Sweet slice-of-life love story: Wife, Let's love again
Chapter 277 - 273: Thoughts on My Mind

Chapter 277: Chapter 273: Thoughts on My Mind

New Year’s Day.

The company’s staff began to get truly busy.

Before, being busy meant having no leisure time throughout the day, having to work hard as soon as one got to the office, and rarely having time to relax—though one could stiil leave on time.

Now, working overtime had become the norm.

Having gone from slacking off when he first joined, to the intense workload after Sun Wen left, and now to the present, Qin Guanglin occasionally felt a sense of wonder.

People really do change with their environment.

What was he thinking when he first joined?

Increase income and reduce expenses; casually work on comics on the side, take on some freelance work at home, earn just over ten thousand yuan, and feel pretty content.

Now, he was bent on earning and saving money, giving up his original profession, and diving headfirst into company life.

"Is your company about to go under?" He Fang asked, lying in bed under the covers, looking at Qin Guanglin who had just returned from work.

"Huh? Why would you ask?" Qin Guanglin asked perplexedly, "Where did you hear such a rumor?"

Their group was full of drive at the moment, how could the company be suddenly closing down?

"I’m guessing."

"..."

"Last time, when the company was about to close, you also used to come home this late."

"It’s only nine o’clock..." Qin Guanglin now understood, she was annoyed because he came home too late.

He casually removed his coat and hung it over a chair, then sat at the edge of the bed, moving closer to He Fang with a ingratiating face, "It’s just for this period... it’ll be fine once it’s busy."

He Fang turned her head away and pushed his head with her hand, expressing her distaste, "Go away, you haven’t even washed your face, you stink."

"Then I’ll go wash now."

Qin Guanglin quickly stripped off his clothes and, with his arms wrapped around himself and shivering from the cold, scurried off to the bathroom to take a bath.

He was already coming home late and couldn’t dawdle at all. The best thing to do was to hurry into bed and cuddle up together; otherwise, he might anger her again.

Jealous even of the company...

After quickly showering, he casually toweled off and then ran back to the bedroom with a yelp. He jumped into bed and wrapped himself tightly with the blanket to ward off the chill of the winter after a shower.

"How come I feel like the heating isn’t as good as last year?"

Qin Guanglin’s teeth were chattering from the cold as he used He Fang as a giant heat pack, hugging her tightly.

He Fang was wearing fleece pajamas and wouldn’t get cold from him, too lazy to move.

"The temperature is lower this year than last."

"Is that so? Then the heating in your classroom must be even worse, make sure you dress warmly... how about we buy you another down jacket?"

"Let’s not talk about this." He Fang wiggled and lifted her head to look at him, "When will your job settle down?"

"Er... soon, very soon."

Qin Guanglin said, and seeing that He Fang was still nestled in his arms looking up at him, he said helplessly, "We’re poor, need to buy a house, get married, make money... once I’ve bought the house, I’ll tell the boss to go back to my main job, not deal with company stuff, okay?"

If the big-shot plan that Chen Rui supported could succeed at that time, being the main artist wouldn’t be much different from the income as a director, or even higher—of course, assuming that Chen Rui’s platform is also a success.

"You’re still doing it for the house?" He Fang inquired.

"Of course, what else would it be for?" Qin Guanglin responded as if it were obvious.

"See how much you’re short for the house, I’ll make up for it, and then you resign."

"..."

Seeing that he didn’t speak, He Fang continued, "What? Isn’t it for buying a house?"

"...I’m a man, I need to have my own career, otherwise, what? Am I really going to let you support me?" Qin Guanglin said with a helpless expression, "No, I’ve realized your possessiveness is too strong... not even letting me go to work?"

In Qin Guanglin’s heart, He Fang had never been the kind of naive girl who wanted love without caring for life, she wouldn’t be so shortsighted to not understand these things.

Why was she always fixated on the issue of his resignation?

He Fang fell silent a while, then buried her head in his chest with a muffled voice, "Then can you come back earlier?"

"I’ll try, I’ll try, okay?" Qin Guanglin chewed on his lip for a moment, then lowered his head to kiss her, "I promise to be back before eight, okay?"

"You’re promising?"

"I’m promising."

Qin Guanglin kept his promise, and the next day he was home by seven-thirty, while He Fang had just finished dinner and was about to start tidying up. She was startled to see him back.

"Have you had dinner yet?"

"Of course not... Could you make me some noodles?"

Seeing the empty bowls and plates on the table, Qin Guanglin shrugged and asked for noodles, then sat down on the sofa and started to dig through his bag.

He dealt with company business during the day and took the drawing work home with him. It didn’t delay anything to do it at home.

"So this is your idea of coming home early? Then turning the house into an office?" He Fang frowned, dissatisfied with his play on words.

"Just think of me as someone who draws at home, and that I go out during the day to sell the drawings, isn’t that fine?"

"..."

He Fang found that thinking that way actually made it easier to accept. Since it was in their home, she let him be.

After the noodles were ready, Qin Guanglin slurped them down with some garlic, and He Fang also took out some paper and pencil and sat next to him, starting to correct her students’ homework.

...

These days continued for over half a month Qi Guanglin kept thinking about work and He Fang. These two things seemed to naturally conflict and gradually became an issue between them.

...Excuse me, not gradually—right from the start, there were signs of conflict. When he first found a job, He Fang had hinted that there was no need to find a job so early.

This contradiction was difficult to reconcile; he didn’t even know why He Fang was so resistant to his work, even resistant to comics. But fortunately, the busy period wasn’t too long. After a little over a month of the 996 work schedule, he went back to the usual nine-to-five.

"Come here, come here!"

In the evening after work, Qin Guanglin mysteriously pulled He Fang into the bedroom with a bag in hand.

"What’s that?" He Fang was curious.

"Here, feel this." He opened the bag, which contained stacks of cash neatly arranged inside.

"?"

He Fang looked at him with an expression reserved for fools, not knowing what he was up to.

"Remember last time you said how great it feels to touch cash? Have a feel, I’ve got to deposit it at the bank tomorrow."

"..." He Fang reached in emotionlessly and grabbed a handful, "Okay, got the rush."

"Happy now?" Qin Guanglin took out a stack, shuffled through it, and handed it to He Fang, "Here, you try."

"...Get lost."

He Fang, no longer wanting to deal with him, turned around to continue cooking, "Enjoy yourself, I haven’t even started cutting the vegetables."

"Hey hey, just play for a bit... I’ve got to deposit it tomorrow!"

Qin Guanglin felt a wave of satisfaction as he counted out his money, piling it into a thick stack and enjoyed flipping through it with a crisp sound.

"Come and beat the eggs!" He Fang called from the kitchen.

"Coming!"

After dinner.

The two went for a walk to aid digestion, and upon returning, He Fang leaned over her desk, correcting homework with a red pen, while Qin Guanglin sat beside her, aimlessly browsing the internet on his computer.

"Why do I feel like you’ve been distracted lately, as if your mind’s not at peace?"

Seeing He Fang’s pen pause for a long time as she lowered her head, seemingly lost in thought, Qin Guanglin couldn’t help but speak up.

"Really?"

He Fang snapped back to reality and continued marking with her pen.

"If there’s something you need to tell me, don’t keep it to yourself—is it something to do with work?"

"No, you’re overthinking it."

"I think you can’t keep things from me anymore, what do you think?" Qin Guanglin tilted his head and asked her.

"The kids’ homework is driving me nuts... You help me correct it," He Fang stretched out her pen towards him, planning to slack off.

"Handle your own business."

...

Zhou Nan’s place.

Xiao Yu sat on the couch, feeling inexplicably uneasy as he saw the serious look on Zhou Nan’s face across from him.

"You said you had something to tell me, what is it?"

Zhou Nan pursed her lips, her brows lightly furrowed, and said earnestly, "What I’m about to tell you, please don’t be scared."

Xiao Yu felt a surge of panic but forced himself to stay calm, "Go ahead, I’m not afraid."

The atmosphere was tense, and he suddenly had a bad feeling.

"I... My period hasn’t come this month."

Zhou Nan’s words confirmed his fear, and he instinctively glanced at her abdomen, his lips trembling.

"Should we... Check if it’s just... Irregular?"

"I’ve always been regular." Zhou Nan bit her lip. She should have gotten it half a month ago, and initially thought it was just delayed, but as time passed, her stress grew until she couldn’t hold back anymore and spoke to Xiao Yu.

"Then, then, then, then..."

Xiao Yu stammered for a while, too anxious to form a coherent thought. Looking at Zhou Nan’s complicated expression, he sat dazed for a moment before suddenly standing up.

"What are you doing?" Zhou Nan looked up at him.

"I, I..."

"Are you leaving?"

"No! No!" Xiao Yu was agitated, rubbing his hands together, "I’m going downstairs to buy a pregnancy test! Wait for me, I’ll be right back."

Zhou Nan sat still, watching him leave, the sound of his footsteps growing more distant.

As time ticked by, several more sets of footsteps approached the door but didn’t stop, and continued upstairs.

Half an hour later.

Zhou Nan’s hopes sank, she turned to gaze at the night outside the window, her upright posture slowly slumping until she leaned back on the sofa.

The pharmacy was right behind the building; it should have taken less than ten minutes to go there and back. Even taking longer, he should have returned by now.

Bang, bang, bang!

"Open up!"

Xiao Yu’s voice suddenly rang out from the doorway, making Zhou Nan sit up straight and hurry to open the door.

"Whew... I searched for a long time, had to take a taxi to the hospital to buy it..." Xiao Yu was sweating profusely as he leaned on the door frame, handing her two boxes, "Let’s use both to test... Huh... Just to be safe."

"I thought you’d run off."

"Where could I have gone... Hurry up, I need a rest, huh..."

While wiping the sweat from his forehead, Xiao Yu stepped in and plopped down on the sofa, urging her.

"I was thinking on the way over... It was just that one time, it should be fine—don’t worry, we’ll know once you test."

"How do I use this?"

Zhou Nan opened the box, examining the pen-like object with some confusion, "Am I supposed to put it..."

"Wait, let me see." Xiao Yu took the box back and looked at it, "There are instructions... You just need to wet it here."

"Oh."

Zhou Nan obediently took both devices to the bathroom, gone was her usual fierce demeanor.

Xiao Yu flipped the packaging over a few times and then glanced at the closed bathroom door, sighing with a face full of worry.

Both their first times, could it really just be a coincidence?

That seems unlikely...

A few minutes later, Zhou Nan came out with two pens wrapped in tissue paper, "Two red lines, does that mean positive or negative?"

"..."

Xiao Yu’s heart skipped a beat, he vaguely remembered something about one or two lines—he quickly flipped through the instructions, not wanting to believe it, "Wait, let me check..."

"What does it say?"

Zhou Nan waited a while and, seeing he was silent, she guessed the answer.

"Let me see." Without a word, Xiao Yu took the two pens from her hand, staring intently at the two red lines.

One dark and one light.

"Am I... Pregnant?" Zhou Nan sat beside him, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Uh-huh."

Xiao Yu pulled out a cigarette but paused and then snapped it in half, tossing it away, sitting in silence looking at Zhou Nan.

After a long silence, Zhou Nan spoke, "Then go with me to the hospital to have it removed."

"Remove it?" Xiao Yu repeated, instinctively.

"What else?" Zhou Nan retorted.

"..."

Seeing Xiao Yu fall silent, she suddenly couldn’t contain her emotions, tears the size of beans welling up in her eyes. She grabbed Xiao Yu’s arm and bit down hard.

"Or... Should we get married?"

Xiao Yu seemed unaffected by the pain in his arm, looked at her seriously, and spoke.

...

For three days in a row, the daily word count was cursed.

Aren’t you going to acknowledge it?

The lazy author is hinting frantically.