Chapter 69 — Extra: Early Pregnancy, About Five Weeks (Includes Eldest Brother, Drone Bees)
Lu Yushu chuckled softly, pulled his hand out of his pocket, and patted his eldest brother on the shoulder. “Good night.”
Good night.
Lu Lou sat on the sofa for a long time before finally getting up and heading to the bedroom.
As he passed Lu Yushu’s floor, he thought: although Father had arranged Bai He’s guest room on his own floor, it still wasn’t the same room.
Some people were already sharing a quilt with their secretaries.
Once Lu Lou realized this, everyone stopped pretending. He turned a blind eye to the intimacy between Lu Yushu and Lin Xilan that went far beyond a mere colleague relationship.
At mealtimes, they sat in pairs, deliberately stretching out the duration of the meal. Lu Lou had just ladled a bowl of mixed-grain porridge and set it on the table when Bai He picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, left the dining table, and sat on the sofa. He took a tablet out of his briefcase and, with fingers rapidly swiping upward, began reviewing his boss’s schedule for the day.
Lu Lou: “……”
Secretary Bai wasn’t pretending anymore either.
Before, when they ran into Lu Yushu and Lin Xilan eating in the company cafeteria—even if they weren’t at the same table—those two at the neighboring table wouldn’t put down their chopsticks, and Bai He would deliberately drag things out as well, proving that a secretary eating with his boss was just supposed to take that long.
What was there left for Lu Lou not to understand? As his chief secretary, his eyes and ears within the group, Bai He had helped Lu Yushu hide things from him for three months.
Without reports from his secretary, how had he become blind like this?
He wasn’t blind—he’d just been so busy lately that he’d been dizzy.
Everyone was deceiving him into going to work. If he didn’t go—no, that wouldn’t do.
If he wasn’t the CEO, where would he get a secretary?
In the Lu family garage, three understated luxury cars were parked side by side. After breakfast, the three brothers were due to head to work.
Lu Xiao had always liked driving himself. After learning that his wife thought he looked handsome doing it, he was even less willing to let anyone else drive—unless he wanted to cuddle with his wife in the car.
Lu Yushu, who always used a driver when going out, seemed to have fallen in love with driving belatedly. He slid into the driver’s seat and leaned over to help his secretary fasten his seatbelt.
Lu Lou’s car was sandwiched in the middle. The driver was already in position, and the secretary calmly opened the rear door for him.
Lu Lou looked left and right, his heart heavy, then bent down and got in. Bai He circled around and took the front passenger seat.
Although Lu Lou was the unquestioned eldest, both the second and third brothers were driving themselves. His car was in the middle, and the driver, being tactful, didn’t rush out.
Only after the two cars beside them—radiating a rosy, romantic air—had driven off did the driver start the engine.
Lu Lou: “……” This awful feeling of lagging behind his younger brothers.
“Bai He, lunch together?” Lu Lou asked.
Secretary Bai replied, “You have a lunch appointment with senior management from Sea Star.”
Lu Lou frowned. “I don’t remember that being on my schedule.”
Bai He’s tone remained unchanged. “Oh, Third Young Master asked me to help schedule it for you last week.”
Lu Lou: “……” No wonder he’d felt so much busier lately.
He had never questioned his secretary’s arrangements before, trusting and relying on him completely. Who knew the secretary would quietly take on extra work for him?
He was certain his father—and Lu Xiao, that little sixth—would dump meetings on him, but he wasn’t sure whether Bai He, out of fellow-townsman loyalty, had also secretly taken on Lu Yushu’s workload.
He really should have gone to Shen Dad to argue his case this morning.
…
Ten days later, Lu Xiao scheduled a prenatal checkup at the hospital for Meng Xueyuan.
Meng Xueyuan warned him, “Don’t act like you already knew I was really pregnant. What if I’m not? You need to put on a bit of a show later.”
Lu Xiao said, “Put on what show? In our family, the tradition is treating everything the same—real or fake, the reaction’s identical.”
To demonstrate this “equal treatment,” Lu Xiao brought up an old topic again. “How about I give Cyber Big Baby and Second Baby some names?”
With a third one on the way, if he didn’t name them now, the generation order would get messed up.
Meng Xueyuan refused flatly. “No!”
Lu Xiao shut up. Was he the only one who wanted to name them?
Before entering the ultrasound room, they bantered a bit. Meng Xueyuan’s mind wasn’t really on the checkup—he was afraid Lu Xiao might blurt something out in front of the department head.
Fortunately, Lu Xiao stayed quiet the entire time, holding Meng Xueyuan’s hand steadily, his expression serious as he stared at the screen, trying to be the first to spot their little one.
But his eyes were no match for an expert with decades of experience—after all, even when he himself had been an embryo, it had been the director who spotted him first.
The director, old but sharp-eyed, quickly locked onto a spot of ultrasonic echo.
“Here! That’s the gestational sac!” The director’s eyes lit up as he focused on it. It was perfectly shaped and well positioned—absolutely unmistakable.
The printer rattled and spat out a report. On it, clearly written: early pregnancy, approximately five weeks.
Meng Xueyuan sat up, took the report, and looked at the ultrasound image with his lips pressed together.
Lu Xiao pushed all his worries deep down. Showing concern now would only add pressure for his wife. At this moment, all he needed to do was share the joy of becoming a parent together!
“We’re going to be dads!” Lu Xiao gently wrapped an arm around Meng Xueyuan’s waist. “Honey, you’re amazing! You’ve given us an incredible stroke of luck.”
Meng Xueyuan said modestly, “Just letting things happen naturally.”
A huge smile spread across Lu Xiao’s face. “I’ll keep my promise—quit working and stay home to take care of the kid. You can focus on your career, honey.”
Meng Xueyuan froze. You haven’t even been in the CEO circle for two full years yet.
“No. You should work properly.” When people are idle, they start overthinking and worrying for no reason. Staying busy would make the pregnancy pass more quickly.
He persuaded earnestly, “You can’t dump all the work on Xilan and Bai He. They’re already very busy.”
Lu Xiao said, “Alright.”
The next second, Meng Xueyuan added, “I’m going out of town to shoot for two weeks. You stay home and behave.”
Lu Xiao: “……”
He felt like he absolutely couldn’t live without his wife right now.
Unable to reach an agreement, Lu Xiao went to work full of resentment.
While Meng Xueyuan was on location shooting midday scenes, his assistant told Lu Xiao that this scene had to be filmed at noon; otherwise, there would be messy shadows on the ground. So Meng Xueyuan had just eaten some bread and gone straight to filming, with no time for lunch in between.
Lu Xiao lost his appetite as well. Everyone on his floor had gone to the cafeteria, leaving the office quiet. He sat in the CEO’s office, placed his phone on the wide desk, and dialed it using the landline.
“Lu Xiao, answer the phone.”
“Lu Xiao, answer the phone.”
Meng Xueyuan’s recorded ringtone played.
This was a newer, sweeter version Meng Xueyuan had re-recorded for him—much sweeter than the cool, detached reminder his agent had recorded before.
I really want to answer the phone. Why hasn’t my wife called me yet?
Lu Xiao dialed his own phone for fun, gazing at the bright sunlight outside the window, looking like a resentful husband trapped in the inner chambers.
On set, Meng Xueyuan was filming a “high-altitude operation” scene. He was placed atop an iron tower, secured with safety harnesses. Naturally, he wasn’t carrying a phone—too cumbersome.
During camera adjustments and breaks, he didn’t come down either, since getting back up was troublesome. Sitting on the tower, Meng Xueyuan suddenly noticed that one of the supporting actors had brought a phone.
That actor was a genuine high-altitude professional. His phone even had satellite calling, able to make calls despite poor signal. While the two sat resting together, the actor made a call to his boss.
Finding the environment fascinating, Meng Xueyuan borrowed the phone and called Lu Xiao as well.
…Busy.
He waited a bit and tried again—still busy.
Looks like he really is working hard.
So Meng Xueyuan didn’t disturb him further.
At Lu Group headquarters.
Two uninvited guests arrived at Lu Xiao’s office.
Lu Xiao looked up at the two familiar faces, paused his “calling game,” and asked, “Did you coordinate your visit?”
The visitors were President Fu and President Gu. It was purely coincidental—they hadn’t planned it together, just happened to pass by Lu Group after lunch and came up.
Fu Jin glanced at Gu Yunlang. “No.”
Family matters weren’t something you invited an audience for.
Lu Xiao said, “But it looks like your purpose is the same? Here to terminate contracts? If you’re going higher up, you should be looking for my second brother.”
More precisely, looking for Lin Xilan.
The drone bees had been on duty for three months. Had they failed probation? Or had these two realized that a monthly salary of three thousand was a scam?
Three thousand a month and you want to keep a canary? You’d only attract drone bees—only eating, not working, and the moment you ask for special services, they shake their heads and say, “That’s not the price.”
Xiang Jin and Lian Qiao had positioned themselves as this: after the CEO got off work, there’d be a living, gorgeous mascot at home—nice to look at, but not to be touched too much.
A little touching was fine.
That kind of thing—forget it.
Of course Fu Jin knew the market price wasn’t like this. When he asked to re-sign the contract, Xiang Jin said, “He just wants to work a three-thousand-yuan job.” When Fu Jin wanted to pursue him properly, Xiang Jin said, “He’s just here to work.”
When Fu Jin panicked, Xiang Jin, afraid the employer would get angry and fire him, would dutifully do a bit of housework—like cooking dinner.
That was already nice. Coming home at night to a great beauty opening the door, with the aroma of hot food.
Until he came home early one day and discovered—
Fu Jin rubbed his temples. “I didn’t want to terminate the contract, but—”
Seeing how hard it was for him to say it, Gu Yunlang suddenly had an epiphany. “Your wife called other men over to do the work too?”
He’d thought Lian Qiao had changed for the better, even mopping the floor. But yesterday he discovered Lian Qiao had a small group chat, where he said, “I really admire you guys—work is so tiring.”
And then two people volunteered to come help him work.
What was this? He’d rather Lian Qiao not lift a single finger.
There were cameras in the entryway. He could clearly see the great beauty enthusiastically serving tea and water to his “friends”—more enthusiastically than opening the door for them after work.
While the “friends” worked, the beauty hovered around praising them.
Worst of all, the pretty boy didn’t take any money, saying he’d come again next time. The beauty smiled especially brightly. When discovered, he even argued confidently, “In the future, I’ll do a full three-thousand-yuan’s worth of work each month.”
Gu Yunlang asked, “You, or him?”
Lian Qiao answered guiltily, “As long as someone does it.”
“……”
After listening to their emotional journeys… Lu Xiao found it all painfully familiar.
No one could escape being jealous of worker bees.
“It’s just mutual help among friends.”
Fu Jin and Gu Yunlang said in unison, “Easy for you to say.”
Lu Xiao snorted. When he’d been pushing the intensity, these two didn’t even know where they were.
With zero sympathy, he said, “You signed the contracts yourselves. No one grabbed your hand and pressed your fingerprint.”
Did they think he was a broker, coming for after-sales service?
Fu Jin and Gu Yunlang stared at him silently. They didn’t know why—just felt like he had experience.
Lu Xiao: “……” Where did they get the idea he had experience?!
That kind of experience wasn’t easy to share. He said, “If you like them, pursue them first. Once you’ve caught them, they’ll give you an explanation.”
After seeing off the two who thought they’d been “greened,” Lu Xiao picked up his phone and saw two missed calls.
He called back. It was a stranger, saying the big star had used his phone to make a call earlier, and they were no longer together.
Lu Xiao: “……”
Serves you right for playing that calling game—how childish!
He asked a couple more questions and learned that Meng Xueyuan had just been filming a high-altitude scene. His heart leapt into his throat—this kind of scene absolutely needed someone like him, with half a vine’s bloodline, to act as safety support.
Lu Xiao immediately logged into the company intranet, preparing to post a leave request so his subordinates could go to the eldest or second brother—or their secretaries.
He’d just opened it when he saw a leave request posted one minute earlier than his.
Eldest Brother had collapsed from overwork managing the group day and night. The doctor said he needed seven days of rest in the hospital. The secretary would be taking care of him.
Therefore, during this period, group affairs could be escalated directly to Lu Fengge, or Lu Xiao, or Lu Yushu.
Lu Xiao: “……” He didn’t believe a single word of that leave request. The man had looked perfectly fine that morning.
His grandfather was eighty and couldn’t stand staying in a convalescent hospital for seven days—after two days he’d already be clamoring to leave. And Lu Lou, so young… seven days.
It was only because Lu Xiao had taken the helm that his eldest brother could take sick leave, to avoid unsettling morale.
With things this serious, could a younger brother visit him every day?
No—because the leave request clearly stated that during the eldest brother’s recuperation, all group employees were forbidden from visiting, whether individually or in groups.
The meetings he’d secretly dumped were all coming back.
Lu Xiao sent Meng Xueyuan a message:
“Honey, the corporate intrigue here is too intense. When are you coming back to be my secretary?”
