novelXiao Youjin Let Out A Grievous Yell, "Ah!"
| ← Ch.187 | Ch.189 → |
Chapter 188: Xiao Youjin Let Out A Grievous Yell, "Ah!"
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Although Lu Zhenghang had never openly admitted it, the chief editor already assumed that Zhu Hexuan was Lu Zhenghang's girlfriend. The chief editor treated Zhu Hexuan politely and often, with high regards. Before this, as long as Zhu Hexuan did not do anything out of the line, the chief editor basically would not pay her any attention.
This was Zhu Hexuan's first real taste of power. She thought that this was probably what Lin Chu's felt in Lin Yi.
Zhu Hexuan stood up and handed over the pile of "materials" that she just organized to Hu Mingrui."Take a look at these materials and come up with an article. I'll read through and see if it's good enough to be published. If it's good, I'll publish it under your name. You've been here for a while now, aren't you? It's time for you to come up with your own article. I've obtained the materials for you this time. Next time, you'll have to source for materials on your own."
Hu Mingrui was a new intern here. Zhu Hexuan had solidified her position here, and the chief editor wanted to ingratiate himself with her to maintain an amicable relationship and hence always thought of Zhu Hexuan first.
Zhu Hexuan was not yet qualified to mentor new interns based on her insufficient working experience, but the chief editor still assigned Hu Mingrui to her.
The memory of her forced resignation last time was still fresh on Zhu Hexuan's mind. Therefore, she was not taking any chances. Even if Lin Chu found out that Zhu Hexuan was the one behind all this, Zhu Hexuan would not give them any goods on her and hence purposely passed the responsibility to Hu Mingrui.
Hu Mingrui was flattered at the sudden attention given by Zhu Hexuan. Her circle of interns from different companies would often come together and share their intern experiences or gossip about their mentors.
She had heard stories of experienced reporters taking advantage of the rookies and robbed their articles, publishing them under their names.
It was a pleasant surprise to know that Zhu Hexuan did not do that and instead offered her a chance to write an article on her own. She even gave Hu Mingrui the materials she sourced herself.
Hu Mingrui scanned through the materials and asked, "Miss Zhu, what kind of theme are we basing this off?"
"What's the most important aspect of writing news? Capturing attention. We first need to capture the public's eye, enticing them to click on the link to find out more about the story with a wow-factor. There isn't anything very interesting about these few characters here, but it's a different story if Lin Chu is involved. Lin Chu has always been popular in the media because everyone wants to have something on her. She's lucky enough to slip through every time. Now, our audience isn't looking forward to reading a story about Cinderella, they're interested to read about how they used every dirty trick possible and discarded all moral principles to achieve their selfish goals — they want something to hate on. Understand?" Zhu Hexuan said.
Hu Mingrui nodded vigorously."I know what to write now."
...
Yan Beicheng rescheduled all his evening appointments to the afternoon. He refused all drinks and buried his head into completing all his work in the entire afternoon. Slowly but surely, he completed all work before the end of the day.
When Lin Chu stepped out of her company, she was rather surprised at the absence of Yan Beicheng's car. However, she did not call him. If he was already on his way, she did not want to make it inconvenient for him to pick up her call. If he was still busy with work in the office, she did not want to rush him either.
Unexpected to Lin Chu, her wait only lasted five minutes. Yan Beicheng's car sped toward her on the opposite road but it did not stop. He waited for the traffic light to turn green, made a U-turn, and stopped directly in front of Lin Chu's company. He did not let her cross the road.
As Lin Chu walked toward him, she saw Yan Beicheng coming out from his car gracefully. Yan Beicheng stuck out amidst the crowd in front of the hustling office building door.
However, Yan Beicheng took no notice of the looks around him and only used two long strides to stand in front of Lin Chu. What a blessing to have long legs.
"Sorry, I'm late, " Yan Beicheng muttered in a low voice. His apologetic face made it seemed as though he had let Lin Chu experienced grievances.
Lin Chu glanced at him unhappily and replied, "Do you have to apologize for this? If it's me, would you be happy if I apologize to you because of the same reason?"
Yan Beicheng understood her words. The sides of his mouth curved upward."Alright, I'm not apologizing then."
Lin Chu rolled her eyes at him. With her finger, she sneakily poked his abdomen. It felt hard under her fingers; she must have poked at one of his ab muscles."You keep saying that I'm being excessively polite. Look at you right now. Aren't you doing the same?"
"I'm not being excessively polite, " Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu's moving hand and led her to the car's passenger seat. He opened the door and helped her into the car.
Although he liked Lin Chu touching him, it would be embarrassing if anyone noticed that he was getting aroused.
Yan Beicheng hastened to enter and sit at the other side of the car and shut the door. He started the car and said, "I couldn't bear letting you wait for me."
"Then, it's the same for me. I'm not being excessively polite with you either. I just couldn't bear seeing you tire yourself out, " Lin Chu replied immediately.
Yan Beicheng extended a hand to brush Lin Chu's nose affectionately. As he retracted his hand, he started the car engine, shifted the gears and drove.
"Where are we heading?" Lin Chu noticed that the car was moving further away from the city center.
"A seven-star hotel that Qi Lin just finished building not long ago. It's designed by Song Yu." Yan Beicheng explained, "It's your birthday. We're going there to show support. And since tomorrow is a Saturday, let's not go home tonight."
Yan Beicheng glanced at her with a smile."I heard that there are some interesting details in the room."
Lin Chu said nothing, "..."
Hearing that, she could not help wondering what Yan Beicheng was up to, making a seven-star hotel sound like some sex motel.
Lin Chu did not want to hide things about Lu Zhenghang from Yan Beicheng. However, she also knew that today should be a day spent with joy. She did not want matters to do with Lu Zhenghang ruined Yan Beicheng's mood.
Her rage this afternoon only subsided after attempts to calm down for a whole afternoon. If she told Yan Beicheng now, it would ruin the well-planned birthday. It would not be worth it.
Therefore, Lin Chu decided that she would only tell him tomorrow.
She swallowed the whole incident into the depths of her stomach.
...
Qi Lin's hotel was rather far. When they reached, it was almost eight o'clock at night.
Yan Beicheng went to the front desk to check-in immediately and obtained the room key. Since none of them brought luggage, they did not require the porter's assistance and went straight to their room.
Lin Chu was relieved that Yan Beicheng did not book something as ostentatious as a presidential suite. Although she had never been to Dubai, she saw how the presidential suite in their seven-star hotels looked like — magnificent in all of its grandeur with long spiral staircase. Lin Chu felt intimidated just by looking at them.
Lin Chu stepped into the suite. At a glance, she estimated that it was around a hundred fifty or sixty square feet. It looked like a house, but without a kitchen.
For residences, there were usually three bedrooms in a unit spanning a hundred fifty or sixty square feet. As this was a hotel, the suite only had one bedroom. As such, the bedroom, living room and even the bathroom were excessively spacious.
Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu's hand and led her into the living room. They circled the living room. On the side, a variety of fruits and western and eastern style snacks and desserts were neatly arranged on the table.
Lin Chu thought that all of these befitted a seven-star hotel indeed. The fruits were imported from all over the world. Some of them were not easy to be purchased in the country and even if they were bought, they would not taste good.
Due to long-distance transport, a lot of delectable fruits from their respective countries would be plucked before they ripened to be transported. This process forced the unripe fruits to ripen on their own devices, and therefore, making them tasted far inferior to buying them locally. Some fruits were just unsuitable to be transported and were a rare sight in the market. However, Qi Lin managed to get all of them here.
The lavish fruit plate was absolutely a feast of fruits. Next to it, in the refreshment section, both the eastern and western desserts had a light and sublime fragrance to them. Their very sight would improve anyone's mood, even if they had not eaten them.
Then, Yan Beicheng brought her to the bathroom. The wide oval bathtub leaned against the French windows, allowing a complete view of the scenery outside. As the view outside was rather empty, there was no need to worry about other people looking in.
Yan Beicheng's smile broadened in spite of himself. He pulled Lin Chu into his embrace and pinched her waist, asking, "Why don't we stay here the whole day tomorrow?"
Lin Chu, "..."
Yan Beicheng could not help laughing out loud. He lowered his head and kissed her hard on the lips and said, "We'll try it out tonight!"
"It's my birthday!" Lin Chu said. Her face was burning.
As though he suddenly transformed into an impatient kid, Yan Beicheng held Lin Chu's hand and led her to the bedroom. The bed was so huge that both of them could roll on it literally. Neatly propped on the bed was a gigantic bouquet of roses.
Yan Beicheng let out a small 'tsk' of disapproval, "Qi Chengzhi lacks creativity."
"..." Lin Chu gave Yan Beicheng a ruthless pinch and said, "It's my birthday. What creativity are you trying to make others do?"
Yan Beicheng nursed the place that she pinched. He was about to reply her when the doorbell rang.
Yan Beicheng brought her to the door and opened it to see two servers pushing two dinner carts into the room. They served the dishes that Yan Beicheng ordered earlier on the dining table.
Lastly, they placed a cake in the middle of the table. One of the servers explained, "Compliments from the president."
The cake was specially made for the occasion. It was in the shape of a wedding license although their portraits were not drawn on. It was perhaps due to the consideration that it might not be very pleasing to the eye when they cut the cake. Other than that, everything else was done to the detail. If one took photos of the cake, it would look like an actual wedding license.
Lin Chu was very pleased with the cake."Please send my thanks to Qi Chengzhi for the gift. He's too kind."
Yan Beicheng pursed his lips and responded rather unhappily, "Why do I feel like he's stolen all the spotlight from me?"
"Well, he's creative." Lin Chu replied with a smile.
Yan Beicheng gave Lin Chu a joking glare."But other than this cake, I prepared everything else!"
Seeing how he would still feel jealous over this, Lin Chu hurriedly coaxed him."Qi Chengzhi doesn't always treat me, so of course, I'll need to thank him. Do we have to act so courteously between you and me?"
As she said it, she tiptoed and pecked him."I like the gifts you prepared for me the most."
Yan Beicheng perked up immediately. With both his eyebrows raised, he could not hide the joy that was plastered on his handsome face.
The servers had long left the room. Yan Beicheng stuck candles onto the cake and lighted them up. He switched off the lights for Lin Chu to make her wish.
Lin Chu closed her eyes and put her hands together as though in prayer. Much to Yan Beicheng's surprise, she did not make a wish in silence but instead whispered, "I wish I will always be with Beicheng. Together, we'll always love each other for the rest of our lives. And in my next life, I want to meet him and become his wife again."
She ended her wish and opened her eyes. She blew the candles out.
She waited for Yan Beicheng to turn on the lights. What she did not expect was Yan Beicheng standing still beside her. Lin Chu turned around questioningly and crashed into him as he pulled her into his arms simultaneously.
His movement was fast and strong. Perhaps, somewhat rough.
She crashed into his embrace without any form of cushioning and felt a surge of pain shooting up her bones. The tip of her nose bruised red. She wanted to reach out and touch her nose but ended up having her forearm rolled into his embrace too. As though locked up in his strong forearms, she could not move.
Lin Chu raised her head pitifully, wanting to ask the purpose of him doing that. Hence, what Yan Beicheng saw were her eyes glistening with tears. Her naive expression told him that she was completely unaware of the effect her birthday wish had on him.
This was what Yan Beicheng liked about her. Her naturally sincere thoughts that she generally treated like they were nothing special; words that she spoke without second thoughts. She was completely unaware that her unequivocal attitude was what touched him the most.
In her mind, she was unequivocal in treating him well. Similarly, it was unequivocal that she never lied to him; that she loved him; that she stayed with him for one lifetime. Two lifetimes. Or forever.
These were the foundations of every marriage. It should be like that between man and wife, should it not?
However, how many could truly achieve this? More often than not, couples did not always treat others well no matter what. They did not always love each other unconditionally. There would always be times when they lied to each other.
Yet, with Lin Chu here, none of that existed.
Yan Beicheng stared fervently at Lin Chu's teary eyes. He cupped her face in both of his palms, lowered his head, and kissed her hard.
He kissed Lin Chu until her lips started to swell and hurt. At the same time, he hugged her so tight it felt like her bones were hurting too.
Lin Chu struggled to breathe. She gritted her teeth and grunted, "What's up with you?"
"That was a beautiful wish just now. I wish that we will be together in this lifetime, in the next one, and the one after that. I'll do everything in my power to find you, and you'll find me too. You won't remain on the same spot as what you've done in this lifetime and reject me when I finally found you. You have to come to look for me too. With that, we'll meet each other faster and spend more time together." He had made all the calculations. In this lifetime, he estimated that he could live until he was eighty years old. There were only fifty years left. It would not be enough.
Therefore, how would it be enough if they were not together in their next lives?
His parents' marriage had always been a thorn in his heart, even if Old Master Yan and Old Lady Yan had a happy marriage and none of them did anything bad to each other and still teased each other as they grew old.
Even if Yan Huaian and Yu Zi had marital bliss. Even his close friends, Qi Chengzhi and Qi Chenglin, had blissful marriages in which all of them stayed loyal to each other.
None of that was able to lift the psychological shadow that his parents' failed marriage did to him.
Therefore, he appreciated his marriage with Lin Chu even more. Hearing Lin Chu's wish touched him even more.
This was a woman who was willing to love him forever and accept him for who he was forever. She thought that being with him one lifetime was not enough and she wanted to be with him for all eternity.
There was nothing but gratefulness in Yan Beicheng's heart knowing Lin Chu loved him so much.
Listening to his palpitating heartbeat, Lin Chu suddenly realized the reason behind his abnormal actions and nodded vigorously."I'll find you early on. But when that happens, would you intentionally make it harder for me to chase after you because I made you spend more effort in pursuing me in this lifetime?"
"I won't, " Yan Beicheng laughed gently, bending down to kiss the corner of her eye, her temple, earlobe.
"Yan Beicheng, I believe in a second life. As long as I can be with you, I'll believe anything without a single shred of doubt. So, even if you won't remember me, you can't like someone else too." Her eyes started to sting as she spoke.
Even if thoughts like that served no purpose than to torture oneself; even if all the talk of the next lives were hilarious to passing ears, Lin Chu could not help imagining those things happening as she spoke. As though in their next lives, Yan Beicheng would forget her and chased after another girl, deciding to be with the girl forever and treating the girl the same way he treated Lin Chu.
Despite knowing how ridiculous the idea was and that it was all in her head, Lin Chu still felt unbearable pain. Her eyes stung even more.
"Silly, " Yan Beicheng's husky voice crept slowly into her ears."I would never. Never ever."
Lin Chu felt a sudden urge to cry. She buried her face into his chest and rubbed her face on his shirt. Yan Beicheng felt something warm and moist stinging his chest.
Yan Beicheng agreed that time spent with Lin Chu was never enough. He hugged her tighter. With his hand pressing at the back of her head, he squeezed his thumb in between her moist cheeks and his chest. Gently, he wiped off the tears on her face.
"We're celebrating your birthday today. Let's not talk about such heavy topics, " Yan Beicheng said in a low voice. He lowered his head again and found the corner of her eyes.
Although Lin Chu buried her face deep into his chest, he could still see the hint of a tear at the corner of her eyes. Without a word, he wiped off her tears with his lips gently, bit by bit.
Lin Chu wriggled in his arms before raising her head. She slipped out from his arms and noticed the light stains on his shirt. Lin Chu wiped at it with her bare hands rather guiltily. When she realized it was not doing much to help, she let out two dried laughs.
Yan Beicheng snickered for a while and grasped her hands."Don't worry about that. The shirt's going to be taken off later anyway."
Lin Chu, "..."
While he touched her so much that her tears fell like a waterfall just now, there was only numbness left. She could not feel anything else.
Laughing, Yan Beicheng pulled out the candles from the cake and handed her a knife and said, "Let's cut the cake."
Lin Chu held the knife and waved it around in several different positions for a while. She furrowed her eyebrows and put it down.
Looking at Yan Beicheng's questioning face, she explained, "This creativity of Qi Chengzhi's isn't that good after all, eh?"
Yan Beicheng was pleased. Of course, who could be better than him?
Someplace out there, Qi Chengzhi sneezed."Atchoo!"
Song Yu wiped Qi Youjin's face silently with a piece of tissue. Her face said, 'You can sneeze all you want. But can't you cover your mouth when you do so? Now, you've got everything on your son's face. '
Xiao Youjin sat frozen on his mother's lap all of a sudden. His chubby fair hand was holding on to a small glutinous rice ball filled with red bean paste. It was a mini glutinous rice ball that Song Yu made especially for him. It was the size of a ping pong ball. As glutinous rice was not easy to digest and Xiao Youjin also had small hands, the size was suitable for him to hold.
He had only taken a bite from the glutinous rice ball when Qi Chengzhi sneezed all over him. Xiao Youjin let out a grievous yell, "Ah!" He waved the glutinous rice ball in his chubby hand and opened his mouth to reveal two of his newly grown front teeth."Aik! Aik!"
Qi Chengzhi assumed that his son was telling him off.
"I didn't mean to do that, " Qi Chengzhi lifted his son off his wife's lap with both hands and let him step on his thighs.
Qi Youjin suddenly waved his small arm and stuffed the little glutinous rice ball into Qi Chengzhi's mouth.
Qi Chengzhi, "..."
Qi Chengzhi looked as though he just tasted poop. Looking at his expression, Song Yu laughed so hard until she had tears in her eyes.
Meanwhile, Lin Chu and Yan Beicheng were not aware that Qi Chengzhi sneezed at home after they complained about him. Lin Chu said, "This is a marriage license. How do I cut it? It doesn't feel right no matter how I cut. It'd be a blasphemy."
Yan Beicheng agreed with her. He reached out and picked up the spoon that was placed next to the fork. He scooped a small spoon of the cake and said, "Then let's eat it this way. Let's just eat a few spoons just to be polite. Together, we'll absorb our marriage into our stomachs and it won't disappear no matter what."
Lin Chu did not expect Yan Beicheng to come up with such romantic thoughts. She closed her mouth around the spoon that Yan Beicheng sent over to her and gobbled up the spoonful of cake.
The cake's light sweetness spread in her mouth. It tasted like rich and smooth butter with a firm texture.
Lin Chu was smiling at first. Suddenly, her body froze along with her facial expression. Her face paled suddenly.
"What's wrong?" Yan Beicheng asked anxiously as though his heart almost jumped out of his mouth."What's in the cake? Spit it out now!"
Yan Beicheng was shocked by Lin Chu's response. As he reached out to dig out the cake from her mouth, Lin Chu turned around suddenly and rushed into the bathroom next to the living room. She splayed herself over the toilet seat and spat out the cake that she had not swallowed, along with a few splashes of discharge from her stomach.
She ate something in the afternoon, but they should be completely digested by now. Now, her stomach was empty. When she vomited, there was only gastric discharge. Her stomach was now in extreme pain.
Yan Beicheng stood beside her patting her back. His heart ached so much for her that he wanted to call Qi Chengzhi immediately.
What kind of a stupid cake did he send them?! What was in it?!
When Lin Chu ran out of gastric juice to puke, she stood up and wiped off the uncontrollable tears that flowed when she vomited. Then, she cleaned her mouth.
Noticing that Yan Beicheng was reaching for his phone, Lin Chu stopped him immediately."Don't be rash. It's not the cake. I think I'm just sick of the taste."
"Sick?" Yan Beicheng could not comprehend it.
"Like, I thought it was too sweet. Anyway, I couldn't stand the taste when I tasted it, " Lin Chu said as she took the cup of water that he passed her and gargled.
Yan Beicheng frowned."Do you feel better now?"
Lin Chu nodded."I'm fine. Let's go back. I think I just don't have the appetite today. I have a feeling that today's grand meal will be wasted."
Yan Beicheng was not convinced. He tasted the cake again and thought that it was pretty good. Even a person like him who did not usually eat cake had to admit that the cake tasted rather delicious.
However, he could not relax when he saw Lin Chu having no appetite."Did you eat anything bad in the afternoon?"
"Nope, " Lin Chu shook her head. Dai Huimin would put more effort into preparing the food because it was meant for Lin Chu. She would never let Lin Chu eat anything unclean. Moreover, Zheng Yuntong ate more than Lin Chu and still appeared energetic for the whole afternoon."My appetite hasn't been good since afternoon."
"Let's go. We're going to the hospital, " Yan Beicheng pulled her up without hesitation.
Lin Chu hesitated."It's fine, isn't it? Also, today's my birthday. I don't want to go to the hospital."
"Listen to me, alright?" Yan Beicheng pursed his lips—something he rarely did—and his voice became stern."I won't relax if we don't check it out. That way, it won't be a good birthday celebration either."
Lin Chu pursed her lips, but she relented and let Yan Beicheng dragged her out of the room.
As they stepped outside, Lin Chu felt much better breathing in the fresh air. She said, "I don't feel nauseous anymore."
Yan Beicheng glanced at her from the side."When did you start to become like Tian Tian?"
She would do anything possible to not go to the hospital.
Lin Chu stopped talking. She was clearly trying to prevent wasting time at the hospital.
"Just follow me. We'll return here once we consult a doctor, " Yan Beicheng coaxed."We'll use the back door to see Big Chu in Chu Tian Hospital. We won't have to queue. It'll be quick. We'll be back by 12."
Only then was Lin Chu convinced. She followed Yan Beicheng into the car. When Yan Beicheng was driving, he was still unable to relax."Do you feel carsick and want to vomit?"
Lin Chu saw that he was extremely anxious, but she did not know how to console him either. She was no longer feeling unwell. She only felt unwell during that brief moment when she ate the cake and thought that the sweetness of the cake was unbearable.
However, Yan Beicheng did not display any expression of disgust when he ate the cake. She assumed that he thought the cake tasted good as she knew he did not have a sweet tooth.
"No, " Lin Chu hurriedly replied."After I stopped eating the cake, I feel normal. I don't feel sick anymore."
However, Yan Beicheng interpreted her words differently. He thought she said that just to discourage him from bringing them to the hospital. Thus, he did not believe a single word she just said. He even gave her a teasing glance that meant he totally thought that Lin Chu was acting like Tian Tian.
Lin Chu, "..."
She truly felt alright now.
Lin Chu felt completely helpless when thrown in this Dou E Yuan 1 scenario!
The distance between Qi Lin Hotel and Chu Tian Hospital was shorter than Lin Yi. Added with the fact that they were not driving during the rush hour, the road conditions were significantly better. They reached the hospital rather fast.
Although Chu Zhaoyang was not there, the staff in Chu Tian Hospital recognized Yan Beicheng and gave him access wherever he went.
Yan Beicheng brought Lin Chu to the gastroenterologist. However, he was dissatisfied that the doctors who stayed back for the night shift were not experienced specialists so he wanted to call Chu Zhaoyang to send some specialists over.
Stuck in between laughter and tears, Lin Chu stopped him."I just don't have an appetite. Even if I'm having food poisoning, I'll be fine once I eat some medicine. What kind of specialists do I need? Let's not trouble Chu Zhaoyang and the other doctors here late at night."
Lin Chu felt pitiful for the old white-haired specialist if he were to rush over, out of breath, all to find out that she just had no appetite.
Yan Beicheng pursed his lips, but he insisted. Lin Chu said, "Think about it. We don't know where the specialist lives. If you ask him to come over, it'll take time. Are you going to let me wait and suffer?"
"Fine." Yan Beicheng gave up immediately and brought Lin Chu to the clinic.
Once the doctor heard about her symptoms, the doctor glanced at Lin Chu and let her lie down on a hospital bed. The doctor pressed on the general area where her stomach was. There were no symptoms.
"When was the last time you had your period?" The doctor stopped pressing on her stomach and asked.
Lin Chu's mind went blank for a while and blinked. Yan Beicheng had yet to notice what was going on. He was not particularly sensitive in such matters and thought that it was just a normal medical consultation session.
Lin Chu had some ideas but disregarded them as she thought it was not possible. She felt nothing was different.
"My period is irregular. Sometimes, I get my period a few days earlier or five to six days late, " Lin Chu answered. Other than that, she did not seem to feel much pain when she was on her period. This was something she was extremely grateful for and the reason why she was willing to bear with her period's irregularity.
When she was still staying with Xu Moyan, she knew Xu Moyan would always call in sick once every month because of the extreme pain that came along with her period. She had tried everything — Chinese medicine, acupuncture, and all types of pseudo-medications. In the end, she still had to take painkillers to manage the pain.
Every time Lin Chu witnessed Xu Moyan dealing with the first day of her period as though she was undergoing heavenly retribution, Lin Chu would feel grateful for herself. Although her period never came on time, at least she never suffered in pain.
The doctor passed the prescription for a blood test to Yan Beicheng."You should bring Mrs. Yan to a blood test first."
| ← Ch. 187 | Ch. 189 → |