Qing Chen had pushed this nonsense about Li Zongying at the corner of his mind. He refused to let it bother him. He did not even feel a single doubt in his heart that he had gotten her pregnant. What he was thinking more about was the damage it could bring to the family if Li Zongying would be crazy enough to gossip about this story to someone else.
Feng Xuan was not in the kitchen. He was already making an email to the head of the HR department that he was going to fire Li Zongying and that they should get faster with her replacement. Qing Chen walked in the bedroom and smiled at his wife.
"Should we have dinner?"
Feng Xuan immediately pressed a kiss on his cheek and went downstairs first. He closely followed behind, thinking if he should tell Feng Xuan of what happened with Li Zongying. But he decided against it. He did not want to cause her worry over nothing.
"How was work?" she asked as she reheat the food. He took off his coat and grabbed the plates and utensils.
"A little more stressful today," he answered.
"Why, what happened?"
"An employee was making an unnecessary ruckus at the office. Crazy stuff."
"What? Something like ghosts?" she laughed and turned off the stove.
"Something like that. A non-existent thing," he said and dropped on a seat. "She had been going on like that for quite some time already. I really should've fired her."
"Do you think something was wrong with her head?"
Qing Chen chuckled. "Maybe not before, but possibly now."
When dinner was over, Qing Chen stepped into the shower and let the cold water freeze his mind for a moment. When he got out of the bathroom, he noticed something strange. "The bed's back."
"Yeah," Feng Xuan answered with a smile and patted the fluffy covers.
"No more cuddling, then?" he teased, just to see how Feng Xuan would react. She blushed which made him smile. "Aw, don't be sad. I'll be more than willing to lend you my arms."
Feng Xuan only narrowed her eyes at him as he got into the bed. "How are the house renovations?"
"It's going pretty well," she smiled and reached for the towel he was using for his hair. He handed it to her and she put her hands on his scalp. "They made great progress today. They are almost finished with mine."
"That's really great, wife," he said.
"Oh, before I forget," then she handed him her phone and showed him pictures of ideas she had for his office. "What do you think?"
Qing Chen chose a design with a minimalist style. He had told her he preferred contrast of colors. He had like to go black and white, that would be too dull and he might not get any work done with it.
With the thought of his original office, Li Zongying knocked on his mind yet again. His thought sunddenly ran. She had always been the type of person to get things done. Could she be possibly setting him up in a grand trap? She had proven to have helped to get the hotel out of some sticky situations. Surely, she could be capable of planning a whole fiasco.
He was pulled out of his reverie when Feng Xuan called his name.
"Sorry, what?" he asked with an apologetic smile. "I got lost imagining what it would look like.
"It's fine," Feng Xuan said and ran a hand through his already dry hair. "I was just asking what you want for breakfast tomorrow."
"I'd love to have some bacon and eggs with a side of waffles."
"That's settled then," she smiled. They went under the sheets and Qing Chen reached to touch her face. Feng Xuan's small face leaned to his hand. "Good night, Qing Chen."
"Good night, wife," he said, smiling.
She leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his cheek as she had done religiously over the past few days. When she pulled away, Qing Chen couldn't take it. Screw the huge bed.
He pulled her to him with a contented sigh. Here was his wife, solid and real. Feng Xuan did not say anything more and hugged him. His hand was creating soothing circles on her back.
Qing Chen slept with a small smile on his lips as he already knew what he was going to do with Li Zongying the following morning.
**
He was even excited to get to the office just to see how hard Li Zongying worked for this little commotion she was brewing. He had a hefty breakfast which he thanked his wife for. Feng Xuan was going to classes that day and they left the house at the same time.
Qing Chen smiled at Li Zongying when he saw her back at the desk outside his office. "Good morning, Secretary Li."
"Good morning, Mr. Qing," she smiled back. She looked like she had more color than last night.
"Come inside in ten minutes?" he asked her.
Li Zongying nodded. "Yes, sir."
Qing Chen checked his email, he checked his itinerary, and he read the initial reports on his desk. He heard Li Zongying's knock on the door and he told her to come in. He moved himself to the couch and had Li Zongying beside him. She took out a few pregnancy test kits from the drugstore paper bag.
He was patiently waiting for her to get ready with his elbow perched on the armrest and his hand propped out by his fingers. Just look at her doing all that things that would make it look like she was keeping it clean.
"Are you ready?" Li Zongying asked.
Qing Chen let out a laugh. "You should be asking yourself that."
Qing Chen did not know why but his heartbeat was getting faster and stronger. He saw the liquid in the clear sample container and Li Zongying took a dropper.
"Are you ready?" she asked him, although she also sounded nervous.
"You should be asking yourself that," he answered.
Li Zongying suddenly looked nervous, her hands that had been confident while she was preparing was suddenly shaking. She had taken a sample from a container and Li Zongying pressed and liquid was dropped on the little circle.
Qing Chen had never seen a pregnancy test work. He curiously looked as the tests changed color almost instantly. A single line appeared.
Five minutes, it said on the packet. But it wasn't even five minutes yet when another line appeared on the tests.
As he already expected, it was positive.
**
"Wow, Li Zongying," he said and laughed. "You outdone yourself in this one. You actually managed to make it appear positive."
"W-what are you talking about?" she asked, her voice clipped. When she looked at him, her eyes were shining. Nah, he was not going to buy those tears. "It came out positive. What should we do?"
"Here's what you're going to do: you're going to stop this bullcrap while I'm still being nice and I'll let you off this company with all your benefits and not get you blacklisted."
Li Zongying clutched on his coat, panic in her eyes. "But I'm pregnant! You saw it yourself."
He whisked her hand away. "You're not. You're trying to set me up for something that is not existing."
Li Zongiyng's soft features suddenly turned manacing and pointed. "I'm going to prove to you that I am carrying your child." She quickly cleaned up and slammed his door on her way out.
Qing Chen only chuckled and pulled out his phone. "Lok, get me our best investigator. I need files on Li Zongying on what she had been up to the past few days."