That was why he kept an inflatable pillow in the car, so she could sleep better.
Dai Huimin gave him the inflatable pillow. Her hands were still shaking.
Yan Beicheng did not care, though. He moved Lin Chu"s head carefully, terrified of waking her up. His movements were as gentle and delicate as though he was handling something extremely and ephemeral, as though simply exerting a tad too much power would destroy her like a bubble.
By now, Dai Huimin was perfectly aware that Yan Beicheng had prepared this inflatable pillow especially for Lin Chu, precisely because he knew of Lin Chu"s condition.
Yan Beicheng had his status, his a.s.sets, and an aura to match, but when facing Lin Chu and Lin Chu alone, he became just like every other husband, only more caring and meticulous.
As she watched how delicately he treated Lin Chu, as though Lin Chu were his greatest treasure, Dai Huimin"s eyes reddened. Lin Chu was unlucky to have her for a mother, and she suffered as a result. Now, it was finally time for her to enjoy the good things in life, because Yan Beicheng was there to love her.
Lin Chu could not sleep too soundly in the car, after all. When Yan Beicheng put the inflatable pillow around her neck, she stirred and woke slowly. She was still groggy, though, and she narrowed her eyes in the dimly-lit car to see Yan Beicheng"s face, relaxed and handsome, right next to her.
The sleep had addled her brain, and she had completely forgotten that Dai Huimin was there. That was why she smiled sweetly at Yan Beicheng as she always did, narrowing her eyes like a kitten as she flirted with him. She put an arm around Yan Beicheng"s neck as though it was perfectly natural, lifting her head slightly and kissing Yan Beicheng on the lips.
The roots of Yan Beicheng"s ears turned red in an instant. It was hard to see in the dimly-lit car, but he could feel the roots of his ears burning. He peeked at the backseat awkwardly, only to see that Dai Huimin had been wise enough to avert her eyes long ago. Even so, she could not help the curve of her lips.
It was wonderful to see how loving Lin Chu and Yan Beicheng were.
"Go back to sleep. I"m just giving you a pillow," said Yan Beicheng as he lowered her seat, so she could sleep more comfortably.
Lin Chu simply put both arms around his neck and pouted, whispering, "Why are you being so cold? You would always hug and kiss me for a bit."
"..." Both of Yan Beicheng"s ears were red to the tips, and the flush crept down his ears and into his face. Even his scalp was tingling.
While Yan Beicheng had relatively thick skin, even he could not keep up appearances now. It was rare for him to feel shy, and his eyes twinkled as he saw Dai Huimin desperately pressing herself into the corner of the car seat.
She was up in the years now, but even her face reddened slightly when she heard Lin Chu"s mumbling.
The two of them sure got along well!
The interior of the car was dark, so Lin Chu could not see that Yan Beicheng was feeling awkward. On the other hand, Yan Beicheng figured that Dai Huimin had already seen them, so he seemed to think there was no harm in showing her a bit more.
Throwing caution to the wind, Yan Beicheng put on his thickest face and leaned down to kiss Lin Chu.
Still, Dai Huimin was here, so he did not kiss her top deeply. He pulled away after a light taste and pecked the corners of her lips. "Go back to sleep. I"ll keep driving."
Lin Chu leaned back onto the inflatable pillow. It really was much more comfortable like this. Flas.h.i.+ng Yan Beicheng a smile, she turned around and lay on her side, treating the reclining seat as a bed.
As soon as she turned, she saw Dai Huimin in the back seat.
Since Yan Beicheng had already returned to his seat and was preparing to drive the car away, Dai Huimin was finally brave enough to turn her head back, away from the window. Although she had heard all of the children"s sweet nothings, and her face was still slightly red, she could not help but glance at Lin Chu with a smile in her eyes.
To her surprise, Lin Chu was looking at her too.
Lin Chu said, "..."
Dai Huimin said, "..."
Lin Chu"s face immediately flushed to her hairline, and she covered her face hastily.
She had been groggy earlier and she a.s.sumed that they were on the way home. She had completely forgotten that Dai Huimin was still in the car.
Thinking back to the things she had just said, she wondered what she would think if she saw another woman do the same. She probably would have scoffed at the public display of attention, but now she was the one committing this grave faux pas.
Lin Chu buried her face in the chair and groaned secretly. She was too embarra.s.sed to even lift her head now. She had always acted graceful and magnanimous in front of Dai Huimin and Xu Jiaojiao!
She could not help but peek at Yan Beicheng from the corner of her eyes. She looked at his side profile, and while he seemed to be focused on driving, she still thought he seemed to be laughing at her misfortune.
Embarra.s.sed and frustrated, Lin Chu glared at him. She had forgotten that Dai Huimin was in the car, so why had he not reminded her?!
That was why she stretched out her hand and poked his leg. She was afraid to pinch him because she might cause another accident if she pinched him too hard.
Yan Beicheng glanced over while the lights were red and saw her humiliated fury. He immediately knew what she was thinking, and he could not help a tiny smile.
His black eyes were like jewels sparkling under the neon lights outside the window. He did not say anything, but Lin Chu felt like she understood what he meant.
He seemed to be saying that she was the one who asked for a kiss, so she could not blame him.
Blus.h.i.+ng, Lin Chu poked him a few more times angrily. After all that, she could not go back to sleep anymore, so she just closed her eyes and pretended to sleep.
Dai Huimin watched their interactions, smiling wordlessly. At the same time, she felt like the pressure in the car was not so unbearable anymore. Instead, the atmosphere felt vaguely warm.
When they reached Dai Huimin"s place, Lin Chu put her chair back up and got out of the car with Yan Beicheng.
Dai Huimin glanced at the time and saw that it was still early, so she asked, "Do you want to come in for a seat?"
As soon as she said that, she looked at the two of them nervously, her heart in her throat.
Well, it did not really matter if they said no, but she would like to invite Lin Chu into her house.
If Yan Beicheng were not here, Dai Huimin definitely would not have been nervous. Lin Chu had come to her place once before, so she would not reject the invitation. Now that Yan Beicheng was here, however, that was a different story.
Lin Chu wanted to go, if only because she wanted to chat with Xu Jiaojiao face to face. Xu Jiaojiao said Cheng Ziming did not have any dirt on her, and seeing how smart Xu Jiaojiao was being with the restaurant, Lin Chu could believe that. Even so, she wanted to warn Xu Jiaojiao to be cautious, so she looked at Yan Beicheng.
Yan Beicheng smiled at her and nodded. "Then we"ll be troubling you for a while longer."
"Oh, it"s no trouble, no trouble at all!" Dai Huimin shook her head profusely and led them upstairs.
Earlier, the lights on their third-floor and fourth-floor stairwells had malfunctioned. Dai Huimin remembered that Lin Chu was pregnant; what if she came over?
It was fine if she did not, but what if she did?
Dai Huimin always held a bit of hope. No matter what, she had to prepare for every eventuality. If Lin Chu did come and the stairwell was not lit, it would extremely dangerous for her climb the stairs. That was why Dai Huimin personally bought two light bulbs and had Xu Dongguo change the bulbs with a ladder.
Maintenance was supposed to take care of something like this, but for an old and dilapidated community such as theirs, they may as well have no maintenance unit at all. Even the stairwell"s electricity fee was split across the units of every block. The reason why those lights had gone so long without any repairs was also because the other residents thought they may as well save on the electricity.
In fact, when the light bulbs were functioning perfectly, there were even residents who would take them down every so often, just to scrimp on some power. Eventually, Maintenance gave up on trying too.
In the past, even such a trivial matter of shared costs had led to conflict among neighbors.
It was simply because everyone here was poor.
That was why Xu Jiaojiao was particularly determined to leave this place. For that, at least, Dai Huimin understood where she was coming from.
It was better now. Her family"s financial situation was improving, so she did not need to worry about that pittance. She did not mind paying a little extra if it meant avoiding even heavier losses.
Xu Jiaojiao had her plans as well. She was keeping track of the family"s savings now, and by the beginning of next year, they should be able to come up with the deposit for a new place.
In other words, they just had to tough out these last few months.
The newly-changed light bulbs meant that the stairwell was brightly lit, and Lin Chu ascended the stairs steadily, putting Dai Huimin"s heart at ease.
When they entered the house, both Xu Dongguo and Xu Jiaojiao were shocked. It was one thing that Lin Chu was here, but they could not believe she had brought Yan Beicheng along.
Although Xu Jiaojiao had met Yan Beicheng before, she was a little embarra.s.sed to see him considering how she acted in front of Yan Beicheng earlier. She did not know how to face him.
On the other hand, it was Xu Dongguo"s first time meeting someone of Yan Beicheng"s status. Lin Chu, Dai Huimin"s daughter, was there too, so he was slightly panicked. He had no idea how he should treat them.
Strictly speaking, he was Lin Chu"s stepfather, but he had never met Lin Chu before. He did not even know where to put his hands.
Stuttering, he hastily invited Lin Chu and Yan Beicheng to sit. The sofa was quite small, so there was not much s.p.a.ce left once they were seated. No one dared to sit with Yan Beicheng, anyway.
Hence, Xu Jiaojiao brought three chairs over, the ones that they used for mealtimes. The three of them sat opposite Yan Beicheng and Lin Chu.
Lin Chu chatted with the others for a while before she called Xu Jiaojiao away for a private conversation.
Xu Jiaojiao knew what Lin Chu wanted to talk about too, so she brought Lin Chu to the kitchen and closed the door before they started talking.
Xu Jiaojiao threw caution to the wind too, and she told Lin Chu about everything between herself and Cheng Ziming, starting with the very beginning.
That finally rea.s.sured Lin Chu, and she aimed another jab at Xu Jiaojiao, "You"re smart, aren"t you? So how did you fall for Cheng Ziming and end up doing something so stupid?"
Xu Jiaojiao was rendered speechless. She opened her mouth and closed it again, staying silent for a long while before she finally mumbled, "Don"t tease me about that anymore."
Lin Chu could not help but laugh. "Alright, I won"t mention it anymore. But since Cheng Ziming has approached me about it, I"m sure he won"t just stop there. If he doesn"t have any evidence, he"ll probably falsify something. You should be careful."
"Yeah." Xu Jiaojiao nodded and kept that in mind.
The two of them returned to the living room. When they were away, the other three just sat in the living room, looking at each other wordlessly.
Xu Dongguo was too nervous, and he did not know what he could talk to Yan Beicheng about. Dai Huimin was even more nervous, and when he saw how wound up they were, Yan Beicheng wanted to ask them to calm down, but he knew it was easier said than done. Besides, Dai Huimin had abandoned Lin Chu and caused her so much hards.h.i.+p. Lin Chu had forgiven her, but he still had his qualms.
If she had not abandoned Lin Chu back then, he may never have met Lin Chu. Still, that man was the furthest thing from impartial, so he was not going to take that into consideration at all.
As a result, the three of them just stared at each other quietly. When Lin Chu reappeared, Xu Dongguo and Dai Huimin heaved a sigh of relief in unison.
Although Xu Jiaojiao felt awkward in front of Yan Beicheng, she did not have that problem with Lin Chu. She started a conversation by mentioning the way Dai Huimin had changed the light bulbs in the stairwell just for Lin Chu"s sake.
"Even that ruffled some feathers. They say Mom was being a busybody, and that installing a light bulb would waste electricity. After all, they said, they"d have to pay the electricity bill when it comes." Xu Jiaojiao pouted. "They"re too much."
Lin Chu frowned, but she could not say anything.
Xu Jiaojiao did not have any ulterior motives, either. She was just looking for a topic of conversation. "It"s not like we can"t afford it now, so we won"t stoop to their level. I finally understand now, the stingier we are with money, the poorer we get. The more you save, the poorer you are. It"s a cycle. We should spend where necessary and not try to scrimp when we shouldn"t. I have it all planned out. With how the restaurant is doing, we should be able to move away by early spring next year. A two-room house in a small suburb would do. We don"t need a huge place, just a better environment where we won"t have to argue over these trivial matters with those people. The area around our restaurant is pretty decent, actually. My mom"s had more free time lately, so she"s been looking for second-hand places around there. If we move there, we"d be closer to the restaurant too, so it"s quite convenient."
Lin Chu nodded. After some consideration, she figured she might as well say it first. "If you need more money, feel free to ask me."
Dai Huimin"s expression changed immediately. "There"s no need for that! That won"t do!"
She then turned to Xu Jiaojiao and said unhappily, "Why did you have to mention that now?"
Xu Jiaojiao was not so formal around Lin Chu, so she rolled her eyes at her. "I didn"t mention it so you"d give us money. It"s cuz Brother-in-law is sitting there like an almighty G.o.d, and the pressure"s getting to my parents. I just wanted to find something to talk about. We have more than enough money."
Yan Beicheng looked at Xu Jiaojiao properly for the first time since he entered the house.
Xu Jiaojiao cowered and hid behind Lin Chu, still too afraid to face Yan Beicheng.
Her reaction made Lin Chu laugh. "I only meant what I said, too, so why are you so nervous? Fine, I won"t interfere with your house-shopping, but I heard that you wanted to expand the store as well?"
"Yeah." Xu Jiaojiao nodded. "The restaurant"s popularity is increasing, so we"re seeing a substantial rise in customers. People are even lining up recently. Although that proves our business is going well, it also means that we"re losing many customers, so I was thinking of expanding the restaurant."
"In that case, make it even better. I"ll put in an investment," said Lin Chu. When she saw that Dai Huimin was about to protest, she said, "It"s not like I"m giving you money for nothing. If I invest, you"ll have to pay me a dividend, right? That"s why you should put more effort into it and make the restaurant as large as possible. That way, I"ll earn more too. Otherwise, I"d just stay a measly employee."
"What are you talking about? What do you mean, you"ll invest? I"m already planning to give you some blank stock. It"s just that our restaurant is still too small, so giving you the shares now is practically a joke. That"s why I talked to Jiaojiao about giving you some shares once we expand the place. It"s not much, but it"s something we wanted to give you," Dai Huimin said with a smile.
Xu Jiaojiao straightened up and said confidently, "Don"t worry, you have me. I guarantee I"ll make the restaurant bigger and better by the day, so you"ll become rich just by living off the dividends."
Lin Chu knew what they were trying to do. They wanted to make it up to her, but she could never agree to it and just take their money for nothing. "How about this? I"ll invest an amount, and you guys can just give me a few more shares. I can"t live with myself if I just take them for nothing, either."
Dai Huimin wanted to protest, but Lin Chu took Xu Jiaojiao"s hands in her own.
Xu Jiaojiao understood and said, "Alright then. We"re just in the planning stages anyway, it"ll be a while before this actually comes into play."
Lin Chu and Yan Beicheng left soon after that.
Perhaps it was because they had spoken at length, but Lin Chu fell asleep in the car again.
This time, Yan Beicheng put the seat down for her in advance, and he even took a blanket out of the glove box, forcibly converting the car seat into a small bed.
Even when they arrived in the Family Mansion, Lin Chu stayed asleep. She had slept soundly the whole way.
Yan Beicheng got out of the car. The night was cold, and he was afraid she would catch a cold while asleep, so he put his coat over her and prepared to carry her out.
Just as he was about to pick her up, Lin Chu woke up.
She opened her eyes blearily, and the outside breeze immediately woke her up considerably. "Are we back?"
"Yeah. I wanted to carry you inside." The roots of Yan Beicheng"s were slightly red.
Lin Chu gave him a kiss as a reward and put the blanket away, returning the coat to him. "Why did you put in on me? I don"t feel cold. The night is chilly, so you should wear more layers."
"I don"t feel cold either," Yan Beicheng said, but when Lin Chu handed it to him, he took it anyway.
Even so, to prove that he was a healthy, st.u.r.dy man who did not fear the cold, Yan Beicheng dr.a.p.ed the coat across his arm confidently, refusing to wear it.
He stood in front of the car door, cool and dignified, as though it was not cold in the slightest.
Lin Chu, "...
"I know you"re healthy and a man among men, but just in case, what if you do fall sick? I can"t be falling sick now, so what if you catch a cold and pa.s.s it to me?" said Lin Chu.
Yan Beicheng, "..."
With that, he quietly held up his coat and put it back on, insisting stubbornly, "I really don"t feel cold, though."
"Yes, yes, I know." Lin Chu held his arm. "I"m just worried about you. I don"t want to see you suffer."
Yan Beicheng straightened up. "I only put it on because I don"t want you to worry.
He even secretly flexed the arm Lin Chu was holding onto, making his muscles bulge to show how manly he was.
Lin Chu, "..."
"What? Why can"t Sis-in-Law fall sick?" It was dark and dimly-lit, with only the pale streetlights lighting the way, so when a voice spoke out of nowhere, it gave Lin Chu a terrible shock.
"Eek!" She hugged Yan Beicheng"s arm and literally jumped in shock.
She did not jump too high, but it was still enough to scare Yan Beicheng. He hastily hugged her tightly.
Lin Chu felt a little embarra.s.sed as well, berating herself for being so jumpy and freaking out over nothing.
Now that she had calmed down, she realized that it was Nan Jingheng. His car was parked right behind theirs, which meant that he had just returned as well. He was still wearing his suit, and he stood up straight, making quite the dapper sight. If they did not know his personality, his outward appearance alone would convince them that he was a smart young gentleman.
However, the 29-year-old young man was currently staring at her and Yan Beicheng curiously, and in Lin Chu"s eyes, that gaze was vaguely perverted.
Yan Beicheng glared at him angrily because he had given Lin Chu a shock. "Why are you scaring people in the middle of the night?"
Nan Jingheng did not mind that Yan Beicheng was throwing a tantrum at him either. He smiled at Lin Chu apologetically. "Oh, I was just curious. Did I scare you, Sis-in-law? Sorry, I didn"t mean to."
"Even if you"re curious, shouldn"t you greet us properly because you ask?" Yan Beicheng glared at him, absolutely p.i.s.sed off.
He put an arm around Lin Chu"s arm and caressed her chest to comfort her and calm her down. It was a habit of his from when they were alone, so it was quite embarra.s.sing that he was doing it now, in front of an outsider-- and a grown man, no less.
Blus.h.i.+ng, Lin Chu gripped Yan Beicheng"s arm tightly and stopped him in his tracks.
Under the pale lamplight, Lin Chu"s face was slightly red. Was it because she was pregnant? It felt like her whole body was glowing. She seemed to become even gentler and sweeter, emitting a soft sense of beauty that made her irresistible.
Yan Beicheng looked at Lin Chu through hooded eyes, and it was like he could not tear his eyes away. Lin Chu squirmed under his heated gaze, her lashes quivering as she glanced at him. She then averted her eyes quickly, turning even redder.
She held his hand and squeezed it to remind him that Nan Jingheng was still here.
"Cough, cough!" Nan Jingheng finally could not help but cough twice, so that the two of them would remember that this sad single dog was still next to them.
Inside the Family Mansion, the true single dog, Chu Xi, was standing in front of the gla.s.s window, its paws placed against the window as it peered out with its tongue lolling. When it saw its master, it bounded up excitedly and agitatedly, scratching the window with its claws in an effort to escape and howling at the sky.