CH 93

After returning to the department, Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu resumed their routine life of going back and forth between the hospital and home.

Not long after, Shen Fangyu received a phone call from his mother.

In fact, after the successful surgery, he had called his parents and brother several times, repeatedly urging them to refuse any media interviews and not to contact him for the next few months. Initially, he was worried that his parents would accept interviews for money, so he asked Zheng Qi to keep an eye on them. But perhaps because the previous conflicts had caused such a big fuss, his parents listened to him this time.

Therefore, when he received a call from his mother this time, he didn’t say much and hung up after asking about the health of his family members.

To his surprise, his mother brought up the topic of his same sex partner again: “Fangyu, your father and I have thought it over. No matter who he is, we are willing to accept him. If you are willing, let’s all meet.”

“Do you want to meet?” Shen Fangyu asked Jiang Xu.

Jiang Xu was playing with a small rattle as he jokingly asked, “Do you want to take the child?”

“You decide… I haven’t told them about the child yet.”

Jiang Xu nodded and said, “Let’s take her.”

On the day of the meeting, Shen Fangyu booked a restaurant and went to the train station to pick up his family. Jiang Xu waited in the private room with Xiaoxiao. When the Shen family arrived, he stood up with her and greeted the two elders. The Shen couple were taken aback when they saw him and asked Shen Fangyu next to them, “Who is this…?”

Shen Fangyu took the child from Jiang Xu’s hand and said to them, “This is my partner.”

The man in front of them had a slender figure, delicate features, and was quite pleasing to the eye at first glance. Holding the child did not affect his upright temperament at all, which was completely different from what the Shen couple had imagined.

“I thought…” Father Shen started to say something but stopped mid-sentence.

“Forget it,” Shen Baihan knew that his father’s speculation was definitely not a good one. He quickly said, “Let’s sit down. Xiaoqing, you sit too.”

Han Xiaoqing was Shen Baihan’s wife. When she entered, she felt that she had seen Jiang Xu somewhere before and secretly looked at him several times. Now, Shen Baihan suddenly spoke, and she snapped out of her thoughts. “Oh… okay.”

“Sister-in-law,” Jiang Xu asked her, “Is there something on my face?”

“No… no,” Han Xiaoqing stammered for a while after being exposed, but she couldn’t help but ask, “Can I ask you something? Did you go to high school in B city before? You look a lot like a very capable senior I had in high school.”

Shen Baihan reacted, “Are you talking about the senior who gave you review materials?”

Han Xiaoqing had a senior who she always talked about, saying that she met him in her senior year of high school. At that time, she had not been eating properly for several days due to the pressure, and she fainted on the way. When she regained consciousness at the medical center, she found out that the senior who brought her there had already graduated. He happened to be back on campus to give a recruitment talk and coincidentally ran into her.

After hearing the reason why she fell ill, the senior took Han Xiaoqing’s address and a few days later, he mailed all of his high school notebooks and study materials to her. She only realized after seeing the name on the notebook that it was from the top scorer of the previous year’s college entrance examination, a well-known academic genius who had been praised countless times by the teachers.

At the time, many top students would sell their notes after finishing exams, with photocopies costing tens or even hundreds of yuan, not to mention the original versions.

Han Xiaoqing had always wanted to express her gratitude to the senior in person, but the thank-you letter she sent to the original address was returned because the person could not be found. She was unable to obtain any further information about him, except that he was studying at A Medical University. In their free time, she, Shen Baihan, and the Shen couple had talked about this matter, and they still had those notebooks at home.

This was the first time Shen Fangyu had heard his sister-in-law talk about these things. Han Xiaoqing was his older brother’s second girlfriend after he left B City to study at A University so they had little communication. However, thinking about it, his sister-in-law seemed to be exactly one year younger than him, so the senior she had encountered was likely Jiang Xu.

As he analyzed this, Jiang Xu suddenly turned to his parents and asked, “What year was sister-in-law born in?”

After thinking for a while, Mother Shen reported a year, and Han Xiaoqing nodded in agreement.

Jiang Xu asked again, “And what about Fangyu?”

His tone sounded calm, and others might not hear any implications in his words, but Shen Fangyu had been with Jiang Xu for a long time, and he immediately sensed that Jiang Xu was angry.

Jiang Xu was indeed angry and his mind was working quickly. Since Shen Fangyu’s parents knew which year Han Xiaoqing was born, if they heard the three key words “previous year’s top scorer” and “A Medical University” together, they should easily associate the senior with their son. And once they made the connection, they would probably ask if Shen Fangyu knew anything about the other top scorer. After all, even if Han Xiaoqing didn’t see that newspaper, Shen Fangyu must have seen it. Moreover, the two of them were in the same class at university.

But it was clear that Shen Fangyu had no idea about this. So Shen Fangyu’s parents might not have remembered which year Shen Fangyu was born, and whether he was older or younger than Han Xiaoqing.

Sure enough, after Jiang Xu asked, Shen Fangyu’s parents hesitated for a long time before giving an incorrect answer. Finally, Shen Baihan reacted and said, “Come to think of it, Fangyu seems to be in the class ahead of Xiaoqing.”

“Fangyu,” he asked, “Didn’t two top scorers come from your year?”

“Yes,” Jiang Xu held Shen Fangyu’s hand under the table and answered first, “The other one was me.” He said to Han Xiaoqing, “The name on the notebook is Jiang Xu, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” Han Xiaoqing should have been very excited at this moment, but she faintly felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere and instinctively dared not speak again.

“That’s me,” Jiang Xu said and continued to look at the Shen couple, “Which university did Fangyu go to?”

In the previous second, the Shen couple were still shocked by Jiang Xu’s excellence and high education level. In the next second, they finally understood from Jiang Xu’s not-so-friendly tone that he was questioning them.

Father Shen cleared his throat. “It’s Jihua Medical University.”

“It’s A City Medical University,” Jiang Xu corrected. “The hospital he went to work at is Jihua Hospital affiliated with the A Medical University.” He then repeated Shen Fangyu’s full date of birth, looked around at the four relatives of the Shen family, and asked, “Can you remember it?”

Shen Fangyu watched Jiang Xu scold his parents like a teacher scolding a student, and he quickly tugged at his sleeve. But Jiang Xu shook him off and said sternly, “Uncle, Auntie, you owe Fangyu an apology.”

Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu had different personalities. Being an only child, Jiang Xu was not always as tactful or polite when speaking to his elders. He would show his displeasure on his face and become angry when necessary.

To put it nicely, he had no generation gap with his parents. To put it bluntly, he had no sense of propriety.

Both of the Shen brothers were relatively polite to their parents, and even when Shen Fangyu was angry, he never spoke harshly. He didn’t even furrow his brow when his father told him to “get lost” and even remembered to peel fruit for his parents.

It was clear that the Shen couple had never encountered someone like Jiang Xu before. They were all stunned, and even Shen Baihan and Han Xiaoqing stared at Jiang Xu with their mouths agape.

In their imagination, a same sex partner who was not well-liked by their family would at least be humble and try to please them when they first met. They never expected this new family member to be so temperamental and unwilling to give them face.

“Forget it, Jiang Xu,” Shen Fangyu put his hand on Jiang Xu’s back and patted him. “Don’t be angry.”

However, Jiang Xu continued to stare fixedly at the people in the room, as if he could keep staring at them if they didn’t apologize.

Jiang Xu asked for an apology for Shen Fangyu, just as Shen Fangyu had asked for an apology for him.

“I’ll give you three minutes,” Jiang Xu said. “If I don’t get an apology by then, Fangyu and I will go home.”

“You… how can you ask your elders to apologize to their juniors?” Father Shen disagreed.

Unexpectedly, Mother Shen suddenly said, “I apologize.”

Her expression looked very sincere, and her eyes even became a little red. “Fangyu, don’t listen to your father. Mom apologizes to you. When you were young, I shouldn’t have neglected you or been biased. I really didn’t fulfill my duties as a mother. I’m sorry.”

“I want to make it up to you, but…I didn’t do it well, and I don’t know how to do it.” By the end, Mother Shen was already choked up. “Fang Yu, can you give Mom another chance?”

“Mom…”

After a moment, Shen Baihan also spoke up. “We can’t change what happened in the past. Big brother has grown up and knows he was wrong. From now on, we’ll support each other as brothers. I won’t put on airs in front of you anymore, and I won’t interfere with you. Don’t be angry anymore, okay?”

Seeing his eldest son and wife both switch sides, Father Shen snorted a few times before relenting. “I shouldn’t have told you to get lost that day. I was…wrong.”

The apology was rough, but he still managed to say it.

While they were speaking, Shen Fangyu had been staring at the transparent glass in front of him, his gaze unmoving. No one knew what he was thinking until Xiaoxiao in his arms suddenly started crying. He jerked back to attention and said to his parents, “I’m going to see if the baby needs a diaper change.”

Once the protagonist of the apology left, the room fell silent and even a bit awkward.

Mother Shen, who had been curious since they arrived, finally asked when she noticed Shen Fangyu was gone. “This child..?”

Jiang Xu looked at her and it was clear that she wasn’t the only curious one. Everyone wanted to know but hadn’t dared to ask.

“She’s Fangyu’s daughter,” Jiang Xu said and then added, “and my biological daughter.”

The four were very taken aback by the answer. They never imagined this was the case.

From the moment he arrived until now, Jiang Xu hadn’t said much, but every word seemed to suggest that Shen Fangyu’s life was very happy, even more so than they had imagined.

He had a lovely and healthy daughter, as well as a handsome, outstanding, and loving partner who cherished him.

Everyone looked at each other, and the room fell silent again, even the sound of chopsticks and glasses grew faint.

After a while, seeing that Shen Fangyu didn’t return, Jiang Xu put down his chopsticks and went to look for him. He happened to catch Shen Fangyu as he was opening the door. Xiaoxiao had stopped crying, but her eyes were still watery, making her look a bit pitiful.

“Her diaper isn’t dirty,” Shen Fangyu said to Jiang Xu. “Maybe she’s hungry or sleepy from being out too long.”

“Then let’s go back.”

“Okay.” Shen Fangyu turned to the people at the table and said, “The baby needs to rest. Mom, Dad, Brother, Sister-in-law, we’re leaving now. Enjoy your meal. I’ve already paid the bill.”

“Hey, Fangyu!”

Mother Shen called out, but neither of them turned around.

That night, after Xiaoxiao had fallen asleep, Shen Fangyu lay in bed, looking loat in thought. Jiang Xu lay next to him and watched him for a long time, then reached out to brush his eyelashes.

Shen Fangyu, who had been motionless, suddenly smiled. “Don’t make trouble.”

Jiang Xu ignored him and kept counting his eyelashes.

Shen Fangyu let him count for a long time and just as Jiang Xu was about to finish counting, he suddenly grabbed his hand and kissed him.

“Stop making trouble.”

His caressed Jiang Xu’s ear as he kissed him slowly and intimately. He kissed him with a bit of sweetness, gently attacking Jiang Xu’s lips until the latter couldn’t help but make a sound and took a light breath.

Shen Fangyu leaned in and whispered in his ear, “Is it okay?”

Several months had passed since the surgery, and Jiang Xu’s body had completely recovered. All the tests showed that he was in good condition, and it seemed that he could do other things.

Jiang Xu’s eyes were moist, and when he heard these words, his ears turned red. After a moment, he suddenly pulled out a piece of clothing from the bedside table and threw it at Shen Fangyu. “First explain this to me.”

Shen Fangyu opened it and found that it was the hoodie with the hole in the chest that he had secretly bought back then.

“You can even find this?” He was surprised.

When they moved, Jiang Xu was cleaning when the clothes fell out of the closet and he saw it. Shen Fangyu had hidden it very carefully and if he had not been busy outside at the time and left the closet half-empty, Jiang Xu would not have found it for a long time.

But he didn’t plan to explain it now. He warned Shen Fangyu, “Don’t change the subject.”

Shen Fangyu chuckled softly, “What do you want me to explain? Do you want me to say I want to see you wear it?” He lowered his head and kissed Jiang Xu’s lips. “I really want to see you wear it, and I want to see you wear it when we…”

He whispered the last sentence in a breathy voice.

“Have you no shame?” Jiang Xu’s face turned red at the last words.

“What are you shy about?” Shen Fangyu traced his eyebrows with his finger. “When you were pregnant…”

“Shut up!”

Shen Fangyu laughed softly and rubbed his earlobe.

“When did you buy it?” Jiang Xu asked him.

“Are you interrogating me?” Shen Fangyu said, “Did you forget a phrase, ‘confess leniently, resist strictly,’ Officer Xiao Jiang?”

Jiang Xu’s face burned at his words, and he retorted, “Can you speak seriously?”

“Who speaks seriously in bed?” Shen Fangyu suddenly sat up from the bed, walked to the study to look for something, and after a while, he walked back with his hands behind his back and gave Jiang Xu a meaningful glance.

“What did you get?”

Shen Fangyu handed over a square package with his left hand, and Jiang Xu took it, feeling his heart racing.

Shen Fangyu used his momentary daze to throw out a handcuff with his right hand, and cuffed him to the bed before he could react.

“Today, I’ll teach you how to interrogate.”

———–

Jiang Xu’s mind was blank, and he lay with his face pressed against the pillow, panting lightly. “Why do you still keep this thing?”

The man’s slender, pale wrist was adorned with a silver cuff, and he was wearing a black hoodie that left a small area of the white chest exposed. A red mole in the center was marked with traces, like layers of red plum blossoms falling on a snow-capped mountain.

“I forgot to throw it away at the time, then I had other ideas.”

Jiang Xu was a bit lazy and didn’t think too much about what he was saying as he followed up with a question, “What ideas?”

Shen Fangyu withdrew and released the handcuffs on his hands, looking at his lover with a sweet sense of satisfaction. “The ideas that we just put into action.”

Jiang Xu made a “tsk” and his face turned a little red.

Shen Fangyu lightly kissed his brow, “Shall I carry you to take a shower?”

Jiang Xu didn’t say anything, only turning to the side and hugging Shen Fangyu.

It was a comforting gesture, and Shen Fangyu’s heart suddenly trembled.

“If you have something on your mind, you can tell me,” Jiang Xu suddenly said. “If you want to cry, that’s okay. I can’t see from this angle.”

“Who wants to cry?” Shen Fangyu hugged him and threatened, “Hey, Jiang Xu, if you spread rumors that I cried again, I’ll record you crying in bed next time.”

Jiang Xu directly hit him with his knee.

“Ow, ow, ow… stop…” Shen Fangyu said, “I take it back. I didn’t say anything.”

He was silent for a while, and confessed to Jiang Xu, “It’s just that my mom sent me a text message… when I was lying in bed earlier.”

“Mm, I saw it,” Jiang Xu replied.

If he hadn’t seen Shen Fangyu become unusually silent after looking at his phone, Jiang Xu wouldn’t have taken out that hoodie to coax him.

Shen Fangyu held Jiang Xu’s hand and pressed it against his heart. “She said… she originally wanted to tell me that she was proud of me, having completed that surgery successfully and published that article.”

“Before, my mom’s pride was all for my older brother. This is the first time she has said she’s proud of me,” Shen Fangyu took a deep breath. “She also said she wants to host a banquet at Chengjia to celebrate.”

After missing out on a banquet at Chengjia for over ten years, the Shen couple finally remembered to make it up to him.

“But I declined and told her not to make a big deal out of it.” He laughed lightly.

“I’m not upset or worried,” he said. “It’s just a subtle feeling in my heart that’s hard to describe, and they apologized to me today…I- I feel quite confused.”

“My mom also said that if no one helps take care of the baby, she can come and help. She has time now and will take good care of her. All the debts she owes me will be repaid through our daughter.”

“Jiang Xu,” he suddenly raised Jiang Xu’s hand and kisses it, “I might say something that sounds cheesy, but honestly, I really feel…”

He rolled his Adam’s apple heavily and spoke with a choked voice, “Meeting you is the luckiest thing in my life.”

“Who said it’s cheesy?”

Jiang Xu stroked the sweat-dampened hair and kissed his blushing face afterwards.

“Making someone feel lucky to meet me, I think…this is the greatest affirmation for me.”

————–

But Dr. Shen didn’t expect that shortly after he said these words, he someone else would also say them.

Nine months had passed since Xiaoxiao’s birth, and the winter in A city arrived as scheduled. Jihua also began to prepare some small activities for Dr. Lin Qiaozhi’s birthday.

Jiang Xu specially prepared two bunches of white chrysanthemums and waited for a phone call.

“Dr. Jiang, I’m Ren Miao,” the voice on the phone was familiar and clear, “Do you remember me?”

The girl, who seemed to have grown taller, hugged the flowers and finally met Jiang Xu under Dr. Lin’s statue. Her sickly appearance seemed to have improved a lot, and her complexion was also rosy. She kept laughing when she spoke.

She handed the flowers to Ren Han who came with her and turned around to face Jiang Xu, “You see, I’m still alive.”

Jiang Xu raised the corners of his mouth, “Hmm, I’m alive too.”

Ren Miao smiled sweetly, “Then we’ve both kept our promises and don’t have to be like puppies anymore.”

Ren Han also greeted Jiang Xu on the side. She hesitated for a while, and asked, “Is Dr. Shen doing okay? If you see him, could you please say hello to him for me? I… offended him too much before.”

Actually, when Jiang Xu first saw Ren Miao, he almost didn’t recognize her. Her messy hair was gone, and her clothes were not so unconventional anymore. Like every young girl in the prime of youth, she was full of vitality, like a flower in the morning.

“I will tell him,” Jiang Xu asked, “Are you still feeling well?”

“Uh-huh,” Ren Miao said, “I’m lively and jumping around!”

The three of them placed the flowers in front of Dr. Lin’s statue. It was already filled with flowers, making Dr. Lin’s statue appear extremely dignified and holy.

“Thank you for your blessings,” Ren Miao bowed to Dr. Lin Qiaozhi, then turned to Jiang Xu and said, “Also… thank you, Dr. Jiang. Thank you for letting me live. Meeting you is the luckiest thing in my life.”

“You still have a long life ahead of you,” Jiang Xu said to her, “You will surely meet many people and things that will make you feel lucky.”

Dr. Shen, who heard about this later, immediately ate two buckets of aged vinegar and joked, “It seems that I have to learn how to speak sweet nothings. Why does it sound so significant when others say it casually?”

Jiang Xu lightly glanced at him and said, “Whatever you say to me is sweet talk.”

“His…,” Shen Fangyu exclaimed, “Jiang Xu, I can see that you’re getting better at it. I’m starting to feel threatened. I think you’re going to surpass me soon.”

“Nonsense,” Jiang Xu questioned, “When have you ever surpassed me?”

———

Seasons changed, and time passed.

On the day of Xiaoxiao’s first birthday, she was finally going to become a registered child.

After answering Zheng Qi’s call, Jiang Xu let out a sigh of relief and said to Shen Fangyu, “I’m going out to get Xiaoxiao’s birth certificate with Zheng Qi.”

Because Shen Fangyu was busy preparing for Xiaoxiao’s birthday banquet, he couldn’t leave. He held Xiaoxiao and sent Jiang Xu to the door, saying, “Okay, come back soon and we’ll have Xiaoxiao’s first haircut ceremony when you return.”

Before leaving, Jiang Xu asked him, “Have you decided on a name?”

When applying for Xiaoxiao’s birth certificate, the child’s name had to be written on it. After deciding to have the child registered under Jiang Xu’s household, it was natural to give the child the surname Jiang.

“Yeah,” Shen Fangyu said, “How about ‘Jiang Shen’… It sounds alright after hearing it for a while.”

Jiang Xu nodded, took the documents, and went downstairs.

Thanks to Zheng Qi’s help, the whole process was not too complicated. The only small problem was that after Jiang Xu told the staff the baby’s name, he suddenly changed his mind and asked the staff to change it.

Zheng Qi glanced at the modified name on the birth certificate, and smiled meaningfully.

After returning home, Jiang Xu placed the birth certificate on the clean clothes that Shen Fangyu’s had folded, then turned around and took the baby from his hands. “The guests will be here soon, why don’t you change into your pajamas so we can take photos together later?”

“Okay, take your time.” Shen Fangyu handed the baby over and went into the bedroom to get changed.

Jiang Xu calmly said “mmm”, and once Shen Fangyu went inside, he held the baby and carefully peeked through the small gap in the slightly open bedroom door, timing.

Twelve seconds later, Shen Fangyu made an exclamation.

“Jiang Xu, you…” His voice was somewhat unsteady. “How did you…”

On the clean clothes was a yellow and green bordered certificate, which he slowly picked up. The first line had the name of the baby.

Three words.

“Jiang Mu Shen.”

–“Mu” means “to love and admire”, so Jiang Mu Shen is like saying Jiang loves Sheng.

Shen Fangyu’s eyelashes trembled lightly, and his heart melted along with it.

Jiang Xu hooked the corner of his mouth outside the door and whispered to the smiling baby in his arms, “Look at your father, he’s like he’s never seen the world before, so easily surprised.”

Jiang Mu Shen shook her head and clapped her hands, seemingly in agreement with his view.

“Do you like your new name?” He asked, and then added without room for refusal, “But if you don’t, you’ll just have to wait until you grow up to change it.”

Jiang Mu Shen: “…”

Jiang Xu glanced at the pouting little girl and couldn’t help but kiss the chubby little face.

Time flew by, and another season of spring arrived outside the window. The grass grew, the birds flew, and the golden rapeseed flowers bloomed on schedule.

‘If we are to use our surnames,’ Jiang Xu thought, ‘then let me be the one to express my love in this name.’