Chapter 3 She Who Came Baring Her Fangs

• "What are you trying to say?" Xia He said, in a calm manner.
• Mo Feifei laughed, her smile seductively entrancing, "I don't know just what reasons Mr. Gu could possibly have for marrying you, but one thing I do know is that he doesn't love you. And since he doesn't love you, why are you still so fixated on being Mrs. Gu? You should have given up this seat gracefully and let someone else more deserving of it than you have it!"
• On Xia He's face was an expression that speaks calmness and nothing else. What Mo Feifei said was indeed true. But then again, what can anyone else say even if she does choose to remain as Mrs. Gu? She is his wife, his lawfully wedded wife after all. What rights could a random stranger possibly have to tell her otherwise?
• "Now just where might this wild little duckling came from? Looking for publicity and fame here, are we?" Xia He took the magazine and tossed it at Mo Feifei’s arrogant and overly confident face. She smiled, coldly, "What? You think you can talk to me on equal ground simply by bringing a little magazine? You think too highly of yourself. Though I can indeed understand that with Gu Zechuan’s appetite being as big as it is, occasionally he’d prefer something a little more on the lean and dry side when he tires of his usual... delicacies."
• Angered by Xia He’s taunts, Mo Feifei rose to her feet with the coffee cup in her hand and was about to throw it and its content directly into Xia He’s face, but she held back at the last minute. Though Gu Zechuan was indeed dissatisfied with Xia He, she was still someone that Mo Feifei couldn’t afford to mess with. Or rather, her family background that Xia He represents.
• Xia He lowered her eyes, took a paper towel and began to wipe her fingers, "If in the future you should choose to bare your teeth against someone, always be clear of the value of the cards you hold in your hands first and foremost. What could you possibly have with you that’s powerful enough to make me give up my seat as Mrs. Gu? Gu Zechuan’s love? Please, don’t be silly, he has more women around him than there are stars in the sky. I probably know more of them than whatever he would ever let you on. And with that, our time is up. Goodbye."
• Finishing off, Xia He stood from her seat and left gracefully. Only until she walked completely out of the cafe, did Xia He breathed out slowly. It was so taxing and exhausting to put on a front, always acting the invincible and invulnerable woman, but what else could she do? She couldn’t possibly let Gu Zechuan and his little nymphs make a fool of her, she could not and she would not. The last thing she wanted was to appear the part of a grudging unfavorable hag of a wife, much less appearing as one before Gu Zechuan.
• In the company’s president’s office...
• "President Gu, today is your wife’s birthday. How do you wish to go about handling the matter of preparing a gift for your wife?" Xu Feng, Gu Zechuan’s special assistant, asked carefully. Gu Zechuan didn’t look too pleased when he came to the company in the morning, and he dared not trigger whatever it was that might be bothering him.
• Upon hearing what Xu Fens said, Gu Zechuan’s already darkened face became even darker, so dark that it looked as if it might start thundering and shooting off lightning.
• "Birthday present? I think not. Mr. Xu, you should learn to forget what you should not remember. Do not, ever again, mention anything about that woman to me."
• Xu Feng was frightened. As the company president’s special assistant, his job is to pay particular attention to everything about the president. And this time he very much accidentally infuriated the president and brought trouble upon himself.
• "Today… is also Ms. Qinglian’s birthday." Asking again, ever more carefully than before, Xu Feng took out and unfolded his handkerchief, and wiped off the cold sweat on his forehead.
• "What did I give her last year?"
• Xu Feng replied humbly, "Last year you gifted her a most prized Italian handmade evening dress."
• Gu Zechuan fell silent into his thoughts for a while, "Mind your other duties. This year, I shall choose her gift myself."
• Coming out of the cafe, Xia He went directly to the hospital. In the doctor’s office, Xia He asked the doctor about her conditions calmly, almost as if they were someone else’s conditions entirely.
• "Doctor, if I should want a child... is it possible?" Xia He asked.
• At Xia He’s enquiry, the doctor looked up in worried surprise, "Mrs. Gu, the condition of your body is such that I simply cannot recommend having children. You’re only expected to live for another year, two if you’re lucky, compounded with the fact that we’d have to put your medications on hold during pregnancy... In that case, you’d only have one year to live, tops, or perhaps even shorter. You might not even have enough time to go through the entire process of pregnancy, might I suggest..."
• "I understand, doctor." Xia He cut in through the midst of the doctor’s explanations. In simple terms, what the doctor just said that, she won’t be able to have children at all for the rest of her life. Her body won’t allow it, and neither would whatever little time that she still has.