Chasing My Husband! The "Crown Prince" of the Beijing Circle Is Wildly Unruly! - Chapter 61

The following day.

Knock, knock—

Wang Xinghe arrived at Wang Mingyue’s apartment, carrying a container of freshly brewed soup. When she opened the door, a flurry of complex emotions flickered in her eyes at the sight of his face. Her heavy, swollen body shifted clumsily to the side as she cleared a path.

“Come in,” she said.

Xinghe placed the thermal container on the table. “Sister, from now on, I’ll be the one delivering your breakfast, lunch, and dinner.”

Mingyue froze for a moment, dazed by the word “Sister.”

Before she could respond, the live-in nanny spoke up, clearly displeased. “That’s hardly appropriate. The Master hired me specifically to look after the Madam’s diet and daily life. Besides, what does a young man like you know about healthy living?”

Xinghe glanced at the nanny. She was currently washing a slab of pork belly—mostly fat with very little lean meat—while a peeled pumpkin sat nearby, waiting to be cleaned.

“Are you making pumpkin and pork buns?” he asked.

“Indeed,” the nanny bragged. “Pumpkin and meat filling is savory and delicious. The Madam loves them.”

Xinghe looked at his sister’s increasingly bloated figure but remained silent. He sat quietly in the living room and poured her a bowl of matsutake mushroom chicken soup with red dates and goji berries. He had meticulously skimmed off the excess oil to reduce the purine content.

“Sister, I simmered this in a clay pot. Give it a try.”

The aroma was exquisite. Mingyue took the bowl and took a sip; the fresh, savory flavor spread through her mouth, soothing her stomach.

“It’s delicious,” she murmured, finishing one bowl and reaching for another.

Seeing Mingyue enjoy Xinghe’s soup, the nanny grew resentful and hurried her pace with the buns. She muttered under her breath, “Once my buns are out of the steamer, you’ll see what real flavor tastes like.”

Xinghe patiently observed the nanny’s movements and the ingredients she used. She was a typical amateur, likely never having studied a proper nutritionist’s meal plan. Before her marriage, Mingyue stood 170cm tall and had always maintained a weight of around 49kg (98 lbs). Now, after several years of deliberate estrangement, she had ballooned to at least 90kg (180 lbs). Though she was only three or four months pregnant, her belly looked as large as a full-term pregnancy—it was a frightening sight.

About two hours later, lunch was served: a steamer of pumpkin pork buns, a plate of sliced braised pig’s head meat, a plate of fried eggplant boxes, and a bowl of old hen soup covered in a layer of yellow grease.

The sight made Xinghe feel nauseous. His brows knit together tightly. “Is there not a single green vegetable?”

“Aren’t there vegetables in the pumpkin buns? Isn’t eggplant a vegetable?” The nanny scoffed. “You’re just a kid, you don’t understand. When you’re pregnant, you have to eat plenty of meat to stabilize the fetus. I raised three sons eating exactly like this.”

Xinghe turned to his sister. “Sister, is this what you eat every day?”

Mingyue remained silent, which was as good as a confession. She truly couldn’t control her appetite. While she subconsciously knew that eating greasy food all day was bad for her, she couldn’t stop herself. If she skipped a meal, the hunger was unbearable.

“How much is her monthly salary?” Xinghe asked.

Mingyue shook her head. “I don’t know.”

Xinghe took a deep breath and turned to the nanny. “Auntie, how much do you make a month?”

“The Master pays me 5,000 a month,” she replied, her tone suggesting she felt it wasn’t enough.

“I’ll give you 15,000—three times your pay as severance. You don’t need to come back.” Xinghe was shaking with rage as he looked at the greasy spread on the table.

Chen Junsheng, are you trying to kill my sister?

“Really? 15,000 for real?” A shrewd light gleamed in the nanny’s eyes.

“Yes. Get your phone out; I’ll transfer it now.”

The nanny hastily pulled out her phone. Once the transfer was complete, a smile plastered across her face. “You young people just don’t understand. Fine, I suppose our time together has ended. If you run into trouble later, you can call me.”

As she packed her things, Xinghe bundled up all the food on the table and handed it to her. “Take all of this with you.” She took it without a word and left.

Xinghe opened the refrigerator. It was stuffed with vacuum-sealed instant products. Not a single green leaf was in sight, let alone whole grains or nuts.

His brow furrowed deeper. “Sister… do you honestly believe Chen Junsheng loves you?”

Xinghe was on the verge of a violent outburst. He rarely lost his temper, but looking at that fridge and seeing how Mingyue had been fed into such an unrecognizable state, he felt like he was going to explode.

Mingyue fell into a long silence. When you begin to question whether someone loves you, the answer is already obvious, isn’t it?

Chen Junsheng didn’t love her anymore. Her subconscious knew it. But she felt that as long as she gave birth to the child, he would eventually return to the family.

“It doesn’t matter,” Mingyue sighed heavily. “Adult love is nothing but trash. I only care that he returns to the family later and treats the child well.”

As it turned out, admitting that Chen Junsheng didn’t love her was an incredibly liberating feeling.

“Never mind. I’m going grocery shopping.” Xinghe didn’t want to tell her the even crueler truths. He put on his shoes and left, leaving Mingyue alone in the house, staring at the empty soup container.

Xinghe returned with bags of groceries. He prepared stir-fried broccoli with shrimp, celery with cashews, beef with carrots, and a tomato and egg soup. He also bought her black sesame pills, “five-red” nutritional balls, various nuts, and Elevit folic acid—all essentials for a healthy pregnancy.

Looking at the colorful, balanced meal, Mingyue finally couldn’t hold back her tears. No matter how much they fought, cursed, or argued, in the end, the ones who truly loved her were her family.

If… if Mom and Dad hadn’t died, would we still have these conflicts? Would we both be so broken?

Mingyue knew her parents’ death wasn’t entirely Xinghe’s fault, but she didn’t know how to control her own emotions.

Unknown to them, every move they made was being monitored by Chen Junsheng via a hidden camera. He Zheng informed Lu Jingze about the surveillance.

Lu Jingze had already expected it. “Don’t touch it. Since he likes to challenge me, I’ll send him a ‘gift.’ Set up a project and pull him in as a partner. I don’t believe there’s anyone in this world, besides Wang Xinghe, who truly doesn’t care about money.”

Lu Jingze watched the laptop screen, seeing the awkward yet warm interaction between the siblings. His finger tapped rhythmically on the desk.

Since Mingyue stopped rejecting him, Xinghe cooked every meal for her. He focused on balanced nutrition and took her for daily walks. The weight began to drop—nearly a pound a day—and her complexion improved significantly.

Soon, it was the fifteenth day of the first lunar month: the Lantern Festival.

Xinghe’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, he answered without hesitation.

“Hello? Little Uncle! I heard you’re in Kyoto too? School starts after the Lantern Festival—can I come find you?” Wang Shuya’s cheerful voice chirped through the speaker.

“Sure. Call me when you arrive,” Xinghe replied.

“Yay! Can I see Brother Lu too?” Shuya asked, her tone suggesting she was up to something.

“You want to see him? Ask him yourself. It’s not like you don’t have his contact info.”

Xinghe no longer felt a strong repulsion toward Lu Jingze, but he hadn’t fully accepted him either. In truth, he simply didn’t know how to handle their extremely complicated relationship.