Inside the room, Ye Zhen sat down on the couch after taking a shower. She was curious about the red packet that Old Master Lu had given her. She tried to guess what was inside the red packet by its weight, but it was too light and impossible to tell. After unsealing the red packet, she turned it upside down so the contents would spill out.

A thin cypress leaf fell into Ye Zhen's palm. Other than this item, there was nothing else in the red packet.

"What is this?"

Lu Beichuan came out of the bathroom and wrapped his arm around her waist. He picked her up and brought her to the bed, then pulled up the blanket to cover her. "A cypress leaf represents hope for everlasting marital happiness. He hopes that we'll have children. For grandpa to give you this, it means he acknowledges you as his granddaughter-in-law."

A single cypress leaf had that much meaning?

"Really?"

"Of course. Grandpa has already transferred 10% of his remaining shares in the Lu's company to your name. Doesn't that show he acknowledges you?"

"10%?" Ye Zhen repeated in astonishment.

The Lu's company was the result of Old Master Lu's hard work. He had exchanged the best years of his life to make this company successful. But now, he was generously giving her 10% of his remaining shares?

She had become a billionaire overnight?

Overwhelmed, she stammered out, "This... This is too much..."

"This is something that's given too all of Lu's daughter-in-laws. When my mom was married into the Lu family, grandpa gave her 10% too." Although, his mother had already transferred her share of the stocks to him.

Having received a small fortune and becoming rich overnight, Ye Zhen felt uncertain. It felt as if she was dreaming.

No wonder there were always people scheming to marry into rich families. There were wealthy families that could let you ascend to the top in one step.

Lu Beichuan carresed Ye Zhen's belly. "Today must have been tiring for you. You should go to sleep early."

Lu Beichuan's body felt very warm. Just like she had in the past, Ye Zhen put her cold hands and feet around Lu Beichuan to leach warmth. Lu Beichuan didn't say anything. Instead, he placed his hand across the back of Ye Zhen's neck and had her rest her head on his shoulder, so he could hold her in his arms.

So warm! Ye Zhen comfortably thought.

It was a bit hard for Ye Zhen to accept how considerate he was being. After all, Lu Beichuan was an evil scum in the novel. He was the type of person that people were itching to bite in anger.

Thinking of Lu Beichuan's ending in the novel, she sighed.

However, when she carefully thought about it, the reason that Lu Beichuan had done all those bad things...

Ye Zhen's expression froze. She placed her hand over her belly.

If she wasn't remembering incorrectly, it was because this unborn brat would whisper wicked schemes to his father! This brat was bad to the bone. He never used his intelligence for anything good. Instead, he constantly planted evil ideas in his father's mind. This child would bring his father and mother to ruin.

"What's wrong?" Lu Beichuan saw that she was clutching her lower abdomen, and he couldn't help feeling worried. He hastily asked, "Are you feeling unwell?"

William had told him that the first few months was the most delicate period. If there was anything wrong, he had to bring Ye Zhen to the hospital for an examination.

Ye Zhen shook her head. "I'm okay. I'm just thinking that it's easy to have a baby, but it's difficult to raise one. A child's development is deeply influenced by its parents. I'm worried that I won't be able to raise this child to be a good person."

Thinking of this, Ye Zhen sternly said to Lu Beichuan, "After the child is born, I'll teach him right and wrong. You can't spoil the child or disagree with my parenting. If he's not obedient, then he has to be spanked! As his dad, you can't be soft-hearted and feel bad for him!"

Lu Beichuan had recently learned a lot about pregnancy symptoms. Looking at Ye Zhen's solemn expression, he guessed that this was a mood swing because of her pregnancy.

"Okay, I promise you. If he's disobedient, I'll spank him."

Hearing Lu Beichuan's pledge, Ye Zhen finally felt less worried.

She couldn't be blamed for being so cautious. Although taking precautions this far might be worrying for nothing, it was never a bad idea to plan ahead.

Having read the results of Lu Beichuan teaching the child what's right and wrong in the novel, she didn't trust in his parenting skills. After all, there would be no recourse if their son grew up to be a villain because Lu Beichuan was too indulgent as a father.

But, when she thought about it again, this unborn child hadn't even taken shape yet. How a child would turn out was determined by how his parents raised him. It wasn't fair of her to think that this unborn baby would definitely turn out to be a wicked villain.

"Never mind, we can talk about it after the baby is born. And... you're not allowed to hit him! It doesn't matter what he's done wrong, you have to use words to explain why he's wrong. Spoiling a child or being too strict with him are both extremes. They're both bad parenting styles!"

William had already given him examples of how pregnant women would be unreasonable. If you want to keep a pregnant woman happy, you had to go along with her current mood. Besides, this wasn't a big thing to promise her. Lu Beichuan smiled. "Okay, whatever you say goes. I'll listen to you about everything."

Ye Zhen nodded in satisfaction. "We won't be able to hide my pregnancy for long. When do you plan on telling mom about it?"

This was truly a difficult problem.

If they told the truth that Ye Zhen was one-month pregnant, she would gain the reputation of someone that had cheated on her husband. After all, one month ago, Lu Beichuan was suppose to be in a coma.

However, if they kept quiet about her pregnancy, sooner or later, they wouldn't be able to hide the secret from Mother Lu. As a woman that had experienced pregnancy before, Mother Lu would definitely notice when Ye Zhen's pregnancy symptoms got worse.

Lu Beichuan hugged. "It's okay. Leave this to me. Don't worry about anything while you're pregnant. I'll take care of everything."

It was strange. This matter had been weighing heavily in Ye Zhen's heart and left her feeling so uneasy, but once Lu Beichuan said those words, it felt as if the burden was removed, and her body could relax.

"It's late. Let's go to sleep."

Ye Zhen's nerves had been stretched taut all day. From morning to night, she hadn't had time to rest. Now that her head was touching a pillow, she really did feel a bit sleepy. She could feel Lu Beichuan stroking her head, and sleepiness poured over her like a tidal wave. She shifted a little bit on Lu Beichuan's chest to find a comfortable angle and quickly fell asleep.

Lu Beichuan, who had been busy all day, also felt a bit exhausted. He felt a faint ache in his legs.

He thought about what would have happened if her flight at noon hadn't been delayed because of the heavy snow. The person that was in his arms right now, he would have no idea where she would have flown off too. It wouldn't be easy to look for a person in distant countries. Even worse than that, he didn't want to imagine how difficult it would be for a pregnant woman to survive by herself in a foreign country.

The fear that came from losing someone precious and regaining her made him hug Ye Zhen tighter. He carefully caressed Ye Zhen's flat belly that wasn't protruding yet. He gently and softly kissed her forehead and smiled.

But fortunately, everything had been sorted out. It was all worth it.

***

Early next morning, Old Master Lu and the old butler left for the Lu's ancestral home. It appeared that he wouldn't be willing to come back anytime soon.

It made sense. No matter how much of a bastard Lu Shaoren was, he was still Old Master Lu's son. Lu Shaoren was reaping what he had sown and his punishment was deserved, so Old Master Lu couldn't express his anger at Lu Beichuan. He could only use the excuse that he was leaving to enjoy his retirement to rest for a while.

***

At the dining table, Ye Zhen was scooping out seafood congee with a spoon with dimming interest. It was strange. On a normal day, although she didn't particularly like the fishy smell of seafood, it was tolerable. But today, it smelled absolutely revolting.

"What's wrong? No appetite?"

Ye Zhen mustered up a smile. "Maybe it's because I didn't sleep well last night."

Mother Lu immediately understood the meaning. She reproachfully looked at her son. "Beichuan, what's wrong with you? Yesterday was exhausting for Zhenzhen. Why didn't you let her have a good rest last night?"

Right after these words were said, Ye Zhen turned around and retched.

Lu Beichuan moved quickly to stroke Ye Zhen's back. Ye Zhen waved her hand to gesture that she was okay.

Lu Beichuan took away the seafood congee that was in front of Ye Zhen. His expression didn't change as he said, "Mom, Zhenzhen is pregnant. Our meals shouldn't be too oily or strongly flavored in the future."

"She's pregnant?" Mother Lu paused for a moment before happily asking, "She got pregnant so quickly? How many days?"

Ye Zhen: "One month."

Lu Beichuan: "Half a month."

The two of them answered at the same time.

Mother Lu was at a loss. "Is it one month or half a month?"

Ye Zhen: "Half a month!"

Lu Beichuan："One month!"

Mother Lu: "?"