Chapter 077　 You can't give her what she wants.

  *

  "I inadvertently saw the two of them walking out of an OB/GYN clinic."

  If what she said was true, what were they doing at an OB/GYN clinic?

  A worst-case scenario quickly flashed through his mind: an abortion.

  Thinking back to Fujikawa’s party, Su Xian had actually vomited from drinking. Her tolerance had always been quite high, and Zhao Nanfeng had been by her side then.

  Moreover, her period had been delayed, only to arrive exactly on the day of her business trip.

  Add to that her slight avoidance of his seduction when she returned; it was completely unlike her personality. But if it happened after an abortion procedure, such an emotional state would be easy to understand.

  He turned to face Su Xian. She was sleeping soundly, her breathing steady and deep.

  If she had gone through something so serious and terrifying without telling him, it was his own failure—he hadn't earned her trust through his actions.

  But if it were true, whose child was it?

  They used protection every single time.

  Then who was she with?

  The answer was obvious.

  He didn't believe Su Xian would fall in love with Zhao Nanfeng again because he could see her overcoming those psychological barriers and moving closer to him piece by piece—whether it was accepting his family and friends, taking the initiative to buy him a ring, or that notarized property gift she wanted to do (which he had stopped).

  However, there was a rapport between them, a kind of physical muscle memory. They didn't necessarily have to be in love, but it was highly likely that an emotional outburst at a certain moment could lead to intimacy. They always gave him that vibe when they were together.

  *

  Before going to sleep, Su Xian set the slow cooker for multigrain porridge. Early the next morning, she got up to make steamed eggs and a broccoli cheese salad. By the time Li Chengshi got up, breakfast was already on the table.

  "Baby, how are you feeling?" She reached out to touch his forehead.

  He pushed her hand away. "It's just my stomach that's upset. I don't have a fever."

  Seeing that he seemed listless, she said, "Then eat something and get some more rest. I’ll call in sick for you."

  "No need. I resolved all the queries yesterday. Today I can just draw at a steady pace; it’s not mentally taxing."

  "Alright then. Just tell me the moment you feel unwell."

  *

  In the afternoon, Zhao Nanfeng and Su Xian went to a client’s office for a meeting (uchiiawase). After they left, Li Chengshi walked into the conference room, locked the door, and called the Nakajima Clinic in Takamatsu.

  When the nurse answered, he lied and said he was Zhao Nanfeng. He claimed he had lost the invoices and receipts from when he brought his female friend, Su Xian, for treatment in July and asked if they could reissue them. The nurse asked him to wait while she checked for a record.

  During those few minutes of waiting, his heart was in his throat. He desperately hoped she would tell him there was no such record in the system—that the whole thing was just Yoshida Wakaba’s malicious revenge after being dumped.

  However, the result disappointed him. The nurse found the record and told him that while paper documents couldn't be reissued, she could send him a digital version.

  A few minutes later, a notification popped up. His entire body froze; only his hands were shaking.

  The documents stated everything clearly: various pre-pregnancy check-up reports and a "Pregnancy Termination" (abortion) consent form. The signature in the "Father" column was Zhao Nanfeng’s, and the signature on the payment receipt was also Zhao Nanfeng’s.

  His heart sank to the bottom. His brain was too deprived of oxygen to think. He slumped over the conference table for a long time before forcing himself to gather enough strength to return to his workstation.

  *

  At five o'clock, Su Xian returned to the company. Seeing that Li Chengshi’s complexion was still poor and he lacked energy, she gave Zhao Nanfeng a quick heads-up and took him home.

  "I'm sorry, baby. I'll take you for a check-up first thing tomorrow morning."

  "You don't need to come with me. You have so many plans tomorrow. I'll go by myself and tell you the results as soon as I’m done."

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  "Well... I’ll decide after I see how you are when we wake up tomorrow."

  "Do you still have to work tonight?"

  "Yeah."

  "I can't sleep well with the light on. I’ll sleep in the guest room tonight."

  "I’ll sleep in the guest room; you sleep in the master bedroom. It’ll be more convenient if you have to use the bathroom for diarrhea in the middle of the night."

  *

  Around midnight, Su Xian put away her laptop and crept up to the second floor. She carefully pushed the master bedroom door open just a crack to peek inside. Li Chengshi was sleeping quietly on his side, facing away from the door. She closed the door and left quietly.

  By the light that filtered through the crack in the door, a teardrop was clearly visible at the corner of Li Chengshi’s eye.

  He held his breath until she left and the room turned dark again. Only then did that tear fall undisguised.

  Useless thing.

  She wouldn't like a useless thing.

  Every bit of value he could provide was easily replaceable. A staffing agency could send ten drafters within a day; "full housecleaning" could be swapped for a part-time worker at 5,000 to 6,000 yen an hour; as for sexual value, there was no need to even mention it—he certainly wasn't as experienced as Zhao Nanfeng.

  Furthermore, Zhao Nanfeng could provide the one thing he couldn't, which was the most important value to Su Xian: career opportunities. Or to put it another way: an upward channel.

  **

  The next morning, Zhao Nanfeng had a solo outing scheduled. He went to the parking lot, and just as he sat down, Li Chengshi suddenly appeared out of nowhere, opened the door, and sat in the passenger seat.

  "You gave me a fright! What are you doing?"

  "Take a look at this." Li Chengshi opened his phone and showed him the various documents sent by the clinic.

  Zhao Nanfeng frowned deeply. "Where did you get this?"

  "The father's signature—why is it yours?!" He swung a fist at Zhao Nanfeng, but Zhao caught his arm and twisted it behind his back, making him cry out in pain.

  "Don't get excited, or we won't be able to talk." Zhao Nanfeng continued to pin him down until his emotions settled slightly.

  *

  "So, you haven't been sick these past two days." Zhao Nanfeng gave a cold laugh. The memory of Li Chengshi breaking the cup in the pantry on the day Yoshida Wakaba resigned quickly surfaced. "Did Yoshida say something to you?"

  He didn't expect that after years of being a playboy, he’d be hitting so many snags lately. He thought he had handled things decently with Yoshida, but he’d still been bitten in the end—and the bite wasn't even direct to him.

  Maybe it really was time for a change.

  "When did you two...?" Li Chengshi's voice turned hoarse. He couldn't win the argument, and he couldn't win the fight. A wave of helplessness surged over him. He slumped against the dashboard, feeling utterly despondent.

  Zhao Nanfeng finally realized that Li thought the aborted child was his and Su Xian’s. In reality, as long as Su Xian had insisted, the clinic would have agreed to the surgery even without a signature in the father column. But she had been exhausted; to save her from having to argue with the doctors, he had taken on the obligation himself. In the end, it seemed logical for him to pay as well. Afterward, however, Su Xian had insisted on paying him back.

  "When were we together?" Zhao Nanfeng couldn't help but mock him inwardly. He had thought their love was as solid as gold, but as it turned out, Su Xian was afraid to confess her pregnancy to him, and he easily suspected her of cheating. Zhao Nanfeng felt his recent politeness had been a waste. He knew he should explain the truth and save Su Xian, but he was already a "scumbag"—evolving into a "despicable villain" felt like a natural progression. He wanted to take a gamble.

  "Mid-June, I suppose. The day we went to Kanagawa."

  Li Chengshi remembered clearly. They had come back very late that day. He had waited for Su Xian at the office until 9:00 PM. They said there had been an accident on the highway that caused a traffic jam. At the time, he hadn't suspected a thing.

  "You bastard!" He lunged at Zhao Nanfeng again.

  This time, Zhao Nanfeng didn't dodge. He took a punch to the corner of his mouth. The taste of blood immediately rushed out along with the pain. He took an ice pack from the car fridge and pressed it to his lip—he still had a client to see later. "I don't have time for this nonsense. If it bothers you, break up with her. You can't give her what she wants. Don't stand in her way. Get out."

  Li Chengshi said nothing more. He got out of the car dejectedly. Watching the car drive away, he slumped helplessly onto the ground.

  *