Hospital.
Pale walls, icy air, silent corridors.
By the time these few fixed descriptions successfully formed a complete sentence, I was already trembling a bit.
“Su Liumeng—”
“Do you think we might suddenly trigger a strange side quest and get both of us dragged inside?”
Su Liumeng: “…”
Her baby was letting her imagination run wild again.
“Stop reading so many web novels. We finished gaming last night—was that not enough for you? Did you secretly get up in the middle of the night to read novels?”
“I didn’t read any novels at midnight!” I glared at Su Liumeng. “I just woke up late during the day, don’t slander me for playing with my phone at night.”
Su Liumeng chuckled softly, but didn’t say more.
I tugged on Su Liumeng again, still not freed from the previous topic. “A hospital is basically the default location for all those creepy side quests, isn’t it?”
Sometimes Su Liumeng really wanted to crack open this girl’s head and see what was inside—why was her thought process always so different from other people?
“Relax, you’re forgetting about the origin world in your memories. We don’t live in some novel world, and there’s no upper-level nesting of spaces either. So even if there are bizarre worlds, they’d only be parallel small worlds to ours.”
“If anyone dares to drag my baby inside, I’ll punch those strange monsters you mentioned into oblivion.”
Me: “…..”
That… actually makes sense.
Si Zhiruo: “What strange world? There’s such a good thing? Hurry up and pull me in, I wouldn’t mind an extra meal.”
*****
So—I’m the only one who’s scared, huh?
What the heck is with this weird sense of anticipation?
I stomped my foot, buried my head and walked on, expressing my speechlessness with actions.
I really didn’t want to bother with these two oddballs for now.
Our brain waves are completely out of sync—there’s just no fun in it.
“Mom, why did you suddenly go quiet?”
Hearing baby’s question, I couldn’t keep playing dead. With a sigh, I replied, “Have you ever thought that maybe it’s not that I stopped talking, but just that I suddenly have nothing left to say?”
Su Liumeng looked at the receipt for the examination fees.
“We should’ve come earlier. Other people come to the hospital every one or two weeks.”
“Let me see what we need to do this time.”
“Yeah, time for fetal monitoring.”
Su Liumeng was muttering to herself over the blank sheet. I didn’t quite catch what she said, since I’d fallen a few steps behind and was chatting idly with my daughter.
“Are you even listening?”
“I’m listening.” I answered without even thinking.
Seeing the confusion in my eyes, Su Liumeng suppressed the urge to flick my forehead.
She took my hand in hers. “We have to hurry up, so we can still get lunch afterwards.”
“Mom, you and the bad lady go get checked. I’m going to take a nap first.”
“Zhizhi is sleepy.”
Si Zhiruo yawned, curling her little body into a ball.
“Goodnight.”
“Goodnight.”
Hearing me mutter to myself, Su Liumeng asked, “Did baby fall asleep?”
I was a little downcast. “Yeah, she just dozed off. I was hoping to chat with her a bit longer.”
“Let’s go.”
Su Liumeng held my hand again.
From the corner of my eye, I glanced at her still-tall figure, tilting my head in confusion.
The sensations when I’m asleep always feel a bit off, and even looking at her feels a little unreal.
Am I overthinking things?
Fetal monitoring is a comprehensive scoring project for the baby; the higher the score, the healthier the baby.
Routine check-up.
Ultrasound.
The due date the doctor gave me was pretty much the same as what I’d calculated myself.
When it was time for fetal monitoring, the old doctor suddenly gasped and looked at the data in disbelief.
She even adjusted her reading glasses. “I must not be seeing things, right?”
“Most people’s maximum score is ten, but your baby seems a little too healthy.”
I smiled awkwardly. “Maybe it’s a rare talent.”
The old doctor didn’t press for a reason, just maintained a businesslike tone. “Fetal position is normal, head circumference and abdominal circumference are a bit big. In theory, you should have a cervical exam to assess whether you can deliver naturally, but since you refused, the hospital recommends a C-section.”
“Okay, let me think it over at home.” I smiled apologetically and took out my phone to snap a photo of the four-dimensional ultrasound on the computer screen.
At least now I have a picture of my baby before she’s born.
Not a wasted trip.
Leaving the hospital, I noticed Su Liumeng looked like she wanted to say something. “If you have something to say, just say it.”
“Xiaoyan, are you really set on a natural delivery?”
“Is that not okay?” I snorted. “If the hospital won’t let me, I’ll deliver at home by myself.”
Su Liumeng: “…..”
“If you can deliver by yourself, then you really are talented.”
Su Liumeng’s teasing tone made me cough awkwardly. But I also knew now wasn’t the time to joke. “I’m not sure what to do yet. I’ll decide when the time comes. If I can deliver naturally, then I’ll do that. Besides, you’re already the Heir of the Su Family, aren’t you? What hospital service can’t you arrange?”
“With so many industry bigwigs, you could throw together a team of experts anytime. I refuse to believe my baby being a little bigger will make me bleed out on the operating table.”
“Fine.” Su Liumeng nodded in approval. “Since you’re set on it, I’ll get things ready.”
I really miss the days when I could still see my toes. These days, I constantly lose sight of my feet when I walk.
I took a big step forward, and finally caught sight of my cartoon-patterned slippers—felt like a huge achievement. Beneath that childish gesture was a shift in my mood. “Humph, thanks baby.”
Most people can’t understand the stubbornness in my heart.
I don’t care what others think.
The fact that Su Liumeng understands me makes me really happy.
“What do you want for lunch?”
Right beside us was the hospital parking lot. Su Liumeng’s business car was parked in the most conspicuous spot. I got into the passenger seat.
Pregnant women can wear seatbelts too, just in a different way.
Most people buckle it around the side, but for pregnant women, you need a special method to secure your legs tightly onto the seat.
Su Liumeng wanted to help me buckle up for safety, but I found it too much hassle to keep fastening and unfastening the belt, so I didn’t let her.
Come on, I’m already a cultivator who can fly through the sky and tunnel through the earth. I don’t believe there’s a dump truck out there that could send me flying.
Su Liumeng glanced up at the security camera, watching the flashing light from the camera taking pictures at the front of the car, and quietly swallowed whatever she was about to say.
“Decided on what you want to eat?”
“Whatever.” I thought for a second and gave my answer.
What does “whatever” even mean?
Su Liumeng felt her head spinning.
She tried to suggest, “How about Sichuan cuisine? They can make it mildly spicy; you’ll definitely like it.”
I smiled brightly. “Sure.”
Su Liumeng knew exactly what was up now.
This girl was just too bored during her pregnancy, saying things like this just to mess with her.
Serving an expectant mom isn’t easy.
If she’s not fussy, that’s better.
But some are fussy and sensitive, getting teary and wanting to go back to their mother’s home over the smallest unhappiness.
Whether there’s an answer or not really doesn’t matter.
It’s that feeling of being cared about that makes all the problems disappear.
Sichuan restaurant.
I bit into a mildly spicy bell pepper and, as if stars lit up in my eyes, praised, “Not bad, this place is really good.”
“Su Liumeng, how did you find this restaurant?”
“It was easy.” Su Liumeng answered offhandedly. “Just have a few hundred people visit every restaurant in the area and rate them, then pick the highest one and bring you here.”
A simple sentence, but it was endless pampering.
I loved the feeling of being spoiled. My legs were already swinging, and suddenly I hugged Su Liumeng’s arm and picked up a piece of tofu with my own chopsticks. “Ah—open up.”
Su Liumeng looked at the chopsticks in front of her and cooperatively opened her mouth.
Was this the first time Si Xinyan fed her with her own chopsticks?
Su Liumeng had a bit of a cleanliness fetish.
Si Xinyan was even worse—she never drank water from anyone else’s glass, let alone used utensils that others had touched.
At home, Si Xinyan had her own bowls and chopsticks, color-coded separately from Su Liumeng’s.
Once, Su Liumeng accidentally picked up the wrong set and ended up being chased around and lectured for a whole day.
This time, being fed, Su Liumeng only bit the food lightly, not daring to touch the lower part of the chopsticks for fear that the girl would mind her eating off them.
“Hehe, good girl.”
Seeing my feeding succeeded, my mood soared, and my legs kept swinging.
“Here, have another.”
I picked up a piece of fish and brought it to Su Liumeng’s mouth.
Su Liumeng saw the fish wasn’t deboned, raised her brow, but calmly swallowed it and silently ground the bones into powder with her energy.
So this is what it feels like to feed someone else.
It’s actually not bad.
The real art of feeding lies in whether you like the person you’re feeding.
If it’s someone you don’t like—
All you’d think is, “Why should she eat my food?” Even spending an extra penny would feel painful.
With someone you care about, you just want her to eat more.
Money? What’s that…
If you run out, you can always earn more.
After feeding Su Liumeng two or three times, I didn’t bother whether she was full or not.
I was still hungry myself, so I picked up a piece of tofu and blew on it gently before eating.
Su Liumeng stared at me blowing on my food, her gaze unusually intense.
The next moment—
The girl showed no sign of minding that I’d used the chopsticks, and ate the tofu directly.
Afterwards, I looked at Su Liumeng in confusion. “Why are you staring at me? Haven’t you seen me eat before?”
“No, it’s not…” Su Liumeng stumbled, “I wasn’t looking, I was just eating.”
“What are you saying? I can’t understand a word.” I muttered, baffled, and picked up another piece of tofu, eating it with rice—tasted absolutely perfect.
Su Liumeng’s thoughts were in a mess, struggling to comprehend.
Si Xinyan no longer minded her. What exactly did this mean?
Anyway—
There was a little unexpected joy.
“Baby, want some fish?” Su Liumeng used her delicate sword techniques on her chopsticks.
A piece of fish, full of small bones, was soon cleaned up until only pure, whole fish remained.
Such otherworldly swordsmanship—if other cultivators saw it, who knows what they’d say about her squandering her talents?
People begged for sword skills like this, and you use them just to please your girlfriend?
I looked at the chopsticks Su Liumeng offered and didn’t immediately move, just stared at the air in front of me, as if pondering a serious problem.
“Are these… your chopsticks?”
Suddenly, I blurted out.
Su Liumeng froze on the spot.
See, people really shouldn’t get their hopes up too much.
Maybe it was just a fluke earlier.
Maybe baby just wasn’t thinking straight and forgot for a moment.
Now she remembered.
“Just put it in my bowl.” I didn’t say anything harsh.
It’s not the first time Su Liumeng’s given me food, I usually eat it anyway—I’m just not used to eating straight from the chopsticks.
“Okay.”
Su Liumeng looked at the fish on my rice, the disappointment in her eyes quickly disappearing.
I brought the fish to my lips, caught the change in Su Liumeng’s expression from the corner of my eye, and suddenly had a flash of insight. “You weren’t thinking I minded you, were you?”
Su Liumeng fell silent.
Wasn’t that the case?
I said, a bit exasperated, “Why are you picking up my bad habits too? If I minded you, would I let you kiss me? If I minded you, would I feed you with my own chopsticks? I just don’t like eating that way, that’s all.”
Su Liumeng’s mood immediately cleared up.
Baby wasn’t being silly at all—she knew exactly what she was doing.
That made everything okay again.
Su Liumeng hadn’t acted spoiled in half a month, but now she did, and it was almost overwhelming. “Then—can baby feed me a little more?”
Looking at Su Liumeng’s long figure, I didn’t say anything snarky.
I just obediently picked up some tofu with my chopsticks and fed it to her.
At night.
I reached out to hug Su Liumeng, but suddenly couldn’t hold back any longer. “Su Liumeng, are you hiding something from me?”
“Where are your dragon horns?”
“I’ve touched so many times, but I haven’t felt any horns.”
Snap—
I slapped on the bedside lamp and sat up in bed.
I wasn’t going to sleep—I just stared at Su Liumeng.
As if, if she didn’t give me an answer, I’d just sit there all night.
“Did you change back already?”
Now, I really couldn’t understand Su Liumeng.
If she’d changed back long ago, why hadn’t she told me?
Wasn’t she always the type who couldn’t stand holding things in?
Why was she so patient now?
After a while, Su Liumeng’s face flushed red, like she was about to burst, and she suddenly blurted out, “My dragon blood seems a bit too boiling this time—my period’s lasted fifteen days and still hasn’t ended.”
She didn’t want this, either.
Really hadn’t gotten a chance.