Jing Jiaxi suddenly realized that his connection with Fu Qianyu, to outward appearances, looked exactly like a transactional exchange of money for sex.
Perhaps it truly was so, except that what he was trading was not his body.
It was the child inside his womb.
He relied on the child to obtain Fu Qianyu’s material assistance.
This realization left Jing Jiaxi even more short of breath. He parted his dry lips, unable to utter a single word.
“Didn’t you say you would tell me everything without reservation? It’s barely started and you’re already unable to answer?”
Lang Youyuan’s eyes were obscure, the initial impression score she gave the boy rapidly plummeting.
It appeared they truly had not met through any proper, conventional channel.
“Is it that you don’t want to say, or that you cannot say?”
Lang Youyuan continued to press. Jing Jiaxi licked his lips, his breathing shallow and rapid. “I…”
“Fine, I understand.” Lang Youyuan’s face darkened.
“I went to attend a classmate reunion, and I met Mr. Fu at the party…”
Seeing Lang Youyuan’s displeased expression, Jing Jiaxi hurriedly increased his speaking speed to finish.
“What party? When was this? And what happened after?” Lang Youyuan found it strange what kind of classmate reunion Fu Qianyu would appear at, and why the two of them would share an intersection.
“A party three months ago. Afterward… afterward I proactively initiated contact with Mr. Fu.”
Jing Jiaxi lowered his head, not daring to look into Lang Youyuan’s eyes; he knew full well that this narrative of his was riddled with loopholes.
“Oh? I discovered that you two had absolutely no intersections up until half a month ago. How did you suddenly establish contact?”
Lang Youyuan narrowed her eyes, finding the boy more and more suspicious the longer she looked.
The boy before her, who was tensely biting his lip and on the verge of crying, was absolutely concealing something.
“I’m sorry, it’s inconvenient for me to say.”
“Inconvenient? What is there that cannot be said about a normal relationship? Is it because you know your status makes it hard to speak? Qianyu called off his engagement because of you, didn’t he!”
The moment Lang Youyuan heard “party,” she formulated a hypothesis.
Sneaking into a party populated by wealthy tycoons to seize the opportunity to seduce one, exhausting every available trick to sleep with the wealthy man. Believing one could rely on their body to soar straight to the sky—she had seen far too much of such occurrences.
She mapped out the entire situation almost instantly. It was nothing more than a young boy assuming he possessed exceptional beauty, sleeping with the heir of the Fu Group to secure a lifetime guarantee.
Yet in the eyes of wealthy elites, this was merely a single night of casual romance.
The young boy was unwilling to accept it and continued to pester him for three months, somehow finally touching Fu Qianyu, causing Qianyu to take him to heart and even go so far as to call off the engagement.
Lang Youyuan’s words were spoken without a shred of courtesy, causing Jing Jiaxi to suffer immense shame and embarrassment.
He reflected that even if he voiced the actual reason, this lady would still assume he intended to use his stomach to force his way into a wealthy household, ruining the alliance between the two families.
Jing Jiaxi felt the atmosphere grow increasingly suffocating. His brain, already muddled due to the poor sleep caused by his pregnancy, was completely rusted over at this moment, clicking and clacking without turning.
“Alright, I told you not to be nervous, it’s not as if I’m going to eat you.”
Seeing the boy’s head drop lower and lower, with the faint sound of suppressed sobbing drawing near.
Lang Youyuan ceased applying pressure, permitting the boy to relax his state of mind.
The dishes she ordered had long since been prepared, and were currently being brought to the table by the server.
Lang Youyuan offered a smile as she placed a piece of food into the boy’s bowl.
The boy’s level of manipulation was shallow enough; he was probably just a somewhat vain young boy who accidentally caused Qianyu to develop an interest.
To be capable of disrupting the engagement with Zhili was also because Qianyu naturally shared a mediocre affection for Zhili anyway. If the boy truly only possessed the methods shown on the surface, then he wouldn’t be able to stir up any massive waves and wasn’t worth fearing.
It wouldn’t even require her to act; once a long period passed and Qianyu’s initial surge of interest faded, he would naturally grow tired of him.
Jing Jiaxi’s eye sockets were red. He took a cautious, deep breath, regulating his emotions before picking up his chopsticks.
Enduring the sensation of wanting to vomit, he furrowed his brows, picked up that piece of meat that was a blend of fat and lean, and placed it into his mouth.
He swallowed it almost without chewing.
Ever since discovering his pregnancy, his morning sickness reaction had been intensely severe.
Sometimes he couldn’t even manage a single meal a day, relying entirely on the nutritionist’s formulations and easily ingestible meals to barely supplement his nutrition.
Jing Jiaxi could only consume bland vegetables; if there was even a fraction too much oil, he would vomit until the sky turned dark and his eyes saw stars.
He normally couldn’t eat a single piece of this kind of meat, but the lady’s impression of him was already poor. If he refused, she would likely grow angry, wouldn’t she?
Harboring such a mindset, Jing Jiaxi kept his head lowered, pressing against his chest as he endured the nausea.
Lang Youyuan didn’t notice his discomfort, stating with a comforted expression: “In truth, your life has barely just begun, why necessity is there to ruin your reputation for these things?”
“How about this, I will give you five million, leave my son, and save all of us from wasting our minds and efforts.”
Jing Jiaxi lifted his head with immense difficulty, swallowing down the sour liquid surging up from his stomach, his Adam’s apple sliding continuously. “What?…”
The nausea caused him to experience a slight ringing in his ears again.
Lang Youyuan continued: “Five million is enough to buy these few years of yours, don’t be too greedy. Even if you follow my son, he will lose interest in you sooner or later, and what you obtain might not necessarily be this much. This is a check; if you agree, take it. We won’t waste each other’s time, isn’t that good?”
Lang Youyuan had already lost interest in confronting the boy; he was merely a fledgling child. Giving him five million was already her showing extreme benevolence.
Her granting him this cash out of nowhere was vastly superior to the boy obtaining a breakup fee after following Qianyu for several years. He could even take the money and walk a proper, upright path above board; what need was there to walk a despicable, crooked path.
For the sake of a mere boy, it wasn’t worth wasting her time, nor was it worth wasting Qianyu’s time.
Jing Jiaxi watched the lady extract a checkbook from her leather handbag, signing a check for five million and placing it directly before him.
Exerting his maximum effort to suppress the vomiting, he felt lightheaded and dizzy.
With his mind unclarified, he even began to contemplate whether taking this sum of money and flying far away with the child might not be an excellent solution.
He could obtain absolute custody of the child, without needing to worry about someone taking his child away.
Nor would he need to agonize over whether he was sinking into a complicated, ambiguous relationship.
Even if Fu Qianyu married in the future, his child could remain by his side, completely unaffected.
Jing Jiaxi’s heart thumped wildly; he was actually somewhat tempted.
With this money, he wouldn’t need to worry about being abandoned.
His hand instinctively extended toward the check, and right at the moment his fingers were about to touch it.
A cold, deep male voice interrupted his movement.
“Jing Jiaxi!”
Fu Qianyu’s breathing was heavy, his dark eyes fierce and severe.
Jing Jiaxi retracted his hand in fright.
Meanwhile, Fu Qianyu strode over with massive steps and seized his hand. “What are you doing!”
He had overheard his mother’s words offering cash to make Jing Jiaxi leave, but what he had never expected was that Jing Jiaxi actually dared to take the money!
The low roar of the male voice sent a jolt of shock through Jing Jiaxi. He wanted to speak, but was forced by the sensation of vomiting to keep his mouth shut.
Jing Jiaxi collected his thoughts at this moment; he had forgotten about Fu Qianyu’s feelings.
He had already informed him of the child’s existence, so how could he possibly strip away his right to become a father.
Jing Jiaxi’s eyes brimmed completely with guilt: I’m sorry.
Seeing his gaze, the fury within Fu Qianyu’s heart abruptly flared even more intensely