Chapter 91: Bringing Up a Child

He Tingzhou knew her secret, so it was understandable that he was thinking so much about it. Shuangxu turned over and took out her phone to send him a message.

[I didn’t think of you as my brother. I just wanted to turn off the lights because I’m not used to being so naked. If you’re afraid of the dark, you can leave the lights on in the future.]

This message, unsurprisingly, fell into the abyss.

Shuangxu waited for a while before putting down her phone.

He Tingzhou’s temper was like the weather, unpredictable and changeable.

He Tingzhou drove back to the compound. The armed guards at the gate saluted and let them through. The retired driver was extremely vigilant, glancing at the rearview mirror and whispering a reminder to the man in the back seat who was closing his eyes and resting.

“That car behind us has been following us all the way.”

He Tingzhou opened his eyes and glanced at the rearview mirror. He raised his chin to the guard.

He got out of the car and walked towards the inconspicuous black car behind them. The black car, sensing something was wrong, turned the steering wheel to run, but the armed guards with guns had already surrounded it.

He Tingzhou walked up and knocked on the car window with his finger.

The window rolled down, and the man wearing a baseball cap looked shifty-eyed. A camera was on the passenger seat.

He Tingzhou propped his right hand on the car roof and casually glanced at him. “Do you know where this is? Why are you looking for death at such a young age? Did you get a terminal illness?”

“I was just passing by, passing by…” The man in the baseball cap had never seen such a scene before. His legs under the steering wheel were trembling.

“You can’t pass by here.” He Tingzhou reached out. “Give me the camera.”

The other party hesitated for a second, and he impatiently clicked his tongue. The gun in the armed guard’s hand immediately raised.

The man in the baseball cap was so scared that he quickly handed the camera to him with both hands.

He Tingzhou pressed the buttons and flipped through the photos. They were all unimportant photos: his car leaving Shen’s house, his car entering Shen’s house, his car leaving No. 9 Songming Road…

He Tingzhou’s quickly flipping fingers paused.

It was last night.

He Tingzhou raised his eyelids.

That cold glance froze the blood in the man in the baseball cap’s veins. His lips began to tremble. Just as he was about to beg for mercy, He Tingzhou asked, “Did you show the photos to Zheng Zuye?”

He dared not hide it. “I did.”

“What did he say?”

“Zheng Shao said it was nothing, that there are so many people living in the community, who knows who you’re looking for. It needs to be more explosive.”

“How much more explosive?” He Tingzhou said. “Why don’t I take you two to my bed and give you a tour?”

The man in the baseball cap dared not speak. In front of the gun, he was more honest than if he had taken a truth serum. He poured out all his dealings with Zheng Zuye:

“Zheng Shao suspected that you have that kind of relationship with Miss Song. He asked us to keep an eye on you two, to make sure we get photos of you two hooking up. The security in the community is too tight, we haven’t gotten in yet, but we’ve bribed a security guard. When we get the chance, we can…”

“Someone’s watching at Songming Road?”

“My apprentice is there.”

He Tingzhou threw the camera back to him and pulled open the back door to sit down. “Let’s go. Let’s go meet your apprentice.”

“…”

The next afternoon, several female colleagues at the company were chatting in the group about going out for dinner. Xiao Liao @ed Shuangxu:

[Boss, are you coming?]

[Come, come, come]

He Tingzhou hadn’t contacted her, and he probably wouldn’t be looking for her today either. So Shuangxu agreed.

She drove to pick up Xiao Liao and took her for a drive to the hot pot restaurant they had booked.

Shuangxu’s car was very steady, so steady that it wasted the performance of one of the three great gods of cars. In the congested evening rush hour traffic in Yancheng, she missed one red light, and then she missed all of them.

The colleagues who arrived first were teasing them in the group: “Why is this 918 running slower than my Wuling?”

“Do you need me to ride my electric scooter to pick you up?”

“No hurry.” Shuangxu was calm and collected. “You guys order first, we’ll eat what you order.”

Xiao Liao, following the current CEO who controlled the administrative power of Feixue, was very confident: “What are you proud of? The boss isn’t here yet, you don’t even have anyone to pay the bill!”

“Okay, you two can still catch the bill when you arrive.”

“…”

When they arrived at the restaurant, their colleagues had already ordered.

Shuangxu was serious when she worked, and she was very strict. She didn’t put on any airs in her daily life. After a long time, everyone got along with her and dared to make a few jokes with her.

While they were eating, Shuangxu ate while looking at bedtime stories on her phone. When she found one that was good, she added it to her favorites for later use.

“Why are you searching for this?” Xiao Liao leaned over to take a look and was surprised. “Are you pregnant?”

“…” Shuangxu almost choked on the lemon juice. “Is your brain jumping too many levels? Where did you get that conclusion?”

“Why would you look at bedtime stories if you’re not pregnant? Aren’t these stories to pacify a child？”

“I’ve been having trouble sleeping lately.” Shuangxu answered seriously.

Xiao Liao opened her two curious eyes. “Why?”

Shuangxu pushed her face away. “Why do you have trouble sleeping?”

A female colleague was eating thinly sliced beef in a hot pot. “My daughter wants to hear a story every night before she goes to sleep. Sometimes I’m exhausted from working late and I still have to tell her a story. If I don’t tell her, she’ll make a fuss.”

That’s pretty much the same as He Tingzhou.

“How old is your daughter?” Shuangxu asked.

“Five and a half years old.”

He Tingzhou is twenty-eight.

Shuangxu took a bite of cucumber and asked for advice from the experienced senior: “What kind of stories do you tell her?”

The colleague was very understanding. “I’ll have my husband organize a book list later. He’s at home with the kids today.”

Shuangxu’s almond-shaped eyes curved. “Thank you.”

After they finished their hot pot，they came out of the restaurant laughing and talking.

There were a lot of people in the mall. It was the weekend, and there were many families with children… The elevator lobby was packed with groups of young people, couples, and families with children.

Shuangxu and her colleague were huddled together, looking at the catalog her colleague’s husband had sent over.

She hadn’t realized there were so many different kinds of bedtime storybooks. Most were picture books, but there were also elaborate pop-up books, categorized by age: 0 years old, 2 years old, 5 years old…

Her colleague asked, “What age are you looking for?”

Shuangxu pondered for a moment, “All of them, I guess.”

Suddenly, a ding echoed behind them, and Xiao Liao called out, “Over here, hurry!”

They turned around and were momentarily stunned by the people inside the elevator.

“Mr. He!”

There were only two people inside the elevator, but the group paused in their steps, hesitant to enter.

He Tingzhou had his hands tucked into his suit pants pockets, looking somewhat listless. His casual gaze swept over them before settling on a particular spot.

Beside him stood a captivating woman with a classic beauty. She wore a tight-fitting, sleeveless gown, her figure sculpted to perfection.

Her hair was pulled back in a bun, secured with a hairpin, with a single curl cascading down her cheek. In her hand, she held an exquisite ivory fan, reminiscent of the Qing Dynasty antiques Xiao Liao had seen at the museum.

This little trinket was priceless.

The beauty pressed the elevator button, her voice as if straight out of a painting, “Miss Song, aren’t you coming in?”