Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

Shi Yu: "..."

"Forgot. How could you possibly know?"

The Little Monster knew even fewer people than him.

With a slight sigh, Shi Yu looked at his phone and noticed that while he and the Little Monster were lost in thought, the other person had sent one last message.

"Don't worry."

"I mean you no harm."

After saying that, there was no further response.

Shi Yu stared at the screen for a long time before blinking.

Goodwill isn't proven just by words. But since he couldn't figure out who it was, Shi Yu doubted whether this "knowing you" claim was just messing with him.

For now, he had to stay calm and not overthink it.

Just wait and observe. He'd be damned if he couldn't track this person down!

The Little Monster didn't understand what "track someone down" meant... but seeing Mom take things seriously, it let out an excited "Wala!" too.

After sizing each other up for a while, the two finally realized it was already 1 a.m.—way past Shi Yu's normal bedtime.

Snapping back to reality, Shi Yu glanced at the pitch-black night outside and finally felt a hint of drowsiness.

Whatever. No use worrying now.

He patted his slightly rounded stomach, put his phone down, calmed the Little Monster with a few words, and headed into the bedroom to sleep.

But just as Shi Yu finished washing up and got ready for bed, he let out an involuntary hiss when he lay down.

Strange. He lowered his head slightly, wondering if all his recent overthinking had gotten to him—even someone as tough as him felt inexplicably restless, and now his chest hurt?

He frowned briefly, thinking that some sleep would help, and didn’t dwell on it. After setting the alarm on his phone, he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

The next morning, that weird ache seemed gone—which was a relief.

Shi Yu figured it was just stress from recent emotional ups and downs. After trying to relax, he assumed it would ease up.

So, by the time his afternoon livestream came around, he acted like nothing was wrong and chatted with viewers like usual.

Chat: "What’s Yu Bao doing today?"

"It looks like fruit and vegetable supplies are back."

Someone from City B had noticed a few days ago that previously out-of-stock produce had returned to supermarket shelves.

But oddly enough—while food supplies were restored, security checks when going out had become unusually strict lately. The hassle made him cancel several trips.

The topic quickly derailed. No one had really noticed until now.

Shi Yu thought inwardly—of course travel restrictions were tight. With so many Horrors stirring lately, the Ability User Association was probably swamped.

Even Han Chuyi hadn’t had the time to bother him these past few days.

He shook his head slightly and brought the topic back.

"Alright, let’s get back to it. Today I’m making chicken and rice soup."

"Good thing we’ve got fresh chicken—can give it a try."

After saying this, Shi Yu adjusted the camera and stood up. The livestream only showed the fridge in front of him, and when he opened it, viewers saw well-organized groceries neatly lined up inside.

"Looks like Yu Bao just went grocery shopping—the fridge is packed!"

Shi Yu lightly coughed, too shy to say these were all gifts rather than things he’d bought himself.

Come to think of it, the chicken he had just found was from Dr. Shen.

But regardless of who gave it, no sense wasting it.

After taking out the chicken to thaw and wash it, he started explaining each step. But as soon as he lifted his hand, his face suddenly changed.

Hmm?

Why's it hurting again? And that achy, dull feeling...

Shi Yu paused for a moment but kept it off camera, continuing with his actions.

Little Monster also noticed its mother’s change and nuzzled closer worriedly. Knowing it wasn’t allowed to speak during the "livestream," it kept quiet.

Despite the strange pain, Shi Yu got the chicken stewing. By the time he turned around, his expression had returned to normal.

"Alright, the chicken needs to cook for another 30 minutes or so."

"Let’s get the rice ready."

Within minutes, all the ingredients were prepared. Seeing the chat hadn’t picked up on anything odd, Shi Yu played it cool and said, "I’ll be right back—I need to use the bathroom. Feel free to chat."

After shifting the camera aside, the moment he entered the bathroom, he couldn’t help frowning.

Wait, it was fine this morning—why’s it hurting again?

And why like this?

Shi Yu couldn’t really put his finger on the exact sensation. His first thought was that he might be getting a lump. Feeling awkward, he took out his phone in the dim light and automatically searched on the page that popped up.

Can guys get breast lumps?

Since men don’t usually get them, Shi Yu felt uneasy while searching. He could barely look at the screen, immediately putting the phone down after typing and clicking.

After mentally preparing himself for a few seconds, he realized this was already the second time it had hurt—he should get it checked out. Can’t just let it keep going, right? Taking a deep breath, he finally looked at the screen.

The phone took forever to load.

When Shi Yu glanced down, he nearly blacked out.

Wait… why did the boss’s chat window pop up?

Wasn’t he searching on a forum? How did he end up here?

Stiffly, he backed out and double-checked, realizing he hadn’t even opened the forum—he'd never left the chat.

Shi Yu: …

So, when he was panicked searching earlier, the CEO just happened to send a message, and he misclicked and opened the wrong page? The entire time, he hadn’t even been on the forum—but the livestream backend?!

And now he’d actually sent it all to the boss!

The bathroom was dead quiet. Shi Yu slowly closed his eyes. He thought nothing could be more embarrassing than mistakenly sending that *BL manga* last time—*but here we go again.*

And this time was even worse.

He had sent the boss a message like, *"Help, I woke up this morning and suddenly have chest pain—what should I do?"* A phrase loaded with awkward implications.

He didn’t even dare imagine what the boss must be thinking of him now.

The lone "?" stayed on the screen, and due to the time limit, Shi Yu couldn’t even unsend the embarrassing message.

At this point, he had no choice but to fess up.

*"Sorry, boss, my bad. I sent the wrong thing again."*

*"Just ignore it. Pretend you didn’t see it."*

After sending the message, Shi Yu slumped against the sink. His heart pounded like when he’d been exposed by the "anonymous person."

He rubbed his face lightly, praying the boss didn’t think he’d lost it.

Sang Huaiyu had absentmindedly opened the message before Shi Yu sent it.

But upon opening it, he realized the content was… unexpected.

*Chest pain?*

His eyes narrowed. After sending the "?", he received a reply not long after.

However, when Shi Yu said it was a mistake, Sang Huaiyu asked pointedly, *"So who were you originally planning to send this to?"*

Shi Yu:...

Who else could he send this to? Obviously an anonymous forum.

At this point, the blunder had already happened—no use hiding it. Shi Yu had no choice but to explain truthfully.

*"I meant to post it on a forum to ask doctors, but I accidentally tapped the wrong thing."*

Talk about terrible timing—this was a total nightmare.

Sang Huaiyu: *"Why not see a doctor in person?"*

When emulating human form, Sang Huaiyu had studied human biology. He knew male chest pain was rare, but not impossible, so after a brief moment of surprise, he shook it off.

Seeing that the boss didn’t react oddly, Shi Yu let out a quiet sigh of relief. But when faced with the suggestion to see a doctor, he hesitated.

Normally, that would’ve been his first thought too. The problem was, his current condition made going to a hospital impossible—he’d blow his cover instantly.

*Since when do guys in their twenties get pregnant?*

He didn’t even dare get a blood test.

He mentally groaned, knowing he could only dodge the question for now.

*"I can’t exactly go to the hospital right now. I’ll stick to online advice for now."*

Unfortunately, medical robots can only perform various examinations but cannot treat illnesses, which is why Shi Yu turned to the forum for help.

After seeing Shi Yu's explanation, Sang Huaiyu paused for a moment.

Why couldn’t he go to the hospital?

Sang Huaiyu arched a brow, assuming Shi Yu didn’t want his unusual identity discovered.

But after glancing again at their chat window, he felt like that wasn’t quite it.

Still, the exact reason remained unclear.

Sang Huaiyu pulled back his hand and, noticing Shi Yu’s dejection, blurted out: "Still hurting?"

Shi Yu: "Huh?"

He froze, not catching what the boss meant.

Only after the boss asked again did he awkwardly reply, "I got distracted earlier, so it doesn’t hurt as much now."

"But I still feel kinda uncomfortable."

Something about it just felt heavy—like something was weighing him down.

Shi Yu pressed his lips together, worried he might feel worse later.

Looking at the message, Sang Huaiyu couldn’t help picturing how Shi Yu looked right now—eyes closed with mild irritation, like a grumpy cat, somehow making his pulse quicken.

His throat bobbed slightly. He paused for a moment before typing:

"Online advice isn’t always professional—it could lead to mistakes."

"I’ll find you someone good. You can talk to them directly. It’ll be more accurate."

He added, “Don’t worry about privacy. If you’re uncomfortable, I’ll step aside.”

It was a chivalrous and practical solution. Shi Yu was surprised—the boss actually thought of this?

He had only been complaining casually, but thinking about it, an expert *was* better than randos online. Plus, it’d be more private. Just felt like putting the boss out a bit.

"Appreciate it, boss. Isn’t this too much?"

"I'll send over the consultation fee."

Shi Yu sent a red envelope right after.

Sang Huaiyu glanced at it but didn’t accept, just replied, "We’re friends. This is what friends do."

Half an hour later, the boss sent over the expert’s info. Shi Yu took a deep breath and added the expert.

But checking the time, he remembered he was still streaming and decided to talk it through with the expert after wrapping up the stream.

Meanwhile, viewers who’d been waiting finally saw the streamer return.

"Yu Bao, where’d you go?"

"Why do you look kinda pale?"

Still flustered from the emotional rollercoaster, Shi Yu felt a bit embarrassed talking about this topic. His face turned slightly red—didn’t think the chat would catch that.

He cleared his throat and changed the subject. "Must be getting hot in here."

"By the way, the soup should be ready. Let me check how it's doing."

Chat: "Classic subject-changing move."

"But what can we do? Guess we'll just keep enabling him."

Shi Yu felt a pang of guilt for a moment but quickly bounced right back.

An hour later, the livestream finally ended. He took a sip of water, said goodbye to each fan, and signed off, wiped out.

Little Monster piped up quietly at this moment.

"Wala..."

How's... mom doing?

Shi Yu shook his head. "She's fine."

He exited the backend, hesitated for a moment with his phone in hand, and looked at the expert's name he'd just added to his contacts. His fingers itched to search online.

What popped up surprised him.

- This expert was actually such a big deal?

Not only had he retired from the top hospital in City B, they kept trying to bring him back—but the professor had declined every time due to health issues.

And now, the big boss actually landed him.

Shi Yu blinked, staring at the chat page. Thinking where it hurt, he chose his words carefully and sent over his symptoms from last night until today.

Professor Che was waiting after getting the referral. After a while, the kid on the other end finally sent a message.

"Hello, I'd like to consult about a nodule issue."

As several symptoms came through, Professor Che put on his glasses and went over them carefully, frowning slightly.

"Are you unable to visit the hospital right now?"

Shi Yu: "Yes."

Professor Che thought for a moment and then explained to the patient, "Nearly impossible to diagnose this condition based solely on verbal descriptions."

"If you can't go to the hospital, is there any way to run tests where you are?"

"You could send over a scan first."

Shi Yu: "I have a medical robot. Please wait a moment."

Finally proving this thing was worth buying!

After replying, Shi Yu stood up and walked over to the small medical robot in the living room, scrolling through its features.

Thankfully he remembered right—it did have a chest X-ray function.

Thinking of this, he leaned down to tell Little Monster, "No funny business. I need to take a scan, so stay quiet, okay?"

Little Monster nodded earnestly and made a sound.

Mom… don’t worry.

A few minutes later, Shi Yu adjusted all the settings and stood in the scanning area.

As the small robot jerkily started up, a red light covered the scanning area. After hesitating briefly over Little Monster, it finally focused on Shi Yu's upper body.

The little robot managed to say with difficulty:

"Ding, scanning in progress..."

"Please relax your breathing and follow the device’s prompts."

The halting voice spoke, and Shi Yu waited a while before seeing the scan complete as a circular motion finished.

This time, it successfully generated a chest X-ray.

"So... what's the result?"

He picked it up and took a look but couldn't decipher anything else beyond seeing the organs in the image. After hesitating for a moment and making sure his abdomen wasn’t in the image, Shi Yu still sent the X-ray to the doctor on the other end.

He felt uneasy—what exactly was wrong with him? How large was the nodule?

Twenty minutes passed after sending the chest X-ray, but there was still no reply from the other side.

After receiving the X-ray, Professor Che scrutinized it carefully.

At first, like Shi Yu, he assumed it was a chest nodule. However, upon examining the report, he hesitated slightly.

This… didn’t quite look like it.

He had seen male chest nodules before, but never like this. It was the first time Professor Che had encountered such a case, and he pushed up his glasses, puzzled.

Based on the symptoms described, if he hadn’t been certain it was a male patient, he would have thought it wasn’t a nodule at all, but rather a pregnancy-related symptom.

But…

"How strange."

Professor Che murmured to himself before finally remembering to reply: "Don’t worry, it’s not a nodule."

"But in your case, I can’t say for certain either."

"It might be a special reaction triggered by emotions. According to the report, your body seems fine for now."

Shi Yu had waited so long he was starting to think his condition was serious. To his surprise, the elderly expert sent this response.

Not a nodule?

Shi Yu was stunned. Then what was it?

When the expert suggested it might be related to emotions, Shi Yu frowned and couldn’t help but search online.

Under the keywords “chest pain” and “emotions,” he suddenly saw a common piece of information pop up: “Women may experience chest pain during pregnancy.”

Shi Yu slowly stared at those words as the truth sank in.

Wait… no way?

He widened his eyes in horror: Could it really be caused by pregnancy?

He curled his toes, and in the final minutes of the consultation, gritted his teeth before asking the expert.

"Professor Che, one last question—do women also experience chest pain during pregnancy?"

He blurted out the question without thinking.

On the other end, old Professor Che felt awkward, as if his muttered complaints had somehow been overheard. He adjusted his glasses and replied seriously.

"Yes."

"Though your case is a bit unusual and needs further observation."

"But there's no need to worry too much."

"It might go away on its own in a few days."

Shi Yu couldn't bring himself to read anything after that word—"Yes."

So pregnancy really could cause this. It was probably a side effect of his own pregnancy.

The professor didn’t know, but Shi Yu did—he really was pregnant.

All the symptoms lined up perfectly with those of a pregnant woman.

Shi Yu wanted to slap himself! When his legs were swollen earlier, he’d thought of it then, so why hadn’t he considered it this time with the chest pain? Now he'd made such an embarrassing mix-up.

But what should he do now?

Mumbling his thanks with mixed emotions and ending the conversation, Shi Yu closed the chat window and lowered his head, closing his eyes in despair.

He was pregnant with a Little Monster—how could it feel so real?

Because of this unspeakable issue, Shi Yu experienced steam practically coming out of his ears for the first time. Slumping onto the sofa, he felt completely embarrassed when his boss came over to ask about the consultation.

Sang Huaiyu didn’t directly ask about the expert. After the consultation ended, he checked the time by the window before looking down and asking gently,

"Finished?"

"How are you feeling?"

It was just polite small talk, not snooping into his business, consistent with his earlier promise to give him space.

At this moment, Shi Yu just wanted to disappear into the ground, but he couldn’t—he was talking to his boss, who had just helped him out.

And besides, it was only a simple question of concern.

Hiding his face in his hands, Shi Yu replied, "No big deal."

"Probably just stress lately."

Stress...

Sang Huaiyu squinted, suspecting there was more going on. Would stress really affect an Ability User this much?

He thought to himself, and after Shi Yu’s reply, simply said, "So did the expert give any helpful advice?"

Shi Yu thought of the online answer:

"Experts recommend monitoring it."

"But I'll just massage it myself tonight."

Now that he knew the cause, things were much easier to handle. Still, doing something like this was a bit too much for an ordinary straight guy. Shi Yu took a deep breath, getting his first real taste of the hardships of pregnancy.

Perhaps sensing its mother's silent cursing, the Little Monster suddenly became strangely docile, curling up innocently into a black ball inside its mother's belly.

This left Shi Yu at a loss, unable to find an excuse to scold it.

Meanwhile, Sang Huaiyu fell silent upon seeing the word "massage."

...Was it the kind of massage he was thinking of?

The morally ambiguous deity, never one to think purely of humans, instantly had his mind race with possibilities. His throat went dry with unbidden desire.

Strange—just a casual remark from this human could stir Him up like this.

Sang Huaiyu stared at the message for a while but didn’t reply further.

This was enough.

He thought that being who he was, if Shi Yu kept asking, he would grow embarrassed and retreat like a cat with its tail twitching in embarrassment.

Besides, He needed to adjust Himself as well.

Sang Huaiyu slightly frowned.

Seeing that the other party didn't press further and knew when to back off, Shi Yu finally relaxed.

Thankfully, there were no more questions. If the boss had continued probing, he would’ve been at a complete loss.

Leaning back on the sofa to collect himself, Shi Yu glared fiercely at his swollen abdomen. After dragging things out until nightfall, he ultimately had no choice but to take matters into his own hands.

Just like the night before, that same dull throbbing returned as he prepared for bed.

Gritting his teeth, Shi Yu endured the awkwardness and looked up an online prenatal guide to work through the discomfort.

He took a deep breath before quickly shutting off his phone.

In a villa district dozens of kilometers away in the same city, Sang Huaiyu slowly removed his silk blindfold. Normally, He would have reclined by the pool to rejuvenate His true form at this hour.

But today, He sat unusually motionless.

He clicked open some human medical resources on his computer, researching Shi Yu’s symptoms. Yet unbidden, a thought crossed His mind:

At this hour, was Shi Yu asleep?

Had his pain eased?

And if it had—was it through the "method" he mentioned?

A sudden, unwelcome heat flared in His chest. Sang Huaiyu tapped the keyboard, his fingers twitching slightly as He wrestled His thoughts under control.

Yet when He closed His eyes, Shi Yu’s face still flashed across His mind.

That clean-cut, boyish face—one that refused to leave His mind.

The next morning, Shi Yu finally felt slightly better.

The intense embarrassment was so overwhelming he barely slept, and by morning, there were slight dark circles under his eyes.

Shi Yu caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror before quickly looking away. After finishing his morning routine, he couldn’t help but wonder if he should buy a pregnancy massage device.

They… sell these kinds of things, right?

He thought for a moment, opened a shopping app, and after just two seconds, abruptly closed it again.

No, no—this one was way too much.

After taking a deep breath, he calmed himself and looked at another model.

Just as he was brewing coffee while scrolling through massage devices online, his eyes wandered, and he suddenly thought: maybe he should cut back on coffee.

Coffee could also cause chest pain.

With a pained sigh, Shi Yu reluctantly set the coffee aside, mentally cursing the bastard who got him into this mess.

Meanwhile, Sang Huaiyu had just arrived at the Ability User Association that morning, invited to assist with a case, when he suddenly halted.

“Is something wrong, Mr. Sang?” Wang Shan, who was leading the way, glanced back, puzzled.

Sang Huaiyu paused briefly. “It’s nothing.”

It was just that… He had sensed a strange, fleeting disturbance.

A flicker of awareness, gone before he could even register it.

Sang Huaiyu raised an eyebrow in puzzlement: Did someone just say his name?

But it didn’t quite feel like that.

Rather than an invocation, it felt more like… someone cursing him?

Who would dare?

A thought naged at him, but he kept his expression neutral. Only after stepping into the elevator did he try to pick up on it again.

Yet… that elusive trace left no trace at all.

Interesting.

What kind of presence could hide from his perception?

Mulling it over, Sang Huaiyu realized the only one whose form he couldn’t fully grasp was Shi Yu. The sensation had clearly come from within City B, and combined with Shi Yu’s unusual nature…

Sang Huaiyu’s brow lifted slightly: Was Shi Yu cursing him just now?

But he hadn’t done anything, had he?

This sudden hostility left Sang Huaiyu puzzled.

Lowering his gaze to his phone, he couldn’t help but wonder what Shi Yu was up to.

What had suddenly made him think of Sang Huaiyu?

Upon entering the meeting room, he opened his contact list.

"Morning, had breakfast yet?"

Sang Huaiyu glanced at their previous conversation. After a moment's consideration, he settled on a safe, inoffensive greeting.

Shi Yu felt a twinge of irritation.

He looked down at his phone, and upon seeing the boss's message, he began replying while mentally raging about the Little Monster's other dad.

This is all HIS fault, dammit!

He took a deep breath and typed: "Not yet. I was going to have coffee, but I can't drink it for now."

Shi Yu typed mechanically, his mental cursing even more vicious.

In the meeting room, the president of the Ability User Association was already there.

Sang Huaiyu gave a curt nod before half-heartedly listening to President Chang's speech.

Glancing back at his phone and reading Shi Yu's reply, he mentally raised an eyebrow, eyes narrowing slightly:

So, what does not being able to drink coffee have to do with cursing Him?

He was genuinely puzzled.

The tingling awareness of His name being called still flickered faintly.

Which meant Shi Yu was still cursing Him out.

Sang Huaiyu stilled his fingers, then another thought occurred to him: Why had He been unable to sense any connection with Shi Yu before, but now could?

Was it—related to Shi Yu's well-kept secret?