Jin Yu slept restlessly through the night.
In her dreams, she felt as though a hand was gripping her heart tightly, and her entire body was weighed down by something, making her uncomfortable.
She wanted to open her eyes to see, but her eyelids felt heavy. She tried many times but ultimately failed.
When she woke up, her only sensation was an aching back and sore muscles.
Staring blankly at the ceiling without any particular emotion, she wasn’t fully awake yet, her mind still in a daze.
Only after her thoughts cleared did she take a moment to process everything. Gazing at the unfamiliar ceiling, she suddenly remembered—this wasn’t her home.
The bed she slept in wasn’t hers either.
Just as she was about to use this as an explanation for her sore back and aching muscles, she turned her head and caught sight of an exceptionally handsome face—her not-so-pleasant-tempered marriage partner.
It was at this moment that her eyes widened abruptly.
“Ah—”
Her scream lasted less than two seconds before a large hand covered her mouth.
The man, his hair tousled, squinted his eyes and scolded impatiently, “What are you howling about so early in the morning!”
It was only when he covered her mouth that Jin Yu realized the reason for her sore back and aching muscles.
Her not-so-pleasant-tempered partner also had poor sleeping habits because, at that very moment, his leg was still draped over her body.
No wonder she had felt so restless last night.
They stared at each other wide-eyed for over a minute before Meng Jinyan slowly came to his senses. Seeing her face flushed red from lack of oxygen under his hand, he finally took pity and released her.
After letting go, he offered no explanation whatsoever, simply throwing off the covers and getting up with practiced ease.
Jin Yu took a few deep breaths, regaining some strength before asking with a puzzled expression:
“You… how did you end up in my bed?”
Hearing this, the man turned around and corrected her indifferently, “This is my bed.”
Jin Yu was left speechless. After a brief silence, she suddenly thought of something, “So, do you sleepwalk at night?”
Meng Jinyan: “…”
Their eyes met, and he sneered, “You really know how to make excuses for me. This is my home, my bed. I sleep wherever I want.”
Jin Yu: “…”
After saying that, he headed straight into the bathroom to freshen up.
Jin Yu sat on the bed, gently rubbing her thighs, genuinely believing that if she had slept on the sofa last night, her body wouldn’t feel as uncomfortable as it did now.
Her back ached, and her legs were sore.
When she got out of bed, she stumbled and nearly fell. Steadying herself against the bedside table, she began mentally preparing how to tactfully suggest that she sleep on the sofa from now on.
If that really wasn’t possible, she could even sleep on the floor. In short, as long as she didn’t have to share a bed with him.
By the time the two of them made it downstairs to the dining room, half an hour had passed. Shortly after she sat down, the butler eagerly served her soup. “Young Madam, this pigeon soup was specially requested by the Old Madam. Please give it a try.”
To be honest, Jin Yu wasn’t particularly interested in soup so early in the morning, but she also knew what the Old Madam cared about. So, even though she didn’t like it, she obediently expressed her gratitude.
“Uncle Meng, thank you for your hard work.”
After forcing herself to take a few sips despite her discomfort, she nibbled on a small sponge cake. Meng Jinyan, who was drinking coffee, glanced over and criticized her again, “At this pace, you’ll probably still be eating by noon.”
Hearing this, Jin Yu’s face flushed with embarrassment.
Her habit of eating slowly was cultivated from childhood. When her parents were still around, they doted on her and indulged her. She would chew each bite thoroughly, often taking so long that her meals grew cold.
But they were extremely patient with her. Whenever the food turned lukewarm, they would reheat it for her.
This habit stayed with her for over twenty years, unchanged even after she moved in with her grandmother at her uncle’s house.
The reason it never changed was simple: she wasn’t qualified to eat with them. Every meal she had was their leftovers, and since it was just scraps, no one cared whether she ate fast or slow.
But now, she had come to the Meng family, and after he pointed out the problem, she had to change.
While speeding up her chewing, she responded, “I’ll finish quickly. I won’t waste your time.”
Hearing this, Meng Jinyan scoffed, “You’d better.”
By the time he finished his meal, half of the sponge cake on her plate remained. Afraid he would grow impatient, Jin Yu simply swallowed the cake with some soup.
Seeing her swallow so hard her eyes turned red, the butler couldn’t help but speak up, “Young Madam, please eat slower.”
Jin Yu smiled in his direction, embarrassed. “I’m already eating very slowly.”
In this world, apart from her parents, grandmother, and younger brother, no one else would tolerate her slow eating or wait for her.
She and Meng Jinyan were just marriage partners—she knew her place clearly.
During this time, Meng Jinyan checked his watch several times.
Aside from getting their marriage certificate with her today, he also had a meeting scheduled.
But judging by her eating speed, he estimated he might have to stand someone up.
His frequent glances at his watch did not escape Jin Yu’s notice. As she hurried her meal, she thought aloud, “If you have something urgent to attend to, you can go ahead. Grandma said we could handle the marriage certificate at home too, right? I can go back and get my household register myself.”
Their eyes met, and after weighing the pros and cons in his mind, Meng Jinyan decisively stood up. “Alright, I’ll go ahead then.”
Jin Yu nodded with a smile. “Okay.”
After watching him leave, she stared at the sponge cake in her bowl, her appetite completely gone. For her, when eating became a race against time, it lost its original flavor.
But adhering to the principle of not wasting food, she forced herself to finish it.
Just as she set down her chopsticks, a call from “Caregiver Aunt Zhang” came through.
Aunt Zhang was the caregiver she had hired for her younger brother, Jin Qi.
A call this early in the morning likely meant something was wrong. She hurriedly answered, about to ask if anything had happened, when the woman’s sobbing voice reached her ears first. “Miss Jin, come to the hospital quickly! Your aunt is trying to take your brother’s life. She’s trying to forcibly turn off his ventilator…”
Hearing this, Jin Yu’s vision went dark.
Her breathing grew rapid.
She knew all too well what the “ventilator” meant for her brother.
It was precisely because she understood so clearly that her expression instantly turned panicked. “Wait for me, I’m coming right away.”
As she rushed outside, she completely forgot she was pregnant, moving with startling speed. It was the butler who noticed something was wrong first and quickly stopped her. “Young Madam, where are you going? Let me arrange a driver for you.”
Tears welled in Jin Yu’s eyes. “First People’s Hospital.”
“Alright, please don’t panic. I’ll arrange it right away.”
On the way to the hospital, Aunt Zhang called again, and Jin Yu’s heart leaped into her throat. “Aunt Zhang, how are things now? You and the doctor…”
But before she could finish, a familiar, smug female voice came through. “You little brat, now you know fear? Where were you earlier? I’m telling you right now—if you don’t go and get the marriage certificate with Boss Huang today, your brother and your grandmother won’t see another penny from our Lin family.”
This voice belonged to her opportunistic aunt, Zhang Ru.
Hearing these words, Jin Yu’s face turned deathly pale, and her stomach began to ache. As she clutched her stomach, the woman’s voice continued, “And even if you really are pregnant, Boss Huang doesn’t mind. After all, he told us himself—he loves playing with pregnant women the most. That he’s taken a liking to you is your good fortune.”
Between the speed of the car and Zhang Ru’s words, Jin Yu couldn’t hold back her nausea and vomited.
Seeing her pale face in the rearview mirror, the driver immediately dialed Meng Jinyan’s number, his voice panicked.
“Young Master Yan, it’s bad—the young mistress has vomited.”
Meng Jinyan had just arrived at the office. Hearing this, he froze mid-motion as he was unbuttoning his coat to sit down, his expression icy cold.
“Vomited?”
The driver saw Jin Yu still clutching her stomach, and all sorts of terrible scenarios flashed before his eyes. He grew even more frantic. “Young Master Yan, the young… mistress is still holding her stomach. Her face is deathly pale. It looks like she might be…”
The driver’s words were halting, and Meng Jinyan’s patience ran out. Grabbing his car keys, he strode out of the office. “Might be what?”
“Might be having a miscarriage.”
Listening to the driver’s words, Jin Yu felt her vision darken.
She knew her own body best.
It was her stomach that hurt, not her abdomen.
The vomiting was from eating too quickly in the morning and indigestion.
It had absolutely nothing to do with a “miscarriage.”
But Meng Jinyan on the other end of the line took it seriously. Through the speakerphone, she could clearly hear his hurried footsteps.
Wiping away the mess, she spoke with a pale face, “Mr. Meng, could you… do me a favor?”