Chapter 5

As the project progressed steadily, Lin Ke’s workload grew heavier and heavier. In order not to reduce the amount of time she spent with her daughter at night, she practically worked nonstop from the moment she clocked in until she left work.

Si Yuming was busy too.

She could at least leave work on time most days, but he often didn’t get home until eight or nine at night, usually carrying the smell of alcohol with him.

He would shower first, then head to his daughter’s bedroom. If Si Xiaotie happened to still be awake, he would naturally take over the bedtime routine and stay until she fell asleep.

In the past, he was often away from home, and his return usually meant he had free time, so Si Xiaotie had no concept of “working overtime” or “being busy.” But after an entire week of this, the little girl finally became confused.

“Mommy, why is Daddy always busy?”

Lin Ke answered softly, “Because Daddy has things he wants to do and dreams he wants to achieve. He’s working hard to make them come true.”

“What dreams?”

What dreams?

Lin Ke lost focus for a moment.

Naturally, they had never discussed something as deep as dreams, nor had they ever truly opened their hearts to each other.

But just because they never talked about it didn’t mean she didn’t know.

Ever since Si Yuming’s father passed away, the Si family had gradually drifted away from the center of political power. After Old Master Si died, there was no one left backing the family from behind, meaning if people chose not to respect you, then you became nothing.

Entropy Domain Group had only existed for a little over ten years.

In the beginning, Old Master Si had used his own connections and resources to establish the company. While Si Yuming studied abroad, Si Yun managed it steadily. But the company’s true rise came only after he returned to China and fully took over its operations.

Now, Entropy Domain had grown large enough to make even North City’s old established corporations wary, while also securing a strong foothold in the southern market.

Over the past few years, the company had expanded continuously, reorganized shares, and slowly built its own core leadership team. During that same period, Old Master Si’s health declined, and the pressure on Si Yuming became suffocating.

Then came the rushed marriage.

Not long after marrying, Lin Ke unexpectedly became pregnant. During the pregnancy and breastfeeding period, Si Yuming was still so busy she often barely saw him.

Toward the later stages of pregnancy, she started suffering from sleepless nights. He began coming home earlier, but after accompanying her briefly, he would immediately return to work again.

During her confinement period after childbirth, the company happened to undergo a major reform, so he literally moved his office into the maternity center.

Then, once Si Xiaotie turned over a year old and could be looked after by the nanny, it seemed as though he no longer had any worries holding him back. He immediately started expanding the branch company and disappeared for two entire years.

Lin Ke gently tucked the soft strands of hair from her daughter’s forehead behind her ear and said warmly,

“Next time, Xiaotie can ask Daddy herself. Ask him what his dream is.”

“Mhm!” Si Xiaotie blinked her eyes. “What about Mommy’s dreams?”

Lin Ke answered seriously, “Mommy has two dreams. One is for Xiaotie to grow up healthy and happy. The other is for Mommy to stand on an even bigger stage someday.”

“Then Xiaotie has a dream too!”

“What is it?”

“I want to raise a Tyrannosaurus Rex and let it help Mommy achieve her dreams!”

Lin Ke burst into laughter. She lifted the blanket and climbed into bed, hugging her daughter’s fragrant, soft little body.

“Then let’s hope all of us can achieve our dreams. Goodnight, baby.”

Si Xiaotie giggled and wriggled backward. “Aren’t we waiting for Daddy anymore?”

“No waiting. Time to sleep.”

…

Si Yuming didn’t come home all night.

The next morning at work, Lin Ke once again overheard gossip in the break room as usual.

“I heard the chairman of Jiang Group passed away last night.”

“Huh? Seriously?”

Even Lin Ke was startled and looked toward the speaker.

“Of course it’s true. I saw Assistant Xu’s Moments. He was still at the hospital at one in the morning. Besides, who would joke about death? There’ll probably be an official announcement later.”

“Then it must be real. Assistant Xu never leaves President Si’s side.”

Lin Ke pressed the hot water button, the dull sound of flowing water bubbling continuously.

The discussion beside her remained lively.

“But President Si still came to work today.”

“Well, his future father-in-law died. President Si’s probably here to stabilize the situation.”

“Life’s really unpredictable.”

“Then doesn’t that mean our little princess doesn’t have a grandfather anymore?”

“…”

When the cup was about seventy or eighty percent full, Lin Ke stopped the water and carefully carried it away.

She didn’t know much about the matter, so after returning to her desk, she searched online first.

The Jiang Group wasn’t a small company. Scattered news had already appeared online, along with several leaked hospital photos.

In the photos, the tall man stood out immediately.

Dressed entirely in black, his aura looked solemn and imposing.

The people around him all wore grief-stricken expressions, yet only his eyes remained calm and sharp as he tilted his head to give instructions to someone, as though personally controlling the situation.

She switched to WeChat and scrolled down until she found the familiar chat window.

Her finger paused above the keyboard.

After a long while, she exited it.

Lin Ke put away her phone, took a sip of water, and forced herself into work mode.

Close to noon, Shen Wan requested the finalized contract documents. After Lin Ke sent the electronic version over, Shen Wan sent another message.

【President Si wants to review the paper copy. Manager Lin, I’m tied up with something right now. Could I trouble you to bring it upstairs?】

Lin Ke was silent for two seconds before replying:

【Okay.】

She had never visited the president’s office before.

Not as an employee.

And not as his wife.

The executive office occupied the top floor. The moment she stepped out of the elevator, the first thing she saw was the minimalist yet highly distinctive “Entropy Domain” logo. Behind it stretched an open office area where assistants busied themselves with work.

The receptionist guided her inside.

Only after the door opened did she realize there were many people in the office already—vice presidents and directors from different departments. It looked like they were in the middle of a meeting.

The man seated at the center raised his eyes slightly, then his gaze settled on her.

Lin Ke met it calmly.

There were dark circles beneath his eyes, making it obvious he hadn’t slept all night.

She didn’t linger and simply walked forward, gently placing the documents on the upper left corner of the desk.

“President Si, the contract you requested.”

She was just about to leave when his low voice sounded.

“That’s all for now. Manager Lin, stay behind.”

No one found this strange. Everyone stood and prepared to leave.

Only Xu Lin hesitated, unsure whether he should leave too.

The next second, the boss spoke again.

“Xu Lin, close the door on your way out.”

Hearing that, Xu Lin secretly glanced at the beautiful woman standing before the desk.

The president’s office was somewhat separated from the outer workspace and had strong privacy. Usually, the door remained open.

Why close it today?

He didn’t dare think too deeply about it. After responding, he left and shut the door behind him.

The moment the door closed, Lin Ke immediately spoke in a professional tone.

“President Si, there aren’t any major problems with the contract the other side sent over.”

Si Yuming lazily lifted his eyelids to glance at her before closing them again, leaning back in his chair while pinching the bridge of his nose with two fingers.

Lin Ke stood still without moving.

Although the door was closed, it wasn’t locked. Someone could come in at any moment.

She waited for nearly half a minute, yet the man before her still had his eyes closed.

Another half minute passed before she finally couldn’t help speaking.

“President Si…”

The man suddenly laughed softly.

“Hearing you call me that feels strange.”

“What’s strange about it…” Lin Ke muttered quietly. She glanced back at the office door before lowering her voice. “If there’s nothing else, I’ll leave first.”

“Leave where? Let me rest for a bit.”

That single sentence carried overwhelming exhaustion.

Lin Ke stopped speaking.

Her gaze slowly moved downward from beneath his closed eyes.

He had probably changed clothes, but not his tie. He was still wearing the dark green plaid tie she had casually picked out for him yesterday morning.

The perfectly symmetrical Windsor knot was tied neatly, moving lightly with the motion of his Adam’s apple.

Perhaps because it felt restrictive, the man lifted one hand to loosen his collar before unfastening the first button.

Lin Ke stared at him.

Then suddenly came to her senses and hurriedly whispered,

“Don’t unbutton anymore! What if someone comes in later?!”

If he unbuttoned any further, even jumping into the Yellow River wouldn’t clear her name!

The corners of Si Yuming’s lips lifted slightly, some of the exhaustion fading from his face.

“Was Xiaotie easy to put to sleep last night?”

At the mention of this, Lin Ke also felt a bit helpless.

“I took her downstairs to find a place to bury the two crabs. Even after comforting her for ages, she stayed sad all night and didn’t fall asleep until almost ten.”

At this point, she asked carefully,

“Last night…”

Si Yuming didn’t avoid the topic.

“Chairman Jiang passed away from illness.”

“Are you okay?”

“The Jiang family is in complete chaos right now. Jiang Chengyin’s uncles are all eyeing the company greedily.”

Jiang Chengyin was an only daughter. Under such circumstances, her situation was naturally difficult.

The Si and Jiang families were extremely close. Even without any other relationship involved, it was perfectly reasonable for Si Yuming to help her.

Lin Ke nodded and asked softly,

“Are you coming home tonight?”

“Yes.”

Si Yuming opened his mouth as though wanting to say something else, but suddenly there came a knock from outside.

The woman immediately “fled the scene.”

He watched the slender figure sneak past the assistants and disappear, the corners of his eyes lifting again slightly.

Xu Lin, who had just opened the door, caught sight of the rare smile on his boss’s face and felt shocked all over again.

…

Lin Ke couldn’t make it in time to pick up Si Xiaotie that afternoon, so she asked Aunt Chen to do it instead and also told her to buy groceries for dinner so she could cook immediately after returning home.

Even though the nanny’s cooking was clearly better, Si Xiaotie only loved eating the food Lin Ke made. Whenever the nanny cooked, the little girl dragged out meals forever, taking nearly an hour to finish one meal. But if Lin Ke cooked, she would gobble everything down within ten or twenty minutes.

Tonight, Si Yuming came home early.

When he entered, Lin Ke had only just started the rice cooker.

Every time Si Xiaotie saw her father, she became incredibly happy. The moment she spotted him, she leapt off her little dinosaur rocking chair and ran over.

“Daddy’s home!”

The man looked exhausted, yet he still picked up his daughter, his voice gentle.

“I’m home.”

The father and daughter cuddled for a while before Si Yuming went to shower while the little girl continued watching Animal World.

When he came back out, he frowned at the living room.

“Xiaotie, don’t sit so close to the TV.”

Si Xiaotie and her dinosaur chair sat less than two meters from the television.

He physically dragged the dinosaur rocking chair back toward the sofa. Because of the sudden movement, the little girl’s legs kicked upward and her body leaned back, yet her eyes remained glued to the TV.

But in the brief moment he walked to the refrigerator to grab water, her little legs had already pushed the dinosaur chair forward again.

“Si Le—”

Lin Ke, who had just finished stir-frying a dish, interrupted him in time.

“You can just turn up the volume a little.”

Si Yuming didn’t understand, so she explained,

“I didn’t know before either, but later one nanny told me that children can’t read yet. They understand television mainly through sound, so if the volume’s louder, she won’t keep moving closer to hear it.”

After speaking, Lin Ke turned around to wash the pan.

Si Yuming watched her back for a moment before turning up the volume and dragging the girl back toward the sofa again.

This time, Si Xiaotie indeed stopped inching forward.

At seven o’clock, the family of three finally sat down for dinner.

Si Xiaotie held one chopstick in each hand and looked up with wide hopeful eyes.

“Mommy, can I raise a spider?”

Lin Ke froze mid-motion while ladling soup, the immediate “No” dying at the last second.

She truly couldn’t understand it.

Why did other children love cats and dogs while her daughter loved snakes, dinosaurs, and spiders??

She had already gently rejected the snake request before. If she rejected her again now, wouldn’t that crush her too much?

Si Xiaotie enthusiastically gestured with her chopsticks.

“A spider this big! It crawls super fast and it’s fluffy too!”

Lin Ke laughed awkwardly. “Was there one in the TV show you just watched?”

“Mhm!” The little girl nodded furiously. “That big sister said spiders are humans’ good friends!”

“…”

Were spiders really humanity’s good friends…?

Suddenly, Si Yuming spoke from beside them.

“It’s not impossible to raise one.”

The moment Lin Ke heard that, she turned sideways to avoid Si Xiaotie’s view and shot the man a vicious glare.

Dear god.

She couldn’t even imagine a huge spider crawling around the house. She would go insane.

Then she remembered something else and glared at him again.

She was terrified of creatures with too many legs or no legs at all. There was absolutely no way Si Xiaotie inherited this preference from her.

Which meant there was only one explanation.

—He was the culprit.

Si Yuming hadn’t thought that deeply about it, but he could tell from her two murderous glares that she was genuinely afraid. Suppressing a smile, he placed a peeled boiled shrimp into his daughter’s bowl.

“Xiaotie, spiders are poisonous. We can’t raise them.”

Apparently Animal World hadn’t yet introduced the concept of poison, so the little girl could only believe whatever Daddy said. Her tiny face drooped with disappointment.

“Okay then…”

Lin Ke finally let out a long breath of relief.

She handed over the soup.

“Baby, how about Mommy buys you a little kitten?”

“But I don’t want a kitten.”

“What about a puppy?”

“Nope.”

Forget it.

This topic needed to end here. If they continued, who knew what unexpected animal might come up next.

After dinner, Lin Ke took the child to bathe while Si Yuming cleaned up the kitchen.

Back when they lived in the villa, the housekeeper naturally handled such chores. But if the nanny wasn’t around, he could still cook and do housework himself. According to Si Yun, these were skills he learned while studying abroad.

After Si Xiaotie finished bathing, Si Yuming went to put her to sleep, leaving Lin Ke with some personal time.

After washing up, she prepared to read for a while.

An hour and a half later, Si Yuming still hadn’t returned.

Lin Ke put on a jacket and stepped outside.

The children’s room door was half-open. She quietly approached and peeked through the gap.

On the one-and-a-half-meter princess bed, Si Yuming leaned against the headboard while gently patting the shoulders of the still energetic little girl in his arms. His expression was soft and gentle, completely different from the cold-faced man who sat in the president’s office during the day.

Perhaps thinking of something, Si Xiaotie suddenly looked up and asked:

“Daddy, what’s your dream?”

“Dream?”

“Mhm!”

The man lifted his gaze and stared at the wardrobe ahead for a while before answering quietly,

“I hope Xiaotie and Mommy stay safe and healthy.”

Outside the door, Lin Ke froze completely.

The little girl found nothing strange about the answer at all.

“Anything else? Mommy has two dreams.”

Si Yuming lowered his gaze and asked softly,

“What’s Mommy’s dream?”

Lin Ke immediately pushed the door open, pretending to be angry.

“Si Lezhen, aren’t you sleeping yet?”

The little girl “fearfully” hid beneath the blanket, covering her head while her soft voice drifted out from underneath.

“Sleeping already, sleeping already!”

Lin Ke’s gaze met the man’s on the bed for several seconds before quickly moving away.

“Hurry up and sleep. Daddy still has work tomorrow.”

“Hooo~ Hooo~ Xiaotie is asleep already~”