Chapter 50

Chapter 50

Rong Yu'an knew he shouldn't keep crying, as it would worry Gu Shenhan, confuse Yan Yu, and not be good for the child either. But he couldn't help it.

He had thought he would never hear from his family again, yet now there was such a huge surprise.

He wondered if the seawater would work permanently or just temporarily, and if it would go bad after being taken back.

Gu Shenhan said, "Let's take it back and try it at the hotel for one night. If it still works, we'll bring it home and try it there. I'll get you a filter so you can use it longer. If it only works on the same day, then we'll set a time and come here regularly."

After saying this, a thought struck Gu Shenhan. If only the water here were effective, then he could consider buying a property here. Not a villa, but a large one-elevator-per-floor apartment, right by the sea. That way Rong Yu'an could keep in touch with his family often, feel a lot better, and wouldn't have to brave the cold wind back and forth in winter.

Of course, hiring someone to come every day to fetch water and deliver it to Cui Xi Yuan was also an option.

It wasn't until Rong Yu'an sat in the car that he felt cold. His feet were icy, and his hands took a while to warm up.

Seeing that they had finally settled down, Yan Yu asked cautiously, "Xiao'an Gege, Xiao Tang Ge, what happened just now? Did Xiao'an Gege remember something?"

Rong Yu'an smiled and said, "Yes, I 'remembered' that Xiao Tang has a pot of stone plants. Also, my father was a great general."

Yan Yu: "..." Oh no! This is terrible!

He looked at Gu Shenhan, who wore a doting expression and didn't find the words strange at all. Then he looked at Lin Xiaotang and Xiao Ke—Xiao Ke was still expressionless, while Lin Xiaotang had a smile on his face.

Yan Yu secretly pinched himself—it hurt, so it wasn't a dream.

How strange.

Yan Yu asked, "Han Ge, what are you doing with two buckets of seawater?"

Gu Shenhan said, "I'm raising fish."

Yan Yu said, "But don't you already have a saltwater aquarium at home?"

Besides, it's extremely high-purity seawater that you bought and specially filtered. And you're using ordinary seawater to raise fish? Did you ask the tropical fish, starfish, and sea turtles for their opinion?!

Gu Shenhan said, "Just testing how this ordinary seawater works. Buying saltwater is too expensive; Xiao Yu, you've never raised fish, so you wouldn't understand."

Yan Yu snorted and rolled his eyes.

Saying Gu Shenhan can't afford seawater is like saying the sun won't rise tomorrow.

Something's fishy!

Even so, Gu Shenhan brought the two buckets of seawater back to the hotel.

He usually avoided staying at his own hotels because of Gu Chengzhi. He didn't want Gu Chengzhi to know where he was by any means.

But this time he chose one of his own hotels. When they arrived, the hotel manager personally showed them to their room. After taking a shower, Rong Yu'an continued fiddling with the seawater.

Gu Shenhan watched from the side, finding it both strange and amusing. Rong Yu'an dipped one hand in the seawater and used the other to write on the table with freshwater. They had no choice—they hadn't brought a brush, ink, paper, or inkstone, and the pens here wrote too thin. Gu Shenhan originally planned to have someone buy those things and deliver them, but Rong Yu'an told him not to bother.

It was only for one day anyway, and writing on the table wouldn't stop the other side from seeing it.

At the moment, only the two of them were in the room; the others were in other rooms.

After a while, Rong Yu'an called out to Gu Shenhan, "Hubby, come quick!"

"What's wrong?"

"My mother wants to see you."

"???" Gu Shenhan's eager steps suddenly halted, and he hesitated. "How can she see me?" Hearing it was his mother-in-law, he suddenly felt nervous.

"Just come—when you do, Xiao Yu'an over there can see you. If he can see you, he can draw you." After chatting, he learned that the other Rong Yu'an was a few hours younger, so he was the older one.

"Is he good at drawing? Don't let my mother-in-law think I'm bad-looking." Gu Shenhan was actually worried about this.

"Oh, whether she likes it or not, there's no way she can take me away. What are you afraid of? Come on!"

Gu Shenhan sat down beside Rong Yu'an. He guessed there must be some limitation—the other side could only see a certain area, like within a three-meter radius, centered on the two Rong Yu'ans.

Rong Yu'an tilted his head, leaning closer to Gu Shenhan, and kept that position for a long time until he got tired and shifted a little.

Gu Shenhan asked, "Are they drawing?"

Rong Yu'an said, "Yes, yes, they're drawing. But it's very... uh..."

Not exactly like a normal person.

A bad feeling crept over Gu Shenhan. He remembered that Rong Yu'an had studied textile design and later fashion design—nothing like portrait drawing.

Rong Yu'an's mouth twitched. The eyes were drawn with one bigger than the other. No trace of Han Ge's handsomeness at all! He saw his mother frowning at the drawing Xiao Yu'an had made. He couldn't hear what she said, but it was clearly somewhat disdainful.

After a while, his cousin wrote on the rice paper: "Aunt asks if your brother-in-law has any official position?"

Rong Yu'an wrote on the table: No.

Oh no, his mother would be even more unhappy.

Rong Yu'an quickly added: But his family is extremely wealthy, and he only married me! No concubines!

The general's wife's expression softened slightly.

The paper wrote again: "Aunt asks how your health is, and how many elders are in your brother-in-law's family?"

Rong Yu'an: Cousin, I am in good health. My husband cherishes me. I am one month pregnant. All the elders in my husband's family are still living and are good to me. They each have their own residences, and I don't need to serve them. At home, whatever I say goes. Please don't worry, Mother.

After replying, Rong Yu'an saw his mother wiping tears, which made his heart ache as well.

Gu Shenhan wiped his little wife's tears and asked, "Why are you crying again? Is your mother not happy with me?"

Rong Yu'an said, "No, it's tears of joy."

After saying this, Rong Yu'an arranged a time with the other side. They agreed on a daily meeting time for seven in the morning. This time was quiet, and since it was summer on the other side, it wouldn't be too hot, and everyone would be awake.

He also asked them to try bringing water into the house to see if it worked. If successful, even in winter, they could cut through the ice and melt the water to communicate.

Soon, someone on the other side fetched a basin, brought water indoors, and found it also worked.

Rong Yu'an seemed unable to stop chatting; he wrote until his fingers hurt, then let Gu Shenhan take over.

The two sides chatted enthusiastically, and Gu Shenhan felt a sense of déjà vu, like when he was five and first started chatting with an online friend from another country. The main thing was not seeing the other person—everything was imagination.

They talked for about four hours in total, and Rong Yu'an even told the other side where he had hidden his secret stash of money. Finally, his stomach growled from hunger, so they stopped and agreed to chat again at seven the next morning.

Rong Yu'an also said that if he couldn't show up at seven tomorrow, it meant the water here had stopped working, and he would get more; they could continue chatting at eight.

While they were chatting, Yan Yu and Lin Xiaotang had looked up local food and eaten beforehand. They brought back food for Rong Yu'an and Gu Shenhan. Xiao Ke went with them, and they drove back quickly.

Rong Yuan and Gu Shenhan ate in the room, and Rong Yuan almost ate a two-person portion by himself.

They had bought exactly enough for two. It was no surprise that Gu Shenhan wasn’t full, but the problem was that Rong Yuan wasn’t full either. Gu Shenhan took him out for another walk and bought some snacks and pastries.

At night, Rong Yuan couldn't sleep at all, and kept talking to Gu Shenhan about the day's events. He couldn’t wait for morning to test if the water still worked.

Gu Shenhan was happy for him, but he also wondered if seawater from other places would work too. There was also a sea about a 25-minute drive from Cuixi Garden. He figured they’d test it anyway.

Rong Yuan said, "This time, if I have any questions about pregnancy, I can ask Mom directly. And Grandmother too."

Gu Shenhan was still thinking about the portrait: "Wife, you're good at drawing. Why don't you paint me a picture of how that other Rong Yuan painted me?"

Rong Yuan hesitated for a moment and said, "Better not. I'm afraid you won't be able to sleep after seeing it."

Gu Shenhan: "..." How bad could it be?!

Even without seeing it, they couldn't sleep. The couple stayed up talking half the night, and in the morning they "tested the waters" with bags under their eyes. The result was pleasing—it still worked!

Rong Yuan and Gu Shenhan didn't wait any longer. After chatting for a while, they scheduled an afternoon time and decided to bring the water home and test it.

Gu Shenhan also sent someone to get seawater from the beach near their house.

On the way back, Rong Yuan fell asleep in the car. Gu Shenhan reclined the seat, covered Rong Yuan with a small blanket, and smoothed Rong Yuan's hair.

Yan Yu said, "Han Ge, don’t you just want to coddle Xiao'an Gege?"

Gu Shenhan: "You figured that out?"

Yan Yu asked, "Then have you seen my brother around someone he likes?"

Gu Shenhan: "…"

Yan Yu said, "You have seen it after all."

Gu Shenhan gently stroked Rong Yuan's hand, his voice always very soft: "Your brother is so boring. Why not find someone more interesting than him? Besides, you're still so young—what's the hurry?"

Yan Yu didn't like hearing that: "Xiao'an Gege is only two years older than me, and you married him! It’s totally normal that I want to date, right?!"

Gu Shenhan touched his nose, thinking that it was a bit...

Not that it’s a cradle-robber situation, but Rong Yuan was really young.

And now there was going to be a little one, too.

Thinking about it made Gu Shenhan feel even guiltier.

He glanced at Rong Yuan's belly. It was still flat; he wondered how it would look in a few months. He couldn't help but start to look forward to it.

Rong Yuan groggily opened his eyes and found Gu Shenhan staring at his belly. He smiled and held Gu Shenhan's hand back: "Husband, what are you looking at?"

Gu Shenhan said, "Looking at a miracle."

Rong Yuan thought that being able to meet across such a great distance and become partners was indeed a miracle. Having a little life made it even more so. He instinctively put his hand on his own belly and gently rubbed it, then placed Gu Shenhan's hand on top.

Gu Shenhan placed his hand on top with a gentle pressure, stroking lightly.

Yan Yu said, "I can't stand you two. Anyone who didn't know would think my Xiao'an Gege is pregnant."

Rong Yuan and Gu Shenhan exchanged smiles, and Gu Shenhan said, "If he really gets pregnant, you’ll move up a generation."

Yan Yu sensed something strange and looked at Rong Yuan in confusion.

Lin Xiaotang was also watching. Shortly after, he seemed to suddenly understand something and said with a smile, "Then I'll claim the baby as my godson."