CH 14

An Wuyang was left alone facing Jiang Shaofei, whom he viewed as almost familiar with yet very unfamiliar. He felt a little cautious. He watched over his nose and heart and waited patiently for Huo Yunchuan to come back. 

“How is your usual health? Was it easy to get sick?” Jiang Shaofei leaned on his desk and looked at him.

“Not bad.” An Wuyang strived to loosen himself up, and said, “I occasionally get colds and fever about twice a year.”

“How about your academic performance?” Jiang Shaofei asked again.

He was not aware that his wound could get hurt even at the hospital. Although he would rather not answer, he still said, “So-so.”

“Pfft—” Jiang Shaofei noticed the other’s face and said, “Yunchuan is a schoolmaster. I hope your baby is also one.”

“…” Sure enough, the entire world bagged lots of opinions on an academic scumbag. 

Honestly speaking, if it was possible, An Wuyang hoped for the baby to become a schoolmaster as well. 

Jiang Shaofei raised another question. “Do your parents know?”

‘This won’t be easy,’ he thought. 

Seeing how the boy shook his head and looked even more depressed, Jiang Shaofei just shrugged and dropped his impulse to ask more. 

Moments later, Huo Yunchuan came back holding a pristine, white medical record book. He approached An Wuyang and checked his condition for the first time. Once he confirmed there was nothing unusual, he directed his attention to Jiang Shaofei. “Arrange for a blood draw. Don’t draw too much, just enough.

Jiang Shaofei made an OK hand gesture, too lazy to speak. 

Hospitals usually draw a lot of blood from the patients during blood tests. There were also instances where young girls in poor health fainted right after the drawing of blood. They had suffered a lot. 

An Wuyang just underwent a blood test yesterday, so he felt a little scared to see the acute tip of a syringe today. 

Huo Yunchuan stood by his side and watched, his hands fisted on the back. 

Brownish-yellow iodine was spread onto the fair, slender arm which blood vessels were clearly visible, and the sharp needles…

“…” The moment it pierced his skin, An Wuyang threw his head back and a furrowed forehead and pursed pair of lips were caught in his peripheral vision. 

“Alright.” Jiang Shaofei loosened the tourniquet tied to his arm and passed a cotton ball to let An Wuyang press on the wound himself. “You can let go once it’s stopped bleeding.”

As for Jiang Shaofei, he held the blood sample in his left hand and patted Huo Yunchuan’s shoulder with his right hand. “Wait here. I’ll be back in ten minutes.” With ease, he pointed to the water dispenser. “It’s best to pour him a cup of warm water.”

Upon hearing this, Huo Yunchuan put down the medical records. His actions of finding a disposable paper cup to fetch water seemed a bit hurried.

“Thank you.” An Wuyang inclined his head a little. His throat felt parched for some time now. He took the cup and drank half of the water in one breath. 

Huo Yunchuan stared at the cotton ball on his arm. He looked like he wanted to say something, but did otherwise in the end. 

After An Wuyang noticed his needle-wound had ceased bleeding, he discarded the cotton ball. 

Ten minutes was neither long nor short. But it felt long when spent in silence. 

An Wuyang gazed at the watermark on the water glass. He asked in a feeble voice, “Do you really want this child? Will you be good to him?” In fact, he felt terrified. When Huo Yunchuan married a wife in the future, would he dislike the child he gave birth to?

“Your worry is superfluous. No one will mistreat him.” Huo Yunchuan answered the boy’s question, while he thought of his relatives. Once they heard a baby was coming, they would go crazy for sure. 

But it was also understandable for An Wuyang to think that way, as he did not know of his family. 

“Then if you have a second child in the future…” His voice weakened at the end. 

“Second child?” Huo Yunchuan laughed mockingly. “You think too much.” He probably would not have another child in this life. 

“Are you gay?” An Wuyang asked in a low voice while his head drooped every minute of silence. 

Huo Yunchuan felt conflicted if he wanted to answer or disregard the question. Instead, he glanced at the young man’s stomach. “Is it cold?”

An Wuyang clenched a bit the hand holding the waning water cup and nodded. “A little.”

When his words fell, the feet he stared at for some time now moved. His eyes followed them and saw the man approaching the air-conditioning panel and adjusting the temperature to 30 degrees. 

Generally, the body temperature of pregnant women would accumulate over time, so they were less afraid of the cold. 

An Wuyang was a special case. He felt he had become more afraid of the cold during his pregnancy and detested noise. The sudden high pitch would make his heart twitch and throb painfully. 

The changes were visible to the naked eye, so he believed the previous doctor diagnosed right in the center. 

“Yunchuan!” Jiang Shaofei’s voice came before his actual person arrived. 

With such a loud scream, Huo Yunchuan’s heart jolted and nearly came out. He had already guessed the results somewhat. 

His childhood friend came with a smile stretched to both of his ears. He immediately seized his hand and said congratulations. “Congratulations, you’re going to be a father.”

Then he released the foolish man’s hand, turned his head, and walked straight to An Wuyang. “Congratulations. There is a golden bump in your stomach. It’s about two weeks old now and the embryo is still very tiny. Don’t worry about later examinations, we’ll just wait for you to adapt in two days. By the end of the day, the most important thing now is to maintain a cheerful mood, eat well, and sleep and refrain from fussing over such insignificant things.”

An Wuyang listened intently to the instructions, nodding the entire time. He said, “Thank you, Doctor Jiang.”

“You’re welcome,” Jiang Shaofei said. “You still remember my surname, Jiang. I see you have an excellent memory, so why can’t your academic performance improve?”

“…” An Wuyang’s head jerked. He was speechless for some time, unable to bear the malice. 

Huo Yunchuan looked at each of them back and forth after hearing those words. His mind wondered what happened at the moment he left.

After all, An Wuyang seemed to be a timid person, yet how come he had a delightful conversation with Jiang Shaofei?

“Shaofei, what should I pay attention to when pregnant?” Huo Yunchuan pacified his raging thoughts and temporarily pressed those trivial matters deep in his heart. 

“Pregnant women have lots of matters to mind. Hm, I can’t explain it clearly in such a short time.” He said, “I will sort out a document about the precautions and send it to you as soon as possible.” After a pause, he deliberated his words and tactfully conveyed, “After all, he is a pregnant male. I need to check some information. Before that, his body requires attentive care. It’s best if someone alone takes care of his diet and daily life.”

Huo Yunchuan promptly said, “I’ll arrange it.”

An Wuyang understood what they meant. He definitely could not continue living with his family. Moving out of the house and suspending school—these matters weighed heavily on his heart. 

‘I can’t think of a way to hide this from my parents.’

Jiao Shaofei noticed An Wuyang frowned and reminded him. “Hey, I just told you to keep a cheerful mood. Why is there a frown on your face?” Then he pointed at Huo Yunchuan. “Is there anything you could tell him? Except for the stars in the vast skies can’t come down, everything else will do to satisfy him.”

The young man followed his line of sight and looked at him, causing Huo Yunchuan to look him straight in the eyes. He asked, “What’s the matter?” If there was nothing he could do to make the stars come down, what else could he do except try to pick them himself?

An Wuyang said, “I don’t want my parents to know about this. I have to give birth quietly, but I don’t know how to hide it.”

‘If I refuse to see my parents for an entire year, they will definitely be suspicious.’

“That’s difficult,” Jiang Shaofei interjected. “Don’t you start school in September? After a few days at home, you pretend to go to school. You can go home for dinner before the baby bump appears. After winter, the bump will be obvious. Pack your clothes in your pocket till then, and everything will be fine if you’re careful.”

The more Huo Yunchuan listened, the less it became a good idea. “If you are pregnant, go out less. If you want to meet, you can video chat.” And, “I’ll have someone clean up the house on this day. You fabricate an excuse that you change your part-time job and need accommodation. Then you can move out.”

An Wuyang was silent for a while, then later shook his head. “There is not much time for summer vacation, and my parents will suspect it. I think I should move out a few days before school starts.”

“I don’t agree,” Huo Yunchuan said. “Your pregnancy symptoms will be discovered, and no one will take care of you.”

“I can leave early and return late to create the illusion of continuing to work part-time.” In this way, his parents would not cater to any unreliable impression of him—An Wuyang cared about this very much. 

“It’s also a way.” Jiang Shaofei suggested, “Yunchuan arranges for a driver to pick you up in the morning and send them back in the evening. It’ll be seamless that way.”

An Wuyang nodded. “Yes.”

“But you have to know how risky it is to go back and forth on the road twice a day?” Huo Yunchuan suppressed his temper. If someone in his company raised such a stupid solution, he would immediately fire them.

Jiang Shaofei could understand Huo Yunchuan’s anxiousness. He urged him, “It’s not necessarily a good thing to force someone to move in and live with you right this instant. Give him some time to adapt.” He pushed his spectacles up. “The mood of a pregnant person is significantly important. It can affect the health of the unborn child if it becomes serious and off.”

Huo Yunchuan paced in place. Imagine sending An Wuyang home now. Could he work at ease?

“There are only twenty days left. I can tell my parents to go to school in advance,” An Wuyang whispered. He had not left his parents since he was a child, and it still took time to take the first step. 

Jiang Shaofei also voiced his persuasion. “Take your time, Yunchuan. The pressure is counterproductive.” The most important thing to consider was he was only 18 years old. Strictly, he was still a child.

“Okay,” Huo Yunchuan said. “I’ll pick you up personally at seven in the morning and drive you back at six in the evening.”

Until then did An Wuyang showed a little relief as he nodded. 

It was only after a few minutes past two o’clock did Huo Yunchuan and Jiang Shaofei bid goodbyes. “Thank you for today. I’ll take him back first.”

“Ya, what do are you doing thanking me for this?” Jiang Shaofei patted him on the shoulder. “Go, take care, and I will notify you to come for the next pregnancy checkup.”

“Okay.” Huo Yunchuan said and offered An Wuyang his hand.

An Wuyang said, “I don’t need it.” Then he stood up and bowed to Jiang Shaofei. “Goodbye, Doctor Jiang.”

“See you again later,” Jiang Shaofei said.

The young man pretended to walk in front of him naturally, feigning he did not differ from ordinary people.

Behind him, Huo Yunchuan followed closely. Neither disturbing nor touching. This resulted from Jiang Shaofei’s painstaking warning earlier—that he should not hold him too tightly.

The author has something to say:

The feeling of being a husband and a parent is such a challenging task, Mister Huo.