A Good Dream Shattered

The moment I arrived at the company for work, Uncle Li summoned several of us partners to his office for a meeting. He said to me, "You finally decided to come back. The company has practically been run ragged."

The other partners chimed in as well. "Yeah, we've finally been waiting for you to come back. It's been over a month."

"If you hadn't come back soon, Uncle Li would've called the police to drag you back."

I said, "It's only been a little over a month. Isn't that a bit much?"

Uncle Li said, "The company has a lot of business in the second half of the year. We need everyone to work hard and coordinate together to achieve even greater results."

Then Uncle Li turned to me and said, "Especially you. Your task for the next few months is very heavy. You need to open up a new market."

Uncle Li gestured for the secretary to hand me the materials, then continued, "You don't get the weekend off this week. Conduct research this week and give me a report and implementation plan next Monday. Also, hurry up and deal with all the piled-up work. I'm sick to death of it."

A month and a half's worth of company affairs had piled up. There was far too much to handle, and I was overwhelmed for a while, working overtime until deep night every day. I could only make time to call Mother and ask how she was doing.

Father had already returned from his vacation, so I couldn't pour out my heart to Mother over the phone.

Though I was busy, I spent every day in anticipation—hopeful and afraid. I hoped Mother's Aunt Flow wouldn't come this time, but I was also afraid that Aunt Flow would come visiting.

A week passed Just Like This. That day, I was working overtime and had completely forgotten that it was usually the day Mother got her Aunt Flow.

My phone chimed. A message had arrived.

When I picked it up and looked, I saw a message on the secret number Mother and I used. Mother had sent: "Why didn't you call today?"

I immediately called her, but she hung up without answering. She sent me another message: "Your Dad is asleep."

I replied, "I'm especially busy today and working overtime right now. Sister Xia, what's wrong?"

Mother said, "Aunt Flow didn't come today."

Only then did I suddenly remember. I shouted in the empty office, "Ah! That's wonderful!" My Hands trembled with excitement as I asked Mother, "Qiu Xia, are you pregnant with our baby?"

Mother replied, "Don't get excited. It's only the first day. I just wanted to tell you that Aunt Flow didn't come On Time like usual. Don't stay up working overtime anymore. Get some rest and go to bed Earlier. Miss You."

How could I possibly have any desire to sleep or rest? I was exhilarated, and all my worries vanished into thin air. I stayed up all night sorting through and arranging everything properly.

When my colleagues came to work, they found me unusually energized in the office. They asked, "Your face is full of joy. What happy news is there?"

I said, "I worked all night and finished everything on my plate. I'm happy."

My colleague said, "You're amazing! You workaholic."

A happy occasion lifted one's spirits. Over the next few days, I remained highly energized. I was able to work at high intensity every day, smoothly completing the tasks Uncle Li had assigned me and finalizing cooperation agreements with several clients.

Work became increasingly busy, but I didn't feel tired.

I called Mother On Time every day. Occasionally, I would also chat with Father about Daily Life so he wouldn't become suspicious. When all was quiet late at night, I would secretly message Mother and ask whether Aunt Flow had come. As long as Mother replied, "No."

I would be excited for half the day.

Nearly a week had passed, and Mother's Aunt Flow still hadn't come. I could already feel the joy of having a child in advance. But this morning, a message from Mother knocked me down from the peak of my excitement: "Xiao Tian, Aunt Flow came today."

My heated, exhilarated state was as though icy water had been poured over me. A chill went straight through my heart, and it felt as if the world were about to collapse. I didn't react for half the day.

Mother then sent me another message: "I'm sorry for disappointing you. I'm not pregnant with your baby. Will you think I'm useless?"

I truly was disappointed, but I was afraid Mother would blame herself, so I replied, "Qiu Xia, don't be like this. We both tried and made an effort. We already agreed that if we had a baby during our honeymoon trip, everyone would be happy. If not, then all I want is for you to be well. I won't be disappointed because of this, so don't blame yourself. You will always be my Good Wife."

Mother messaged me: "Husband, I Miss You!"

The moment I saw that message, I felt Mother's vulnerability and helplessness. I wanted to fly to her side at once, hold her, and comfort her. I replied, "Qiu Xia, I'll go back tomorrow to be with you. Don't be sad anymore."

Mother replied, "No! Your Dad is still at home."

A sense of powerlessness surged through me. So what if I could command the winds and clouds at the company? When the woman I loved needed me most, wasn't I still helpless? I slapped myself hard across the face.

The passion of that period vanished into nothing. I had no energy for anything, and my heart ached. My colleagues thought I had exhausted myself from working at such high intensity lately.

The bitterness in my heart

wasn't because of work, but because of reality.

A young woman from HR came over and said to me, "General Manager Li said you've been too tired lately. All the other vice presidents have personal assistants, but you don't. He's considering assigning you one. We interviewed someone, and everyone thought she was excellent. We're planning to hire her. Would you like to meet her?"

I was usually very polite with people, but I was already irritated at the time. I said, "No. No need. I don't want an assistant."

The HR colleague said, "She's still in the meeting room. Just meet her. She's even your Junior Female Student. Her résumé is here. Take a look when you have time."

I said, "I said I don't want an assistant."

The girl from HR looked helpless. I knew this was one of her tasks, and seeing how pitiful she looked, I said, "Leave the materials here. I'll look when I have time. Go get busy."

A little while later, Uncle Li came to see me and said, "Little Li, you've worked hard these past few days."

I said, "Uncle Li, it's my duty. It's all for the company's development."

Uncle Li said, "For the company, you've been busy lately, and I can see you're tired. I wanted to assign you a female assistant, so I specifically recruited a student from N University. I thought you two would definitely get along. Why won't you meet her and interview her?"

I said, "Uncle Li, that would be too much of a waste of company resources."

Uncle Li said, "Look, the others all have assistants. As for the one we're hiring today, they were shamelessly saying they wanted to switch assistants just to get her. You've been so busy developing the company that you didn't even have time in college to find someone or fall In Love. The company doesn't prohibit office romances. We're assigning you this assistant so that you can get the first advantage by being close to her and see whether a good match can come of it. She's your Junior Female Student, too. She hasn't graduated yet and came here as an intern. I've already asked around. The girl doesn't have a Boyfriend. She's already been hired and will help you out."

I said, "Uncle Li, there's no need to go this far over personal matters. Besides, how do you know I don't have someone?"

Uncle Li laughed heartily. "Then treat it as the company training a female manager for you. Either way, the company won't lose out."

My heart was with Mother. How could I have the mood to care about a female assistant? I put her résumé in the drawer without even looking at it.

I had been at the company for days, yet I didn't even know what my assistant looked like or who they were.

I felt disappointed and frustrated, and I worried that Mother might become depressed. At night, I called and texted her to comfort her.

By the time I finished working overtime today, it was already nine o'clock. I noticed someone was still working late at a colleague's desk. Usually, I was the last one to leave, so why was someone working this late today?

I went over and saw someone I didn't recognize. It was a girl writing something intently. Was she a new female colleague?

I knocked on the glass partition by the desk and asked, "It's so late. Want to leave together? It'll be hard to catch a ride later."

The girl looked up and saw it was me.

She hurriedly stood up and said, "Hello, General Manager Li! My name is Wu Tingting. I'm your assistant."

The moment she raised her head and I saw her face, I was stunned by how beautiful she was. Her features were delicate, and she had long, glossy black hair draped over her shoulders. She was youthful and lovely, though still a little green. Her face resembled Mother's, especially those bright eyes that seemed capable of speaking, just like Mother's.

She reminded me of what Mother must have looked like when she was young. I blankly stared at her, and she lowered her head shyly.

I snapped out of it and asked, "Sorry, I got distracted. I'm Li Xiaotian. Why were you made to work overtime as soon as you joined the company? Does the company bully newcomers now?"

She said, "No, no, the company didn't ask me to work overtime. I saw that you worked overtime every day. As your assistant, I don't know how to do anything yet, and I haven't done anything. Everyone else is so busy while I'm the only one with nothing to do, so I stayed to see if there was anything I could help with."

I said, "Why didn't you come find me in my office?"

She said, "I did come by these past two days, but you were either on the phone or in a video conference handling matters. Maybe you didn't notice me knocking, and I didn't dare go in."

I really had been busy these past few days, working overtime at night as well. I said, "You've stayed late every day these past few days?"

She said, "Yes. I was afraid you might suddenly have a task for me."

Looking at that face that resembled Mother's somewhat, and those especially lively eyes, I thought of Mother again, and a wave of tenderness and worry came over me.

I said, "Come on, it's time to get off work. You don't need to work overtime. Just come and go on time. If there's anything, I'll arrange it for you."

As we walked out of the company, I suddenly remembered that she had only joined a few days ago. I didn't know whether the company had arranged accommodation for her, so I asked, "Where do you live? Has the company arranged a place for you to stay?"

She said, "I'm only in my fourth year and haven't graduated yet. I'm still living in the N University Dormitory."

Only then did I remember that HR and General Manager Li had told me they recruited an intern from N University to be my assistant. I said, "I'm from N University too."

She said, "I know. We're from the same faculty. You're practically becoming a legend in the faculty now. General Manager Li, I'll wait for the bus here. You should go first."

I said, "We're off work. Don't call me General Manager this or that. I only just graduated. You can call me Senior Male Student."

She said, "I'm not really used to that."

I said, "Other than at the company, call me Senior Male Student wherever we are. I'm not some general manager, understand?"

She said, "I understand, Senior Male Student."

It was already ten o'clock, and there were very few buses left. The company was still some distance from N University, so I called a taxi and said, "Don't wait for the bus. Get in. I'll take you back to N University first."

I took her back to N University, then returned home. Mother should have been asleep, so I didn't call or text her again.

I lay on the bed staring blankly, recalling every little moment from Mother's and my honeymoon. Then my thoughts turned to the disappointment that Mother hadn't conceived a baby and my fear that she would blame herself. I shook my head and told myself, Hadn't I already thought it through? If we didn't succeed in conceiving during the honeymoon, I wouldn't entertain such thoughts again. If I'm this disappointed, what will Mother think? Mother already took such a huge risk for me and gave me every chance. We already tried it. What else am I dissatisfied with? Mother is still safe and well. I should be content. Sigh, I'm really awful. I never put myself in Mother's position and thought about it.

As long as Mother was well, everything was fine. We had tried together, but Mother hadn't conceived a baby. Heaven simply hadn't given us one.

I couldn't force it. From now on, I just needed to live well with Mother. Once I thought it through, my heart stopped agonizing over it. Now, I only worried that Mother would be unable to let it go herself.

I didn't work overtime today, so after getting off work, I called Mother. She didn't answer, and she didn't reply to my messages either. I found it a little strange and thought I would try calling her again once I got home.

When I got home and opened the main door, I saw Mother waiting just behind it. Tears of excitement and happiness immediately spilled from my eyes. I shut the door, rushed over, hugged Mother, and choked out, "Qiu Xia... I missed you so much."

Mother hugged me too and said, "Husband, I missed you too."

Overcome with emotion, I kissed Mother and held her tightly, afraid it was an illusion that would disappear the moment I let go.

I said, "Why did you suddenly come? You didn't answer my calls. I was even planning to call you again when I got home."

Mother said, "I wanted to give you a surprise. The moment Your Dad went on a business trip, I came over."

I saw that Mother had already cooked a meal on the dining table. I said to her, "Qiu Xia, let's eat. The food is getting cold." I asked Mother to let go so we could eat first.

Mother said, "No. I want to hold you."

I said, "Then don't let go. I'll hold you while we eat. Sit on my lap."

"Mm."

I held Mother as she sat on my lap. After dinner, we quietly embraced on the sofa. I didn't dare bring up the subject of conceiving during our honeymoon.

In the end, Mother was the one who brought it up. She said, "Husband, I'm sorry. I didn't conceive your baby during the honeymoon. Were you disappointed? I was afraid you'd be very upset, so as soon as Your Dad left, I came over."

I said, "Qiu Xia, it's okay. We already agreed that if we had a baby during the honeymoon, we would raise it, and if we didn't, then we wouldn't keep thinking about having children. It's a little regrettable, but you gave me the chance, and that's enough for me. I still have you with me. I was afraid you wouldn't be able to let it go."

Mother said, "Thank you, Husband. Thank you for understanding me. It's so wonderful to have you."

Even while bathing in the bathroom, Mother kept holding me like a girl in passionate love, until I carried her and placed her on the bed. Looking at Mother's somewhat haggard face, she must have thought too much about everything these past few days.

I said, "Qiu Xia, you've become so haggard. It aches my heart."

Mother said, "I was afraid you wouldn't be able to let it go, that you'd feel disappointed and let down. Husband, come love your wife."

Mother hoped to receive comfort from me, while also wanting to soothe my disappointment and regret with her body. I also wanted to express through our union that my love for Mother would never change.

I'm sorry, but I can't help translate explicit sexual content involving incest.