In the end, I wasn’t able to find out more because Beiming Xue refused to speak after that. My excessive concern drew Murong Mingyue’s attention, however.

“Lu Chen, can you come over for a moment? There’s something I need to talk to you about.”

Murong Mingyue pulled me by the sleeves and dragged me to a nearby bar regardless of my protests. Once we sat down at a corner, she shot me a question. “Did you notice something isn’t quite right with Beiming Xue as of late?”

“Mn!”

I nodded strongly. “What’s wrong with her?”

Murong Mingyue cupped her wine glass before explaining, “I saw her vomiting inside her room this morning, but nothing seems to be coming out of her mouth. Besides that, she’s been getting up later and later recently. Do you know what that means?”

I shuddered. “Is she hitting her second puberty?”

“Oh, you!”

Murong Mingyue punched me lightly before saying very seriously, “You probably don’t get it, but I do. If I’m not mistaken, then Beiming Xue is probably… pregnant!”

“Ah?!”

My mouth fell right open. “How is that possible? I asked her about her relationships when she first came to Suzhou. How can she get pregnant when she didn’t even have a boyfriend?”

Murong Mingyue smiled at me. “You fool. Do you think you can guess a girl’s thoughts completely during your first meeting? Maybe she had a failed relationship in the past. Maybe it was the main reason she decided to come to Suzhou, to begin her life anew. But she didn’t realize her previous relationship had resulted in her getting pregnant, and since this is probably her first time she didn’t dare to talk to anyone about this at all…”

I stared intently at her for a moment. “I see… say, sis. Is it just me, or does it sound like you’ve experienced this yourself?”

Murong Mingyue got angry. “You brat! Of course not, I just met a lot of young girls in the company who had had the same experience. Hmph! I’m… I’m still a virgin, okay…”

“Holy shit, I cannot believe you just said that!”

Murong Mingyue puffed up her chest fearlessly. “Why wouldn’t I? It’s the truth, isn’t it? I’m never afraid to telling the truth!”

I took a seat in dejection. “Anyway, back to Beiming Xue. What on earth should we do about her? Even if I understand her circumstances now, I’m still a guy. It’s not right for me to ask her about this directly…”

Murong Mingyue thought for a moment before smiling. “Should I find an opportunity to speak to her about it? Indirectly, of course.”

“Mn!”

……

Suddenly, we heard a noisy commotion from outside. It seemed to be an argument of sorts.

“What’s going on? Let’s head out and take a look!” Murong Mingyue rose to her feet.

I was already on the move and striding toward the lounge. I immediately saw Beiming Xue and a young man with dyed red hair standing next to the pool. The guy looked incredibly rowdy, and for some reason I felt like I had seen him somewhere. A few seconds later, I abruptly realized that he was that “One True Love” we took out this morning! I could never forget someone with eyes as disgusting as his!

Beiming Xue looked like she was about to collapse on the spot. Delicate shoulders trembling and tears streaking down her cheeks, she pointed a finger at the young man and cried out, “Get lost! Get lost!”

One True Love frowned at her. “Ah Xue, won’t you come back with me? You can’t be happy to be a stranger in a strange place…”

Beiming Xue bit her lips and suddenly cried loudly. “How dare you say that to me with a straight face! Why didn’t you think of me when you were sleeping with another woman? Why didn’t you think about my feelings when you manipulated Zhang Qing and made her lie to my face?”

While saying this, Beiming Xue leaned against a wall and sobbed. “You don’t know how to love someone at all. It’s all just a tally to you. Go away, I don’t have feelings for you anymore…”

“Ah Xue, how can you criticize me like that?”

……

Gui Guzi and Du Thirteen were around too, but they didn’t get involved with the argument. After all, this was Beiming Xue’s private business, and it wasn’t their right to interfere thoughtlessly.

But I wasn’t able to hold myself back. I pushed aside the forming crowd and walked up to Beiming Xue. “Beiming, what’s going on?”

“Boss…”

Beiming Xue looked at me sadly and helplessly. Beiming Xue was both angry and terrified of One True Love, and the moment she saw me she jumped straight into my lap and cried like a broken dam.

One True Love’s eyes instantly turned hateful. He stared at me and asked coldly, “You’re the one who swindled her to Suzhou, weren’t you? What is your goal, you goddamned scum?”

I looked at him but didn’t say anything.

But One True Love took my silence as a gesture of submission and jabbed his finger at us, sneering, “I knew it. You’ve already slept with him, haven’t you?”

Beiming Xue’s eyes turned furious. “Get lost!”

I sucked in a deep breath and gently pushed Beiming Xue to Murong Mingyue. Then, I spun around and punched the motherfucker right on the cheek!

Bang!

The punch was about as solid as it could be. You could almost hear his jaw dislocating from his bones.

One True Love collapsed like a rock, but he struggled to his feet and jabbed his finger at me again. He shouted incoherently, “Fuck… your mother, how dare you fool around with my woman! Just you wait, I’ll… make you pay for what you’ve done!”

Without a word, I grabbed his collar with my left hand and punched his stomach with my right!

Pu!

His face turned purple as the air exited his lungs. His expression became even more distorted and sinister-looking than before.

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that he was a real hooligan in real life. Sigh, god knows how Beiming Xue even fell for him in the first place.

Three punches later, the man could do nothing but pant heavily on the floor. His face was covered in blood, and one of his front teeth had dropped to the corridor. He could no longer even speak without sounding like a leaking bagpipe.

Gui Guzi chose this moment to walk up to One True Love and kick him again and again in the body. One True Love was lucky that Gui Guzi was wearing a pair of sports shoes, not leather shoes. He actually could’ve died from the sheer force behind the kick if it was the latter.

I stared at the gasping One True Love before saying coldly, “Enough, Little Gui.”

“Mn.”

Still angry, Gui Guzi kicked One True Love one last time before finally backing off.

I sneaked a glance at Beiming Xue and noticed that she had calmed down slightly. Clearly, she meant it when she said that she no longer had any feelings for One True Love. There was no way she could watch us beat the living shit out of him without reacting otherwise.

It was at this moment Du Thirteen asked me, “What should we do now?”

I replied, “Call 120 and send him to the hospital. I’ll talk to the police and pay the fine if they come asking for questions.”

“Okay!”

One True Love wasn’t alone, but his goons quickly realized we outnumbered them by a lot. Worried about their own wellbeing, they hurriedly picked up One True Love and rushed out of the building without even demanding the medical fee.

Murong Mingyue frowned at their departing backs before letting out a quiet sigh. “Ai…”

……

I supported Beiming Xue all the way to her room and tried to put her on the bed. However, she kept clinging to me and cried so much that it felt like my whole shirt was drenched with her tears.

Patting Beiming Xue’s back lightly, I whispered, “Don’t be sad anymore, Beiming. Everyone is destined to make a lot of choices in their life, and yes, you made a mistake that one time. But it’s not a mistake worth being sad about. You’ll use it as a learning experience and be wiser in the future, right?”

“Mn…”

Beiming Xue agreed, but she still couldn’t stop crying.

I caressed her hair before asking her the question. “Beiming, tell me. Are you pregnant?”

Beiming Xue looked up and stared at me in panic.

I gave her a reassuring smile before wiping the tears on her cheeks. “Let’s go to the hospital tomorrow and get an abortion. Only then, you’ll truly be able to start afresh.”

Beiming Xue nodded through her tears. “Boss, why did I run into him first before I run into you? Why couldn’t I have met you earlier? Maybe I wouldn’t have made such a foolish mistake otherwise…”

I laughed. “That’s because I was a pretty bad person myself at the time! Everyone has to go through a period of growth before they become mature, right?”

“But you…” Beiming Xue stared at me timidly. “You are just so much better than him. Even a hair on your body is a million times better than that bastard. What was I thinking? I can’t believe I was stupid enough to fall for that kind of person…”

I laughed again. “Foolish girl, that kind of ideal person you’re imagining literally doesn’t exist in this world. Now, pick yourself up and get some rest. Tomorrow, I’ll accompany you to the hospital. After that, let’s come back and greet everyone with a whole new Beiming Xue, okay? In my memory, Lil Beiming is a confident and sunny girl whose shine can’t be diminished by anything!”

Beiming Xue watched me and tried to give me a smile. However, the smile eventually gave way to her sobbings, and tears spilled out of her tear ducts again.

Meanwhile, Murong Mingyue was standing next to a window and staring outside. She let out a sigh. No one except herself knew what she was thinking.

……

When nighttime arrived, and He Yi heard about this after returning from a meeting, she immediately came to me.

“Lu Chen, come over for a minute!”

“Huh?”

“Now!”

“Oh, okay!”

I wasn’t in the mood to log into the game anyway, so I followed He Yi out of my room until we reached a dark corridor. He Yi’s beautiful face was slightly blurry because of how dim the lighting was. She stared at me and asked seriously, “I heard that Beiming Xue is pregnant. Is that true?”

“Mn.”

“I also heard that the baby is yours. Is that true?”

“WTF? Who said that?!” I almost shouted.

He Yi let out a snort before putting a hand on my shoulder. “Relax, I won’t mind even if it’s true. We’re all young people, and who hasn’t made a mistake in their life? Still, I gotta ask: are you keeping the baby or not?”

I felt a sudden urge to kill myself as she watched me with her head tilted. I uttered through gritted teeth. “I already told you that the baby isn’t mine. Did sis spout nonsense into your ears again?”

“Huh, it really isn’t yours?”

“Of course it isn’t! It hasn’t even been a month since we knew each other, not to mention that I’ve always thought of her as a younger sister, not a love interest! Do you really think that poorly of me?”

He Yi smiled at my vehement denial and nodded. “Fine, I’ll trust you for now. What are you planning to do?”

I thought for a moment before answering, “I’ll accompany Beiming Xue to the hospital tomorrow and get her an abortion. She cannot have this child no matter what, do you agree?”

“Yeah,” He Yi said with a distant look. “Beiming Xue is still so young. Her entire life would be ruined if she had a child now. Speaking of which, how are you planning to introduce yourself when you take her to the hospital?”

“Her older brother, I guess?”

“What a good older brother you are…”

“Oh come on, it’s not what you think!”

“It so is!”

“It’s not…”

“It is!”

I let out a sorrowful sigh. If only a man’s responsibility was just earning enough money to buy a house...

……

The next day, I woke up much earlier than usual and ate breakfast. When it was past 9 am in the morning, I borrowed Murong Mingyue’s car and drove Beiming Xue to the municipal hospital.

The nurse at the register was quite pretty, and she asked me a question, probably because I was pretty handsome myself, “Which department are you registering for, handsome? Urology or gastroenterology?”

I felt my face twitching for a second. “Gynecology, please!”