Plan A
Running with the Ball 9
He Qin’s face was still beautiful, and her powerless questioning at this moment was enough to stir a person’s pity.
Her features remained lovely; although she was twenty-six, her face was still full of collagen. She paid great attention to exercise and skincare, possessed a fine temperament, and with a thin layer of mist in her eyes, she still had a look that would make one feel pity upon seeing her1.
Feng Linhan calmed down slightly and took He Qin’s hand to apologize.
“Qinqin, I’m sorry. I was too anxious just now.”
He Qin always knew how to soften Feng Linhan’s heart and make him happy; turning the situation around was a matter of minutes for her.
He Qin didn’t tell Feng Linhan that Jiang Xiao might have already discovered their affair. To He Qin, it was as if they were engaged in a war, a game of wits between women. Before, it had just been her alone, and she could only find happiness by herself—how unfulfilling was that? Now, Jiang Xiao’s actions were undoubtedly a declaration of war against her.
Feng Linhan felt he might have been overly nervous for a moment. That’s right, how could a girl as kind and lovely as He Qin possibly go to the hospital to do something like that? She had already followed him in silence for seven years. If she had wanted to expose him, she could have done so long ago. Why wait until now?
Perhaps she really had just gone to check on Jiang Xiao’s health, with no other intentions.
If Jiang Xiao knew what Feng Linhan was thinking, she would have certainly scoffed. Kind? Would a kind woman with any sense of shame become a little three? Don’t tarnish the word “kind.”
“Why was your reaction so strong this time? I’ve never seen you so nervous before.”
“Jiang Xiao… she… she’s pregnant.”
Feng Linhan found it difficult to say, but he still managed to get the words out haltingly.
The air fell silent for a long time.
He Qin had never expected such a turn of events.
Everything before her eyes seemed to become somewhat blurry, hazy.
Her provocative phone call to Jiang Xiao had been intended to make Jiang Xiao face reality, then argue with Feng Linhan, and finally, get a divorce.
But Jiang Xiao was pregnant.
And Jiang Xiao knew she and Feng Linhan were having an affair.
“Qinqin, Qinqin, what’s wrong?”
Seeing He Qin looking as if she were about to collapse, Feng Linhan quickly supported her.
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I…”
“You want the child, you want Jiang Xiao, and you still want me?”
“Qinqin…”
“Linhan, why don’t you leave first. I’m feeling a little unwell right now. Can you wait until I’ve thought it through to tell you?”
He Qin was extremely upset right now; she needed to sort out her thoughts properly.
Although He Qin was gentle and dependent in front of Feng Linhan, she was by no means weak or without her own mind. When she got angry, Feng Linhan would become incredibly nervous.
“Alright, then I’ll wait for you… Qinqin, you can hit me or scold me, just don’t do anything rash.”
“I know.”
Feng Linhan felt that not only had he failed to improve the situation, but he had made it worse.
What on earth should I do… How can I have the best of both worlds?
Feng Linhan drove home. He also needed to calm down and think things through.
He Qin sat dejectedly on the sofa. She had schemed for so many years and thought she was on the verge of success, but she never expected such a sudden development. It had completely stunned her.
No wonder Jiang Xiao was so confident yesterday. So that was why!
Jiang Xiao must want to drive her away, use the child to make Feng Linhan abandon her, and then live happily ever after as a family of three!
He Qin gritted her teeth. Don’t even think about it!
It was also her own womb that was a disappointment. All these years, Jiang Xiao hadn’t gotten pregnant because she wasn’t willing, but her own failure to conceive was due to her body’s issues.
He Qin had gone to the hospital for check-ups and was always taking medicine and getting injections, but it was too painful and had little effect.
This absurd life could not continue. If she remained hidden from the light any longer, Jiang Xiao would be able to give birth to the child, and then she would have even less of a chance.
What He Qin feared wasn’t being unable to seize an opportunity, but being forced to stand in the shadows forever, watching a happy family of three.
On what grounds!
She had spent her entire youth on this; on what grounds should she end up drawing water with a bamboo basket, only to come up empty-handed2.
He Qin picked up the phone and called her mother.
Back in the day, He Qin’s mother had relied on having a son to successfully kick out the haggard original wife3 and take her place. From a young age, He Qin was taught by her mother that happiness is always in your own hands; don’t just wait pitifully for others to give it to you. That’s impossible. If you like something, you have to snatch it.
He Qin had been taught a great deal by her mother, but she clearly wasn’t as capable as her, otherwise she wouldn’t have failed to make her mark after seven years.
When Feng Linhan and Jiang Xiao got married, He Qin had been scolded by her mother, who said she was too useless for letting him get married.
“Mom, that woman is pregnant…”
“Sometimes I really doubt if you’re my daughter, how can you be so useless? Can’t you just find another man to latch onto? I advised you back when he got married, but you wouldn’t listen. I told you to get pregnant before that original wife did, but I didn’t expect you to still have no news after five years… Really…”
He Qin listened to her mother’s scolding without a word; after all, it was the truth.
“Mom, what should I do now?”
“If she’s pregnant, you get pregnant too. You wait, I’ll go get you some things. I don’t know if they’ll work, but if they don’t, you should try to get what you can out of him and then dump him. You’re only twenty-six, you still have plenty of men to choose from.”
“But Mom, I love him. I won’t give up on him.”
“Then do as you please. That’s all I can do to help you.”
“Thanks, Mom.”
After hanging up, He Qin pounded her stomach. You disappointment, if only you could have gotten pregnant sooner.
He Qin cried her heart out on the bed. Over on his end, Feng Linhan’s state was also extremely poor.
Lunch break.
An Zi4 felt a wave of fear after the homeroom teacher walked past her. She quickly used two books to cover the novel on her desk. It would be trouble if she got caught.
How does the homeroom teacher walk like a ghost, without making a single sound?
An Zi coughed deliberately twice, attracting the attention of a few people and also letting them see Feng Linhan’s figure.
Everyone quickly hid what they were hiding, and many more put on an act of studying.
The good students doing their homework were fearless, continuing to battle the sea of practice problems.
The class group chat for Grade 11, Class 7, became active again.
【Anonymous】Wu Zetian5: Scared me to death! I was just on my phone, and the homeroom teacher was this close to me! This close! Logically, there’s no way he didn’t see me, but he really didn’t. He seemed to be floating, completely out of it.
【Anonymous】Zhuang Zhou6: You can tell something’s up.
【Anonymous】Hua Mulan7: Could it be that his wife found out he was cheating?
【Anonymous】Wu Zetian: Dunno8. He’s still wandering around. I’m out.
When Feng Linhan taught his math class that afternoon, he felt that everyone’s spirits were high. Pairs of eyes, filled with a thirst for knowledge, were fixed on him, which made him very happy. It was enough to make him forget his troubles and immerse himself completely in the ocean of teaching.
What he didn’t know was that the object of his students’ thirst for knowledge wasn’t the mathematical concepts and problems he imagined, but rather his marital status.
Wen Linlang received the photos sent by the private investigator. After looking through every single one, she curled her lip, bored.
“They didn’t get anything explosive. They only captured Feng Linhan going to her place, nothing else.”
On Su Xin’s end, she could see the synchronized video data that Fourteen had sent her, so she could monitor what was happening over there.
Those two were truly disgusting. Had their moral compass9 been eaten by a dog?
“Don’t be anxious. I’m guessing the little three is even more anxious right now. She probably already knows I’m pregnant.”
“She didn’t know before?”
“Yesterday, she just came to see how serious my car accident was. She didn’t know I was pregnant.”
“Then do you want me to stick by your side 24/7? What if that little three has a rush of blood to the head and comes to harm you?”
“TV shows are full of such plotlines—the little three and the original wife arguing in a stairwell, then the wife gets pushed, tumbles down, has a miscarriage, and all that drama.”
The thinking of such a little three was also very easy to understand: if the scumbag husband won’t divorce the original wife because she’s pregnant, then as long as the wife’s baby is gone, won’t things go back to the way they were?
“Have you been watching too many TV shows and novels? I don’t know about others, but He Qin definitely wouldn’t do that.”
“Then she can’t possibly just sit back and wait for her doom, right?”
“Right now, she’s definitely trying everything she can to get pregnant, not to harm me. She’s much smarter than that. She knows that working on me is less effective than working on Feng Linhan.”
What’s the use of the little three kicking out the original wife? Can she guarantee that another little three won’t come along and kick her out? A smart little three always knows how to tie a man down.
Using a man to deal with a woman is far more effective than taking the field herself. As long as the man gets tired of the wife, the little three wins even if she does nothing. If she gets involved herself and makes the scene too ugly, even the scumbag will find her distasteful.
He Qin might not be a top-tier little three, but she was very patient.
Su Xin wasn’t worried about He Qin pulling any tricks. If He Qin got pregnant, she got pregnant; it had nothing to do with her. After all, what she and He Qin wanted were completely different things.
He Qin’s horizons were limited to just that one man, whereas Su Xin couldn’t care less. She had seen a better, broader world and looked down on Feng Linhan—not to mention she didn’t even like men.
Wen Linlang’s phone buzzed a few times. She picked it up and tapped it.
“Big Sis, something’s come up, I have to go first. I’ll come see you again when I’m done.”
“Just a moment ago you were saying you’d stay with me 24/7, and now you’re leaving in the blink of an eye,” Su Xin teased.
“Someone asked me out.”
“Who?”
“My junior high deskmate, the original wife of that scumbag.”
“Then you two have fun.”
“I’m off! I’m on call whenever you need me.”
Su Xin glanced at the weather outside the window. The sky was clear and vast.
In a state between sleep and wakefulness, the pleasant scent of mint made Su Xin open her eyes.
“I looked up some information. This might make you feel more comfortable.”
Bai Jianglan sat by Su Xin’s bed and handed her a small, exquisite sachet.
Su Xin squinted as she raised a hand to take it, but she accidentally grasped Bai Jianglan’s hand.
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