Chapter 65

Chapter 65

"Nothing."

"I'll leave after giving birth."

Cheng Yuan lowered his gaze, his fingers curling slightly.

Brother Zhou was silent for a moment, saying nothing.

During this time, he had seen everything Pei Qingji had done.

The words he wanted to say died in his throat.

Brother Zhou let out a long, deep sigh. He didn't bring it up again, just said.

"How many more days till the due date?"

"Probably three or four days," Cheng Yuan guessed.

"What did you two have for lunch?"

Cheng Yuan: "He bought it for me."

They chatted a bit more, telling him to take care of himself, then left.

After Brother Zhou shut the hospital room door, Pei Qingji walked over.

The two nodded at each other in greeting.

The space around them seemed to go quiet, neither of them speaking.

Finally, Brother Zhou spoke up.

"Take good care of him from here on out."

He smiled bitterly.

"Even though you've hurt him a lot before, and that stuff isn't easy to forgive, seeing how you do everything for him yourself—"

"I don't think I could do all that myself."

Brother Zhou sighed suddenly.

"Look, I'm not saying I'm against you two being together, but the final decision is still his. It's his call."

"Remember to take good care of him, or I'll be the first one hunting you down."

Pei Qingji was taken aback for a moment, then broke into a smile.

"I will, don't worry."

"An'an still has some prenatal check-ups coming up."

Brother Zhou nodded. "I'll head out then. You take care of things here. Tell him I'll come see him tomorrow."

Soon, a nurse walked in from the hospital room door, asking them to go get a routine blood test done first.

These were all necessary prenatal examinations.

Because it was a private hospital, there weren't too many people getting blood drawn, and their turn came up fast.

If it were a public hospital, there might be five or six blood-drawing windows, with over three hundred people queued up in a single morning.

Not only did they need to check blood counts, but also blood sugar, liver function, and other things—all requiring fasting, no food, and no drinking a lot of water.

Cheng Yuan had been woken up at six in the morning today to go do the tests first.

From this morning until now, after getting up, he hadn't had any water or food.

He sat on the hospital bed, so hungry he was getting dizzy and nauseous.

Pei Qingji frowned deeply beside him, kept handing him water, letting him sip a little, and patting his back.

Luckily, their turn came up fast.

"Once the tests are over, we can eat."

Pei Qingji kept reassuring him the whole way.

Cheng Yuan's belly was very large, one hand supporting his stomach and the other resting on Pei Qingji's arm.

He just shook his head weakly, not saying anything else.

When it was time for his blood to be drawn, Pei Qingji rolled up his sleeve.

The doctor first tied a tourniquet around his arm, then used a cotton swab dipped in something to swab the area.

When the needle came out, Pei Qingji noticed the obvious fear on Cheng Yuan's face.

Suddenly, Cheng Yuan's vision went black. He was about to turn his head when a familiar voice spoke up.

Pei Qingji's broad, warm palm covered his eyes, his tone unbelievably gentle.

"Don't be afraid."

"It'll be over in a sec. It won't hurt."

Cheng Yuan was momentarily stunned. He'd always been scared of needles because he was extra sensitive to pain, and his pain receptors were even more sensitive.

"There, there, it's almost over, almost over. Our An'an isn't scared. An'an's the best behaved, right?"

Just as he finished saying that, before Cheng Yuan could even react, the doctor was already done.

Pei Qingji pressed the cotton swab on to stop the bleeding, coaxing him like a little kid.

Cheng Yuan's mind was still on that, the tips of his ears turning red.

Where the hell did he learn to say stuff like that?

Seeing people outside glancing over, Cheng Yuan could only awkwardly duck his head and look away.

Hearing him still calling him "baby" and asking what was the matter, Cheng Yuan slapped a hand over his mouth and shot him a glare.

"You don't get to talk."

Pei Qingji froze for a second, then smiled.

He pressed the cotton swab on the injection site for a while, then sneakily tossed it into the trash can. By the time Cheng Yuan realized what was happening, the shot was already done—no time to even think about it.

Cheng Yuan was a little taken aback, as if he'd figured out what he was up to.

He dropped his eyes and went quiet.

After the blood work, they still had more tests to get through.

They were actually at the front of the line, and the hospital had even given them priority, but the tests still took a good chunk of time.

By the time they were done, it was already around ten in the morning.

Cheng Yuan was so hungry he felt lightheaded.

When he heard the nurse say they could eat now, Pei Qingji hurried over with the meal that had been prepared and helped him back to the room.

The meal came in a fancy insulated lunchbox, clearly prepared with a lot of care.

It had several layers—meat, soup, veggies—super nutritious, and the ingredients were pricey.

"Is it good?"

Cheng Yuan hesitated for a second, then nodded.

"It's good."

That was the truth. He didn't know who made it, but it really was delicious.

It didn't taste like restaurant food—more like home cooking.

But he was sure Pei Qingji didn't make it. He'd been with him all morning—how could he have had the time?

Probably because he was hungry, Cheng Yuan ate fast, cleaning the whole thing.

He handed back the empty container and took a few sips of the water Pei Qingji passed him.

Seeing that he seemed less uncomfortable, the knot in Pei Qingji's chest finally loosened.

This was all totally normal—you had to fast before tests, and hunger was something you just put up with.

But Pei Qingji couldn't stand it. It seemed he couldn't handle Cheng Yuan feeling even a tiny bit uncomfortable anymore.

If he could, he'd gladly take the pain for him.

"Feeling better? Still dizzy?"

Cheng Yuan shook his head. After eating, he felt sleepy, so he dozed off for a bit.

Pei Qingji stood by the bed, watching him for a long while.

Half-asleep, Cheng Yuan vaguely felt like Pei Qingji was talking to the baby in his belly.

Then his belly was gently touched, and a warm feeling spread through him.

He was talking to the baby.

"Baby, can you stop giving your little dad a hard time?"

"Your little dad's having a rough time carrying you."

Hearing that, Cheng Yuan went quiet, a little stunned.

When he woke up, Pei Qingji was still sitting by his bed. He didn't seem to have slept much these past few nights.

He never really saw him sleep—just sitting in the chair, maybe dozing off for a bit, then waking up again.

Otherwise, he was handing him water or helping him up to go to the bathroom.

And he didn't dare rest, afraid something might happen without him noticing.

They were already in the hospital—if anything happened, they could just call a nurse—but he was still so on edge.

"You... go get some sleep." Cheng Yuan's eyes landed on the dark circles under his eyes, and he hesitated before speaking.

"I'm fine."

"There are nurses here."

Pei Qingji frowned, not having it.

He shook his head, saying he was okay.

But how could he be fine? He hadn't slept well for days. People aren't machines—they can't run nonstop like that. He was just toughing it out.

Cheng Yuan dropped his gaze.

"If you don't sleep and you collapse, how are you gonna take care of me?"

It wasn't out of concern, really. He'd been taking care of him for so long, so... just a reminder, that's all.

That's what Cheng Yuan told himself, anyway.

But words like that always made people think the two of them were patching things up.

Hearing that, Pei Qingji was clearly torn. Though still reluctant, he hired a caregiver and gave him a bunch of instructions.

But that night, the contractions kicked in again.

Cheng Yuan was in so much pain that cold sweat broke out on his forehead and his lips went pale.

Even with his eyes closed, he couldn't sleep at all.

Cheng Yuan tried to sit up, but then—

The light came on. He thought it was the caregiver, but when he looked up, it was Pei Qingji.

He'd thrown on a coat at some point, his brows knit tight, his eyes full of worry fixed on him.

Even the caregiver only noticed when the light came on and immediately tried to get up, but Pei Qingji waved him off.

Pei Qingji asked quietly, "Does it hurt again?"

Cheng Yuan nodded weakly.

This time it hurt even worse than before. The pain made him curl up, clutching his stomach, biting his lip hard.

He'd almost bitten through his lip.

Watching this, Pei Qingji felt like his heart was being ripped out.

But there was no other way; he could only endure it.

He was afraid Cheng Yuan would bite down until he drew blood, so he offered his own hand for him to bite.

Cheng Yuan bit down hard.

Pei Qingji's brow furrowed tightly for a moment, but he didn't pull his hand away.

When he was able to withdraw his hand, there was a deep bite mark on it, already showing blood.

But he didn't bother at all with the blood on his hand, and kept bringing him water, giving him a few sips at a time.

This should mean the cervix could be dilated to more than three fingers by now, right?

With this thought, Pei Qingji called the doctor over again.

The doctor came, took a look, and shook his head.

"It's only at two fingers now; we'll need to wait a bit longer."

"Is there really no other way to stop the pain?" Pei Qingji asked, his mood very anxious, with a hint of worry.

"Mr. Pei, there's really nothing we can do about this. All you can do is hold out the greatest hope, that he'll be dilated to three fingers by tomorrow."

"You can gently rub his lower back for him; it might help a little."

"Usually, at two fingers, a painless labor injection can be given, but given his physical condition, we don't recommend it," the doctor explained.

Pei Qingji was taken aback for a moment.

He thought about how Cheng Yuan had disguised himself as a beta for his sake, suppressing his pheromones and causing his system to go haywire, not to mention how much harm extracting pheromones had really done to his body.

Pei Qingji returned to the ward.

Cheng Yuan was in so much pain that cold sweat immediately broke out on his forehead, and the hand gripping the bedsheet was sweating.

Seeing him in this state of agony.

His heart ached so much inside that he could barely breathe; he could only grab his hand and press it against his own cheek, his eyes reddening.

"Let's not have this baby, okay? Let's not have it."

But Cheng Yuan shook his head.

His voice was extremely weak, but judging by the movement of his lips, one could tell.

His voice was so soft that only the two of them could hear it.

"Have... to have it."

Author's note:

None.