Lu Qin, who never drank much outside of business occasions, fell into deep thought. Was the great beauty more easily softened by someone who was drunk?
If it weren’t for setting a good example for Dundun and maintaining his health to grow old with Pei Rong, Lu Qin would have seriously considered stashing vodka under the bed.
The lazy, resigned fish (Pei Rong) thought weakly, Consider this the last feast of the year—let him enjoy it.
Pei Rong went online and customized a desk calendar using his own photos.
He used pictures taken three years earlier for an advertising company, so it didn’t raise any suspicion—the shop owner probably just assumed he was a fan of Pei Rong placing an order.
Then, he printed a stack of photos capturing moments from the past three years with Dundun and carefully pasted them onto the back of each calendar page by hand. He placed the finished calendar on the bedside table.
"It’s my gift to you," Pei Rong said to Lu Qin.
Lu Qin received the gift that cost no more than fifty yuan and immediately pulled out his phone, ready to take a photo and show it off on social media—but Pei Rong stopped him.
"It’s not worth anything," Pei Rong said.
Lu Qin replied, "But this is the first gift you’ve ever given me. To me, it’s priceless."
Pei Rong’s gaze softened slightly. He glanced up at the ceiling, reasonably suspecting that Lu Qin was low-key complaining about him.
With Lu Qin having everything, Pei Rong couldn’t think of what to give him. Maybe he should just hand over the stock account where he’d bought shares in Lu Corporation?
"I’m not fishing for gifts," Lu Qin said. "You’ve already given me the best presents there are."
The love of a great beauty, and their son, Dundun.
He flipped over the desk calendar and began looking through the photos on the back—ones he had never seen before. There were even pictures of them in matching family outfits.
Pei Rong said, "That was the day Dundun called me 'Dad' for the first time."
"You’re his father too. Seeing these photos is like hearing it for yourself."
Lu Qin said lightly, "Next time, just photoshop me in."
Pei Rong blinked, feeling more convinced than ever that faking a pregnancy was absolutely necessary.
Lu Qin’s attention was completely absorbed by the photos on the back of the calendar. He didn’t notice that the dates on the front didn’t actually match the current year.
This was a calendar from three years ago.
And what Pei Rong wanted to give him wasn’t just a simple calendar.
After Lu Qin had finished looking, Pei Rong quietly turned the calendar to the page for March.
The first month of his pregnancy.
All Lu Qin noticed was the photo for March: a warm scene of their family of three having a picnic on a golf course.
Blue sky, green grass, the three of them sitting on a yellow floral picnic blanket. A sliced birthday cake sat in the middle, Dundun with cream all over his face, Pei Rong smiling, and Lu Qin gazing at them.
He framed the back of that page and placed it on his nightstand.
As for the front side being the actual calendar… what executive even looks at a desk calendar? The space is too small to fit a real schedule anyway.
Pei Rong smiled faintly. Well, the foreshadowing was laid—can’t blame me for not giving a heads-up.
***
Lu Qin was away on a business trip for three days. The housekeeper reported that Mr. Pei hadn’t been eating much lately. Normally, when Lu Qin was home, no matter how busy, he would at least cook one dish himself.
Lu Qin was in the middle of a business dinner when he saw the message. Frowning, he immediately wanted to fly home to cook. He had Secretary Gao book a flight for that same night so he could rush back overnight.
The meeting venue was a two-hour drive from the airport. By the time he wrapped up all his work duties, the only flight available was a late-night one.
Pei Rong didn’t want him traveling through the night only to be hit with such heavy news and end up unable to sleep, so he asked Secretary Gao to cancel the flight and book a hotel instead.
Secretary Gao replied, “Understood.”
He rebooked Lu Qin on the 7 AM flight the next day.
After finishing his work, Lu Qin was eager to return home. When he was told he couldn’t go back until the next day, his expression instantly turned cold. Do they only listen to the boss’s wife now?
Secretary Gao explained, “Your wife asked you to rest well tonight.”
Lu Qin: “Alright.”
As Lu Qin boarded the early flight, Pei Rong went to Jiang Yan’s hospital and obtained the ultrasound image from his first embryo scan back in the U.S. He changed the date to today.
After getting the image, Pei Rong went to the Lu Corporation building to wait for Lu Qin’s return.
He dug out the white T-shirt with the embroidered tiger head. He couldn’t find the tiger-head slippers, but as he sat in the lounge, he felt a sudden sense of déjà vu, as if he had been transported back three years.
What if back then, instead of saying goodbye, he had been honest…
How would Lu Qin have reacted?
Pei Rong licked his dry lips, feeling a rare sense of nervousness—like a rookie actor about to perform a critical scene opposite the main antagonist.
Why am I so nervous? I shouldn’t get too immersed in the role.
It’s just an act—it’s not really three years ago. My position now is different from back then. I know Lu Qin’s feelings for me aren’t just physical.
Just toss the ultrasound image in Lu Qin’s face. No need to say a word.
Pei Rong couldn’t tell whether his current emotions were more tied to the past or the present.
He was even starting to regret it.
The words he couldn’t bring himself to say three years ago were clearly still just as difficult to voice.
It felt like laying everything about himself out for someone to scrutinize. And as a lazy fish, he couldn’t retract his exposed belly and dart away like an agile orange cat the moment things felt wrong.
He crumpled the prenatal check-up report in his hand. If Lu Qin didn’t come in before he balled it up entirely—
The door swung open.
Lu Qin had just arrived when his secretary informed him that Pei Rong was inside. Overjoyed, he asked, “Are you hungry?”
He was ready to start cooking right away.
Pei Rong sat on the edge of the bed, eyes downcast, and abruptly tightened his grip on the report.
Seeing his unusual mood, Lu Qin closed the door and hurried over. He gently took the paper Pei Rong had been staring at and glanced at it—
His face instantly darkened, more grim than a stock crashing to delisting.
He had asked Jiang Yan before, and Jiang Yan said it wouldn’t happen again—that’s why he never used protection.
Could it be that it had nothing to do with Pei Rong’s body, but was actually his own fault?
He should have gotten a vasectomy.
Pei Rong looked up, watching his reaction intently. If Lu Qin dared to be all talk and no courage now…
Lu Qin closed his eyes and pulled Pei Rong into a tight embrace. “Rong Rong, I’m sorry.”
Even though Dundun was already born, as another man, Lu Qin never took pregnancy for granted as something inherently tied to Pei Rong. In that moment, he didn’t have time to fear the possible complications of pregnancy, nor did he feel immediate joy at the thought of another child binding them by blood. All he wanted was to comfort Pei Rong, who might be feeling anxious.
Without another thought, he shouldered the blame: “It’s my fault. I’m the freak who got a man pregnant, and I still didn’t get sterilized.”
Pei Rong: “…”
Why did that line sound so familiar?
Leaning against Lu Qin’s shoulder, a faint, relieved smile finally returned to his eyes. Softly, he repeated, “Then how about you take some impotence medicine?”
