Chapter 20 “Surprise”

• Shao Yunchen signed his name on the wrinkled paper, taking his suit and leaving calmly after putting down his pen, not sparing a word for her.
• Lu Yao finally couldn’t hold her sadness in, burying herself in her mother’s embrace as she cried. She needed to get a divorce if she wanted to keep the child, or else Shao Yunchen would definitely want her to abort once he knew about the child. Therefore, she asked Xiang Dongnan and her mother to play out an act with her, forcing Shao Yunchen to agree to the divorce. But when the moment of truth arrived, Lu Yao thought everything around her was spinning, making her feel extremely distressed.
• Shao Yunchen came down, unaware of how he did it. When he noticed someone smoking on the streets, he went up to the man and gave him money. “Sell me your cigarette and lighter.”
• When the man saw Shao Yunchen giving him a hundred, he quickly gave Shao Yunchen his box of cigarettes and lighter.
• Shao Yunchen lit one up.
• He disliked the smell of cigarette smoke, only smoking when business negotiations called for it. But now that his heart felt empty, he wanted to fill it up, and a cheap cigarette could do the job.
• When he raised his hand, Shao Yunchen noticed the platinum ring he was wearing, prompting him to take out a ring box from his pocket.
• He saw these rings when he went past a jewelry shop during his business trip in Singapore. The rings made him recall the diamond ring that cost thirty thousand, which he bought for Lu Yao before their wedding. He remembered that she had always worn it on her, never taking it off.
• Wanting to compensate for something, Shao Yunchen went inside the shop, asking the manager to make a pair of matching rings for him. He got them the next day, noticing that they were both made of platinum. He wore his ring after he had gotten it, before sending the women’s ring back to the country, worried he might lose it on his trip.
• He was going to give Lu Yao a surprise after coming back from his trip, but to his surprise, Lu Yao sent the previous diamond ring back before he could give her the platinum one. On top of that, she even gave him a big ‘surprise.’
• He had been working hard on his career over the last few years. Even though he was forced to marry Lu Yao, he thought he had never been irresponsible toward her.
• When he recalled how calm Lu Yao was when she talked about the divorce at Mrs. Lu’s home back then, Shao Yunchen was consumed by an inexplicable anger as he looked at the ring. Finally, he took off his own platinum ring, throwing them along with the boxes into the man-made lake.
• So what if I am divorced? I am still the same old me!
• For the baby in her belly, the usually hectic Lu Yao started paying attention to what she was eating. She started taking folate (which was a must), stopping the intake of alcohol, and getting rid of her smoking habit. She even changed her heels to flats. She did work overtime occasionally, but she wouldn’t drag it until late night.
• As time passed, her belly was getting bigger. She couldn’t fit into the tight suits anymore, so she was only left with oversized clothes every day.
• Lu Yao touched her burgeoning belly that was covered by her clothes, looking gloomy as she did so.
• Once the first trimester had passed, not even oversized clothes could cover it. Everyone in the company would know she was pregnant, including her boss. By then, her boss would not allow her to continue this kind of intense work, but she was worried someone would take over her place after she came back from labor.
• This job paid her tens of thousands per month, which would pay her rent and car loan. If she lost it, she would be crushed by life’s pressure that would inevitably arrive.
• “Manager Lu.”
• Lu Yao quickly put her hand down when she noticed her colleague trotting toward her. “What is it?” She smiled.
• “President Ji called a meeting at ten. He wants all of you to be in the conference room then.” Her colleague placed the documents in Lu Yao’s desk, inching closer to Lu Yao as she whispered, “I heard someone from the Longteng Group is coming, so President Ji reserved the whole restaurant downstairs to welcome him.”
• Longteng Group...
• Lu Yao pursed her lips. It has been a month or so since Shao Yunchen and I got a divorce, hasn't it?