Xiang Wan was speechless for two seconds, then turned back to ask him.
"Then what do you mean by that? You think my relationship with Tang Haichao is impure? Have I wronged you in the days you were gone?"
Xiang Wan's face was flushed from the heat after sitting in the restaurant for two hours.
Coupled with her naturally thick eyebrows, large eyes, high nose bridge, and slightly upturned lips.
When she pouted in anger, her expression was simply captivating.
Lu Mingzhe stared at her face, momentarily forgetting to answer her question.
Seeing his lovestruck expression and his restless hands, Xiang Wan got angry and nudged him in the abdomen with her elbow.
"I'm talking to you!"
"I want to kiss you, wife. We haven't seen each other for two days, and you've become even more beautiful~"
"...Stop changing the subject. What are you here for today? Do you think I'm having an affair with Tang Haichao and came to catch me?"
As they spoke, a taxi pulled over with its hazard lights flashing.
Lu Mingzhe hailed it and pulled her in, "We'll talk about it when we get home."
Xiang Wan felt that his intentions for finding her were not pure. She sulked all the way, looking out the window with her face turned away, refusing to acknowledge him.
Lu Mingzhe didn't force it, just held her hand in his palm, rubbing it repeatedly.
When they got out of the car and entered the hotel elevator, the person who had seemed half-drunk and disoriented revealed his true self.
As the elevator doors closed, he pulled Xiang Wan's arm forcefully, drew her into his embrace, and kissed her without a word.
The lingering taste of mellow and sweet Wuliangye wine passed between their lips. Within five seconds, Xiang Wan pushed him away.
"Let go of me, let go..."
"You've been drinking, it's not good for the baby, let go..."
She struggled fiercely, and Lu Mingzhe had to step back, cupping her chin. "What? You won't even let me kiss you?"
"You drunkard! The camera is watching!"
"Who cares? We're a proper couple, why should we be afraid of him watching?"
"You smell of alcohol, don't come near me and hurt the baby!"
"Nonsense, a little smell of alcohol is bad for the baby? My child, Lu Mingzhe's offspring, wouldn't be so delicate."
"..."
The elevator arrived. Lu Mingzhe pulled her out, quickly swiped the door open, pulled Xiang Wan inside, and then kicked it shut.
He immediately pressed her towards the entryway.
Xiang Wan knew what he was going to do. Her heart leaped into her throat.
"No, Lu Mingzhe, don't be crazy, it's not good for the baby."
Lu Mingzhe was panting heavily, his breath hot with alcohol on her face. "To be honest, I consulted the doctor at the hospital yesterday."
"?"
"They said it's okay, as long as I'm gentle, it's fine throughout the pregnancy."
Although there was no one else around, Xiang Wan couldn't help but blush when she heard this.
"You... you really asked?"
"Why would I lie to you? Would I joke about my own child?"
"You're really thick-skinned!"
"What can I do? My wife doesn't love me anymore since she got pregnant. You hide from me every day and don't let me touch anything. I'm wronged."
"You're still wronged? Competing for affection with your own child when you're so grown up?"
"I am competing. You are the one who will accompany me for the rest of my life. What's a child compared to that?"
Lu Mingzhe said, then started acting cute again.
"Really, wife, I really asked the doctor, it's okay."
"We haven't been together for so long, don't you miss me?"
Xiang Wan, adhering to the principle of what's best for the baby, said the opposite of what she meant. "No."
Lu Mingzhe shamelessly said, "I don't care. You don't miss me, but I miss you. You have to agree to me today."
"Lu Mingzhe, your alcohol tolerance is really that bad?"
"Stop changing the subject, I'll take that as a 'yes'."
Lu Mingzhe said, then scooped her up and walked towards the bathroom by instinct.
"Cooperate and be lenient, resist and be strict. It's up to you."
After a bout of activity, the two of them snuggled into the covers.
Lu Mingzhe was completely sober now. He held Xiang Wan tightly and gently stroked her hair.
Xiang Wan, still thinking about the question regarding Tang Haichao, finally had the chance to settle the score with him.
"You still haven't answered my question. Weren't you suspicious that there was something between me and Tang Haichao? Then why are you hugging me?"
"Who suspected you?" Lu Mingzhe said contentedly, his voice lazy.
"I don't trust him."
"...What's the difference between that and suspecting me?"
"Alright, alright. We haven't seen each other for a long time, I miss you terribly. Let's not waste our breath on irrelevant people."
Lu Mingzhe kissed her forehead.
"Anyway, just remember, besides your husband, men outside have no good intentions."
"No matter what sweet talk they say or what they do for your sake, their goal is to get you."
"Stay away from them, don't give them any chance to ruin us, okay?"
Dismissing all men with one sweeping statement, Xiang Wan was amused by his words.
"You're indirectly saying I'm not discreet and that I'm giving others opportunities. There's no pure friendship between men and women, fine."
"From now on, no woman should appear around you."
She said it in jest, but Lu Mingzhe took it seriously.
"Alright, if you feel unsafe, I can announce on my Moments right now that I'm married."
"You can check my phone freely. All the women in it, except my mother, I can delete them all without issue."
Xiang Wan: "..."
Saying that, he turned and fumbled for his phone on the nightstand.
"The password is your birthday. Come, you delete them yourself."
Whether it was because he was recently satisfied and thus exceptionally tender, or because he was always like this,
To be honest, Xiang Wan was touched at that moment.
She didn't take the phone, looking at his face. "Don't you have many childhood friends? Like Zhou Jinbei..."
"Zhou Jinbei is my childhood friend? Who told you that? She's just a little girl, not a woman in my eyes at all."
"Delete her. She's the most annoying. Delete her right now."
Xiang Wan pressed his hand. "Why are you like this? The more you talk, the more excited you get."
"I know, your intention in doing this is to make me also promise not to interact with Tang Haichao again, but..."
Lu Mingzhe was waiting for her to explain herself.
"But what? You don't tell your husband when you encounter problems, you go to others to borrow money, and now you realize you owe a big favor?"
Xiang Wan: "...How did you know I borrowed money from him?"
Lu Mingzhe snorted coldly, "If you don't want anyone to know, don't do it."
"This time, I'll overlook it, giving you a way out, and won't hold it against you."
"If you go to other men for help again in the future, don't blame me for not letting you off."
He said it sternly. Thinking about her own complex emotional journey when facing difficulties and her pride that was hard to let go of, Xiang Wan felt a little wronged.
Seeing her eyelids droop, looking unhappy, Lu Mingzhe quickly softened his tone.
"What I mean is, with me here from now on, you don't have to run around by yourself when you have something."
"Tell me, we'll discuss it together. Don't always make yourself suffer, okay?"
Xiang Wan nestled into his embrace and finally nodded.
"I'm older than you, and I've reached this point where I still need to ask you for help..."
"Don't say such foolish things. If you don't say it and I don't say it, who can tell you're a year older than me?"
"Zhou Jinbei also said that my wife must have just come of age, telling me, an old ox, not to eat tender grass."