13. HAVING A CHILD IS REALLY NOT EASY

Ning Xi went into her bedroom, and suddenly noticed the little creature on her bed, she felt intrigued.

Since last night, a lot of unexpected things had happened that were beyond her control.

"Quickly go to sleep." She knelt next to Little Treasure after turning off all the light except for the small one by the side of the bed.

Little Treasure kept his eyes open, indicating his intention to stay awake. Ning Xi started to have a headache.

It seemed like she would need to tell a bedtime story to coax this child to sleep.

Ning Xi helplessly threw up her hands. "I don't know how to tell stories, so how about I sing you a song?"

Little Treasure nodded his head, his face expectant.

And so, Ning Xi lightly patted Little Treasure's back and began to sing softly.

"On a somewhat cold and warm autumn day

Tranquilly by your side

Quietly watching the flickering light dance

The wind carries a few red leaves

Stirred up hearts go on and on

Between being half drunk and half awake

I laugh uncontrollably

Let me float like the snowflakes amongst the cloud

Using my frigid coldness to kiss other lightly

Bringing out waves of their emotions

Leaving behind who knows how much love in the world

While welcoming fleeting life and its many changes

..."

Ning Xi stop singing here because the next line was: "Doing joyous matters with your lover..."

How was this lyric appropriate for such a young child?

"Cough, Auntie won't sing the rest of this song so I'll sing a different one for you!"

Little Treasure was very cooperative and nodded his head in agreement.

Ning Xi searched her brain for the safest, most appropriate song for a child: "In a happy pond, there was a little frog. It jumped and danced like a prince had possessed its body. With its handsome gaze, no other frog was more beautiful. Then one day, it was awakened by a princess. I believe in miracles; I believe I will one day be your partner lalalalala..."

After singing the frog song three times, she finally heard the sweet sounds of breathing by her side.

Having a child is really not easy!

She suddenly felt great admiration towards Lu Tingxiao as a single father.

She didn't know who Little Treasure's mother was, but why did she give birth to him and not stay with Lu Tingxiao?

Was it because her status was too low and the Lu family wouldn't accept her?

Or had she and Lu Tingxiao quarreled over some unknown matter?

While thinking of all these possibilities, Ning Xi gradually succumbed to the dream realm.

Halfway through the night, Ning Xi was scared awake by a sound from the living room.

Little Treasure slept heavily as Ning Xi lightly got off the bed to find out what happened.

Opening her bedroom door, she saw Lu Tingxiao pouring himself a glass of water, one hand clutching his stomach and his face ghastly pale.

Ning Xi rushed over. "Mister Lu, are you alright?"

"It's nothing."

"Do you have a stomachache?"

Lu Tingxiao was silent.

Ning Xi knew she had guessed right.

Lu Tingxiao couldn't handle spicy food. But if he couldn't handle it, why had he still eaten it?

"Wait a second, I'll get you some medicine."

Luckily, her house was well-stocked with medical supplies.

Ning Xi hurriedly brought over the stomach medication. "You have to eat both pills."

"Thanks." Lu Tingxiao took the caplets from her palm, the coolness of his skin lightly grazing hers and giving her a shock, which engraved itself into her heart.

It was currently very late into the night, and with a beauty standing before her, in such a difficult, dangerous situation, it was very easy to light a fire!

Ning Xi silently recited math equations in her head to calm her heart. As she watched Lu Tingxiao take his medicine, she felt it wouldn't be appropriate to just leave, and decided to accompany him for a while.

"Is it better now? Do we need to go to the hospital? I'm sorry, I didn't know you couldn't eat spicy food..."

Originally, she was worried about Little Treasure eating too much spicy food, but in the end, Little Treasure was fine but Lu Tingxiao was not. What kind of situation was this...

"It's no big deal."

Both of them didn't say anything for a while before Lu Tingxiao finally opened his mouth: "Tonight we came to bother you because Little Treasure wanted to see you."

Ning Xi felt surprised. "Little Treasure wanted to see me?"

"Since you saved him after the scare he received in the bar storeroom, Little Treasure is now very reliant on you," Lu Tingxiao explained.

Ning Xi realized that if Little Treasure was nearby whenever the topic of Little Treasure came up, Lu Tingxiao's unfathomable cold demeanor would soften; he was not as frightening as he had been at the hospital during the day.

"So, it was like this..." Ning Xi nodded her head.

The atmosphere created from being up this late at night tended to make people lower their guards and confess their worries, so Ning Xi asked a question she'd been thinking about a lot. "That, if I may boldly ask, does Little Treasure not know how to speak?"

She had never heard Little Treasure utter a single word. The little guy only knew how to nod or shake his head.

"It's not that he doesn't know how, he just doesn't want to speak," Lu Tingxiao replied.

"So It's a psychological issue?" Ning Xi furrowed her brow.

"Yes." Lu Tingxiao didn't intend to hide anything.

"This..." It was almost as she had guessed.

As for the issue of what had happened to trigger the child's trauma like this, Ning Xi dared not ask further about such a secret.

"Miss Ning." Lu Tingxiao suddenly fixed his attention on her. His gaze was cold, yet it gave her a scorching hot feeling which excited and exhausted her.

"Yes?" Ning Xi froze under his gaze.

"Have we met somewhere before?" Lu Tingxiao asked.

If anyone else had asked this question, Ning Xi would assume that the other person was hitting on her using a completely worn out pick-up line. But the person speaking was Lu Tingxiao. Also, there was an entirely serious and honest expression in his eyes.

"I don't think we have. If I had seen a person like you before, Mister Lu, It's impossible that I would have no recollection of it whatsoever... that, is there a problem?" Ning Xi's tone was firm. Even if she was the eldest miss of the Ning family, there was absolutely no possibility of having met Lu Tingxiao, who was of a higher and different class.

"It's nothing." Lu Tingxiao directed his gaze, dark as the night outside, towards the window. He seemed forlorn.

If this kind if tête-à-tête continued, the atmosphere would not be good!

"Mister Lu, if you're alright now, I'm going to head back to bed," Ning Xi said carefully.

Lu Tingxiao saw through her and waved his hand. "No rush. Sit."

No rush! She was really rushed, okay!

12. STAYING OVERNIGHT

Ning Xi lifted her beer and clinked his glass lightly, and then she smiled from the heart. “Thank you!”

The moment she smiled; Lu Tingxiao felt blinded.

After Ning Xi said her thanks, she looked at Little Treasure. "This is also thanks to Little Treasure. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't have been able to rush over for my audition. Come darling, let's have a drink too!"

Little Treasure looked at his glass of milk and then looked at Ning Xi and his father's beer. He felt unwilling, but ultimately, he clinked his cup against Ning Xi's beer and chugged all his milk.

Ning Xi found his serious demeanor amusing. Did he know about drinking away his sorrows like adults?

Halfway through dinner, Lu Tingxiao went to the patio to receive an incoming call.

Ning Xi nudged Little Treasure and handed her beer to him. "Hehe, are you curious about the taste? Quick, while your father isn't here, have a little bit! But only one sip!"

Little Treasure's eyes lit up like stars in the sky, and he lowered his head to drink a bit.

Although the taste wasn't good, he was extremely happy nonetheless.

After Lu Tingxiao finished his call and came back, Ning Xi was sitting properly and pretending nothing had happened.

Little Treasure was even more professional, slowly drinking his milk. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Lu Tingxiao sat down with his usual expression, only there was a hint of warmth concealed in his eyes.

The three of them had pretty good appetites. Ning Xi had bought a lot of groceries, but they still managed to finish everything.

Ning Xi saw the time and realized it was getting pretty late. Just as she thought about whether or not they should head back soon, lightning flashed outside the window, followed by loud booming sounds of thunder. It looked like the onset of a heavy storm.

"I watched the weather channel today, and they announced that tonight there was going to be a storm followed by a typhoon..."

Ning Xi felt a headache coming on as she looked at the rain outside her window. Little Treasure looked at Ning Xi, as did Lu Tingxiao...

Finally, after being stared at by the father and son pair for a while, she said, "It's late. The weather isn't looking good, so if Mister Lu were to bring Little Treasure home, it might be dangerous. How about... you two stay for the night here with me?"

She had said this out of courtesy, and she felt that Lu Tingxiao would definitely not agree to it.

In the end...

Lu Tingxiao: "Alright."

Little Treasure nodded his little head repeatedly.

What?! he agreed again...

Lu Tingxiao is too unreserved!

Why did she feel as though they both had been waiting for her to make the offer?

She was about to go crazy!

In the end, Lu Tingxiao and Little Treasure would stay the night.

The quarters that the company had arranged for her weren't too big, only one bedroom and a living room. Deciding where the three of them would sleep was going to be a problem.

"I'll sleep in the living room. Mister Lu, you and Little Treasure can sleep in my bedroom. I'm going to go change the bedsheets..."

"No need, I'll sleep in the living room. You can sleep with Little Treasure in the bedroom." Lu Tingxiao's tone allowed no further discussion.

Ning Xi felt that she had sinned; not only did she let the big CEO eat a cheap hot pot, she was making him sleep in the living room.

If it had only been Lu Tingxiao without his son tonight - even if it was hailing - she wouldn't have allowed him to stay, since a single man and a single woman under one roof would only be trouble, especially after what Lu Tingxiao had said to her during the day. But she had no choice, and there was also Little Treasure.

Ning Xi could only accept her fate. "I'll go see if I can find some clothes for you both so that you can wash and change..."

She looked through her drawers and really found something.

Ning Xi had some props from one of her part-time jobs, one of which was a pair of Pikachu costume pajamas for children. She had casually packed it away, but now it was perfect for Little Treasure to wear.

Finding clothes for Lu Tingxiao was even easier since her younger brother had left some of his clothes at her place.

After reuniting with her birth parents, Ning Xi had felt guilty towards her adoptive parents. She couldn't bring herself to face them properly, and so she slowly lost touch with them, only keeping in touch with her brother, Tang Luo.

After finding all the clothes, Ning Xi also found a blanket and pillow for Lu Tingxiao.

The sofa in the living room wasn't big enough, and could not accommodate Lu Tingxiao's long legs, so she could only add a chair to extend the length.

Little Treasure was really good at not letting others worry about him, as he had already showered by himself, put on the pajamas, and climbed into bed.

After Ning Xi finished showering, she put on some conservative sleepwear and confirmed she wasn't revealing any inappropriate parts of her body.

"Then... Mister Lu, I'm going to bed now. If you need anything, just call me."

"Alright." Seeing Ning Xi who had just showered, Lu Tingxiao was disoriented for a moment. Soon after, his gaze became focused, and his vision was filled with only her.

Her hair was tied into a simple bun and she was wearing the most basic design for two-piece pajamas. She was wearing any makeup, but her jade-like skin had a natural flush from the steam of her hot shower.

Seeing that Ning Xi had purposely dressed conservatively, there should be nothing inappropriate about her appearance.

In Lu Tingxiao's heart, however, there was a problem, because he noticed that a certain part of his lower body was slowly rousing itself.

11. BIG BUN AND LITTLE BUN

In the end, starvation proved to really work.

Lu Jingli was efficient and immediately sent Ning Xi’s address to his brother’s cellphone, followed by a bunch of questions trying to satisfy his gossipy nature, which Lu Tingxiao naturally ignored.

This time without needing Lu Tingxiao to say anything, the moment Little Treasure saw his father pick up his coat and car keys, he immediately followed suit.

Lu Tingxiao looked down at his son by his leg, and then helplessly carried him up. “No more next time.”

After Ning Xi returned from the audition, she freshened up before heading out to the supermarket to buy hot pot ingredients, some dishes, and beer.

After experiencing such an ordeal, she had to have a hot pot celebration at home!

A single person having hot pot by herself was really the ultimate level of loneliness.

However, she had always been by herself, so she was used to it.

Right after she had started heating up the pot and finished preparing the dishes, the doorbell rang.

Who could possibly visit at this hour?

Ning Xi opened the door curiously, and was shocked.

On her doorstep stood Lu Tingxiao in a neat suit under a large, black coat. In his arms, he carried Little Treasure, who was holding a colorful fruit basket.

This was an... odd pairing?

"Mister Lu?" Ning Xi felt so frightened. "Why did you come here? It's quite late. Is something the matter?"

"To check on your health," Lu Tingxiao replied curtly.

Check on my health?

Personally coming over to her place late at night, bringing Little Treasure with him?

She had only been hurt slightly, she could still run and jump around.

"Ah, Mister Lu, you're too kind. Please come in. I apologize since my home is a little messy." Ning Xi couldn't process the situation fast enough. She felt extremely flustered as she invited them in and then hurriedly tidied up what she could, shoving magazines under the sofa and her scattered clothes under the bed.

"Sit wherever you like. Would you like anything to drink? Will tea and milk do?" She tried to guess what Lu Tingxiao would want, but he has too much of a mystery for her to figure out.

"That's fine." Lu Tingxiao nodded his head, his expression making him seem like a soldier reporting to his superiors.

Ning Xi boiled some water for Lu Tingxiao's tea and poured a glass of milk for Little Treasure.

Lu Tingxiao's long and lanky figure made him appear a bit squished on the couch with Little Treasure beside him.

Not only did the father and son pair have cool, handsome features, even their expressions appeared the same.

They were both expressionless.

And wouldn't speak.

And created the same cold, silent atmosphere.

When Ning Xi saw this, she wanted to cry, but had no tears.

Really, what did these two come here for?

At this moment, the pot started to wheeze, and an enticing spicy smell filled the air.

To break the silence, Ning Xi casually asked, "Have you two eaten dinner yet? I prepared a hot pot, would you like to eat together?"

Lu Tingxiao: "Okay."

Little Treasure nodded his head.

She simply asked out of politeness, what were they implying by agreeing so readily?

One was a big CEO and the other was a young master. What treasures and delicacies had they not tried, and yet they would run over to her place to eat a commoner's spicy hot pot with her?

Ning Xi couldn't bear to bring out the food.

But since she had already offered, she could only be thick-skinned by leading them to the table and putting out another two sets of chopsticks and bowls.

"The soap base I bought is pretty spicy. Can you handle spicy food?" Ning Xi asked restlessly.

Lu Tingxiao: "That's fine."

Little Treasure nodded again.

Okay...

Ning Xi brought the prepared ingredients over.

Lu Tingxiao didn't eat much and for the most part, he cooked vegetables for them; however, Little Treasure loved spicy food as much as she did, and the two of them couldn't stop eating once they tasted the spiciness in their mouths.

After a while, Ning Xi felt a little worried. "Isn't it bad if children eat too much spicy food?"

If something happened to the little prince, she wouldn't be able to bear the responsibility.

"He's not that weak," Lu Tingxiao replied.

Hearing this, Ning Xi didn't say anything else.

"How was the audition?" The silent and cold machine Lu Tingxiao had finally taken the initiative to speak first.

Ning Xi was shocked, but recovered quickly and replied, "It was successful, that's why I prepared this hot pot celebration tonight!"

Lu Tingxiao raised his cup. "Congratulations."

Who knew the first one to congratulate her would be Lu Tingxiao?