Chapter 217: A Family of Three

Zhu Yuan stood in the bathroom, looking at the pregnancy test with two red lines, feeling somewhat at a loss.

She subconsciously touched her lower abdomen; it was still flat, but a small life was growing inside.

It was the child of her and Sheng Yu.

She stayed in the bathroom for a full ten minutes before remembering she needed to tell Sheng Yu. Looking at her bewildered self in the mirror, she felt both foolish and amused.

People always say pregnancy makes you silly for three years; why was she starting to act silly already?

The corners of her mouth kept lifting, making her heart bloom with joy.

Zhu Yuan walked out of the bathroom. Feiyuan had been waiting for her at the door, wagging its tail for a long time. Soft-hearted, she squatted down to pull it into her arms, affectionately rubbing its dog head. "Feiyuan, you're going to be a big brother... no, wait, you're going to be an uncle!"

She wanted so much to see the expression on Sheng Yu's face when he heard this good news right now.

However, Sheng Yu hadn't returned yet, and she didn't want to tell him this news over the phone; she had to say it face-to-face.

After blow-drying her hair, she leaned against the bed, fiddling with her phone, her mind entirely outside the house, waiting for the sound of a car engine.

Suddenly, a text message came through on her phone.

It was from an unknown number.

—Ning Huaiqing has brought her and Sheng Yu's son back to Jingdu City. Can you still sit still?

Zhu Yuan originally thought it was a spam message and didn't want to pay it any mind, but the moment her gaze landed on the content of the message, her heart tightened inexplicably.

But soon, she concluded that someone was playing a prank.

Ning Huaiqing and Sheng Yu's son?

It was simply absurd.

She deleted the message directly, exited the interface, and clicked on a short video app, wanting to watch some lighthearted videos to clear her head.

Even though she was convinced in her heart that it was someone playing a prank, as she watched the funny videos at this very moment, the content of the message kept flashing through her mind.

The lingering content kept reappearing.

It disturbed her, leaving her feeling unsettled.

Zhu Yuan bit her lower lip. At this moment, another message came into her phone.

This time, the content of the message wasn't text; it was a photo.

In the photo, Ning Huaiqing was holding a little boy, sitting on a hospital bed while receiving a blood draw from a nurse.

She ignored Ning Huaiqing's exhausted face, her gaze focusing on the child held in her arms.

That child's face...

A chill ran down Zhu Yuan's spine, her mind went blank, and she stared blankly at the child's face.

She knew that current technology was very advanced and photos could be deepfaked, but those techniques still left traces of processing. Although she wasn't a professional, looking at this photo, she felt it wasn't fake.

How could this be?

Why did the child in Ning Huaiqing's arms look so much like Sheng Yu?

What was the content of that previous text message again?

Ning Huaiqing and Sheng Yu's son...

Zhu Yuan's vision went black in waves, recalling what Song Ci had told her: three years ago, Sheng Yu and Ning Huaiqing had been intimate.

That child looked to be about two years old.

Ten months of pregnancy, about two years old.

Three years ago.

These pieces of information kept colliding in her mind, tearing at her nerves.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

It wasn't a text, but a call.

Looking at the familiar name on the caller ID, Zhu Yuan's eyes felt as if they had been pricked, her eye sockets turning red from the pain. She took a deep breath and swiped the screen.

"Yuanyuan." The man's deep, magnetic voice came through.

Zhu Yuan's heart was in a mess. Hearing Sheng Yu's voice, she still couldn't pull herself away from the emotions she had just felt. She suppressed the urge to question him, "Why aren't you back yet?"

"There's something at the company to handle. I'll be back a bit later. You go to sleep first, be good."

Zhu Yuan said obediently, "Okay."

After hanging up the phone, she looked at that photo.

The wall showed the date was today!

She looked carefully at the surrounding environment and confirmed it was a hospital room. Moreover, the logo on the uniform of the nurse drawing blood from the child was one she was very familiar with; it was Qiao Mai's hospital.

Ning Huaiqing and that child were at Qiao Mai's hospital; it was impossible for Qiao Mai to be unaware, and therefore impossible for Sheng Yu to know nothing.

Connecting this to him not returning all night yesterday, Zhu Yuan felt as if she already had the answer.

She should trust Sheng Yu, but that photo, that child's appearance—what exactly was going on?

After Enzo finished his shower and came out, he suddenly received a call from the Bodyguard at the entrance of the Hot Spring Villa.

"Brother Enzo, Miss Zhu just drove out. Do you know about this?"

Enzo was stunned. He had indeed heard the sound of a car engine while he was in the shower, but he thought it was Sheng Yu returning and didn't think much of it. So, it was Miss Zhu who had driven out.

"I don't know. Did she say where she was going?"

"She said she had something to find a friend for."

Enzo frowned. Was she going to find Song Ci?

In the middle of the night, and so late, what could Song Ci have that was so urgent she needed to find her?

The more Enzo thought about it, the more he felt something was wrong. He hung up the Bodyguard's call and dialed Zhu Yuan.

"Miss Zhu, why didn't you tell me when you were going out?"

Zhu Yuan suppressed her intense, surging emotions and said in a casual tone, "It's late, so I won't trouble you. You get some good rest; I'll just drive out myself. Song Ci has something to discuss with me."

It really was Song Ci.

"Please drive slowly, Miss. I'll call a few people to follow you," Enzo said, though he was already opening the wardrobe to take out his clothes.

As if he were joking; how could he possibly feel at ease letting Miss Zhu go out alone?

"No need. I'm going to see Song Ci, not going anywhere dangerous. Don't worry about me."

Fearing that Enzo might sense something, Zhu Yuan hung up the phone and pressed harder on the accelerator.

The car soon pulled into the hospital parking lot.

Zhu Yuan pushed the car door open and stepped out; as she lifted her gaze, she saw a familiar car in a parking space not far away.

She hadn't been very calm before leaving the house and had just grabbed a random piece of clothing to change into. Now, as she stepped out and the cold wind blew, she stood frozen, staring at that car of Sheng Yu's as if she had been turned to ice.

Withdrawing her gaze, Zhu Yuan walked toward the inpatient department with unsteady steps, finding the pediatric floor outside the elevator.

Watching the numbers on the elevator rise, Zhu Yuan didn't expect that she would be much calmer than she had been at the Hot Spring Villa.

On the way here, she had still been thinking that she was just being distrustful of Sheng Yu, but upon seeing that car in the parking lot, she had almost no reason left to convince herself otherwise.

The elevator doors opened.

She suddenly stopped in her tracks and did not step out of the elevator.

That was right; if that child were Sheng Yu's, how could he possibly leave the child in the pediatric inpatient ward?

The elevator doors closed, and Zhu Yuan pressed the button for the top floor, where the VIP wards were.

The elevator doors opened again, emitting a crisp "ding."

The hand Zhu Yuan had hanging at her side trembled.

Situ was standing outside the ward; hearing the elevator, he looked over out of professional instinct and his gaze suddenly froze.

"Zhu..."

It was completely beyond his expectations. Situ didn't know which part had gone wrong, so that by the time he reacted, Zhu Yuan had already started walking toward him.

At this moment, the ward door opened, and Doctor Qiao Mai came out from inside with several other doctors.

Seeing Situ and Zhu Yuan at the door, Doctor Qiao Mai said in shock, "Miss Zhu!"

Zhu Yuan's gaze moved past Qiao Mai, staring straight at the three people inside the ward.

Ning Huaiqing was holding a chubby, milky-looking child in her arms who seemed to be running a fever; the child's little face was flushed, a fever-reducing patch was stuck to his forehead, and his little fleshy hand was clutching tightly onto Sheng Yu's sleeve...