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

Fu Jingting hummed in agreement.

It took me a beat to realize that the look in her narrowed eyes was hostile.

Some things have been forgotten for a long time, but at this moment, alarm bells were ringing in Fu Jingting's mind. The despicable things he had done in the past would eventually be exposed one day.

Xu Qingcheng grabbed his collar and moved closer to him, "Fu Jingting, you've never told me you're close to the Liang family."

Fu Jingting coughed lightly, "We've had some business collaborations, but we're not very close."

Nonsense! Who would believe him?

"Say it again!" Xu Qingcheng gritted her teeth.

The man fell silent, clearly having nothing to say.

She slapped him angrily, almost certain, "Did you have someone take photos of me and you at the hotel and give them to Liang Zongyan? Did you ruin my marriage plans with Liang Muqin? Did you?"

Fu Jingting wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her into his embrace. "Wife..."

"Don't shout!" Xu Qingcheng interrupted him angrily. "Was it you? Do you know how much I suffered back then? Everyone outside thinks I'm promiscuous, but Fu Jingting, I've only ever been with you. Those photos ended up in the Liang family's hands, how are they supposed to see me?! How are they supposed to see my parents? Uncle Liang is familiar with my father, you're simply..."

"They don't know," Fu Jingting said, holding her tightly and coaxing her, "Only Liang Zongyan knows."

"If you really marry Liang Muqin, what will I have to do with it? Is it possible to have a wish? Is it possible to have these two babies?" he asked shamelessly, his palm on her stomach.

Xu Qingcheng reached out with both hands and pinched his cheeks, making him look disheveled. "Fu Jingting, you're so mean! How could you scheme against me like that! You have no idea how devastated I was back then."

She recalled the dilemma she faced at that time, and the pain she felt still brought tears to her eyes.

The man clicked his tongue, pulled her hand down, wrapped her in his arms, and kissed her.

Xu Qingcheng wouldn't let him kiss her, turning her head away.

The man's lips landed on her ear, he nibbled at her earlobe, and called out, "Baby, it's my fault, don't be angry. Aren't I better than Liang Muqin? Why go to such lengths?"

"You! You still dare to talk back!" Xu Qingcheng glared at him. "I promised Grandma I wouldn't bother you."

"Tsk, sometimes smart, sometimes stupid," Fu Jingting sneered. "If I throw a stone at you on the road, you won't move? I caught you in the act of adultery, and you shamelessly demand that I take responsibility. How can I not take responsibility?"

Xu Qingcheng slapped him across the face, "What do you mean by 'catching someone cheating'? That sounds so awful! Who's having an affair with you!"

"So, the little vixen who begged me for you isn't you?" He pulled her onto his lap, wrapped his arm around her waist, and subtly changed the subject.

The man's eyes were full of flirtation and lust, leading her to recall that chaotic incident. Xu Qingcheng felt guilty about it, partly because she was ashamed, and partly because she felt it was wrong of her to drug him, so she didn't want to talk about it anymore.

But he got carried away and wouldn't let it go. He turned her face around and asked her, "You were drugged and confused. You called out Ye Tinghong's name. Xu Qingcheng, I was being merciful by not strangling you."

Xu Qingcheng was stunned for a moment, then her face suddenly turned red. She denied it, "I didn't, you're talking nonsense."

"nonsense?"

Fu Jingting snorted. Time has passed, and people have changed. It's unwise to cling to the slightest bit of awkwardness from the past.

But some things just pop into my head, and suddenly I feel compelled to ask them clearly.

Xu Qingcheng pinched him, "I broke up with him a long time ago, there's no possibility of it. Who told you to run into me so late?"

She shifted the blame to him.

That sounded rather agreeable. "If I had met you sooner, my brother would have taken you as soon as you came of age, and no one else would have been able to have you."

He pinched her chin, looking at her flushed face. "Now, when you're drunk and confused, whose name do you call out? Hmm?"

He gave her a pole, and she climbed down it, snuggling against him and obediently calling out, "Brother Jingting."

She lowered her voice, whispering in his ear, her voice both sweet and alluring, her face flushed. Just imagine the feeling; you'd want to do nothing but have her by your side.

She's truly a bewitching little devil.

Xu Qingcheng felt incredibly sour after shouting it out herself, and laughed so hard she leaned against his shoulder, "It's so sour, don't you feel sour too?"

"Don't you think so? Shout a few more times?" He pinched her little nose and coaxed her, successfully diverting her attention from the fact that he had ruined her marriage.

They say pregnancy makes you stupid for three years, and that might be true; she actually got distracted by the topic.

"No. That's too cheesy." Xu Qingcheng refused to call him that again, but then whispered, "Husband."

After shouting, he smiled to himself.

It's just a form of address, yet it feels inexplicably intimate.

Her man, her husband, the father of her children, the person she loves, her family.

A single name encapsulates everything; she truly feels how much she loves it and how happy she is.

Fu Jingting couldn't help but laugh when he saw her adorable expression.

The two of them are so lovey-dovey, they don't seem like a couple with children at all, but rather like a young couple deeply in love.

She thought he had brushed the topic aside, but Xu Qingcheng remembered it again when she got out of the car. She glared at him, pouted, and walked home.

Fu Jingting touched his nose and followed.

The two returned to Fu Pinghui and Zhong Wanxiu's place, where Xu Yuan had been sent the night before to help them take care of the baby.

"Dad, Mom," Xu Qingcheng called out.

Seeing the two of them enter one after the other, Zhong Wanxiu asked, "Have you gotten your marriage certificate?"

"Um."

"Alright, Jingting can relax a little now," Zhong Wanxiu teased them.

Fu Jingting chuckled, reached out and pinched her cheek, "She can't escape now."

Xu Qingcheng glanced at him, then reached out and slapped the back of his hand to avoid him.

Seeing the flower shears in Zhong Wanxiu's hand, she said, "Mom, let me help you."

Zhong Wanxiu loves flower arranging. She has planted many flowers in the yard of her villa, and she cut some of them and put them in vases. At this age, she thinks about how to make life more interesting.

Seeing Xu Qingcheng clearly shunning Fu Jingting, she couldn't help but laugh. "What's wrong? Did Jingting make you angry?"

Xu Qingcheng pouted, holding a rose in her hand, and followed Zhong Wanxiu to thorn it.

"Tell me about it?"

It was obviously not a big deal. If he were really angry, he wouldn't be like this. Zhong Wanxiu was happy to inquire about her son's gossip.

"It's nothing." Xu Qingcheng thought about how to say this, and then laughed. "I only found out when I came back that he is very familiar with Liang Zongyan. Back then, when I was going to marry into the Liang family, he sabotaged it behind my back."

Zhong Wanxiu understood immediately.

So that's what it was about.

She glanced at the smile on Xu Qingcheng's face, "You were just hitting him, why are you smiling now? Now you realize he liked you back then, didn't you?"

"mom."

Xu Qingcheng felt embarrassed and covered her face with the flowers in her hand.

"Don't let the thorns prick your hands. You're going to be a mother of three, yet you're still acting like a little girl." Zhong Wanxiu laughed. "I really envy you all; it's so good to be young."

Xu Qingcheng smiled, her face more beautiful than a flower, "Who knows what he was up to back then? Maybe he was just deliberately trying to sabotage us."

Zhong Wanxiu laughed and exposed her, "You're secretly overjoyed, aren't you? You're being sarcastic."

"Then I'll tell you something else." Zhong Wanxiu decided to betray her son without any mercy.

"What?"

"At his grandmother's birthday party, the two of you..."

"That was...that was...drinking something bad." Xu Qingcheng blushed; she had done something wrong but ended up getting herself into trouble.

"I know." Zhong Wanxiu looked at her. "Do you think Jingting was completely unaware that he was being schemed against?"

"what?"

Zhong Wanxiu chuckled. Her grandparents saw things much more clearly; it was only after being reminded by the elders that she understood.

That guy secretly set a trap for the girl, luring her in step by step.

Zhong Wanxiu stopped short of saying anything, and Xu Qingcheng, being a perceptive person, understood without needing further explanation.

She said it was strange that there were drugs in her wine.

"And also, do you think you schemed against him and married him?" Zhong Wanxiu tapped her forehead. "He's just waiting for you to say yes."

"Also, do you think your grandparents are really senile? They didn't even check when you were pregnant, and they didn't check either, just because they didn't care whether you were really pregnant or not, they only cared whether you were willing to accept each other. Only I actually thought you were pregnant."

Xu Qingcheng blushed deeply; all her little schemes were now laid bare in front of her elders.

"Don't think you're scheming against him. He'd love for you to scheme against him, he'd love for you to cling to him desperately, and make him take responsibility." Zhong Wanxiu smiled. "Qingcheng, he loves you more than you think."

"I didn't know before, but he made arrangements for you very well before the accident. That's when I realized what he was really thinking."

Xu Qingcheng bit her lip lightly, and the past events unfolded one by one, like peeling back layers of an onion, making her heart soften and ache.

Fu Pinghui was teaching Xu Yuan how to play with a calligraphy brush in the study, explaining each move step by step. The little girl didn't understand at all and played haphazardly. One explained while the other played, and it was quite harmonious.

Fu Jingting exchanged a few words with Fu Pinghui, while Xu Yuan was happily writing on paper with a calligraphy brush and didn't want to go out.

Fu Jingting came downstairs by himself and saw Xu Qingcheng secretly wiping away tears. He quickly went over, frowning, "Why are you crying? Mom, what did you say?"

Although his tone was relatively stable, it inevitably contained a hint of accusation.

Zhong Wanxiu glared at him, "What, are you afraid I'll bully your wife?"

A classic case of having a wife but losing one's mother.

After Zhong Wanxiu finished criticizing everyone, she left.

Leave the space for the young couple.

Fu Jingting went over, lifted her chin, and asked, "What's wrong? What did Mom say?"

"no."

Xu Qingcheng didn't really want to be sentimental or shed tears, but when she thought about many things from the past, and how he chose her when she was torn between love and business interests.

But she gave up.

She never imagined that he would fall in love with her before she did.

"What did Mom say? Tell me? Hmm?" Fu Jingting wiped away her tears and comforted her.

If she didn't tell him, he wouldn't know what happened or how to handle it.

"Mom didn't say anything to me." Xu Qingcheng pushed him, realizing he had misunderstood.

"Then why are you shedding tears?"

"You think I can't cry?" Xu Qingcheng pushed him away. "Don't come near me. I'm really fine. Go away."

"Qingcheng." Fu Jingting grabbed her wrist. There was something to resolve; he didn't want things to remain unclear.

There's a long road ahead.

He seemed determined not to let her leave until she explained herself clearly. Xu Qingcheng stamped her foot and said, "We'll talk about it tonight."

The man disagreed.

He pulled her into the room, closed the door, and said, "Go ahead and talk."

When no one was around, Xu Qingcheng suddenly jumped into his arms, hugged him tightly, and looked up at him, asking, "How long have you liked me? When did it start?"

Fu Jingting frowned, wondering how she had steered the conversation here. "Don't change the subject."

"I didn't change the subject, just tell me, I want to know." She nestled in his arms and acted coquettishly, her voice sweet and flirtatious, unlike that of a proper woman.

Fu Jingting pinched her nose. "I don't remember."

"You really don't remember?" Xu Qingcheng's eyes curved slightly. "Then let me guess, was it from when I was preparing for the arranged marriage?"

"may be."

Now that she knows about his collusion with Liang Zongyan to sabotage her marriage, Fu Jingting is no longer willing to hide it.

"Wasn't it earlier?"

"..."

"Did you already know about the drug the Ye family used to drug you, and then you went along with it?"

Fu Jingting raised an eyebrow. "You have the nerve to say that? If I hadn't found out, were you planning to send your future husband to another woman's bed?"

Xu Qingcheng bit her lip, knowing she was in the wrong, but... she didn't want to talk about that now. She just wanted to know, "Were you already having designs on me back then?"

He smiled and hugged her. "Mom told you this? You were so touched you cried?"

"I'm not moved at all, answer me!" Xu Qingcheng insisted on getting an answer.

"Perhaps, even earlier."

Her eyes widened.

Is it still early?

"When?" Xu Qingcheng asked in surprise, "When we first met, when I contacted you through Song Xingzhi?"

"You fell in love with me at first sight?"

Fu Jingting chuckled softly, "Maybe."

He didn't know if it was love at first sight, but he did search for her for a long time until he discovered that she was another man's girlfriend.

But he never imagined that she would approach him, seduce him, and beg him for help.

He couldn't resist.

He was captivated by her beauty.

She has a terrible memory and doesn't remember him at all.

Xu Qingcheng was genuinely surprised. "You, you ignored me back then."

"Who's ignoring you? You're the one who's kicking someone when they're done with them, not me," Fu Jingting sneered.

Xu Qingcheng covered her face. Okay, it was her fault.

"So, you knew I wasn't pregnant when we got married, right?"

Fu Jingting, "..."

"Don't deny it, Mom told me everything." Xu Qingcheng tiptoed to kiss him, gently biting his lip with her teeth. "You're so cunning, you shrewd businessman! You dug a pit for me to fall into, didn't you?"

Fu Jingting breathed a sigh of relief. "What Mom told you? She didn't make things difficult for you?"

"Okay. That's all. Mom won't make things difficult for me." Even when he was in trouble, Zhong Wanxiu didn't make things difficult for him.

He would never make things difficult for her because of trivial matters in life.

Xu Qingcheng wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Fu Jingting clicked his tongue. "Don't I have any self-respect?"

A smile touched Xu Qingcheng's eyes. "Honey, can I say I'm very happy!"

Fu Jingting was exasperated by her expression, so he reached out and hugged her tightly, teasing her with a smile, "Mrs. Fu, please tone it down a bit, your lips are practically pointing to the sky."

"I won't hold back," Xu Qingcheng said coquettishly.

Fu Jingting couldn't help but laugh and pulled her outside.

Xu Qingcheng hugged him from behind, feeling an indescribable urge to be close to him.

Fu Jingting laughed and let her have her way. He opened the door, turned around and looked at her, "Let go, or you'll be embarrassed if Mom and Dad see you."

Xu Qingcheng let go of his hand, hooked her little finger around his, and whispered in his ear, "Honey, I really want to do 'that' with you."

Fu Jingting suddenly stopped, his voice hoarse, "Which one?"

Xu Qingcheng chuckled, and she tiptoed to breathe into his ear, "I want you..."

The following words whispered into his ears.

Fu Jingting cursed.

The woman had already run away laughing.

Fu Jingting's forehead twitched, but he still had to remind her, "Slow down."

Xu Qingcheng came down the stairs and bumped into Fu Sichen. "Sister Qingcheng."

Fu Sichen was startled and quickly helped Xu Qingcheng up, afraid that they had bumped into her.

She's carrying two babies; she can't afford to get hurt.

"The rooster crows at dawn?"

Xu Qingcheng asked in confusion, "Your second brother said you weren't coming back today."

"Well, I didn't want to come back, but the school rescheduled my classes, so I came back," Fu Sichen explained.

What she said was half true; the teacher changed the class schedule, but there were other arrangements.

The other half is that she took the day off to go to the hospital for a check-up and didn't want to go back. Since it's the weekend tomorrow, she decided to come back.

Fu Sichen went upstairs to change his clothes.

Xu Qingcheng was about to walk downstairs when she saw a piece of paper lying at her feet, so she bent down and picked it up.

"Sichen, are these your things?"