Chapter 50 Deprived (1/2)
Xin Qing stared at Lin Xiaoyu with an expression of mild shock. The reason for Lin Xiaoyu's sudden emotional outburst eluded her.
”I...I'm pregnant...” Lin Xiaoyu said with hot tears pooling in her eyes.
”Ah!” Xin Qing's hand flew to her mouth and she looked at Lin Xiaoyu in shock, saying, ”then...what are you planning to do?” Xin Qing knowingly did not ask Lin Xiaoyu about her boyfriend's attitude regarding the matter. Xin Qing already knew that Xin Haoyu would never take up the responsibility for what he had done to the woman.
The next moment, a sobbing Lin Xiaoyu clung on to Xin Qing, ”Xin Qing, please. I beg you. Please tell Haoyu that I'm pregnant. He can't abandon me now. He can't.”
”It's pointless even if I told him,” Xin Qing said, wanting to push Lin Xiaoyu off but had then elected not to after remembering her pregnancy. Instead, Xin Qing began patting her, ”When you mentioned responsibility, what exactly did you have in mind?”
Lin Xiaoyu shook her head in a fit of panic and said, ”It's not what you think. It's not about money. I really do love him.”
”That's even more unlikely.” Xin Qing frowned. Lin Xiaoyu was entirely clueless about the rules of the game. Men like Xin Haoyu would never agree to a marriage. And the Xin family would never want Lin Xiaoyu as a daughter-in-law.
Once again, Lin Xiaoyu shook her head in apprehension. ”How do you know it's impossible? Did you say something to him?” Lin Xiaoyu wondered. All of a sudden, she glared at Xin Qing. ”So that's why he won't see me. Did you bad-mouth me in front of him?”
Xin Qing wanted to kill herself. She stood up with every intention to leave.
”I'm sorry! I'm sorry, Xin Qing,” Lin Xiaoyu said, pulling her back, ”I was too hasty. I didn't mean it that way. So please don't leave. You gotta help me!”
Xin Qing studied Lin Xiaoyu, who was holding on to her with a death grip. ”I can't help you,” Xin Qing said helplessly.
”You can. You just have to give Haoyu a call and tell him that I'm pregnant. He'll definitely agree to see me then.”
”Why didn't you call him yourself?”
A sorrowful look flitted across Lin Xiaoyu's face. ”He isn't picking up my calls.”
”Figures,” Xin Qing thought, ”once he's done playing with you, he wants nothing to do with you.”
”Xin Qing, I beg you. I'd kneel before you. Please! Help me!” Lin Xiaoyu said, already half-kneeling. Xin Qing tried to pull her up as she responded. ”Don't do this. Get up.”
”No. I won't get up. If you don't help me today, then I'll just be kneeling here until you do,” Lin Xiaoyu bawled. Other students who were walking by had already begun murmuring and pointing fingers at them.
Xin Qing truly regretted ever agreeing to the conversation with Lin Xiaoyu in the first place. Now she had no choice but to help the woman out.
”Fine. I'll make the call. But how it turns out is none of my concern,” Xin Qing said, already pulling out her phone. She dialed the numbers in front of Lin Xiaoyu. If this was what it would take to get Lin Xiaoyu to give up on her delusions, then so be it.
Seeing that Xin Qing had pushed the call button, Lin Xiaoyu stood up and wiped away her tears. ”No. He won't do that to me and our child.”
”Xin Qing?” Xin Pengfei was extremely shocked that Xin Qing was calling him. But then Xin Qing knew of no other way to get in touch with Xin Haoyu. Besides, there was only the call history between her and Xin Pengfei in her phone.
”There's this problem that concerns Xin Haoyu,” Xin Qing said, ”I've got a classmate pregnant with his child. You should go ask him what he plans to do about it.”
On the other end of the line, Xin Pengfei went into a state of stupor. ”What are you talking about?” he asked.
”It's got nothing to do with me. I'm just the messenger,” Xin Qing said. She had no plans to be dragged into this mess at all.
Xin Pengfei went quiet. A few moments later, he asked, ”Is that classmate beside you right now?”
”She's here. Why don't you talk to her, then,” Xin Qing passed the phone to Lin Xiaoyu.
When Lin Xiaoyu took the phone, her comportment was a mixture of anxiety and excitement. ”Hello, Uncle Xin. I'm Haoyu's girlfriend, I...”
The look on Lin Xiaoyu's face changed before she could finish. ”Probably because of what Xin Pengfei was saying at the other end,” Xin Qing thought.
”No... it's not like that at all, Uncle Xin. I'm not doing this for money...please, you have to believe me. The child really does belong to Haoyu... no... you... Uncle Xin? Please listen to me... Uncle Xin?”
Obviously, Xin Pengfei had already hung up the phone. Seeing Lin Xiaoyu's blank and unmoving form, Xin Qing snatched her phone back and broke off into a run. When she had run all the way to the field, she snuck a glance backwards. Faintly, Xin Qing could make out Lin Xiaoyu's profile. Lin Xiaoyu was still standing at the spot where Xin Qing had left her. She did not seem to have moved at all.
In the evening, when Ying Qingcang came to pick up Xin Qing, he immediately noticed her brooding.
”Is something wrong?”
”Ah? Oh, it's nothing,” Xin Qing answered half-heartedly, still staring out the car window.
Ying Qingcang glanced at her. ”But you're frowning so hard that your eyebrows are practically joined,” he said, ”alright, tell me! What's going on?”
Xin Qing thought for a moment before she said, ”Lin Xiaoyu approached me today.”
Ying Qingcang frowned as he tried to recall the name. ”Oh, is that the classmate who gave your designs to Xin Yudie that time?”
”Yeah, that's her,” Xin Qing said, ”she told me she's pregnant, and the child belongs to Xin Haoyu.”
A look of surprise flitted across Ying Qingcang's face. At the same time, he looked as if he had just been told the funniest joke in the world. ”Oh, this is going to be quite a show,” he said.
”What do you mean?”
Ying Qingcang did not explain it. ”So now she wants you to help her persuade the Xin family to acknowledge the child?” he asked instead.
”I called Xin Pengfei. And it doesn't seem like he's going to acknowledge the child,” Xin Qing said. At the time, Xin Qing could pretty much guess what Xin Pengfei had been saying at the other end of the call just from the look on Lin Xiaoyu's face.
”He will,” Ying Qingcang said, shooting Xin Qing a glance.
Xin Qing glared at him. ”What is this man up to this time?” she thought.
”Don't worry, you'll know soon enough.”
Because of Lin Xiaoyu, Xin Qing had restricted her own comings and goings in school this week. She had not dared to go anywhere at all in fear of being pestered by Lin Xiaoyu again. But in the end, all her efforts proved futile.