Chapter 7: Vasectomy — What About Your Sex Life? Is It Regular?

Chapter 07

Li Ran's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor and a sharp edge.

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Jin Yan curled the corner of his mouth, a flicker of coldness flashing through his dark eyes. "I had a vasectomy three years ago. Why do you think I'm so certain?"

As his words landed, time seemed to freeze.

Li Ran's brain short-circuited for a moment. Once she processed what he'd done, she took a step back, furrowing her brows, and looked at the familiar yet strange man before her with a complicated expression.

"Wh-why?" She heard her own voice, dry and raspy. "Not asking me first is one thing, but why didn't you even tell me?"

All the worry she'd had over the past three years—what was that, then?

Was it all a joke?

Jin Yan glanced down at what was in his hand, then tossed it into the trash without hesitation. He stepped forward, closing the distance between them again, and took her cold hand in his. His voice dropped low. "Ran Ran, you don't have to look at me like that. I did it for your own good."

She'd suffered so much when she was pregnant with Jin Qingci back then. He'd waited outside the delivery room for six hours when she gave birth—how could he stand to let her go through that again? Besides, she was already thirty-eight; there was no way he'd let her take on the risks of a pregnancy at her age.

Li Ran frowned. "For my own good" again.

She was so sick of hearing those three words.

"Alright." Jin Yan gently rubbed her hand, trying to soothe her. "We can talk about this later. I already had Jiang Lai get in touch with the doctor. Right now, the priority is getting you to the hospital for a check-up. Nothing's more important than you."

Li Ran let him lead her, her body stiff, offering no resistance.

The flood of information and confusion had temporarily drained all her strength.

Right now, she also desperately wanted to know what was going on with her body.

Inside the private, quiet exam room, the familiar smell of disinfectant hung in the air.

The gynecologist seeing Li Ran was part of the medical team Jin Yan had specially put together, and was fairly familiar with her medical history.

After some basic questions, Dr. Li paused her note-taking, her eyes resting on Li Ran's face with concern. "Mrs. Jin, during your last check-up, you mentioned experiencing fatigue and light sleep. Has it improved over the past six months?"

Li Ran sat in the chair, thinking back on her mental state over this period, and went with a relatively safe answer: "It hasn't gotten worse, but it hasn't gotten much better either."

Jin Yan, however, glanced down at her and added, "Her sleep is still really light. She often wakes up during the night and occasionally has dreams. These symptoms have been there all along, but they seem more frequent lately."

Li Ran hadn't expected Jin Yan to know her own body better than she did. She turned her head toward the man, and the moment their eyes met, he placed his broad hand on her shoulder, looking at her with rare tenderness, as if to say "It's okay."

The doctor jotted this down and continued, "Have you had heavy sweating at night that stops when you wake up? Or hot flashes, noticeable heart palpitations, or trouble concentrating?"

Li Ran paused to think before answering, "Occasional hot flashes, yeah—I figured that was just a normal summer thing. As for the others... I don't think so."

Dr. Li glanced at Jin Yan, lowered her voice, and grew more cautious: "And what about your sex life? Is it regular? Any discomfort, dryness, or pain?"

At that, Li Ran's face instantly grew hot.

Seven days a week, he was all over her four or five of them—sometimes even all seven. Was that considered regular?

She was about to speak when she heard Jin Yan's steady, low, and completely unembarrassed voice: "What's your standard for 'regular'? Also, she's pretty sensitive, and she does say it hurts—but that's not new. Does it have anything to do with her health?"

Li Ran felt like she couldn't breathe, a pained expression crossing her face. She wanted to say it wasn't that kind of pain, but seeing how serious they both were, she was too embarrassed to explain.

Not wanting to be questioned further or keep talking about this, she looked up and asked, "Dr. Li, is something wrong with my body?"

The doctor typed on the computer. "Let's run some tests first. We'll know more once we see the results."

A nurse came in to take Li Ran for the tests, with Jin Yan going along.

After eating, while waiting for the results in the VIP lounge, Li Ran sat blankly on the soft sofa, a glass of warm water in front of her.

Jin Yan sat next to her, holding her cold hand.

"Don't worry. Nothing's wrong."

His voice was low, his pace slow, every word crystal clear, carrying an unshakable certainty.

Li Ran slowly turned her neck, stiff, to look at him. The man's gaze was deep and calm, without a trace of emotion.

But she couldn't help frowning.

Lately, she'd grown so tired of that confidence of his—the sense that everything in the world was under his control.

Li Ran let out a soft "Mm," trying not to let Jin Yan notice her lack of enthusiasm, then took a deep breath, telling herself it would be fine.

About an hour later, the two of them went back to the exam room.

The doctor already had Li Ran's test results and was flipping through the pages, head down. At something she saw, she pushed up her glasses, leaned in closer as if to double-check, and then her brows knitted together.

Instantly, Li Ran's heart tightened. "Dr. Li, how are the results?"

Dr. Li looked up, then pushed the papers forward, circling numbers with the tip of her pen. Her tone was a bit heavy: "Mr. Jin, Mrs. Jin, look at these numbers. Although they're all within the normal range, they're right at the borderline. This means Mrs. Jin's ovarian reserve function is declining."

"Ovarian reserve decline is..."

The bright moon hung high, the night sky dotted with sparkling stars. A gentle breeze blew by, lifting the woman's hair.

It was already past ten when they left the hospital. Li Ran walked hand in hand with Jin Yan, fragments of the doctor's words flashing through her mind.

"There are a lot of contributing factors—age, environment, stress..."

"No need to worry too much. It hasn't reached the point of irreversible failure, but it's definitely a warning sign from your body..."

"It can be managed with medication, but you also need to adjust your lifestyle—keep a good mood, eat a balanced diet, keep regular sleep hours, avoid staying up late, exercise moderately, and stay away from stress..."

A sudden ringtone broke Li Ran's train of thought. Snapped back to the present, she gently pulled her hand free from Jin Yan's and took her phone out of her bag. It was Jin Qingci video-calling her.

Li Ran pulled herself together and pressed the green button. Jin Qingci suddenly appeared on the screen, but her face was half-buried in a pillow, looking a bit weak.

"Xiao Ci?"

Her voice was gentle, full of concern, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Mom, why are you still out so late?"

"Dad's here too," Li Ran shifted her phone to show half of Jin Yan, and hearing her daughter's weak voice, asked with concern, "What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Jin Qingci seemed to relax when she saw her father, calling out "Dad."

But she just shook her head. "Mom, can we talk when you get home?"

This really wasn't the time for a proper video call. Li Ran agreed, saying she'd call her back once she got home.

Once they got home, Jin Yan didn't give them a chance to video-call their daughter. He grabbed her hand and led her toward the bathroom. "Be good, go take your shower. Get cleaned up and rest early. Don't overthink it—I told you, I won't let anything happen to you."

Li Ran was still worried about their daughter—Jin Qingci's face had clearly looked off just now.

She looked up at him. "Xiao Ci..."

Jin Yan lowered his gaze, interrupting what Li Ran was about to say, his tone leaving no room for argument: "I'll handle the video call with Xiao Ci."

He opened the bathroom door, and Li Ran had no choice but to go in.

Jin Yan closed the door behind her, left the bedroom, and headed to the study. He sat down at his desk and joined an online meeting.

About ten minutes later, after confirming Li Ran's treatment plan and receiving the electronic document from the doctor, he finally called Jin Qingci for a video call.

She answered quickly, still lying in bed as she had been.

"Dad."

Seeing his daughter looking so listless, Jin Yan furrowed his brow, his tone still sharp from the meeting: "What's wrong? In a bad mood, or are you not feeling well?"

Jin Qingci didn't answer right away. After hesitating for a moment, she spoke up. "Where's Mom?"

"Can't you talk to me instead?"

Jin Qingci's lashes drooped, and she said in a shy, soft voice, "My stomach hurts."

Hearing this, Jin Yan's brow furrowed even deeper, and his voice softened from sharp to concerned. "What happened? Did you see a doctor? Where's the nanny?"

Jin Qingci stopped talking and buried her face in the pillow, the camera pointing straight at the ceiling.

Then the nanny's slow voice came through the speaker: "Don't worry, sir. Xiao Ci is just having period cramps. I made her some brown sugar ginger tea."

Jin Yan let out a relieved breath, but his brow stayed furrowed. "Does it hurt that much?"

He remembered that when Li Ran was in her late teens and early twenties, her period cramps were often so bad she couldn't get out of bed. Hot water and meds didn't help—only when he held her and gently rubbed her lower belly did it ease up a bit.

Jin Qingci's face reappeared on the screen, and she shook her head slightly. "Dad, can I video-call Mom?"

Jin Yan understood she was feeling vulnerable. He glanced at the time, stood up, and walked to the bedroom, just in time to see Li Ran come out of the bathroom, still wrapped in steam. He handed her the phone. "She wants you."

Li Ran took the phone, looking at Jin Qingci with concern. "Xiao Ci?"

Jin Yan followed her to the sofa by the window. Jin Qingci still wasn't saying anything, so Li Ran turned back and asked softly, "What's wrong with her?"

With the kid present, Li Ran temporarily set aside her own health issues and the tension between her and Jin Yan.

"Cramps," Jin Yan said briefly.

Li Ran understood right away and shooed him off. "Go shower first. I'll talk to her."

Jin Yan turned and left, then came back from the bathroom carrying a hair dryer. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall, not going over, giving his wife and daughter space while keeping them in sight.

He listened as Li Ran spoke softly, comforting her, telling Jin Qingci that this was a normal bodily function and nothing to be ashamed of...

Feeling the call had gone on long enough and everything that needed to be said had been said, he glanced at his watch—it was already 10:50. The treatment plan he'd just confirmed required Li Ran to be in bed by 11.

He straightened up, walked over with the quiet hair dryer, and reminded her, "You should get some rest now."

Jin Qingci glanced at him and said, "Mom, I feel a bit better. You should go to sleep."

Li Ran remembered the doctor's orders—no staying up late.

Seeing that her daughter's color was indeed better than before, she relaxed a little. "If you're still not feeling well, call me again, or have the nanny call a doctor to check on you, okay?"

"Okay."

After hanging up, Jin Yan plugged in the hair dryer, grabbed his phone, and opened a document to hand to her.

Li Ran was confused. "What's this?"

Before she could finish, the room filled with the sound of the hair dryer. As he dried her hair, he said, "The initial treatment plan I put together with the doctor, nutritionist, and physical therapist."

Li Ran lowered her head and scrolled through the screen. The dense, clearly laid-out terms gave her a jolt.

Her daily schedule, diet, work—everything was laid out with meticulous detail.

It was less a treatment plan for her and more an operating manual for a robot.

Jin Yan scoffed. "That student Zhou Linan took on—I already told him to find someone else to mentor. Who said you could take on extra work?"

Hearing this, Li Ran zoomed in on the document and looked at her work arrangements. She saw that he'd only given her two hours for work, with a note saying it was to keep her away from stress.

"That's not extra work—that's part of my normal job!"

Li Ran snapped, then spun around quickly, accidentally yanking a strand of hair. Ignoring the sting, she looked up at his furrowed brow and dark, ink-black eyes, and met his gaze defiantly. "Did you ask my permission to arrange my work like this?"

Author's Note:

Happy Women's Day to all the ladies out there!

I saw a comment saying Ke Fan is cute, and I want to say: Yes! Ke Fan is cute!

And in my stories, there are always, more or less, a few girls who are sweet and lovable!