CH 43

In the quiet ultrasound examination room of the private hospital were three men. One was lying down, another was seated, and the third was standing, and the atmosphere was quite delicate and anxious.

Jiang Xu was lying on the examination table, revealing a slightly bulging lower abdomen. Shen Fangyu stood by his side, with a piece of gauze around his head, holding his elbow and staring at the picture on the B-ultrasound screen, while Tang Ke held the examination probe and rolled it around Jiang Xu’s abdomen. Two large black circles were hanging under his eyes.

“Jiang Xu,” he said, “It’s because you let me listen to a few lines of that song that night that I suffered insomnia for two nights. As soon as I closed my eyes, it was a continuous stream of four continuous “ahs.”

Jiang Xu seemed to smile: “I’ve been living like that for more than a week. ”

“When have you had insomnia?” Shen Fangyu said, “I always see you sleeping quite soundly.”

As soon as his words fell, two pairs of eyes looked at him at the same time.

One full of shock and desire for gossip, the other full of murderous intent.

Shen Fangyu: “…”

“Ahem.” Shen Fangyu waved his hand and said to Tang Ke, “Do a good examination.”

Dr. Tang obviously couldn’t do the examination properly; he only felt as if he had discovered something incredible. “You…” he said, looking at Jiang Xu.

“We don’t live together.” Jiang Xu said.

“I didn’t say you lived together!” Tang Ke’s eyes trembled wildly.

“..,” Jiang Xu reached out to grab the examination probe in his hand, “If you won’t do it, I’ll do it myself.”

“I’ll do, I’ll do.” Tang Ke didn’t dare ask anymore and hurriedly continued the examination that had just been interrupted.

The four-month-old baby’s organs had developed completely, and the genitals were also very clearly differentiated. If they felt it looked like a girl when they were checked last time, it was now 70% to 80% confirmed that the child in Jiang Xu’s stomach was indeed a little girl.

The little girl’s head appeared on the screen as Tang Ke seriously measured the double top diameter. Shen Fangyu took a closer look, and said cheerfully: “She looks like me, very beautiful.”

The 2D ultrasound obviously could not show the child’s appearance clearly, and Jiang Xu rolled his eyes and said, “This is a 2D ultrasound, not a 4D one; which of your eyes shows you that she looks like you,” he glanced at the image on the screen a few more times and said: “She looks like me.”

Tang Ke never expected that he would one day hear these two kings argue like elementary school students grabbing toys. More so when the argument was about which father the child looked like. The plot was so outrageous and surreal that he couldn’t control his expression for a while, and as a result, he just laughed. Then the two looked at him at the same time, and said in unison: “What are you laughing at?”

Tang Ke’s smile stiffened on his face.

What’s going on?

Aren’t these two rivals?

Shouldn’t it be him (Tang Ke) who has a better relationship with Jiang Xu?

Why do they now look like a family?

And he, Jiang Xu’s friend for many years, the child’s examiner, seems to have become an outsider.

This was unreasonable.

Just as he was about to refute, Shen Fangyu suddenly pointed to the picture on the screen and said: “Is the child’s right arm hidden behind her back? We can’t see it from this angle. Jiang Xu, why don’t you come down and walk around a few times before we check again?” [Probably for the baby to change posture in the womb.]

Tang Ke looked at the screen, and it was true.

Ah, he should stop getting distracted… He glanced at Shen Fangyu meaningfully… Now even the identity of the child’s examiner was being snatched away.

But this situation was common in prenatal examinations. Generally speaking, there will be no big problems, but before the child is born, it is not easy to make a guarantee. One shouldn’t rule out the possibility that something is wrong with the child’s hidden hand, so Jiang Xu immediately pulled down his shirt and got up, saying, “Okay.”

“I’ll accompany you.” Shen Fangyu followed, and the two went downstairs side by side.

Dr. Tang, who had just come back to his senses, looked at the backs of the two, and a question mark slowly appeared above his head.

Jiang Xu had a previous record of delaying the prenatal examination and not following the doctor’s advice, so he made sure to contact Shen Fangyu this time. In his eyes, Shen Fangyu was his tool man to urge Jiang Xu to come for the examination and do the surgery on Jiang Xu… How could he not see that the tool man was replacing him as Jiang Xu’s best friend?

Tang Ke finished packing up the instrument and lamented again: “This is absolutely unreasonable. ”

——————

The private hospital Tang Ke worked at was very high-end. Not only did it have a park covering a large area of City A, but it was also built close to the riverside. The October river breeze blew on the face, the reeds and flowers on the river banks intertwined, and a snow-white cloud floated with the river breeze.

Next to the promenade was a bicycle path, and people rode by from time to time. It was nighttime, and the night lights hung from the trees on both sides of the road, making the scene look cozy.

“No wonder more and more people are switching to private hospitals every year,” Shen Fangyu sighed: “The environment here is really good; I want to resign and work here.”

No doctor didn’t walk fast as they had a lot to do, so Jiang Xu rarely had the opportunity to walk slowly on the road like this. He looked at the treetops dotted with star-like osmanthus, and when he heard this, he glanced at Shen Fangyu and asked, “Should we walk slowly?”

“Of course,” Shen Fangyu said, “I can’t leave you behind; it’s a matter of dignity.” He said as he put his hand over Jiang Xu’s shoulder. Perhaps the scenery was so beautiful and comfortable that Jiang Xu did not break away.

A couple pushing their babbling child in a stroller passed by them, the bell hanging over the stroller tinkled as the breeze hit it, and Shen Fangyu suddenly said: “Jiang Xu, have you calculated the baby’s due date?”

Jiang Xu tilted his head and looked at the surface of the river under the moonlight. He knew he didn’t even have to say it, as Shen Fangyu was probably calculating it already. And sure enough, Shen Fangyu quickly said: “Goodness, April 1st!” He couldn’t help but laugh, “This child’s due date is actually on April Fool’s Day; this fate is really… ”

Jiang Xu interrupted him with an indifferent look and said, “This only shows that our encounter was like a joke.”

Shen Fangyu’s enthusiasm was not discouraged by his cold words in the slightest, and his thoughts began to extend to other places. “Hey, what do you think we should name our daughter? Shen Jiang?  It sounds grand, and it has our surnames. ”

Jiang Xu glanced at him and said, “Jiang Shen sounds better.”

“Shen Jiang!”

“Jiang Shen.”

“Shen Jiang!”

Jiang Xu said firmly, “Jiang Shen.”

“Jiang Shen doesn’t sound like a person’s name,” Shen Fangyu said. ’Shen sounds like a surname when you hear it. Who has a first name called ‘Shen’?”

“That’s your problem; who gave you such a surname,” Jiang Xu said. “If you think “Jiang Shen” doesn’t sound like a person’s name, then choose something else. The surname will remain Jiang anyway.”

“Or,” Shen Fangyu compromised and said, “Why if she doesn’t take any of our surnames? If she happens to be born on April Fool’s Day, how about calling her Yu Renjie? It’s not a must to use the parent’s surname, right?”

Jiang Xu didn’t know if one could now use a surname other than their parents, but judging from his shallow naming experience, if his daughter is named “April Fool’s Day”, she will never forgive Shen Fangyu for the rest of her life.

“*Great wisdom is like foolishness.” Shen Fangyu ran his mouth with vigor and said, “What a good name!”

Jiang Xu pondered, “Why don’t we buy durian tonight?”

Shen Fangyu: “Why, do you like eating durians lately?”

Jiang Xu removed Shen Fangyu’s hand from his shoulder without a trace and glanced at the white gauze around the other party’s head, saying, “Hitting someone with a durian is better than using apples.”

Shen Fangyu: “…”

Having stunned the person beside him into silence, Jiang Xu smiled contentedly and silently enjoyed the bustling night scene of City A.

City A was a very beautiful city, and Jiang Xu fell in love with it from the moment he dragged his suitcase out of the station.

And in the blink of an eye, he has been here for so many years.

From studying to working, settling down, and now even having children…He even had an unreliable partner he planned to live with.

From one person, to three.

Although it was all a trick of fate, full of ironic jokes that seemed to go around in circles, an unexpected future was pieced together, just like the moon in City A. The surface is full of potholes, but it is still clear and bright, shining into people’s hearts and adding fire to the raging fighting spirit.

“Let’s go back.”

The night breeze cooled down a little, and they had been gone for a while. Jiang Xu had to prepare a meeting report for the department later tonight, and Shen Fangyu also had to revise the thesis for his unlucky student, as well as prepare for tomorrow morning’s class.

Shen Fangyu suddenly grabbed him.

Jiang Xu glanced at his sleeve that was being pulled, and the latter let go of his hand understandingly.

“Let’s not discuss the name for now, I’ve figured out a nickname.”

Under the moonlight, Dr. Shen, the “improviser,” hooked the corners of his mouth and said, “I choose Xiaoxioao.”

Jiang Xu raised his eyebrows and motioned for him to continue.

Shen Fangyu’s eyes reflected Jiang Xu’s face: “Because you look good when you smile, and I like to see you smile. But you don’t like smiling, so she will remind you to smile more.”

The evening breeze ruffled the few bangs on Shen Fangyu’s forehead; his peach blossom eyes were lazy. The tails of his round eyes were long, but they were not as long as red phoenix eyes, and they had a flirtatious and amorous vibe.

The tip of Jiang Xu’s heart suddenly trembled, as if it had been swept by a butterfly’s fluttering wings, making it itch.

He raised his eyes, avoided Shen Fangyu’s gaze, and took a few steps in the direction of the hospital building.

Shen Fangyu caught up and stuck behind him, “Is it okay?”

Jiang Xu didn’t answer, and Shen Fangyu kept repeating the question, each “is it okay” bumping into Jiang Xu’s heart one after another. He impatiently turned his head to shut up the person in front of him, but Shen Fangyu directly resorted to his trump card and took out a portable stereo.

The familiar music rang out, and in an instant, countless people who were walking looked over curiously. Jiang Xu grabbed the stereo and pressed it for a long time without finding the mute button, so he simply smashed it on the ground, and the stereo finally went silent.

Sensing the probing gazes around, the embarrassed Jiang Xu quickly picked up the remains of the stereo and threw them into the trash. Then he said in a low voice: “Shen Fangyu, are you sick?!”

Shen Fangyu gracefully took out another stereo from his pocket and said, “Come on, I will also learn from Jia Baoyu. Qingwen tore up the fan, and Jiang Xu smashed the stereo. How many do you want to smash?”

*In “A Dream of Red Mansions,” Jia Boyu allowed Qingwen to tear up as many fans as she liked as a way to coax her and make her happy.

During Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu’s college entrance examination, “A Dream of Red Mansions” was a compulsory question in general literature. This question is usually in the form of a plot question, which makes many candidates who do not want to read books, especially boys majoring in science, miserable.

Jiang Xu remembered the past where he burned the midnight oil while flipping through the book and couldn’t help but say when he heard this: “You learned this from “A Dream of Red Mansions,” which was set in the college entrance examination? ”

“I learned something else,” Shen Fangyu said, “but you may not like to hear it.”

Jiang Xu didn’t want to know what else he had learned and stared indifferently at the hand that was planning to turn on the stereo.

“Don’t you dare.” He said.

“Then you promise me.” Shen Fangyu asked.

“I promise.”

“It’s okay if you don’t promise to sing, but you have to promise our daughter’s name will be Xiao—” Shen Fangyu was halfway through the sentence when he realized that Jiang Xu had agreed.

He looked at Jiang Xu, dumbfounded.

“Can you say that again?”

Jiang Xu rolled his eyes, turned around with his hands in his pocket, and in a slightly loud voice, said word by word:

“Yes, to, everything.”