Lin Chu was always worried about causing trouble to others. When she heard that everything was ready-made, she immediately nodded. "That"s the kind I"d like to have. The kind where you cut the dough fritters into little pieces and fry them till crispy. You can put them into the soybean milk because it won"t go all soggy, but the soybean milk has to be slightly salty."
Aunt Chen nodded. "Just like the ones sold at Yong He Soybean Milk 1 , right?"
Lin Chu immediately nodded so Aunt Chen continued, "No problem. You can"t take too much salty food since you"re pregnant, so I"ll put in minimal salt for you. I"ll also get you some pickled cuc.u.mber and some of those Sichuan styles pickled radishes. It will be appetizing and keep your palette fresh after the oily dough fritters."
Aunt Chen was quick. Not long after, they could smell the aroma of the frying dough fritters wafting from the kitchen.
"You can"t stand the taste of cake, but you can stomach oily food?" Yan Beicheng was curious.
Lin Chu shook her head. "Not exactly. When I was having the Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish and the Sweet and Sour Pineapple Pork, I couldn"t handle either. But for some reason, I feel like having something fried this morning."
Yan Beicheng took the "Pregnancy Guide" out of his pocket and flipped through the pages with a perplexed look on his face. "Take a look. It says that pregnant women will usually get strange food cravings. They might suddenly like something that they don"t usually enjoy during their pregnancy, and it will normally last for quite a while. But why are your cravings changing so fast? It"s different every day, which is really strange."
Lin Chu, "…"
"Well, you bringing the "Pregnancy Guide" everywhere you go is even stranger!"
Aunt Chen called out for them to have breakfast. Lin Chu had a good appet.i.te that morning as she poured herself a bowl of soybean milk sprinkled with pieces of dough fritters. Then, she took a bite and ate heartily. She looked like she was in a good mood, which made Yan Beicheng feel relieved.
He was not worried she would lose her temper, he was more worried that she would refuse to have anything to eat.
While they were eating, the doorbell rang, so Aunt Chen went to open the door.
Not long after, Yan Huaian and his family walked in. Yan Ningbai rushed in like a little ball of flesh as he exclaimed, "Big niece-in-law, you"re pregnant with my grandnephew!"
Yu Zi could see that Yan Beicheng had immediately made an ugly expression. So, she grabbed onto her son before he could throw himself into Lin Chu"s arms and cause Yan Beicheng to lose it.
"Take it slow, Lin Chu is pregnant right now, you can"t act as freely as you did before. Don"t go leaping into Lin Chu"s arms without caution, you need to be gentle and slower with her," Yu Zi warned her son as she gently tussled his soft, curly hair.
"I know. I"m controlling myself! I"ll take good care to be more careful. When I see big niece-in-law, I"ll be good!" Yan Ningbai said quickly when he glanced over and noticed Yan Beicheng"s dark expression.
Lin Chu quietly glared at Yan Beicheng, she wanted him to treat Yan Ningbai better.
Besides, Yu Zi and Yan Huaian had been such a big help to them. It was not nice for him to be so openly displeased with their son.
Lin Chu gave Yu Zi an apologetic smile and she quickly waved Yan Ningbai over. Yan Ningbai gave Yan Beicheng a glance and a big smile formed on his face. He quickly ran toward her did not dare rush into Lin Chu"s arms.
Yan Huaian clicked his tongue. His son had more respect for Yan Beicheng than he did his own father, which greatly dissatisfied him. When they got home, he was going to properly show his son what a father"s dignity was and educate him thoroughly about it.
"Big niece-in-law, are you giving me a grandnephew or grandniece?" Yan Ningbai stared at Lin Chu"s currently flat tummy with his big round eyes.
"We still don"t know yet. We"ll only find out when my tummy gets bigger," Lin Chu smiled as she said.
"When we received Eldest Uncle"s call, I went online to do some research. It said that it"s not advisable to have pets while you are pregnant. When will you move to our neighborhood? I can help you take care of Chu Xi," Yan Ningbai squirmed a little, making his tummy more prominent, as he asked shyly.
Lin Chu, "…"
She gave Yan Ningbai"s nose a little poke. "Who says I can"t have pets when I"m pregnant? There"s no scientific reasoning for that. There"s no problem with being pregnant and keeping a pet. In fact, there are even fewer problems in children that are allowed to play with their pets. Both of our homes will be really close, so it"s no problem if you want Chu Xi to go over and play at your house."
Lin Chu had seen pictures online of pets playing and napping with children whilst keeping them company. She was envious of them and wanted the same for her child.
Chu Xi may have been a little slow in the head, but it was still a gentle, obedient dog.
"Oh, right. Have any of you seen the two elders?" Lin Chu lifted her head to ask.
When she mentioned them, a strange look appeared on Yan Huaian and Yu Zi"s face.
Yan Huaian"s mouth twitched. "We saw them. They"re enjoying a little suns.h.i.+ne while sitting at the gates. They look really happy. I saw Old Lady Nan from next door talking to them, and she was asking what they were so happy about."
Lin Chu and Yan Beicheng"s lips twitched at the same time.
Old Lady Yan had replied, "Ever since my granddaughter-in-law married into the family, I"ve been feeling happy every day. Although, today I"m especially happy about something, but…"
Old Lady Yan stared at Old Lady Nan. Old Lady Nan had described the look to Old Master Nan and said that the look in Old Lady Yan"s eyes made her seem like a complete show-off!
Old Lady Yan had covered her mouth and gave a laugh more annoying than usual. "But I can"t say anything about it right now, hohohoho."
Old Lady Nan, "…"
Yan Beicheng was at a loss for words after hearing Yan Huaian"s explanation of where the two elders were.
"Are they going to sit out there at the gates until lunchtime?" Yan Beicheng raised an eyebrow as he asked.
At that moment, Aunt Chen walked in and took out a small folding table from inside the cupboard. She placed a Chinese tea set on it and poured hot, clean water from the thermos into the pot.
"The old mistress gave me a call just now and requested for me to bring some tea and snacks out. She said the weather is looking good today and that she"d like to sit outside and chat with the old master. She"ll probably also greet all the neighbors pa.s.sing by," Aunt Chen explained as she busied herself.
She took out a few bags of cashew nuts from the cupboard along with sunflower seeds, beef-flavored broad beans, macadamia nuts, and some chestnuts. She placed everything on a tray and took out a watermelon, honeydew, and mango from the fridge. She cut them into pieces before arranging them on a plate, filling the foldable table with snacks.
Yan Huaian picked up the plate of fruits while Yan Beicheng grabbed the bags of cashews and helped Aunt Chen bring them out.
When they were at the gates, they saw the two elders sitting outside with a big umbrella covering them.
It was rare that the elders were not quibbling with each other, and they looked as happy and bright as two flowers in full bloom. It was evident that the two elders were not planning to go back into the house, so Yan Huaian and Yan Beicheng went back into the house after placing the items down by their side.
"Oh, I just remembered. Qi Chengzhi told everyone that you only stayed for a few minutes in the room you booked at Qi Lin Hotel before leaving with Lin Chu and never returning. They are calling you Dirt Rich Yan in the group chat," Yan Huaian laughed as he said.
Lin Chu heard this and logged into the chat group at the same time as Yan Beicheng.
Inside, Han Zhuoli and the rest were all referring to him as Dirt Rich Yan.
Yan Beicheng, "…"
He was a handsome, suave man. Would they please change that nickname?
Chu Zhaoyang seemed to also have made an appearance in the middle of the chat. He had posted a symbol that was buried by all the sarcastic comments.
Han Zhuoli, "So, a Seven-star hotel can"t satisfy you anymore, Dirt Rich Yan?"
Wei Zhiqian, "Dirt Rich Yan, you can"t just throw money away like that. Lin Chu, you need to take away his allowance. Otherwise, he"ll just waste it all."
Chu Zhaoyang, "That"s right."
Wei Zilin, "I have a question I"d like to raise. Did Dirt Rich Yan book that room in Qi Lin Hotel to spend with Lin Chu? He could be staying there with someone else and left halfway out of guilt."
Nan Jingheng, "Bingo! The message on top is correct!"
Han Zhuoli, "Our gossip prince has voiced out. Could it be true?"
Yan Beicheng, "Stop playing around. I was with Lin Chu the whole time."
Chu Zhaoyang, "I know why Yan Beicheng was not in Qi Lin, but since I"m being totally ignored, I won"t reveal a thing."
Qi Chenglin, "Am I reading this wrong? Old Chu just sent a message."
Yan Beicheng, "…"
Nan Jingheng, "Brother Chu, share it with us if you know something! All you did was give a one-word answer, how should we reply to that?"
Chu Zhaoyang, "Hoho."
Everyone knew his annoying character well. This reply roughly translated to "Beg me".
Han Zhuoli, "Old Chu, just tell us! You have the strongest presence among all of us!"
Wei Zhiqian, "That" right! Even if you don"t say much, none of us would dare deny your existence!"
There must have been something about both their brown-nosing techniques that eventually started off a chain of replies. Qi Chengzhi, Qi Chenglin, and even Wei Ziqi and Wei Zilin started posting the emoji of a pitiful expression with two big teary eyes. These four men were usually so dignified and solemn, yet now they were acting all cute on screen. Lin Chu could not imagine their expressions while sending out the emojis.
When Lin Chu looked up from her phone, she saw Yan Huaian tapping away at his phone as well. Lin Chu"s phone vibrated and she clicked to open the message. Yan Huaian had followed suit to send the same emoji in the group chat.
She thought back to the expressionless look on Yan Huaian"s face as he sent it.
Lin Chu, "…"
She could almost imagine Qi Chengzhi at the rest sending the emoji whilst looking the exact same way. It really felt so peculiar.
Not long after, Chu Zhaoyang sent a voice message.
According to Yan Beicheng and the others, when Chu Zhaoyang sent voice messages, it meant that he was too lazy to type.
Chu Zhaoyang, "This morning our hospital director informed me that Yan Beicheng brought Lin Chu to the gynecologist yesterday. After meeting the doctor, he carried her all the way out of there. Take a wild guess why he did that."
The group chat went crazy at the revelation.
Bachelors Han Zhuoli and Wei Zhiqian were the first to express themselves with a string of "Ahhhhhh"s. They did not stop there and sent some voice messages as well.
Han Zhuoli, "Ahhhhh! This is so unfair! You"ve only been married a few months and you"re already having a child. Can you give us bachelors some room to breathe?"
Wei Zhiqian, "You guys can choose not to care for us bachelors, but please don"t hurt us this way!"
Han Zhuoli, "Brothers, let"s promise each other not to tell our elders at home. Please give me a chance at survival. My grandma won"t let me in the house if she found out about this."
Wei Zhiqian, "Don"t worry. Us bachelors will keep our mouths shut. It"s Qi Chengzhi and the others with families that might slip up. They won"t understand our predicament and could never walk a mile in our shoes."
Han Zhuoli, "OTL, Qi Chengzhi, Qi Chenglin, Wei Ziqi. Dear brothers, I"m bowing down to you, please don"t let the cat out of the bag when you get home."
Qi Chengzhi, "Hoho."
Qi Chenglin, "Hoho."
Wei Ziqi, "Hoho."
Lin Chu felt really sorry for Han Zhuoli and thought that the others might have been going a little overboard. After all, they had grown up together.
Han Zhuoli had been a really good friend. When his brothers needed help, he would immediately be there for them. Take Xing Chuang for example, Han Zhuoli gave his all to help them.
Therefore, Lin Chu felt responsible to remain loyal and protect him.
Lin Chu, "Don"t tell anyone about it yet since it hasn"t been three months. Even our elders at home are keeping quiet about it. Grandpa wanted to phone everyone last night and tell them the good news but grandma stopped him."
Lin Chu had already voiced her opinion, so Qi Chengzhi and the rest could only relent. They never planned on informing their family"s elders anyway. After all, from what they understood about the two elders of the Yan family, they would want to personally show off the good news in front of their old friends.
If the two elders found out that their plans were foiled by these brats, then the two Yan family elders might do something even more extreme to show off.
Qi Chengzhi and the others were smart people, so they chose to stay quiet.
Han Zhuoli was greatly relieved by this. He still had two months to prepare for what was to come.
Lin Chu could not help laughing out loud. She raised her head and said to Yan Beicheng, "Do their families know how lively they are in the chat group?"
Yan Beicheng"s lips twitched, and he could not repress his smile. "Well, they are obviously unaware."
"Oh, right, I have to give the old princ.i.p.al a call and tell her the news. She"s like a grandma to me, I can"t hide such big news from her," Lin Chu said.
Yan Beicheng agreed with her. When Lin Chu told the old princ.i.p.al the news, she immediately cried over the phone.
"That"s wonderful news, just wonderful. Lin Chu, you finally have a fulfilled life. You have a family, a husband, children, and career. You have it all, and I can finally stop worrying about you. Oh right, you are at your most fragile right now, so you have to take good care of yourself first. Stop worrying about the orphanage so much. Once you have stabilized after three months, then you can start visiting again. The most important thing is to keep yourself healthy, so don"t think too many stressful thoughts. You might a.s.sume that thinking about them is nothing but don"t take this period of pregnancy lightly. The smallest things will affect your body and the child," the old princ.i.p.al advised as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I know. Don"t worry about me. I have Beicheng with me, so what"s there to worry about? There"s nothing much for me to think about," Lin Chu replied. As for the trouble brought on by Lu Zhenghang and Lu Weining, she did not need to exert too much energy. She treated it as a brain exercise, in case it did not get enough of a workout and went soft.
The old princ.i.p.al agreed with her. Yan Beicheng must be much more nervous about her pregnancy than Lin Chu was.
"I won"t tell anyone about this for now, even the children. Otherwise, they would demand to see you. You"re not equipped to handle that ruckus yet. I know young people nowadays don"t really place much importance on this, but the older generation has a belief that we should not tell outsiders about the pregnancy for the first three months. Old Lady Yan would be aware of that," said the old princ.i.p.al.
"Yeah, grandma said the exact same thing, and I know it too," Lin Chu nodded.
The old princ.i.p.al nodded as well. "That"s good. How"s your appet.i.te?"
"It"s not that bad, although I"m not really sticking to one particular craving. What I love eating today might change tomorrow. It might change again the day after," Lin Chu said helplessly.
The old princ.i.p.al sounded happy about this. "That"s fine, that"s really fine. It"s that way when you"re pregnant. If you suddenly feel like tasting my cooking, just tell me."
Yu Zi overheard Lin Chu"s conversation and quickly gave Yan Ningbai a reminder. She instructed him not to openly share about her pregnancy.
She wondered who he had taken after, as he was just like a little loudspeaker.
Unexpectedly, Yan Ningbai had already made plans about it as he patted himself on the chest and rea.s.sured her, "I"ll wait till big niece-in-law goes for her check-up and confirm if I"m having a grandnephew or a grandniece. Only then will I tell the others. This will make my announcement more credible!"
Yu Zi, "…"
Lin Chu hung up after finis.h.i.+ng her conversation with the old princ.i.p.al. She looked a bit dazed and did not even notice when Yan Beicheng appeared.
She only snapped out of it when he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into him.
"A penny for your thoughts. What are you thinking about so seriously?" Yan Beicheng lowered his head to ask as he brought her to the corridor to avoid Yan Ningbai.
It was best to move away from children when the a.d.u.l.ts wanted to be intimate.
"Should I… Should I inform Dai Huimin and her family?" Lin Chu asked uncertainly.
She may have helped Dai Huimin and Xu Jiaojiao, and even improved her relations.h.i.+p with them, but Lin Chu had no idea how to take the initiative and tell them about this happy news.
"Xu Jiaojiao had really helped me this time around. If I don"t tell them about this, they will feel sad, right? Xu Jiaojiao had sincerely called me her sister," Lin Chu said quietly.
Last week, she had accepted Dai Huimin"s kind offer and ate the lunch prepared for her by Xu Dongguo. This was a step forward for them. Even if they might never be able to grow truly close to one another, at least they would be able to share a comfortable connection.
"What did she help you with?" Yan Beicheng asked curiously.
"Oh, I totally forgot to tell you about it since I had been so preoccupied with this pregnancy and our child," Lin Chu suddenly laughed as she rubbed her tummy. It was not convenient to talk in the corridor, so she pulled Yan Beicheng back into the bedroom.
She told him about Zhu Hexuan"s visit to Dai Huimin"s restaurant in an attempt to dig out some dirt on her. Xu Jiaojiao had taken the opportunity to bite back by telling her the truth and recording it. Then, she took out her phone and let Yan Beicheng watch the video that she had taken.
"She had been a big help. Even if she didn"t help me out, I still have no reason to be mad at her. The fact that they did not say anything to Zhu Hexuan is already helping me, but I had never expected Xu Jiaojiao to take the initiative to bite back at her. To be honest, I"m really touched by what she did. It feels like I have a family supporting me too."
Yan Beicheng smiled and tussled her hair. "I think you"ve already made your decision."
Lin Chu nodded and took out her phone to give Dai Huimin a call.
Breakfast hour had just ended at the restaurant. The restaurant would normally extend their breakfast time to 10 am during weekends for those who liked to sleep in during their off days.
Dai Huimin had just said goodbye to the last of her customers and ended the breakfast hour. After this, she cleaned up and prepared for lunchtime at 11 am.
There was only one hour in between, so time was of the essence. They were lucky that breakfast hour was bustling during weekends, but lunch and dinner time were much more relaxed.
This was because of the restaurant"s location. Most of their customers were students and office workers, so during weekends, students did not need to go to cla.s.s while there was no one working, so business was slow.
After all, the restaurant was a small one, much more akin to a canteen. They did not have private rooms so it was not really suitable for people looking to drink and have fun during the weekends.
Occasionally, pa.s.sers-by or those living nearby would come over to have a meal or takeaway.
With this, they were able to balance out the revenue between weekends and weekdays.
Xu Jiaojiao was sweeping up the rubbish as she thought about joining a takeaway app. She was considering experimenting with one of these apps because she had calculated the cost and hidden fees and found that they were reasonable. This would be especially so for weekends. Many people were too lazy to head out for a meal, especially single people or those home alone. They would be reluctant to cook at home and it would better suit them to order takeaway for a meal. Famous breakfast place with more than 50 years of history that was founded in Taiwan