Chapter 28: Are You Pregnant?

On the way back, Bai Shuruo kept staring out the car window, lost in thought.

Her mind was filled with memories of this home: one moment it was her father pretending to take her out to buy stationery, only to secretly buy her KFC fried chicken; the next moment it was her secretly using Auntie Fen's nail polish, and after being discovered, her father buying her a set of nail polish, though she never wore it again...

Having a father made her happy, but happiness was short-lived.

Her nose felt sore, and she sniffled.

Before she knew it, they had arrived home.

Han Yangting helped Bai Shuruo carry the woven bag into the elevator and then hauled it back to her room.

She, meanwhile, silently organized the things inside.

The photos could no longer be stuck on the wall; this was Han Yangting's home, and she didn't know how long she could stay, so she packed them away with everything else into the top layer of the wardrobe.

Han Yangting stood at the doorway watching her for a while, then went out to call Ali.

At this hour, Ali was at the construction site with a group of fellow workers, playing finger-guessing games while eating barbecue and drinking beer. Whoever won got to take a bite of the barbecue.

He was very good at the game and was just getting hooked on the barbecue when, unexpectedly, Han Yangting's call came in.

He immediately cleared his throat and gave a "shush" to his coworkers to make them quiet before answering the phone.

He had assumed it was something important, but it turned out to be asking him to go to the Bai residence to pick up things.

Last night in the middle of the night he went to get Bai Shuhua's homework, and today he had to go get Bai Shuruo's odds and ends again.

These tasks didn't show off his work ability at all.

"Brother Li, why aren't you playing anymore?" a coworker asked him.

Ali said, "Not playing anymore, going to help the boss chase the boss's wife."

As long as he worked hard enough, the boss would not only be able to live a wealthy life but also win the heart of a beauty.

CG, canteen.

Xiang Feifei had gone to a meeting in the morning and hadn't returned by noon, so Bai Shuruo went to the canteen to eat by herself.

She got a chicken leg, a serving of meatballs, a serving of greens, and half a bowl of rice, then found an empty table to sit at.

There were many people in the canteen today, and many colleagues from the department were there, but everyone had their own little circles.

For example, Li Jie, Zhang Jie, and a few other married women would sit together to chat about household matters, and Bai Shuruo usually couldn't get a word in.

The unmarried male colleagues still hovered around Xiang Piaoxue, and He Jian sat with two other team leaders.

It was better for Bai Shuruo to eat by herself and return to the office to work after finishing.

Just as she was eating, someone sat down across from her. Bai Shuruo looked up and was surprised to see Zhang Yuanyuan.

Thinking of Wang Xuekai's warning at the subway that day, Bai Shuruo couldn't help but become vigilant.

After sitting down, Zhang Yuanyuan first smiled: "Why aren't you eating with Xiang Feifei today?"

"She went to a meeting." Bai Shuruo couldn't muster any enthusiasm for Zhang Yuanyuan.

Zhang Yuanyuan must be looking to stir up trouble.

Sure enough, after only two sentences, Zhang Yuanyuan suddenly raised her volume, "What? You're really pregnant?"

Although the canteen was crowded, it wasn't noisy; once Zhang Yuanyuan said this, the people nearby all looked over toward them.

Naturally, their gazes landed on Bai Shuruo.

They had long known that the beautiful new intern in the Design Department was married, but they hadn't expected her to be pregnant!

Getting pregnant right after joining the company—did she not want to work anymore? She hadn't signed a formal contract, so the company could fire her at any time. Although labor laws stipulated that one could not discriminate against pregnant married women, no company was stupid; hiring a pregnant woman meant she would have to take maternity leave after working for a short time.

Several male colleagues looked at Bai Shuruo with clearly disdainful gazes.

Getting pregnant at such a young age—if she wasn't love-struck, she was clinging to a rich man.

Bai Shuruo was stared at by the people around her and was flustered for a few seconds, but fortunately, she had been prepared. She immediately adjusted her emotions and, mimicking Zhang Yuanyuan's loud voice, said: "Oh, are you talking about running into me at the gynecology department yesterday? I'm not pregnant. I just went to the gynecology department for a routine marital check-up yesterday. But what about you? You aren't even married, why were you at the gynecology department too?"

"I went to the gynecology department? I didn't go, did I?" Zhang Yuanyuan said, bewildered.

"Didn't you just say you ran into me at the gynecology department yesterday? Otherwise, how would you know I went? And why would you think I was pregnant?"

At this moment, the crowd's gazes shifted to Zhang Yuanyuan.

That's right, it was normal for a married woman to go to the gynecology department, but why would an unmarried woman like Zhang Yuanyuan go? Didn't she usually seem quite innocent?

Zhang Yuanyuan was so angry she was about to explode. Seeing that everyone around was looking at her, she couldn't lash out, so she had to follow Bai Shuruo's lead: "I... sigh, girls, you know, menstrual cramps. I go every month to get some medicine."

Bai Shuruo asked again: "Menstrual cramps? Then why are you still drinking something iced?"

In front of Zhang Yuanyuan, there was not only her meal, but she had also taken a bottle of iced sparkling water.

"This... it hurt yesterday, it doesn't hurt today. I'm just that kind of person—forgetting the pain once the wound is healed, suffering from my own actions."

"Isn't that just suffering from your own actions?" Bai Shuruo said: "I'm full, you eat slowly."

At the same time, she thought to herself that next time she must be more wary of Zhang Yuanyuan, or sit in a crowded place when eating.

After Bai Shuruo left, Zhang Yuanyuan noticed that people were still looking at her with questioning gazes. She hurriedly shoveled a few bites of rice and left with her sparkling water.

Bai Shuruo, you just wait!

Off work.

Zhang Yuanyuan called her uncle, Zhang Tieling.

"Second Uncle, can you wait for me after work? I have something I want to tell you."

Zhang Tieling was a manager at the company, in charge of several departments, including the Design Department and the Quality Department.

He had three sons and no daughters, so he had always doted on the only niece in the family.

"Has Yuanyuan been wronged at the company?" Zhang Tieling asked.

"Second Uncle, some things are not easy to say inside the company. Let's talk on the way back."

"Alright, then I'll let you know when I'm leaving and give you a ride home."

"Second Uncle is so kind."

……

That night, Zhang Yuanyuan got into Zhang Tieling's car; as soon as she got in, she looked sullen, her eyes red as if she had been crying.

"Who has upset our young lady?" Zhang Tieling asked anxiously.

Zhang Yuanyuan said slowly: "Second Uncle, if I tell you, you will definitely think I am useless for bothering you with such a small matter, but I have truly held a grudge against that classmate for a long time; every time she sees me, she has to slander me, and while I could let it go before, today she actually said my private life is unclean, and in the cafeteria, she openly said I went to see a gynecologist."

After speaking, she shed tears again, saying while crying: "It is not that people who see a gynecologist are unclean, but Bai Shuruo's tone made it sound as if I am a loose person. Second Uncle, you know my character, don't you? Yesterday was the weekend, I was with my mother the whole time, how could I have gone to see any gynecologist?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Tieling could not help but say angrily: "Bai Shuruo? Which department is she in? Isn't she spreading rumors? If such a thing is true, she should be fired from the company!"

A flash of cunning crossed the corner of Zhang Yuanyuan's eyes, but it quickly turned to gloom: "Second Uncle, this Bai Shuruo is an intern in the Design Department, and she is also my boyfriend's ex-girlfriend; she probably thinks I stole her boyfriend, so she has been targeting me, but I only got together with him after they broke up, so there is no such thing as stealing anyone."

"Yuanyuan is so beautiful and so outstanding, how could she possibly steal someone else's boyfriend!" Zhang Tieling said.

"But that is the current situation; Bai Shuruo treats me like an enemy and is confrontational every time she sees me; sometimes I think I should just resign."

"She is in the Design Department, and you are in the Export Department; you should just ignore her."

"But we still see each other, and our work occasionally overlaps. Second Uncle, how about... sigh, if I say this, Second Uncle will surely be in a difficult position."

"What do you want?" Zhang Tieling became sharp.

Zhang Yuanyuan said: "Second Uncle, I don't want her in this company anymore, I don't want to run into her every day."

"I see..." Zhang Tieling was a leader after all; someone who could reach this position was no fool, and he realized Zhang Yuanyuan wanted to use public office for private revenge.

"However, Second Uncle does not have the authority to fire anyone unless that person has made a mistake."

Zhang Yuanyuan continued to shed tears while saying: "Whether she made a mistake or not is just a matter of a word from Second Uncle."

Zhang Tieling was troubled; on one side was the niece he had always doted on, and on the other was an intern with no background—should he abuse his power this one time?