Chapter 43: Dragging Luggage to Move into Her Home

With the case successfully closed, everyone was spared from working overtime.

As Shu Yan was getting ready to leave for the day, she saw the police report released by the publicity department. She couldn't help but sigh inwardly at Lu Chengfeng's efficiency.

No wonder Zhao Jianguo liked him so much.

In the month since Lu Chengfeng joined their unit, he had managed to solve almost every case assigned to him within two days, without any hesitation or loose ends. As the head of the investigative department, Zhao Jianguo naturally shared in the glory. Shu Yan had heard from colleagues that whenever Zhao Jianguo attended meetings with higher-ups recently, he received praise every single time.

Yet, the more brilliant Lu Chengfeng's performance was, the more terrified Shu Yan became that their secret would be exposed, fearing it might negatively impact him.

Leaving the office, Shu Yan decided against squeezing onto the crowded public bus. Instead, she unlocked a shared electric scooter and slowly rode along the roadside back home.

Taking the backstreets, she arrived at the back gate of her residential complex thirty minutes later. At night, this area bustled with numerous street vendors. Shu Yan bought a bowl of hot and sour rice noodles and two catties of sweet-and-sour oranges. Strangely enough, she had a sudden craving for things that were both sour and spicy.

After making her purchases, she took a leisurely stroll home.

Once inside, Shu Yan changed out of her police uniform, tossed it into the washing machine, and sat down to enjoy her dinner at a leisurely pace. After finishing the rice noodles, she ate several oranges in a row. Afterward, she tidied up the trash, gathered her household garbage as well, and carried it downstairs to throw it away.

The weather had warmed up considerably of late, so many young mothers in the complex liked to bring their toddlers out for an evening walk after dinner. Shu Yan had rarely paid attention to these mothers and babies before, but today she found herself lingering over them with a few extra glances. The babies were rather adorable; truth be told, she actually quite liked children.

After taking a turn around the neighborhood, Shu Yan finally headed back upstairs.

Inside her apartment, she grabbed her nightgown and went to take a shower, lingering in the bathroom for a long time before emerging. After drying her hair, she crawled into bed, propped herself up against the headboard, and placed a video call to her best friend, Li Jiaojiao.

Li Jiaojiao answered almost immediately, appearing on screen as she sat propped up in her own bed.

"Have you made up your mind so quickly?" Li Jiaojiao asked.

Shu Yan denied it, "No."

"Oh, I thought you'd figured it out," Li Jiaojiao said.

"When I went downstairs to throw away the trash just now, I saw lots of moms walking their babies in the courtyard."

"Our complex has plenty of those too," Li Jiaojiao remarked. "Rain or shine, morning or night, they're always downstairs walking the kids—either the mothers themselves or the grandmothers."

"Women sacrifice so much for their families," Shu Yan said. "Many mothers choose to resign for the sake of their children, only to end up despised by their husbands and mothers-in-law. Jiaojiao, I don't want to become a woman like that."

"True, once a baby is born, someone has to look after it," Li Jiaojiao replied. "If your mother were in good health, she could help take care of it. But given Auntie's current condition, the burden would fall on your mother-in-law. I wonder what kind of person your detachment captain's mother is."

"I never said I was going to marry him," Shu Yan retorted.

"Do you really think that if you keep the child, he'll just stand by and do nothing?"

Shu Yan bit her lip and remained silent.

"You can't quit this job of yours either," Li Jiaojiao continued. "Otherwise, you could emulate the female lead in a romance novel—run away with the bun in the oven, come back five or six years later, and have a chance encounter with your detachment captain. And then he suddenly discovers, 'Why does your kid look so much like me?' Haha..."

Shu Yan felt a wave of exasperation. "You crazy girl, you're still in the mood to laugh? I'm worried out of my mind."

Li Jiaojiao covered her stomach. "Sorry, I won't laugh anymore."

Blinking, she suddenly exclaimed, "There's another option! Marry my brother right now and make him play the ultimate fallback guy."

A flock of imaginary crows flew across Shu Yan's head...

Completely unfazed, Li Jiaojiao grew more and more excited as she spoke. "My brother would hit the jackpot and become a dad overnight! Then I'd be your child's aunt, and my mom and dad would instantly become grandparents. You should really consider it."

"People who throw their parents under the bus are common enough, Li Jiaojiao, but this is the first time I've ever seen someone throw their own brother under the bus like this," Shu Yan said.

"I'm serious. My brother likes you so much, he'd definitely accept your child."

"If you keep talking nonsense, I'm hanging up."

"Hey, don't hang up! I'll stop. Honestly, I don't think you need to stress yourself out so much. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. If you really don't want to have it, I can ask around at the obstetrics department again and schedule a procedure for you."

Shu Yan chatted with Li Jiaojiao until ten o'clock at night. As drowsiness finally overtook her, she said goodnight to her friend and drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, Lu Chengfeng spent the entire night pulling an all-nighter at the precinct, working overtime to process the aftermath of the case.

The next morning, Shu Yan went to work as usual, though she skipped breakfast at the cafeteria and dove straight into her tasks the moment she arrived at the office, using work to distract her mind.

The strange thing was that she didn't catch a single glimpse of Lu Chengfeng all day long. She only heard from Gao Yi that the case was officially wrapped up, and Zhao Jianguo had gone off to a meeting early in the morning to report on it.

Until the end of the workday, Lu Chengfeng never showed up.

There was no overtime required that evening, so Shu Yan rode her scooter back as usual, stopping by the alley behind her apartment complex to buy another bowl of hot and sour noodles.

Back home, she placed the noodles on the coffee table and went into her bedroom to change into a pair of pajamas. Just as she was about to sit down for dinner, the doorbell suddenly rang.

Shu Yan had no choice but to set down her chopsticks and check the peephole.

To her shock, she found herself staring at Lu Chengfeng's face.

Hesitating for a moment, she opened the door, only to see a large suitcase parked right beside him.

Shu Yan froze.

"Have you eaten dinner yet?" Lu Chengfeng asked casually as he dragged the suitcase and squeezed his way into the apartment.

"Wait a second," Shu Yan stopped him. "What are you doing?"

Lu Chengfeng leaned the suitcase against the wall, opened the shoe cabinet to find his own pair of slippers, and felt deeply grateful for his own foresight. Slipping into the slippers, he walked further inside while asking, "What did you have for dinner?"

Reaching the living room and spotting the bowl of hot and sour noodles on the coffee table, Lu Chengfeng frowned, turned his head, and asked, "You're eating this kind of stuff?"

"Never mind what I'm eating," Shu Yan demanded. "Tell me right now—what do you think you're doing?"

Without answering, Lu Chengfeng turned and walked toward the kitchen, pulling open the refrigerator to find it completely empty.

Angry now, Shu Yan snapped, "Lu Chengfeng, did you not hear me?"

Turning back to face her, Lu Chengfeng pointed directly at her abdomen and said, "I'm here to take care of my child."

Shu Yan's eyes widened in disbelief. "How did you find out? Who told you?"

"I heard you talking when I passed by your office yesterday," Lu Chengfeng took a step forward. "This is my child, so I have a duty to take responsibility. From now on, I'm living here to look after him."

Shu Yan wanted to refute him, but words failed her.

After holding her breath for a long time, she weakly lashed out, "I don't need your responsibility, and I don't need you to look after it! I've already decided to get rid of it. Next week—next week when I take my leave, I'm going to have the surgery!"

Lu Chengfeng knitted his brows. "Shu Yan, how can you be so cruel? Can you really bear to abort your own child?"

"I..." Shu Yan wanted to say *yes, I can*, but the words choked in her throat.

Closing the distance between them step by step, Lu Chengfeng said, "If you don't want this child, hand him over to me. I'll take him and raise him myself."

"Why should I?!" Shu Yan protested. "Why on earth should my child be raised by you?"

A faint smile touched the corners of Lu Chengfeng's lips. "Then we'll raise him together. I also believe a child deserves to have a complete home."

Looking up at the tall man towering before her, only two words flashed through Shu Yan's mind: Overbearing!

"No way!" she cried out. "I refuse to raise a child with you! Lu Chengfeng, this pregnancy is a mistake; he has no business coming into this world. I took emergency contraception—he shouldn't even be alive."