I just need to put it back together. Once it's complete, I can see whose name is on the prenatal checkup report.
She crouched on the floor, nervously piecing it together as Chen Suqiu walked toward her.
Anxious, Bai Yin worked even faster, quickly assembling the scraps. The moment she saw the name, the color drained from her face.
It really is my brother!
"Why didn't you answer when Mom called you? What are you so absorbed in? What treasure could there possibly be in your brother's trash can?"
Bai Yin suddenly came to her senses with a start, then frantically tried to crumple the paper in her hand.
Sharp-eyed, Chen Suqiu immediately noticed something was wrong and snatched the paper from her hand. "What is it? Why are you acting so sneaky?"
"Give it back." Bai Yin's face went deathly pale as she rose on tiptoe, trying to snatch it back.
Chen Suqiu held it high in both hands and calmly glanced at it. When she saw it was a prenatal checkup report, she froze for a moment, then sneered inwardly. So that's what happened.
"Bai Huizhang, I was wondering why your son suddenly ran away. Turns out he got someone pregnant."
Bai Huizhang's eyes widened. "What did you say?" he demanded.
Chen Suqiu paid his attitude no mind. "Come see for yourself."
Bai Yin was so anxious that sweat covered her forehead. "Mom, don't do this."
Seeing how anxious Bai Yin was, Chen Suqiu became even more certain. So that really is what happened.
But she was also a little annoyed. Her own daughter was defending that boy so fiercely under her own roof. How could anyone feel good about that?
Bai Huizhang walked over and silently took the report. He looked at it, his brow tightly furrowed.
"See? I was right, wasn't I?" Chen Suqiu said smugly.
Bai Huizhang ignored him. Whatever he saw made his expression change abruptly, but Chen Suqiu didn't notice and kept adding fuel to the fire.
"That's why children need to be properly disciplined from a young age. What happens if they grow up and cause trouble too big to handle?"
Bai Huizhang's face turned livid, and he burned with anger. "Shut up!"
Seeing him fly into such a rage for no apparent reason, Chen Suqiu felt somewhat aggrieved. "Why are you shouting so loudly? This is what your son did. I'm only saying it."
Bai Huizhang crumpled the scraps into a ball again and threw them into the trash can. Then he sat back down and closed his eyes. No one knew what he was thinking.
"That's not what happened."
Chen Suqiu said, "What do you mean?"
Bai Huizhang opened his eyes, seemingly too drained to be angry anymore. "He didn't get someone else pregnant."
Chen Suqiu was astonished and uncertain. She looked at Bai Yin's expression and thought back to Bai Huizhang's reaction.
"You mean he's the one who got pregnant?!"
Bai Huizhang found her words grating and shot her a glare, but he also knew she wasn't wrong. He let out a long sigh.
"Ah, it's all my fault for not bringing him up properly."
"How can you blame yourself?" It took Chen Suqiu quite a while to recover. Setting aside her astonishment, she hurried to comfort him.
Bai Huizhang looked at her, his gaze turning stern. "You're not to breathe a word of this to anyone. Do you hear me?"
Chen Suqiu thought little of it, but she knew better than to provoke him at a time like this, so she had no choice but to agree.
Bai Yin needed no warning; she naturally kept the matter to herself.
For some reason, however, word got out in the end. Rumors flew outside, with people mocking the Bai family's son for being promiscuous, saying he had slept with some man from who knew where and gotten pregnant, bringing shame on his family and leaving him no choice but to run away.
Bai Huizhang flew into a rage. After investigating, he discovered that one of the family's cleaning maids had spread the story. They had argued so loudly that day that someone had apparently overheard them and passed it on as gossip.
Bai Huizhang was so furious that he replaced every last one of the maids, but even that couldn't salvage the situation.
In the end, the rumors grew wilder and wilder. Somehow, as the story spread, it became that the Bai family's son had been violated and then kicked out by his furious parents.
"Have you heard about that?"
Zhou Kun suddenly recalled a story that had been spreading widely in their circle lately and spoke to the man sitting across from him, deep in thought.
Xi Yan lowered his eyes to the game board, toying with a black piece. "Go on," he said casually.
Zhou Kun thought he might care about the matter, since he seemed quite concerned about Bai Le, so he told him everything he knew.
"That Bai family kid who's close with my younger brother ran away from home a few days ago."
Xi Yan's hand stopped moving. He looked up and stared straight at him, his eyes sharp and cold.
"What did you say?"
Seeing his reaction, Zhou Kun thought, Just as I expected. His expression gave nothing away as he continued, "I heard he was forced to have sex with someone and got pregnant, then the Bai elders kicked him out."
When he finished, he added, "It's only a rumor. Just take it as gossip; there's no need to believe it." Even he thought it sounded utterly ridiculous.
To his surprise, Xi Yan's expression was dreadful. His already pale face looked even more frightening. He knitted his brows and clenched the black piece in his hand, its edges pressing painfully into his palm, but he paid it no mind.
"Get out."
Zhou Kun froze and frowned slightly, but he didn't object. He had no choice but to stand up, leave him with a "Get some rest, Fourth Uncle," and depart with a heavy heart.
Secretary Xing, who had been standing behind them the whole time, still looked shocked. He suddenly remembered running into Bai Le at the pharmacy that day and spoke hesitantly. "Fourth Master... there's something I'd like to tell you."
For some reason, Xi Yan's voice was a little hoarse. "Speak."
"I ran into President Bai at the pharmacy that day. I saw... saw him buying a pregnancy test..."
Xi Yan bent over and began coughing violently. A sickly flush spread across his pale face, and he sounded as though he were coughing up his insides.
He flung the black pieces from his hand, and they scattered across the floor with crisp clatters.