Mrs. Fu, please be mindful of the appropriate boundaries.

"I had a persistent high fever, received IV fluids for three days, and took cold medicine for several days." Xu Qingcheng closed her eyes, her voice a little hoarse. "I even took sleeping pills once because of insomnia."

"You didn't know you were pregnant? How old are you?" Xu Hui's head was throbbing. Getting married meant the possibility of pregnancy, so she should be extra careful.

Xu Qingcheng couldn't explain it. The recent events had been happening one after another, and her attention had been focused on that. She had never thought it would be such a coincidence.

Xu Hui asked Xu Qingcheng to tell her about all the medications she had recently taken. Pregnancy is such a precious thing these days, with all sorts of taboos to be avoided. And here she is, she has all the taboos.

"To be frank, although it's not 100%, if there are problems after birth, it's better not to have the baby. You're still young, and it will be easier to have children later, so there's no rush."

The implication is that this child should not be kept.

Xu Qingcheng's lips moved but she couldn't utter a word for a long time.

Her mind is completely blank right now; she has no thoughts at all.

I just feel that many things in this world seem to be predetermined.

She didn't even need to worry about whether to keep the child; it seemed that fate had already made the decision for her.

Xu Hui sees countless patients every day. She sees all kinds of pregnant women. Although the probability is not high, the doctor's office is a hotbed of problems. Some children are born with brain problems, which is so distressing. It's better to abort them while they are still in the womb.

Xu Qingcheng's pregnancy is still quite early. If she wants to terminate the pregnancy now, it would be the best option, as it would be less harmful to her body than a miscarriage later in the pregnancy.

However, Xu Hui felt sorry for her seeing how pale she looked. "You're still early in your pregnancy, so it's probably not a big problem. It's not that you're vomiting blood, it's just that your pregnancy symptoms are too severe and your throat is sore with blood streaks. But you can't eat right now, and the lack of nutrition isn't good for the baby. Let's give you an IV drip, some glucose to ensure you get basic nutrition. If you get better, the baby will get better too."

Also, at 16 weeks, you'll have a Down syndrome screening to check for the risk of having a child with Down syndrome. If the result is negative, intellectual disability can be largely ruled out. At six months, you'll have a 4D ultrasound to check for any physical abnormalities…”

"No."

Xu Qingcheng didn't listen anymore. She interrupted Xu Hui and stood up. Her voice was very soft. "I'm quite busy lately. How about next week? Please help me schedule an abortion."

"Why don't you go back and discuss it with your husband? It would be best to get his opinion, since it's not always certain that the child has a problem," Xu Hui asked.

"There's no need to discuss it with him." Xu Qingcheng pursed her lips, not wanting to explain further. "I'm leaving now, Aunt."

The situation is too complicated right now, and there are some things Xu Qingcheng is not sure about. What she is doing now is like snatching food from a tiger's mouth, and she doesn't know how much chance she has of survival in the end.

She's been too busy lately and is worried she won't be able to take care of everything. She hasn't mentioned it to her mother, and she guesses Fu Jingting hasn't mentioned it to the Fu family either. So the matter has just been left unresolved.

Xu Qingcheng didn't want to explain further to others, since even her own family didn't know.

There is no going back between them.

There won't be a wedding.

Regardless of what Fu Jingting thought, there would be no bride named Xu Qingcheng at this wedding.

She's just that stubborn and inflexible; once she's made up her mind about something, she won't turn back.

There are no gray areas in her life, only black and white. Black is black, white is white, love is love, and not loving is not loving.

She could offer him her heart, or she could take it back without hesitation, severing all feelings with a single hand.

How could he be scheming against her while simultaneously showering her with affection and making her fall for him?

He schemed against Shengshi, he schemed against her, and he wanted to kill two birds with one stone, gaining both power and pleasing Tang Kejia.

My heart suddenly tightened, and it still hurt, the pain went right to my bones.

Xu Qingcheng's nose stung with tears. She had promised herself not to think about it anymore and to look forward. What was she doing?!

Now that things have reached this point in a prosperous era, all she can think of is shedding her skin like a cicada shedding its shell, but peeling off a layer of skin like that would be very painful.

But this is also the most complete way she can think of to preserve the core assets of Shengshi.

It's not that easy; it's a risky move, and she needs help.

Yesterday, Ye Tinghong offered to help her, but Xu Qingcheng did not agree on the spot.

She had her concerns.

She's now wading through the mud step by step, feeling her way across the river, and whether she can make it depends on luck.

But she didn't want to lose; she was still waiting for Qingyao to come out and personally hand Shengshi over to him.

Xu Qingcheng left the hospital. The sunlight was warm this season, but it couldn't penetrate the desolation in her heart.

Xu Qingcheng placed her hand on her stomach, but there was no movement inside, yet she was already suffering so much that she vomited so badly every day, as if she were drunk.

She felt a little strange. It had taken root in her stomach and would be chewed up and mixed with blood and flowed out in a few days.

Thinking about it, Xu Qingcheng suddenly felt nauseous again. She quickly closed her eyes, forced herself to think about something better, and tried to distract herself.

In finance, Director Qu called Xu Qingcheng, saying that Tang Jinzhao had arrived at the company and he wanted to find out what was going on.

Mr. Qu was filled with unease. "Mr. Xu, did you hear something? Why did you come here so suddenly?"

"Probably not, it's still undecided." Xu Qingcheng pursed her lips. "I'll be back at the company in a bit. You can handle things for me, but be careful what you say."

"Okay, I've already invited them to have lunch together," said Manager Qu.

When Xu Qingcheng returned to Shengshi, it was already lunchtime. She headed straight for the internal recruitment area, where the canteen had already been set up. The aroma of food wafted into her nose, and Xu Qingcheng abruptly stopped in her tracks.

The smell still made her stomach ache, so she closed her eyes briefly, endured it, and pushed the door open to go inside.

Tang Jinchao was not the only one in the room; Fu Jingting was also there.

The smile on Xu Qingcheng's face vanished the moment she saw him.

Tang Jinchao felt that Xu Qingcheng's ability to not turn around and leave immediately was already a great testament to her composure.

Fu Jingting is coming to Shengshi today because he wants to see Xu Qingcheng. If he came on his own, he would definitely be turned away. Tang Jinchao is coming, and as an investor, we have a legitimate business relationship. We should treat him warmly and not turn him away.

Tang Jinchao found it quite amusing. When had Fu Jingting ever bowed his head in front of him? He even asked him in a roundabout way, "Why don't you go and see Shengshi? Such a large sum of money was invested, and now it's almost all gone down the drain."

"What are you looking at? You already knew that." Tang Jinchao scoffed. When he invested in Shengshi, he promised to act as a firewall so that it would be easy to withdraw when he wanted to. But Shengshi is in a precarious situation with too many variables.

Fu Jingting refused. Bringing up this now would be like trying to hide something obvious, and he wanted to use this as an excuse to see Xu Qingcheng, but he couldn't bring himself to tell her directly.

"Damn it!" Fu Jingting cursed directly, "Are you going or not? If you don't go, I'll fucking expose your affair with Ji Tong to your old man."

Tang Jinchao was thus threatened into bringing him to Shengshi, ostensibly to check on Shengshi's operations, but mainly to help Fu Jingting meet his wife.

However, Tang Jinchao also made an unexpected discovery, which is hard to say now. But it must be said that Xu Qingcheng is ruthless and accurate, and she even tried to manipulate the funds.

Tang Jinchao smiled, stood up, and said, "You don't mind me bothering you, do you?"

"How could that be? Mr. Tang is a distinguished guest. You are welcome to come anytime." Xu Qingcheng said as she walked inside, not even glancing at Fu Jingting.

But Fu Jingting's gaze was fixed on her, and he followed her everywhere.

He was dressed in a suit today; the black shirt made his face look particularly aloof, and his jawline was slightly taut, creating a very handsome line.

This man exuded a stronger aura than anyone else in the room; even just sitting there, he was the most eye-catching one.

But Xu Qingcheng deliberately ignored him, completely ignoring him, not even glancing at him.

Fu Jingting tapped his fingers lightly on the table, his gaze falling on her face. The light makeup she wore today couldn't completely conceal her paleness.

Fu Jingting felt a pang of sympathy.