In the afternoon, after watching the game, Song Siyang originally suggested staying a little longer and taking a nighttime flight home.
“It’s a rare trip, let’s check out that famous internet-famous restaurant!”
Xie Heng and Xu Jiaming both refused.
Xu Jiaming said, “I need to go back and study tonight.”
“I have practice tests to do tonight too,” Xie Heng patted Song Siyang’s shoulder. “Besides, the later you go back, the higher your chances of getting beaten. You can’t escape it.”
Song Siyang was on the verge of tears. Who was he doing all this for, anyway?!
It was all because he hadn’t explained things clearly yesterday. His Aunt had misunderstood and thought he was in a relationship—and worse, that he’d gotten a girl pregnant. His Mom had called and scolded him to death.
Last night, Song Siyang had spent ages explaining, swearing up and down, nearly resorting to a video call to kneel in front of his Mom to prove his innocence.
In the end, his voice had turned hoarse from shouting, and he begged Xie Heng and Xu Jiaming to vouch for him.
“Xie Heng is my childhood friend and neighbor, and Xu Jiaming—well, no need to say more, he’s a top student. You have to believe them, right?”
Finally, the two of them took the phone and said this:
Xie Heng : “Aunt, I’m Xie Heng. I can confirm he’s not dating anyone or doing anything bad, because no girl at school is interested in him.”
Xu Jiaming, in an obedient tone: “Aunt, I confirm that everything Xie Heng said is true.”
Song Siyang was so furious he wanted to punch them.
But his Mom actually believed it a little. She only told him to return home as soon as the game was over. She and his Dad were going to interrogate him together.
Initially, Xie Heng hadn’t planned to talk about Lu Xi. After all, it was his family’s business.
But along the way, Song Siyang kept ranting, and since Xu Jiaming was sitting right there, he overheard everything whether he wanted to or not.
He didn’t react much, just hesitated slightly before asking Xie Heng, “CEO Lu… she…?”
He didn’t finish his sentence.
Xie Heng understood. With an annoyed expression, he lightly kicked Song Siyang to shut him up, then responded indifferently, “Seems like it.”
His tone sounded calm, but his eyes betrayed a trace of worry.
Xu Jiaming raised an eyebrow wordlessly. “Why does Song Siyang know more about your family than you do? What kind of nonsense is this…”
Xie Heng sighed in frustration. “I’m just not sure. I don’t know. They never told me anything.”
Xu Jiaming didn’t quite get it. What was the point of hiding something like this? It’s not like they could keep it a secret forever.
Xie Heng suddenly remembered something. His eyes lit up as he turned to Xu Jiaming. “Right! I remember your Mom and Ms. Lu are close. She must know something. Has she ever mentioned anything to you?”
“No,” Xu Jiaming shook his head. After thinking for a moment, he added, “I think you guys got it wrong.”
Xie Heng froze and stared at him. “So you do know something, don’t you?”
Xu Jiaming was briefly at a loss but quickly composed himself and lowered his gaze.
How could he possibly know?
Even if he did, Lu Xi wouldn’t tell him anything.
It was just a gut feeling, he couldn’t explain why.
After a moment of thought, Xu Jiaming slowly said, “It’s just a guess, but don’t you think it’s weird? The baby hasn’t even been born yet, so how would they already know it’s a girl and not a boy? They can’t have done a DNA test. It sounds fake to me.”
Xie Heng thought about it. It did seem a little suspicious.
Licking his lips, he frowned. “Could it be that it’s half true, half false?”
Song Siyang caught on and shook his head. “I don’t know. All I know is that’s what CEO Lu said. If you want to find out, just ask her yourself.”
Xie Heng curled his lips into a smirk.
“As if. I don’t even get why they’re hiding it from me.”
Song Siyang recalled how Xie Heng’s mood had visibly improved after receiving Lu Xi’s call last night. Cautiously, he asked, “Maybe they’re afraid you’ll throw a fit and get jealous?”
Xie Heng looked irritated. “Bullshit! Am I that kind of person? I don’t care!”
But the truth was, he did care.
He cared so much that he just wanted to rush home and get to the bottom of this.
But he didn’t think he was jealous, just a little upset that Mr. Xie and Ms. Lu had kept this from him. He was family, yet he had to hear about it from outsiders.
As for whether she was having a baby sister or brother, why would that make him jealous?
It’s not like having a new baby in the family meant he’d get kicked out.
Back when he was rebellious, his Dad hadn’t thrown him out. Now that he had Ms. Lu on his side, would some newborn really threaten his status?
Still, Xie Heng wasn’t going to ask outright.
He was determined to be a cop in the future. This was a small case, he’d investigate it himself.
And if he couldn’t find out, well, if it was true, the truth would come out in a few months anyway.
For now, his priority was retrieving the perfume. He had forgotten which one he bought, and he had lost the receipt. He needed to check the ingredients to make sure it was safe for Ms. Lu to use.
He had been to her walk-in closet many times and knew there was a dedicated shelf for perfumes.
So when he saw her asleep, he thought he could sneak in, grab the perfume, and leave unnoticed.
But he got caught red-handed.
And was even accused of being a ‘perfume thief.’
Xie Heng : “…”
This was so unfair.
He looked at Lu Xi, opened his mouth, wanting to explain, but didn’t know how to say it.
“Sorry, okay? I’ll give it back to you.”
Xie Heng had no other choice. Before Lu Xi could lose her temper, he quickly made his escape. But just as he reached the door, he cleared his throat and couldn’t help but add, “By the way, before using perfume, you should check whether it’s safe. Same goes for all that stuff you keep rubbing on your face all the time.”
Lu Xi looked confused. “What do you mean, whether it’s safe?”
“…I mean, some things aren’t good for your health. You get what I’m saying, right?” Xie Heng felt troubled. Why did he, the son, have to worry about something like this?
Old Xie was really slacking off.
Lu Xi was stunned for a moment, furrowed her brows, and thought, was he talking about allergies?
It felt a little odd, but it made sense. Lu Xi couldn’t help but smile, glancing at the boy, feeling both helpless and amused. “Thanks for your concern. Don’t worry, these are all fine for me. Nothing will happen.”
Only then did Xie Heng feel relieved.
He might have been reassured for now, but Lu Xi wasn’t so sure.
Ever since that day, she had the feeling that Xie Heng was acting a little strange.
After sleeping for a whole day, she went downstairs and asked the kitchen to make her a late-night snack. She sat alone in the dining room, eating.
Before long, Xie Yizhao came home.
He had an important meeting that evening and didn’t come back for dinner. When he walked in, he first asked the butler about Lu Xi’s whereabouts. Upon learning that she was eating in the dining room, he went straight over and sat down across from her.
Lu Xi looked up and saw him. Remembering last night, she suddenly felt a little shy.
It was strange. She was clearly used to him by now. In the past, they had been a normal married couple, and she had never been overly sensitive. But last night was different. It turned out that when emotions were intense, things really did feel different.
She lowered her head slightly.
The steam from her bowl rose up, misting her eyelashes. Lu Xi couldn’t help but rub her eyes.
Every time she glanced at him, she would find him watching her intently.
So Lu Xi stared back, her eyes curving into a smile, thinking she might as well make him embarrassed too.
“Wait a moment.”
Suddenly, Xie Yizhao stood up and leaned toward her. Lu Xi stayed still, her innocent eyes widening as she looked up at him.
Seeing her soft and slightly dazed expression, Xie Yizhao couldn’t help but smile faintly. He reached out and moved closer to her face.
Lu Xi didn’t know what he was going to do, but she cooperated by closing her eyes.
A fallen eyelash had landed on her lower eyelid when she rubbed her eyes earlier. Xie Yizhao gently brushed it away with his fingertip. “Alright, you can keep eating now.”
Hearing that, Lu Xi opened her eyes but didn’t immediately pick up her chopsticks. Instead, she rested her head on one hand and gazed at the man’s handsome face, her eyes filled with laughter.
Xie Yizhao pressed his lips together slightly, saying nothing, simply looking back at her.
Xie Heng stepped out of his room, planning to go upstairs and check on Ms. Lu. But when he walked along the hallway and looked down, he happened to witness this scene.
The atmosphere was so intimate, even a completely innocent boy with no dating experience like him could tell.
Their gazes were so soft and sticky, it was practically unbearable!
He felt like he’d been mentally poisoned.
Unable to hold back, he coughed lightly. The two people downstairs, who were openly showing off their love at home, looked up at him. Only then did Xie Heng continue down the stairs.
Lu Xi glanced at Xie Yizhao, and both of them tacitly toned down their expressions.
She continued eating her late-night snack while Xie Yizhao leaned back in his chair, loosening his tie with a composed demeanor.
Xie Heng didn’t even bother saying anything.
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes just now, he might’ve actually believed these two.
He walked straight to Lu Xi’s side, curiously peering into her bowl. “What are you eating?”
Lu Xi found his behavior odd. “Small wontons.”
“What kind of filling?”
“Fresh pork,” she replied, then frowned at him and protectively covered her bowl. “Don’t even think about it. If you want some, go ask the kitchen. I haven’t had enough yet.”
Xie Heng lowered his gaze, roughly estimating the original portion size of the bowl.
He remembered that Ms. Lu had always had a small appetite. Back then, when he bought her fried chicken, she sometimes couldn’t finish it, leaving the rest for him or Xie Yizhao.
Suddenly eating this much… wasn’t that a symptom of pregnancy?
Xie Heng turned around and immediately went to search for information online.
At this moment, he was already 50% sure.
Lu Xi found his behavior strange. The next day, she heard from the butler about another peculiar thing the blue-haired kid had done.
That morning, before heading to school, Xie Heng was dropped off at the front door by the butler.
“Young Master suddenly asked me if your meals were being specially planned by a nutritionist. Then he said something about how, if any strange people came by to give you weird food, we absolutely shouldn’t let you eat it.”
He also gave a long list of other instructions, like making sure Madam didn’t lift heavy objects and not making her angry.
The butler had been completely baffled.
Who would give the Madam weird food?
When would she even have the chance to lift heavy objects? And who in this household would dare to make her angry?
The butler looked worried. “Madam, Young Master has been studying until late every night lately. Do you think he’s under too much pressure and getting emo?”
He had actually learned this phrase from his daughter.
Lately, young people loved using it.
Lu Xi also felt that something was off about Xie Heng.
Teenagers were at an age where they tended to overthink things, magnify their emotions. She had gone through that phase herself.
So she decided to have a heart-to-heart with him when he got back from school that evening.
But she hadn’t expected that after making the rounds in their social circle, the rumor would return to her in an entirely different form.
It was Mrs. Yin from the banquet who told her. People were now saying she was pregnant with Xie Yizhao’s child, and that it was a daughter.
Mrs. Yin had heard about it at a dinner gathering the day before. Something felt off to her. Clearly, one of the more loose-lipped ladies from that banquet had taken Lu Xi’s casual joke and exaggerated it into a full-blown rumor.
“We’re friends, so I wanted to give you a heads-up,” Mrs. Yin reassured her. “But honestly, these things die down in a few days. Who knows who was bored enough to spread it?”
Lu Xi was dumbfounded.
After hanging up, she felt both exasperated and amused. Mrs. Yin was right. Whoever started this really was both petty and insufferable.
As for Mrs. Yin’s reason for telling her, it could be because the Yin family was close with Xie Yizhao, or maybe she genuinely wanted to befriend her. Either way, Lu Xi still thanked her.
Whatever her motives, Lu Xi had to admit she was grateful.
She couldn’t help but find the situation both ridiculous and funny.
At least now, she finally understood why Xie Heng had been acting so strangely lately.
But… something still didn’t add up.
So his recent odd behavior, was he trying to help her with prenatal care?