Chapter 73

Chapter 73

Su Yu said that Yu Jurong was in love, and Shen Tingzhou's first reaction was Zhou Zitan.

But how could that be possible? Xiao Zhou’s personality wouldn’t allow him to get together with Yu Jurong; it would be more likely for them to bump heads.

Seeing Shen Tingzhou's expression change several times, Su Yu tilted his head and asked, "Didn't you see the forum?"

Shen Tingzhou shook his head in confusion. What was wrong with the forum?

Su Yu licked his candy: "Everyone on the forum is saying that Yu Jurong is in love. I think his partner must be your beloved Xiao Zhou."

"..." Shen Tingzhou explained helplessly for the nth time, "Xiao Zhou is my friend."

Su Yu held his belly and lamented, "Yes, Xiao Zhou has become history. Your current favorite is Xu Xun. It will never be me or the child."

Shen Tingzhou smoothly changed the subject, "Your due date is around mid-February, right?"

Su Yu didn’t answer but instead asked Shen Tingzhou, "On the day I give birth, Doctor Shen, will you come?"

Shen Tingzhou replied firmly, "Of course I will."

If he dared say no, Su Yu could cry down the Great Wall today.

Su Yu was indeed satisfied. When Yu Mingyan came downstairs, he happily ran over, "Ah Yan, Doctor Shen said he will deliver the baby for me."

Shen Tingzhou was startled. He wasn’t an obstetrician; he couldn’t deliver babies!!!

Su Yu continued, "If I have a C-section, Doctor Shen said he will stitch me up."

Shen Tingzhou: I didn’t say that!

Although his suturing skills were good, he hadn’t practiced in years. He didn’t even trust himself anymore.

Su Yu added, "Doctor Shen also said he would personally bathe the newborn baby."

Shen Tingzhou had never held a newborn before. Many of their organs weren’t fully developed; how could he dare bathe the baby? What if they got an ear infection?!

Su Yu went on, "Doctor Shen also said..."

Afraid Su Yu would get more outrageous, Shen Tingzhou hurriedly interrupted him.

"I’ll just be there as... a mascot, unable to do anything."

Obstetrics really wasn’t his specialty.

Shen Tingzhou had a clear understanding of his capabilities, but Su Yu didn’t. Turning his head, he said, "Doctor Shen, how can you be a mascot? You are the most important and indispensable member of our family, right, Ah Yan?"

Yu Mingyan nodded with a smile, "Yes."

Shen Tingzhou: ...Thank you for your family’s recognition.

Yu Mingyan patted Su Yu’s head, "If you like it, then let Doctor Shen do the suturing."

Shen Tingzhou was shocked, "Don’t trust me so much!"

Su Yu ignored him, nodding vigorously at Yu Mingyan, "Yes, yes, I also want Doctor Shen to cut the umbilical cord."

Yu Mingyan smiled at Shen Tingzhou, "Then it’s a bother, Doctor Shen."

Shen Tingzhou: ...

He didn’t know if these two were joking or being serious!

-

In late pregnancy, exhaustion easily set in, and even the peculiar constitution of Hu Qu was no exception.

After all the commotion, Su Yu, sitting on the sofa, fell asleep leaning against Yu Mingyan.

Shen Tingzhou moved quietly, getting up to ask Yu Mingyan, "Should I get a blanket?"

Yu Mingyan shook his head, "No need. Sleeping here isn’t comfortable. I’ll carry him back to the room."

Shen Tingzhou didn’t want to stay longer. Before leaving, he confirmed with Yu Mingyan, "C-section..."

Yu Mingyan smiled, "Next time Doctor Shen comes, bring a stuffed doll to sew for Xiao Yu to see."

"That’s not a good idea." Shen Tingzhou glanced at the sleeping Su Yu and worriedly said, "Won’t it scare Mr. Xiao Yu?"

Yu Mingyan held Su Yu’s knees and lifted him effortlessly, "Don’t worry, it won’t."

Hearing Yu Mingyan say this, crafty Xiao Shen had an idea. He planned to make a pregnant stuffed doll and perform a mock C-section to extract a small doll.

Yu Mingyan carried Su Yu steadily back to the room and placed him on the bed. The sleeping expectant father stirred slightly and opened his eyes a crack.

Su Yu rubbed his eyes drowsily, "Did Doctor Shen leave?"

Yu Mingyan removed his hand and kissed his eyelids twice, "Yes, go back to sleep."

Su Yu hugged Yu Mingyan, rubbing against his shoulder, mumbling, "I want Doctor Shen to stitch my wound."

Yu Mingyan stroked Su Yu’s back, "You’ll scare Doctor Shen into trembling."

Su Yu’s lips curved, "But such a scared Doctor Shen is the cutest."

Yu Mingyan kissed Su Yu again, "Go to sleep."

Su Yu slowly closed his eyes and fell asleep completely in Yu Mingyan’s arms.

-

Shen Tingzhou left the Su residence. Just as his car drove off, Qin Shiyao’s video call came through.

Qin Shiyao usually either called or sent messages; she rarely made video calls directly. Shen Tingzhou answered with curiosity.

In the shaky camera view, Qin Shiyao's excited voice came through, "Chasing his wife to the crematorium, quick, look!"

Shen Tingzhou wanted to hang up on Qin Shiyao. He had seen the "chasing his wife to the crematorium" scene many times and didn't find it particularly new.

Until he saw Zhou Zitan and Yu Jurong in the frame, Shen Tingzhou's eyes widened instantly.

He stammered, "They two..."

Qin Shiyao suppressed her shriek, "Yes, He Yanting has finally started chasing his wife!"

He Yanting?

Shen Tingzhou looked closely and found that He Yanting was indeed in the frame.

The three of them seemed to be in front of the Boyue Hotel, with marble statues faintly visible behind Zhou Zitan.

Qin Shiyao was moving towards her target in an odd manner, making the camera very unstable.

One moment Zhou Zitan was in the frame, the next it was He Yanting's stern face, while Yu Jurong leaned against his car, still wearing that infuriating smile.

Seeing him like this, Shen Tingzhou felt he was up to no good.

When Qin Shiyao found the best angle, all three finally appeared in Shen Tingzhou's "sight."

"This is..." Shen Tingzhou was shocked and puzzled, "What's going on?"

Mentioning this, Qin Shiyao was full of resentment, "I don't know either. I have billions, but I can't even work the night shift. How hateful!"

Shen Tingzhou thought these rich people were indeed hateful, showing off their wealth in such unique ways.

Qin Shiyao held the phone closer, and Zhou Zitan's voice came through.

As he walked towards Yu Jurong, he twisted his body to say to He Yanting, "Brother, I have something urgent right now. Let's talk another day."

Upon hearing this, He Yanting's expression darkened further, "Come back with me first."

Zhou Zitan stopped, looking troubled, "But..."

On the other side, Yu Jurong urged, "Hurry up, we don't have time."

Zhou Zitan frowned and glanced around before finally gritting his teeth and walking towards Yu Jurong.

He Yanting's eyes flashed with anger, "He Zitan!"

Qin Shiyao's eyes shone like searchlights, "Classic scene from the 'chasing his wife to the crematorium'—his wife leaving with another man right in front of him! Xiao Zhou, you finally did something right. Mama is proud of you."

Shen Tingzhou: ...

He couldn't equate Zhou Zitan with the word "wife," nor could he see Qin Shiyao as Zhou Zitan's "mama."

Zhou Zitan opened the passenger door of Yu Jurong's car and turned to He Yanting, "Brother, I really have something important."

He Yanting wouldn't budge, saying coldly, "Come back with me now. Do you want me to call your mother?"

Zhou Zitan clearly hadn't expected He Yanting to bring up He Ranjie and was stunned for a moment.

Yu Jurong, growing impatient, pulled Zhou Zitan into the car.

He Yanting took a few steps forward, but Yu Jurong turned the car around, swinging the tail within half a meter of He Yanting before driving away with Zhou Zitan.

Qin Shiyao exclaimed joyfully, "So satisfying!"

Shen Tingzhou watched He Yanting standing there, furious, and wondered if Zhou Zitan had been possessed by someone else. He actually refused to go back with He Yanting and chose to leave with Yu Jurong instead.

This was too abstract for Shen Tingzhou to comprehend.

Just as Shen Tingzhou was shocked, He Yanting's call came through.

Shen Tingzhou's hand shook slightly, accidentally answering the call. He steadied himself and asked, "What's wrong, President He?"

He Yanting's cold voice came through, "Doctor Shen, do you know what Zitan has been up to recently?"

The words seemed to burn his mouth, and it took Shen Tingzhou a while to respond, "I... don't know."

He also didn't understand why He Yanting would call him about Zhou Zitan.

He Yanting said, "He might have made some bad friends recently. Doctor Shen, please help my aunt talk to him when you see him. Don't let him ruin himself."

Shen Tingzhou mumbled in agreement, "...Okay."

He Yanting didn't say anything more and hung up the call.

Qin Shiyao sent over several question marks, wondering why he suddenly hung up.

Shen Tingzhou explained that he had received a call just now but didn't tell Qin Shiyao it was from He Yanting.

Qin Shiyao, being who she was, immediately realized and asked excitedly, "Was it He Yanting? Did he ask you who Xiao Zhou left with? Was it, tell me, was it!"

Shen Tingzhou's eardrums were bombarded by Qin Shiyao's questions.

Seeing Shen Tingzhou remain silent, Qin Shiyao laughed out loud.

"It must be him! This is the charm of the crematorium chase! When he was chasing you, you were aloof and indifferent. Now that he's not chasing anymore, you're anxious, hahaha, serves you right!"

Shen Tingzhou couldn't help but say, "At most, it's a 'chasing brother' situation."

Qin Shiyao refused to hear the cruel truth and promptly hung up on Shen Tingzhou.

Shen Tingzhou: ...

-

In order to figure out what had happened between Zhou Zitan and Yu Jurong, Shen Tingzhou rushed straight to the master bedroom as soon as he got home and took out the tablet from the flower district.

Su Yu said that everyone on the forum was discussing Yu Jurong's romance. Sure enough, as soon as he logged into the forum, a hot topic was floating on the homepage.

The daily activity on the flower district forum wasn't particularly high; the hottest posts usually had around a hundred replies at most.

But this post had over eight hundred replies, and the title was explosive—

"Has that bastard Yu Er fallen in love?"

The original poster seemed to be a loyal fan of Yu Jurong, knowing his works by heart.

"Does anyone else feel that Yu Er's film style has started to change? Especially the latest film, 'Marriage.' This film is very unlike his usual style. I've been idle these past few days and rewatched all his films at home. The strangeness began with 'Wind and Moon,' but the earliest anomaly should be 'Doctor'..."

The original poster analyzed Yu Jurong's recent filming techniques from a professional perspective.

Shen Tingzhou considered himself an expert in reading comprehension, but compared to the original poster, he felt like a pig-eating ginseng fruit.

The original poster scrutinized Yu Jurong's recent films with a magnifying glass and finally came to a conclusion—

That bastard Yu Er might really be in love!

No one on the flower district forum liked Yu Jurong, so everyone exploded upon hearing this news.

"Who could be blind enough to fall for Yu Er?"

"I don't believe it. How could someone like Yu Er have a partner? Who could stand him?"

"Impossible, absolutely impossible! If he's dating someone, does that mean my three-times-a-day curses didn't work all these years?"

Although everyone cursed Yu Jurong, it was mostly in jest, and no one truly believed he was in a relationship.

The post became truly popular when Yu Jurong appeared.

The moderator was both hated and popular on the forum. Whenever they popped up, it always drew attention.

Yu Jurong, who hadn't appeared on the forum for ages, replied with a single period in the thread.

Below his reply, a row of periods followed.

It wasn't until the eighty-first floor that someone broke the string of periods, tagging the original poster: "Wake up, stop sleeping, there's work to do."

The original poster quickly appeared: "Yu Er popped up? Based on my understanding of him, this period has deep meaning. What exactly it means, let me brush my teeth first."

The people below really started analyzing the period.

"In a post like this, according to Yu Er's usual behavior, he would either ignore it or delete it. But today he replied. I think the original poster was right—Er Dogzi is really in love!"

"I vote for the above."

"I also vote for the above."

"I disagree. I think Yu Er is just being devious! Intentionally replying with a period is to make us guess day and night about its meaning, which will cause us to lose hair, gain weight, and look pale, while he becomes the handsomest guy in the flower district. Shameless!"

"The above is the truth!"

"Genius appears on the 175th floor!"

"I think Yu Er thinks... then he will do... and finally he must... agree if you think so!"

"Agree with the 245th floor. I share the same thoughts as the 245th floor. Yu Er must be... then we should... and finally we should... does everyone agree with me?"

After Yu Jurong didn't appear again, the group continued joking around.

Shen Tingzhou initially didn't believe that Zhou Zitan and Yu Jurong were together, but today Zhou Zitan's attitude towards He Yanting and Yu Jurong's sudden appearance in such a thread were quite strange.

Shen Tingzhou exited the post and opened Yu Jurong's latest film, "Marriage."

The film was still short and concise, telling the story of a demon and a god getting married within ten minutes.

After marriage, each harbored their own intentions, trying to obtain something from the other, fighting from bed to floor and back to bed.

If it were his first time watching, Shen Tingzhou would have thought it was a typical Yu Jurong film.

Erotic yet subtly eerie, never following the conventional path.

But influenced by the original poster, Shen Tingzhou felt that it was indeed different from his past films, focusing more on the process.

The original poster summarized that Yu Jurong's past films did not focus on the process; he was different, working backward from the outcome. Recently, his films focused on the process leading to the outcome.

Shen Tingzhou watched "Marriage" twice and felt it had a subtle difference from his past works.

The door opened, and Xu Xun silently walked in.

Shen Tingzhou exited the forum and put the tablet back in the drawer. Seeing Xu Xun's unusual expression, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Xu Xun said nothing but extended his hand.

Shen Tingzhou held Xu Xun's hand after a moment of confusion.

Xu Xun remained silent for a few seconds before slowly pulling his hand away and pointing to a tiny dot visible under a magnifying glass on his hand.

Shen Tingzhou stared at the hand for a while before noticing the injury, "This... how did it happen?"

Xu Xun said expressionlessly, "The Steward pricked it."

Shen Tingzhou: !

Xu Xun: "Poked with a cactus ball."

Shen Tingzhou rubbed his hand, "The Steward probably didn't mean to."

Xu Xun looked at Shen Tingzhou with a sullen face, "It was intentional. He pressed the cactus ball onto my hand."

Shen Tingzhou felt that by the time he finished peeling off the bandage, the redness on Xu Xun's hand would have faded.

Guessing Xu Xun's thoughts, Shen Tingzhou spoke, "...Should I go downstairs and talk to him?"

Xu Xun seemed not to want Shen Tingzhou to stand up for him, "Forget it. Let's go out for dinner tonight."

Shen Tingzhou wanted to laugh, "Sure, where do you want to go eat?"

Xu Xun spoke with the aggrieved tone of a woman in a secluded boudoir, "Anywhere, as long as it's not at home."

Shen Tingzhou's sense of heroism swelled several hundred times, and he took Xu Xun's hand, "Alright!"

As they went downstairs, the Steward was binding a bonsai with copper wire, glancing at Xu Xun from the corner of his eye, "Tattling again?"

Xu Xun let out a light snort through his nose and pulled Shen Tingzhou out of the living room with big strides.

Shen Tingzhou turned back to the Steward, "We're going out for dinner tonight."

The Steward replied, "Sure enough, men who act spoiled have the best fate. Spoil him, spoil him just like his uncle."

Shen Tingzhou: ...

Not exactly. Xiao Xu might exaggerate, but he wouldn't be like Mr. Fu... He wasn't saying anything bad about Mr. Fu; it's just that Xiao Xu wouldn't become like that.

-

Shen Tingzhou had a card given to him by Qin Shiyao, which allowed him to dine at her restaurant anytime without reservation.

Shen Tingzhou took Xu Xun to the restaurant and handed the card to the staff, who arranged a prime seat by the window with a view of the capital's night scenery.

According to Xu Xun's taste, Shen Tingzhou ordered a few dishes.

The restaurant waiter brought over a fruit platter and an appetizer champagne. Shen Tingzhou found the cantaloupe very sweet and gave a piece to Xu Xun.

Shen Tingzhou asked, "Does your hand still hurt?"

Although there was no issue with his hand anymore, Xu Xun still said, "A little."

Shen Tingzhou had originally planned to say it didn't hurt and then advise him not to keep quarreling with the Steward, but this "a little" left him at a loss for words.

Just as he was thinking of what to say, a voice came from behind—

"Doctor Shen."

Shen Tingzhou turned around to see Zhou Zitan and Yu Jurong behind him, feeling somewhat subtle. Could they really be dating?

Zhou Zitan, looking pleasantly surprised, walked over quickly, "Doctor Shen, you're also eating here?"

Shen Tingzhou nodded, his gaze sweeping past Zhou Zitan and meeting Yu Jurong's for a moment before returning to Zhou Zitan, "You and Mr. Yu?"

Zhou Zitan's expression fell, about to say something when his phone suddenly rang.

Seeing the caller, Zhou Zitan instinctively glanced at Yu Jurong before answering, "Brother, I'm eating out."

Hearing it was He Yanting, Shen Tingzhou unconsciously held his breath.

"I'm not with any shady people," Zhou Zitan fiddled with the edge of the table, "...How could Yu Jurong count? I see, you're coming over later?"