Chapter 41: CH 41

Chapter 41

After Chen Zhiyu was injured, he saw a Western doctor, but this time Chen’s mother brought in a Chinese doctor.

Although Chen’s mother usually chanted that “the plan for the year is to have a baby”, she did not dare to go too far, especially after Chen Zhiyu took control of the financial power. Under normal circumstances, she would never even bring a doctor to see what is wrong with her son and why he cannot have a son.

This time, bringing a Chinese doctor over was also because of Chen Zhiyu’s leg injury, giving her a good cover.

As soon as Chen’s mother entered the door, she saw XX Revitalizing Treasure on the table. It was in a black box, and Chen’s mother knew at first glance that it was Xia Jing’s exclusive formula, which was tested to be highly effective. Xia Jing was really reliable, she talked to him once and he has already delivered.

She was afraid that her son would have a psychological burden, so she just took one look at it and averted her eyes.

“Luixi, this is Dr. Zhang, a very famous doctor. The Chinese doctor was wearing a white coat and a pair of glasses, probably in his forties, and looked very stable.

Chen Zhiyu did not resist.

After taking his pulse, Dr. Zhang gave a brief explanation. There was nothing wrong with Chen Zhiyu’s body, he was healthy, his pulse was strong and his qi and blood were vigorous.

Dr. Zhang: “Your heart is beating a little faster, did you just do some strenuous exercise?”

Chen’s mother looked at her son’s inconvenient legs and thought, “There’s no way to exercise strenuously, is there?

When she came in just now, Secretary Li was somewhat obstructive, and on entering the office, it turned out that Xia Qing Shu and Zhi Yu were alone together.Could it be ……

Chen’s mother’s eyes slowly changed.

Chen Zhiyu remembered that he had just drunk two cups of tonic medicine and said blandly, “No.”

After a five-minute interval, Dr. Zhang took his pulse again and Chen Zhiyu’s heartbeat had returned to normal. Chen’s mother’s gaze had a slightly darker look.

After taking his pulse, Chen Zhiyu said to Xia Qingshu, “You don’t look too good, let the doctor take a look at your pulse.”

Xia Qingshu glanced at his stomach and said in a small, heartfelt voice, “There’s nothing wrong with me, my face doesn’t look good probably because I slept too much.”

Seeing his refusal, Chen’s mother, who had been secretly watching, was excited.

“Sleeping too much is your biggest problem, isn’t it, Dr. Zhang? In medical terms. that’s drowsiness, and it also means something is wrong with your body.” Chen’s mother said to Xia Qing Shu, “Xia student, meeting each other is fate, as the saying goes, there is a fate to meet each other even in a thousand miles, but it’s hard to meet without it. Since this is such a great fate, you should not let down the arrangement of heaven, let the doctor look at the your pulse.”

Xia Qing Shu: “…….”

The middle-aged woman’s logic in persuading people was simply impeccable.

Xia Qingshu watched Chen’s mother and Dr. Zhang winking at each other behind his back, thinking of the last time when she had absurdly changed Chen Zhiyu’s name in order give birth to a son, and secretly said, “Could this doctor be a magician?

When he got closer, he smelled smoke and fire on his white coat. Only a master who spends his days burning wax and incense in a temple would smell like this. Xia Qing Shu concluded that this man looked like a serious doctor, but was actually a “master” who told people’s fortunes.

He put out his hand and put it on the pulse pillow. Dr. Zhang began to take his pulse, and after a while, he frowned a little.

Chen’s mother was even more nervous than Xia Qing Shu, “Doctor, is he alright?”

Dr. Zhang gestured to Chen’s mother to be quiet, “Change your hand.” Xia Qing Shu handed over his left hand.

Hmph, he was pretending.

After taking his pulse, Dr. Zhang put away the pulse pillow and said, “Stretch out your tongue, I want to look at the tongue coating.”

Xia Qingshu did as he was told.

When he finished, Dr. Zhang pondered for a moment and said, “The young man has a slippery pulse.”

Xia Qingshu cocked his head, “What does that mean?”

Dr. Zhang explained, “This pulse will appear when there is phlegm and food stagnation or in a woman who is pregnant, but looking at your tongue does not look like phlegm and drink. You’re pregnant, right? Rest for fifteen minutes, I will take the pulse again, the pulse of a man with pregnancy is rather tricky, this is the first time I have come across it.”

Dr. Zhang’s tone of voice was cheerful, surprisingly a little eager to try.

Xia Qing Shu suddenly remembered that once he had gone to the ward to see his father who was checking in with a group of students and they happened to come across a special case, and when the group of students saw the special case, their eyes glowed, just like Dr. Zhang’s eyes were doing now.

Xia Qing Shu: Whoops! I can’t believe I’ve become a guinea pig!

Suddenly a lihjt flashed in his mind: Chinese medicine practitioners need to give moxibustion to their patients, and they will also have the aroma of incense on their bodies. He mistakenly mistook the smell of moxibustion on the doctor’s body for the smell of incense and candles used by those “masters”.

Xia Qing Shu:” ……”

Careless

“Oh, doctor, to tell you the truth, I am still ….. How can that be?”

Xia Qing Shu explained in a small voice, leaving the word “virgin” vague. The word “virgin” is ambiguous, raising a small hand and covering the vermilion mole on his arm.

The lower the profile at this time, the better, must not say nonsense to arouse the other party’s interest: “I recently ate a little too much, probably accumulation of food, just ate hawthorn, so the tongue looks very red. No need to prescribe medicine, I’ll just eat a little less ……”

Chen’s mother stood aside, her eyes growing darker and darker.

～

This night, Chen Zhiyu had a very restless sleep. He had a dream in which there was a volcano about to erupt next to him, and the air around the volcano was very dry and filled with dust. Trees and plants were dying for lack of water and a manic, depressing smell permeated the surroundings. He kept swallowing and the knot in his throat rolled up and down, still feeling his mouth dry. He was very irritable and drenched in sweat.

Suddenly, a fresh, light scent of lemon lingered on the tip of his nose. Xia Qing Shu appeared in front of him and said to him with a smile, “Brother, it’s cool over there, let me take you to drink some water.”

The lemon smellgrew stronger as the other man drew closer. The sweet and sour scent broke the chains of oppression and dullness, the surroundings instantly changed and the mood became fresh and bright.

He swallowed and followed, desperately trying to catch the lime scent. Then, he and Xia Qing Shu appeared on a boat.

Surrounded by a vast ocean, he and Xia Qing Shu were in the boat, swaying with the waves as they ebbed and flowed. The sea was milky white and silky like silk. The waves splashed in all directions. Xia Qingshu smiled at him, a pear swirl appearing around his mouth. White lotus hands cold to touch, as smooth as jade….

Suddenly, cold wave came, and the refreshing sea breeze lingered around his body,  leaving him not thirsty or hot anymore.

～

Waking up with a start and feeling the changes in his body, Chen Zhiyu’s face was a little dark.

How could he be like this? The ink-colored silk sheets were a large shade darker.

After briefly washing up, Chen Zhiyu sat alone on the balcony and lit a cigarette. He once thought that he had no desire in his life, that his strong willpower could suppress the those kind of urges, until when Xia Qing Shu appeared. During the day when the crowds were bustling, he almost lost control several times. Now, the soaked bed sheets and underwear were an even bigger blow to his ego. It turned out that he was also a mere mortal and had worldly desires.

The cigarette slowly burned out, condensing into a long ash on his fingers. With a flick, the ash fell into the air, wrapped in his beliefs, and faded into the wind without leaving a trace.

Chen Zhiyu tilted his head up to meet the rising sun.

If the child confesses his love the next time, what should he do? Perhaps, he could try to like. But, in the end, he would not have the same fiery feelings as the other person.

～

Early in the morning at Chen’s house, Chen’s father woke up early to feed the birds and hold the cat to brush its fur while Chen’s mother studied a jar of supplements in her arms. On the jar were the words “Birth Pills”.

“Old Chen, do you think our son will take it?” Chen’s mother opened the lid of the jar and saw the black pills the size of walnuts inside.

Chen’s father was holding his cat, concentrating on brushing its fur, and didn’t raise his head, “No.”

Chen’s mother frowned, “You didn’t even look at it.”

“When did Zhiyu ever eat any of your messy stuff?” Chen’s father raised his eyes and was shocked, “Such a big pill, are you trying to choke your son to death?!”

“Get lost!”

Chen’s father sighed and gave the cat a kiss on the head, “Chen Maozai, our old Chen family’s hope of continuing the legacy may have to rest on you!”

“Chen Maozai already has two litters, Mao’s grandson can even bury his own shit, but Zhiyu doesn’t even know where his partner is!”

“People are worse than cats!”

Mother Chen put down the ” Birth pills” bottle and smiled mysteriously, “Go, go, how can you compare a cat to Zhiyu, come here, I have something to tell you, although this matter is not 100% sure, but it is already eight, no, nine times out of ten…”

Chen’s father put his ear close and shared whispers with Chen’s mother for a while.

After Chen Zhiyu left, the aunt entered the house to clean the room, and halfway through cleaning, the aunt was startled in her heart, took off her gloves, dropped the rag, and rushed to Chen’s mother in a fit of whooping and hollering.

Chen’s mother, clutching her tonic and Chen’s father followed behind with his cat, quietly sneaking into Chen Zhiyu’s room.

They saw their son’s hand-washed underwear hanging in the bathroom, then looked at the trousers and the untreated stains on the bed sheets.

Chen’s mother and Chen’s father had a New Year-like joy.

It was so hard! Twenty-five years, finally, their son had wet the sheets! Their son was finally acting like a man! This was a good omen. They had to go and offer incense to the ancestors of the Chen family! The two of them weren’t happy for long when Chen’s mother received a phone call. She spoke to the person on the other side of the line, and her voice couldn’t stop shaking as she spoke on the phone.

After hanging up the phone, Chen’s mother closed her eyes and shed tears of excitement.

Their Chen family, finally, had a successor!

~

Xia Qing Shu also loved to dream recently. In his dreams, he always heard someone crying. A child was hiding in a corner, unable to see his face, and kept sobbing in a small voice. The voice was soft, like a kitten’s, and it made the heart melt.

The dream continued for several days, and the figure of the child became clearer and clearer in the dream. In the dream, he walked over to the child and picked him up. The child’s features were still unclear, but he felt that the child gave him a feeling of affection that he could not describe.

“Good boy, tell brother, why are you crying? Is it because you can’t find your mother? Will you take me to find her?”

The little child buried his head into his arms, uncharacteristically resigned. As he sobbed, he pleaded.

“Daddy, don’t leave me alone!”

Then the little child lifted his head and had a face very similar to Chen Zhiyu’s.

Xia Qing Shu woke up with a jolt.

Ever since the pregnancy was confirmed, Xia Qing Shu had not been idle and had been looking for relevant medical institutions and researching this matter of men giving birth to children. After checking the information, he found that although it was a small probability that a man would get pregnant and have a child in this world, the risk factor was very high, not to mention that he did not want the child.

The news often reports that a man wentto a clinic to have an abortion. The abortion was then performed improperly and he died on the operating room, or the operation was successful but he died of a post-operative infection. There are only a handful of formal institutions that can handle such cases, and the Xia family’s hospital accounts for a large part of them. After Xia Qing Shu was recognized back by the Xia family, he did not want to worry his family and ruled out the Xia family’s hospital first.

For security and privacy, he investigated several hospitals behind the scenes and also collected information on specialist doctors. This investigation was delayed for a long time and Xia Qing Shu recently felt a movement in his small abdomen.

He was very thin, especially his waist, which was very thin and soft, without an ounce of excess fat. Even though he was pregnant, he was still pretty much the same as before, except that his belly was slightly bulging, as if he had just eaten, so one couldn’t tell unless he looked closely, in fact, he couldn’t tell even if he looked closely.

But recently, Xia Qing Shu had noticed occasional bulges on his belly, which slightly raised and topped up in a ball, and would go down again after awhile. He remembered a video he had seen when he was a child. It was not long after his mother was pregnant with him, and she was talking to his belly while he was moving around in it, stomping out her belly with his little fists and feet. His mother and father were very happy and they agreed that by this time he was conscious and already knew how to interact with his parents and would be very smart when he grew up.

Thinking about how he felt watching the video and his parents’ bright smiling faces in the video, Xia Qing Shu hesitated. He looked at his slightly bulging belly, was this baby conscious too? Was it swimming in his belly now? Would it cry when it knew he didn’t want him anymore?

Xia Qing Shu was a staunch physicalist, he did not believe in ghosts and gods, but this time he was transmigrated in a book, and here men could still give birth to children, so it would not be at all unusual if the child really gave him a dream. He had seen Thai horror films before, in which they would make premature children who had died into ghosts. Will his baby be bullied by those spiteful ghosts with high magic power?

His cute baby, last time he checked there was already a fetal heart and fetal bud.

A trace of reluctance grew quietly in Xia Qing Shu’s heart. Xia Qingshu, who always sleeps 12 hours a day, lost his insomnia. Hmm, just being pregnant, how can I become so sentimental.

I can’t delay, if I delay any longer, I will remain pregnant.

The first thing to do is to go to the hospital and listen to the doctor’s advice.

Xia Qing Shu rummaged through his suitcase and made sure that even Xia Lao Er wouldn’t recognize him in this outfit before he went to the Women and Children’s Hospital.

The lobby of the public hospital was crowded, and there were pregnant women and children everywhere, so Xia Qing Shu found the least crowded queue to register. After a long time, Xia Qing Shu made his request clear to the registration doctor and registered.

Perhaps because of a guilty conscience sneaking around like a thief, Xia Qing Shu kept feeling that someone was following him, so he looked back but saw that he was surrounded by patients. He put the brim of his hat down, put on his mask and made sure his face was fully covered before following the flow of people into the lift lobby.

~ ~

Around the corner, Chen’s mother was pushing a pram, wrapped in a Hermes scarf and wearing a pair of black over sized sunglasses, followed by Chen’s father with a black umbrella. Their cat, Chen Maozai was wrapped up like a newborn baby and placed in the pram.

Chen’s dad squeezed the umbrella, his hands trembling, “Maozai, you’re about to have a nephew.”

Chen’s mother teased Maozai while watching Xia Qing Shu’s whereabouts from the corner of her eyes, until she watched the other party take a number and walk towards the maternity department. The success was not lost on her, she finally caught the hard evidence of Xia Qing Shu’s pregnancy. This is God’s will not to let my Chen family down!

“Follow!” Chen’s mother took off her sunglasses, revealing a pair of eyes that saw through everything, and the two with their cat dived into the adjacent lift right behind Xia Qing Shu.

～

The obstetrics and gynecology department at the Women and Children’s Hospital was very crowded, so Xia Qing Shu took his number and sat down on a small bench to wait. After sitting for five minutes, a middle-aged woman with a big belly sat in front of him. The middle-aged woman had the examination report in her hand and was waiting in line for the doctor to read it, and seeing that Xia Qing Shu was alone, she climbed up to talk to him.

“Little brother, accompanying your sister, or mother?”

Xia Qing Shu was wearing a unisex sports outfit today, with a large fisherman’s hat on his head and a mask covering him tightly. He was already thin, and although he was tall, he sat shrunken at the edge of the bench because of his weakness of heart, and when compared to those pregnant women with big bellies, he was slightly skinny, to say that he was a girl would have made sense.

And aren’t most of the people queuing at the entrance to the maternity ward women? He wondered how this middle-aged woman could tell at a glance that he was a man?

“I …… myself.” Xia Qing Shu pinched the registration slip, the queue was so crowded that he was slightly suffocated.

The middle-aged woman’s eyes flashed with surprise, “Are you of age? And where’s your boyfriend? How come you’re here alone, does your family know?”

Auntie, do we know each other well?

Xia Qing Shu didn’t say anything, stood up and replaced a stool.

The middle-aged woman took out her mobile phone and sent a message: [What should I do, the other party is not talking?]

[This kind of personal information, who would say it to a stranger on the first meeting?]

[I’ll give you back the money, seeing that you’re so concerned about him means you are family. Why don’t you just talk to him?]

[Big sister is a veteran, listen to her advice ……]

Chen’s mother, Chen’s father and Chen Maozi were hiding in the corner upstairs, and from the gap they could just see where Xia Qing Shu was sitting downstairs. Chen’s mother pulled out a telescope to continue her covert observation, while Chen’s father quickly replied: [We’ll add money! [Transfer].

The middle-aged woman was blinded by the five-digit transfer that suddenly popped up. She deleted all the principles of life she had previously entered, clicked to receive the money, and replied, [I can’t do anything about you guys.]

Although there were many people at the entrance to the outpatient ward, they were all pregnant women with mobility problems. The middle-aged woman, who had been sitting for a long time, stood up and took two steps, holding her back. When she walked in front of Xia Qing Shu, the middle-aged woman held her chest, “Little brother, can you please help me pour a glass of water?”

She said, and gasped for air.

Seeing that the other woman’s face was red and she was in some discomfort, Xia Qing Shu quickly stood up and helped her to sit next to him, and got up again to help her pour a glass of water.

“Thank you, little brother.” The middle-aged woman finished her water and her face looked a little better.

“No need to thank me.” Xia Qing Shu looked up and saw that there were still five more numbers before his turn, and looked down again to play with his phone.

When the middle-aged woman finished her water, she didn’t care whether Xia Qing Shu was listening or not, she said to herself, “I’m forty-five this year, my husband is a carpenter, and I have two children at home, the third one is in my belly now. The eldest and the second are both daughters, the eldest is working, the second is in college, we are not patriarchal, we just feel that having a child around is more lively….”

Xia Qingshu only felt a buzzing sound in his ears: This aunt is a social bully, so she will reveal all her family when they  just met.

“I am considered to be of advanced maternal age, giving birth is very dangerous, my family did not agree with me having a baby, at first it was very unpleasant, I know they were doing it for the good, during that time, I dreamed every day that the baby was hugging me and crying ……”

The middle-aged woman suddenly sobbed as she spoke.

Although Xia Qing Shu did not listen attentively, occasionally a sentence or two drilled into his ears, he still heard the middle-aged woman’s distress. Perhaps because of the sensitivity of pregnancy, when the middle-aged woman said, “I dream of my baby crying in my arms every day,” he was touched and handed a tissue to the other woman.

“Thank you, little brother, how old are you, are you still studying?”

“Not anymore, almost twenty.”

The middle-aged woman put her phone on hands-free mode and put it in the bag in front of her.

“Does your family know about the pregnancy?”

“No idea.”

Chen’s father and Chen’s mother looked at each other, seeing the crisis in each other’s eyes.

“Then your partner….?”

“He doesn’t need to know.”

On the other side of the corner, Chen’s mother clenched her fist, her heart in her throat, “How is it unnecessary? That is the blood of our Chen family! This kid, he’s too hideous!”

Chen’s mother’s voice was so loud that a hysterical hiss came out of the middle-aged woman’s bag.

Xia Qing Shu: “Aunty, why is there a strange sound in your bag?”

“Hahahaha, a vocal toy for the baby, I accidentally pressed it.” The middle-aged woman reached into her bag and turned down the volume of her phone, “Usually my son likes this kind of sound-making toy the most, it will react after two rings, look, he’s kicking my belly again.”

Sure enough, Xia Qing Shu was attracted to her belly. Seeing that the other party believed it, the middle-aged woman raised her hand and wiped away the cold sweat.

“Little brother, listen to auntie’s advice, it’s better to discuss with your family about a big matter of human life.”

The middle-aged woman with forty-five years of life experience thought she had seen through all the truth. Xia Qing Shu was so young, covered up and quietly came to the maternity department, did not tell his family, did not tell his friends. What does it mean, it means he was abandoned by a scumbag.

Eighteen or nineteen years old is the period when self-esteem is higher than the Alps. This child would rather knock out his teeth and swallow blood than declare the disgrace. She had raised two children, but she knew it all too well.

“Silly child, your body is the most important thing, don’t get carried away, scum is not worth a single tear.”

“Life is still a long way to go, only our family is our most solid leaning.” The middle-aged woman thought Chen’s father and mother were Xia Qing Shu’s parents, she figured boasting out these words would be worth the five figure transfer received, “Don’t hold anything in alone, the people closest to you won’t harm you, just open your eyes in the future, avoid scumbags, auntie teach you a way to identify scumbags ah ……”

Chen’s mother and Chen’s father looked at each other, “What is this old lady talking about? Who is a scumbag?  Zhiyu a scumbag?”

Chen Dad: “Shhh, keep your voice down.”

Chen’s mother reluctantly shut her mouth and turned her face away, her ear still pressed against the phone handset.

Middle-aged woman: “Little brother, this child, are you not going to keep it?”

Although Xia Qing Shu felt that this middle-aged woman was nagging him, the other party was still concerned about him, and when he was suddenly asked, he was a little dazed and did not answer in time. He did not intend to have it at first, but he was just a little shaken now. He had lived two lives, but he was in fact a child, and he hadn’t lived his own life to understand it, and had absolutely no confidence that he could raise a child well. But asking him to abort the child, he wasn’t that cruel.

What on earth should he do?

Xia Qing Shu’s face was all masked and he was wearing sunglasses, so it was impossible to tell from his facial expression what he was thinking at the moment.

But he didn’t answer for half a day, so the middle-aged woman thought he was acquiescing and said comfortingly, “Don’t be sad, child, it’s okay, if you don’t want it, you don’t want it, scum don’t deserve children!”

The moment these words came out, Chen’s mother almost fainted if not for Chen’s father’s support. For fear of being discovered by the other party, Chen’s father did not even dare to make a sound when he was pinching Chen’s mother, fearing that she would scream in agitation, he covered her mouth at the same time. When Chen’s mother woke up, she was lying in Chen’s father’s arms, and the two of them were silent with two lines of tears.

Xia Qing Shu, you are so cruel!

They thought that Xia Qing Shu came to the hospital to keep the baby, but they didn’t expect that the other party was here to abort the baby? The fact that their son had no worldly desires had always been their heartache. Now that they could hardly have a grandchild, the other party actually didn’t want it!

Chen’s mother and father were in a state of “despair – hope – greater despair”, unable to extricate themselves for a long time.

When the patients walking by saw them, they thought they were suffering from some serious illness that could not be cured. The two of them were in a state of despair.

Until Xia Qing Shu had finished his treatment and left the hospital, Chen’s mother and father were still unable to wake up from the excruciating pain of “the tenth generation of the Chen family’s heir is about to be lost”.

Chen’s mother sat on a bench in the waiting room of the obstetrics and gynaecology clinic, her shoulders slumped and her body weak. Chen’s father sat next to her, holding the swaddled Chen Maozai in a baby hug, with a complicated look on his face.

Chen Zhiyu had come to the hospital on business today and had not expected to see his parents in the hospital. He observed for a while, walked up to his parents, and under their surprised eyes, asked, “Mom, you’re pregnant?”