Jiang Mian was so startled she began to stutter:
“Y-you-you—you… what are you doing?!”
A calm, cold voice came through the door:
“I need to talk to you.”
Still upset, Jiang Mian replied impatiently:
“I don’t want to hear it! Go away!”
“Someone’s coming. Do you want people to see me standing at your door?”
They had already been pulling at each other on stage yesterday.
If people saw them entangled again outside her room, rumors would definitely spread everywhere.
And then no explanation would be enough.
Gritting her teeth, Jiang Mian let go of the door and stepped back.
Lu Heng entered the room with a chill about him and casually shut the door behind him.
“If you have something to say, say it quickly. My roommate might be back any moment!”
Lu Heng, however, remained unhurried, his gaze unconsciously drifting to Jiang Mian’s belly.
Jiang Mian crossed her arms, putting on a tough expression.
“Say it already!”
She thought Lu Heng would try to persuade her to stay in the capital and join the agricultural research team.
Instead, he asked a completely unrelated question:
“How did you get pregnant?”
“……”
“Weren’t we using contraception?”
Lu Heng hadn’t wanted children so soon—or rather, he had never planned for children at all. So after their marriage, they had always been careful to avoid pregnancy.
They calculated safe periods, used protective measures, and took every precaution.
For a long time after marriage, she indeed hadn’t gotten pregnant.
So how had it happened so suddenly?
Jiang Mian said, “Fine, I’ll come clean. The child isn’t yours. I cheated on you and got pregnant with someone else’s child. That’s why I don’t want to go to the capital with you.”
Lu Heng simply watched her calmly as she spun nonsense.
“Alright, even if you cheated on me—how can you be sure the child is someone else’s and not mine? Come to think of it, except during your monthly cycle, we were together almost every day. You definitely spent more time with me than with anyone else. Statistically speaking, the child should be mine.”
Jiang Mian’s face flushed hot, her mind involuntarily conjuring images she shouldn’t be thinking about.
Shameless!
He could actually say things like that!
Seeing her face redden as if it might drip blood, Lu Heng himself felt slightly breathless.
He quietly took a deep breath and said:
“No matter what I may have done in the past that made you insist on divorcing me, for the sake of the child, it’s better for you to stay in the capital.”
Jiang Mian thought: As expected, this is about the child.
Lu Heng continued:
“The capital is the political and cultural center of the country. It has the best medical and educational resources. If the child is born here, it will be beneficial for their future development.
If you give birth on the farm, it’s remote and freezing. Do you want the child to grow up enduring hardship like you did?
Also, the farm is already losing talent. The educated youths are returning to the city. In a few years, the farm will decline.
If you insist on having the child there, have you considered that the child might have to work ten or even a hundred times harder just to leave the farm in the future?
As parents, we shouldn’t make life harder for our child.
So no matter how dissatisfied you are with me, for the child’s sake, I hope you’ll stay in the capital.
We have the ability to give the child better opportunities.”
Lu Heng spoke earnestly, every word filled with the foresight of a responsible father.
Even though he had never planned on having a child,
the moment he saw Jiang Mian standing before him with a pregnant belly, a sense of responsibility naturally arose within him.
He had to take responsibility for the child.
And for the child’s mother as well.
After hearing his words, only two words remained in Jiang Mian’s mind:
It’s over.
She had been persuaded by Lu Heng… again.
Even though she knew staying in the capital might be like walking into a trap, for the child’s future, she might truly have to stay.
No matter how hard she tried, the child’s grandfather, the child’s father—even a future stepmother—
could all provide a better life and a higher starting point.
At that thought, this “illiterate mother,” destined for an early death, felt a deep sense of helplessness.
“If you stay, I’ll arrange everything for your daily life.”
Jiang Mian wasn’t someone who couldn’t adapt. After thinking it over, she made one last attempt:
“I can stay—but I have conditions.”
“Go on.”
“Don’t let anyone know about our relationship. No one.”
“Alright. I’ll keep it confidential.”
“And from now on, we keep our distance.”
“Alright,” Lu Heng agreed readily. “Anything else?”
“That’s all.”
Lu Heng nodded, his expression relaxed.
“Okay, we’re done talking. You should leave now—don’t let anyone see you coming out of my room.”
Jiang Mian started urging him out again.
Lu Heng didn’t move.
Jiang Mian pushed him.
Only then did Lu Heng reluctantly start moving.
When they reached the door, Jiang Mian opened it first and poked her head out, looking left and right down the hallway.
Luckily, it was quiet outside—there wasn’t a single person.
“Alright, go now.”
She pushed Lu Heng out of the room.
Lu Heng said, “Remember to find Teacher Sun tomorrow.”
“I know, stop nagging.”
“If anything happens, call me.”
“Got it!”
Bang—the door shut.
Lu Heng looked at the closed door, then turned and left.
Just as he took a few steps, someone appeared at the end of the corridor.
It was Xu Hongmei.
Seeing Professor Lu, Xu Hongmei’s heart started pounding.
The man walking toward her was tall, broad-shouldered, and elegant.
Xu Hongmei had never seen a man like Professor Lu before.
Simply the finest of men!
And now she saw him again!
Why was he here?!
What should she do—should she go up and ask him for the certificate?
Would he even give it to her?
What if she got rejected? That would be so embarrassing!
What should she do, what should she do—he’s coming, he’s coming!
As the two got closer and closer, Xu Hongmei felt like her heart was about to leap out of her throat.
She knew it was rude to stare at someone.
But she simply couldn’t help it!
At the moment they passed each other, Xu Hongmei felt an overwhelming pressure—
A cold and distant aura that kept others at bay.
It made people afraid to approach.
Forget asking for the certificate—Xu Hongmei felt like she wouldn’t even be able to speak.
How could someone’s presence be this powerful?
After they passed each other, Xu Hongmei finally let out a breath, turned around, and watched as Professor Lu disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Clutching her chest, she hurried back to the room.
Jiang Mian had just sent Lu Heng away and hadn’t even come back to her senses when she heard a knock at the door.
She went to open it—this time, it really was Xu Hongmei.
“Jiang Mian, Jiang Mian! I just saw Professor Lu—he was actually in the hallway!!!”
Her excitement made it seem like she had just seen a big star.
Jiang Mian thought to herself: Yes, he was just in our room, standing right where you were.
But she didn’t dare say it out loud.
If she did, Xu Hongmei might explode.
After that, Xu Hongmei bombarded Jiang Mian with endless questions.
What had she talked about with Professor Lu and the other two people earlier? Why did they all seem so excited?
Did she ask Professor Lu for the certificate?
She kept asking question after question.
Jiang Mian’s head buzzed—she didn’t want to answer a single word.
She said she was tired—and she really was—and went to bed to rest.
Lying on the bed, she thought about her plans moving forward.
It really was true:
Plans could never keep up with changes.
Before coming here, she had only intended to collect the certificate and go back.
But now, she hadn’t gotten the certificate—and she couldn’t even leave.
It felt as if, somewhere unseen, that storyline was pulling her along.
No matter how she tried, she couldn’t escape it.
Was this what people called “fate”?
Anyway, the worst that could happen was death—no one leaves this world alive.
She might as well go all in!
At least one thing was worth being thankful for—
For now, in the capital, no one knew about her relationship with Lu Heng.