Chapter 1 Rumors

Daily Life of a Secretly Married Couple with a Child / Su Qi

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Autumn in the northern part of the city begins to reveal its pleasantness from the sky.

The clear blue sky is reflected on the glass curtain wall of the office building, and white clouds drift slowly through the cubicles, making time seem to slow down.

The afternoon break room, meant to refresh the mind, was filled with lively discussions.

"Have you heard? Last night, the media photographed President Si on a date with the Jiang family's daughter."

"Is it Jiang Chengyin, the heir to the Jiang family who just returned to the country?"

"That's right. Rumor has it that Jiang Chengyin is President Si's white moonlight. The two studied at Stanford together and have been secretly married for many years."

"What? A secret marriage!" the girl holding the instant coffee exclaimed, her expression shifting from surprise to understanding. "I had a vague feeling before that the little princess's mother might be her."

Mr. Si is only thirty years old this year, but he already has a three-and-a-half-year-old daughter. Mrs. Si has always been a mystery, and no one has ever seen her. The little princess did show her face once. That time, Mr. Si was still working overtime, and his assistant brought the child to the president's office to wait. The little girl had red lips and white teeth, big and round eyes, and a face that looked five parts like Mr. Si. She was as beautiful as a porcelain doll.

Recalling the gossip about the boss in the break room, everyone seemed to have confirmed something: "You know what, the little princess and Jiang Chengyin really do look a bit alike."

A colleague nudged the shoulder of the woman next to him who had been silent all along, "Manager Lin, have you met our little princess? She's President Si's daughter."

Someone chimed in, "Manager Lin has only been here a short time, how could he possibly have seen the little princess?"

Lin Ke calmly finished the last sip of her coffee and smiled faintly, "I've seen it before, but it doesn't seem like it."

She washed the cup, filled it with warm water, and returned to her seat, ready to begin her afternoon work.

Two weeks ago, my supervisor sent me a new project, saying that a large company needed a Russian translation team, which was in the financial field, which she was good at, and asked if I wanted to take it.

I only found out it was Entropy Group after I got the information.

She did not refuse. In the past two years, Si Yuming had focused on the Shanghai branch and rarely returned to Beicheng. The chances of the two of them running into each other were extremely low.

Lin Ke opened the foreign language contract waiting to be translated on her computer, and as she moved the mouse, her thoughts inevitably drifted away.

She has been married for more than four years in accordance with the wishes of her elders, but she and Si Yuming rarely see each other, sometimes only a few times a month. Their only connection is their daughter, Si Xiaotie. If it weren't for Si Xiaotie's constant requests to video chat with her father, they would hardly even talk on the phone.

A secret rendezvous with the Jiang family's daughter?

She didn't know.

Their circle was chaotic. According to the gossip he'd heard, it wasn't surprising that he had someone outside of Shanghai after two years, especially Jiang Chengyin, who had gone to school with him.

When someone came up behind her, Lin Ke stopped her thoughts, shook her head to shake off the inexplicable distrust in her mind.

"Sister Ke, the president's office just sent us the financial statements of the Russian company that Entropy Domain is cooperating with this time. They hope we can finish them in the next two days."

"Alright, you and Xi Yue can split it."

Ma Chanchan hadn't taken two steps when she heard the woman's clear voice again, "Chanchan, tomorrow is their first online meeting with Moscow, and they need a consecutive interpreter. Do you want to do it?"

Ma Chanchan just graduated from a foreign language university this year. Although she has taken on many part-time jobs, her lack of experience has made her hesitant. "Sister Ke... I..."

Lin Ke softened her voice: "Don't be afraid, I'm right here with you."

Ma Chanchan gradually relaxed under her encouraging and gentle gaze, "Okay, I'll give it a try."

"Go and prepare."

Ma Chanchan returned to her seat and glanced again at the woman who was already engrossed in her work not far away.

When we were in school, teachers always liked to mention their favorite students. Lin Ke was the outstanding senior who was mentioned the most. They had already seen her notes and videos in class.

After joining the company, Ma Chanchan was pleasantly surprised to find that this senior colleague was her supervisor. After completing a simultaneous interpretation session with her at an international conference, Ma Chanchan was completely impressed.

In their line of work, a good or bad translation job immediately reveals whether someone is skilled or not.

Without exaggeration, Lin Ke was better than any other interpreter or teacher she had ever met. Her composure under pressure and exceptional professional skills were on full display.

In fact, Ma Chanchan was very curious as to why she would settle for a commercial translation company like theirs. With her level of skill, she would have no problem performing on a broader stage.

I later learned from a colleague that she got married and had a baby right after graduating with her master's degree, which delayed her from finding a job for almost two years.

She felt it was a pity, but then she thought that their company was definitely not her final destination.

Ma Chanchan silently encouraged herself, determined to work hard and one day become an excellent translator like Sister Ke.

At four o'clock, she took the annotated document over, and the woman was packing her things to leave. "I'll show it to you tonight, I have to go back now."

They are a specially hired translation team with flexible working hours. Ma Chanchan guessed, "Sister Ke, are you going to pick up your baby from school?"

"Okay." Lin Ke glanced at the time again and hurriedly walked out.

Kindergarten lets out at 4:30, and the time is just right from here. Today is Si Xiaotie's first day of school. When I dropped her off this morning, I made a promise to her that I would be the first to pick her up after school, and she can't break her promise.

The elevator came down from the top floor, and after a while it arrived at the 23rd floor. When the doors opened, Lin Ke froze on the spot.

Inside the elevator was the man I hadn't seen for half a month. His bespoke suit perfectly hugged his tall and slender figure, and the lines of his shoulders and neck, along with his crisp shirt, were just like him—sharp and aloof.

Their eyes met, and Lin Ke's almost pure dark brown pupils contracted slightly as she lowered her gaze to avoid the eye.

There was surprise in the other person's eyes, probably because they didn't expect to be there.

She quickly stepped into the elevator when it beeped and automatically stood in the corner.

The door closed, and shortly after, a long, slender arm reached over from behind and pressed the button for the 20th floor.

"Xu Lin, go upstairs and get my watch, it's in the drawer." A gentle, clear voice came from not far behind.

Xu Lin was his newly appointed assistant, who was unaware of their relationship. Upon hearing this, he respectfully agreed and got off the elevator on the 20th floor.

The elevator doors closed again, making the small space feel cramped, as if the air pressure had dropped because of his presence.

Just as she clenched her fist, a low voice finally asked from behind her ear, "What are you doing here?" She immediately understood: "Did you contact your team?"

Lin Ke nodded: "Yes."

Where to?

"Pick up your child from school."

Si Yuming frowned, raised his wristwatch to check, and confirmed that today was the first Monday of September, the day Si Xiaotie started kindergarten.

He knew about it, but he had been too busy with work to come back recently, and he hadn't received any reminder messages from her.

Si Yuming looked at the straight, thin back in front of him, paused for a moment, and said gently, "I'll go to the old house later, and then go back to Qingyun Road."

After the old man of the Si family passed away, they moved out of the old house. No. 2 Qingyun Road was their newly purchased marital property, where the family of three lived for the first three years, but...

The elevator stopped on the eighth floor. Before the doors opened, Lin Ke quickly said, "We've moved near Xiaotie Kindergarten. I'll send you the address later."

The door opened, and the two colleagues who were chatting and laughing outside immediately stopped talking when they saw the person in the elevator. They politely greeted the person before coming in.

The atmosphere fell silent once again, but thankfully it only took a dozen seconds to get down to the basement level.

Lin Ke walked away first, got into her car, and sent him her new home address, adding a brief explanation: "The move was a hasty decision. Plus, I've been so busy these past two weeks taking on your new project that I forgot to tell you."

The reply came quickly: 【Okay.】

Married for several years, the couple still acted like strangers, separated by a subtle distance, never truly close.

Lin Ke gradually got used to this situation and lived almost like a single person.

She stared at the screen for a while, then turned off her phone and drove away.

......

It still took some time; when we arrived at the kindergarten, the gate was already crowded with parents.

The children with their little backpacks lined up obediently in the kindergarten, waiting for the teacher to call their names. Lin Ke looked through the railing and easily spotted her daughter talking to the other children. She was talking about something, her arms outstretched, her expression exaggerated, her two little braids swaying from side to side. Her little body looked like a freshly baked, sweet little bread roll, wrapped in a fluffy, soft, light yellow windbreaker. She looked so sweet, soft, and cuddly that it made you want to take a bite.

Worried that her daughter might not adjust well on her first day of school, Lin Ke kept checking the parents' group chat this morning, constantly holding her phone, afraid of missing a call from the teacher.

But no, while the other children in the group were crying and making a fuss, Si Xiaotie was the only one who didn't move. Later, she couldn't help but ask, and the teacher said that she was helping to comfort the crying children, handing them tissues and water, and was very busy.

The teacher even took a picture of the three-and-a-half-year-old girl bending down to wipe away a little girl's tears, looking gentle and earnest.

Now it seems her worries were indeed unnecessary; apart from being a little mischievous, her daughter never caused her much trouble.

In the blink of an eye, Si Xiaotie spotted her, beamed, and ran over, calling out sweetly, "Mommy!"

Lin Ke picked her up, squatted down, touched her face, and asked with a gentle smile, "How was your day, baby?"

Si Xiaotie blinked his big eyes and frowned. "Mom, there are so many crying kids at kindergarten. The teachers are too busy to keep up, and the noise is giving me a headache."

Lin Ke smiled and said, "So Xiao Tie helped the teacher comfort the children, right?"

"Yes, otherwise Yuanyuan and I wouldn't be able to sleep." Her cheeks, flushed with a natural, healthy blush, puffed up like a ripe peach kissed by a spring breeze, full and rosy.

"Baby, you're so great." Lin Ke praised her, then took her little hand. "Come on, let's go home."

"Yay~ I'm going home~"

But I have to go to the farmers' market first before I can go home.

The nanny usually goes grocery shopping, so Si Xiaotie asked in confusion, "Mom, are you going to buy groceries today?"

"Yes, Dad is back."

The little girl was overjoyed in a second, exclaiming, "Really?!"

"Really, but Dad has to work and won't be home until later."

"Yay! Yay!"

The three of them couldn't eat too much, so Lin Ke bought some vegetables and beef, and then went to pick out some fresh shrimp. Si Xiaotie loves shrimp the most and can eat several at a time.

The seafood shop had a wide variety of products. She asked about the prices and picked out the seafood one by one.

After choosing her crabs, she turned around and saw a little girl squatting in front of the tank, about to reach in and grab one. Startled, she quickly stopped the hand that was clearly aiming at the crab, saying, "Baby, don't grab it!"

Si Xiaotie looked up, his clear eyes filled with confusion, "Why?"

"Crabs have spines and big pincers that can hurt you."

"Oh well."

The little girl pouted and stood up. After confirming that she wouldn't move around, Lin Ke took the weighed shrimp and paid for them.

Turning around again, Si Xiaotie had already run a couple of steps ahead, now holding a slippery eel firmly in his hand. He squinted his eyes and smiled brightly, his childish voice full of pride: "Mommy, the snake doesn't have spines or big pincers, I caught it!"

"..." Lin Ke said helplessly, "Baby, this isn't a snake, put it down quickly."

"Huh?" She poked the head of the struggling but still firmly held eel with her other hand: "Isn't it a snake?"

Si Xiaotie was disappointed again and put the eel back in its place. Then, a bright idea struck him, and he asked with wide eyes, "Mom, can I keep a snake?"

Lin Ke refused almost without hesitation, but her tone was gentle, "No, baby, Mommy is afraid of snakes, we won't keep one."

"Then..." The little girl's bright eyes darted around, pointing to the crab that had been fidgeting, "I want to raise a big crab!"

"......Can."

Finally, the owner helped her pick out two lively crabs and carefully tied them up with rope for her.

So the little girl kept asking questions while holding the two crabs the whole way, sometimes asking what crabs eat, sometimes asking if there was a crab's home. Lin Ke had a hard time answering them.

As soon as he got home, Si Xiaotie took off his shoes and, wearing only socks, ran inside with two crabs in his arms, calling out to his aunt, "Grandma Chen, come and see my little pets!"

Lin Ke picked up the shoes behind her, and only after turning them over did she realize that the little Crocs that had been covered in "jewels" when she left home that morning were now bare. She called out, "Si Lezhen, where are your jewels?"

The little girl's loud and clear reply came from the kitchen, "Yuanyuan and Gu Yiyi like my gems, so I gave them all to them!"

Lin Ke was both amused and exasperated. She arranged the shoes and went inside.

She first put a bunch of pink chrysanthemums she bought on the way into a vase, then washed her hands and went into the kitchen to cook.

"Aunt Chen, could you please help me prepare the shrimp?"

"OK."

Her cooking is okay, but she's not a competent chef.

She dared not kill the fish, much less remove the shrimp veins from the lively prawns. If Aunt Chen wasn't around, Si Xiaotie would only be able to eat boiled prawns.

Si Yuming didn't come back on time, so Lin Ke didn't make her daughter wait. After preparing the meal, the two of them started eating right away.

Si Xiaotie was already used to dinner without his father, and after asking a couple of questions, he ate heartily.

The doorbell rang just before eight o'clock. Lin Ke was about to open the door when the little girl who was playing with crabs in the living room ran over first, shouting, "It's Daddy!"

As soon as the door opened, sure enough, Si Xiaotie hugged the man's leg and called out "Dad!" loudly and clearly.

Si Yuming first looked at the woman in the kitchen, exchanged a glance, then bent down to pick up his daughter, tapped her nose, and a smile bloomed on his usually cold and emotionless face. "Did you miss Daddy?"

"Does Daddy miss you, baby?"

"think."

Si Xiaotie then excitedly said, "Dad, let's go walk Xiaohuang and Xiaoqing!"

Si Yuming didn't quite understand, "Xiao Huang and Xiao Qing?"

“Yes!” Si Xiaotie led people to the living room and generously showed them two crabs in the temporary box that had been untied but tied with long ropes and were ready to be taken away. “These are my little babies.”

A note from the author:

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Ding! The story has started! Welcome everyone! [kissing emojis]

I will try to update daily, but I can't guarantee it; it depends on how busy I am.

Updated every morning around 8:30!