Entangled with the Future Tycoon

“Yes!” Bai Yuxuan blinked, leaning forward to look at Song Wanwan. “Wanwan, if you feel like eating, just eat more. If you can eat, then eat as much as you can. Being able to eat is a blessing, so eating…is absolutely not wrong.” Bai Yuxuan patted Song Wanwan on the shoulder and got out of bed to go to the bathroom and check on what Xu Wei was doing.

Song Wanwan watched Bai Yuxuan walk away, blinked, and then sat cross-legged, facing Ji Rou. “Are the two of them acting weird, or what?”

Ji Rou, rubbing her stomach, gestured for Song Wanwan to look at her belly. “I’m a pregnant woman too. Are you sure you want to ask me that? I mean, I don’t mind…”

“No, no!” Song Wanwan raised a hand to stop her from continuing. She didn’t want to hear another word about eating. Just how desperate and starved had her eating looked earlier?

Did they really need to emphasize the importance of the word “eat” over and over like that?

In the bathroom, Xu Wei had removed her makeup and put on a face mask. When she saw Bai Yuxuan walk in, she tilted her lips into a slight smirk. “What, you’re here to remove your makeup too?”

“More like scoping things out. What’s all this about?” Bai Yuxuan looked a little puzzled. Xu Wei had already removed her makeup and even taken a shower. What was she up to? It was only 11:55 a.m.

“Of course, I’m getting ready to take a nap. We’ve got seven hours until 7:00 p.m.”

“Can you even fall asleep?” Bai Yuxuan raised an eyebrow.

“Whether I can or not, I still need to lie down,” Xu Wei said as she walked past Bai Yuxuan in the hotel bathrobe. Bai Yuxuan thought her reasoning made a lot of sense and decided to follow Xu Wei’s example, immediately removing her makeup.

Xu Wei pulled back the covers, lay down, and rested her head against the pillow at the headboard while scrolling through the news on her phone. Meanwhile, Song Wanwan lay crosswise at the foot of the bed.

Ji Rou was still perched on the sofa, scrolling through her phone as well. The room became eerily quiet.

Bai Yuxuan walked out, her steps light as she approached the bed with a face mask on. She gestured for Xu Wei to scoot over, then climbed under the covers and lay next to her, phone in hand.

Song Wanwan, who didn’t have parents, was dearly loved by her grandmother. When her phone lit up with an incoming call from her grandmother, she immediately picked up. Her expression gradually turned to surprise, and she silently climbed out of bed, shuffling toward the bathroom and closing the door behind her.

Xu Wei coughed lightly, holding up her phone to signal the others to check the group chat.

Xu Wei: “That call just now was probably Wanwan’s grandma sending her a congratulatory message.”

Bai Yuxuan: “Knowing Song Wanwan, if we don’t guess it ourselves, she’s never going to remind us.”

Ji Rou: “Then let’s just act like we have no idea.”

Xu Wei: “She won’t say it, but she’ll definitely invite us out. I mean, it’s her birthday after all. No way she’ll just stay cooped up in the hotel all day.”

Bai Yuxuan: “If she wants us to go out, we’ll just come up with every excuse to refuse. Then, at around five in the afternoon, we’ll all conveniently ‘have plans’ and leave. We’ll regroup at the surprise flower field and trick Wanwan into going there alone to unveil the big gift box herself.”

Ji Rou: “Agreed. But how do we get Wanwan to go out alone and pinpoint the exact destination?”

Xu Wei: “That’s easy! Ji Rou’s already alone, right? She can leave first, then call Wanwan later to say her wallet was stolen by a pickpocket, and ask her to come pick her up.”

Bai Yuxuan: “Good idea. Shh, here she comes.”

Xu Wei covered a yawn. “Ugh, I’m so sleepy!”

Bai Yuxuan immediately caught on, following her lead. Xu Wei was obviously trying to preemptively kill off any idea Song Wanwan might have of going out. “If you’re sleepy, then sleep! We’re here for a tea gathering, after all. Time like this is meant to be enjoyed!”

Xu Wei nodded. “You’re absolutely right!” She leaned her head against Bai Yuxuan’s shoulder, continuing to scroll through her phone. “Honestly, ever since I got pregnant, I’ve been so lazy. If I could go everywhere lying down, I would.”

Ji Rou nodded in agreement, lifting her gaze to look at Xu Wei. “I second that. These days, I feel like spending every single hour in bed. I don’t even want to get up for meals.”

Song Wanwan, holding her phone in one hand and tapping her palm with the other, hesitated briefly before swallowing her words. Today was her birthday, and she’d had this idea about going out together-maybe some shopping, maybe coffee. But clearly, since none of them were in the mood for any movement, what could she really say?

She had almost forgotten all about it! That today was her birthday!

Ji Rou got up and climbed into bed, lying down next to Xu Wei. The three of them lined up like a row of sardines, all simultaneously sneaking glances in Song Wanwan’s direction before returning their attention to their phones, stifling delighted smirks. Bai Yuxuan casually remarked, “There doesn’t seem to be anything good in terms of TV dramas lately.”

Xu Wei, wearing an indifferent expression, nodded. “I don’t watch much TV, but I’ve taken a liking to listening to audiobooks recently.”

Ji Rou turned her head, intrigued. “Audiobooks? What app are you using for that?”

Xu Wei gave her a sly smile. “The ‘Human Assistant’ app!”

Ji Rou suddenly understood, her expression dawning in realization. “Oh, you mean Gu Yuan? You guys really know how to have fun.”

Xu Wei laughed. “He’s the one who insists on reading to the baby. Says he wants the kid to be ready to skip straight from kindergarten to college, skipping all nine years of compulsory education.”

“Wow, Gu Yuan’s got some… ambition!” Ji Rou chuckled, pressing her lips together in amusement. “What’s he reading to your baby, though? The Pythagorean theorem? Trigonometric functions? Symmetry axes?”

Xu Wei rolled her eyes dramatically. “Not that extreme, thank you very much. But he does throw in the occasional light weapons manual, On War, or a collection of entries from The Illustrated Encyclopedia of World Weapons.”

Bai Yuxuan teased, a slight curve to her lips. “No military strategy books in the mix yet?”

“There really is one on his bookshelf!” Xu Wei glanced to her left, then to her right, using her eyes to silently tell them that Gu Yuan would definitely end up giving her a book of military strategy someday. She was sure of it!

Ji Rou chuckled softly. “As for me, I just stick to a few fairy tales-Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast. More of a heartwarming vibe; it’s good for mental and emotional health.”

“In that case, pack up some of your fairy tales and lend them to me for a few days. I’ll have Gu Yuan ‘cleanse my ears’ with them. The ones he picks out leave me so dazed and confused. I always fall asleep before he’s even halfway through,” Xu Wei said with a look of disdain.

The three of them on the bed were idly chatting about their children, while Song Wanwan lay sprawled on the sofa, pretending to be dead.

Time slipped by bit by bit. The room’s temperature was pleasantly comfortable, the lighting just right. Though they had talked about sleeping, no one actually slept. Instead, they were chatting and scrolling through their phones until, just before two o’clock, the doorbell chimed, “Ding-dong!” The three on the bed turned their heads in unison to look at Song Wanwan on the sofa.

From their pointed and serious gazes, Song Wanwan picked up on three unmistakable words: “Go open it.” She slipped on her shoes and jogged over to open the door. A moment later, she came back in with a bowl of spicy and sour rice noodles, placed it on the table, opened it up, grabbed some chopsticks, and immediately started digging in. Between mouthfuls, she asked, “Whose takeout is this?” Without waiting for an answer, she continued eating enthusiastically.

The three on the bed exchanged sly looks. By the time Song Wanwan was on her fourth bite, all three of them shared a faint smirk. Bai Yuxuan asked, “Rou, was that your takeout order?”

Ji Rou shook her head, feigning cluelessness. “Not me! It must’ve been Wei.”

Xu Wei looked genuinely baffled. “Me? No way! Could it have been… delivered to the wrong room?” She leaned into the emphasis on “delivered to the wrong room.”