C30 Are You Sure She Is Carrying Your Child?

"I don't need to take leave right now. I just have to be more careful. They can't tell that I'm pregnant yet, but I will have to take leave when I can't hide the baby bump from my colleagues anymore." Lu Yao smiled comfortingly, unaffected.

Now that her family was dependent on her for their finances, she could not take premature leave, especially when they still owed money. She needed to earn enough money to feed her children after they were born too.

However, she did not say these words out loud. She did not want to upset her mother. If her mother insisted that she stay at home, she would sneak out to work.

Mrs. Lu wasn't too happy with her daughter's decision, but she did not want to nag her too much. She frowned and said, "Then you should work for at most three months. After that, take leave for six months."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. If I don't take leave, they'll kick me out anyway. " Lu Yao pursed her lips, thinking about what she could wear to hide her bump in the next three months.

There was nothing else Mrs. Lu could do. She looked at Lu Yao with a helpless expression on her face. "Let's go home."

"Wait!" Lu Yao hugged her mother's arm and pointed at the shopping mall before them. She tilted her head and smiled. "I'm not going to work this afternoon. Let's go inside and take a look."

She wanted to have a look at the baby products in the shops.

Now, she had to buy for two!

She didn't know if she was carrying boys, girls, or one of each.

Thinking of this, she smiled to herself, her heart filled with anticipation.

"All right." It was rare to see her daughter so happy, so Mrs. Lu nodded lovingly.

"…"

The next day at work, Lu Yao picked out a large skirt, a thin windbreaker over it, and flat shoes.

As she stood in front of the mirror, she was grateful that the company did not require their employees to follow a formal dress code, otherwise this would have been a disaster.

Yesterday when she went shopping with her mother, she did not buy any of the baby things. Instead, she bought a bunch of clothes that she would wear in the next few months, all of them in loose styles. Fortunately, she was a petite girl, so her bump would not be too obvious.

After dressing up, she drove to the company in her black Volkswagen.

"Lu Yao, how was your vacation? Did you have a good time in Japan?"

As soon as she arrived to office, someone greeted her with a smile.

"Do you even need to ask? Look at her clothes, they look new. It's just that... Lu Yao, your style has changed a lot recently." Another woman looked at her, shaking her head mockingly.

Lu Yao was a little taken aback and pretended to be affronted. "Are you praising me or belittling me? I'll give you only one chance to answer, or I'm taking back the gifts I bought you."

"I'm only praising you, sweet Lu Yao." Upon hearing that there she had bought them gifts, her colleagues immediately gathered closer.

Lu Yao snorted and placed the gift boxes on the table. She distributed them to her colleagues with a smile.

"Ms. Lu, Mr. Ji wants to see you." Mr. Ji's assistant, Xiao Li peeked in through the door.

"All right, I'll come immediately."

Lu Yao looked at her colleagues. "Please bring the work from the past few days to my office."

With that, she walked to Mr. Ji's office.

Outside the CEO's office, Lu Yao knocked on the door and entered. "Mr. Ji, you called for me?"

"How was your vacation? Are you feeling better?" Mr. Ji asked with concern.

Lu Yao nodded. "Yes, it was good. I'm better now. Work is going well."

"That's good. Have you settled the matter of the money?" Mr. Ji continued.

"It's been taken care of." Lu Yao frowned. "Why did you call me in here?"

Mr. Ji sipped on a glass of water, then turned to look at the imposing building across the window and said, "Long Teng will open a branch in Southern City soon."

"…"

Lu Yao was stunned. Did she hear right?

Long Teng had a partnership with the company, and now Shao Yunchen wanted to open a branch in Southern City? Their meetings were bound to become more frequent.

She did not want anything to do with Shao Yunchen anymore, so when she heard the news, her mood went down.

"What is the plan?"

Mr. Ji looked at her. "Of course, we have to try and get more opportunities to work with them. Long Teng is, after all, Jiangbei region's largest investment company. Headquarters and our directors regard them very highly. Let us make the best of this."

The look on Lu Yao's face was a little confused and conflicted. "But Mr. Ji, I only analyze data. What do you want me to do? I'm no good at negotiations."

She still continued to refuse, knowing that she had already refused once before.

Aside from her relationship with Shao Yunchen, she was pregnant now and didn't want to run around working all day.

"I know you're not familiar with negotiations, but you are eloquent. You can help us." Mr. Ji was smart and knew how to appeal to his subordinates. "You have worked hard, and that's not for nothing. I will give you a raise for all the additional work you do."

"…"

Lu Yao was at a loss as to how to reply to that.

The CEO certainly knew that she had been short of money recently. He did not want to give her a way out of this.

She would have gladly accepted the offer if it hadn't been for her pregnancy, but she didn't want to lose out on the money.

"All right, I will prepare for it," she said stiffly.

Before leaving, she asked, "When will the representatives from Long Teng arrive to Southern City?"

Mr. Ji thought for a moment, then said, "Next month."

"I see."

'I hope he doesn't come in person!' she thought.

"…"

Location - Jin City, inside the office of Long Teng Corporation's CEO.

"Chen, here's your coffee." Fu Xuezi walked in, dressed in her best clothes.

Shao Yunchen has his head lowered as he read a document. He merely made a soft "hmm" in response. The next moment, the phone rang beside him.

Both of them turned to look at the phone.

Shao Yunchen saw the caller ID. He picked up his phone and glanced at his assistant. "You can leave now."

Fu Xuezi nodded obediently and smiled. Turning around, she left.

As soon as the door closed behind her, Shao Yunchen pressed a button to answer the call. His brows were furrowed. He said in a low voice, "Hello, how was it?"

"I didn't find anything," a man answered on the other end of the phone. It was a clear and friendly voice.

Shao Yunchen's eyes darkened and he frowned. "Nothing? You went to the hospital, right?"

"Of course. In my entire life, I have never gone there for my wife. But now, I had to go there because a man asked me to." The man tutted in annoyance, then asked playfully, "Are you sure she's carrying your child?"

"I wouldn't ask you to look into it if I was sure," Shao Yunchen replied impatiently. He didn't have time for the man's little quips. "What information did you get from the hospital?"

"I didn't find anything, as I said. The hospital has a tight privacy clause for their patients, so I didn't get any information. I couldn't get anything out of them even in exchange for money. They did, however, leak out that she is pregnant with twins."