"Surprise? What kind of surprise could there be?"
Liu Qiang irritably kicked off his shoes. His wife took a pair of slippers from the shoe cabinet, bent down, and set them by his feet.
Once Liu Qiang had put on the slippers, his wife went into the kitchen and came out with a glass of juice. She smiled warmly.
"Honey, I just squeezed some fresh orange juice. You're always drinking tea, and it leaves your mouth dry. Have something sweet instead."
Liu Qiang murmured in acknowledgment, took the juice, and drank a sip. The gloom on his face eased a little.
"Sit down for a while. Dinner will be ready soon."
His wife spoke softly, then turned and went back into the kitchen.
The sounds of cooking came from the kitchen. Before long, the woman, wearing an apron, carried out dish after dish. There were seven or eight hearty dishes, an impressive spread.
Liu Qiang asked in surprise, "Why are there so many dishes today?"
"This is your surprise."
The woman untied her apron, revealing the clothes underneath: a loose-fitting dress, simple and elegant, but not particularly appealing to men.
Liu Qiang stood up and pretended to sniff with interest. He forced a smile. "Smells great!"
But he sighed inwardly.
So this so-called surprise was just a lavish dinner?
This wasn't what I wanted.
A year ago, Liu Qiang had been a top-tier star, serving as a mentor during the national competition of the first season of Pure Voice.
Back then, his ex-wife had been an actress and a real beauty.
But beautiful women were often unwilling to settle down. While Liu Qiang was away in Jiangrong filming a show, his ex-wife had actually hooked up with a former elementary school classmate.
Liu Qiang remembered that it had been exposed by the super paparazzo Sky Curtain.
Furious at being cheated on, he divorced his ex-wife. The divorce case caused an enormous stir in the industry.
After all the chaos, Liu Qiang's popularity took a hit, too.
In just a year, he had fallen from a top-tier star to a second-tier one.
Once a mentor in the national competition of Pure Voice, he could now only serve as a minor judge in the preliminaries.
And he was stuck working alongside attention-seeking hacks like Zhou Li.
For the once-proud Liu Qiang, this was nothing short of a tremendous humiliation.
But he had to make a living. Even if he had to crawl, he still had to earn money, didn't he?
Fortunately, half a year ago, he had met his wife, who was outside the entertainment industry.
She was an architect with considerable talent, yet she was willing to give up her career to become a housewife for him.
He had lost one thing but gained another. Liu Qiang should have been content.
But he had always had one nagging worry.
His current wife had been in a relationship before and had had an abortion.
According to the doctor, her physical condition was rather unusual. After one abortion, it would be very difficult for her to get pregnant again.
Before they married, his wife had told him all of this frankly.
Liu Qiang had accepted it.
But after more than half a year of marriage, Liu Qiang gradually began to feel restless.
He wanted a child.
The doctor had said it would be difficult to get pregnant, but there was still some chance.
For the past six months, he had spent all his free time with his wife, doing his best to try for a baby.
His wife understood what he wanted. She quit her job and stayed home, partly so she could focus on getting pregnant.
But more than six months had passed, and there was still no sign of a baby.
Liu Qiang had completely lost hope.
As for secretly getting together with Ali, it wasn't so much an affair as it was his attempt to get a young woman to have a child for him.
He felt nothing for the alluring Ali beyond the thrill of it.
In fact, after every rendezvous with her, he felt an immense emptiness and guilt.
But now that the mysterious "Dawei Tianlong" had threatened him, Liu Qiang had instead made up his mind. He felt completely at ease.
"These are all dishes you love. The only thing is, the shrimp are a little small."
His wife smiled happily when she heard him say it smelled great. She put a serving of food in his bowl and said regretfully,
"You have no idea. The hospital is so far from the market. By the time I left the hospital and got there, it was almost noon. People had already picked out all the big shrimp."
"That's all right."
Liu Qiang answered casually. He really wasn't interested in the size of the shrimp right now.
Wait.
"The hospital? You went to the hospital?" Liu Qiang looked up at his wife and asked with concern,
"Are you feeling unwell?"
His wife nodded. "I've been feeling nauseous lately, and my period hasn't come this month."
"What?"
Liu Qiang's voice suddenly began to tremble. "You—you mean..."
His wife smiled and took out a test report from the hospital's obstetrics and gynecology department, placing it in front of Liu Qiang.
Liu Qiang picked up the report and saw a line of text on it:
"Pregnancy test result: positive, six weeks pregnant."
An irrepressible smile and a hint of mischief appeared on the woman's gentle face. "I told you earlier that I had a surprise for you."
Liu Qiang's eyes widened. Tears suddenly spilled from his face, his expression alight with joy.
"A surprise. So there really was a surprise..."
He sprang to his feet, scooped up his wife, and spun around several times with her in his arms.
"I'm going to be a dad! Hahaha, I'm going to be a dad!"
"Hey!" His wife cried out and gently patted his shoulder.
"Be careful. Don't squeeze the baby."
Liu Qiang quickly set his wife down and held her gently. She nestled against him and asked,
"Are you happy now?"
Liu Qiang froze. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have been so cold to you just now. It was something at work."
"It's all right. I know. I know everything. Don't cry."
His wife gently wiped away his tears, wrapped her arms around his waist, and rested her head against his chest.
In the quiet house, the atmosphere was warm and sweet...
At nine that evening, his pregnant wife grew tired and went to bed early.
Liu Qiang finished showering and was about to join her when he suddenly stopped.
"Surprise... How did he know I'd get a surprise?"
Liu Qiang picked up his phone and sent Dawei Tianlong a message on QQ:
"How did you know there was good news at my home? What exactly do you know?!"
After a while, the other person replied:
"Looks like Teacher Liu already knows. Congratulations! Actually, your wife went to the hospital two weeks ago. Now you understand why I told you to leave that mistress, right?"
Liu Qiang suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He really wanted to ask who the other person was.
But then he thought about it. If he hadn't listened and had kept seeing his mistress,
and his wife had found out, it might even have affected the baby in her womb!
Dawei Tianlong had actually saved his family.
Even though the other person's mysterious methods were enough to send a chill down his spine, when Liu Qiang considered how things had unfolded,
he had tried to force the other person to sell him a song for next to nothing, yet they had repaid his cruelty with kindness, helping him turn back from the brink and save his marriage and child.
This was an enormous kindness!
Someone with such ability, who had also done him such a favor... He had to suck up to him!
Liu Qiang said sincerely, "Brother Long, you're like a real brother to me. Could you send me your bank account number? I'd like to show my gratitude.
"And if there's ever anything you need me for, just say the word!"
A few minutes later, in the bedroom.
Liu Qiang's wife lay quietly on her side, looking at several photos on her phone of Liu Qiang entering a hotel with a young woman.
She wiped away the tears at the corners of her eyes and deleted the photos from her phone.
Liu Qiang gently pushed the door open and tiptoed to the bed. He got in with great care.
The woman turned over and held him.
"Did I wake you?" Liu Qiang asked apologetically.
"No." The woman snuggled closer and said softly, "I can only sleep when you're beside me. From now on... don't leave me again, okay?"
After a moment of silence in the dark bedroom, a reply came:
"Okay. I'm sorry."