Zhou Yi couldn’t understand why Ye Xiaoqiong had stood up for her.

However, Ye Xiaoqiong had already put the restaurant incident behind her. While Mr. Pam was indeed the Vice President of Coca-Cola China Region, meeting Zhou Yi was just a minor incident – Ye Xiaoqiong had more important matters to attend to.

She had spent several days in Beijing, accompanying Mr. Pam to visit the Forbidden City, climb the Great Wall, and taste the most famous Peking duck. She had also politely declined Mr. Pam’s advances. It hadn’t been easy to finally complete her business – these men were so unprincipled. Did they think she hadn’t noticed the ring mark on Pam’s finger from long-term wear?

Whether he deliberately concealed his wedding ring or had just ended his previous marriage, Ye Xiaoqiong had no desire to invite trouble. It was already difficult enough for women to build careers, and even more so for beautiful women. If someone like her, with just modest looks, had to face so many challenges, she couldn’t imagine what level of unwanted attention Xia Xiaolan must deal with.

After more than two years, her return to China wasn’t about getting revenge on Zhou Yi. Zhou Yi had already repaid what she owed! Besides business negotiations, Ye Xiaoqiong had returned to resolve past regrets she hadn’t been able to address before.

…

“Du Zhaoji, you have a visitor!”

Du Zhaoji wondered who could be visiting him. His mother had visited just two weeks ago, bringing news that his father had died without leaving him a penny of inheritance. Perhaps his elder brother Du Zhaohui had finally come to gloat?

Everyone here was a prisoner in need of reformation. There was no Second Young Master of the Cheng Rong Group here, only Du Zhaoji with his closely cropped hair in a prison uniform.

But Du Zhaoji never expected the visitor would be… Ye Xiaoqiong!

Ye Xiaoqiong had completely transformed. If she had appeared like this initially, Du Zhaoji wouldn’t have even chosen her as his secretary, likely dismissing her as a beauty trying to advance through her looks!

“Long time no see.”

Ye Xiaoqiong studied Du Zhaoji. Though he’d been in prison for some time, far from looking haggard, he seemed to have gained weight.

“I’m disappointed,” Ye Xiaoqiong said. “I thought you’d be suffering more, but I underestimated the power of money. Apart from restricted freedom, you’re living quite comfortably in prison?”

Second Aunt’s money couldn’t reach inside the prison, but she could arrange things outside. She sent money to the families of all Du Zhaoji’s cellmates to ensure they wouldn’t bully him… Second Aunt had worried needlessly. Though Du Zhaoji was imprisoned for smuggling, using his clever mind for such crimes had been a waste. Through a combination of money and force, he quickly won these people over.

No one bullied him; during labor reform, people even competed to help with his work. Of course, Du Zhaoji would gain weight.

Money alone couldn’t achieve this – mindlessly throwing money around would have made him an easy target in prison.

Of course, there was no need to explain this to Ye Xiaoqiong, who didn’t want to see him doing well.

Ye Xiaoqiong hated him.

Du Zhaoji looked at Ye Xiaoqiong: “You seem to be doing well. You’ve completely transformed. There’s no trace of your past self – the timidity and foolishness are gone. You’ve become a better version of yourself… Ye Xiaoqiong, you should thank me!”

Ye Xiaoqiong nodded, “Yes, I’m very grateful to you. Since learning of your imprisonment, I’ve been preparing to visit you. I even brought you a gift.”

Ye Xiaoqiong took out a paper from her bag and held it against the glass for Du Zhaoji to see.

Du Zhaoji’s pupils constricted.

It was a yellowed pregnancy test report.

Four months pregnant.

Combined with the date on the report, this was… this was Ye Xiaoqiong’s pregnancy test!

“You were pregnant?”

Du Zhaoji was certain, and given the timing, Ye Xiaoqiong had been carrying his child. It was from that time, that one time, and Ye Xiaoqiong had become pregnant.

He had kept her confined afterward, giving her no chance to be with other men. The child could only have been his.

Was this the “gift” Ye Xiaoqiong mentioned?

Du Zhaoji looked at the pregnancy report, then at Ye Xiaoqiong, finding it hard to describe his current feelings.

If he hadn’t been imprisoned, still so young, how could a child have tied him down?

If Ye Xiaoqiong had shown him this pregnancy test back then, he would likely have told her to terminate it.

Since he had no intention of marrying Ye Xiaoqiong, he wouldn’t have wanted an illegitimate child. Termination would have been the best choice, and he would have compensated Ye Xiaoqiong differently – whether with money or with the Ye family’s scattered antiques. Before imprisonment, Du Zhaoji had the means to provide compensation—

Now Ye Xiaoqiong had given birth to the child, while he sat in prison.

Du Zhaoji was working toward a reduced sentence, but even with reductions, the release was still over a decade away.

The feeling was extraordinary – while he had been unaware, he had become a father…

“Is it a boy or a girl?”

He wanted to look at the pregnancy report again, but Ye Xiaoqiong tore up the yellowed report in front of him.

She had carefully preserved this pregnancy report just to let Du Zhaoji see it once. Now that he had seen it, the report had served its purpose.

Du Zhaoji’s eyebrow twitched, “What do you mean? Though I’m in prison, I still have some assets outside. Raising a child wouldn’t be a problem.”

Ye Xiaoqiong shook her head: “You misunderstand. I’m not here today to ask for child support. As I said, I came to give you a gift.”

Du Zhaoji frowned.

“Even if you don’t need money now, there’s no reason to stop me from spending it. It’s what I should do.”

Ye Xiaoqiong laughed coldly:

“Why would you think I would bear a rapist’s child? My gift was indeed to tell you this news, but when you ask if it’s a boy or girl… I’m sorry, but I terminated the pregnancy as soon as I found out!”

Du Zhaoji instinctively denied it.

“Impossible, you—”

“I what? Because I was once deceived by a man, once divorced, once lost my child, I should have maternal instincts kick in and keep a rapist’s child?”

Ye Xiaoqiong challenged.

Du Zhaoji didn’t answer, but that was exactly what he had thought.

A woman forced to lose her chance at motherhood would surely cherish a second chance more.

Besides, Du Zhaoji wasn’t being narcissistic – before he forced himself on Ye Xiaoqiong, he believed she had feelings for him.

Ye Xiaoqiong stood up: “You men are always so arrogant and narcissistic… But unfortunately, I did terminate the pregnancy. I’m telling you this news not to cause you pain, because I’m not sure if you would feel pain from this. I’m hoping you can survive until your release, Du Zhaoji. I’ll be waiting for you outside prison!”

She would be waiting for Du Zhaoji outside the prison.

Not because she liked Du Zhaoji, of course.

She wanted Du Zhaoji to see how high she could rise.

Du Zhaoji thought she was powerless against fate, or that one had to be evil to succeed in life. He had degraded her, imprisoned her, but she would present fate with an extraordinary answer!