CH 71

Back To the Countryside

Chapter 71:孕吐

{Morning sickness (during pregnancy)

Qi Yue pushed the door open and entered the room, the person lying on the bed immeditely looked back. When he saw him coming, he tried to get up, his loose hair falling all over on his chest, “Is he gone?”

“Hn.

He answered, sitting down on the bedside and lifting his hand to touch his long hair and put it behind his shoulders, “Is your back still sore?”

“Not anymore!” He Ling shook his head, leaned over to his shoulder and asked, “What did you say to him? I heard him crying and screaming, it was pretty miserable, you didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

“What kind of foolish things are you thinking about?” Qi Yue laughed and amused by his speculation. He lowered his head and kissed him on the forehead, “But did it bother you?”

“Not really, I couldn’t sleep in the first place!” He had come back to lie down just to rest his mind, not really to sleep at this hour, “In the future, he won’t come here again, right?”

“I believe he dared not to come again. The way my Fu Lang slapped him is so awesome. He wouldn’t have the guts to come to our house again!” He had seen it clearly from outside the room. The three slaps were so direct and efficient, he didn’t even take a breath!

He Ling blushed and hid himself in his arms. His husband had seen all of his ungentle side, “I was so furious, he even dared to make people bully Xiaohu!”

Qi Yue pinched his red cheeks, which were soft and felt good in his hands, “Even when he is hitting someone, my A Ling is so gorgeous which can’t be compared with anything!”

He Ling was even more shy after hearing what he had said, raising his eyes in annoyance to glare at him, even the corners of his eyes were tinged with a thin red.

Looking into those seductive eyes, Qi Yue’s heart heated up. He kissed him on the lips and he kissed him gently. Only when he was out of breath did he reluctantly back away, “If it wasn’t for the little thing in your belly ……”

He understood the implication behind those words, so He Ling bit his lip and whispered, “I’ll use my hands…”

Qi Yue softened his gaze, kissed the corner of his lips again, and took the man into his arms, “I’ll write the account down, pay it back later.”

He Ling leaned against his chest, listening to the steady sound of his heartbeat, his eyelids closing in unison, surprisingly he began to feel sleepy.

“A Ling, if someday in the future, you find out that I am different from what you see, will you still stay in my embrace as you are now?”

Just as his consciousness was fading away, Qi Yue’s slightly uncertain voice rang out above his head, asking a question that he could not understand.

He Ling’s already somewhat muddle head could not comprehend these profound questions. Subconsciously, he replied in a daze, “Xiang Gong is Xiang Gong, how could it be different…?”

“Hn, it won’t be different.” Qi Yue gently patted him on the back of his shoulder, his eyes gaze into beyond the window, not knowing what he was thinking about, “Go to sleep then! ”

Only then did He Ling reassured himself and let himself drift off into the land of dream, the hand that was holding him seemed to tighten a little more, as if he wanted to embed him into his body.

By the time the hustle and bustle of the autumn harvest had completely passed, He Ling’s body began to react strongly, throwing up whatever he ate. His entire person had lost a great deal of weight, as if a gust of wind could blow him over.

Not to mention Qi Yue, but Xu Hua and the others who came to visit him were all very distressed at the sight of him, but there was really nothing they could do to help.

Even when Wu Yulan brought him some of the things she used to eat when she was pregnant and vomiting, it did not help much. When he ate some food, he would still vomit as if his entire intestines were being ripped out.

Because of this, Qi Yue cooked for him different kinds of foods in different ways every day, but unfortunately, after all of his efforts, he could not find any foods that could stay in his stomach. His expression was getting unsightly from day to day,as his brow was knotted in a frown.

He Ling rubbed his brow every day and told him not to worry that he would be fine after a while. But how could it be possible for him not to worry? He could feel his bones when he held him in his arms right now.

No matter how skilled (in medical expertise) he was, there was nothing he could do about his reaction to his pregnancy. It was an unavoidable process and was not something that can be suppressed by drugs.

In the end, the unexpected person who solved the problem was Zheng Yuefeng! When he came to visit their house that day, he brought a small basket of honey oranges, saying that he had bought them from a foreign merchant and the fruits were not common here, so he gave it for them to taste.

Who knew that He Ling would like it so much that he ate several of them in a row. He even ate half a bowl more than usual at lunchtime that day and didn’t throw up.

Qi Yue finally got a smile on his face. He simply threw one sheet of hundred taels of silver banknotes to Zheng Yuefeng and said that he would like him to buy the honey oranges back from the merchant as many as the merchant had.

Zheng Yuefeng pulled the silver ticket off his face and he was awfully speechless. He was the young master of the Zheng family and he had always been the one who threw the money to others. This was the first time he had ever been ‘thrown’ a silver ticket by someone else. He had mixed feelings about this.

“This ger’s appetite after pregnancy is really unexpected!” As he watched He Ling stuff another orange into his mouth, he felt his teeth softened.

No matter how delicious this stuff was, one would get tired of eating it too much, right?

“Ling Ge’er is quite good already! I’ve seen a pregnant ger who poured vinegar directly into his mouth before!” Xu Hua thought he was quite good like this, at least he was eating something normal.

Zheng Yuefeng’s mouth felt sour just by thinking about that image, so he hurriedly shook his head to stop. He then set his eyes on the person beside him and said with a cheeky smile, “I don’t know what you’ll like to eat in the future, I’ll have to prepare more in advance!”

Xu Hua’s face reddened as he heard this, and he raised his hand to hit him on the head, “What nonsense are you talking about?

Zheng Yuefeng covered the back of his head with a grin on his face. People who have been working for years are different, their hands are really strong, it hurts a lot!

Seeing that he was in pain, Xu Hua somehow couldn’t bear seeing him like this, so he reached out his hand to rub the back of his head for him and said in slow tone, “From now on, don’t say such shameless words outside!”

He could feel his hand on the back of his head, stroking it gently, and his movement was gentle. Zheng Yue Feng did not feel any pain. He smiled happily as the corners of his mouth curled up.

Qi Yue turned his face away, no longer looking at his silly face. He placed the peeled orange in his Fu Lang’s hand and said, “This is the last one, you can’t eat any more afterwards.”

He Ling stopped chewing and looked at him anxiously, obviously still wanting to eat.

“No, no more!” Qi Yue shook his head very firmly and refused, stroking his head, “Eating too much will cause diarrhea, it’s not good for you and the baby inside. Be good!”

Hearing that it would have an effect on the baby, He Ling nodded obediently and stuffed the last bite of the orange into his mouth, just letting him take the rest of it away, out of his sight and out of his mind.

[眼不见为净 (yǎn bù jiàn wéi jìng) : what remains unseen is deemed to be clean / what the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over (idiom)

Tl: This idiom is good for our greedy eyes and heart]

Seeing the way He Ling was trying hard not to let his eyes look at the yellow fruit, Qi Yue was amused and felt that it was funny. He pinched his cheek and took all the oranges away.

“It’s still unknown whether the child is a boy or a ger, or could it be a girl?” Xu Hua looked at his not yet pregnant belly and held his chin to guess.

“A girl or a ger is good, ah!” Zheng Yue Feng’s eyes lit up after he heard what he said, “Surely, he will grow up to be as good looking as Ling Ge’er!”

Xu Hua gave him a sidelong glance.

So excited, huh? Those who didn’t know, would think he was the one that was going to be a father!

Meeting his eyes, Zheng Yue Feng smiled fawningly and wrapped his arm around his shoulder, curry a favor and said: “Of course, the best looking person in my heart is you, Hua Ge’er!”

Xu Hua rolled his eyes and only thought that he was annoyingly stupid, “Allright, don’t talk nonsense anymore! I don’t care about that, but if the child is a little ger or girl like Ling Ge’er, it’ll be extremely cute!”

Zheng Yuefeng agreed, when the time came, a little soft one baby definitely would be liked by everyone!

He Ling rubbed his belly, his expression gentle as if he was caressing his precious treasure, “However, I think to have a little boy like Xiang Gong is also quite good.”

“If the child is a man like Doctor Qi, he will surely attract many girls and little gers” Xu Hua thought about it again and said, “I should say that no matter what (the genders is), the threshold will be broken!”

[Xu Hua is saying that if the child is a man like Qi Yue, surely their house’s main front door’s threshold will be stepped on by many people and be broken because of so many people coming for him. Yeah, it’s kind of exaggerated (hyperbole) illustration. ]

Pic of threshold:

Both of them were good looking so it didn’t really matter who the child would look like, it would be a beautiful child that people were fond of.

Zheng Yuefeng’s face fell. He was now being oppressed and bullied by Qi Yue all day long so he didn’t want to see a little guy that looked like him, that simply would be a disaster for him!

“It’s still early before the baby is born. Are you guys not thinking too far ahead?” Qi Yue came out from the kitchen and put the egg custard in his hand in front of He Ling. When he was finally able to eat something, he wanted him to eat more.

Previously he had wanted to vomit at the smell of eggs and could not eat a single bite, but now that he had an appetite, the melt-in-your-mouth egg custard was quite tasty in his mouth.

“Precisely, it’s fun to guess at times like this!” Zheng Yuefeng saw him happily eating spoonful after spoonful, and in his heart he could not help but sigh once again at the changing tastes of pregnant people. Last morning when he came here, he saw the other party vomit for a long time because of the smell of steamed eggs, but now he was eating happily.

Would his Hua Ge’er be like this too in the future? He couldn’t help but imagine in his mind, the other party with his big belly asking him for something to eat and it was surprisingly kind of cute. It would be great, if only their wedding was closer. However, he still had to wait for a long time!

The man beside him was holding his chin and his eyes were empty, giggling foolishly at one moment and sighing in despair at another, causing Xu Hua to sigh helplessly. This person was getting more and more stupid than when he first met him!

He Ling put the last spoonful of egg custard into his mouth, took the handkerchief from Qi Yue’s hand, wiped his mouth, and said “If Hua Ge’er gives birth to a boy like Zheng Gongzi in the future, it will be fun!”

Xu Hua’s face reddened and he said embarrassedly, “You’re really thinking too far ahead. There is not even the first stroke of the eight (八)character yet!”

[八字还没一撇 Trad. 八字還沒一撇

bā zì hái méi yī piě

*lit. there is not even the first stroke of the character 八

*things have not even begun to take shape/ no sign of success yet

The sentence “八字还没一撇呢” originally used to describe marriage. In ancient China, a man and a woman whose date of birth and eight characters of a horoscope were matched could get married. The first stroke of character “八” is a“丿”(pié) . It is a metaphor of no sign of anything happening yet.]

They hadn’t even gotten married yet, so it was too hasty to discuss what kind of child they would have, and besides, he didn’t want to have a kid like the other party, it must be stupid!

Qi Yue seemed to have the same thought as him. He raised his eyebrows and said, “If the child is like him, it’s bound to be not too bright in the head, so I think we should just forget about it.”

“How is it that I am not smart? I’m the graceful young master of the Zheng family. I’m also a rich scholar and I manage a lot of shops under me!” Zheng Yuefeng in fact couldn’t accept this, not that he wasn’t smart but Qi Yue was just too deeply sophisticated which made him look like a fool. At least he was an elegant young master who had attracted a lot of girls and gers’s attention!

“You don’t look very smart when you’re arguing with people right now!” Xu Hua poked his agitated cheeks and thought it was funny in his heart, wondering how the Zheng family had raised him. In business, he was indeed very shrewd. In daily life, his temper was like that of a child, very unrestrained and a bit out of character. However, he was quite nice like this, he didn’t have the arrogance of a young master and was easy to get along with.

Zheng Yue Feng was becoming listless all of a sudden, his Hua Ge’er also followed others in bullying him and didn’t say anything to help him out.

“Do not always bully him!” He Ling couldn’t watch it anymore, he then patted Qi Yue’s shoulder, “At least he brought me ‘the chinese honey oranges’ today!”

[蜜桔 or chinese honey orange/

honey-sweet tangerine]

Pic here:

“That’s right, then for the sake of the honey oranges, not bullying him anymore!”

Qi Yue embraced his shoulders, but his eyes were still full of teasing.

Zheng Yue Feng wasn’t very happy to hear this, as a big living person, he was not even as good as a few oranges. He could see it clearly now that they were simply bullying him for fun. They had totally learned to be bad!