Chapter 40

Chapter 40

When Su Tinghe woke up, he found himself encircled in Shang Huoyong's arms, his back pressed against a warm chest. Recalling his bold actions from the previous night, his face flushed with embarrassment, and he closed his eyes again, pretending to still be asleep.

However, Shang Huoyong's hands were restless, now pinching his waist, now caressing his abdomen. Su Tinghe couldn't bear it and wanted to reach out to stop Shang Huoyong. Just as he was about to move, he heard Shang Huoyong whisper softly in his ear, "Su Tinghe, are you really Su Tinghe?"

Shang Huoyong's voice was faint, almost like a dreamy murmur, but Su Tinghe heard it clearly and was so frightened that he froze, not daring to move a muscle.

Shang Huoyong seemed unaware, his hands roaming all over Su Tinghe's body, enjoying the smoothness of his skin, unable to get enough.

Su Tinghe endured with great difficulty, not daring to move. But when Shang Huoyong's hand slid down his abdomen, Su Tinghe couldn't take it anymore and clamped his legs together, blocking Shang Huoyong's mischievous hand.

"Awake," Shang Huoyong's lazy voice, slightly hoarse, rang out in Su Tinghe's ear.

"How could I not wake up with you doing that?" Su Tinghe turned his head to glare at Shang Huoyong and pulled his hand away.

Shang Huoyong didn't insist, instead burying his head in Su Tinghe's neck, one hand gripping his waist, the other his shoulder, pulling him tightly into his embrace as if Su Tinghe were a beloved doll.

Their bodies fit together perfectly, and Su Tinghe felt the dangerous position he was in from behind. He struggled and said, "Let me go, will you?"

"Don't move," Shang Huoyong's arm around Su Tinghe tightened, his voice low and husky, "Just let me hold you for a while."

Su Tinghe immediately stopped moving, muttering softly, "What's wrong with you so early in the morning?"

Shang Huoyong chuckled lowly, "Who was it that teased me last night?"

Su Tinghe pretended not to hear and lay still in Shang Huoyong's arms, not moving.

By the time they got out of bed, it was already ten minutes later. Su Tinghe noticed that compared to the first time, the discomfort in his body had lessened considerably.

However, Su Tinghe suddenly remembered something, "Honey, did we break the precept last night?"

"What precept?" Shang Huoyong didn't understand what Su Tinghe was talking about.

Su Tinghe anxiously reminded him, "Didn't you say that the master had told you to abstain from lust?"

Shang Huoyong had long forgotten about this, surprised that Su Tinghe still remembered. He said nonchalantly, "Well, I'm unemployed now, no need to abstain. Besides, don't you think it's a bit late to worry about that now?"

Indeed, Su Tinghe awkwardly covered his face and fled, only to find countless missed calls and messages from Bai Hua and Zhang Shijing on his phone. He quickly called them back, but they were surprisingly calm, as Shang Huoyong had already answered their calls.

Relieved, Su Tinghe then noticed that his father had also called. His father had never contacted him before, so Su Tinghe found it strange and called back to ask what was wrong.

His father's voice was emotionless, calmly stating, "Tomorrow is your mother's memorial day, don't forget."

"What should I do?" Su Tinghe asked.

"Lingshan Cemetery, tomorrow at 10 AM," his father's voice remained steady, pausing for a moment before adding, "Bring Shang Huoyong along."

"Okay," Su Tinghe didn't know what else to say. His father probably couldn't think of anything else either, and hung up after finishing his instructions.

Su Tinghe told Shang Huoyong about the memorial visit, and Shang Huoyong didn't ask much, but prepared flowers the next day.

At the cemetery, to Su Tinghe's surprise, besides his father, his stepmother and stepbrother were also there. Su Tinghe felt strange.

Shang Huoyong had seen Su Tinghe's biological mother when he was young and had some vague memories of the deceased. Now that she was also his mother in a way, Shang Huoyong offered the flowers and bowed sincerely three times.

The atmosphere during the memorial was quite solemn, but it lightened up a bit as they walked back.

Su Tinghe's father was the first to speak, asking Shang Huoyong, "What are you doing now?"

Shang Huoyong spread his hands: "I'm not doing anything, just lounging around at home."

Su Tinghe's father frowned and lectured: "You're still young; you can't let a minor setback knock you down. You need to find something to do."

Shang Huoyong was indifferent: "It's fine. Su Tinghe said he’d make money to take care of me."

Su Tinghe's father stopped in his tracks, looking at Shang Huoyong in disbelief: "What are you talking about? What can he even do? He says he’ll support you, and you’re actually letting him? Don’t you have any ambition as a grown man?"

Su Tinghe weakly interjected: "I’m not completely useless, am I?"

Su Tinghe's father frowned deeply at Su Tinghe, "You’ve never made a single penny on your own since you were a kid. What are you going to support him with? Doesn’t he have any money left?"

Su Tinghe, feeling indignant, muttered softly: "Can Su Qingyue even make money?"

Su Tinghe's father replied, "Don’t compare yourself to him; he’s always been better than you since we were kids."

Su Tinghe felt that his father was being extremely biased and wanted to argue, but his stepmother, Ceng Zhirou, stepped in to advise Su Tinghe's father: "Kids have their own paths; don’t stress over it. It’s not easy for them to be this close now."

Su Tinghe's father snorted, "What good are feelings anyway?"

Su Tinghe's father used to like Shang Huoyong more and more, but today he was growing more and more annoyed with him. However, with so many people around, many things were inconvenient to say, so he called Shang Huoyong aside for a private talk.

Shang Huoyong followed Su Tinghe's father to a more distant place to talk, leaving Su Tinghe with his stepmother and stepbrother. Su Tinghe was still bitter about the wine Su Qingyue had given him last time, but without evidence, he couldn't accuse Su Qingyue of anything.

Su Qingyue's eyes darted around as he asked Su Tinghe, "Brother, how did you get so close to Shang Huoyong all of a sudden? He’s not in the company’s leadership anymore, and with his uncle around, it's probably hard for him to return."

Su Tinghe was now very wary of Su Qingyue: "What are you trying to say?"

"You didn’t exactly marry Shang Huoyong by choice, why not take this opportunity to divorce him," Su Qingyue tempted Su Tinghe, giving him advice, "I remember you liked Shang Yizhi, didn’t you? After the divorce, you could go after him without any worries."

"Don’t talk nonsense," Su Tinghe shot back, glaring at Su Qingyue in shock, emphasizing, "I only like Shang Huoyong."

Su Qingyue clearly didn't believe him and had just said "Brother," when he saw Su Tinghe suddenly collapse beside him.

Su Qingyue jumped back in surprise, only to see Shang Huoyong rush over like a shot, picking Su Tinghe up from the ground.

Su Tinghe's father quickly walked over, and Su Qingyue hurriedly waved his hands: "It wasn’t me, I didn’t do anything."

Ceng Zhirou also explained from the side: "He just collapsed on his own."

Shang Huoyong gave them a cold look, picked Su Tinghe up in his arms, and said to Su Tinghe's father, "I’ll take him to the hospital first."

Su Tinghe's father ignored the two, his face showing anxiety, "Hurry up, I’m coming to the hospital with you."

Su Qingyue and Ceng Zhirou exchanged glances. Coming to the tomb-sweeping every year was already unlucky, and now with Su Tinghe causing this scene, it was even more unlucky. But since Su Tinghe’s father was going, they had no choice but to act concerned and follow along, wanting to see what was really wrong with Su Tinghe, but secretly hoping something was indeed wrong.

After arriving at the hospital and completing various tests, the doctor said Su Tinghe had fainted from exhaustion and poor nutrition lately.

Hearing the doctor's words, Su Tinghe's father immediately turned angrily to Shang Huoyong, pointing at his nose and shouting, "Is this how you look after him? Making him earn money to support you, how could you do that? If you can’t take care of him, then divorce him. Our Su family can handle it."

Since Shang Huoyong was no longer the head of the Shangshi Group, Su Tinghe's father was not afraid of him at all.

Su Tinghe, lying pale on the hospital bed, said to his father, "I'm fine, I just haven't been resting well recently."

"You're still protecting him at this point," Su Tinghe's father was so angry he could grind his teeth, almost driven mad by Su Tinghe.

Ceng Zhirou hadn't expected Su Tinghe's fainting to be due to such a trivial matter. She patted Su Tinghe's father's back to comfort him, "Why are you getting angry with a child? Since he's fine, let him rest well. They don’t have to work, but you still have to go to work."

Su Tinghe's father thought it was indeed so; he had a meeting in the afternoon, so after scolding Shang Huoyong a few more times, he left the hospital.

After everyone left, Su Tinghe grabbed Shang Huoyong's arm and said to him, "Don't listen to what he says, I'm really fine."

Shang Huoyong looked at Su Tinghe, sat down, and asked very seriously, "Do you want to divorce me?"

To his surprise, Su Tinghe's eyes immediately welled up with tears. "Are you saying you don't want me anymore?"

"Why are you crying?" Shang Huoyong reached out to wipe away his tears, "I'm asking if you want to divorce me. After all, I have nothing now. The company is under my second uncle's control, and it's likely I won't be able to return."

Su Tinghe hugged Shang Huoyong, sobbing, "I don't want anything, I just want you."

Shang Huoyong gently patted Su Tinghe's back, his eyes dark and unreadable.

After the check-up revealed no major problems, Su Tinghe went home with Shang Huoyong. At home, Su Tinghe caught a glimpse in the mirror of the pregnancy mark on his collarbone, which was very vivid, and he began to suspect.

However, after the last false alarm, Su Tinghe wasn't entirely sure he was actually pregnant, so he secretly went out to the pharmacy.

Su Tinghe had just found out that checking for pregnancy doesn't necessarily require a doctor; a pregnancy test can also detect it.

After returning home, Su Tinghe immediately ran to the bathroom and then stared at the two lines on the pregnancy test in a daze.

Su Tinghe read the instructions on the pregnancy test over and over again, repeatedly confirming what the two lines meant.

But how to tell Shang Huoyong? Su Tinghe was torn.

Shang Huoyong clearly didn't believe that men could get pregnant and have children, but strictly speaking, Su Tinghe wasn't a man of this world. However, Su Tinghe couldn't reveal his true identity as a "boy" to Shang Huoyong.

Su Tinghe stayed in the bathroom for too long, and Shang Huoyong came to find him, knocking on the door and asking if he was okay.

Su Tinghe opened the door, looked at Shang Huoyong with worry, and then handed him the pregnancy test, blurting out, "You're going to be a dad."

Shang Huoyong: "...?!"