Fu Sinian heard her question, set down the book in his hand, turned his head to look at her, and countered, “How do you hope we’ll sleep?”
“I-I of course hope we’ll sleep in separate beds.”
Sharing a bed with someone else was really a bit difficult for her.
Fu Sinian said indifferently, “There are no extra blankets in the room, so we can’t make a bed on the floor.”
The implication in his words was clear: tonight, he would be sleeping in the same bed as Lin Qing.
Lin Qing smiled awkwardly. “Hey, Fu Sinian, is there really no other way? I’m really restless when I sleep—one morning I wake up and my head might even be at the foot of the bed. What if that affects your sleep quality?”
Fu Sinian stared at her for a moment, his voice calm. “I’m used to light sleep; it won’t affect me.”
“You usually get up earlier than the roosters; you’ll disturb my sleep!”
“I promise I won’t get out of bed before seven tomorrow and wake you up.”
“You…”
Lin Qing took a deep breath, feeling utterly helpless. “Fine then, we’ll sleep together.”
Knock, knock, knock—the room door sounded.
Jiang Li’s voice came from outside the door.
“Sinian, Xiao Qing, have you rested yet?”
Fu Sinian got up to open the door.
As soon as the door opened, Jiang Li appeared in front of him.
“Mom, is something wrong?”
“Auntie,” Lin Qing called out.
Jiang Li smiled at Lin Qing, then pulled Fu Sinian aside and whispered a couple of sentences in his ear.
After Jiang Li finished speaking, Fu Sinian’s expression became a bit unnatural.
“Did you hear that?”
“I heard; I’ll be careful.”
Jiang Li said, “Then you two rest early.”
With that, she left the room.
Lin Qing didn’t know what Jiang Li had said to Fu Sinian, so she asked, “What did your mom say to you? So secretive?”
“She said—” Fu Sinian raised an eyebrow and looked at her.
“What did she say?” Lin Qing was curious.
Fu Sinian curved his lips. “She said you’re not yet three months along, so I should be careful and not touch you for now.”
As soon as the words fell, Lin Qing’s face flushed red with a “whoosh.”
She stomped her foot, buried her face deeply into the pillow, and pounded it a few times. The soft silk pillow immediately sank in.
“Aiya, your mom is really—”
Fu Sinian smiled and pulled away her pillow. “Mom is just kindly concerned about you.”
Lin Qing was both angry and helpless.
But thinking from another angle, Jiang Li was actually very thoughtful, even coming specially to remind Fu Sinian.
Lin Qing’s impression of the Fu family had completely changed for the better.
“Your mom is really beyond my expectations. I originally thought that since our two families had been at odds for so many years, your mom would dislike me along with it. I didn’t expect your mom to be pretty nice.”
Fu Sinian closed the book. “That’s because you were looking at people with prejudice. My parents both have great personalities; it doesn’t matter who becomes their daughter-in-law, as long as I’m happy, they’re happy.”
Lin Qing envied him. “Your parents are really good people; you’re so lucky.”
Lin Qing looked at Fu Sinian and felt that he possessed a kind of calm composure—the sort where Mount Tai could collapse in front of him without changing his expression. This serene and unflappable temperament was completely different from her own impatience.
Before, she hadn’t understood why, but after meeting his family tonight, she finally got it.
It was because his parents were genuinely good people themselves, so the child they raised naturally carried that same quality.
In a way, Fu Sinian was luckier than her.
He had a pair of truly wonderful parents.
Lin Qing got up and went to the bathroom to blow-dry her hair.
Ten minutes later, she came out of the bathroom.
Fu Sinian turned off the main light. “It’s getting late. Lights out—time to sleep.”
With a “click,” the light went off.
Only a small night lamp on the bedside table remained on.
Lin Qing quickly placed a pillow right in the middle of the bed, instantly dividing the entire mattress into two halves, creating a clear boundary like the Chu River and Han Border.
Seeing Fu Sinian take off his shirt, she hurriedly said, “Hey, hey, hey—you’d better not sleep naked. I can’t handle that.”
Fu Sinian said in a low voice, “You really have a lot of demands!”
He walked to the wardrobe, changed into casual pajamas, and then got into bed.
The single pillow separated the two of them.
Even though they already had a child on the way, this was still the first time sharing a bed with the man in front of her.
“Hey, Fu Sinian, with you right beside me, I can’t fall asleep. What should I do?”
“Then just look at me until you doze off. Once I’m asleep, you’ll be able to sleep too.”
???
What kind of weird logic was that?
Lin Qing closed her eyes and tried hard to force herself to sleep.
Normally accustomed to falling asleep only after midnight, she felt no trace of drowsiness at all.
She turned over and glanced at the man beside her.
Fu Sinian’s eyelashes fluttered lightly, the corners of his lips moved slightly—he wasn’t asleep yet either.
Feeling bored, she said, “Fu Sinian, let’s chat.”
Fu Sinian opened his eyes and said helplessly, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to sleep early.”
He turned onto his side to face her. “What do you want to talk about?”
“Aren’t you curious at all about what your grandfather said to me in the study tonight?”
His grandfather had a difficult temper and wasn’t easy to deal with. Fu Sinian was genuinely curious how Lin Qing had managed to convince Grandpa Fu. “Tell me about it.”
“It wasn’t much, really. Someone like your grandfather has been in a position of power for too long—he likes to put on airs and intimidate people. You can’t indulge that. Anyway, I just gave him two choices: either accept our marriage, or let my family go bankrupt and have the child take my surname, Lin, and suffer alongside me. I’m a lawyer—I’m not afraid of fighting you all in a custody battle.”
Fu Sinian let out a low chuckle. “He was completely cornered by you.”
“Of course. If he thinks he can take advantage of me, he’s got another thing coming.”
Fu Sinian gazed at the bright, sparkling eyes of the woman before him and softly called her name. “Lin Qing?”
“Hm?” Lin Qing tilted her head to look at him.
Only one bedside lamp remained on in the bedroom. The dim, hazy light cast flickering shadows across half of the man’s face, softening his features and giving them an ethereal, refined warmth.
Suddenly, a low, tender voice reached her ears: “Actually, whether Grandpa agrees or not, I would still marry you.”
His voice was deep and filled with affection.
In his eyes was a seriousness she had never seen before.
Lin Qing was stunned for a moment and subconsciously asked, “Why?”
The two fell quiet, lying on their sides facing each other.
The atmosphere grew silent for a while.
The warm glow of the small night lamp was soft and tender.
Fu Sinian didn’t respond.
Lin Qing tried to find the answer in his wordless silence.
She thought to herself: Probably, it’s still because of the child.
She broke the silence. “You’re actually quite responsible—not like some men who abandon their wives and children.”
Following this topic, Lin Qing thought of Lin Nanshan. “To be honest, I never had any longing for marriage. Back then, my parents were very much in love too, but in the end, didn’t my dad still cheat? He had a mistress and an illegitimate daughter outside. When my mom divorced him, she left with nothing. At that time, I lived with her in a rented house. It wasn’t easy for her to rebuild her career over all these years. Back then, I decided that I would never get married in this lifetime—because whether you marry or not, the outcome is the same in the end. You walk life’s road alone anyway. Later, after meeting certain people and going through certain things, it only strengthened that belief in my heart.”
If it hadn’t been for the unexpected pregnancy, she would never have chosen to get married in her lifetime.
Marrying him was mainly to borrow money and to give the child a legitimate status.
Her own personal desire to marry wasn’t strong at all.
This was the first time Fu Sinian had heard her talk about her family matters.
The Lin and Fu families lived in the same neighborhood. Back then, the divorce between Lin Nanshan and Zhou Yan had been a huge scandal—neighbors all heard about it—but only the people involved knew exactly what had happened.
Fu Sinian thought about that period when her parents divorced and how she had become very unusual. He asked,
“So, the reason you only ranked ninth in the grade during that joint exam—was it because of this?”
“Of course. Otherwise, with my ability, how could I possibly have only gotten ninth?”
When Fu Sinian brought up the joint exam from back then, a hint of melancholy appeared on Lin Qing’s face.
At that time, she and Fu Sinian had dominated the top two spots at Nancheng No. 1 High School. Although she was the perennial second place, she always led the third place by dozens of points.
If her family hadn’t gone through that crisis, she never would have fallen to ninth.
Lin Qing hadn’t expected Fu Sinian to still remember that she ranked ninth in the joint exam. She glared at him. “Back then, when I only got ninth, you must have been really happy, right?”
Fu Sinian denied it. “No. I wouldn’t think that way.”
“Yes, you were. You clearly were.”
“I wasn’t!”
“You were! You definitely were!”
“Fine, fine, fine—if you say I was, then I was. Miss Lin, I apologize to you, okay?”
“Hmph—”
Lin Qing pulled the blanket up higher, turned her back to him, and said, “Going to sleep.”
The conversation had been going well, and suddenly she stopped talking to him. Fu Sinian was speechless—he knew he shouldn’t casually bring up the topic of her joint exam results in front of her.
He turned onto his side, reached out, and turned off the small night lamp as well.
The entire room fell into darkness. Fu Sinian closed his eyes.
The rain outside continued without stopping.
Fu Sinian didn’t sleep very soundly that night because the woman beside him was extremely restless in her sleep—she loved kicking off the blanket and tossing and turning.
He was woken up several times in the middle of the night by Lin Qing’s kicks. Though he felt helpless inside, he could only silently tuck the blanket back over her.
The rain poured all night long outside the window, only stopping around past six in the morning.
After waking up a little after six, Fu Sinian couldn’t fall back asleep at all.
He just lay there quietly watching Lin Qing.
Lin Qing was curled up beside him, sleeping soundly.
Usually, Lin Qing wore makeup to work and only removed it before bed, so most of the time, he saw her with makeup on. Actually, he thought she looked even more beautiful without it.
Her features were striking—big double-eyelid eyes, long eyelashes, a delicate nose tip, and skin that was smooth, fair, and tender. She looked better than some female celebrities and didn’t need makeup at all.
The clouds parted, and sunlight streamed in through the gaps in the curtains. A beam of light happened to fall right on Lin Qing’s face.
Her eyelashes fluttered, but she didn’t wake up.
Fu Sinian got up quietly and carefully drew the curtains fully closed.
The strong light disappeared, and the bedroom returned to darkness.
He checked the time—it was still early before seven.
So he got back into bed and closed his eyes again.
He decided to stay with her and sleep a little longer, lest he get up too early and disturb her rest, only to get scolded again.
Another hour passed.
Lin Qing’s alarm went off.
“The purple wind chimes sway outside the window, like your clear voice ringing in my ear. I say my love for you has already drifted far away—would you believe it too?”
The song “Bach’s Old Testament” played by her ear. Lin Qing opened her eyes.
She blinked and realized she was nestled in Fu Sinian’s arms. The pillow that had been placed between them was nowhere to be found.
“Oh my god.” She pushed Fu Sinian away with one shove.
Fu Sinian hadn’t actually been asleep—he’d just been resting with his eyes closed. With her push, he immediately opened them.
“Awake?”
Lin Qing adjusted the slightly open collar of her pajamas, her expression a bit unnatural.
She muttered under her breath, “Why were you sleeping so close?”
Fu Sinian explained calmly, “You were the one who kicked the pillow away in the middle of the night. You can’t blame me for this.”
“I…”
Lin Qing was speechless.
She really was restless when sleeping and loved kicking the blanket off.
She couldn’t find any reason to argue back.
Huffing in annoyance, she got up, grabbed her clothes, and headed to the walk-in closet.
It was rare for her to be in the wrong.
Fu Sinian chuckled softly a couple of times, picked up his phone, and checked the calendar.
Three days later—June 28th.
It was a good day, suitable for marriage.
He set that as the date to register their marriage.
Both of them had to go to work a little after seven, and the household auntie had already prepared breakfast long ago.
Fu Sinian told the family that he planned to register the marriage in three days and arrange for both sets of parents to meet on that day.
The Fu family, including Grandpa Fu, had no objections.
After eating, Lin Qing returned to the garage of the Lin family villa, got in her car, and drove to the law firm.
As soon as she arrived at the law firm, Su Yi started gossiping.
“Hey, how did it go yesterday?”
Lin Qing replied while turning on her computer, “How did what go?”
“Don’t play dumb—meeting the parents! How was it? His mom didn’t make things difficult for you, did she?”
“No.” Lin Qing smiled and showed Su Yi the bracelet on her wrist. “This is from his mom.”
“Wow, this jade—the texture looks amazing. Fu Sinian’s mom is really generous. I worried for nothing.”
Lin Qing laughed. “You were overthinking it. His family are all pretty nice.”
Although the two families had been at odds before, yesterday when they met, Fu Sinian’s parents had shown her the utmost respect and truly treated her as their daughter-in-law.
This touched Lin Qing deeply.
“So when are you holding the wedding? I want to be a bridesmaid.”
“We’re not having a wedding for now.”
“Huh? Why?” Su Yi said, “You only get married once in a lifetime—not having a wedding would be such a loss.”
“It’s not that we’re not having one; we’re just postponing it. Do I look like I have time to plan a wedding right now? We’ll talk about the wedding next year.”
Lin Qing buried herself in the pile of materials, searching for documents.
Su Yi nodded. “That makes sense. If you hold the wedding after the baby is born, the child can be your flower boy or girl.”
As soon as Su Yi finished speaking, she turned to get back to work.
Someone knocked on the office glass door.
“Come in.”
Ji He entered and said, “Attorney Lin, Attorney Su, Attorney Jiang wants you both in her office.”
Su Yi and Lin Qing exchanged puzzled looks.
They got up and headed to the office on the upper floor.
Five minutes later, the two knocked on Jiang Muhong’s office door.
Knock, knock, knock.
“Come in.”
They pushed the door open and walked in.
The next second, when Lin Qing clearly saw the person sitting on the sofa in the office, her steps faltered.
The man was wearing a gray suit and gold-rimmed glasses.
His features were all too familiar.
Hearing the sound, he turned his head toward Lin Qing and smiled at her.
Su Yi whispered in her ear, “Oh no… don’t tell me what we guessed yesterday actually came true.”
Lin Qing’s expression immediately darkened.
Jiang Muhong was talking with the man. Hearing the newcomers, she turned to look at Lin Qing and Su Yi.
“Teacher Jiang.”
Su Yi smiled while nudging Lin Qing’s arm with her elbow, her eyes signaling her to greet quickly.
Lin Qing regained her smile. “Teacher Jiang, you were looking for me.”
Jiang Muhong smiled and said, “Lin Qing, Su Yi, come—I’d like to introduce you. This is Attorney Zhao. He previously worked at Yuntian Law Firm in West City. Starting today, he’s officially joining Hua Ding. Like you, Attorney Zhao also handles non-litigation business.”
When Zhao Ningzhou saw Lin Qing, he was the first to extend his hand in greeting. “Hello, Attorney Lin. I’ve long heard of your great reputation. It’s an honor to become colleagues with you.”
In her heart, Lin Qing was cursing Zhao Ningzhou for being crazy, but she couldn’t lose her temper in front of everyone. She pretended to be calm, smiled, and extended her hand. “Hello, Attorney Zhao.”
Their hands clasped together.
Zhao Ningzhou gripped Lin Qing’s hand tightly, holding it firmly with great strength.
Lin Qing glared at him, but Zhao Ningzhou’s smile only deepened.
She struggled for quite a while before finally pulling her hand back.
Zhao Ningzhou then went to shake hands with Su Yi.
“Hello, Attorney Su.”
Su Yi gritted her teeth and said, “Hello, Attorney Zhao.”
Jiang Muhong looked at the two of them, feeling that something was a bit off.
Lin Qing stayed in Jiang Muhong’s office for a while, and soon a few more lawyers came in—all partners at Hua Ding Law Firm.
Su Yi whispered, “See, I was right. He really did come to join the firm.”
Lin Qing felt a wave of frustration inside. Becoming colleagues with her ex-boyfriend was too mood-ruining.
Then the group walked out of the office and arrived at the interns’ workstations.
Jiang Muhong said, “Everyone, put down what you’re working on for a moment.”
The group of interns stopped their tasks and stood up from their chairs.
Jiang Muhong said, “Let me introduce a new lawyer to everyone—Attorney Zhao Ningzhou. Attorney Zhao has ten years of work experience at Yuntian Law Firm in West City and is a highly experienced lawyer. Starting today, Attorney Zhao is officially joining Hua Ding and will also be the new mentor for Liu Jing and He Feng.”
As soon as she finished speaking, applause broke out.
Jiang Muhong: “Alright, everyone get back to work.”
Lin Qing walked back to her office feeling depressed.
Once the door was closed, she couldn’t help but vent, “What the hell is this Zhao Ningzhou up to? He was doing fine at Yuntian—why come here?”
Su Yi laughed, “What else? He wants to win you back, obviously.”
Lin Qing sneered twice. “He can dream on.”
The lawyers’ offices were separated by glass doors.
When Lin Qing looked up, she could see through the opposite glass into the other office, where Zhao Ningzhou was organizing his desk.
Lin Qing directly found a piece of paper and stuck it on the glass.
Out of sight, out of mind.
Once things quieted down, Lin Qing began writing the due diligence report.
She worked busily until six in the evening. When Lin Qing looked up from her desk, Su Yi had already left for the day.
She tidied up her desk a bit, preparing to head home.
There were still a few interns in the firm working overtime. Lin Qing encouraged them with a “Keep up the good work,” then picked up her briefcase and walked to the elevator, pressing the down button.
Two seconds later, a figure appeared beside her.
It was Zhao Ningzhou.
“Xiao Qing, it’s past six—I’m guessing no one’s cooking at home. Want to grab dinner together?”
His tone was gentle, and he wore a smiling expression.
Lin Qing turned her head to look at him, feeling only that beneath this familiar face hid a hypocritical and ugly heart.
“Doesn’t Attorney Zhao have a beauty by his side? Why would I join in and spoil the fun?”
Lin Qing looked away, staring at the numbers on the elevator display, hoping it would quickly reach “5.”
Zhao Ningzhou patiently explained, “Xiao Qing, I’ve already broken up with her.”
Lin Qing let out a light humph. “Break up if you want—what does your breakup have to do with me?”
“Ding”—the elevator doors opened.
Lin Qing quickly stepped inside.
Zhao Ningzhou followed behind Lin Qing, hurriedly pleading, “Xiao Qing, I know you’re still angry. What happened before was my fault—I was bewitched to be with her. Please forgive me. Let’s start over, okay?”
Lin Qing pressed the button for the basement level, crossed her arms over her chest, and stared at Zhao Ningzhou.
“Zhao Ningzhou, we’ve been broken up for five years. When I returned to the country back then, you were the one who chose Jiang Wanyin. You kept saying that I’d been abroad for four years—it was too long, you were too lonely, and Jiang Wanyin’s appearance warmed your empty and lonely heart. I chose to let you go at that time. Now, there’s no way I’m turning back. You should go find someone else.”
Thinking he could treat her like a backup plan—he wish.
From the day they broke up, she had never considered getting back together.
“Xiao Qing, we had seven years of feelings between us. I don’t believe you could forget it all so quickly.”
The elevator doors opened, and Lin Qing walked out without giving the person behind her even a glance.
“Xiao Qing, Xiao Qing.”
Zhao Ningzhou quickly stepped forward and grabbed her wrist.
“What are you doing?!”
“Let go!”
“No, I won’t!”
Lin Qing was entangled to the point of exasperation. She swung her briefcase at Zhao Ningzhou’s body, then quickly yanked her hand free.
Her anger flared up directly: “Zhao Ningzhou, I’ll say it one last time. I don’t care that you came to work at Hua Ding. Between you and me, we’re just strangers who happen to be colleagues—nothing more. We can’t go back to how things were. Also, I hope you’ll keep your distance from me. I have a boyfriend.”
After saying the words “boyfriend,” Lin Qing felt it wasn’t quite right. She and Fu Sinian were about to get married—calling him a boyfriend didn’t seem appropriate.
So she emphasized again, “Oh, no—that’s wrong. Not boyfriend. Fiancé.”
“I’m getting married soon. Don’t come harassing me.”
With that, she opened the car door and sat in the driver’s seat.
Hearing that Lin Qing was about to get married, Zhao Ningzhou froze for a moment, as if he’d suffered a huge blow. All his strength seemed drained away; his eyes were empty and lifeless as he watched Lin Qing get into the car and drive off.
“Fiancé? Where did this fiancé come from?!”
Zhao Ningzhou’s brows furrowed deeply, feeling utterly incredulous.
Lin Qing drove her white Mercedes back to Jinmao Mansion.
In summer, the sun set late. At six in the evening, the sunset glow bloomed brilliantly across the sky, golden light illuminating the earth.
On the way back to Jinmao Mansion, Lin Qing passed by a shopping mall.
The traffic light turned red.
She stepped on the brake, and the Mercedes came to a stop, waiting for the red light to end.
During the 40-second red light, Lin Qing looked ahead and frowned.
On the exterior of the mall building ahead, there were several large display screens. The biggest one was playing a lipstick advertisement for a cosmetics brand.
The celebrity spokesperson in the ad was none other than Jiang Wanyin.
On the screen, she was applying lipstick.
Wearing a red dress, her long black hair styled in big waves, her entire face came close to the camera. The shot zoomed in on her lips—plump and alluringly vivid.
After applying it, she even winked at the camera and blew a flying kiss.
Lin Qing silently watched the advertisement, finding the expression extremely greasy and affected.
The ad played over and over in a loop. As Lin Qing watched it, memories of her conversation with Jiang Wanyin five years ago flooded her mind.
At that time, she had just returned to the country and didn’t yet know that Jiang Wanyin was already living with Zhao Ningzhou.
Zhao Ningzhou had called her, and his first words were, “Let’s break up.”
The next day, she went to Zhao Ningzhou’s place.
She discovered Jiang Wanyin was cohabiting with him.
In a fit of rage, she slapped Jiang Wanyin across the face and furiously called her a homewrecker.
Jiang Wanyin covered her face but didn’t fight back. Instead, with the posture of a victor, she said to her, “Lin Qing, it’s been four years already—everything has changed. What daydreams are you still having? Brother Ningzhou isn’t a monk; he had no obligation to wait faithfully for you for four years.”
Coming out of Zhao Ningzhou’s home, Lin Qing felt like she had lost a bet.
Completely and utterly lost.
In all those years of losing to Fu Sinian in academic rankings, she had never felt that kind of defeat.
This was the first time—an endless wave of defeat crashed over her like a tide, swallowing her whole.
That night, she ran to the gates of Nancheng No. 1 High School and broke down in tears.
She had firmly believed that her Brother Zhao would wait for her to come back.
But he hadn’t.
The sunlight was glaring, and her vision grew a little blurry.
Beep, beep, beep—
Cars behind her honked.
Lin Qing sniffed her slightly stinging nose, snapped back to reality, eased off the brake, and drove forward.
Half an hour later, at Jinmao Mansion.
As soon as Lin Qing entered the door, she noticed the floor was covered in water stains everywhere.
A man’s voice came from the balcony on the second floor.
“Lin Qing, the floor is very slippery. Change into slippers before coming in—be careful. I’m cleaning.”
“Oh, okay.”
Lin Qing held her bag, changed her shoes, and cautiously entered the house.
The light-colored wooden floor was covered in water and foam everywhere.
Fu Sinian hurriedly came down from upstairs carrying a bucket and said to her, “Go sit on the sofa and don’t move around. I’m worried you’ll slip if you walk about.”
Lin Qing walked to the sofa, took off her shoes, and curled up on it.
Fu Sinian continued cleaning.
He mopped the floor over and over again.
Lin Qing couldn’t help but find it amusing and asked him, “Hey, your place is so big—why don’t you hire a housekeeper? Why do it all yourself? It’s so tiring.”
Fu Sinian’s voice was calm and indifferent: “Housekeepers don’t clean thoroughly.”
“If it’s not thorough, just hire more.”
“It’s just not thorough!”
Lin Qing was speechless.
She watched the man in front of her holding the mop, wiping a single floor tile five or six times if it was dirty.
Alright, she got it now.
This man had obsessive-compulsive disorder plus a severe cleanliness obsession. Even if a housekeeper came, it wouldn’t help.
It wouldn’t meet his standards of satisfaction.
While Fu Sinian was cleaning, Lin Qing simply took out her laptop and started working on the due diligence report.
Twenty minutes later, Lin Qing rubbed her sore lower back. Fu Sinian was still mopping the floor.
She wanted to find Yuanbao to pet its fur, looked around the living room, but didn’t see any sign of Yuanbao.
“Fu Sinian, where’s Yuanbao?”
“I locked it up.”
Lin Qing let out an “Ah,” and said, “Why did you lock up my baby for no reason?”