Han Zijun had a conflicted expression on his face while Shi Mingli was looking at Su Xiaofei worriedly. They had expected that the poison would spread faster than usual in Su Xiaofei's body due to her pregnancy, but not at this insane rate.
"It's hard to tell, but ideally, we should deliver the children between the twentieth and twenty fourth week if we're still unable to make the antidote by then. We will try to keep the three of them alive, but I suggest that she take a complete bed rest starting today." Han Zijun replied.
As Su Xiaofei looked at him, she noticed his dishevelled appearance and the slight darkening under his eyes, indicating that the man had been staying up late for days as he continued to work along with Shi Mingli.
Lu Qingfeng nodded. Was it too late to consider granting Chen Hao and Ye Mingyu's demands now?
He shook his head. Su Xiaofei refused to give Ye Mingyu the satisfaction that the latter was able to fuck up their lives for the second time. By giving in to their demands, it would also mean that they would try to cause more trouble in the future for Bluemedia.
The sudden news of Su Xiaofei stepping back from Bluemedia had caused several rumors about her being pregnant, but it was something neither she nor the company had confirmed. Even Lu Qingfeng's relatives had been giving him a call to ask him about the said rumors.
"Then Feifei will carry the baby until then." He decided. "How about her treatments? Are you planning to increase the dose of her meds?"
"We will proceed as planned." Han Zijun responded. "Miss Shi and I are just waiting for the lab results to be out and we will start working on the antidote while keeping Su Xiaofei's treatments under the same dosage."
"Please don't tell my mother. She doesn't need to worry more than she already does." Su Xiaofei requested, tears blurring her vision. She was starting to hate herself for putting her family, especially Lu Qingfeng, in this difficult situation.
"Don't cry, Feifei. We haven't said anything to your mother." Her husband reassured her.
Su Xiaofei was allowed to return home and was immediately put on bedrest just as Han Zijun instructed. All of her meals and drinks were tested before she ate and Lu Qingfeng made sure to provide anything she might need to cure her boredom.
The next day, Su Xiaofei received an unexpected guest. She hadn't anticipated that Bai Qingyue would try to seek her again after their encounter at the hospital. Zhang Lan hesitated to leave the room and decided to stay, just to make sure that the actress wouldn't try to do something to their mistress.
"What are you doing here?" She frowned at Bai Qingyue as soon as she settled on her cushion seat.
"You are really pregnant?" The queen's eyes rested on Su Xiaofei's growing belly in surprise.
Su Xiaofei said nothing and only gave her mother a blank look.
"I guess Ye Mingyu wasn't lying when she claimed that you are. Is she also telling the truth when she said that you are dying?" The actress continued to question her.
"Is that why you are here?" Su Xiaofei raised a slender brow at her. "You couldn't wait to get rid of me, can you?"
"Nonsense. I might not like the idea of hanging my dirty laundry in public, but I will never wish ill on my only child." Bai Qingyue grimaced. "Ye Mingyu came to me and threatened to reveal our relationship in public. She wants me to help her grow her connections in the industry by introducing her as my mentee."
"Oh?"
Su Xiaofei wasn't surprised to hear that Ye Mingyu wasn't wasting her time to advance her career by taking advantage of Bai Qingyue's secret, but she didn't expect that Bai Qingyue held a bit of concern towards her. However, if there was one thing she knew about her biological mother, it would be Bai Qingyue hated being threatened by anyone.
"So what now? You agreed with her?" She couldn't help but ask.
The superstar actress remained silent, looking at her cup of tea instead.
"I didn't, but I expect that she would try again."
"Aren't you afraid that she will ruin your reputation in public? You haven't been involved in any scandal for a long time and she might really drag your name into the dirt this time." Su Xiaofei reminded her.
"And then what? Allow someone as haughty as her to think that she can bully my daughter? A no-name actress like her who hasn't proven anything yet. Why should I feel threatened by her when I can just get rid of her for good?" Bai Qingyue chuckled darkly. "You should have done it from the very start, Xiaofei. You shouldn't have given her any opportunity to antagonize you. You should have nipped it in the bud even before it blooms."
"Heh. I guess I'm not as vicious and merciless as you, Mom." Su Xiaofei said the last word with mockery in her eyes.
Zhang Ling shared a knowing look with her elder sister, thinking that the apple didn't really fall far from the tree, seeing how this mother and daughter conversed.
"So did she indeed poison you? Will you and your children be alright?"
Su Xiaofei only made a non-committal sound.
"Pregnant and poisoned. Ye Mingyu surely knows how to take advantage of the situation. She has become a thorn in my side that I need to get rid of as soon as possible." She muttered. She then noticed that Bai Qingyue couldn't tear her gaze away from her stomach.
"I'm carrying twins, if that's what you want to ask and no, we don't know the gender yet."
Bai Qingyue snapped out of her gaze and stared at her daughter with surprise, as if she hadn't expected that Su Xiaofei would willingly disclose such information to her.
"I'm not expecting anything from you. You couldn't be a mother to me, so I don't expect that you want to be involved in their lives once I give birth to them."
Bai Qingyue had no words to refute what her daughter had just said. Her conflicted expression made Su Xiaofei wonder if this woman suddenly had a change of heart. Till this day, she couldn't fathom how Bai Qingyue's mind works. Maybe she would never be able to understand her mother.
"Understandable." Bai Qingyue nodded. "There are roles that even I cannot play willingly and accordingly."
She then gave her daughter a pointed stare, a little upset that Su Xiaofei hadn't done anything to retaliate against Ye Mingyu after what the latter did to her.
"You have to live, Xiaofei. Promise me you will live and get through this. I know what's going on with Ye Mingyu and Xiao Rufeng, so don't worry about your little queen. I will take her under my wing instead of Ye Mingyu."
Su Xiaofei chuckled and cupped her chin amusedly. Her mother's proposition would surely benefit her and Xiao Rufeng greatly.
"That's so kind of you, Mother, but you shouldn't take Ye Mingyu's threat lightly. What if she really did disclose that you abandoned me in favor of your bright future? Even Mo Yuchen and Golden Star wouldn't be able to save you."
"Then I will jump to your ship and sign under Bluemedia instead. I haven't made any intention of renewing my contract with Golden Star anyway." Bai Qingyue said without batting an eyelid. "It's not that hard to twist the information, as long as we know how to gain the public's sympathy. People like to hear what they want to hear." She added.
"So you mean to say that you want to lie instead?" Su Xiaofei wasn't surprised that Bai Qingyue was willing to do anything to save face in public.
The actress shrugged. She had been in the industry long enough to know how to deal with a scandal. She wouldn't have reached this far if she didn't know how to deal with them. Also, it wasn't the first time that someone attempted to blackmail her by threatening to expose the fact that she had a child out of wedlock.
"A little lie won't hurt. A rising star that was frequently abused by her parents had to give up her child for adoption. Ye Mingyu may continue to throw mud and try to ruin our names in public, but that would backfire on her sooner or later."
Somehow, Su Xiaofei couldn't doubt her mother's words. Bai Qingyue spoke with a glint of rage in her eyes, especially when she mentioned Ye Mingyu. It made her wonder if Bai Qingyue was enraged by the fact that Ye Mingyu was using her to threaten her mother.
"Do as you wish, but don't blame me if things don't go your way." She answered, thinking how odd it was for her to have a decent conversation with Bai Qingyue now.
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