When they went back to their room that night, his Empress Dowager rolled around in bed. Song Chuyi’s face fell and he pulled her up immediately. “You’re having a child right now; do you think you can still roll around like before? Be more mindful when you sleep. You’re not allowed to sleep on your stomach or else you’ll hurt the baby.”
Changqing sat up quickly. Song Chuyi sighed. “You’re too clumsy. Remember what your sis told you. I’ll buy you some books tomorrow—read them when you have nothing to do. Push away those dancing and singing parts at the broadcasting station as much as you can. You’re not allowed to wear heels unless you’re filming.”
“I don’t like to read. How about you read them and tell me the details?” Changqing pouted.
Song Chuyi shook his head helplessly. She’s already sticking her nose up in the sky on the first day of her pregnancy. Changqing lay there languidly, shaking her leg. “I want to take a shower. Help me get my clothes.”
“Can’t you get them yourself?” Song Chuyi sighed.
“I’m pregnant. I don’t want to move.” Changqing looked at him with puppy eyes.
“Then do you want me to carry you to the shower later?” Song Chuyi said through gritted teeth.
“That would be good, of course.” Changqing nodded delightedly. Changqing thought she should take advantage during pregnancy; otherwise, she didn’t know when else she’d get this opportunity. When the baby was born, Chuchu’s attention would definitely be split between her and the baby.
Song Chuyi really understood what Lin Yiqin meant.
Isn’t she just like an Empress Dowager? After helping the Empress Dowager shower, he had to help her blow-dry her hair. Since his wife liked to crawl up onto him and sleep, he would have to wake up several times at night to correct her sleeping posture.
However, no matter how tired or how much hard work it was, all this strife would disappear whenever she woke up in the morning and hug him sweetly, saying that she loved him.
…
After more than a week, Changqing received a call from Jiang Duoyao. “Honey, I’m back. Let’s go out for supper tonight.”
Supper…
Changqing’s eyes lit up. Ever since she got pregnant, Dr. Song had been reminding her strictly that she shouldn’t eat supper outside, she shouldn’t eat crab, she shouldn’t eat chocolate, she shouldn’t drive, she shouldn’t this and that…
Right now, a little supper should be alright.
“Sure.”
She agreed secretly.
At night, after having dinner at home, she took her bag out. Luckily, Song Chuchu was working the night shift today. Otherwise, he would be controlling her here and there like he was her mom.
After she had gone out for five minutes, she received a call from Song Chuyi. He said coldly, “You drove out?”
“Er…” Changqing was awkward. It must’ve been Auntie Zhang or Auntie Shen who told on her. “It’s only been a little more than a month; driving is really okay. You don’t have to be so worried about it.”
“It’s not safe to go out at night. Why aren’t you listening to me?” Song Chuyi was a little angry. “Where are you going?”
Changqing shrank. “Duoyao is back in Northern City. Her work hasn’t been going very smoothly. I’m going to sit with her at a dessert shop for a while. I promise to come back as soon as possible. Just this once.”
Song Chuyi stayed silent for a while before saying, “Just this once. You’re not allowed to do this again. Don’t eat dessert with barley. Right, you’d better be eating dessert and not barbeque, Mala, hotpot or things like that.”
“Aiyo, why would I? What’s so good about those things?” Changqing said self-righteously. “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t.”
After hanging up, Changqing was thinking about which barbeque shop she should go to so that she wouldn’t be tailed. She suddenly thought of the supper shop that she went to previously with Ruan Yang and Li Xiaoxia. That place wasn’t bad and it was Li Shaobin’s turf so she wouldn’t be tailed by the paparazzi either.
Just in case, Changqing called Li Shaobin and Li Shaobin also said very loyally that he wouldn’t tell Song Chuyi about her eating barbequed food.
Changqing drove to the shop with relief. After more than 10 minutes, Jiang Duoyao appeared, dressed in a pair of jeans and a shirt. She looked very casual and she was even bare-faced, looking spiritless.
“Come, come, come, CEO Jiang, take a seat quickly.” Changqing knew she had been attacked on the internet very badly lately. Changqing pulled the chair out for her quickly.
“Alright, don’t give me names. As a pregnant woman, you should just sit properly.” Jiang Duoyao sat down and ordered a bunch of food and a few bottles of beer.
“You’re really down.” Changqing frowned. “Too bad I’m pregnant; I can’t drink with you.”
“It’s alright as long as you keep me company.” Jiang Duoyao let out a long sigh. “I thought I had a lot of friends in the past and it wasn’t until when something bad happened that I realized there are many people who are only friends with you on the surface. The moment things go downhill for you, they can’t wait to give you a push. Take Ding Haining for example. When we were filming together, she wasn’t really known and was always bullied by the people on the production team. I gave her a helping hand out of kindness and even recommended her to the directors I worked with before, saying she had a good personality and good acting skills. In the end, she stood on Zhu Fenglei’s side and even said I had issues. She’s the one with issues. How was I so blind to be so wrong about such a pretentious person?”
“Duoyao, actually, many people are jealous of you,” Changqing said seriously. “Think about it—you’ve progressed so smoothly, rising to popularity with just one film then continuing on smoothly. How could others not be jealous? Ruan Yang told you several times to be more mindful. You’re just too tactless; others can’t wait to drag you down.”
Jiang Duoyao hung her head low. “In any case, I’m in deep water this time. Many advertisers we clinched got others to do their commercials instead. Even the drama serials and movies that were in discussion are gone. I’m basically left with no work and my manager told me to settle down for a period of time to allow my name to clear up slowly. It might be half a year, one year, or even two. She said I should take this time to go to the mountains to work as a volunteer teacher or something, maybe go to the poor and backward mountain areas to visit some retired soldiers, take a trip to Szechuan or Tibet and publish some soul-cleansing book or even go to the refugee camps in places like Africa or India.”
The more Changqing heard, the more her heart shuddered. Her gaze at Jiang Duoyao suddenly filled with sympathy. “That’s terrible.”
Jiang Duoyao nodded listlessly. She opened a bottle of red wine for herself and took a few gulps. “I’m so envious of Ruan Yang for leaving just like that. Actually, I’ve also made enough. I really don’t care to be in this industry anymore but I’m just indignant. You know what? Why must I put a smelly hat put on my head when I didn’t even do anything? I tried my best to explain but no one believes me. I want to clear my name. I must clear my name. I won’t let that pig, Zhu Fenglei, get away with it.”
“Mm. I support you.” Changqing nodded.
Not long after, the food was served. Changqing was drooling just from the smell. While Jiang Duoyao was still grumbling and scolding people, all of a sudden, the meat skewers on the plate were almost finished. “Didn’t you say you were only going to try two to three skewers? You’ve almost eaten 10.”
“They’re too good; I couldn’t control myself.” Changqing grinned and went for the eggplant. “So where are you planning to go next?”
Jiang Duoyao sighed pitifully. “To volunteer as a teacher. My manager said the more hardship the better, so we chose to go to Nagchu. In any case, I haven’t been there before. It’s said it’s somewhere between Xinjiang and Tibet. I’ll be gone for three months.”
“That’s really terrible.” Changqing patted her shoulder. “You’ll have to take good care of yourself. Eat more. You might not get to eat anything over there. Also, take care of your health. The highlands are out there and it’s very cold now. It’ll be very hard to adapt.”
“I’m not talking about this anymore. I feel terrible.” Jiang Duoyao pouted and gulped down a few bottles of beer. When one was in a bad mood, it was easier to get drunk.
When it was 9:30 pm, Song Chuyi called over. “Have you gone home?”
“No, I’m keeping Duoyao company.”
“You didn’t eat supper, right?”
“Of course not.” Changqing picked up a piece of barbequed fish and said with her mouth full, “I’m having cake. It’s delicious.”
Jiang Duoyao watched her with her face flushed red. When she hung up, Jiang Duoyao laughed and scolded, “Is this how you lie to your husband?”
Changqing was brimming with delight. “In any case, he’s not around. He can’t lie to me, however…”
Before she was done speaking, her chopsticks suddenly fell onto the table. She stood up and said to the man walking over from the stairwell, “Br… Brother Molun.”
Jiang Duoyao turned back groggily and saw Yan Molun walking over. He was dressed in black from head to toe. His height at two meters tall exuded the chill of the early spring night. The weather was still quite cold but he was wearing a thin shirt and his powerful muscles were bulging out from under the fabric, making him look dangerous.
Jiang Duoyao’s heart stopped for a while. Perhaps it was because she had a drop too much that she also called out “Brother Molun” nervously with Changqing.
Yan Molun swept her a glance and responded to her with a soft “Mm”. After that, he pulled a chair out and sat at their table. “I was hungry so I came out to eat something and happened to see you girls here. Mind if I join?”
“Sure, sure.” Changqing nodded profusely. “But you can’t tell Song Chuchu I’m having barbeque here.”
“Sure.” Yan Molun picked up the menu and swept a glance at Jiang Duoyao. “Miss Jiang isn’t in a good mood?”
Jiang Duoyao blinked. She didn’t dare to talk to this man because of her guilt.
Changqing could understand her embarrassment and said, “Duoyao is going to the countryside to do some volunteer teaching soon and she’s in a bad mood, so she came out for some drinks.”
Yan Molun nodded. “I heard about what happened to Miss Jiang recently. It does seem quite bad.”
Jiang Duoyao was stunned. “You believe me?”
“Why not?” Yan Molun’s gaze returned to the menu.
Jiang Duoyao felt a little touched. “You have good judgment. You’re a good person.”
Changqing asked, “Brother Molun, why isn’t Brother Shaobin with you? Isn’t it boring to eat supper alone?”