272 Helping Hands

December 24, 20XX (Tuesday)

Zhao Manor

Feeling the rough shaking of her shoulders, Mei Lin was forced to open her eyes. She glared at the culprit, only to see Yue, Mother Zhao, Father Zhao, Dr. Zhang, and a man dressed in full white staring at her with amusement. Mei Li hurriedly sat up and fixed her hair with cheeks tinted red.

Remembering Yang's fever, Mei Lin turned her head to look at Yang. She sighed in relief when the reddish hue on his cheeks appeared to have lightened up. His face looked calmer than before too. Mei Lin smiled as she looked at Yang's face. She didn't know why, but looking at Yang's face has been like a pass time to her now. Some compelling force seemed to guide her eyes to look and stare at his face. Mei Lin had thought she would grow tired with staring at him, mainly when he was at work, but it seemed the hobby stuck to her.

"Are you okay, dear?" Mother Zhao asked, placing her right hand on Mei Lin's left shoulder. Mother Zhao's face marred with worry.

Afraid to make the beautiful mother worry, Mei Lin answered the truth, "I really like looking at his face for some reason. I don't know why..."

Everyone started eyeing each other, carrying suspicions of pregnancy. Mother Zhao smiled, careful not to show her excitement as she suggested, "How about you go down to eat breakfast? I can stay here to watch over Yang."

"NO!" Mei Lin shouted, surprising everyone. The soft and gentle woman has never, not even once, yelled at Mother Zhao. Mei Lin respected and loved Mother Zhao like she was her own, so it was weird to hear her shout out loud, enough to show the veins of her neck.

Even if she was shocked, Mother Zhao was happy. Mei Lin's moodiness could be another sign of pregnancy too. As long as she could get her long-awaited grandchild, she did not care if she was shouted and cursed upon!

Realizing who she had shouted at, Mei Lin's tears gathered into the edges of her eyes. She pouted and begged for forgiveness, "I am sorry, Mother Zhao. I did not mean to yell. I am just worried about Yang, and I don't want to leave him alone."

Mother Zhao hugged Mei Lin and comforted her by caressing her back and saying, "It's alright, dear. I am not mad, but you need to eat your food. Yang will be here after you are done. You have to be far from Yang too in case you might be infected with his fever."

Mei Lin sobbed, "But I want to stay with him."

Suddenly, Mother Zhao remembered the first signs of pregnancy that Xue Mu Lan had with the twins. Mei Lin and Mu Lan acted similar too. The thought of Mother Zhao's dead best friend brought mixed emotions.

Yue rolled her eyes as she watched on the side. Now that she knew that there was a significant possibility of Mei Lin being pregnant, Yue can finally say that her best friend's personality has changed. Now she knew, why her mood was so easy to swing. Her big brother should have worked himself so hard on the bed that he had a fever as a result. That's the effect of being a pervert; you get your wife pregnant and be bedridden with lack of sleep. Yue hid the snort that was threatening to pass her lips, knowing that if she snorted loudly, Mei Lin would have something to say to her and it would not be good.

Once Mei Lin was convinced to go to the dining room, Mother Zhao and Father Zhao stayed to watch over their son. They felt guilty with entrusting too many tasks for Yang to do. Sometimes, they forget how much they pile on him because of how capable he was on finishing and getting the job done right.

"I need someone intelligent enough to weed out the spy here in the manor... I think I should get Tian Li here." Mother Zhao muttered. She needed to give this task to someone else so Yang's workload will not be as hectic as before. Yang might look like a scary man, but with Family, he could never say no.

Father Zhao hummed and thought for the best course of action for a while. The patient's parents were sitting there thinking about ways to help their child while taking care of the problem.

"Why not invite Jerome here in his disguise? Isn't he an intelligence officer before he became a secret agent?" Father Zhao suggested.

Mother Zhao sighed, "As if that man would help me."

Father Zhao smirked, "He might not help you, but he will help Mei Lin. Let your daughter-in-law deal with her father, tell her that it is for the sake of her husband and everything is solved."

Mother Zhao's dull eyes brightened like the twinkle of the stars. She kissed her husband's cheeks as she said, "I knew you were useful for something."

A snort coming from the patient on the bed was heard, interrupting the parents of their lovey-dovey time together. They both turned to face their son. Yang weakly grinned at them and said, "You two are disgusting."

Mother Zhao flicked Yang's forehead, "You and Mei Lin are the same!"

Yang rolled his eyes, "Mei Lin and I are classy with our PDA, not like you two! Scarring your ill son with your illicit affairs..."

Father Zhao stopped his wife from going into a rant when he asked, "You need to take care of yourself especially now that Mei Lin might be pregnant."

Silence overtook the conversation before Yang groaned as he planted his palm into his face in exasperation, "She has been so moody, but very tactile."

Mother Zhao had a deadpanned face, letting Yang know how obvious his words were even if he did not say it out loud.