Chapter 55

Chapter 55

Pei Qingji's eyes twitched violently several times, and his fingers shook as well.

He slowly opened his eyes, but the harsh sunlight stung them, forcing him to close them again.

The memories slowly came back to him. He suddenly snapped his eyes open, gasping for breath.

"An'an!"

Cheng Yu'an was briefly stunned, then turned to look.

Pei Qingji met his gaze, forced himself to sit up, and smiled at him: "I'm awake. Didn't you say I could feel the baby once I woke up?"

Cheng Yu'an was still in shock.

He still had the energy to joke around—he must be completely fine.

Cheng Yu'an couldn't help but shoot him a glare, even suspecting he was doing it on purpose.

Pei Qingji just smiled at him like that.

"Since you're awake, I'll go get them."

Without a word, Cheng Yu'an opened the door.

At that moment, the door was pushed open.

Pei Qingji was charmed again and chuckled to himself, but his chest still ached a little, and he couldn't help coughing a few times.

The medical staff hurried over, and Assistant Lin was the first to push the door open.

Seeing his boss was alive, he stumbled to the bedside, wailing like a banshee.

"Boss, you're finally awake, thank God..."

Jobs are so hard to come by these days—if he got fired, he'd be screwed.

Still, he was really glad his boss had woken up.

Pei Qingji's head ached from the noise, and he said coldly, "Shut up. The noise is giving me a headache."

"The patient needs to rest, sir. You can't be doing this," the nurse chimed in from the side.

Assistant Lin also turned red, a bit embarrassed. He said in a hushed voice, "Boss, you can dock my pay from now on, I don't care."

Pei Qingji frowned: "Did you bump your head?"

Assistant Lin's heart ached. He stood up and walked away, his figure looking dejected.

Pei Qingji: "...Don't mind him."

The medical staff came over and examined him.

"Well, looks like he's recovering well. We thought it might take a few more days for him to wake up, but it seems the patient is in good shape."

"Otherwise, with a crash that severe, he could have died."

Cheng Yu'an was briefly stunned.

The doctor continued, "He can probably be discharged after about a week of rest."

Pei's mom and dad were extremely anxious outside, but didn't dare come in, afraid of aggravating their son's condition.

"How is he really doing?"

"Didn't they say he was awake?"

"Can't you go see for yourself? You're asking me, but I'm not going—how would I know?"

"If I could go, would I be asking you? You go." Pei's mom and dad bickered, pushing the responsibility back and forth.

Grandpa Pei sat in his chair and let out a cold snort.

"If you're that worried, go see him yourself. No one's stopping you, so you should go."

Seeing Assistant Lin walk out of the ward, they quickly went up to him.

"The doctor said he can be discharged after about a week of rest."

Hearing this, Pei's dad and mom finally relaxed, the weight lifted from their hearts.

"Aren't you two going in?"

Pei's dad and mom shook their heads.

"Oh, we have things to do, so we won't go in. We'll come see him when we have time."

After the medical staff left, only the two of them remained in the ward.

Not long after, Grandpa Pei walked back in, and Pei's dad and mom immediately followed, seemingly hoping he would say something to give them an excuse to go in.

"They're both here too, waiting outside."

Pei Qingji fell silent.

"What exactly happened?"

Pei Qingji shook his head—he didn't know who had set it up.

"But it looks like it was premeditated. They might have just intended to scare us, but no one expected something like this to happen."

"Was it those sasaeng fans?"

Pei Qingji shook his head. He didn't know either.

"I'll investigate this thoroughly. You and Xiao Yu get some good rest."

"As for your parents..."

Grandpa Pei said in a deep voice.

Pei Qingji replied, "I understand."

After Grandpa Pei left, only Cheng Yu'an remained.

"Come here."

Pei Qingji patted the blanket, signaling for him to come sit.

"Aren't you tired standing there the whole time?"

Cheng Yuan: "No."

Pei Qingji deliberately clutched his chest, grimacing in pain.

"Ah, my wound hurts so bad."

Cheng Yuan immediately stepped forward, slightly flustered, "Are you okay?"

But then he realized he was being tricked, halted, and couldn't help shooting him a glare.

"Didn't you say you'd let me see the baby?"

Seeing that this trick wasn't working, Pei Qingji put on a pitiful look once more. "I really want to see the baby. You've never let me see him before."

"So you forgive me?"

Cheng Yuan said flatly, "No. I haven't forgiven you."

He slowly lifted his shirt, revealing his rounded belly, with a bulge pushing out.

"Is he moving?"

Pei Qingji's eyes lit up, his heart suddenly filled with tenderness.

He saw the spot on the belly still moving.

Pei Qingji sounded concerned: "Does it hurt?"

Cheng Yuan shook his head: "The baby doesn't kick very hard."

Pei Qingji's gaze fell on his belly. Now he could finally understand why people loved kids.

So that's what it felt like.

And this was his and Cheng Yuan's child.

The baby was already over six months along, and his belly was getting bigger.

When he walked, he sometimes needed support.

Pei Qingji's eyes grew increasingly tender: "The baby is saying hello to his daddy."

Cheng Yuan said icily, "I haven't accepted you yet. I'm only taking care of you because you saved me. Don't overthink it."

Pei Qingji looked down.

"I won't overthink it. Can I touch your belly?"

Cheng Yuan paused for a moment, then nodded.

Pei Qingji's eyes suddenly brightened. He carefully reached out and gently touched it with his finger.

It was soft, and he could even feel the warmth radiating from his belly.

Just then, the baby suddenly moved. Pei Qingji quickly noticed the spot he touched bulging up, still wriggling.

Pei Qingji's eyes lit up. He looked at Cheng Yuan, his voice full of excitement: "The baby kicked me!"

Cheng Yuan nodded slightly.

Pei Qingji couldn't help poking it again, interacting with the baby, his face full of smiles.

"Baby, I'm your daddy, and this is your other daddy."

Cheng Yuan felt it was going on too long and getting weird, so he couldn't help but speak up.

"That's enough."

"It's not even been a minute yet."

Cheng Yuan said coldly, "If you want to touch him again next time, you'd better let go now."

"Ouch, it hurts so much."

"What's wrong? Stop faking it."

"You don't like me at all, right?" Pei Qingji paused, looking up at him.

Cheng Yuan went quiet, not knowing how to answer.

"Okay, I get it."

"Are you hungry? I'll have the assistant get you something to eat. What do you want?"

"For the next few days, I might not be able to cook for you, or take care of you..."

Pei Qingji's tone carried a hint of hurt.

Was he crazy from taking care of him?!

Not taking care of him felt strange now?!

Cheng Yuan was a bit speechless and instinctively rubbed his wrist, but unexpectedly, that subtle movement was noticed by Pei Qingji.

"Are you tired? Is your wrist sore? Let me rub it for you."

Pei Qingji grabbed his wrist, moving gently, massaging it softly, his tone somewhat worried.

Cheng Yuan's body stiffened for a moment, but he didn't push him away right away.

Pei Qingji seemed already used to taking care of him, asking one thing after another.

"Are you thirsty? Let me get you some water."

"I can get it myself."

"No, there are so many people in the hallway. You're pregnant—what if you trip?" Pei Qingji was uneasy and immediately called Assistant Lin over.

"Help me get a cup of hot water. Not too cold, not too hot—warm but on the hotter side, just right to drink."

Assistant Lin was taken aback for a moment, then nodded.

He remembered it so precisely—it must be for the missus.

He brought the cup to the ward, but Pei Qingji took it first, feeling it with the back of his hand to test the temperature.

This motion was already second nature to him.

Cheng Yuan froze for a moment.

Over these past few days, Pei Qingji still couldn't get out of bed.

His wound had actually healed enough that he wanted to get up right away to take care of Cheng Yuan, but the doctor advised against it and told him to rest a few more days.

Pei Qingji initially wanted to argue, but Cheng Yuan wouldn't let him, so he stopped making a fuss.

Every night before bed, Cheng Yuan would sit by his side for a bit before leaving.

A nurse would come to take care of Pei Qingji at night, and the days passed like that.

Pei's parents came by every day but didn't dare go in.

After all, they'd just had a big fight not long ago and couldn't swallow their pride. Yet, for some reason, they went to the hospital every day, claiming they had something to do there.

But everyone knew they really wanted to see their son.

Grandpa Pei snorted coldly.

"Go in."

Pei's parents quickly followed him inside, almost eagerly.

Cheng Yuan had just left, and Pei Qingji was texting him. When he heard the door open, he instinctively looked up, frowning slightly.

They all stood there in silence.

It was only after a long moment that he finally spoke slowly.

"Mom, can you stop picking on him from now on?"

They hadn't seen each other in days, yet the first thing he said when they met again was this.

"He's not that kind of person. You guys know that too, right? Why did you treat him like that? Is it just because of the difference in our status and backgrounds?"

"When you and Dad got together back then, you weren't rich either. It was only later, when the business took off, that you got to where you are now."

Pei's mother fell silent. When people climb higher, they tend to forget those things and get full of themselves.

Pei Qingji looked up at her and said calmly.

"Mom, I've actually always wanted to ask you: is your son's happiness more important, or the family's interests?"

"And then, for the sake of the family's interests, marry someone you don't even love."

Pei's mother was silent. She had carried him for ten months and almost gave birth prematurely—how could she not love her son?

Pei Qingji knew they still didn't get it, and let out a cold laugh.

"You don't understand. If you really loved me, you wouldn't have lied to me and said he moved away, and you wouldn't have made me try to forget about it."

He had only found out about this a few days ago when Grandpa Pei called him over. At first, he was furious, but later he just became indifferent.

"Mom, I don't want to argue with you about this. I just want you to accept him now, to truly respect him from the bottom of your hearts."

"Anyway, I don't care—I've decided he's the one for me for the rest of my life. If he's unwilling to be with me, I won't marry anyone else."

Author's note:

None.