Li Yaru was chewing on the springy, tender conch slices when he suddenly said something so seriously flirtatious that she nearly choked.
Li Yaru stiffened, her beautiful face drained of color.
She had a bad premonition. She’d been nervous all afternoon, so she had no idea if he had pulled any tricks or not!!
“Zhuang Qiting!” Li Yaru stared anxiously at her calm-faced husband, grabbing his arm. “Did you take precautions?”
The more she thought about it, the more panicked she became. He really didn’t. She could feel that heat, so real and vivid.
“What precautions?” Zhuang Qiting raised an eyebrow.
“Don’t play dumb, did you do it on purpose! You—” Li Yaru felt like the sky was collapsing. She was in her ovulation period lately!
The Doctor said she was the type to get pregnant extremely easily! And Zhuang Qiting was even more vigorous and forceful than most men— if they weren’t careful, disaster would strike, and she’d end up stuck with it.
She was already over forty…
Could she really be so unlucky? Whether it was an accidental pregnancy or having to get rid of it, either way it would be a huge toll on her body! She didn’t want any part of it, not even a little bit!
She could already imagine how people around them would mock her in private.
Mock her for being an old clam giving birth to pearls… Mock her for using her belly to keep a man even at her age… Mock her for going mad trying to give the Zhuang Family a daughter…
Li Yaru clenched her fists. “You wouldn’t be that excessive, right?” Those clear peach blossom eyes were full of hope, waiting for him to say ‘of course not.’
Zhuang Qiting raised his hand and stroked his wife’s delicate cheek, a sudden wickedness rising in his heart— he’d scare her a bit, serve her right for treating him coldly lately, always talking about “divorce” and calling him an “old thing.”
He curled his lips and smiled. “You’re still young anyway. While the timing’s good, why don’t we have another daughter?”
Young, my ass!!
“I hate you, I hate you, Zhuang Qiting, you heartless old thing…” Li Yaru muttered, breaking down as she stood up.
“Where are you going?” Zhuang Qiting caught her arm, but she shook him off with force.
Li Yaru ran off so fast she lost a shoe, dashing straight for the bedroom.
Her pale gold silk robe billowed in the wind, the hem embroidered with beaded flowers and sequins, sparkling like a Phoenix trailing long feathers.
Zhuang Qiting quickly followed, his lips pressed into a tight line, his expression especially serious.
Li Yaru returned to the bedroom and immediately rummaged through the cabinet, finding the small medicine box she kept on hand and pulling out a blister pack of pills.
This was Emergency Contraceptive, prescribed by the Zhuang Family’s medical team for emergencies— much better than anything sold on the market, with minimal side effects.
But after all, medicine is still medicine— all medicine has some poison.
She grabbed a bottle of water from the tea table and twisted it open.
“What are you trying to take?” Zhuang Qiting forcefully snatched the pills from her hand.
When he saw the label, his brows knit together tightly, his tone sour. “You don’t need to take these. You won’t get pregnant.”
Li Yaru didn’t believe him and insisted on taking them.
“I said you don’t need to take them. I was just joking earlier, it was my fault, I shouldn’t have joked about that.” Zhuang Qiting tried to hug her, coaxing as he spoke.
She was long past the best age for childbearing, and they already had three children— more than enough. How could he let her suffer through that again? She actually believed his offhand joke— he wasn’t a beast.
He hadn’t used protection for the sensation, but he’d been taking the Doctor’s newly developed Men’s Contraceptive regularly. It wasn’t even available on the market yet, but the trials showed great results.
Li Yaru’s face flushed red, glaring up at Zhuang Qiting. “You even have to control me taking a pill?!”
She moved fast, snatching the pills back and popping one into her mouth.
Zhuang Qiting’s face turned ashen. He gripped her jaw coldly, pried open her red lips, and his long fingers reached into her mouth.
The golden wedding band nearly knocked against her teeth. Without another word, he fished the pill from under her soft red tongue, then calmly tossed it into the trash— along with the whole blister pack.
His fingertips were damp with her saliva, slick and wet, and he gently rubbed it away.
The farce ended there, but Zhuang Qiting was now annoyed—he rarely lost his temper in front of Li Yaru.
“I’m your husband. Am I really not worthy of your trust?”
That sentence struck Li Yaru, and a wave of grievance suddenly surged in her chest.
She wasn’t someone who got upset easily, but now her eyes turned red with tears.
She gave a weak laugh. “It’s not like you haven’t used that trick before. How am I supposed to trust you?”
“Ah Ruo.”
Zhuang Qiting’s Adam’s apple bobbed. Unpleasant memories surfaced unexpectedly, leaving him a bit melancholy. His words were heavy as water. “Back then, that was my carelessness. But Ming is adorable— you dote on him the most out of the three.”
“Would someone as controlling as you really be careless?” Li Yaru sat on the edge of the bed, glancing at the Sunset Coral blooming on the tea table.
The year she got pregnant with Li Shengming, she’d been happily preparing her application and visa for graduate school in America.
Even though she was married with kids, it didn’t stop her from doing what she loved.
There were plenty of maids and tutors at home to take care of the two children— she could easily enjoy her life in America.
But Zhuang Qiting didn’t want her to study abroad, so he played some tricks.
Of course. A man with such a strong possessive streak— how could he let his wife go abroad for two years so easily?
She got pregnant, so she had to put her studies on hold, staying on Hong Kong Island as a wealthy lady waiting to give birth.
A bunch of people congratulated her, flattered her wherever she went, calling her Zhuang Tai Tai, saying how lucky she was to be so fertile! The wealthy always loved women who could bear children!
Zhuang Qiting let out a low sigh, his chest tight. He’d explained this matter many times, and made plenty of amends.
While the child was still in her belly, he gave Li Yaru two buildings— one on Nathan Road, one on Queen’s Road— now worth over six billion.
He ignored the gossip and let the child take the Li surname.
In their kind of family, in those days, that was unheard of and caused quite a stir.
After Li Yaru gave birth to their youngest son, the next year, Zhuang Qiting personally accompanied her to America for her studies, shifting all his work to America for those two years, and even brought their youngest son to be raised there.
The other two sons were left on Hong Kong Island, cared for by maids and the Housekeeper, which alarmed the Butler, who scolded him for being blinded by beauty.
But it still wasn’t enough to make up for the suffering she endured for him.
Zhuang Qiting sighed softly, gently wrapping his arms around his wife and lowering his gaze to her reddened eyes. “Why are you crying again? You’ve held onto this for so long, aren’t you tired?”
“Since you brought it up again, let’s go through it from the beginning.”
Li Yaru tried to push him away, but he subtly dissolved her strength, and the couple sat close together.
“Back then, you suddenly announced you wanted to go to America for two years, without any warning. It’s only natural I was upset. What husband wants to be separated from his wife for years? And we had two sons.”
Li Yaru ignored his burning, gentle gaze and said stubbornly, “I told you when I first applied, you just didn’t care.”
The scent on the man was deep and alluring— he knew Li Yaru was obsessed with that smell, and after all these years, he’d never changed it.
Anything she liked, he kept.
Between them, it was always impossible to say who was holding whom hostage, who was on top, and who was at a disadvantage.
“Mm, so I compromised and asked you to wait a year—let me finish up my affairs on Hong Kong Island, then go with you. I never said you couldn’t study abroad. When it comes to your education, I’ve always cared more than you, haven’t I?”
Li Yaru glared at him coldly, watching him push all the blame away.
But she couldn’t deny one thing— Zhuang Qiting genuinely cared about her studies! Like an old father worrying about his daughter’s grades! When they met, she was only nineteen and loved to play, but Zhuang Qiting forced her to study, made her get up early, even hired all sorts of tutors! Etiquette, art management, international finance, painting, wine tasting, horseback riding, German, French— she was overwhelmed!
“You fought with me then, refused to accept my proposal, gave me the silent treatment, and even broke the fountain pen I gave you. Weren’t you the one misbehaving?”
“Nonsense!” That pen was just collateral damage! She didn’t break it on purpose!
Zhuang Qiting’s large hand enveloped her slender fingers, slowly recalling things from over a decade ago.
In his heart, he admitted— he’d taken off the protection on purpose that night, a moment of weakness.
His ugly possessiveness and need for control made him despicable. He’d thought, if Li Yaru got pregnant, maybe she wouldn’t insist on going abroad.
He wanted to occupy all her time, all her attention, all her energy. If she wasn’t so lively, he’d have locked her at home, not letting her work or socialize.
He never thought that just once would work. He didn’t know if it was God punishing him or rewarding him. Everything was so dramatic.
He hadn’t planned on a third child.
“I was muddleheaded then, didn’t realize you were ovulating. But Ah Ruo, I would never really get you pregnant just to stop you from studying abroad. I’m not a beast.”
“But the fact is, I got pregnant. Who knows if you planned your excuses in advance. Right, you’re not a beast, you’re a brute.” Li Yaru clenched her fists, wanting to hit him.
Zhuang Qiting squeezed her fists, going along with her: “Fine, I’m a brute.”
Li Yaru was stunned.
“But there’s something I’ve always been curious about— why did you insist on studying at Columbia University for those two years?” Zhuang Qiting suddenly changed the topic, his voice low and slow.
Li Yaru focused. The man’s eyes were sharp as a hawk’s, as if he wanted to peel her open and swallow her whole, but he still held her gently.
Her eyelid twitched.
Zhuang Qiting was clearly so scary, so deep and dangerous—how had her nineteen-year-old self dared to provoke him?
The beginning of the story was all her fault. Whether he was the mantis stalking the cicada or the oriole behind, in the end, she’d been the one to approach him first.
Zhuang Qiting continued in his gentle tone: “Your childhood sweetheart, your first love, just happened to be sent to Columbia University that year. If you missed those two years, you couldn’t enjoy campus life with him, am I right?”
He stared at Li Yaru’s rosy lips. “After all, my Ah Ruo was never a well-behaved little bb who loved to study.”
.