Chapter 43
Thinking of Pei Ning, Lin Zhiqiao suddenly remembered that ever since they finished filming the Four Seasons promotional ad together, he and Pei Ning hadn’t contacted each other for quite a while.
Pei Ning seemed to have been very busy lately. He wondered if she was preparing a new song or a new album.
Lin Zhiqiao thought about it idly.
His finger slid unconsciously twice across the screen. As the page scrolled, a familiar phrase flashed by.
Lin Zhiqiao focused and took a closer look—
“Haven’t seen President Jiang and Sister Pei in a photo together for ages. When is President Jiang going to give us some sweetness with Sister Pei again? [puppy eyes.jpg]”
That comment had a very high number of likes, and there were a huge number of replies below it.
“Waiting for sugar +1”
“The last time I got sugar was last time. This child is starving. If I don’t get more sweetness soon, I’m going to throw a fit [crying.jpg]”
“This year should already be President Jiang and Sister Pei’s seventh year together, right? There’s been no movement for so long, so I reasonably suspect President Jiang is planning something big and getting ready to surprise everyone.”
“Can I dare to dream that President Jiang’s next Weibo post will have a marriage certificate as the photo? [dog head.jpg]”
Lin Zhiqiao went through and liked each of those comments one by one, the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifting into the auntie smile of someone happily shipping a couple.
Pei Ning and Jiang Ling, President Jiang of the Jiang Group, had never exactly been a secret within the entertainment industry.
They first met at a gathering back when Pei Ning was still a rookie singer who had just entered the business.
The one who took the initiative to pursue was Jiang Ling. Pei Ning, who was still a total nobody at the time, had many concerns and did not immediately accept his pursuit.
Back then, Jiang Ling was the publicly designated next heir to the Jiang Group, worth hundreds of millions, with no shortage of admirers. He had always been single, and before meeting Pei Ning, there had never been any rumors linking him with anyone. In the eyes of many, he was the ideal marriage candidate.
And at that time, Pei Ning was only a little nobody, with neither fame nor a family background that matched his.
The gap in status between them was too large, so Pei Ning had hesitated at first when faced with Jiang Ling’s pursuit.
She worried that her just-begun career would be affected because of it. She worried Jiang Ling was only playing around. She worried the entertainment industry ran too deep, and she also worried about the difference between them.
But Jiang Ling’s persistence far exceeded the imagination of Pei Ning—and everyone else as well.
Jiang Ling pursued Pei Ning for an entire year. It wasn’t until Pei Ning suffered a serious setback in her career, one that nearly left her unable to recover, that Jiang Ling became the very first person to step forward and publicly support her.
It was from that moment on that Pei Ning’s attitude toward Jiang Ling changed.
After she resolved the trouble in her career, Pei Ning accepted Jiang Ling’s confession. The two of them went public across the internet in a high-profile way, and up until now, their relationship had remained stable without any crisis at all.
Not only Pei Ning, but in the very beginning, the entire internet that had paid attention to their relationship hadn’t been optimistic about them either.
Ever since Jiang Ling first began pursuing Pei Ning, the doubts aimed at their relationship had never stopped.
People said that Pei Ning’s current achievements were almost entirely because Jiang Ling had propped her up. They said the relationship between them was basically one of being kept…
Thankfully, Pei Ning was not just a pretty face with no substance. She used her strength to wash away every doubt cast on her and firmly secured her position as the new generation’s top female star in both popularity and ability.
And Jiang Ling had been steadfast enough toward Pei Ning. In the seven years they had been together, he had never once been shaken by public opinion.
Until now—this year was already the seventh year Jiang Ling and Pei Ning had been together.
Compared with the early period, the online voices questioning their relationship had already become very rare. Far more numerous were the people moved by their beautiful love story.
Many even called the relationship between Jiang and Pei “the benchmark for love in the entertainment industry,” saying that if these two ever broke up, they would never believe in love again.
Lin Zhiqiao was one of them.
Before meeting Pei Ning, just like countless other CP fans, all he could do was scroll through the two of their Weibo accounts online and ship the bits of sweetness he found there.
But after joining Our Life, Lin Zhiqiao had gloriously gained access to Pei Ning’s Moments feed.
Unfortunately, though, Pei Ning was not someone who liked sharing her life much. She rarely posted on Moments, and even when she did, the content was not always related to Jiang Ling.
Pei Ning’s Moments were only visible for the past six months. The most recent post related to Jiang Ling had been from three months ago.
It was on Pei Ning’s birthday, when Jiang Ling had personally made her a birthday cake.
To be honest, the cake’s appearance couldn’t exactly be called pretty. In fact, it was a little ugly. But the sincerity was real, and the love and happiness almost spilled right through the screen.
After finishing Pei Ning’s Moments, Lin Zhiqiao went and browsed through both of their Weibo accounts too. Only then did he put his phone down in full satisfaction.
He had heard that President Jiang often visited Pei Ning’s studio.
He wondered whether, when they went to experience Pei Ning’s work life, they might run into President Jiang visiting the set. If they did, maybe they could even get some live sweetness directly from President Jiang and Sister Pei.
Director Fang still hadn’t informed them when the second episode of Our Life would begin filming.
Lin Zhiqiao silently prayed in his heart that, if possible, President Jiang would be a little more active. If he could even become a special guest on Our Life, that would be even better.
Whether or not Director Fang had somehow remotely heard Lin Zhiqiao’s inner voice, before going to sleep that night, Lin Zhiqiao received a notice from his manager Ning Qing.
Ning Qing said that filming for Our Life, Episode Two, would begin in three days, and told him to prepare in advance.
Just like the first episode, the location of filming had not been disclosed, and the identity of the featured host remained just as mysterious.
In his heart, Lin Zhiqiao made a little prayer to the god of luck.
Please let it be Sister Pei’s home turf.
Amen.
*
The next day, Lin Zhiqiao got up early and prepared to go to the hospital to visit Shu Lin.
The location Shu Lin had sent him was a high-end private hospital with excellent privacy—though the price was correspondingly not so beautiful.
The surroundings of the hospital were lovely. The architectural style of the whole place did not really look like a hospital at all, but more like an upscale scenic resort.
To enter the hospital required both reservation and registration. Lin Zhiqiao registered Shu Lin’s room number and was only then guided upstairs by a nurse.
Shu Lin’s room was on the twelfth floor, in Special Integrated Care, Room 12.
There were not many inpatients in the Special Integrated Care ward. From the moment he stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hallway, the place was so quiet that apart from the nurses on duty at the station, he did not see a single other person.
That was, until Lin Zhiqiao turned a corner and arrived outside Room 12.
Standing outside the not-too-small hospital room door were one, two, three… a full six familiar faces.
They were the “former coworkers” who had only just parted ways on a certain dating show the day before. Apart from Xu Mo, who had already publicly collapsed, everyone else was present.
Even Zhou Zenian was there, not missing from the lineup, standing rather awkwardly among the crowd with a fruit gift basket in his left hand and a bouquet of flowers in his right.
All six heads were pressed close together outside the door, jostling and crowding, yet not a single one of them pushed the door open and went in.
Lin Zhiqiao: “…?”
He asked blankly, “What are you all doing standing out here? Didn’t you come to see Shu Lin? Why isn’t anyone going in?”
Everyone turned back toward him in perfect unison. “Shhh—!”
Lin Zhiqiao jolted, then immediately became excited.
There was gossip!
Before his brain had time to process it, his body had already moved quickly on its own.
The group of six outside the door became a group of seven.
The hospital room door was not fully shut, leaving a slit less than a finger’s width wide. The people outside could not clearly see what was happening inside, but they could hear the voices coming from the room very clearly.
At the same time, inside the room, Qin Ye and Shu Lin were engaged in sweet interaction.
Shu Lin was wearing a blue-and-white striped hospital gown. His complexion was still somewhat pale, but the exhaustion in his expression had clearly eased a great deal compared with before.
Qin Ye sat at the bedside, skillfully peeling an apple.
The apple peel came away in one long strip, removed intact from beginning to end.
“How’s that? My apple-peeling skills aren’t bad, right?” Qin Ye said in a tone of almost showing off, not stopping his movements as he cut off a small piece of fruit and held it up to Shu Lin’s lips.
Shu Lin wanted to reach out and take it, but Qin Ye avoided his hand and fed the apple directly to his mouth instead.
Shu Lin paused slightly, then opened his mouth and bit down on the piece. The tips of his ears flushed faintly red. “…I can do it myself too.”
Qin Ye stared at him, his eyes so sweet they almost seemed capable of pulling threads. “But I want to do it.”
Shu Lin could not resist that look in the slightest. He could only turn his gaze away, and his whole ear went thoroughly red.
If the period of contract dating was counted, then they had clearly already been together for quite a long time. They had done everything they should and shouldn’t have done, and had even—
And yet now, Shu Lin still felt as though he and Qin Ye had only just begun dating.
The feeling was even stronger than before.
Sincerity was the easiest thing in the world to move a person’s heart.
And Qin Ye’s sincerity was even more completely unhidden. After all those baseless knots in the heart and misunderstandings had finally been untangled, Shu Lin no longer had the slightest resistance left against such wholehearted sincerity.
“Does eating apples make you feel sick?” Qin Ye asked.
Shu Lin shook his head.
His pregnancy reactions had been especially severe. There were many things he simply could not eat, so Qin Ye was now paying extra close attention.
By Qin Ye’s hand, Shu Lin ate an entire apple.
Afterward, he looked out the window. A moment later, he suddenly spoke. “The child… I’ve decided to keep it.”
Qin Ye, who had been wiping his hands, froze mid-motion. The wet tissue in his hand was crumpled with several deep creases.
“W-what?” He almost thought he had heard wrong and instinctively asked.
Shu Lin turned to look at him. At the moment he wasn’t wearing his glasses, and his gaze looked especially soft. “I said I’m planning to keep this child.”
Outside the door, everyone sucked in a breath in unison, then immediately and swiftly clapped hands over one another’s mouths, afraid they might disturb the two people inside the room.
Lin Zhiqiao very proactively covered his own mouth as well.
However: [Aaaaaah——!!!]
Everyone outside the door instantly felt the world go dark before their eyes.
Damn it!
They had forgotten there was still one giant loudspeaker among them!!!
Fortunately, the two people inside the room were not affected.
Hearing Shu Lin’s words, Qin Ye’s eyes widened. He did not react for a very long time.
“R-really?” Qin Ye was so shocked that he stammered badly. “A-Lin, you… you’ve thought it through?”
Shu Lin gave a slight nod. “Mm. I’ve thought it through. No matter whether the Qin family accepts this child or not, no matter what happens to us in the future… I’m going to keep this child.”
Qin Ye, however, frowned and asked, “What do you mean, whether the Qin family accepts this child or not? And what do you mean, what happens to us in the future?”
Shu Lin said nothing. He only lowered his eyes.
Qin Ye asked him, “Are you worried that my family won’t accept you and the child?”
[Director Shu, use your mouth, Director Shu! Aaah, you’re killing me here!!!]
Shu Lin: “…”
The heaviness in his heart eased somewhat. Rarely, he answered honestly. “Yes.”
Qin Ye’s eyebrows shot up. “How dare they!”
“You’re the person I chose, and the child in your belly is mine. They’d be thrilled if anything—how could they possibly not accept you!” His voice was full of anger. “Besides, why should we care whether they accept it or not?!”
Shu Lin had never expected Qin Ye to react like this at all. He simply froze.
“Our future—mine and yours—is our business!” Qin Ye braced both elbows against the bedframe and tightly gripped Shu Lin’s hand. “Who cares whether they accept it or not! I said I’d take responsibility, and I absolutely will. At worst, I’ll sever ties with my family—”
Outside the door, everyone sucked in a breath all over again!
Lin Zhiqiao: [Whoa, whoa, whoa——]
Behind them came a dull thud, the sound of something hitting the floor.
A strange, elderly voice rang out: “Unfil—”
Then cut off abruptly.
Lin Zhiqiao and the others turned around and discovered that at some unknown point, several unfamiliar strangers had appeared behind them.
Ji Yuan had already reacted at lightning speed. Before the voice of the elderly stranger could spread any farther, she covered his mouth and stuffed his words right back in.
One hand over his mouth, the other finger raised to her lips, Ji Yuan said, “Shhh!”
The elderly stranger: “…”
Everyone relaxed and turned their attention back to the hospital room.
Shu Lin had been so startled by Qin Ye’s words that he instinctively blurted out, “No, you can’t. You’re the Qin family heir, you can’t—”
“I can!” Qin Ye cut him off. “You don’t need to worry about the Qin family. My parents are still young—they can still have more children! Let them work a little harder and give birth to a new heir! We’ll just treat it as if the main account got ruined and they have to start over and raise a new account! It’s not a big problem at all!!”
Outside the door, another unfamiliar male voice rang out. “Rebe—”
And once again the voice was cut off abruptly.
This time, the person who moved in time to clamp a hand over the stranger’s mouth was Zhou Zenian, who had been standing closest to the unfamiliar middle-aged man.
Looking tense and serious, Zhou Zenian hissed, “Shhh!”
Lin Zhiqiao silently nodded to himself. [Nicely done!]
He turned back and looked carefully at the strangers again.
A middle-aged man and woman, who seemed to be a married couple. And an elderly man and woman, their hair already white, who also seemed to be a married couple.
They looked kind of familiar.
After conducting face recognition in his head, Lin Zhiqiao suddenly sucked in a cold breath—
[Holy crap, crap, crap! This is bad, really bad!!]
[These are Qin Ye’s parents and grandparents, aaah!!!]
