Billionaire's Long Journey of Chasing His Love-Chapter 467 - 403: Just a Quarter of Hope Left (Third Update)
"He dares to get angry!" Tong Yao laughed as she patted Yi Luowa’s hand. "Your dad does favor girls over boys a bit, but once he meets the child, he’ll love them regardless of gender. Don’t burden yourself with unnecessary thoughts."
Yi Luowa nodded with a smile, "Anyway, things are as they are now. Even if I’m worried, their gender won’t change, so I have to keep an open mind!"
"That’s the right way to think about it!" Tong Yao laughed and said, "I’ll go prepare some food for you two to take along."
"Mom, just pack a little. The room over at the back courtyard is warm, and if it sits for too long, the food will spoil."
"I’m only packing two days’ worth for you. After that, I’ll send more food every other day. These are green products grown by your Seventh Aunt at the farm."
In the afternoon, Yi Luowa and Tong Airui returned to Divine Eagle with large and small bags. As soon as their car reached the gate, they saw a few sentries pushing a disheveled woman into a car.
Tong Airui slightly furrowed his brows.
Yi Luowa glanced that way as well, "That person looks quite familiar..."
"Ruan Dawang’s wife."
Yi Luowa’s mouth twitched, "What happened to her?"
"After Ruan Dawang was executed, she lost her mind." As Tong Airui spoke, he closed the curtain. "I had sent her to a psychiatric hospital, but somehow she escaped again."
Yi Luowa pouted, "Honey, what about Xia Nansheng’s family? Did you arrange anything for them? Although he made mistakes, his family is innocent."
"Second Uncle went personally. Xia Nansheng’s wife is doing much better than Ruan Dawang’s wife. Before Second Uncle could say anything, she apologized first. She said it was their Xia Nansheng who was wrong and that he had brought shame to the Aldrich family. Xia Nansheng’s wife even offered to become a laborer at the manor to atone for Xia Nansheng’s sins, but I didn’t agree."
"Then make sure to arrange something good for her."
Tong Airui pinched his brow, "Given her age and status, there isn’t much she can do. Her children have grown up and have their own jobs. We’ll support her financially, giving her a monthly allowance so she can have a peaceful retirement."
Thinking for a moment, Yi Luowa said, "Husband, how were the Aldrich family soldiers handled if they were killed or injured before?"
"We provide a consolation payment and find jobs for their family members if possible." Tong Airui looked at her with suspicion, "Do you have an idea?"
"I read Xia Nansheng’s confession. The reason he took that path was out of fear that after his death, his frail wife wouldn’t be able to live properly, so he wanted to secure some money for her old age. If we could offer more than just a consolation payment, like supporting their elderly parents and raising their kids, I reckon we wouldn’t see another Xia Nansheng."
Tong Airui raised his eyebrows slightly, "That’s a good idea, but it requires a lot of funding."
"Money isn’t an issue. The money we have would take generations to spend. Instead, we should do something meaningful. You just took over the House Soldiers; you need to show them hope, let them know that following you won’t be pointless or in vain. For the families of fallen soldiers, with seniors over sixty-five and children under eighteen, we should provide them with monthly financial support so that even without the main breadwinner, they can still live comfortably."
"Like giving them a salary?"
"Mm, deposit it into their accounts punctually every month. We can also draft similar terms for injured soldiers, doing our best to ensure they all live comfortably."
Tong Airui nodded in agreement, "We’ll need to find someone special to handle this."
"Several uncles and aunties aren’t busy, right? You could ask them to do it. They have a connection with these elders and will surely do a great job."
Tong Airui laughed, "You’re pulling in all the uncles and aunties. If they find out, they might scold you."
Yi Luowa giggled, "Let them scold me; I won’t hear it anyway."
The two returned to the back courtyard, where Tong Airui called Shen Zichan.
Tong Airui had just finished speaking when Shen Zichan burst into laughter, "This is well done! I’ll go find them right now. No one goes fishing; we’ll handle this immediately!"
Hearing the busy tone on the phone, Tong Airui shrugged his shoulders, "I thought he’d scold me a bit, but he didn’t even let me finish before rushing out to find people."
"This means everyone really supports it." Yi Luowa leaned against the sofa to sit down.
Tong Airui quickly helped her sit down, "If everyone supports this, why didn’t Dad do it? Could it be that he, like me, never even thought about it?"
"You didn’t think about it because you weren’t in that position, but as for Dad... I guess he probably already thought of it and didn’t do it to give you the opportunity."
Tong Airui looked steadily at his wife, "That possibility is quite high!"
"Dad is really good to you!" Yi Luowa smiled, giving him a light push, "I need to lie down for a bit. Are you offering me a spot or your lap?"
Tong Airui chuckled, "I’m offering my whole self to you."
"I can’t use a person, so no need!" Yi Luowa shifted to clumsily lie down on Tong Airui’s lap.
Tong Airui gently caressed her round belly, "I wonder what the two little ones are doing?"
"Eating and sleeping, sleeping and eating."
"Babies, your mom is talking about you. Did you hear?" Just as Tong Airui finished speaking, something suddenly kicked his palm. Startled, he asked, "Honey, did you move just now?"
"I didn’t move. Did you press on my stomach?"
"I didn’t... Honey, it moved again!"
Yi Luowa was taken aback, "Could it be the baby moving?"
Tong Airui quickly lifted her shirt.
Yi Luowa also raised herself to look at her belly.
The two waited quietly, and after a minute or two, the belly remained still.
Tong Airui disappointedly let her shirt down.
Yi Luowa pouted and lay back, "They’re teasing us!"
Tong Airui laughed, "Two little pranksters! Honey, where did you put the growth diary? I need to record this meaningful moment."
"It’s in my bag."
Tong Airui glanced at where the bag was, but didn’t move.
"Why aren’t you getting it?"
Tong Airui affectionately patted her head, "If I get up, you’ll have to get up too. I’ll write it down later. I wonder when these two little ones will move again so I can take a picture."
Yi Luowa pouted as she looked at Tong Airui, "Speaking of pictures, it reminds me, Shanshan and Old Seven went to take maternity photos."
Tong Airui smiled, "They’re taking maternity photos, why do you pout?"
Yi Luowa glared at him, angrily turning her head away.
Laughing, Tong Airui gently turned her face back towards him, "Do you want to take photos too?"
"What do you think!" Yi Luowa huffed.
"I think—yes! Haha... It’s rare to see you act up." Tong Airui smiled and kissed her cheek, "I’ve already made an appointment with the photographer. He’ll come to our home tomorrow to take your maternity photos."
Yi Luowa’s eyes lit up suddenly and then dimmed, "Everyone else has their husband with them."
"I didn’t say I won’t accompany you." Tong Airui pinched her nose, "I’ll be with you all day tomorrow, and we won’t do anything but take photos. This photographer has won many international awards. I scheduled him for our wedding photos earlier, but he wasn’t available. This time he just returned, and I caught him immediately."
Yi Luowa pouted, "I thought you weren’t interested in maternity photos!"
"I’m indeed not very interested, but when I heard you and Huo Li talking about taking maternity photos, I started caring. Whatever you want, I’ll try my best to give it to you."
"You have a bad habit of eavesdropping!" Yi Luowa playfully pulled his ear.
"I wasn’t eavesdropping. It’s just that you two were talking so loudly, I couldn’t help but hear it."
Yi Luowa curled her lips and chuckled.
The next day, the photographer really came, and Tong Airui cooperated throughout, taking many beautiful photos with his wife.
In the days that followed, Yi Luowa went to work and returned on time every day. This time, her workplace moved from the conference room to Tong Airui’s office. Although her temporary work assignment was over, Tong Airui had arranged a new task for her—organizing all the House Soldiers’ files.
It was an enormous project, but Tong Airui specified that to prevent her from overworking, she was only allowed to sort through ten people’s information each day.
Yi Luowa knew he wanted to keep her by his side, so she stayed, avoiding going to the car lot and causing him any worry.
On Friday, Long Che and Tong Yao came over. On the way, Tong Yao called to say that she wanted to take Yi Luowa for a check-up.
Yi Luowa and Tong Airui waited at the door early, and as soon as they arrived, the four of them went to Divine Eagle Hospital.
After the last incident, Old Knife was still uneasy. This time, with the prime minister and the team leader accompanying Yi Luowa for her check-up, his palms were sweaty from nervousness.
Old Knife arranged for the best sonographer to do an ultrasound for Yi Luowa. Tong Airui kept his eyes glued to the screen. The two little ones had grown a lot, but he still couldn’t tell if they were boys or girls.
"Both little babies are very healthy," the doctor said with a smile.
"Can you tell if they’re boys or girls?" Yi Luowa hesitated before asking.
The doctor pointed to the left side of the screen, "This little one is a boy... the other keeps playing hide and seek, refusing to give us a full view."
Yi Luowa clutched Tong Airui’s hand, "Well, now there’s only a one in four chance left."
