Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the coffee shop across from the hospital, Su Qingsang and Su Chenghui were sitting across from each other. Su Chenghui looked more haggard than he did two days ago.
Su Qingsang didn’t know why Su Chenghui asked her to come here. She thought Su Chenghui had already returned to Lin City.
“Dad? Why are you looking for me?”
Su Chenghui was quite politely distant. The other party was her father, so why couldn’t he look for her?
Su Chenghui naturally discerned the implication as well, and his expression was a little awkward.
“It’s nothing. I have a flight back to Lin City tomorrow, and I wanted to come see you.”
“Thank you.”
Su Chenghui looked at his daughter in front of him. Su Peizhen looked like her mother, but Su Qingsang and Su Yuxin really looked like him. Su Yuxin looked even more like him. Su Qingsang’s face actually looked a little like Li Qianxue’s. If one looked carefully, one would be able to tell.
He lowered his head and thought of the words he had overheard when he entered the hospital.
“I heard that you’re pregnant?”
Su Qingsang glanced at him. She didn’t expect him to know about this. “Yes. I’m pregnant.”
She didn’t intend to deliberately hide it. Since he knew, there was nothing that she couldn’t say. It was a good thing anyway.
“Good, good.” Su Chenghui said good twice, but then hhe couldn’t find anything else to say. “I, when I went to your hospital just now, I heard your colleagues discussing. I think they said they’re twins?”
“Yes.”
“Good. That’s great.” After Su Chenghui finished, he didn’t know what else he could say. “I haven’t taken care of pregnant women before, so I don’t know what you should eat or use at this time. You –”
“Dad, I’m a doctor.” Su Qingsang saw his embarrassed expression and remained calm. “I know how to take care of myself. Don’t worry.”
Su Chenghui nodded repeatedly. He thought of another matter. “Does your mother know that you’re pregnant?”
“Not yet.” Su Qingsang didn’t have time to tell her. “I ate outside yesterday so I didn’t video chat with my mother. I’ll tell her today.”
Su Chenghui nodded. His lips moved a few times as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he stopped.
There was silence again. Su Chenghui picked up the coffee in front of him and took a sip. The black coffee was a little bitter. “Qingsang.”
“Yes?”
“After your child is born, can I go see you?”
“Why not?” This was the first time Su Qingsang saw Su Chenghui being so careful. “You’re their grandfather. Of course you can go see them.”
Su Chenghui’s expression changed slightly because of her words. His emotions ambivalent, he lowered his head.
“I went to see Peizhen yesterday.”
Thinking of his daughter whom he had doted on for more than 20 years but had become like that in the end, Su Chenghui sighed with regret.
“She didn’t want to see me, and was unwilling to see me. I used some tactics to meet her.”
Su Chenghui didn’t need Su Qingsang’s reply. He just wanted to find someone to talk to. Since when did he no longer have anyone to talk to?
“I don’t know since when, but I’ve been thinking. Did I do something wrong? This thought finally reached its peak after you guys switched back. I knew my mistake was irreparable. But I didn’t know that it would bring about such serious consequences.”
Su Qingsang didn’t comment. They were all adults, so it wasn’t easy to brush the matter off with just one sentence. Everyone had to pay the price for their actions. No matter who it was.
“She seems to be in a good state.” Saying that she was in a good state was just words of comforting. How good could she be in a good state in that sort of place?
“Qingsang, I’ve already persuaded her. I told her to serve her sentence obediently, try to reduce her sentence, and get out of there as soon as possible.”
Su Qingsang didn’t respond. That would be for the best. She had never regarded Su Peizhen as an enemy. She didn’t in the past, and she wouldn’t in the future.
As long as she didn’t provoke her, even if she wasn’t willing to get along with her peacefully like a normal sister would, she was willing to peacefully coexist with her.
After Su Chenghui said all this, he didn’t get any response from Su Qingsang. He was a little disappointed, and looked up at Su Qingsang with a nervous expression.
“Qingsang? Do you still hate me?”
“No.” Su Qingsang had never hated Su Chenghui. “Dad, you’re overthinking things.”
“In the past, many things were my fault. It’s only right for you to hate me.”
Su Qingsang was silent. She had no way to respond. “Dad, I don’t hate you.”
There was resentment and blame, but there was no hatred at all.
Su Chenghui looked up at her. Her gaze was clear and sincere. He believed that she really didn’t hate him. It was a pity that just because she didn’t hate him didn’t mean that others didn’t hate him. For example, Li Qianxue.
“But, your mother hates me very much.”
Su Qingsang couldn’t respond to this. Li Qianxue loved him back then as much as she hated him now. It was normal for her to hate him.
Su Chenghui seemed to realize that it wasn’t appropriate for him to say this to his daughter.
“Are you free tonight? Shall we have dinner together? And invite Huo Jinyao as well?”
“I promised to treat my colleagues to dinner tonight.”
Su Chenghui looked disappointed. Su Qingsang lowered her head and thought about it for a moment before adding, “They’re all colleagues from the department. If you don’t mind, would you like to join us?”
Su Chenghui’s eyes lit up immediately. He looked at Su Qingsang in disbelief. “Qingsang.”
“Huo Jinyao will be coming too. My colleagues are all very nice and take care of me. They’re very happy that I’m pregnant this time. That’s why I said I’d treat them to dinner.”
“It’s only right, it’s only right. Then, is it inconvenient?”
“No, it’s not inconvenient.”
..
Huo Jinyao was a little surprised when he saw Su Chenghui that night. He glanced at Su Qingsang, who was beckoning her colleagues to enter the private room.
Everyone from the department had arrived, and the table was full.
Huo Jinyao, Su Qingsang, and Su Chenghui sat at the top of the table. This was the property of Tang Mohan’s family, so the environment and dishes there weren’t ordinary.
When the others saw Huo Jinyao, they were a little restrained at first, but they soon let go.
Huo Jinyao had learned his lesson, so he didn’t touch a single drop of wine. Su Chenghui, on the other hand, ate quite a lot. Thanking them for taking care of Su Qingsang and asking them to continue taking care of her in the future, he toasted every single one of Su Qingsang’s colleagues present.
Su Qingsang watched Su Chenghui’s actions and didn’t say anything. However, when Su Chenghui sat down, she served him a bowl of soup.
That action was done casually. Su Chenghui looked at her, but his eyes were a little warm.
This meal was considered to be a feast for both the guest and the host. Huo Jinyao was very sober, but Su Chenghui drank too much. In the end, Huo Jinyao and Su Qingsang sent him back to the hotel together.
..
Huo Jinyao took out a hair dryer to dry Su Qingsang’s hair. Her eyes were half-closed, as if she was enjoying his service.
“Are you tired?”
“No.” She didn’t move much today, so how could she be tired?
“Why was your dad here today?”
“He came to see me in the afternoon and heard about my pregnancy. He asked if I was free for dinner tonight. He said he was going back to Lin City tomorrow, so I called him along.”
Huo Jinyao could guess that this was probably the result.
“I thought you hated him.”
“I don’t.” She looked at Huo Jinyao in the mirror. “Why do you all think I hate him?”
“You don’t hate him?”
“You only hate someone when you have expectations. There’s no such thing as hate if you don’t have expectations.”
Su Qingsang’s hair was almost blown out, so she turned to look at Huo Jinyao.
“Why does my mother hate my father so much? It’s because she always had high hopes for my father. She thought that one day, she would be able to move him and make him fall in love with her. That’s why she hated him so much when she found out that he would never love her, and on the contrary, he would only bring her pain.”
“But I’m different. I’ve never had high hopes for my father ever since I was a child. Perhaps there were, but it had been too long, too long, and those expectations eventually disappeared without a trace.
“I always knew that the person he liked the most in his heart was Su Peizhen, and then Yuxin. So after I tried a few times, I gave up. I knew in my heart that in his life, he would never put me in the same position as Su Peizhen. I also knew that in my life, I would never genuinely regard him as a father. Because I didn’t have any expectations, I wasn’t surprised no matter what he did.”
“At most, it’s a little uncomfortable. After all, even if treated like that by a stranger, it’ll still be a little uncomfortable, but it’ll only be slight discomfort. Once the discomfort subsides, it doesn’t matter anymore.”
After all, she didn’t care that much about Su Chenghui’s thoughts. Therefore, hatred was out of the question.
Huo Jinyao didn’t say a word. He bent down and hugged Su Qingsang gently, then placed his hand on her abdomen.
Su Qingsang felt his movements and placed her hand on his. It was still flat.
“Huo Jinyao, I think we’ll be good parents, right?”
She wouldn’t let her children grow up like her. She believed that Huo Jinyao wouldn’t let them grow up like he did when they were young.
“Of course.”
Huo Jinyao looked at her intently and felt the warmth in her abdomen. “We are different from our parents.”
“Yes, we are different from them.”
Her and Huo Jinyao’s child would definitely receive a lot of care and love.
..
Li Qianxue also found out that Su Qingsang was pregnant. She was overjoyed and said that she would fly to Rong City to visit her. She wasn’t the only one who came. Old Master Li and Su Yuxin also came.
If it weren’t for the fact that they still had matters to attend to in Lin City, they would probably still want to stay in Rong City until Su Qingsang gave birth.
It wasn’t easy to convince Li Qianxue that she didn’t need to worry that much. After sending Li Qianxue away, Su Qingsang focused her energy on the examination at the end of the month.
This was the bad thing about being a doctor. She had to submit her thesis every year and take all kinds of examinations. She busied herself and slowly ignored the discomfort in her body.
Huo Jinyao was very worried about her, but she refused to rest and insisted on continuing to work. He had no choice but to hire a nutritionist at home. He also specifically told Auntie Yu to follow the instructions of the nutritionist.
Liu Tongjia and Old Master Huo also came to see them from time to time. Su Qingsang, on the other hand, didn’t have the slightest self-awareness of being pregnant. She did what she had to do.
She didn’t neglect going to the outpatient clinic or any surgeries.
Another half a month went by, and it was already September in Rong City. Su Qingsang had already passed the first three months of her pregnancy period. Her pregnancy could be considered stable by now.
Huo Jinyao was worried about letting her drive, even though she had repeatedly said that many people even drove until they gave birth. He was the one who drove her to and from work every day.
Su Qingsang couldn’t convince him, so she could only agree.
One morning, Su Qingsang went to the bathroom to throw up again. She looked fine for the past month, and there was no sign of vomiting at all.
Huo Jinyao thought that the previous time was a coincidence, but he realized that he was overthinking things these few days.
“Why are you throwing up like this?” Huo Jinyao stood behind Su Qingsang and patted her back gently with one hand. “It was fine for the past month, wasn’t it?”
Su Qingsang didn’t speak. She was feeling very uncomfortable and didn’t have the spare energy to speak.
In fact, she roughly knew why. When Li Qianxue came to Rong City, she did not want her to worry. Therefore, the thought of throwing up was suppressed by her.
Later, she was busy with her research and writing the thesis. She was distracted by external matters, so naturally her attention was diverted.
She had just handed in her thesis yesterday. She reckoned that she would be able to pass it without any accidents. As she relaxed, her body reacted naturally.
“I asked Auntie Yu to prepare porridge this morning. Can you drink it now?”
After Su Qingsang became pregnant, Huo Jinyao asked Auntie Yu to stay with them. As long as she was at home, he would let her cook three meals a day.
Su Qingsang nodded. She had no choice but to eat. She got up and went to eat. However, just as she picked up her bowl and ate a few mouthfuls, she felt nauseous and rushed to the bathroom again. She vomited even more than before.
From that day onwards, Huo Jinyao realized that Su Qingsang was having a hard time. She vomited almost everything she ate.
No matter how bland the food was, she vomited after eating it. Huo Jinyao saw it and was extremely anxious.
“Why don’t we go to the doctor?”
Huo Jinyao looked at Su Qingsang, who had puked so much that her face was pale. He really didn’t know what he could do to stop her from throwing up or to make her feel better.
Su Qingsang laid down in front of the toilet and waved her hand. She was really uncomfortable now. She was so sick that she would throw up even if she drank water.
“Honey…”
She had already vomited like this for a week. In just a few days, she had lost a ton of weight.
Not only had she lost weight, but her face had also lost all color.
Su Qingsang stood up and placed one hand in front of the sink. She looked at Huo Jinyao and said in a very weak voice, “Huo Jinyao, I’m a doctor myself, yet you want me to see a doctor?”
“But how can you continue to be like this?”
Su Qingsang rinsed her mouth. She didn’t expect her morning sickness to be so severe.
“Let’s eat first.”
“You’re already vomiting like this. Are you sure you can still eat?”
“If I can’t eat, I’ll force myself to eat. If I really can’t, I’ll have to go to the hospital for an infusion.”
Su Qingsang spoke very matter-of-factly, but Huo Jinyao simply felt heartache. He had never known that pregnancies were this torturous.
Previously, when Su Qingsang stopped vomiting after that day, he thought that it was just an accident. But this week, he found out that it was too early for him to rejoice.
Su Qingsang returned to the dining table and looked at the table full of dishes. She still had no appetite.
“Wife?”
When Huo Jinyao saw her like this, he wanted to say they might as well not have this child.
“It’s okay, I’ll try again.”
Su Qingsang picked up the bowl as she spoke. She forced herself to finish the bowl of porridge. Huo Jinyao looked at her nervously. After seeing that she had finished the bowl of porridge, he didn’t even have time to let out a sigh of relief before Su Qingsang stood up again and walked towards the bathroom.
Huo Jinyao’s face turned green.
He followed her to the bathroom and found that Su Qingsang had vomited all the porridge she had just eaten. Huo Jinyao really couldn’t calm down now.
“Honey?”
Su Qingsang was indeed suffering. Her physiological reaction wasn’t something she could control. Now, she wanted to vomit no matter what she smelled, and everything she smelled made her nauseous.
Her face extremely pale, she waved her hand. She had barely eaten anything in the past week.
Huo Jinyao reached out to support her, and she didn’t refuse. The two of them returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa. Auntie Yu came out of the kitchen and saw Su Qingsang in such a state. Her face was filled with heartache.
“What should we do? Madam can’t eat anything. How about I make you some egg custard?”
Su Qingsang waved her hand. “Don’t worry. I don’t have an appetite.”
“Madam, you can’t continue like this. You’re not alone. There are three of you.”
Auntie Yu also knew that Su Qingsang was pregnant with twins. She had been perfectly fine for the past half month, but she had vomited heavilyin the past few days. Her heart ached for her.
Su Qingsang knew, but she really couldn’t eat. She looked at the time and decided not to go to work today. “I’ll go to my room and sleep for a while.”
“You’re not eating breakfast?”
“No, I’ll throw up if I eat.”
Su Qingsang didn’t expect this child to be so torturous. She laid down on the bed, and Huo Jinyao followed behind her. He watched her fall asleep with a worried look on his face.
After leaving the room, Huo Jinyao called everyone one by one to ask about Su Qingsang. Even if Su Qingsang was a doctor, since ancient times, doctors had never self-medicated. Perhaps she still needed to find someone else to examine her problems.
Liu Tongjia came over not long after receiving his call. She saw the worried look on Huo Jinyao’s face. She ran over to check on Su Qingsang, who was still asleep.
After she got pregnant, she had become more lethargic than before. She still had to work on her examination and research papers, so she forced herself to stay awake and keep busy.
Now that she was done with her work, she began to relax.
“You’re telling me that she hasn’t had a proper meal in a week?”
“Qingsang didn’t want me to tell anyone,” Huo Jinyao said helplessly. “She said that she’s a doctor, so she knows the truth.”
“If she knows the truth, why doesn’t she eat?” Liu Tongjia was furious. She couldn’t help but pat Huo Jinyao on the shoulder. “Tell me, how are you taking care of her?”
“Mom?” Huo Jinyao wanted to beg for mercy. Both mother and son were equally worried when they talked about Su Qingsang. There was an invisible sense of intimacy.
However, Liu Tongjia wasn’t a doctor either. She came here because she wanted to watch Su Qingsang eat properly.
However, Su Qingsang was destined to fail her. She woke up at noon and sat at the dining table. Huo Jinyao, Auntie Yu, and Liu Tongjia stood in front of her.
Su Qingsang, who was being stared at by them, felt a great deal of pressure. Looking at the light dishes that Liu Tongjia had personally cooked, she forced herself to eat some.
After eating half a bowl of rice, she drank another bowl of soup. Huo Jinyao breathed a sigh of relief. Getting Liu Tongjia to come over was indeed beneficial.
However, his joy only lasted for less than a minute. The moment Su Qingsang put down the bowl, she rushed to the bathroom again.
This time, she almost spat out yellow bile. When she came out of the bathroom, her legs were weak, and she was exceedingly frail.
“Wife?”
“Qingsang.”
“Madam?”
Su Qingsang looked at the concerned faces of the people in front of her and smiled bitterly. “I’m sorry, I really tried my best.”
If she couldn’t eat, so be it. If she wanted to vomit after eating, so be it. That really wasn’t something she could control.
Liu Tongjia and Huo Jinyao looked at each other.
“What, what should we do?” Liu Tongjia was helpless. “Do we really have to go to the hospital for an infusion? You’re a doctor yourself, you should know that it’s not good for your health.”
Of course, Su Qingsang knew. She shook her head and said, “No infusion, I’ll endure it for a while. I’ll eat it later.”
She was a doctor, so she knew a lot of methods, such as ginger juice and apple sauce. She had tried it two days ago. At that time, she could still suppress it, but when it was time to eat, she would throw up whatever she ate.
In the end, Su Qingsang drank some soup. Because she ate less, she finally stopped throwing up. However, she refused to eat anymore.
Huo Jinyao looked extremely anxious. In the evening, Liu Tongjia asked Auntie Yu to cook more dishes. With so many dishes, there must be one that Su Qingsang could eat without vomiting, right?
It was still useless.
Huo Jinyao felt that his hair was about to fall out. It was night, and Su Qingsang was already asleep, but he couldn’t fall asleep. Looking at Su Qingsang’s pale face, he came out of the room and went to the living room.
Liu Tongjia didn’t sleep as well, nor could she fall asleep either. Su Qingsang’s reaction in the past few days was really worrying.
“She’d only just gotten pregnant, but she already has such a strong reaction, and there are two babies in her belly. What will happen if this continues?”
No matter how much Liu Tongjia disliked Su Qingsang in the past, she began to accept her after hearing what her son said, not to mention the fact that Su Qingsang was pregnant now.
Twins. The more happy she was before, the more worried she was now.
Huo Jinyao sat still, but Liu Tongjia didn’t like his reaction. She patted the back of his hand hard and said, “Think of something.”
“I –” What could he think of? He tried to coax Su Qingsang to eat every day. But could she blame him if she couldn’t eat?
“You’re useless.” Liu Tongjia was so angry that she couldn’t help but chide her son.
“I’m useless, but you aren’t. Think of something.”
“I” Liu Tongjia cleared her throat. “What can I think of? When I gave birth to you guys, you guys were much more obedient in my stomach.”
Huo Jinyao rarely heard Liu Tongjia talk about the past. In fact, Liu Tongjia rarely talked about the past. Now that she talked about it, her face didn’t look as painful as it did before. Instead, there was a hint of nostalgia.
“When you guys were in my stomach, you didn’t torture me. You were all very obedient. Especially Wushuang, who didn’t have any reaction from the beginning to the end, and was also obedient and sensible after birth.”
It had been more than ten years since Huo Jinyao and Liu Tongjia last talked about his older brother and younger sister.
Huo Jinyao didn’t interrupt her. He listened to her talk about some of the fun things that happened when she was pregnant in the past. Liu Tongjia talked about Huo Jinkai and Huo Wushuang.
“What about me? Mom, when you were pregnant with me, what was it like?”
“You?” Liu Tongjia smiled. Her eyes peaceful, she no longer had her usual indignant look on her face. “At the beginning of the month, I felt a little nauseous. Later on, I recovered. At that time, my appetite was also strange. I used to dislike food, but at that time, I had a huge appetite. I used to like things like fish and prawns, but at that time, I didn’t like them anymore. At that time, even Auntie Zhou found it difficult to cook, and she didn’t know what I wanted to eat. After all, I had different whims everyday.”
Upon hearing her words, Huo Jinyao suddenly stood up.
“Mom, I know what to do now.”
“Huh?” Did she say something enlightening just now? Liu Tongjia looked puzzled. Huo Jinyao glanced at her, grabbed the car keys, and went out.
“That child.” That fool. What exactly was his solution? He should have at least said something.
