbbed rhythmically.

Feeling the rhythm of his heartbeat, Little Fish was also moving around in her belly.

This sensation was extraordinary.

Simultaneously, her own heart began to beat along with it.