Gu Mian is pregnant?
How is that possible!
But their conversation couldn’t be fake, could it?
Is Gu Mian really pregnant?
So she wasn’t wrong last time at the cafe – Gu Mian’s nausea and dry heaving were indeed signs of pregnancy!
That bitch actually dared to deceive her!
Yin Luoxue clenched her fists, suppressing the anger in her chest as she returned to her hospital room.
After gradually calming down, she remained utterly perplexed.
If she’s pregnant, why would Gu Mian file for divorce?
Shouldn’t she be using her pregnancy to secure her position as Mrs. Li?
Unless… the child isn’t Li Tingshen’s?
Yes! Gu Mian has been in prison all this time – how could she possibly be carrying Li Tingshen’s child!
She probably got pregnant with some bastard child from sleeping with random men in prison. She’d heard rumors about those shady sexual transactions happening in some prisons!
It must be this!
Yin Luoxue couldn’t help but laugh aloud.
Gu Mian is finished!
After much deliberation, Yin Luoxue realized that if she directly told Li Tingshen about Gu Mian’s bastard child, he might always associate her with his humiliation whenever he saw her.
So she couldn’t be the one to reveal it. Instead, she needed Li Tingshen to discover it himself, so it wouldn’t affect their relationship.
The best scenario would be to expose it in front of everyone – the more humiliated Li Tingshen felt, the more he would hate Gu Mian!
Yin Luoxue quickly devised a plan.
The 5th of every month was the Li family’s unwavering tradition of holding a family dinner – exactly three days from now.
If the Li family discovered during the dinner that Gu Mian had been unfaithful and was pregnant with a bastard child, the scene would be absolutely spectacular!
……
Unaware that someone had been eavesdropping outside the door or that she was already being plotted against, Gu Mian asked curiously, “Mr. Pei, how did you know I was pregnant?”
“I’ve often seen you feeling nauseous. You said you studied medicine, so if it were stomach issues, you would have sought treatment already. Plus, Xiaobao’s mother had exactly the same symptoms when she was pregnant.”
Gu Mian nodded. “Xiaobao’s mother must have been a very gentle mother.”
“Yes, she was very gentle. It’s been three years since she passed, and my pain has gradually faded with time, but Xiaobao’s hasn’t.” Pei Jinchuan looked at his son playing with toys on the hospital bed. “Gu Mian, actually, this isn’t the first time Xiaobao has called another woman ‘mommy’.”
“How could that be? Is it because he lacks maternal love?”
Pei Jinchuan shook his head. “The women he calls mommy are all pregnant. I’ve taken Xiaobao for checkups and consulted psychologists. The conclusion was that Xiaobao has a more sensitive sense of smell than ordinary people, and pregnant women have different scents due to hormonal changes.”
“Xiaobao’s mother died in a car accident when she was already pregnant. Xiaobao was in the car during the accident. He forever remembered his mother’s scent, so he identifies people with that scent as his mother. That’s how I became even more certain you were pregnant.”
Gu Mian’s heart ached. “Such a young child experiencing something like this. What’s even more tragic is that Mrs. Pei was pregnant when the accident happened.”
“It was a daughter.” Pei Jinchuan raised his hand to massage his throbbing temples. “And she was full-term. Just when I was about to have both a son and daughter, heaven dealt me a fatal blow…”
Gu Mian didn’t know what to say. “Mr. Pei, take care of yourself. After all, you still have Xiaobao.”
“That’s right. For Xiaobao’s sake, I must live well and protect him as he grows up.”
Gu Mian spoke softly, “Mr. Pei, I really like Xiaobao, but I also have my own family to protect. So please accept my resignation.”
“Alright, I’ll find a new caregiver as soon as possible.”
“Thank you.”
Gu Mian breathed a sigh of relief, took out her phone, removed Li Tingshen from the blacklist, and edited a text message to send.
Li’s Group conference room.
Li Tingshen sat at the head of the table, listening to his subordinates’ work reports.
His phone suddenly vibrated. He picked it up and saw it was a message from Gu Mian.
[I’ve already resigned, but I have to wait until they find a new caregiver before I can leave. Please allow my uncle’s shop to reopen, okay?]
Above it was the previous message: [I’ve already moved out of my uncle’s house. Please don’t make things difficult for him anymore, okay?]
Li Tingshen curled his lips. Her attitude was quite soft when begging, unlike yesterday in the elevator when she stubbornly resisted him.
Li Tingshen raised his hand, and his assistant immediately approached, bending down to say, “President Li.”
Li Tingshen said something, and the assistant quickly left.
…
That evening, as soon as Gu Mian returned to her apartment, she received a call from Wang Shulan saying the shop could resume business.
Wang Shulan scolded Gu Mian a few more times over the phone, hinting openly and covertly that she should curry favor with Li Tingshen.
Gu Mian was used to her mercenary attitude and didn’t argue, quietly listening until the end before politely ending the call.
Just as she was about to take a shower, Li Tingshen called.
Gu Mian answered, “Ting Shen.”
“I thought you’d blocked me again.” Li Tingshen’s voice sounded pleased. “There’s a family banquet in a couple of days. Get ready—I’ll pick you up.”
Gu Mian’s fingers suddenly tightened. “Can I not go?”
“What do you think?” the man countered instead of answering.
Gu Mian didn’t persist. “Understood.”
After hanging up, Gu Mian sat still for a long time before getting up to shower.
…
On the day of the family banquet, Gu Mian asked Pei Jinchuan for leave in advance. At four in the afternoon, Li Tingshen called right on time.
Gu Mian walked out of the hospital to find the Rolls-Royce already parked at the entrance.
She opened the rear door and got in. After Li Tingshen instructed the driver to depart, he turned to look at the girl beside him.
“Didn’t I tell you to get ready? Why are you dressed like this?”
Her simple, casual attire would normally be fine, but the Li family banquet was always treated seriously. Not just the women, but even the men paid attention to their appearance—no one was as casual as her.
Gu Mian replied indifferently, “I’m not walking a red carpet. Besides, you never cared what I wore before.”
Li Tingshen’s brow furrowed slightly.
He really hadn’t paid attention to Gu Mian’s clothing or appearance—never had.
Gu Mian turned to look out the car window.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t dressed up in the past; she hadn’t wanted to embarrass Li Tingshen at family banquets either.
But in the end, she’d always been sent to work in the kitchen, no different from the servants.
“Still working as a caregiver for the Pei family?”
Li Tingshen’s sudden question interrupted Gu Mian’s thoughts.
Thinking he was pursuing the earlier matter, Gu Mian quickly explained, “Mr. Pei hasn’t found a new caregiver yet, so I have to stay and help temporarily.”
Gu Mian had always found Xiaobao very well-behaved, unlike the difficult little master the nurses had described.
But I finally witnessed it these past two days – within two days, he had driven away seven caregivers who came for trial work.
The problem was he remained unmoved by either soft or hard approaches, coupled with his bipolar disorder, even Pei Jinchuan could do nothing about him.
……
Half an hour later, the Rolls-Royce stopped outside the Li family villa.
Just after getting out of the car, Gu Mian heard Yin Luoxue’s sweet, coquettish voice calling, “Brother Ting Shen!””