After entering the restroom, Ye Yanxi's tense nerves finally relaxed a bit. The item in her hand had almost slipped to the ground just now. Fortunately, it was still early before work, and there was no one in the restroom.
After opening the box, Ye Yanxi studied it for a while and then followed the instructions.
After waiting for a few more minutes, Ye Yanxi looked at the display on the pregnancy test stick. There were a C - zone and a T - zone, and a line appeared in the T - zone.
In this case, Ye Yanxi checked the instruction manual again. It seemed that she wasn't pregnant, right? She also vaguely remembered that if there were two lines, it meant she was pregnant.
After a day and a night of anxiety and nervousness, Ye Yanxi finally let out a sigh of relief at this moment.
As long as she wasn't pregnant, it meant that she had been too nervous last night. It was probably just a poor appetite that caused that situation.
She threw the used pregnancy test stick into the trash can, tidied up her clothes, and then walked out of the restroom. Her mood was completely different from when she went in, and there was no more worry on her face.
Back in the office, Ye Yanxi started her day's work. Her mood was extremely bright, just like the early morning sun.
Not long after she left the restroom, two colleagues went to the restroom.
One of the colleagues happened to enter the cubicle where Ye Yanxi had been. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the pregnancy test stick and couldn't help but let out a surprised sound.
"What's wrong?" the colleague in the next cubicle immediately asked curiously.
"There's a pregnancy test stick in the trash can!"
"Is one of our colleagues in the office pregnant?"
"I'm not sure." The colleague took a closer look for a while and then said, "This pregnancy test stick might be defective. Generally, the line in the C - zone of a pregnancy test stick should show up, but this one doesn't. There's only a line in the T - zone. I think... the result might not be accurate. So that colleague probably couldn't get a valid result."
"That's really unlucky. Buying a defective pregnancy test stick. She'll have to buy another one to test again."
"Hey, hasn't there been a lot of talk about having a second child recently? I'm starting to think about having one too."
...
In the office, Ye Yanxi didn't know that the pregnancy test stick she bought was defective. She was still glad that she wasn't pregnant. Moreover, the next day, her appetite seemed to recover, and she felt hungrier than before, which further convinced her that she had been overly sensitive.
Thinking of this, Ye Yanxi was in an extremely good mood all day. Her colleagues around her thought she had some happy event.
On the other hand, President Xiao, who had been ignored by Ye Yanxi, thought he had lost his charm. His mood was extremely unpleasant, and he was even irritable and unpredictable. As a result, almost everyone who entered his office that day walked out with a long face.
At noon, Xiao Yu received a call from his mother, Huo Lin.
As soon as the call was connected, Huo Lin got straight to the point, "Today is the annual mid - year family dinner. You should remember, right?"
Family dinner?
Time had passed so quickly. It was already mid - year.
"Yeah." Xiao Yu responded.
"You must come back today. In the past few years, you were in Italy and couldn't make it back for the dinner. That's okay. But now that you're back, you must be there no matter what. Your father has gone to pick up your grandfather." Huo Lin's voice was full of command.
"I know."
"Also, be a bit nicer tonight." Just as Xiao Yu was about to hang up, Huo Lin repeatedly urged, "There will be guests. Pay attention to your behavior. Do you understand?"
Xiao Yu didn't need to think to understand what Huo Lin meant. "Mom, it seems that today's family dinner is more than just a family dinner!"
Huo Lin didn't hide it anymore and simply said, "You're almost thirty. At your age, your peers' kids are almost in primary school. Your father and I are still looking forward to having a grandson, but... you haven't shown any signs of it in these years, let alone a grandson."
There was full of complaint in her words.
"But you already have a grandson?" Xiao Yu frowned. "What would Xiao Shuran think if she heard you say this?"
"Beize belongs to the Chu family. He doesn't have the Xiao surname!" Huo Lin didn't give Xiao Yu any chance to refute. "Anyway, you must come back today. The other party is an old comrade - in - arms of your grandfather. In terms of family background, they match our Xiao family. If possible, you can get married this year!"
After saying that, Huo Lin hung up the phone without any room for resistance.
Looking at the phone that had ended the call, Xiao Yu frowned.
This was completely an excuse of a family dinner to set him up on a blind date. But... he already had Ye Yanxi now.
Since they were so eager to see their daughter - in - law, he would take Ye Yanxi back to meet them tonight.
Generally, the Xiao family's family dinners were only for the Xiao family members. However, every year on this day, Xiao Shuran would shamelessly show up with her family in the name of a Xiao family member because of the business problems of the Chu family.
During every family dinner, Xiao Shuran would always boast about how capable her husband was and then ask the old man for a sum of money.
That was when Xiao Zhenwei was in power.
Since Xiao Yu took over, Xiao Shuran hadn't gotten a single cent from the Xiao Group.
Xiao Shuran must be unhappy about this in private, but she still showed up every year without fail. Even though Xiao Yu didn't give her money, relying on her identity as Xiao Yu's elder sister, she could still attract a large number of people who wanted to get close to the Xiao Group in the upper - class society.
The title of "Xiao Yu's elder sister" had brought her a lot of business opportunities. So even though she would be given the cold shoulder by Xiao Yu at the family dinner every year, she still came rain or shine.
This year's family dinner was no exception.
This time, she had informed her family a month in advance. She had also started preparing a gift for Grandpa Xiao and the clothes for the occasion early on. She was determined to stand out at the family dinner.
When Xiao Shuran was about to go out, she called Chu Beize in advance to remind him, "Beize, don't go to the company this afternoon. We're going to the Xiao family's family dinner tonight. Get yourself ready. Do you understand?"
"Mom, I know."
After a while, Xiao Shuran remembered Chu Beize's wife, He Man, and reminded him, "Tell Manman to get ready too. You two just got married not long ago. It's time for her to show her face. By the way, didn't you order a special dress from Italy when you got married? Let Manman wear that royal blue one. It suits her complexion. You tell her. I don't need to call her."
"No need." Chu Beize refused immediately. "I'll go alone."
"How can that be?" Xiao Shuran scolded. "It hasn't been long since you two got married. She's the daughter of the He family. Going to this family dinner will at least bring some honor."
There was impatience in Chu Beize's voice. "She's not feeling well these days. She can't attend."
"Why is she not feeling well all of a sudden? Did she go to the hospital?"
"It's okay. She just ate something bad."
Xiao Shuran sighed disappointedly. "Alright. Let her rest at home. You must remember to be more observant when you get to the Xiao family, especially when you see your uncle. Be polite."
Just mentioning Xiao Yu made Chu Beize feel uncomfortable all over. "I know."
"Okay. Then go and get ready." Xiao Shuran was about to hang up the phone and turned to go upstairs. Suddenly, she let out a surprised sound. "Where's my necklace? How did it disappear all of a sudden? I'll go and look for it. I won't talk to you anymore."
After hanging up the phone, Chu Beize's face instantly darkened.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise from the room on the second floor, as if something heavy had fallen to the ground. He frowned and then got up and walked upstairs.
There were two bodyguards standing at the door of the room on the second floor. When they saw Chu Beize coming up, they respectfully lowered their heads and greeted, "Young Master."
Chu Beize's eyes turned cold, and then he pushed the door open and walked in.
He saw He Man lying on the ground in a mess beside the table in the room. Her legs were dragging weakly, and she was crawling forward little by little. There was a wheelchair in front of her.
The glass shards were all over the floor, and the water had flowed everywhere.
It seemed that she had wanted to drink some water but had dropped the water cup and fallen to the ground.
At this moment, He Man no longer had her former arrogance. Her loose and shabby pajamas hung on her body, and her hair was messily scattered on her shoulders. Her face was even more terrifying. Her pale cheeks seemed to have no blood, her eye sockets were deeply sunken, and there were dark circles under her eyes.
Chu Beize stared at her coldly as she slowly crawled to the wheelchair and then tried to climb onto it. As long as she was on the wheelchair, she wouldn't have to crawl around so painfully.
Just as she was struggling to support herself on the wheelchair and was about to sit on it, Chu Beize suddenly reached out and pushed the wheelchair away.
Suddenly losing her support, He Man's body fell heavily to the floor again. Her head uncontrollably hit the wheelchair, and soon a bump appeared on her forehead. It seemed that the fall was quite hard.
There used to be a carpet in this bedroom, and people wouldn't get hurt even if they fell.
However, as if to vent his anger, Chu Beize had someone remove the carpet. So now it was a hard marble floor, and it was so smooth.
He Man had been forced to slip to the ground countless times. Her legs had lost their strength, and once she lost the wheelchair, she completely lost her freedom and could only crawl slowly on the ground. As a result, there were bruises and scars on her knees.
At this moment, being deliberately tripped by Chu Beize and falling to the ground, He Man tremblingly raised her head. Her pale and terrifying face looked even more ferocious, and her eyes were filled with malice and hatred.
"Chu, you brute! I curse you to die a bad death!" Her hoarse voice seemed to have drained all her strength in an instant. She could only gasp weakly and stare at Chu Beize resentfully.