Ye Chuqing hadn’t even realized that Chen Shao had casually revealed her pregnancy. Though there was nothing improper about it, having her ex-boyfriend tell her he hadn’t forgotten her within earshot of her husband still made her feel strangely guilty.

Chen Shao must have heard it, right…?

She looked at Chen Shao for a moment, then belatedly asked: “Weren’t you on a business trip?”

“It ended early, so I came back.”

Chen Shao looked at Wei Yuanhe. He didn’t know Wei Yuanhe, but he somewhat knew his father, so he didn’t show any hostility. He just smiled: “If you still haven’t forgotten Chuqing, you can keep thinking about her, but it won’t do any good. Chuqing has already married me.”

Ye Chuqing couldn’t help glancing at him again, then looked toward Wei Yuanhe, whose face had darkened. The embarrassment of being caught and the humiliation of being rejected by both parties were visible on his face.

It felt so satisfying.

Ye Chuqing let out a long breath, immediately holding Chen Shao’s arm tightly. She tilted her head and rested it against his arm, completely the picture of a loving couple. Taking the opportunity to express her loyalty, she frowned slightly, cast a glance at Wei Yuanhe, then turned to Chen Shao and said: “Let’s go.”

Because of this little interlude, the discomfort Ye Chuqing had felt from the cigarette smoke instantly disappeared. She felt completely refreshed.

She and Chen Shao walked toward the elevator, but after just a few steps, they were stopped by another group of people who, judging by their appearance, were also Qichuan students attending the anniversary celebration.

“Hey, didn’t you say you were too busy to come?” one of them said to Chen Shao.

Ye Chuqing understood—these people were probably Chen Shao’s college classmates.

Before Chen Shao could answer, another person looked at Ye Chuqing in surprise: “Eh? Isn’t this our junior from back then?”

Ye Chuqing smiled and greeted him: “Yes, I’m Ye Chuqing.”

“Of course, I remember your name. I recall quite a few guys talked about you back then,” he said with a smile, then looked at Chen Shao, then back at Ye Chuqing, finally realizing something was odd. “Wait, when did you two meet?”

The person beside him said: “You’re so behind on the news. Everyone in Yancheng knows—they’re married! Just happened last month.”

“Holy crap?!”

The group discussed for a while, and who knows what consensus they reached before turning to Chen Shao with criticism: “You’re so unfair! Secretly marrying a junior without even posting on your social media, leaving those of us who don’t live in Yancheng completely in the dark.”

Ye Chuqing held Chen Shao’s arm, smiling gently and charmingly, without breaking their fantasy of her as the “junior.”

Chen Shao chatted with them briefly before making an excuse to leave, immediately drawing criticism from everyone: “What’s this about? You didn’t come to the school anniversary, and now that you’re here, you won’t even come to sit in our private room for a while before leaving? You just came to pick up your wife?”

He smiled and jokingly admitted that yes, that’s exactly what he was doing.

He acknowledged it frankly.

“Damn, could you be any more disloyal to your friends for a woman?” His friends erupted in laughter, then turned their attention to Ye Chuqing: “Since you’re out, how about it, junior? Come have a drink with us?”

Chen Shao: “She can’t drink alcohol.”

“Then you can drink for your wife! Back then, all of us together couldn’t outdrink you. We never saw you drunk. Tonight, don’t leave until you’re drunk!”

Ye Chuqing: “…”

Felt like she just heard a secret she shouldn’t have.

But Chen Shao was determined not to go partying with them. After refusing again, they didn’t insist further, just saying “We’ll meet up next time” before letting them go.

Chen Shao’s car was parked outside the KTV.

Because of the school anniversary, the tallest library building across Qichuan University was still lit up with the words “Welcome Alumni.”

Ye Chuqing stood on the steps, staring at those words for a while before getting into the car with Chen Shao.

“I thought you wouldn’t be back for a few more days,” she said, picking up a bottle of mineral water from the car and taking a sip to wash away the lingering taste of smoke in her throat.

Chen Shao: “If I’d waited a few more days, I might not have a wife anymore.”

“…”

Ye Chuqing’s first reaction was, why is he calling me his wife again?

Her second reaction was, huh?

“You don’t think I have something going on with Wei Yuanhe, do you?”

Chen Shao started driving while glancing at her, saying nothing.

…So that’s really what he thought.

“An idiot like that, how could I possibly still have anything to do with him? Back then I was blind and foolish, deceived by his face. Looking at him now, he’s nothing special, he’s aged poorly,” she said. To make it more convincing, she added, “I might be deceived by your face, but I won’t be deceived by his face again, okay?”

The car went quiet for several seconds.

Had she just complimented Chen Shao’s looks…?

Ye Chuqing’s face showed signs of warming up, and she quickly changed the subject, questioning him: “By the way, how come your classmate said they’d never seen you drunk? I think I saw him at our wedding and weren’t you drunk that day?”

Chen Shao saw through her immediately: “What, you now think I pretended to be drunk to kiss you that night?”

“…I didn’t say that.”

It sounded like he was saying she was being narcissistic and conceited.

Chen Shao continued, his voice calm: “I wasn’t fully drunk, just a bit dizzy.”

“???”

Ye Chuqing’s mind exploded with hundreds of question marks. Then why did you kiss me?! And why did you get handsy?!

“But you said yourself that you were drunk at the time!”

He laughed: “Well, if I hadn’t said that, I was afraid I’d get beaten up on our wedding night.”

“…”

Chen Shao’s words were strange. Ye Chuqing always considered herself smart, but at this moment, she couldn’t quite figure him out.

He lied about being drunk to avoid being beaten up, but why did he kiss her?!

Are we in the kind of relationship where we can just kiss each other?!!!

Or is it that men tend to get uninhibited after drinking a little?

Ye Chuqing recalled a popular science article she had read before, which said that men engaging in sexual activity after drinking usually happens when they aren’t completely drunk—if they were intoxicated, it wouldn’t be possible at all.

So Chen Shao was probably saying he wasn’t completely drunk…?

After thinking about it, Ye Chuqing found this reason somewhat easier to accept.

But the heat on her face continued to rise. She raised her hand to her cheek, trying to physically cool down. Before she could speak, Chen Shao quite consciously lowered her window.

Ye Chuqing paused and looked at him.

Chen Shao looked at her and raised an eyebrow: “You look very hot.”

“I’m not hot,” Ye Chuqing said stubbornly.

“Then why is your face so red?”

“Chen Shao, shut up,” Ye Chuqing immediately responded, and seeing that he was about to laugh, she covered her belly threateningly. “If you don’t shut up, I’m going to have pregnancy complications.”

Only then did he stop talking with a smile.

They drove home in silence. Later, while standing in front of the mirror removing her makeup, Ye Chuqing thought back on the incident and felt deeply regretful. She had performed so poorly earlier, allowing Chen Shao to turn the tables on her.

She should have seized on the fact that he pretended to be drunk to kiss her and thoroughly mocked him for it!!

The more Ye Chuqing thought about it, the angrier she got. Eventually, whether due to psychological effects or not, her stomach began to hurt, so she had to give up and obediently go lie in bed.

That night, Ye Chuqing had an embarrassing dream about Chen Shao.

The dream continued from their wedding night, with Chen Shao not drunk, embracing and kissing her as soon as they returned to the room. Then it was like dry wood meeting fierce fire. In the dream, she wasn’t pregnant, and the room became a battlefield, a bloody scene too graphic to describe.

Ye Chuqing woke up.

She lay with her eyes open, staring at the ceiling, her chest rising and falling. It took several minutes for her to come back to reality.

She had had such a shameless dream.

Ye Chuqing, a thoroughly modern woman, didn’t think there was anything wrong with sex, but when the subject was her perfectly proper husband, it was difficult to accept for the time being.

They say dreams are manifestations of one’s subconscious. Had she acted that way toward Chen Shao during those two drunken incidents?

That was a bit too shocking…

Early in the morning, Ye Chuqing lay in bed engaging in self-reproach.

After her self-reproach, she turned her head and saw Chen Shao still sound asleep. Suddenly feeling angry again—if it weren’t for his nonsensical talk yesterday, would she have had such a dream?!!

So she lifted her foot and kicked Chen Shao through the blanket.

She woke him up directly.

He hissed, opening his eyes drowsily, his brows tightly furrowed, his voice hoarse: “What are you doing?”

…Nothing.

Just had an erotic dream about you that frightened me, so I kicked you to vent.

Ye Chuqing blinked, without much momentum: “I’m hungry.”

Chen Shao was merciless. His expression looked like he was about to curse. He said coldly: “Call the housekeeper yourself to cook.”

Ye Chuqing, for some reason, felt somewhat relieved by his cold rejection after last night’s “drunkenness” and this morning’s “erotic dream.” Her heartbeat wasn’t as active as before.

She sighed in relief, stretched lazily, feeling much better, and pretendingly kicked Chen Shao’s leg again: “Hurry up.”

Ye Chuqing swore that she just meant to casually say something to end the conversation, with absolutely no intention of making Chen Shao get up and make breakfast for her.

But the result was that the next second, Chen Shao sat up, turned his head to look at her with a black face for a moment, and then silently got up and walked out of the bedroom.

“…”

Holy crap.

Ye Chuqing’s mind was left with only one thought: Did I accidentally marry a perfect husband?

Her heart couldn’t take it anymore.

This was truly beyond the level of a shotgun marriage.

If Chen Shao were to bring the prepared breakfast to her bedroom, she might faint. So without delay, she hurriedly got up to wash.

When she went downstairs, she saw Chen Shao standing at the kitchen counter, flipping eggs in a frying pan while yawning extremely drowsily.

Ye Chuqing quickly walked down the stairs: “Is the housekeeper not here?”

“Mm.” He yawned again, looking like he could barely keep his eyes open. “Just made something simple for you. It’ll have to do.”

Three minutes later, Chen Shao made her a simple sandwich with freshly toasted bread, eggs, luncheon meat, and some lettuce, plus a cup of warmed milk.

Ye Chuqing was moved to tears and didn’t pick on him all day.

From then on, her relationship with Chen Shao didn’t change much on the surface, and they interacted the same as before. But underneath, it was like undercurrents were flowing, with subtle changes in certain details.

One day, Ye Chuqing didn’t leave home until noon. Chen Shao had already gone to the company. Recently, Old Mr. Chen had been intentionally letting him take over some areas, making him busier than before. When she was about to leave, no one was home. At the doorway, she suddenly turned back and looked again at the “supreme” divination stick in the potted plant.

The housekeeper who cleaned their home was a Buddhist. Perhaps thinking the stick had special meaning, she would specifically wipe it every day, and there were always fresh fruits offered in front of it.

Ye Chuqing stared at the supreme stick for a while, then suddenly murmured to herself: “You’re not working your magic, are you?”

Chen Die had recently started rehearsing for a new play. Seeing that she still had time before her meeting, Ye Chuqing went to the theater to find Chen Die first.

When she arrived, Chen Die had just finished the first round of rehearsal. They were going to go through the scenes one by one, but it wasn’t her turn yet, so she jumped off the stage to come over.

Chen Die was even more curious about the baby in her belly. As soon as she came over, she touched her stomach. “It feels like it’s gotten a bit bigger now, but you still can’t tell when you’re wearing clothes.”

“The doctor said the belly grows faster in the later stages. I already think it’s too big now—I have to choose loose clothing.”

Chen Die smiled: “Why did you come today?”

“I was bored and came to see you.”

“Chen Shao didn’t come with you?”

“He’s busy with the Chen family company matters now, right? He just took over a small part, which seems quite tedious. He was even cursing at you a few days ago.”

Chen Die gave her a look.

Ye Chuqing stayed for a while longer, chatting for a bit, then left when it was almost time for her meeting. Chen Die also had to continue rehearsing.

The meeting location wasn’t far from the theater. Since becoming pregnant, she had strangely developed a liking for walking, so she didn’t ask the driver to pick her up and leisurely strolled over herself.

Ye Chuqing had recently joined a production team and was going to attend a script reading meeting.

By the time the meeting ended, it was four in the afternoon, and the flow of cars and people on the road had begun to increase.

She thought for a moment and sent a message to Chen Shao: What time do you get off work?

[Chen Shao: What’s up?]

[Ye Chuqing: If you get off work early, come pick me up on your way.]

[Ye Chuqing: But there’s no rush, around five o’clock. If you’re busy, I’ll call the driver over.]

[Ye Chuqing: Right now I’m planning to get some dessert first.]

[Chen Shao: Okay, send me the address.]

[Chen Shao: Don’t drink anything cold.]

Ye Chuqing stared at the last sentence for a while, then sent him her location.

After a pause, she also found an emoji from her collection and sent it to him: “Men are annoying.JPG”

Chen Shao didn’t reply further.

Ye Chuqing put away her phone and walked to the dessert shop across the street. She ordered two servings of hot milk with strawberry taro balls, thinking the other portion could reward Chen Shao.

As compensation for him coming to pick her up, it was a fair exchange.

Just after paying, a voice came from behind: “Junior!”

Ye Chuqing turned around and saw one of Chen Shao’s classmates whom she had met at the KTV during the school anniversary celebration. She smiled, couldn’t remember how to address him for a moment, and simply said: “Senior, what a coincidence.”

“Why isn’t Chen Shao with you?”

“He’s at work. I’m taking the chance to slack off and get something to eat.” In just a few sentences, Ye Chuqing had crafted the image of a loving couple, with Chen Shao responsible for earning money and her for being beautiful.

The senior smiled knowingly: “You two kept your relationship quite secret.”

Ye Chuqing smiled along but said nothing more.

But this senior was quite talkative and continued: “Chen Shao and I were roommates in college. I never imagined he had feelings for you back then. When our dorm head heard about your marriage, he cursed Chen Shao all night in the private room during the school anniversary and even threatened to hack him.”

Ye Chuqing didn’t understand the second half: “Huh?”

“Chen Shao hasn’t told you?”

She shook her head.

“Our dorm head was pretty handsome in college, just a bit chunni. He always had a headband on his forehead—red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet—he had them all. The Rainbow Brother, remember?”

Hearing this description, Ye Chuqing vaguely recalled: “What was his name?”

“Lin Qimeng. Ring a bell?”

“Ah, I remember now. I think he even confessed to me before.”

Ye Chuqing couldn’t remember what he looked like anymore, probably not her type. She only remembered that there was indeed a guy pursuing her who changed the color of his headband every day.

The first week, she thought they were seven different people. It wasn’t until the second week when the headbands repeated that she realized it was the same person.

That’s why the impression was somewhat strong.

He laughed: “Damn, that’s epic. He liked you so much back then. Every day in the dorm, he’d ask us all to help him come up with strategies to pursue girls. We kept count of how many times you rejected him for fun. Guess how many times he was rejected from when he started confessing to you in junior year until senior year?”

Ye Chuqing’s mind was already elsewhere, thinking about other things, as she absently asked: “How many times?”

“83 times.”

“…”

“Perseverant, right?” The senior said, clicking his tongue a few times, shaking his head in amazement. “That’s why I said Chen Shao is so inhuman. His buddy suffered such a long, unrequited love—even now it makes us sigh when we think about it. And what did he do? Without a sound, he just took you home and married you.”

“…”

That did sound quite disloyal.

The two cups of hot milk with strawberry taro balls she had ordered were finally ready. She thanked the server and took them.

Originally, one portion was for Chen Shao, but now that she’d met his classmate, Ye Chuqing gave that cup to him.

“Hey, thanks, junior.”

Ye Chuqing followed him to sit down nearby and thought for a moment before asking: “So Chen Shao knew me back then?”

Her question confused the senior, who stared at her for three seconds: “Of course! You were the most discussed topic in our dorm every day.”

“…”

“This bastard Chen Shao hasn’t told you anything, has he?” he asked in surprise. “Junior, you weren’t tricked into marriage, were you?”