Contract Marriage: Emperor CEO's Secretary Wife

Chapter 164 - City S - Part 4

Parenting never gets easy. As Lu Qiang's mother, Xiu Mei was very worried seeing her the troubled expression her son was making.

At home, Lu Qiang is sometimes childish but he was still very obedient.

With other people, he is always sensible and adorable.

He would sometimes throw tantrums but it was still at a reasonable point.

So seeing his troubled expression right now, Xiu Mei felt her heart ache. For a moment, she actually considered his request.

Before she married Lu Chen, she would always wonder why some women would choose to stay at home instead of continuing to work. After all, her belief is that women also have the right to choose whether to become a career woman or a housewife.

But right now that she has become a mother, Xiu Mei can now somehow understand their thoughts. It wasn't because they didn't want to work anymore but rather, children need love and attention especially when they're at a young age.

Xiu Mei knew very well that she and Lu Chen owes Lu Qiang so much because of the lack of time they spend with him everyday. He finally had a mother but that mother still can't give him the proper time and affection he years for.

She thought that the child was very understanding of the situation all this time but with his outburst just now, it seems that she thought wrong.

"Baby, can you look at Mom for a second?" Xiu Mei softened her voice, trying to soothe Lu Qiang's panicking self.

"Lu Qiang, your mother's telling you something." Lu Chen lightly nudged the child in his embrace. He dropped a kiss on his hair as he continued appeasing him.

The little kid shook his head, expressing his rejection to listen to his parents. Lu Chen stroked his back as he tried convincing his son again.

"Do you hate Mom?" This time, he tried a different tactic.

Lu Qiang flinched and immediately shook his head.

"Then are you dissatisfied with Mom?"

The kid shook his head again.

"Then is it to Dad you're dissatisfied with?"

This time, Lu Qiang hesitated for a second before shaking his head again. Seeing his different reply, Lu Chen and Xiu Mei helplessly looked at each other before returning their attention again on the little kid.

A pained expression appeared on Lu Chen's face for a split second before it quickly disappeared. He grabbed the tablet in his hand and placed it on an upright position on the table so his wife could still see what was happening then he pulled Lu Qiang into his lap.

Lu Qiang subconsciously adjusted his position in his father's embrace when he was pulled into his lap. He wrapped his short arms around his neck, fully embracing his father. Lu Chen tried to imitate the tone that Xiu Mei would often use when she's trying to comfort Lu Qiang.

"Can our baby tell us why is he dissatisfied with Dad?"

Gone is his indifference and cold expression. Now, he was trying his best to become a concerned father who is now very worried as to why his son was suddenly dissatisfied with him.

Was he being too strict with him for the past few days? Or did he do something that angered him? But Lu Qiang never held back expressing his thoughts everytime he gets angry with him.

Lu Qiang was silent as his hold on his father tightened. It was like he was afraid that his father would suddenly push him away.

On the other line, Xiu Mei watched the father and son interact through the phone. She felt so useless because she couldn't do anything when she's so far away from them. She can't even hug or console her husband and son. All she could do was to be silent and leave everything in Lu Chen's hands to figure out what was wrong with Lu Qiang.

After sitting like that for a few minutes, Lu Qiang shifted in his arms so Lu Chen slightly loosened his hold on him. The little kid pulled away from the hug and looked very apologetic to his Dad.

Lu Qiang was biting on his lips as his eyes trembled from trying to meet his father's gaze. It looked like he wanted to say something but he was hesitating.

"Do you want to say something to Dad?" He rubbed his head to ease his worries.

Lu Qiang opened his mouth and paused as if he was thinking about it again. In the end, he said what he wanted to say.

"I...I lied. I wasn't actually dissatisfied with Dad." He uttered while unconsciously pulling on Lu Chen's sleeves. He added, "Because Dad is always with Mom, but I could only be with Mom every night."

Lu Chen blinked. He finally understood what was the little on thinking.

It seems like his son was sulking because he was thinking that he was monopolizing Xiu Mei's time.

...Though it wasn't exactly wrong either. Lu Chen does stick to Xiu Mei a lot these days even at home.

"Is that why you want Mom to stop working with Dad?"

Lu Qiang nodded hesitantly. Thinking that his Mom might become disappointed with him, he quickly explained his reason for thinking that way.

"I just thought that if Mom stopped working with Dad then maybe,... she could finally spend more time to play with me." Lu Qiang looked at Lu Chen with watery eyes, looking very aggrieved as if he was being bullied. He fiddled with his hands in nervousness.

Even though the father and son duo was almost whispering with each other with their low voices, Xiu Mei could still faintly hear the gist of their conversation. She gasped after listening to Lu Qiang's grievances to the two of them.

Right now, she was really considering her decision to keep working as Lu Chen's secretary. She realized that if she had to choose between her son and career, she would choose her son with no regrets at all. Despite being so attached to her career, it wasn't as important as Lu Qiang.

Because Lu Qiang wasn't exactly in the mood to hold a conversation with either of them, Xiu Mei encouraged him to go to bed and sleep instead. After convincing him that she will call him back in the morning to make up with missed conversation tonight, Lu Qiang eventually gave in and obediently climbed upstairs to go to his room, leaving her and Lu Chen alone in the line.

After waiting for his son's figure to disappear upstairs, Lu Chen finally spoked to his wife.

"It seems like we made him too anxious." He exclaimed.

Xiu Mei nodded in agreement. She shared her thoughts with him after hearing their recent conversation.

"Chen, maybe I should resign." She wanted to hear his thoughts so she didn't hesitate to voice out hers.

Lu Chen already saw it coming as he replied, "But you love working there." his tone was serious but she could still feel the worry in his voice.

Xiu Mei fell silent for a moment. She couldn't refute Lu Chen's statement at all. Her work was quite stressful from the very start but eventually, she grew to love her work for the past four years. It was the only think she had aside from being the princess of the Xiu family. But most especially, she enjoyed being able to interact with her coworkers without having to worry about her manners and etiquette. It was almost similar yet different in her usual circle.

Even after her marriage with Lu Chen, her boss, and the Lu Corporation's president, the idea of resigning never appeared in her mind. Even when Lu Chen was being so stubborn when he was proposing to her.

Okay well, probably aside from the time when she was back at the hospital and she was fooled by him to sign the marriage registration form.

Who would've thought that a time will come when she'd have to choose between her career and her son.

Recalling Lu Qiang's aggrieved expression, her heart ached. If she really had to choose, it would still be her son over her career.

"Lu Qiang is more important." She resolutely replied at Lu Chen.

Lu Chen stared at her for a few seconds before he lowered his head. It was as if he was contemplating about something.

"Wife."

"What is it?"

"Before we forget, even if you resign right now, it's not like you can stay with him everyday at all."

Xiu Mei frowned. What was he suddenly talking about?

"Wife, we enrolled Lu Qiang into a school for this school year right? So even if you resign right now, once school starts, Lu Qiang still won't be able to stay with you at all." Lu Chen explained.

"So instead of resigning, maybe what we could do is to fix our work schedule until Lu Qiang starts school. After that, we can return to our normal setup just like our previous days since all three of us would have mostly the same schedule."

Xiu Mei:...How can she forget that she was talking to her boss ah? She would be a fool if she couldn't feel that Lu Chen didn't want her to resign at all.