Shao Tingting’s mind was filled with all the consequences she would have to face if everything got out.
She was only a temporary worker. There was no doubt she would lose her job, and neither her mother nor her husband’s family would let her off easily.
Watching Qi Yuqing’s retreating figure move farther and farther away, Shao Tingting grew increasingly panicked.
Just as Qi Yuqing was about to leave the bicycle shed, Shao Tingting could no longer care about her dignity. She suddenly rushed out from the shadows, her legs giving way as she fell to her knees in front of Qi Yuqing.
“Sister Yuqing, I was wrong. I know I offended you just now. Please, be the bigger person and forgive me this once, all right?”
Shao Tingting wept pitifully, like a pear blossom drenched in rain. She truly had not expected Zhang Chenghui to have another woman—and that woman was pregnant too. Then what did that make her?
She had overthought everything. Blinded by the shock of discovering his affair, she had forgotten the true nature of their relationship. They were merely partners, with only one goal: to have a child.
If she gave birth to a daughter, Zhang Chenghui would simply look for another woman.
Since that was the case, she might as well cut ties with Zhang Chenghui while she still could, protect her job and her family, give birth to the child safely, and preserve her marriage so that the baby could have a complete family.
“Sister Yuqing, my family traded me away in an exchange marriage. I’ve been married for two years without having a child, and my mother-in-law curses me every day. Even my own mother is deeply unhappy with me. My husband is ill—we only found out recently. I really just wanted a child of my own so I could preserve my marriage.”
“Sister Yuqing, please give me a chance. I promise I won’t contact Director Zhang again or disturb you in the future. I won’t ask for a single cent in child support, either.”
Qi Yuqing sneered coldly. “Stop calling me sister. You’re not worthy. When I think about what you did in the office, I feel sick. I never imagined you’d be willing to go this far. He has so many women, and you don’t even mind how filthy he is.”
With that, Qi Yuqing didn’t spare her another glance. She left directly with Xiao Mandong.
Zhang Chenghui helped Shao Tingting up from the ground, his eyes dark and gloomy. He watched Qi Yuqing’s departing figure, his expression frighteningly grim.
“Don’t be afraid. I know Qi Yuqing. She won’t tell anyone. She was just furious for the moment. Give her a few days and she’ll calm down. This won’t affect you.”
Unexpectedly, Shao Tingting took a step back, a distant look in her eyes as she avoided Zhang Chenghui’s touch.
“Chenghui—no, Director Zhang, this is where we end things. The only reason we got together in the first place was to have a child. Now that I’m pregnant, our arrangement has been fulfilled. Don’t contact me again. As for the baby, don’t worry. I’ll raise the child myself.”
Shao Tingting turned to leave, but Zhang Chenghui grabbed her and dragged her into the narrow gap behind the bicycle shed. He wrapped his arms tightly around her from behind.
How could Zhang Chenghui possibly agree to let her go? He no longer wanted her merely to bear him a child. The pleasure and satisfaction he had found with Shao Tingting were something neither of the other two women had ever been able to give him.
Held tightly in Zhang Chenghui’s arms, Shao Tingting was shocked, frightened, angry, and anxious all at once. She was terrified that someone might suddenly enter the bicycle shed and see them. By then, no amount of explaining would be enough to clear them of suspicion.
“Zhang Chenghui, let go of me! What if someone sees us? We’ll never be able to explain ourselves!”
Ignoring her struggles, Zhang Chenghui held her even tighter. He rested his chin on her shoulder, his hot breath brushing against her neck as he pleaded, “I’m not letting go, Tingting. I’ve truly fallen in love with you. Please don’t shut me out. I can lose everything, but I can’t lose you. I promise this won’t affect you in any way. Just let me stay by your side until the baby is born. All right?”
Shao Tingting felt that the time she had spent with Zhang Chenghui had been the happiest period of her life. He treated her like a child, indulging her in everything and giving her the care and tenderness she had never experienced before.
She had immersed herself in his sweet words every day. She had even imagined what it would be like to divorce and marry Zhang Chenghui, to live with him as husband and wife.
But she knew that she had been given away in an exchange marriage. Divorce was impossible for her.
“Let go of me. I can’t breathe,” she said.
Ignoring her struggles, Zhang Chenghui gripped her chin and covered her lips with his. His hands wandered over her body.
His kisses left Shao Tingting weak all over. She liked this kind of abandon, and she moaned her agreement.
A smile spread across Zhang Chenghui’s face. He slowly loosened his hold on her. He knew Shao Tingting well…
The two of them became lost in their passion, completely unaware that a pair of eyes was fixed on them from the corner, watching everything that had just happened.
Qi Yuqing and Xiao Mandong walked in silence all the way to the hospital’s residential compound. Only then did Qi Yuqing slow her steps. Her voice was unusually calm, though impossible to conceal the self-mockery in it.
“Do you think I’m pathetic for tolerating Zhang Chenghui supporting another woman and raising a child outside our marriage?”
Xiao Mandong turned her head to look at her but did not respond to the question. She merely patted Qi Yuqing’s arm, which was wrapped around her, offering silent comfort.
Qi Yuqing wiped the tears from her face and forced down the sob in her throat.
“I think I’m pathetic too. I don’t even know what I ever saw in Zhang Chenghui. I broke off the engagement my grandfather had arranged for me, and that man later married my cousin.”
Qi Yuqing’s voice was hoarse, as though she were speaking to Xiao Mandong—or perhaps simply talking to herself.
“Before I married him, I had no idea he had already taken a wife in the countryside.”
“When I was seven months pregnant, a letter came from his hometown saying that his father was ill. He told me not to go because he was afraid the journey would tire me out. He left without telling me anything. At the time, I thought I was his daughter-in-law. If his father was sick, it didn’t feel right for me not to visit, so I went to his hometown alone without telling anyone.”
“Only after I arrived did I learn that he had already held a wedding ceremony in the village and married a woman there. Although they never registered their marriage, she was the legitimate wife acknowledged by his parents and everyone in the village. And he hadn’t gone back because his father was sick. He had gone back to celebrate the birthday of the daughter that woman had given birth to.”
“Dani didn’t even know I existed. I was so furious that I went into premature labor. I was preparing to leave for the hospital when my mother-in-law assumed I was pretending. Afraid I would go around telling everyone what had happened, she locked me up. I tried to escape through a window, but I fell and began bleeding heavily. By the time someone found me, I was unconscious. When I woke up, the baby was already gone. The doctor said my uterus had been severely damaged, making it difficult for me to have children.”
“Dani knelt in front of me and said that neither of us was to blame. She was willing to stay in the countryside and never disturb us. She could raise the child alone and take care of his parents at home, as long as we didn’t drive her out of the Zhang family. All she asked was that Zhang Chenghui provide her with living expenses.”
“What could I do? My cousin had married the man I was once engaged to, and she was living an exceptionally happy life. If I exposed everything, what would happen to my family’s reputation?”
“I’ve put up with it for all these years, and now he’s actually brought a Shao Tingting into the picture. You can’t imagine what I just saw in his office—it was absolutely disgraceful…”
“Ugh… ugh…”
At that, Qi Yuqing began to retch. She thought the nauseating sight she had witnessed was what made her lose control and feel sick.
