Inferior A After Having a Baby with the Top Boss 72

Chapter 72: Heart Racing

In the history of the Independent State of Yi Meng, the last significant contributor to publicly share honors was the previous king—Yi Tu.

Yi Tu was born into a prominent family, gifted and intelligent, a rare genius from a young age. Later, she entered a prestigious university to study politics, rising steadily through the ranks, from an ordinary councilor to Chief Justice, then to People’s Representative, and finally to the highest authority of the country.

It only took Yi Tu twenty-five years.

When Yi Tu was still a People’s Representative, during an international conference one year, the speaker of another country, having lost a negotiation, mocked Yi Tu’s partner, who came from a humble background and had a congenital disability. Yi Tu simply smiled at the time, but after returning home, immediately announced the sharing of honors with her partner on the public network, shattering the prejudiced views of many in the international community.

Since then, the second person to announce the sharing of honors was Chief Judge Zhu Yiqiao, who made an exception today and posted a personal update on the public network.

Because she clearly understood the significance of sharing honors, Ming Fei couldn’t ignore the pounding of her heart.

She listened to Li Xing’s exclamations in a daze, speculating on the reason for her irregular heartbeat, and wondering, if it were Li Xing who got drunk last night, would she have taken care of her… like that?

—Yes, she would. She thought.

However, she would quickly move away when Li Xing tried to sit on her lap, and if Li Xing reached out for a hug, she would carry her on her back instead. She would patiently and considerately take care of Li Xing, her good friend, but she would never have smiled and offered a kiss on the dimple as a reward like last night… both coaxing softly and indulging without any boundaries.

And they definitely wouldn’t have slept together under the same blanket, their fingers intertwined.

Then why was it okay with Zhu Yiqiao?

Thinking of these questions, Ming Fei’s fair cheeks flushed, and her heart beat faster and faster in her chest.

Li Xing on the other end of the phone noticed that her friend was distracted and raised her voice again.

“Hello, hello, Teacher Xiao Fei, are you listening?”

Ming Fei splashed some cold water on her face, her eyelashes wet, her voice also slightly muffled as if filled with moisture.

“…Mm, I’m listening.”

“Then why didn’t you answer me just now? Teacher Xiao Fei, what was my last question?”

Ming Fei couldn’t quite recall. She had indeed been deeply distracted while thinking about Zhu Yiqiao.

During the long silence, Li Xing wasn’t annoyed, just smiling meaningfully: “Oh~ were you thinking about Chief Judge Zhu? I understand, I understand, I don’t blame you, you should think about her, think about her more, she must be thinking about you too right now.”

After saying that, she giggled without any concealment.

This giggle reminded Ming Fei of 0619 at home. Every time it mentioned Zhu Yiqiao, it would make this sound.

She tentatively asked, “Why do you say that?”

Li Xing asked, puzzled, “Why? Isn’t your relationship very good? That’s how it’s written in novels, the two protagonists would start missing each other as soon as they wake up.”

Li Xing, a lecturer at the Philosophy Department, besides studying abstract and obscure philosophy, also read popular romance novels. At first, she read romance novels just for classroom discussions, but later she found some enjoyment in them.

Thinking of their public marriage announcement, Ming Fei gave up on asking her friend about those strange things, and stammered,

“…Mm, I was thinking about her.”

Li Xing: “See, I knew it.”

She continued, “Alright, alright, the holidays are coming soon, you two will have plenty of time for your honeymoon.”

The Independent State of Yi Meng had very strict regulations regarding student holidays. January to February was winter break, and July to August was summer break. The specific holiday periods for each school would vary depending on the teaching schedule, but the Independent State stipulated that the holidays could only be longer, and except for special circumstances, couldn’t be shorter than sixty days.

This year, Q University’s winter break started on December 30th and ended on March 2nd.

Now, with only half a month left until the winter break, and because the courses she taught this semester were rather difficult, Ming Fei planned to finish her classes next week, outlining the key points for the exams, and giving the students more time to review.

She smiled and asked, “Then what are you planning to do during the holidays?”

Li Xing started talking non-stop: “Speaking of which, I’m so annoyed. I was planning to go abroad for a month, but my mom wants me to go with Wei Lingyu, saying it’s to cultivate our relationship…”

The two chatted about this for a while.

Ming Fei, who was particularly slow in matters of the heart, couldn’t give her friend any effective advice, spending most of the ten-minute conversation listening to her friend’s complaints. But she could sense that Li Xing wasn’t as resistant to Wei Lingyu as she claimed, and wasn’t entirely against the idea of traveling together.

After the call ended, she washed up and changed into her home clothes. The first thing she did after leaving the bathroom was to log onto the public network.

She didn’t even need to search for Zhu Yiqiao’s official account, because eight out of ten trending topics were about Zhu Yiqiao. She clicked on the most discussed topic, and Zhu Yiqiao’s personal update appeared on the screen.

A simple sentence, yet carrying the weight of a thousand mountains.

[Zhu Yiqiao, Trial Court: From today onwards, I will share all my medals, honors, and glory with my partner.]

Ming Fei’s eyelashes fluttered, and her heartbeat, which had just calmed down, accelerated again, racing irregularly, even her ears felt hot.

She clicked on Zhu Yiqiao’s official account and found that this was Zhu Yiqiao’s first update since becoming Chief Judge.

With this double buff, the comment section of this update was bustling.

[Little Flower, Have You Drank Water: Wow! Congratulations 999 (…omitting n 9s), the Chief Judge is indeed worthy of being the Chief Judge.]

[Enough, Stop It: OMG, my CP is so sweet! Who celebrates New Year’s Eve every day? ^^]

[Slow Turtle: Why would anyone throw something at someone? So mean!! I can’t imagine how furious I would be if I worked overtime so late, bought a dessert, and then had something thrown at me. The Chief Judge’s partner is so good-tempered and gentle, even picking up that rotten egg and throwing it in the trash can.]

[Ming Yue Zhao Qiao is Real: Ahhhh I’m here! Please be together forever! And, is that person who threw the thing crazy?]

Ming Fei glanced at the comment section and exited. Then, she saw the official punishment for the person who threw the thing in the related links of the update—a fine of 600 and a warning.

She didn’t know how Zhu Yiqiao found out about this. It had been very late that day, and she had been working overtime in the lab until eleven o’clock for several days in a row. On her way home, she suddenly wanted some dessert, so she stopped at a dessert shop.

And then the subsequent incident of being hit on the right shoulder happened.

At first, she thought it was a snowball, but then the foul smell spread, and she realized it was a rotten egg. Because she was physically and mentally exhausted, and the person ran away in the blink of an eye, and judging from their voice, they were quite young, she didn’t pursue the matter and didn’t mention it to anyone.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yiqiao found out and even dealt with the aftermath.

Undeniably—she felt happy being defended by Zhu Yiqiao, and this happiness surpassed the satisfaction of taking the first bite of cake.

But why go so far as to share honors?

The biggest reason why sharing honors was so rare was that it was a lifelong commitment, remaining valid even after divorce. Even good friends in a contractual marriage wouldn’t, and shouldn’t, go this far. Ming Fei thought to herself.

Going downstairs from the master bedroom on the second floor to the dining room on the first floor, Ming Fei finished breakfast alone, still not seeing Zhu Yiqiao.

She couldn’t help but ask 0619 next to her, “Has Jiejie had breakfast yet?”

“Mm.” Two flowers appeared on 0619’s display screen. “Chief Judge Zhu left very early. Before leaving, she picked a bouquet of roses for you in the garden.”

Just as it finished speaking, 008, appearing from somewhere, held out a bouquet of roses still covered with dew in its robotic arm. There were no flowers on its display screen, but two cartoon figures holding hands, clearly good friends. As it handed the already arranged roses to Ming Fei, 008 thoughtfully used a modern poem to praise their friendship.

“What beautiful flowers, just like your everlasting friendship~”

0619’s expression became silent: “Teacher Xiao Fei, please accept these. This is a task assigned to 008 and me by Chief Judge Zhu.”

Left again?

Was it… another business trip?

Ming Fei looked at the green roses on the table and asked thoughtfully, “Is she going abroad?”

The expression on 0619’s display screen became cheerful again: “No, no~ Chief Judge Zhu is just going to the Trial Court, she’ll be back soon, don’t worry, Teacher Xiao Fei. If you need to convey your longing to Chief Judge Zhu, I’m very happy to be of service~”

Ming Fei felt that 0619 was really strange, but its strangeness wasn’t a recent thing. She guessed that perhaps its initial personality mode was designed this way.

She stroked the soft petals, the fragrance filling her senses. After leaving with the bouquet, she went to the craft room on the second floor and made four rose bookmarks.

It was almost twelve o’clock, and there was still no sign of anyone arriving at the villa. Ming Fei looked up from the workbench, got up, and placed the bookmarks in Ming Zaozao’s study. As she was about to leave, she almost knocked the apple-green camera off the table.

Fortunately, she reacted quickly and steadied it.

It had been two months since she last looked at the photos. Ming Fei, having finished her work, sat on the windowsill, picked up the camera, opened the album, and browsed through half of the photos in chronological order. Then, Ming Fei discovered a new transfer portal.

She clicked on it and saw that it was full of photos of her, all five hundred photos in the album, without exception.

Ming Fei didn’t think too much about it, assuming Ming Zaozao must have accidentally initiated the transfer. As she clicked on the portal to close it, she glanced at the receiving address and froze like a robot.

Because the recipient was Zhu Yiqiao.

Her brain crashed, and her thinking slowed down.

It was nothing.

It must have been sent by mistake. She thought.

As her operating system rebooted, she clicked on the chat window of the transfer portal.

[Zaozao the Great: Auntie, all done!]

[Auntie Yiqiao: Mm, thank you, Zaozao.]

[Zaozao the Great: Mommy’s little animal photos, Auntie, do you want them?]

[Auntie Yiqiao: I want all of them.]

[Zaozao the Great: [Little bear nodding.gif]]

[Zaozao the Great: [Big black kitty and little white kitty cuddling.gif]]

…

Zaozao the Great sent several emojis in one go, and finally asked in a voice-to-text message,

[Zaozao the Great: Send them to Auntie from now on?]

[Auntie Yiqiao: Mm, please, Zaozao.]

At the same time, the villa’s main gate opened automatically, and two hovercars drove in one after another. But Ming Fei was oblivious, her mind completely occupied by the question of why Zhu Yiqiao wanted her photos.

So much so that she only realized Zhu Yiqiao was back when she came upstairs and appeared at the study door.

She hadn’t done anything wrong, yet she felt like a rabbit desperately trying to burrow into a hole, but there was no hole here, and there was no escape. She quickly hid the camera behind her back.

As Zhu Yiqiao approached step by step, Ming Fei stood up abruptly, her cheeks slightly flushed, her eyes darting around, her intention to hide very obvious.

Zhu Yiqiao’s gaze swept over everything, always fixed on Ming Fei’s face. The longer she stared, the redder Ming Fei’s face became.

She felt a bit mean, because she liked seeing Ming Fei blush because of her, shy, hiding, and because of the emotional fluctuations, Ming Fei at this moment was more vibrant than ever.

Making it almost impossible for her to look away.

So, even though she had caught Ming Fei’s small action of hiding the camera the moment she entered the room, knowing that Ming Fei had seen the transfer link, she still pretended to be completely unaware.

She even asked, close to Ming Fei’s ear, “Ah Fei, what are you doing?”