Bringing the Nation’s Husband Home

Chapter 775: Xu Jiamu’s Decision (35)

“Not much.”

Song Xiangsi picked up a jar of water and poured Xu Jiamu a cup. She stirred the noodles with her chopsticks, added water, and then poured it into the bin before serving it to Xu Jiamu again. “I suppose this will dilute the saltiness.”

He peeked into the bowl, which looked even scarier than the “fried sauce noodles” just now, and pulled a face. Even though his expression looked forced, he still lifted his chopsticks and started eating.

The corner of Song Xiangsi’s lips curved into a meager smile. She lowered her head and continued to eat the awful fried sauce noodles.

After eating about half the bowl, Xu Jiamu finally couldn’t help but put his chopsticks down. “Song Xiangsi, look at yourself… you can’t even cook fried sauce noodles… in the future, who would want to marry you?”

The chopsticks in Song Xiangsi’s hand tensed up, and the smile at the corner of her lips instantly disappeared.

In the future, who would want to marry you… Did this mean that deep down he didn’t want to marry her?

It was only for a second but Song Xiangsi wore a charmingly sweet smile on her face. She then raised her head and looked over at Xu Jiamu. Without a hint of holding back, she stated, “None of your fucking business, I won’t marry you anyway!”

In the past, every time Song Xiangsi swore, she would always get scolded by Xu Jiamu. But this time, he was actually so stunned by her words he didn’t even notice that she swore.

He stared at her for about five seconds. The hand she used to pick up the chopsticks, tapped the table rhythmically. “I just pity your future husband, that’s all.”

“On his behalf, I thank your whole family!” replied Song Xiangsi with a cold smile. She abruptly got up and carried both bowls from the table and chucked the contents into the bin. Then, with reddened eyes, she walked into the kitchen with her back turned to Xu Jiamu at the dining table.

As Song Xiangsi washed the dishes, her tears came crashing down. Coincidentally, the sound of the water running was loud, masking the sound of her feeble sobs.

It was just two big bowls, but it took her ten whole minutes to wash them. In the end, she went to go wash her face before placing the bowls into the disinfection cabinet. She then turned around and saw Xu Jiamu, who had already left the dining table and was standing at the balcony by the living room, smoking.

Dinner was so terrible, she supposed he wasn’t full.

Song Xiangsi opened the fridge and took out a pack of instant noodles. She poured hot water into it. After a minute, she walked over to the balcony and put the noodles on the round table on the balcony. “Here, this is for you.”

Xu Jiamu turned his head to see a bowl of steaming instant noodles. He gave a nod, then took two drags of his cigarette before putting it out. He pulled out the chair from under the round table and sat down.

Song Xiangsi didn’t leave, instead she leaned against the sliding glass doors. “What were you thinking about just now?”

Xu Jiamu stopped eating noodles for a moment. Then, after a while, he said, “Qiao Qiao’s pregnant.”

“She is? That’s a good thing.” Song Xiangsi wore a beaming smile for a moment, sincerely happy for Lu Jinnian and Qiao Anhao. “Mr. Lu must be so happy.”

After feeling happy for them, Song Xiangsi couldn’t help but shake her head at the thought of how Qiao Anhao’s scandal has been buzzing lately. “But it’s sad that the baby’s mother is being scolded by people like this. I’m afraid that when the baby grows up, people will be pointing fingers at him. Worse yet, he might end up the same as Mr. Lu, traumatized by his childhood and have a lifetime of misfortune…”

All of a sudden, the phone rang in the other room. Song Xiangsi stopped speaking and walked leisurely to pick it up.

Chapter 776: Xu Jiamu’s Decision (36)

Just as Xu Jiamu was about to pick up some noodles and stuff them into his mouth, he paused for a moment, then put his chopsticks down.

The faint sound of Song Xiangsi’s arrogance and complaints came from the other room, it sounded like her manager had accepted another job she didn’t want.

Xu Jiamu stared at Song Xiangsi for some time before he got up and walked over to the window. He glared at the millions of lights outside, and lit up a cigarette. As the taste of nicotine filled his lungs, he thought back to her words: traumatized by his childhood and have a lifetime of misfortune.

–

Lu Jinnian’s interview was more or less useful. At the very least, those fans who adored him were moved by his words.

Especially his line “If I really wanted to steal someone’s woman, I could of made a move five years ago when they were engaged. I didn’t have to let the woman I deeply love become my forbidden love. I didn’t have to watch as we lost five whole years.” It caused quite the commotion. Quite a few people felt like the media was just making groundless accusations and misleading its audience.

However, just as Lu Jinnian said, his words were merely words without evidence. There were only a few people who really believed him.

But because some believed him and others didn’t, it stirred up quite the war of words online.

It’s just a shame that Qiao Anhao stumbled upon two surprises at this time. She simply didn’t bother with the things online, so she had no idea that netizens were going wild.

–

After dinner, Lu Jinnian went into the study room to tend to work. When he walked back into the bedroom, he saw Qiao Anhao nestled in bed, looking at her phone. He couldn’t help but ask curiously, “Tomorrow is the competition, you’re not practicing?”

Qiao Anhao quickly clicked out of the site of things pregnant mothers should look out for, and put her phone down. She turned to Lu Jinnian and said without being shy about it at all, “I’ve already memorized the steps by heart. I don’t need to practice anymore.”

“Hehe, Qiao Qiao, you sure can find excuses for your laziness.” Lu Jinnian chuckled as he climbed into the bed and hugged Qiao Anhao. His hands wanted to explore underneath her pajamas, however, with the doctor’s orders in mind, Qiao Anhao rashly grabbed his hand. “Lu Jinnian, tomorrow I have to take part in the competition. You have to let me maintain my body strength.”

He looked at her with all seriousness, then negotiated, “All right, tomorrow I’ll be back.”

Qiao Anhao gave him a wide smile and said, “Okay.”

Deep down inside, she secretly thought, would he want to come back tomorrow night? She was afraid tomorrow someone wouldn’t be able to get it up!

–

It was still early. As the two of them weren’t sleepy, but they couldn’t do anything x-rated, all they could do was have a casual chat.

At first, Lu Jinnian wasn’t really satisfied and wasn’t the slightest bit interested, but eventually, he seemed to calm down.

Just like that, he quietly hugged his sweet wife in bed, and innocently had a chat. Actually, he was kind of blissfully happy…

After their chat, Qiao Anhao thought back to the idea she had, when she woke up in the middle of the night last night, of relocating if she was pregnant. She slightly raised her head, looked at Lu Jinnian, and said, “Lu Jinnian, let’s get out of the country?”

At the thought of all the upsetting things online recently, Lu Jinnian assumed that she wanted to go on a holiday, so he said without any objections, “Alright, what country do you want to go to? I’ll arrange it with my assistant tomorrow.”

Chapter 777: Xu Jiamu’s Decision (37)

“I don’t want to go on holiday.” Qiao Anhao knew that Lu Jinnian would misunderstand. She shook her head. “I want to emigrate.”

“How did you suddenly come to the idea?” Lu Jinnian furrowed his brows, then as though something had clicked, he asked, “Because of what happened online?”

Lu Jinnian asked two consecutive questions, then lowered his eyes. “Qiao Qiao, sorry, I couldn’t protect you.”

If he could, he really wanted to grow old with her in the same city she grew up in, where she had created so many memories, and where her family and friends lived.

But he never imagined that in the end, she would mind, deep down inside. So much so that she wanted to leave the country.

Because of Lu Jinnian’s last words, Qiao Anhao was so moved that she tightly latched onto his waist, then said in a low voice, “Actually, it’s not that I care about those rumors, but if we have a child, I don’t want the baby to be born under those lies and slander.

“Lu Jinnian, you know… living under the finger pointing is far too harsh for a child. Let’s relocate. Even if we won’t know many people, that’s alright. We can make new friends. What’s most important is that we’re together, right?”

Yeah. What was most important was that they were together. No matter what city, what country, what corner of the world they were, Lu Jinnian and Qiao Anhao together would be the most perfect ending.

How did the saying go?

Home is where the heart is.

Wherever Qiao Anhao went, that would be Lu Jinnian’s home.

And wherever he went, she would follow.

At that thought, Lu Jinnian gave a gentle nod and said, “Alright, we’ll emigrate. Let’s go with your idea.”

Qiao Anhao snickered. Even though she was a little sad deep down, leaving the city she was born and raised in for over twenty years, but for her child, it was worth it. After all, nothing is absolutely perfect in this world and after all is said and done there’s still regret left behind. But luckily they could be together.

As though she was afraid he could see the regret in her heart, Qiao Anhao curved her brows and started to tell him wonderful things, fairy tale like stories that would happen after they emigrated.

“We can buy a beautiful house and build a swing in the courtyard. When summer comes round, we can drink coffee in the courtyard when night falls…

“We have to have two dogs. I like Labradors, because they’re the smartest dogs in the world, and they could play with our baby…

“And Lu Jinnian… when the baby’s naughty, you have to discipline him and I’ll cheer him up, so in the baby’s heart, I’m the good guy…

“When the baby grows up a little, we can travel around the world…”

–

When Song Xiangsi woke up at night, she realized that Xu Jiamu wasn’t lying beside her.

She picked up her phone to check the time. It was already one in the morning. There was an unread Wechat message from Qiao Anhao sent around eleven o’clock: [Sister Xiangsi, I’ve discussed it with Mr. Lu… We’re going to get ready to leave the country soon. If you have time, we’d like to treat you to a meal.]

Leave the country? Was it because of what happened online? Now that she was pregnant, it would definitely be troublesome to stay in China. It wouldn’t be easy to be pregnant here, let alone raise a baby.

Because it was late, Song Xiangsi didn’t reply to Qiao Anhao’s Wechat message.

Chapter 778: Xu Jiamu’s Decision (38)

Because it was late, Song Xiangsi didn’t reply Qiao Anhao’s WeChat message. She grabbed her phone and climbed out of bed, then put on a cardigan and walked out of the bedroom to find Xu Jiamu standing on the balcony alone, smoking as he stared out the window.

She didn’t know how long he’d stood there or how much he smoked, but the smoke from the balcony traveled though the house, making it a little suffocating.

She turned the vent on, then slowly walked over to him.

With a cigarette in one hand, Xu Jiamu lowered his head as he looked transfixed at his phone. He didn’t even notice when Song Xiangsi walked over next to him.

Lu Jinnian’s voice came from his phone, and she could tell that it was from his interview yesterday afternoon.

In the cold, zero degrees temperature on the balcony, Xu Jiamu wore just a thin set of pajamas. Song Xiangsi turned back to the bedroom, grabbed a blanket, and went back to cover him.

Xu Jiamu turned his head and glanced at her, then exited the video. He took another drag of his cigarette and asked, “You’re awake?”

Song Xiangsi looked at the smoke surrounding him, and furrowed her brows. She wanted to ask why he smoked so much, but in the end, she stopped herself. She knew that he had been in a bad mood these days. She also knew that he was hesitating about something. On one side, it was his older brother and best friend, but on the other side was his own mother. It certainly was a little difficult to choose.

Throughout history, the names of those who punished their own family for justice have long been remembered throughout the ages. But who actually knew just how much pain and struggle they had to endure when they betrayed their relatives. To them, songs of praise exposed the scary times again and again.

Song Xiangsi blinked, and replied, “I saw that you weren’t there when I got up to go to the toilet, so I came out here.”

After a pause, she spoke again. “It’s such a cold night, why aren’t you wearing more clothes? What will you do if you catch a cold?”

Before Xu Jiamu got into a car accident and before she broke it off with him, Song Xiangsi was an arrogant queen. But in front of him, she was always sensible and gentle.

Perhaps it was because she was obedient, he stayed with her for seven years and never thought to leave.

Now, she used the same caring and gentle look as she spoke to him, leaving him a little startled… even a little dazed.

Song Xiangsi felt a little uncomfortable under Xu Jiamu’s gaze, so she turned away. Her fingers unintentionally touched the phone in her pocket. Then, as though she’d remembered something, she pulled it out and clicked open Qiao Anhao’s WeChat message. She showed it to Xu Jiamu. “You brother and Qiao Qiao are getting ready to leave the country.”

“Leave the country?” asked Xu Jiamu curiously. He lowered his head and carefully looked at Qiao Anhao’s message again. His expression instantly turned pale.

Did she mean that they were emigrating?

Did that mean they would never come back?

His mother pushed them so far that in the end they were left with the lone option to leave their home?

“I believe it’s because of the baby. I guess they don’t want their child to have to face all the rumors as soon as he’s born.”

Xu Jiamu didn’t answer, but slowly turned his head to stare out towards the night view in silence.

Song Xiangsi didn’t disturb him. In the still of the night, she quietly kept him company.

Chapter 779: Xu Jiamu’s Decision (39)

After over ten minutes, Xu Jiamu suddenly spoke up. “Xiangsi.”

He often called her Song Xiangsi, but she very rarely heard Xiangsi alone.

With the night view in the backdrop, his voice was gentle and slowly stumbled straight into her heart.

With a glint in her eye, she turned her head. “Hm?”

“Didn’t they ask you to to be a guest at tomorrow night’s Hollywood casting competition?”

“Yeah.” At the mention of it, Song Xiangsi started to get angry. She couldn’t help but say, “That manager of mine really is something… Just can’t give me a break. I’m on holiday, holiday, holiday! In the middle of my holiday, she set up for some guest appearance nonsense. It’s just several hundred million to appear? Do I even care for it? I… Also, can those contestant’s acting skills even compare to mine? Do I even want to go see them perform? I… She really pisses me off!”

In the face of Song Xiangsi’s rage, Xu Jiamu was calm. “Then do me a favor tomorrow.”

“What?” she instantly fell silent.

“Before Qiao Qiao gets on stage tomorrow, find a way for me to go up first. Give me ten minutes. Ten minutes will be enough.”

This was a difficult request, yet Song Xiangsi was quite enthusiastic. “Are you suggesting that I won’t be bored tomorrow when I make a guest appearance?”

“…” Xu Jiamu thought that Song Xiangsi really didn’t think the same way as other people. He asked as though he was looking for something, “Is there a problem?”

“What problem could there be?” Song Xiangsi pulled a face and said disapprovingly, “Let me tell you, if the queen, I, open my golden mouth, let’s not mention ten minutes, they’d give me ten hours! If they don’t give it to me, then I’ll just walk out on being a guest!”

As she said this, Song Xiangsi raised her hand and patted Xu Jiamu’s shoulder. “If I walk out tomorrow and they don’t give me ten minutes, remember to pay me back for breaching the contract!”

“…”

–

On the day of the competition at five in the afternoon, the assistant drove to Mian Xiu Garden to pick up Qiao Anhao and Lu Jinnian.

When they reached the competition place, they bumped into Zhao Meng, from whom Qiao Anhao learned about a new rumor having just hit the internet.

There were several photos of Lu Jinnian with the director and producer in charge of the Hollywood casting together at dinner. An insider revealed that Lu Jinnian had paid thirty percent of the investment in this movie. Another insider revealed that no matter if Qiao Anhao performed well or not in the finals, she would definitely land the role.

Qiao Anhao was already the focal point of recent rumors. With this news, a bunch of people would launch an attack on her. They’d say she has poor moral standing and that the only reason she got into the finals was because she had a backer. Another group of people would launch an attack on the competition and Lu Jinnian.

Qiao Anhao roughly glanced over it, then handed the phone back to Zhao Meng.

At this very moment, she could not be bothered with this kind of rumor. No matter how they scolded her online, it didn’t matter. Later on, she had a counterattack!

–

Before Xu Jiamu went to the competition, he first stopped by the Xu family estate.

When Han Ruchu saw him, she was so shocked, she threw herself at him and hugged him.

Chapter 780: I’m Pregnant (1)

When Han Ruchu saw Xu Jiamu, she was so shocked, she threw herself at him and hugged him.Then she cried whilst mumbling, “Jiamu, you finally came to visit mama? You forgive mama, right?”

Xu Jiamu didn’t say a word, but stood there on the spot and let Han Ruchu hug him. Later, seeing that he was short of time, he said he had to leave. Before he left, he casually stole a document from the Xu family estate’s study room.

–

Qiao Anhao was in eighth place, so she was last to perform on stage.

There were only four make up artists, so when Qiao Anhao reached the make up room. She waited with Zhao Meng for a while for a make up artist to become free.

She sat down in front of the dresser. Just as she was about to tell the make up artist what she was going to wear that night and what kind of look she was going for, she saw Lin Shiyi, the second place contender, come out of the dressing room. As Qiao Anhao’s eyes were drawn towards her, the words stuck in her mouth.

She wore a rose-colored ancient Chinese dance costume, with her hair and make up also done up in a manner of an ancient beauty.

This wasn’t the main point, the main point was… the dance costume she wore was exactly the same as the one Qiao Anhao had ordered.

“Qiao Qiao, why does Lin Shiyi have the same costume? She’s up on stage before you, so what are we going to do? We got here in such a hurry, and we didn’t bring a change of clothes. In a competition like this, you’d lose points for clashing costumes.”

Qiao Anhao heard Zhao Meng’s whisper in her ears. That’s when she turned away from Lin Shiyi, and gave her friend a comforting expression. Then she told the make up artist, “Give me a natural look to suit what I’m wearing now.”

Actually… she never wanted to perform Zhao Feiyan’s drum dance, but seeing as she wore matching outfits with Lin Shiyi, she still felt a little crushed.

What a coincidence, for the two of them to wear matching outfits? To choose the same outfit?

When Lin Shiyi got up on stage, Qiao Anhao coincidentally finished her make up and sat in the break room with Zhao Meng. She wasn’t at all interested in Lin Shiyi’s performance, but when the woman said what her topic was her brows tightened.

Zhao Feiyan’s drum dance.

As if wearing matching outfits wasn’t enough, their performances also clashed?

Most importantly, this performance was an idea she and Lu Jinnian had come up with together. Not even Zhao Meng and his assistant knew, so how did Lin Shiyi learn of it?

Even if Qiao Anhao couldn’t immediately guess how the woman found out, she knew that Lin Shiyi did all this to perform her dance before her, thus carefully planning to sabotage her performance.

Qiao Anhao, who felt a little down, was now completely crushed.

Lin Shiyi’s drum routine was choreographed differently. Even though Qiao Anhao’s one was spectacular, to be able to even perform such a highly difficult dance, it won Lin Shiyi everyone’s appraisal. So much so that the judges gave her high scores.

The moment she had stepped on stage and back down, she intentionally shot Qiao Anhao a provoking look.

The performances from the five people after her were absolutely wonderful.

After seven people had finished their performances, Qiao Anhao walked up to the entrance of the stage. Through the long corridor, she could hear the judges on stage talk and give their scores. At the very end, just as the presenter was about to call out the final contestant, tonight’s guest, Song Xiangsi suddenly said, “Sorry to interrupt for a moment.”

Chapter 781: I’m Pregnant (2)

The presenter swallowed his words, and said with a smile, “Please, Xiangsi, go ahead.”

Song Xiangsi brought the microphone towards her mouth, and cleared her throat, “I’m delighted to be given this opportunity to be a guest on this competition, so I’ve especially prepared a surprise for everyone. Now that the competition is drawing to a close and there’s only one actress left, I want to take up just ten minutes of the show to show everyone the surprise. I don’t know if it’s possible?”

The presenter was left dumbfounded by Song Xiangsi’s request. He instinctively turned his head and looked over towards the leaders sitting in the sidelines. It was obvious that they hadn’t been informed in advance, so the leaders were just as puzzled by Song Xiangsi’s sudden request.

The best actress didn’t even give them a chance to react, before she grabbed the microphone and stood up. She waved at the audience sitting behind her and said, “To everyone who came out tonight, I’ve prepared a surprise for you all. Are you excited?”

At first, the audience gave a mixed cry of the word “yeah”, but in the end, the cries turned to a certain “yeah”. Those cries were crisp and orderly, and they practically wiped out the entire set.

The few group leaders, who had got together to quietly discuss what was going on, saw that the audience was reacting so wildly and figured that if they didn’t give Song Xiangsi ten minutes of their time, then it would cause everyone to protest. The leaders all nodded their heads. A staff member handed the leader in the center a microphone, to which he cleared his throat and said, “Okay.”

The presenter immediately put the cards in his hands away, and improvising said beautifully, “Before our final contestant comes on stage, let us take a look at the surprise our guest, the dream woman Song Xiangsi has prepared for us.”

The presenter raised his hand, and made a hand gesture to welcome Song Xiangsi.

Song Xiangsi gave a generous word of “Thanks”, but she stayed at her guest appearance’s spot and didn’t walk up on stage. Instead, she looked from left to right, then cried “Please” in one direction.

The audience below the stage were left bewildered by Song Xiangsi’s actions. There was an absolute silence on set.

About ten seconds had passed when everyone saw a tall person stand up from a seat on the first row on the far left. He strode slowly round to the far right side of the stage and up the steps.

A handsome face appeared on the large screen on stage. He wore a blue suit with a pretty tie.

He stood at the center of the stage. Because he didn’t have a microphone in his hands, he looked to his left and right. The presenter beside him suddenly snapped out of his daze and handed his own microphone over.

The man nodded politely to the presenter to express his thanks. He turned back around and gave the audience below the stage a deep, ninety degree bow. Then he straightened up his body and broke the puzzled atmosphere on set. “Hello everybody, I am the current chairman of Xu Enterprise, Xu Jiamu.”

Xu Jiamu… The moment those two words were thrown out there, the sound of chattering started to fill the silent set. Louder and louder it got, until eventually, the atmosphere grew chaotic.

“Xu Jiamu? Isn’t that Qiao Anhao’s ex-husband?”

“Yeah, why is he here today?”

Chapter 782: I’m Pregnant?3?

“I still have no idea what Song Xiangsi is trying to do, didn’t she say there was a surprise?”

“Yes, I thought that she wanted to sing live for us!”

–

Xu Jiamu remained calm among the buzzing crowd, and looked straight ahead firmly. Raising the microphone, he started to speak once more, “I’m deeply grateful to Miss Song Xiangsi for allowing me to have ten minutes of air time, and I’m also grateful to the program team for allowing me to have these ten minutes. Today, I’m not here to perform, instead, I would like to clarify something.”

His last sentence silenced the audience and it looked at him expectantly.

–

Qiao Anhao stood backstage in confusion with her eyes glued to the screen.

Why did Xu Jiamu suddenly go on stage?

And what explanation? Why did he need to explain anything?

–

Today were the finals for the competition hence, so Lu Jinnian was prohibited backstage. He specifically brought his assistant to the first row of the VIP seats to watch her performance.

To be exact, this was the first time he was watching her as a live audience. The past three times he had been watching the live stream in his car while waiting for her to end.

Afraid that the crowd might recognize him, Lu Jinnian deliberately wore a cap. He had even lifted the collars for his coat so that half of his face was shielded.

He was there specifically to watch Qiao Anhao’s performance and wasn’t interested in the other performances, so he’d been playing with his phone the entire time.

His assistant had been agitated through all the performances, leaning over to whisper his comments or using his elbow to nudge him. “Mr. Lu, look at her, don’t you think she’s pretty?” “Mr. Lu, the performance was amazing!”

Lu Jinnian ignored him multiple times, occasionally lifting his head in annoyance to glance at the stage. At such moments, his assistant would add in a placating manner, “But I believe that Miss Qiao is the best!”

Hehe… Bootlicker! Lu Jinnian would mock inwardly before turning back to play with his phone, but there would always be a blissful and smug smile on his face.

Before Qiao Anhao was up, Lu Jinnian had lifted his head twice.

The first time, it was to the familiar background music. He instinctively assumed that it was Qiao Anhao dancing, but on the stage that was a distance away from him he could see that Lin Shiyi was dressed in the exact same red dress that Qiao Anhao had.

He was the one who had helped his wife pick out the dance and the costume, and he didn’t tell anyone about it, so how come she found out?

What about Qiao Qiao’s program? If someone had already danced it, she would definitely be at a disadvantage.

Lu Jinnian glared at Lin Shiyi, his gaze turning cold.

The second time he lifted his head, it was after Song Xiangsi had fought for ten minutes and someone walked up on stage. His assistant had leaned over to exclaim, “Mr. Lu, its Mr. Xu.”

Before he could process which Mr. Xu it was, he heard Xu Jiamu’s voice. He instinctively clenched onto his phone, lifting his head to stare straight at his stepbrother.

–

There was a slight smile on Xu Jiamu’s face. “I believe that most of you here and in front of the television already know my name, and that’s because of the scandal surrounding me and Qiao Anhao.”

Chapter 783: I’m Pregnant (4)

“That’s right, I was in fact married to Miss Qiao, but besides our marriage, we have no feelings for each other. Simply speaking, Miss Qiao has always been a good friend of mine.

“If the low key wedding ceremony Qiao Anhao and I had was considered a wedding, then yes we were married. But in reality Qiao Anhao and I weren’t a lawfully wedded couple. Up until now, I am single and unmarried, not single and divorced. In simple terms, we have never gotten a marriage certificate.”

Xu Jiamu’s tone of voice was calm, but the words from his mouth were like a landmine exploding with a rumble on set, leaving behind chaos and disorder.

Through it all, Xu Jiamu kept the same expression on his face. As he held the microphone up, he sluggishly said, “Also, the Xu Jiamu in the wedding photo everyone has seen online isn’t me.”

Before all the aftermath of the landmine could settle down, here was another explosion. Not only was the audience stunned, the judges grew just as rattled. So much so, one of them couldn’t resist but to let the question slip, “Could there possibly be two Xu Jiamu’s in the world?”

“That’s right, there were in fact two Xu Jiamus,” confirmed Xu Jiamu, leaving the audience in an uproar.

Because one judge spoke out, another judge couldn’t help but speak up as well. “Two Xu Jiamus? Mr. Xu, this means that the Xu family has a set of twins?”

“The other Xu Jiamu is my older brother.” Xu Jiamu paused for a moment, then continued to say a name, one word at a time. “Lu Jinnian.”

The entire set was blasted completely open.

The judges rambled on, talking over each other.

“Mr. Lu? Mr. Lu and you look a tiny bit similar, but not entirely so.”

“From the photo, it clearly looks like you Mr. Xu, but with an added scar.”

“Let’s not talk about this for now. Let me show everyone something.” As Xu Jiamu said this, he pulled a document from his pocket and handed it to the presenter beside him. “Could I please trouble you to enlarge this document onto the big screen?”

“Alright.”

“Thank you,” Xu Jiamu said politely and elegantly.

“You’re welcome.” The presenter immediately ran down the stage with the document.

About five minutes later, photographs from the documents were displayed clearly on the big screen.

Everyone’s attention was drawn to those photographs. Without so much as a peep from a crow, a silent slideshow was displayed with twenty seconds between photos. Xu Jiamu waited for the final photo to be displayed before he said, “This is my medical record from the hospital. From these photos, I believe everyone can clearly see the time from which I was officially conscious. It’s last year’s September, not last February.

“However, I believe that many people must have a lot of questions, because last February Mrs. Han Ruchu definitely held a press conference to announce that the successor to Xu Enterprise, Mr. Xu Jiamu had woken up from a coma. Not only that but at the time the news media took photos of his discharge. After that, there were also many photos released of him attending various events.

“So the question then is whether last year’s news are true, or what I’m currently saying is the real thing.”

Chapter 784: I’m Pregnant (5)

After Xu Jiamu threw the question out there, he fell into a long silence where he looked straight in the eyes in front of him. Then he lowered his eyelids.

Although he looked calm, there was still a hint of struggle on his face shown on the big screen, like he was fighting to make a decision.

Just when everyone thought that he didn’t have anything else to say, he suddenly pulled out a USB stick from his pocket and handed it to the presenter beside him, then said, “Could I trouble you to play the audio file on here.”

The presenter said curiously, “Alright.”

The moment he reached his arm out to take the USB, Xu Jiamu suddenly forcefully grabbed it back. The expression on his face was a little pale and his lips were pursed tightly, but after a long moment, he finally let the USB fall into the presenter’s hands.

Soon enough, the sound of a conversation broke out on set.

“Ma, can I ask you a question?”

“Jiamu, ask.”

“Did you or did you not know that my brother likes Qiao Qiao?”

“Jiamu, why do you suddenly ask?”

“Ma… Back then, when I was in a coma in the hospital, the doctors had no way of knowing when I’ll wake up, and Xu Enterprise was in danger, so you asked my brother and Qiao Qiao to see to Xu Enterprise. Actually… I’ve been thinking that with my brother’s personality, how would he suddenly agree to play me. Only now, I realize that it was because of Qiao Qiao.”

“Jiamu…”

“Ma, you knew my brother liked Qiao Qiao for a long time now, didn’t you? Back then, you used her as bait to get him to agree to play me, and pretend to be a fake married couple with her, am I right?”

“Jiamu, it’s been so long since you’ve come back to visit mama… It’s rare that you’re back, can you not mention that bas… them.”

“Ma, you leaked the news online didn’t you? You disclosed my brother and Qiao Qiao’s address to the reporters, didn’t you? And the two photos of Qiao Qiao and my brother having dinner together, didn’t I tell you to rip them up? Why didn’t you rip them up but released them behind my back? Ma, my brother and Qiao Qiao, they’re helping us. Why are you using the fact that they helped us to now ruin them?”

“Jiamu, don’t be mad… Mama promises, mama promises this is the last time…”

With that, the conversation came to a spontaneous end. What they said next, nobody would know…

Just then, an odd silence filled the set.

Xu Jiamu stood at the center of the stage, and quietly raised the microphone. “I believe I needn’t say much else, right? The recorded conversation just now explains it all.”

His mother did so many terrible things. He was angry with her, he resented her, but he never imagined that there would be a day where he’d stand against his own mother.

He knew that she hoped for him to go home. The person his mother cared for most in this world was her son.

When he went back today, his mother was so happy, but she didn’t know that he had a motive behind being there. He purposefully said those things to her.

Deep down inside, he knew that after they played that conversation, the online abuse would be redirected from Qiao Anhao and Lu Jinnian to his mother.

Chapter 785: I’m Pregnant (6)

Lu Jinnian and Qiao Anhao were innocent… The person in the wrong was his mother, and he wanted to be a well-behaved son, but after having struggled with it for a few days, he finally couldn’t watch as his stepbrother and his good friend, the two people in his life who were equally important, eventually were forced to leave their home country.

If he had to betray one of the two sides, he could only choose to betray the side that was in the wrong.

At that very moment, Xu Jiamu’s face lost all its composure, replaced with a serious look. “I hope that by me stepping out to explain and clear the situation up, everyone can stop attacking Qiao Anhao, Mrs. Lu. Thank you everybody.”

Xu Jiamu gave a deep bow with the microphone in both hands. Then he lowered his head and said, “Sorry.”

There was no prefix to his apology.

People who know knew him knew that his apology was for Lu Jinnian and Qiao Anhao.

People who didn’t know, thought that he was apologizing to his mother.

He kept his bow for a full half a minute, before he straightened up and handed the microphone back to the presenter standing beside him. He turned around and walked backstage and down the corridor.

–

Qiao Anhao saw Xu Jiamu get off the stage on the monitor. Subconsciously, she turned her head to see him push the door open and walk towards her.

His complexion looked terrible, and he was speeding out.

When he walked past Qiao Anhao, she cried out, “Brother Jiamu!”

Xu Jiamu’s footsteps slightly paused. He gave her a nod without saying a word, then brushed past, and strode through the break room and out.

–

Because of Xu Jiamu’s sudden entrance, the competition was interrupted and the atmosphere was off-beat. The presenter deliberately begun a five minute commercial break for everyone to settle down.

The show was live, and so a video of Xu Jiamu’s appearance was immediately cut, posted online, and made the headlines.

Those people online who hated Qiao Anhao to the bone turned their hateful messages elsewhere. However, there were still a few people who continued to curse her for having someone to back her through the competition. Yet most people came out to express their utter shock at the truth, and quite a few of those who scolded her in the past posted apologies on her Weibo.

–

Five minutes flew by.

At the center of the stage, the presenter said a few words from the show’s sponsors, then gave a warm welcome to the final contestant.

–

“Mr. Lu, Miss Qiao is about to get up on stage. Should I give you one?”

Lu Jinnian didn’t know when, but the assistant beside him had managed to get his hands on two glow sticks. He brought a pink one up in front of Lu Jinnian.

‘Immature!’ cursed Lu Jinnian inside. Without taking the glow stick, he stared directly at the entrance of the stage.

‘Whatever!’ replied the assistant inside. He waved the glowsticks with one hand, and cried, “Miss Qiao, Good luck!”

When the music started to play, the revolving doors slowly turned around. After having to wait all night for her turn to be the main lead, there she was.

The seven contestants before her all had impressive outfits. Qiao Anhao was the only one who wore a simple, long, pink, and knitted dress. Her long hair gently draped behind her face. On screen, you practically couldn’t tell that she had put on a natural look with make up.

Chapter 786: I’m Pregnant (7)

Wasn’t she going to perform the drum dance? Why wasn’t she wearing her costume? Or her makeup? Could it be that she was going to dance like that?

Lu Jinnian furrowed his brows, then he heard the presenter ask, “Qiao Anhao, your last two performances were spectacular, what will you perform for us this time?”

“Well, actually, I originally prepared something special for everyone, but because of a few reasons, I changed it the last minute.” Up on the stage, Qiao Anhao looked slim and elegant.

Changed the last minute? Was it because Lin Shiyi? Lu Jinnian suddenly froze.

The presenter asked, “What has Qiao Anhao changed her performance to in the last minute?”

She looked into a camera. “A story.”

“A story?” the presenter put on a face as though he was really interested. “Alright, then the stage is yours. We’re all looking forward to hearing your story.”

Qiao Anhao was the only person left on stage. She stood there in silence for ten seconds before raising the microphone and saying the lines she memorized backstage. “He said he waited for me for thirteen years. Thirteen years. It’s easy to say those two words, but behind those words are almost five thousand long nights. But he has no idea that the most memorable of those nights was the night he waited for me for sixteen hours. That night, we made plans to have dinner together, but I stood him up. It was raining that night, but he still stubbornly wouldn’t leave. He sent me a lot of texts to reiterate that he was still waiting for me there, and he wouldn’t leave.”

When Lu Jinnian heard this, his expression instantly stopped still. He stared straight at Qiao Anhao on the stage.

The assistant whispered into his ear, “Mr. Lu, it seems like Miss Qiao is talking about you.”

Qiao Anhao smiled. “At school, I would often see him through the window, sketching in class. At the time, I was really curious to know what he was drawing, but I never had the opportunity to ask him. After so many years, I went to go find him one day. In one of the rooms in his house, I saw a stack of papers with sketches of the same girl. They were all different. One of them were of her pushing a bike, another of her sleeping spread out on a desk, another of her biting a pen thinking about how to answer a question… That girl was me, when I was young.”

So, she saw those sketches of her in Mount Yi villa.

Lu Jinnian couldn’t help but follow Qiao Anhao’s lead and curve the corners of his lips into a smile.

“There was one time during filming when I got into an accident. I fell from a cliff and rolled down into a river, then in the blink of an eye, I floated really far away. Back then, I really thought I was going to die, but I didn’t want to do die, so I worked hard to fight back. In the end, I fell unconscious. When I opened my eyes, I saw he was completely drenched, and in that very moment, I felt like I was the happiest woman in the world, because even whilst dying, I had someone by my side.” When she said this, Qiao Anhao’s tone of voice was gentle. She forced a smile from to her lips, but her eyes were filled with tears.

“Last spring, two friends took drugs. Coincidentally, I was quite close with one of them, so I innocently got dragged into the chaos. He was so hurt that I was being cursed out by everyone, he stood out and leaked the fact that he was an illegitimate child. It subsequently exposed all the flaws and dark secrets of his life to everyone, just to protect me.”

Chapter 787: I’m Pregnant (8)

At this point, Qiao Anhao’s tears had already started to fall.

Below the stage, the expression on the judges and the audiences’ faces became a little tense.

Qiao Anhao tried hard to curve the corner of her lips, as she slowly continued, “There was a time when he left me. Before he left, he sent his friend an email. The email was really long, and it took up four pages of a five inch phone screen. Besides the first page, where he had to clarify some matters, every other word of the three pages after were about a woman. Even the very last sentence had my name in it.”

Qiao Anhao couldn’t help but snort as she continued to speak in a wailing voice. “After a long time, I learned that he went to America. When we were there, we ate at a Chinese restaurant. Because I was the only one eating, I only planned to order one dish, but when he got his hands on the menu, he didn’t even look at it and chose a few dishes. The moment the dishes were served, I realized that they were all my favorite ones.

“At that moment, I really wanted to ask him the question I never got round to asking – just how many times did you eat in this Chinese restaurant on your own? And how many times did you order my favorite dishes to be able to order them without looking at the menu?

“Whilst filming “Heavenly Sword”, the filming conditions were a little tough. There was one night when a thief sneaked into my room. At the time, the thief was really flustered, so he tried to smother me to death with a pillow. He appeared then, but quickly left. At the time, him and I were separated. That was the second time he saved my life. If we were in ancient times, after being saved once, you’re meant to devote your life to them. He saved me twice, so I owe him this life and my next one.”

–

As Qiao Anhao said this, most people below the stage were either crying or the rim of their eyes had become red.

“I’m not showing off, nor am I showing off how happy I am, though I am really happy. Even if it’s showing off, it won’t kill me. I just wanted to get up on stage and say what he’s done for me. Now that I’ve said it, I want to tell him that although I’ve never said it out loud before, my heart remembers.

“To conclude the story, I want to tell him something.”

With that, Qiao Anhao reached an empty are out.

“I.” Her hand made a ‘paper’ gesture.

“Love.” The paper turned into scissors.

“You.” The scissors turned into rock.

“Mr. Lu, Miss Qiao is confessing to you in front of the whole world!” whispered the assistant into Lu Jinnian’s ear.

Lu Jinnian stared at Qiao Anhao on stage with eyes full of excitement.

He was just feeling regret over her not performing the drum dance, when… He never imagined that she’d turn around and give him such a big surprise.

Paper, scissors, rock.

It was the most beautiful confession with hand signs that he had once tried to tell her.

Things change over time. She stood under the spotlight and turned the confession with hand signs into a narrated confession with hand signs.

At this very moment, Qiao Anhao was really impulsive. In the end, she even wanted to add the words, “I’ve loved you for thirteen years”. However, she thought back to the love letter she had written and kept for so many years but never gave him. With that, she felt a little regretful, and took a deep breath. She suppressed the words that were ceaselessly trying to jump out, then gave a bow and said, “My story is finished. Thank you everybody.”

The entire set was silent.

In the end, it was the assistant who was the first to applaud, which prompted others to start applauding as well. Eventually, everyone in the competition was applauding and cheering.

Chapter 788: I’m Pregnant (9)

The assistant saw Lu Jinnian sitting beside him transfixed by Qiao Anhao on stage. Other people all around them applauded enthusiastically, and the assistant couldn’t help but nudge him with his arm. “Mr. Lu why aren’t you applauding Miss Qiao? Are you suggesting that her performance just now wasn’t great?”

‘Lunatic…’ Lu Jinnian gave his assistant a dirty look, then continued to stare at Qiao Anhao intensely. He raised his hands and applauded her.

‘Hehe… If I didn’t remind you, would you have known to applaud?’ The assistant turned his head, and waved the glowsticks in his hand. “Qiao Anhao, I support you the most!”

–

The presenter walked up on stage and stood next to Qiao Anhao. “Qiao Anhao’s story just now was really touching. Up next, let’s see how many points our judges will give your performance!”

The presenter made a hand gesture at the judges.

From left to right, the judges spoke one after the other.

“The story was so touching, your storytelling was so vivid. If we judge the performance alone, it was fantastic, I give you full points.”

“For the story alone, I give it full points.”

“After hearing your story, I think this is the most beautiful love story I’ve ever heard. I wish you both happiness. Full points.”

–

The final person to speak was tonight’s guest, Song Xiangsi. She tilted her head and shot Qiao Anhao a beaming smile. She lifted her head. “In my eyes, she is the best candidate for the leading female Hollywood actress.”

“Wow, full points! On this occasion, Miss Qiao Anhao has convinced our entire judging panel. Now, up next, we’ll move on to our live audience’s score.” The moment the presenter’s voice dropped, the audience held up their controllers to give their scores.

“Currently, Qiao Anhao is ranked fourth.”

“Third.”

“Oh, second.”

“The numbers are on the rise.”

“We’re about to start the countdown.”

“Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one!”

The instant the presenter screamed ‘one’, Qiao Anhao coincidentally surpassed the first place contestant in scores. Having overturned the game like that in the final seconds, the presenter was enthralled by it.

“Congratulations, Qiao Anhao for being crowned the female lead in our Hollywood casting competition. Up next, we have to proceed with the ceremony – the live signing ceremony. We must welcome the director of the movie, who personally traveled from America, and our master of ceremonies.”

As the music played, the assistant grinned from ear to ear. He stared at Lu Jinnian and said, “Mr. Lu, congratulations. Miss Qiao came in first place.”

“Thanks.” After being confessed to in front of everyone, it was so obvious that Lu Jinnian was in an exceedingly good mood. For the first time, he replied to his assistant who had been chattering non-stop all night.

“Mr. Lu, Miss Qiao received first place, aren’t you going to treat us to a meal?”

‘You’re not the one who got first place, if someone has to be treated, it should be Qiao Anhao…’ Lu Jinnian didn’t think twice to answer, “Not interested.”

“Then I’ll go find Miss Qiao to treat me. She’ll definitely agree.” The assistant turned his head, and silently cursed, ‘Stingy!’

Lu Jinnian’s gave his assistant the side-eye. All of a sudden, as though he’d just remembered something, he said, “Shen Mingzhe, if I remember correctly, Qiao Qiao mentioned that I wrote an email to a friend. Did she mean you? Didn’t I make it clear for you not to tell her?”

‘Crap! He was so moved by Miss Qiao’s story and so excited for her to get the prize that he forgot that he betrayed Mr. Lu!’

===============================================

Chapter 789: I’m Pregnant (10)

The assistant’s face froze, and he didn’t dare to look at Lu Jinnian.

“Also, can you explain how Qiao Qiao found out that I leaked the rumors myself?”

The assistant gritted his teeth. This time, he was really dead.

“How would she know that I waited sixteen hours for her on Valentine’s day?”

The assistant’s heart stopped beating.

At that very moment, on the stage, Qiao Anhao suddenly raised the microphone and said, “I’m so sorry, there’s no way I can sign this contract.”

The assistant was scared witless by Qiao Anhao’s words, and as though clutching onto his last hope, he immediately turned his head. “Mr. Lu, Miss Qiao received first place but she’s not signing the contract.”

Lu Jinnian was also suddenly stunned by Qiao Anhao’s words, so much so he couldn’t be bothered to be angry with his assistant right now. He immediately raised his head and looked at center stage.

It was obvious that the entire set was startled by Qiao Anhao’s words.

The presenter raised the microphone, and asked in disbelief, “Qiao Anhao, what did you just say? Did you say that you can’t sign this contract?”

“Yes.” Qiao Anhao calmly gave a nod.

Seeing as she affirmed her decision for the second time, the atmosphere on set became restless once again.

To take part in the competition and get first place but not sign the contract? What did this mean?

It was evident that the team leaders and judges on set were rattled.

“Mr. Lu, why isn’t Miss Qiao going to sign it? Such a great opportunity to go to Hollywood and come back having secured the spot of the screen queen!” said the assistant wit a tone full of regret.

The joy Lu Jinnian felt from her confession had disappeared.

She was the reason he invested in the movie. Was she rejecting the role because people online were saying that he was using money to toy with people?

With that very thought, the judge asked, “Qiao Anhao, I’d like to know why aren’t you signing this contract? Are you rejecting the offer because you don’t want people to assume you’ve used connections to get the role, considering that the CEO of Huan Ying Entertainment, Lu Jinnian, Mr. Lu has invested in the movie?”

Another judge spoke out. “This is a competition. The winner of the competition must take the role as the female lead of the movie. We’re not playing house here. You can’t just do what you want, Miss Qiao. Could you please respect the show, respect the judges, and respect the millions of viewers in front of the TV!”

“I’m sorry, as for my decision, I can only say that I’m terribly sorry.” Qiao Anhao gave a sincere bow, then raised the microphone, and said, “At first I didn’t know that my husband Lu Jinnian had invested in this movie, and he was the one who signed me up for this competition. I worked very hard and did my best for each round of this competition just to make him proud.

“I know that no matter if we are cheating or not, he did invest in the movie, so there’s no possible way for me to clear this up. However, I can guarantee that I would never give up signing for this role over arguments online. Not only would I have not given up, I would of did my best to prove to everybody that the female lead is mine… that I am the female lead of the movie.

“But I regret to say that yesterday I went to the hospital, and it made me give up my carefully prepared performance for the show and change it into a story at the last minute.”

Qiao Anhao paused for a moment, then said, “I’m pregnant.”

===============================================

Chapter 790: The Love Letter from the Past (1)

Qiao Anhao paused for a moment, then said, “I’m pregnant.”

–

Lu Jinnian furrowed his brows when he heard that Qiao Anhao went to a hospital yesterday.

Hospital? Qiao Qiao went to a hospital yesterday? How did he not know?

His assistant thought about how Qiao Anhao had called him yesterday in the afternoon, then became just as nervous. “Mr. Lu, did her trip have anything to do with her crying like crazy over the phone yesterday? Could it be that she has some kind of incurable disease…”

Before the assistant could finish, he received Lu Jinnian’s chilly gaze and immediately covered his mouth with his hand. After a while, he carefully said, “Mr. Lu, I spoke out of turn just now… spoke out of turn…”

Lu Jinnian didn’t even bother with his assistant, turning his head to Qiao Anhao standing up on the stage. Deep down inside, his assistant’s speculation just now made him feel a little uneasy.

Could it be that she really got some kind of incurable disease…

His speculations hadn’t yet completely formed when he heard Qiao Anhao’s gentle voice. “I’m pregnant.”

Lu Jinnian calmly sat in the soft guest’s seat, staring at Qiao Anhao on stage. He blinked lightly with a tranquil expression on his face, as though she hadn’t said a thing.

Sitting beside him, the assistant was filled with astonishment by Qiao Anhao’s words.

The judging panel and the audience on set were stunned by her two words as well.

–

“I want to keep the baby, so before it’s born I won’t be accepting any jobs. As for the sudden circumstances, I can only say that I’m terribly, terribly sorry. I’m really sorry.” Qiao Anhao gave another deep bow.

Her explanation left everyone speechless.

They couldn’t make the winner of the competition abort her child for a movie. After all, it was a living being.

But, if the winner of this competition and female lead to the movie wasn’t Qiao Anhao, would they have to then give it to the runner up?

Just as the team leaders of the show got together to make a plan, the interpreter translated what Qiao Anhao had just said to the American director. He gave a nod, then reached his hand out towards Qiao Anhao and said a kind “Congratulations.”

Qiao Anhao hastily reached her hand out and shook the director’s hand.

With that, the director raised the microphone and said, “This is something definitely worth being happy over. I will speak with the people in charge of the movie, to convince them to start it after the baby is born.”

–

When Qiao Anhao mentioned the baby for the second time, Lu Jinnian still remained composed, staring at her standing elegantly on stage. He blinked again, then when the director spoke, he realized exactly what she had said. He gawked at her as though there was something wrong. He blinked over and over again, then turned his head in slight disbelief. With a calm expression on his face, he asked his assistant, “What did Qiao Qiao say just now?”

The expression on his assistant’s face was full of shock, and he said in excitement, “Mr. Lu, Miss Qiao said she’s pregnant.”

===============================================

Chapter 791: The Love Letter from the Past?2?

“Mmmh, I understand.” Lu Jinnian nodded his head calmly in acknowledgment as though he was listening to a report. But when he finally processed the words, he froze.

A hard to explain happiness exploded within him, spreading across his entire body. He raised his hands abruptly, grabbing onto his assistant’s arm. Full of agitation, he exclaimed in a shaking voice, “Qiao Qiao is pregnant?”

His assistant endured the pain in his arm, nodding his head violently. “Mr. Lu, congratulations! You’re going to be a dad now!”

The signing ceremony concluded, and the emcee was closing up the competition.

Lu Jinnian bolted upwards, startling his assistant. When the man realized that a huge crowd was staring at Lu Jinnian, he hurriedly raised his hand to tug at his sleeve. “Mr. Lu, you should sit first.”

Lu Jinnian ignored his assistant, he flicked his hand away and walked out of the VIP section towards the stairs up the stage. Ignoring the restrains from the crew members, he took large strides onto the stage.

At that moment, the emcee was already done with his closing speech. Just as the audience was about to leave the grounds and the filming crew about to retrieve their equipment, they caught sight of a figure rushing onto the stage. The crowd directed their gazes back, and those that had already made their way to the door stopped in their tracks, turning over. Even Qiao Anhao was intrigued, glancing over to the side of the stage.

The man had on a cap that shielded more than half of his face, and he was taking large strides through the stage heading towards her. He was walking against the light, which hid his features.

Qiao Anhao could feel a strong force heading towards her but before she could react, he grabbed onto her elbow. Just as she was about to struggle out of his grip, she heard a familiar voice, “You’re pregnant?”

It was Lu Jinnian! But shouldn’t he be in the car waiting for her? Why was he here?

Qiao Anhao glance at him in confusion, and nodded her head. “Mmh, I found out yesterday, the baby is one month old.”

Lu Jinnian felt his heart race, it was as though it was about to jump out of his throat. He stared at her with a fiery gaze. “Does that mean that I’m going to be a father?”

“Yea.” Qiao Anhao nodded her head continuously, bliss spreading across her face.

“Why didn’t you tell me yesterday!” he exploded.

Qiao Anhao’s smile faltered from his outburst, it was just that she wanted to give him a surprise today.

She lowered her eyes in disappointment, but just when she was about to struggle out of his embrace, he bent down to carry her.

Qiao Anhao circled her arms around his neck instinctively, knocking over his cap.

The front row had a clear view of Lu Jinnian’s face, and they quickly fished for their phones to snap a couple shots. Two girls who had been sitting behind Lu Jinnian shouted out in excitement. “He was sitting in front of us just now!”

===============================================

Chapter 792: The Love Letter from the Past?3?

“Yes, why did we not notice him, we could have gotten his autograph!”

“What a pity…”

–

Lu Jinnian carried Qiao Anhao out of the competition ground to his car.

He opened the passenger seat before carefully placing her inside. He then adjusted the seat so she would have more leg room and a more comfortable position. At the same time, he did not ask her which position felt better for her.

Qiao Anhao was just a month pregnant therefore there was not much difference yet, she was not bothered by the position of the seat. Initially, she told him patiently that the position was fine, he didn’t need to adjust it anymore.

But Lu Jinnian was not convinced, he would continuously fiddle with the buttons. “What about now? As compared to the previous position, which is better? … What about this angle? Would you feel better? … What about this angle?”

Halfway through, Qiao Anhao gave up. She rolled her eyes in exasperation and begun ignoring his questions. When he sensed her annoyance, he stopped fiddling with the control. “Qiao Qiao, are you sure you feel okay with the current position?”

“Lu Jinnian…” Even someone with the mildest temper would blow up at him right now, but just after she said his name in agitation, he released her safety belt to continue adjusting her seat. “No, the seatbelt will crush your belly in this position, it can’t be good for the baby. ”

Qiao Anhao tilted her head to the side and took a calming breath to suppress the flame rising within her. She struggled to keep a smile on her face as she glanced at him. “The doctor said that the baby has not formed yet, it’s still the size of a bean so my seating position will not affect it. ”

“Which doctor said that? He must be a quack, how can my child be a bean?” Lu Jinnian retorted as he continued to fiddle with the seat. He would pull the seatbelt to test the length, then keep finding that it was never right. Turning to his assistant who was carrying Qiao Anhao’s bag, he instructed, “You can drive, I’ll sit behind with Qiao Qiao.”

“Yes, Mr. Lu.” His assistant hurriedly open the back door, and Lu Jinnian placed Qiao Anhao into the seat cautiously to make sure she was comfortable and secure, then scooted in beside her.

The backseat could not be adjusted like the front, so Lu Jinnian was afraid that she would not be able to rest so he placed a pillow behind her. “Qiao Qiao, how does that feel? Is it more comfortable?”

He then replaced the pillow with a bigger one. “Is this one better? Or is the previous one better?

“What about if you use two of them together?”

He was at it again… Even though it was care and concern, too much was infuriating!

Qiao Anhao decided to stop replying to him and grabbed the two pillows and tossed them at him. Without even looking at him, she turned to his assistant.

“Mian Xiu Garden!”

===============================================

Chapter 793: The Love Letter from the Past?4?

Lu Jinnian remained unperturbed by Qiao Anhao’s annoyance. Reaching out, he grabbed onto her palm with one hand and used the other to shield her belly in the event that she fell forward when the car jerked. Throughout the entire car ride, he nagged at his assistant relentlessly.

“Slow down, lower the speed! Why are you going so fast? There’s a pregnant woman in the car, slow down! Stop the car, it’s the stop sign! Slower!”

Initially, Qiao Anhao would complain that even walking was faster than the car but she gave up when Lu Jinnian lifted his hands to caress her back, emphasizing the importance of safety. His assistant obliged his commands, reducing the speed of the car. In the end, Qiao Anhao closed her eyes, shutting him out. Just like that, the car drove at 20km/hr all the way back to Mian Xiu Garden.

Once the car reached home, Qiao Anhao pushed open the door. Lu Jinnian hurriedly shut it, holding her in place. After making sure that his assistant had extinguished the engine, he went over to her side of the car to help her out.

Qiao Anhao pushed him aside, taking large strides towards the house.

Lu Jinnian grabbed her bag from his assistant before running after her. No more than two steps later, he remembered his assistant’s betrayal. He stopped abruptly and turned around. “Shen Mingzhe, I’ll get back to you again.”

Turning back , he ran towards Qiao Anhao. “Qiao Qiao, let’s take our time. We should be careful not to fall.”

She stopped, shifting to face him, and gazed at him solemnly. “Lu Jinnian, it’s only one month, there’s no need to be so worked up.”

“Mmh Mmh.” Lu Jinnian nodded in agreement before reminding once more, “Qiao Qiao, be careful, there’s a step ahead…”

Qiao Anhao took in a deep breath, giving up.

Once they entered, Lu Jinnian hurriedly bent down to place a pair of slippers in front of her before kneeling to help her change her shoes out.

In the bedroom, Qiao Anhao switched on the television out of habit. She grabbed onto a pillow, huddling in a corner of the sofa watching the rerun of the finale just now.

Lu Jinnian continued to buzz around her, bringing her water and cutting her fruits. When he was done, he settled down beside her with his laptop, choosing pregnancy books. Occasionally, he would turn around to ask for her opinion.

But it was clear that he disregarded her opinions since all the books she rejected still ended up in the cart.

After making payment, Lu Jinnian placed his laptop away. He sat back down beside her and started to feed her from the bowl of fruits. “Qiao Qiao, am I really going to be a father?”

It was the eighth time that he had asked her this exact question and just like the previous seven times, Qiao Anhao patiently nodded her head. “Mmh.”

Lu Jinnian first placed an apple in her mouth, and when she was done, he placed a grape with its skin removed. “Qiao Qiao, it’s already a month old, right?”

===============================================

Chapter 794: The Love Letter from the Past?5?

Qiao Anhao didn’t even bother to make a sound, she nodded her head biting onto the grape as she stared at the television.

Lu Jinnian used a toothpick to grab a melon. “Qiao Qiao, how did I become a father?”

Qiao Anhao reached up to massage her aching temples.

He hurriedly placed the toothpick down and raised his hands to help her massage her temples. “Qiao Qiao, are you not feeling well? Do you need to see a doctor? You should know that you’re no longer one person…”

She yanked his hands away violently. “Lu Jinnian, ever since you found out about my pregnancy, you haven’t stopped mentioning it!”

She glared at him angrily before leaving to the bathroom.

Lu Jinnian stood up anxiously. “Qiao Qiao…”

“Stop talking to me!” Qiao Anhao turned to cut him off. Lifting her arm, she pointed at him, infuriated. “Lu Jinnian, if you continue to show the baby so much concern and neglect me, I’ll tell him that the night after he was made you got me contraceptives. You tried to kill him!”

Lu Jinnian’s mouth fell open, and he started to do the calculations… It was really that night in America… At that instant, his soul left him, he turned around wanting to coax her but she had already closed the bathroom door.

–

After taking a shower, Qiao Anhao continued to ignore Lu Jinnian. She climbed under the blankets and shut her eyes.

Lu Jinnian rushed into the bathroom to take a quick shower before climbing into the bed beside her.

Using the faint glow from the night lamp, he glanced over at her and reached out his hand to feel for hers, but the moment he grabbed onto her, she flicked him away violently. Reaching over once more, he tightened his grip on her hands.

He lightly massaged her slender hands. “Qiao Qiao, I was just overjoyed… Don’t be angry.”

Qiao Anhao wasn’t really angry. She knew that he would be ecstatic after finding out about her pregnancy, however, she never expected that his joy would be centered around the child the entire time, neglecting her. She started to feel a hint of jealousy but was fine after her shower.

But just as every woman would with the man she loved, she started to act coy. Even though she really wanted to forgive him, she still waited for him to give in before begrudgingly letting him go. Inside, she was overjoyed, but she remained impassive on the outside, murmuring, “Mmh.”

Lu Jinnian leaned over slightly. When she didn’t move away from his closeness, he reached out to pull her into his embrace, promising her seriously as though making an oath, “Qiao Qiao, I will be a good father, but before that, I will be a good husband.”

Was he trying to hint that even after the baby is born, she would still be his priority?

Qiao Anhao wriggled closer towards him. “I know that you’re worried because of the first baby, I was wrong in getting mad.”

===============================================

Chapter 795: The Love Letter from the Past?6?

Lu Jinnian tightened his arms around Qiao Anhao. After a very long time, he lowered his head towards her ear and spoke in a low, magnetic tone. “Qiao Qiao, thank you. I’ll use my entire life to treat you well.”

Thank you for loving me.

Thank you for being my wife.

Thank you for bearing my child.

No amount of words is able to express my gratitude, I will use the rest of my life to pamper you.

For the rest of my life.

Such an extravagant proclamation but when it came from Lu Jinnian, Qiao Anhao could trust it.

She circled her arms around his waist.

The night surrounded them as they embraced in silence.

After a seemingly long time, Lu Jinnian broke the serenity. “Qiao Qiao, you mustn’t tell our baby that I once wanted to make you eat contraceptives…”

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt her glare and quickly diverted the topic. “Qiao Qiao, your performance today was amazing.”

Qiao Anhao never knew that the lofty Lu Jinnian would have such a side. A suppressed chuckle escaped her lips as she recalled the scandal that had erupted before the finale. Curiously, she asked, “Lu Jinnian, did you really invest in that Hollywood movie.”

“Yea, Lucy’s husband is one of the directors. We pushed it together through the initial stages.” Lu Jinnian elaborated before adding, “It was the main reason I went to America.”

Qiao Anhao remembered the email he had written to his assistant before leaving, he had instructed him to help her become the screen queen. “Lu Jinnian, did you tamper with the results? There was after all a scandal in the midst of the competition.”

“I didn’t,” Lu Jinnian assured. He then added warmly, “I promise you that all your results are because of your own performances.”

He paused for a while before confessing, “Qiao Qiao, I had wanted to give you a hand but only for the finale. I fully believed that with your abilities, you could easily go pass the preliminary rounds, but I never expected you to do so well in the finale. Your performance won over all the judges and left the audience in awe.”

It was the first time Lu Jinnian had praised her so sincerely, and she could feel herself flush red. She buried her face into his embrace. Without shame, she proclaimed “Lu Jinnian, I’m so amazing!”

–

When Cheng Yang woke up at 1am, he realized that Qiao Anxia was awake. She had on her earphones and had her back towards him as she stared at her phone.

The screen was bright, the rays spilling onto her white skin, making it appear brighter than usual.

“Xia Xia,” Cheng Yang called out but since she had on her earphones, she didn’t hear him. He sat up and turned towards her.

Cheng Yang had excellent vision, so even though he was a distance away from her screen, he could clearly see that she was watching Lu Jinnian’s interview from the afternoon before.

His face fell, turning cold.

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Chapter 796: The Love Letter from the Past?7?

Chen Yang’s face fell, turning cold.

Today was the finale for the Hollywood movie’s female lead competition, and Lu Jinnian had ran onto the stage in agitation after Qiao Anhao said she was pregnant. Qiao Anxia was smiling happily then, and she even exclaimed, “Qiao Qiao is pregnant, I’m going to be an aunt.”

But her face fell slightly afterwards as she stared straight at the screen. He tried to call her several times but she was clearly in a daze. In the end, he left the apartment and walked off his frustration before returning.

There were some things that he had already witnessed and was well aware of but because of his love for her, he could only act ignorant as though he didn’t know anything.

But he could only endure it for that many times, he could no longer keep track of the number of times she was kept awake by the knowledge of Qiao Anhao and Lu Jinnian’s marriage.

Qiao Anxia watched the video until the end. She covered her mouth, unable to keep her tears from flowing.

Cheng Yang sat at the side, watching her every move.

After a long while, Qiao Anxia finally calmed down. She placed the phone on the pillow, removed her earphones, and was prepared to leave the bed. Just then, she caught sight of a figure. Startled, she trembled slightly before turning to get a closer look. When she saw that it was Cheng Yang, she froze slightly, forcing a smile. “Cheng Yang, why are you awake?”

He continued to stare at her in silence.

This was the first time ever since they got together that he looked at her in such a way. Worry and fear slowly crept into her heart, and her gaze darted around nervously, avoiding his eyes. She reached forward to grab onto his arms. The moment he felt her sharp nails, he yanked her away violently. Tossing the blanket aside, he quickly put on his clothes and headed out.

Qiao Anxia hurriedly followed behind. She reached out and grabbed onto his elbow once more. “Cheng Yang, are you angry?”

“What do you think?” He had wanted to control his temper but the suppressed fury within him finally erupted. “Qiao Anxia, I had enough, if you can’t let go of him, let’s break up.”

Break up? Qiao Anxia’s eyes went wide from shock.

Even Cheng Yang himself was surprised by what he said. He only processed the meaning after the words left him. He lowered his eyes and his mouth moved sightly—he wanted to apologize—but in the end, nothing came out. He pulled his arm from her hands and turned to leave.

Qiao Anxia only snapped back to her senses when she heard the slam of the door. Blinking, she raised her hand to caress her heart. Gradually, she started to process what had happened, and she actually felt terrified and worried from Cheng Yang’s words.

In the past, whenever her boyfriend initiated a breakup, it didn’t affect her, but now, it was different….

What was wrong with her?

===============================================

Chapter 797: The Love Letter from the Past?8?

The next day was Huan Ying Entertainment’s annual general meeting.

Even though the meeting was at ten in the morning, Lu Jinnian woke up at seven. The first thing he did was head to the kitchen to make a pot of porridge.

The assistant arrived at his house at 8.30 am to ensure that Lu Jinnian would be on time for the meeting.

When he reached, Lu Jinnian was still upstairs serving Qiao Anhao. He waited for about fifteen minutes before seeing him helping her down the staircase as though she was an empress dowager.

Just when the assistant thought that he was ready, Lu Jinnian followed Qiao Anhao over to the dinning area. He fully disregarded the time as he watched her finish a bowl of porridge, a cup of milk, and an egg before heading upstairs to change into a suit.

While he was wearing his pants, Qiao Anhao took his jacket to the living room for a quick iron. She then stuffed the love letter she had hid under the bed into his pocket along with his wallet. Holding onto the jacket, she headed back to the changing room.

Lu Jinnian wore the jacket elegantly. As he buttoned it, he said, “I’ll be eating lunch with the board members so I won’t be back. I’ll get someone to deliver food for you.”

Qiao Anhao smiled lightly as she nodded. She then placed his tie around his neck and fastened it for him before patting his chest. “I placed your wallet here.”

“Mmh.” Lu Jinnian lowered his head to plant a kiss on her cheek. As he headed out, he added, “It’s best if you stay home now that you’re pregnant but if you want to go out, I’ll go with you after I’m done.”

“Okay,” Qiao Anhao agreed following him down to the entrance.

Once they were at the door, the assistant anxiously rushed them. “Mr. Lu, it’s about forty minutes before from the meeting!”

Lu Jinnian nodded. As he put on his shoes, he continuously nagged on. “Oh, there are fruits in the fridge, I’ve already washed them. You can just take them out if you want to eat some.”

“Mmh.” Qiao Anhao smiled happily.

Lu Jinnian lowered his head to kiss her once more before entering the car.

She stood by the door, waving him goodbye.

Before the car left, Lu Jinnian lowered the window. “Remember to call me if you don’t feel well, understand?”

–

The first half of the meeting ended at twelve o’clock.

The lunch gathering after was held at Beijing hotel. Halfway through it, Lu Jinnian excused himself to check on Qiao Anhao, and only after he made sure that everything was okay on her side did he return back to the lunch.

After his meal, he prepared to pay for the bill.

He glanced over at a waiter, signaling for the bill. Reaching for his pocket, he fished out his wallet and passed his card over.

When he was stuffing his wallet back, he felt something hard in his pocket.

He frowned and took the wallet out. He then reached back in to feel the inside of his pocket and found a blue letter.

===============================================

Chapter 798: The Love Letter from the Past?9?

Lu Jinnian frowned and took the wallet out. He then reached back in to feel the inside of his pocket and found a blue letter.

The letter was slightly worn and there were creases at the side. In the middle, there was a faded pink heart.

It seemed like the kind of thing that school girls would play with… Did Qiao Anhao put it in his pocket?

Lu Jinnian hesitated slightly, but before he could open the letter, his assistant leaned over with curiosity. “Mr. Lu, what is it? Doesn’t it look like a love letter?”

The moment Lu Jinnian laid eyes on the letter, he sort of guessed that it was a love letter… Back when he was still in school, he would often find such letters in his drawer but since there was already someone in his heart, they never interested him. He would toss them all out, unopened.

But before he read the contents, he couldn’t be sure that this was a love letter as well. A faint red glow stained his cheeks, and he quickly stuffed it back into his pocket with his wallet before replying faintly, “Let’s go back to the office.”

The entire car ride back, Lu Jinnian’s mind was filled with the letter.

Was that why Qiao Qiao ironed his jacket for him? What was it that she couldn’t just tell him face to face?

The second half of the meeting was at 3 pm, and when they arrived at the company, it was already two thirty. Lu Jinnian locked the door after entering his office, then settled down behind his desk and pulled the letter out. A hard to explain emotion started to creep in, and he was actually feeling anxious. It was the same feeling as when they had a close encounter for the first time.

Lu Jinnian stared at the letter for a long while. He took in a deep breath before nervously opening the envelope. Inside was a pink letter folded into a heart shape.

Lu Jinnian’s heart sped up; heart-shaped letters like this one were a trend when he was younger. As a solemn child, it was hard for him to get someone to teach him things so he would secretly stare at the girls in his class when they were folding such letters. At that time, he had indeed to learn how to fold it, but his stare caused one of the girls in his class to misunderstand. One day after class she had stopped to ask him for a movie date.

Lu Jinnian trembled as he opened up the heart then used his palms to flatten the paper. His palms was soaked with sweat, and he swallowed his saliva before lowering his head to look at what was written inside.

The handwriting looked young, it was similar to Qiao Anhao’s current handwriting but was a little childish, just like it was back in high school.

The letter started of with Lu Jinnian and a comma beside it.

Lu Jinnian,

This letter may seem very sudden but I hope you won’t feel disturbed.

There was a cheeky smile beside the word ‘disturbed’ which brought a faint smile to his lips.

===============================================

Chapter 799: The Love Letter from the Past?10?

Lu Jinnian,

This letter may seem very sudden but I hope you won’t feel disturbed.

There was a cheeky smile beside the word ‘disturbed’ which brought a faint smile to his lips.

There’s a saying whereby everyone is on earth to await their other half, I believe that mine has appeared and that’s you.

Lu Jinnian’s expression turned glazed. This sentence seemed very familiar, it wasn’t the first time he’d heard it, but he wasn’t sure where it was from.

He frowned and continued to read the letter.

I don’t have big dreams, I just wish for us to be together.

I’m also not that good with words, but I wish to let you know that in the next fifty years I will still love you as much as I do right now.

I believe that in this life, there won’t be anyone else I can love as much as I love you.

Lu Jinnian stared at the letter, clearly startled.

He had definitely heard these words before.

You might not know this but since the day I met you, everything I did was to be near you.

I have many dreams but all of them are about you. I have many desires and they all are to be with you. I have made many wishes and all of them are for you to love me.

Lu Jinnian finally remembered where he had heard these lines. They were similar to the ones in the voice recording that Qiao Anxia had once given to him.

What happened?

How did her confession to Xu Jiamu become a letter for him?

To this world, you might be just an ordinary human, but to me you are my entire world.

For the rest of my life, I will only love you.

At the bottom of the letter were two lines in light blue fluorescence ink: Rainy days aren’t the most beautiful / It’s the house we hid to shelter from the rain that is…

Qiao Anhao

At the back of the letter was a date from five years ago.

This meant that this letter was written to him by Qiao Anhao five years ago?

At that time, he was filming in Hangzhou while she attended university in Beijing and they were both about to graduate… Even though the date it was written wasn’t familiar, the date ten days before was deeply engraved in his heart.

That day, she had gone over to Hangzhou by herself and had even lost her wallet. When she called him, he was still in Hengdian filming. Enduring the heavy downpour, he had rushed over to get her… That day was the first time they had shared a room together… That night, he had even secretly kissed her. He even made an oath to be responsible for that kiss… That was also the night he made the decision to confess to her after filming the current drama as his career was starting to take off…

She had written this letter ten days after that night….

His eyes darted over to the words on the letter, a gleam lighting in up his eyes as he brought the letter closer to him.

He remembered that when Qiao Anxia had given him the voice recorder, Qiao Anhao had said “For the rest of my life, I will love you the most.”

Xu Jiamu then had replied with “For the rest of my life, I will only love you.”

Why would she write the words he had told her?

What went wrong?