59: Chapter 59 Ex-wife is Pregnant

Unknowingly, the two had chatted for nearly half an hour. During this time, Huaijing's landline rang twice, but he hung up after a single glance.

Lu Waner held her folder, stood on her tiptoes, and said with a smile in her eyes, "Secretary, if there is nothing else, I will be going now."

Just as she turned around, Huaijing called out to her again, "Wait a moment."

Lu Waner immediately turned back, as if she had been looking forward to this moment. "Secretary, do you have any other instructions?"

"Come here." Huaijing walked around his desk again and entered the storage room.

Lu Waner followed him, feeling a bit nervous but not daring to ask questions.

Huaijing took out several gift boxes from inside, all of which were high-end health products like bird's nest and cordyceps.

He handed them to her and said, "These things were given to me by others, and I have no use for them. When you go to visit Cui Yuejin, help me pass them along. Just say that I am still thinking of him and hope that he stays healthy and enjoys his life."

Lu Waner was moved to tears again and tried to decline, "Secretary, these gifts are too valuable. We shouldn't receive rewards without merit; we can't accept this."

"If I tell you to take them, take them. No more nonsense, go on."

"Thank you, Secretary!" Lu Waner bowed in respect and walked to the door carrying the gift boxes. Unexpectedly, Huaijing called out to her yet again. Why did it feel like they were reluctant to part?

"It wouldn't look good if others saw you carrying them out like this." As Huaijing spoke, his eyes searched around before returning to the storage room. He pulled out two large black plastic bags. "Here, put them in these."

He held the bags open while she stuffed the gift boxes inside one by one. After tying them shut, she thanked Huaijing once more and finally left the leader's office.

After coming out and greeting Secretary Chen Ran, she walked away with light steps and a blushing face.

Watching her beautiful departing figure, Secretary Chen Ran felt a wave of internal criticism:

Why is it that only cadres at the division level or above from other departments can go in to sign documents, yet Lu Waner can even before she's been promoted to deputy section chief? Why does she stay so long every time she goes in? Why does she go in looking sentimental and come out looking radiant...

After thinking for a while, he suddenly realized that Secretary Huaijing liked Lu Waner, and Lu Waner had feelings for him too!

But the bones of his old friend Cui Liming aren't even cold yet! What if the two of them get together? Caught between friendship and my boss, what should I do?

***

Just as Huaijing and Lu Waner were chatting happily, Shen Meizhu called the project manager. "Don't wait for those old fogies anymore. We gave them the chance to inspect, but there's been no word until now. Resume construction!"

Thus, the project to build a three-story mall on the original site of the Old County Yamen restarted. The foundation work perfectly bypassed those ancient wells, but one of them was not enough to just level off; it almost had to be uprooted. It was built from stones over ten meters deep, and they appeared to be very ancient stones with historical research value.

After the manager asked for instructions, Shen Meizhu made a decision: "No matter what it is, dig it up and clear it out. It must not affect the construction!"

Because of insufficient funding and slow work efficiency, experts like Archaeology Expert from the Archaeological Research Institute never managed to enter the site to test for underground cultural relics, missing their chance.

On the noon of October 1st, just after Huaijing returned to his home in the provincial capital, he called his mother far away in Jin Province, saying he would return to his hometown on the 3rd.

His primordial spirit was primarily Cui Liming, so his feelings for Huaijing's mother were not as deep as they were before his rebirth.

Actually, they weren't deep before his rebirth either, because the mother was somewhat snobbish. She had conspired with Wang Shuting's mother and others to force Lin Qianwei away, and then kept it from him even after Lin Qianwei became seriously ill.

Later, after his father passed away due to illness, the relationship between mother and son became even more discordant, and she was forced to return to her hometown for retirement.

There was also a younger sister in the family, twenty-four years old, studying for a master's degree in Beijing. Her tuition and other expenses were all provided by him.

But as Huaijing, these family ties had to be maintained, and maintained well.

Just after he finished the call, Wang Shuting's overseas call came in.

Huaijing actually wanted to know if she was doing well over there, so he answered happily:

"Shuting, at this hour, it should be prime time evening over there, right?"

"It is. Hey, I say Huaijing, I gave you my email and phone number and everything. It's been so many days, and you haven't even sent a greeting? I'm in a foreign land, so lonely and isolated." Wang Shuting's voice was crisp with a hint of coquettishness.

"Isn't your mother there?"

"Her? She's unreliable. I don't live with her, and I don't hang out with her," Wang Shuting said. "Tell the truth, over this past month or so, have you been particularly wild? Are you about to get married again?"

"No, work is too busy, and I'm not really interested in women." Hearing her say these things, Huaijing felt a bit dispirited.

"Huaijing, let me tell you some good news," she suddenly said mysteriously.

"What?"

"You're going to be a father."

"What do you mean?" Huaijing was stunned for a moment.

"I'm pregnant, over a month along." Wang Shuting seemed excited and joyful. "Do you remember what I told you before I left? My period was delayed. After arriving in Los Angeles, it still didn't come, so I went to the hospital for a check-up. Oh my god, I'm actually pregnant!"

Huaijing was shocked, then immediately felt something was wrong. He said seriously, "Wang Shuting, make sure you're clear on this—is that my seed?"

Wang Shuting instantly flared up and retorted indignantly, "Huaijing, you bastard! I, Wang Shuting, have only ever been defiled by you in this lifetime! This child is yours. If you don't believe it, we can do a paternity test!"

Hearing her confidence, and knowing that such a matter was no joke—nor was there any need for her to claim he was the father from across the ocean—Huaijing believed her. He asked, "Then, do you want to give birth?"

"I'll give birth, of course I will. Huaijing, I was with you for almost ten years and wanted so much to have a child with you, but we never used protection while trying to conceive and it just never happened. Who would have thought that after the divorce, I'd get pregnant. Fate really is playing tricks on us." She was filled with emotion.

"Uh, I originally wanted to advise you to get an abortion, but seeing your attitude, forget it. Anyway, since you're in the United States, give birth if you want. If you want the child to recognize me as the father, we first have to do a paternity test, and then I'll think about it."

"Huaijing, you bastard! You're not allowed to doubt me, let alone slander me! You might have flags flying all over the place outside, but your wife's red flag has never fallen. This child is your seed, conceived on August 26th. The technology here in the United States is very advanced; it can be tested with just a blood draw."

"Alright, I believe you." Huaijing was still quite confident in this point. Although Wang Shuting had a bad temper and always argued with him, she had always been clean in her relations with men, despite the fact that with her looks and financial status, finding a lover would have been very easy.

"When the child is born, they will be an American citizen, and I'll raise them here in the United States." She began to envision her future life. "You have to come visit me and the child. When the child grows up, you have to acknowledge them."

Huaijing's head felt a bit large. His ties with Wang Shuting were 'impossible to sever and hard to untangle.' Now that a child had cropped up after the divorce, wouldn't his love and marriage with Lu Waner be burdened with even more trouble?