Shen Jialin held me, one hand supporting my waist and the other gripping my arm, firmly clasping me in their embrace. As I let out a sigh of relief, I also felt incredibly awkward.

Ever since I became pregnant, my reaction speed has significantly decreased. If it were the old me, I would never have allowed such a lowly thing to happen to me. But now... well, let's just say it's hard to put into words.

I coughed in an attempt to disguise myself, pulling myself out of Shen Jialin's embrace. I grinned and said, "Uh, thanks for, you know... my feet are numb."

After speaking, she deliberately twisted her ankle and lightly jumped twice on the spot.

I feel like Shen Jialin looks at me like I'm a fool.

His gaze swept over me from head to toe, finally resting on my face. "You seem different from before. What happened?"

"Ah?" I dumbfoundedly stared at him, then awkwardly forced a smile and said, "Where did you get that idea? Just acting like that."

"Is that so?" Shen Jialin said, "I feel like you've gained quite a bit of weight and your reaction has slowed down. Have you been living too comfortably at home?"

"I... I will beat the crap out of you, you son of a bitch! You're the one who's fat! Your whole family is fat!"

I am a very narcissistic person because I am good-looking and have a great figure. I am like the team's flower... no, more like the team's grass. I think I look better than anyone else, except for Xie Xinyuan, of course. Actually, Shen Jialin looks pretty good too. He is tall, handsome, and exudes the aristocratic air of a rich young master that I don't possess. But I refuse to admit that he looks better than me. After all, he is my love rival, so I can't stand the sight of him.

Digressing a bit. Anyway, I simply cannot tolerate hearing others say that I am fat. The word "fat" is an insult to me, even though it is true. I simply do not allow anyone, especially Shen Jialin, to mention it in front of me.

"Is it because someone at home cooks for you that you end up eating so much?" Shen Jialin asked again.

"Ah? No, I don't." I didn't understand the meaning behind Shen Jialin's words. He clearly knew a long time ago that I had no parents or relatives and had always been alone. Why would he still ask such a question?

"Oh, then what about you..."

"That, your wife is really beautiful, haha." In order to prevent him from continuing to dwell on the topic of me gaining weight, I hastily changed the subject to interrupt him.

"I don't have a wife," Shen Jialin said.

"Huh?" I was taken aback. "So, just now at the mall, you guys bought pacifiers together. Isn't she your wife? You're really not considerate enough, not even telling your old comrade in arms after getting married. By the way, you sure move fast. It's only been how many days since we discharged from the military, and you already have a child. But your wife's figure is really good. You can't even tell that she's already pregnant. Oh, speaking of which, what brand and material are the pacifiers you guys bought? Are they good to use?"

I fucking don't even know what I'm talking about, but I just feel something is off deep inside. Whenever I think about Shen Jialin, getting married and having a child as a father as soon as he comes home, and then think about myself having to go through this life alone and possibly not even finding a companion in the future, my heart feels so sour. Clearly, we both used to like the same person and even slept together... Sorry, I digress. Anyway, whenever I think about how comfortably Shen Jialin is living his life, I just feel extremely uncomfortable in my heart.

"Qiao Yu, are you stupid?" Shen Jialin interrupted my incessant prattling.

"Ah?" I feel like today all I can do is ask simple yes or no questions.

Shen Jialin still looked at me like that, with the surroundings dimly lit, making his eyes shine brightly. "I am not married, nor do I have children. That woman is my company's secretary. We went to visit a client together today, and on our way back, we passed by a shopping mall. She said she wanted to go in and take a look, and since I had nothing to do, I accompanied her. By the way, she has a one-year-old child at home, who is hers and her husband's."

Oh, so Shen Jialin is explaining to me? I nod, but why does he need to explain to me? It's none of my business that his secretary has a one-year-old child with her husband!

"Do you understand?" Shen Jialin looked at me, his face filled with anticipation.

Subconsciously, I nodded again, "Understood."

"What about you?" Shen Jialin asked again, "Are you married?"

"Me? Of course not." I'm not married, but I am pregnant, and because of my guilty conscience, my voice has become much louder. Coupled with the forced smile I'm trying hard to display, it's obvious without even thinking that it's pretty amusing. "Why would you ask such a thing?"

"I saw you looking at the baby bottle today, and I thought you..."

"I...I, um..." My mind twisted and turned in countless ways, and finally I came up with what I thought was a suitable excuse. "It's because a colleague of mine, his wife just had a baby, so I thought of getting a gift to congratulate him. I just happened to take a casual look, uh, that's it."

I said it with such sincerity that, by the end, even I almost believed it myself.

"Is that so?" Shen Jialin raised an eyebrow. "You're not married?"

"No, how could there be? Hahaha, you know I don't like women, I..." I suddenly thought of something, and looked at him with a vigilant expression, "Wait a minute, you're so eager for me to get married. Could it be that you still have wicked intentions towards Xie Xinyuan? Are you trying to confirm that I'm married so that you can continue pursuing him?"

After I finished speaking, I stared at Shen Jialin without blinking. Then, I clearly saw his eyebrows furrowing deeper and deeper, his eyes filled with the familiar aura of killing intent, no, it was a chilling aura. I was startled because he suddenly raised his hand. I thought he was going to hit me, and my mind raced with countless thoughts. Should I protect my head first or my stomach if he really attacked me?

Before I could finish thinking, he had already placed his hand on top of my head and gave it a gentle rub. After just a second, he retracted his hand. I heard him sigh and say, "You should go back, I'll leave first."

After finishing speaking, he opened the back door and took out my clothes bag and handed it to me. Then he went around to the driver's seat, opened the door, and sat inside. He rolled down the passenger window and leaned out to say, "I will be in C City for a while. I'll find you when I have free time."

"Okay," I replied, watching his car disappear from my line of sight.

I brought the stuff back home, rested on the sofa for a while, and then got up to cook dinner for myself. I hadn't eaten anything all afternoon, and after sleeping for so long, my stomach was already hungry. What's strange is that today, my pregnancy symptoms aren't particularly strong, and my appetite seems pretty good.

I opened the stew pot, inside of which was the chicken soup that I had started cooking before I left. The aroma was rich and fragrant. I scooped a bowlful and prepared to make chicken soup noodles.

Just as I placed the noodles on the table, the phone on the table rang. I picked it up and took a look. It was a WeChat message requesting to add me as a friend. I recognized the number - it was from Shen Jialin.

I disdainfully clicked my tongue and tossed my phone aside, then lowered my head to eat noodles. After finishing the noodles, I picked up my phone again, thinking to myself that at least he had gone through the trouble of sending me back today, so I shouldn't be so impolite. Reluctantly, I accepted the request and sent him a friendly smiley face. After a while, Shen Jialin replied.

"Have you eaten?"

"Just finished eating, how about you?"

"-At the dining table."

"Oh."

I don't admit that I can't chat, it's just that I don't want to chat with him. But Shen Jialin was not aware of this and quickly sent another message.

"Did what I said today make you unhappy?"

-Which one?"

Which of your words have ever made me happy? I rolled my eyes in response.

-The sentence where they called you fat.

I gritted my teeth in anger.

- [Smiling face] No, I know you're joking.

"I'm not joking, I'm telling the truth. You've really gained quite a bit of weight, but you look much more comfortable than before."

I'm going to translate the paragraph based on its context and tone while maintaining the meaning and cultural nuances. Here's the translation:

"Fuck your uncle's cousin twice removed! If you can't speak properly, then shut the fuck up! Where the hell am I fat? I just have a little brat in my belly! And speaking of this brat, it's all because of you, you damn bastard!"