CH 89

After multiple evaluations of Jiang Xu’s physical condition and discussions with the expert surgical team, Shen Fangyu set the operation date to be on April 1st, the previously calculated due date – April Fool’s Day.

Jiang Xu also moved into the residence prepared Zheng Qi prepared for them a week in advance.

Every day, Shen Fangyu would set aside time to practice his surgical skills at Jihua and attend meetings with the surgical team. For the rest of his time, he stayed at home with Jiang Xu.

So Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu repeatedly analyzed Dr. Kenn’s surgical video and the first half of Dr.Albert’s video together. They were so familiar with the procedure that they almost knew it by heart.

After a series of considerations and discussions, the preoperative preparation and surgical plan were mostly based on Dr. Kenn’s paper, with some adjustments in some details.

The suburban house was much more spacious than the urban one, and the place was clean and quiet. The two of them either read documents, discussed them in the study, or rewatched the video that had almost been watched to death.

Occasionally, Shen Fangyu couldn’t help but make a few comments, “It’s been more than ten years since the college entrance examination, but I feel like I’m back in the third year of high school again.”

Doing questions over and over again, taking several exams, constantly revising, analyzing, summarizing, and reflecting, and seeing the countdown clock’s red numbers getting smaller and smaller.

Jiang Xu lowered his head to look at the tablet, the dim sunset falling on his side face. Shen Fangyu looked over and even had a hallucination that Jiang Xu was studying with him in the high school classroom.

The day of the surgery approached day by day. On the last evening, when they finished watching the video for the last time, Shen Fangyu turned off the projector and took Jiang Xu’s tablet away.

“I don’t want to watch anymore. We must rest well tonight.” He stood up and pulled Jiang Xu’s hands. “Let’s go, I’ll make you some spicy tiger skin green peppers.”

Jiang Xu’s swivel chair followed Shen Fangyu’s movement and turned ninety degrees, forcing him to face him.

He sat on the chair with some helplessness, allowing Shen Fangyu to hold his hands and look up at him as he criticized: “You don’t want to study, so you decide not to let others study either?”

Shen Fangyu wanted to laugh, “You should pause on being an academic tyrant, Jiang Xu the First. I’m fully prepared and just need to go over it once. I know it by heart, nothing can go wrong.”

“You’re quite confident.” Jiang Xu smiled, grabbed Shen Fangyu’s hand and shook it. “Help me up.”

Shen Fangyu used a bit of force, and he followed the force to stand up. He then let go of Shen Fangyu’s hands and supported his waist, sighing with emotion: “I’m getting heavier and heavier.”

“Really, let me weigh you.”

With those words, Shen Fangyu suddenly carried Jiang Xu, who was not surprised and knew that Shen Fangyu could not drop him, so he didn’t struggle and let him hold him.

“Why are you so good tempered today?” Shen Fangyu exclaimed.

Jiang Xu wrapped his hand around his neck and stabilized himself on his shoulder, saying, “I’m used to it.”

It was still quite difficult to carry a child’s weight everyday, so Shen Fangyu carried Jiang Xu through the living room and into the dining room, where he put a soft cushion on the chair for him and slowly put him down.

While washing vegetables, Shen Fangyu chatted casually.

“Hey, Jiang Xu, what were you doing the night before the college entrance examination? Did you have insomnia?”

“Before the college entrance examination? Let me think…”

Jiang Xu leaned on one hand, watching Shen Fangyu seriously wearing an apron and looking like a chef. “I remember I really wanted to eat instant noodles at that time,” he said, “but my parents never let me eat them, so after school, I went to the supermarket to buy a packet. When my parents fell asleep, I secretly cooked and ate them. They were delicious.”

“I slept after eating them, and didn’t have much trouble sleeping.”

Shen Fangyu seemed to finally understand why Jiang Xu had such a huge instant noodle tower at his house.

“What about you?” Jiang Xu asked him.

“I went to the movie theater near my house and watched a movie. At that time, the movie theater was not as crowded as it is now, and there were few people in B city. The theater was not even one-fifth full. I had a relative who worked there and showed movies. No one was at home that day and when I didn’t feel like reading after school, I decided to just go over there.”

“Do you remember what you watched?”

“I don’t remember,” Shen Fangyu said firmly, “but it definitely wasn’t a horror movie.”

Jiang Xu couldn’t help laughing. After a while, he suddenly stood up, walked behind Shen Fangyu, and untied his apron.

“What are you doing?” Shen Fangyu teased him, “Are we doing kitchen play?”

Jiang Xu gave him a sideways glance and pulled off the apron. “Stop cooking. Let’s go buy instant noodles.”

“What?”

“Maybe…” Jiang Xu paused and said softly, “If we do what we did before the college entrance exam tonight, tomorrow will go as smoothly as the college entrance exam.”

Shen Fangyu was stunned by his words and his eyelashes trembled lightly.

After a moment, he dried his hands and held Jiang Xu’s hand. “Okay, let’s be superstitious once and go buy instant noodles.”

Two doctors who were going to be in the operating room the next day took a break and sat down to eat two packets of instant noodles together. They also watched a comedy movie amidst the fragrant seasonings of the noodles.

Perhaps it was because the pressure was too great or because they had been watching horror movies all along, watching a comedy movie felt particularly novel. They laughed heartily and relaxed, feeling very comfortable.

When they finished cleaning up and lay down at night, Shen Fangyu stroked Jiang Xu’s bangs and recalled, “This is the first time I’ve seen you smile so much.”

Jiang Xu just hooked the corner of his mouth lightly and didn’t speak.

Shen Fangyu looked at him and saw that he was silent, so he kissed his fingertips again, asking, “What are you thinking?”

Jiang Xu’s hand was on his stomach and he didn’t answer him immediately. After a long time, he said to Shen Fangyu, “Say ‘see you tomorrow’ to her.”

“Okay,” Shen Fangyu quickly sat up and kissed Jiang Xu’s bulging belly, saying in a tender and affectionate tone, “See you tomorrow.”

Perhaps it was this sentence that made the little girl, who had been fussy all the time, to look forward to it. That night, she was unusually understanding and did not disturb Jiang Xu’s sleep.

Jiang Xu thought that he would definitely suffer from insomnia today, but he slept more peacefully than any other night in the past month. He fell asleep too fast and too deeply, not even realizing that Shen Fangyu failed to sleep until late in the night.

The car that was scheduled early in the morning took him all the way to the hospital. The preoperative fasting and water restrictions made Jiang Xu feel a little weak.

After undergoing a preoperative examination, he changed his clothes and shoes and for the first time, walked into the operating room as a patient, only to find that there was only Shen Fangyu inside.

“Where are the others?” Jiang Xu asked.

“They will come over later,” Shen Fangyu said. “You can lie down first.”

He helped Jiang Xu adjust the partition curtain he had installed in advance, as well as a small video player over his head. This was Jiang Xu’s request. He hoped to observe the entire surgical process.

Shen Fangyu was worried that he might have a stress reaction when watching such a scene, but Jiang Xu just said, “If you dare to watch, I dare to watch.”

“Is this angle okay?” he asked.

Jiang Xu nodded.

Shen Fangyu raised his hand and made a thumbs-up gesture, “This gesture means pause,” he made another thumbs-down gesture, “This gesture means you have something to say to me.”

To prevent accidents, they prepared for oxygen inhalation throughout the process. The oxygen mask would affect Jiang Xu’s speech, so Shen Fangyu came up with these small signals. “If you feel something is wrong during the operation, whether it’s your body condition, or you notice some details, or the situation becomes special after the laparotomy and you need to discuss adjusting the operation with me, you can interrupt me at any time.”

Jiang Xu made a sound of agreement. He waited for a while and found that Shen Fangyu was still standing beside him, dawdling. He wiped the video player above his head with alcohol, rubbing it over and over again, not knowing whether he wanted to disinfect it or fill his nose with the scent of alcohol.

Jiang Xu coughed twice. The fluctuating hormones in late pregnancy made him a little irritable. “What are you dawdling for? Can you do it or not?”

It was very strange.

This sentence seemed to bring them back to when they were at odds with each other, and the nervousness that had been lingering in Shen Fangyu’s heart suddenly faded away. He could even make a joke: “Don’t be afraid. I promise you that with my many years of experience in this profession, if you don’t come down from the operating table alive, I’ll spend money to buy you a grave.”

Jiang Xu turned his head to the side. “Who the hell is afraid—”

As long as you say you’re not afraid… I won’t be afraid.

The oxygen mask secured to Jiang Xu’s face muffled his voice.

Before turning on the camera in the operating room, all that was left in Dr. Shen’s usual carefree eyes was deep love.

“I can’t kiss you now, but I’ll always be with you.”

“Jiang Xu,” Shen Fangyu said, “although this child was born on April Fools’ Day, believe me, I’m not joking around.”

After speaking, he took a deep breath, pressed the video and audio recording buttons, and then turned and left the operating room.

“Prepare for disinfection and anesthesia.”

When he returned, the surgical team was already in position, and Shen Fangyu’s face was expressionless.

A blue surgical cap covered his hair. He held up his washed hands and, under Jiang Xu’s gaze, waited for the nurse behind him to tie the sterile surgical gown.

He put on white latex gloves, wrapped his sleeves and untied the waist knot. He the handed the right waistband to the nurse, rotated and wrapped the back, and then slowly tied the knot in front of his chest.

The movements he had done countless times still seemed skilled at this moment, with no apparent difference from any other time.

Shen Fangyu walked to the front of the operating table and looked at the area where the towels had been disinfected. Under the cover of the light blue mask, he took a very long deep breath.

The area of the towels was very wide, so he couldn’t see Jiang Xu’s face from this angle.

Therefore, he lowered his eyes and had to become the absolutely calm surgeon when he picked up the scalpel.

The sharp scalpel cut through his lover’s body layer by layer, and instructions continued to be issued one after another.

“Prepare to remove the fetus.”

“Clean up the amniotic fluid and residual membranes.”

“Confirm uterine shortening.”

“Prepare for abdominal exploration.”

“All organs are in good condition, ready for removal.”

.

.

.

Shen Fangyu’s hands were very steady.

Jiang Xu’s vital signs were also very stable.

He calmly watched the familiar surgical images on the screen, repeatedly comparing them with the surgery Dr. Kenn had performed.

Except for the moment when he heard the Xiaoxiao crying and his heart rate accelerated, all his data was quite stable.

And Dr. Shen, who had delivered many babies, only had time to look at his daughter once, cut the umbilical cord, and then refocused his attention on Jiang Xu.

The crying was very loud. Her hair was very black and dense, and her complexion was very red and moist.

Most newborns are wrinkled and covered in all kinds of dirty things, but Xiaoxiao didn’t seem to be. Shen Fangyu even wondered if it was because Jiang Xu had passed on his cleanliness obsession to her.

But with just this glance, Shen Fangyu knew that she was a very healthy baby.

In order not to disturb the ongoing operation, the doctors in the neonatal department took the little girl to another room. The prepared incubator was not used and the little girl enjoyed her arrival in the world with the doctors surrounding her, while her fathers were still concentrating on the surgery in the operating room.

Perhaps with the birth of this lucky little baby, she gave her two fathers a super luck buff value.

To everyone’s surprise, the operation went very smoothly. Jiang Xu’s internal organs had no adhesions, and the condition of his organs was almost identical to the patient in Dr. Kenn’s video.

Throughout the entire operation, there were hardly any changes to the pre-prepared surgical plan. Everything went according to plan. It went on step by step and with great confidence. It could be said that the surgery was a perfect repetition of Dr. Kenn’s surgery.

Because the situation went smoothly, and Shen Fangyu’s movements were swift enough, the entire surgery was even shorter than Dr. Kenn’s.

This was the situation that everyone had not dared to imagine or expect before the surgery.

But it became a reality.

The long-suspended heart finally loosened slightly. While doing the finishing stitches, Shen Fangyu suddenly remembered the conversation he had with Jiang Xu about the college entrance examination last night.

In the half-year before the college entrance examination, he was actually under a lot of pressure.

He told himself that he must be the top scorer, and he must not perform worse than his brother. For this reason, he worked hard day and night, went through several high school examination questions, and did countless competition questions of increased difficulty.

And as one of the two strongest high schools in B city, The No. 4 Middle School had raised the difficulty level in the mock exams, causing students to complain and feel anxious all day long.

At that time, in order to “motivate students,” countless difficult questions were piled up in two, or two and a half hour exams. You had to write continuously as if your life depended on it, and even a moment’s distraction could result in an incomplete exam.

However, when Shen Fangyu sat in the college entrance exam room and skimmed through the exam paper, he found that the difficulty level was quite average, and all the questions were routine ones that he had practiced thousands of times.

He had countless thoughts before the exam. What if he didn’t get the top score, what if he misread a question, what if he missed a decimal point, what if he encountered a problem that he couldn’t even attempt, what if the overall difficulty was too high and the exam couldn’t be completed. What would he do?

But in fact, none of those situations happened.

Many times in life, it’s probably just like that college entrance exam. Often, the hardest part is the preparation process, and the most important thing to test is the mentality during the exam.

And when the preparation is sufficient and the mindset is stable enough, when it really comes to the challenging moment, it’s not as difficult as imagined.

Opportunities are given to those who are prepared.

After so much preparation and imagining countless thrilling situations, even thinking about life and death a thousand times, he finally found that because it was too smooth and simple, none of those preparations were needed.

That was luck, and also a gift from heaven when it occasionally favored brave people who were not afraid of difficulties.

Just like Jiang Xu and himself now.

He still remembered the last exam. After double checking, there were still ten minutes left before the end of the exam.

The bored Shen Fangyu glanced outside the window. The sun was shining brightly over the lush greenery on that summer day

When the bell for submitting the exam paper rang, he walked out of the exam room with a transparent stationery bag and admission ticket, and was greeted by the glaring sunlight.

He stood In the corridor and lazily stretched, not noticing that just like him, a student from the No. 6 Middle School was leaning against the corridor not far away, basking in the sunlight and observing the fine flashes of light and shadows on the treetops outside.

The buses that picked up students from No.6 Middle School and No.4 Middle School were parked on opposite sides of the parking lot, one with a banner that read “No.6 Middle School will win,” and the other with a slogan that read “No.4 Middle School will win.”

But it didn’t matter.

Because on that evening, he met that No.6 Middle School student at a n internet cafe in B City.

And that encounter was for a lifetime.

————-

“You worked hard, Dr. Shen.”

“Thank you, but you also worked hard.”

“…and so did the patient,” Shen Fangyu couldn’t mention his name, but he had to include this sentence, “You’ve worked hard.”

The video was paused as they exchanged pleasantries. The anesthesiologist said to Shen Fangyu, “You should rest first. You’ve been at it for three or four hours straight. I’ll watch over things here.”

Shen Fangyu shook his head and stubbornly stayed with Jiang Xu until the anesthesia wore off, and then he escorted him to the ICU.

In fact, Jiang Xu’s condition was very good, and everyone agreed that he didn’t need to go in, but just in case, they had him stay overnight to prevent any unforeseen circumstances.

Jiang Xu lay in the hospital bed, looking a little tired. After everyone dispersed, Shen Fangyu sat by his bed and held the hand with the IV drip.

“Did you see her?” he said. “Xiaoxiao is so pretty.”

Jiang Xu didn’t see her with his own eyes, but through the screen Shen Fangyu had prepared for him, he saw the moment Xiaoxiao appeared and left his body.

He actually wanted to see Xiaoxiao, but it wasn’t quite appropriate at the moment.

Noticing the fleeting sadness in Jiang Xu’s eyes, Shen Fangyu made a joke, “Your internal organs are also very beautiful.”

“Tsk,” Jiang Xu looked up at the ceiling. “I’ve never heard anyone praise like you.”

Seeing a hint of a smile in his eyes, Shen Fangyu held his hand and rubbed his face. “This morning, Zhang Cheng messaged me saying the house matters were finalized. When you have the energy, we can start looking at floor plans.”

Jiang Xu made a soft “mm” sound.

On the first day of April, the birds sang sweetly.

At two in the afternoon, the sun was shining brightly, and the colorful specks of gold illuminated the lush treetops.

“In two more months, the lotus flowers will be in bloom,” Shen Fangyu said. “We can take Xiaoxiao to the botanical garden to see them. When autumn comes, we’ll take her to A Medical University’s hibiscus trees to take pictures, and in winter we can go to the plum garden…but,” he teased, “let’s not bring Xiaoxiao to the plum garden.”

Jiang Xu gave him a light glare, and Shen Fangyu continued, “When Xiaoxiao turns one next spring, we’ll take her to see the golden fields of rapeseed flowers. I’ll carry the equipment, and you can take her pictures. They’ll be even better than those taken at a studio.”

“…We have to take lots and lots of pictures, and hang them up at home or make them into albums.”

“And we’ll live in an even bigger and better house with Xiaoxiao, and live a happier and more fulfilled life.”

There are four seasons in a year, and four joys in life.

The beautiful and magnificent dream was filled with infinite tenderness, and Jiang Xu closed his eyes and asked, “Is this the prescription Dr. Shen wrote for me?”

“Yes,” Shen Fangyu’s voice was very gentle. “But it’s missing the most important sentence.”

“Dr. Jiang,” he said, “I love you.”

!!THE END!!