Chapter 34

Chapter 34

Huo Jilin was so absorbed in his inner struggle that it took him a moment to notice Zhou Dajiang on the kang across from him had turned over and was now facing him.

Huo Jilin gave him a cold glance, then closed his eyes again. He could sit through an entire meeting without saying a word, using silence to express his considerable dissatisfaction with what was happening—just as he wasn't in the mood to deal with Zhou Dajiang right now.

He went back to thinking about Chen Jue. He had recognized him the moment he first saw him, though he hadn't been entirely certain at first glance.

Even considering that he had died and ended up in someone else's body, and that his subordinate who had died alongside him had also survived by ending up in a different soldier's body, he was only maybe 50% sure it was Chen Jue.

But in that instant, he panicked a little—afraid it wasn't Chen Jue.

However, from Chen Jue's way of walking—even with a swollen belly, he walked just like the Chen Jue he knew—and then from the way he had set up the house, the figure-eight knot he'd tied in the linen curtain—a knot that was uniquely Chen Jue's—he was pretty much certain.

So he couldn't help but ask those questions, and Chen Jue's answers were as cutting as ever—aimed right at him.

The look Chen Jue gave him sealed it.

He was Chen Jue.

Huo Jilin hadn't revealed his identity right away, and he couldn't really explain why.

Perhaps he had considered that Chen Jue would see him as a sworn enemy.

And sure enough, that's how it was.

The last look Chen Jue had given him today was meant to draw a clear line between them.

He hadn't lunged at him with a knife—he had simply turned and walked away.

Just like before, every time a meeting ended and Chen Jue got shot down by him, Chen Jue would always be the first to leave, leaving him with a view of his back.

It was a silent protest against his decisions, made clear by his retreating back.

Though it was a familiar gesture, Huo Jilin's chest ached dully this time.

He hadn't expected Chen Jue's gaze to be so lethal this time—still as cold and clear as before, but filled with an irreconcilable hatred for him.

Huo Jilin pressed a hand to his aching chest and turned over. He couldn't lie still.

"..."

Zhou Dajiang watched Huo Jilin's back stiffen as he lay on the kang. He had finally worked up the courage to chat with Huo Lin, and now Huo Lin had turned away?

He didn't want to look at him, did he?

He... really wasn't as good as Huo Lin's husband.

Zhou Dajiang turned back over with an awkward smile, telling himself firmly not to snore tonight. If he really couldn't control it, he would at least wait until Huo Lin was asleep before going to sleep himself.

This was also his first time being this close to Huo Lin, and he was even colder up close than from a distance.

He sighed. But he was probably the type to be cold on the outside but warm on the inside.

He had saved his husband and oldest son today, after all.

Zhou Dajiang, pumped about gaining a big fat son today, stayed awake excitedly until Huo Jilin fell asleep.

But he woke up early the next morning and found Huo Jilin already up and off the kang, though his bedding was neatly folded.

Zhou Dajiang quickly slipped on his shoes to go find him. Fortunately, Huo Jilin was still standing in his courtyard, though his gaze was fixed in the direction of his own house.

So Zhou Dajiang hurriedly walked with him toward Huo Jilin's house.

He thought to himself, this Huo Lin looks cold and aloof, but in reality, he can't stand to be away from his husband.

With that thought, Zhou Dajiang racked his brains to strike up conversation along the way. He turned to the topic of Chen Jue: "I never expected Jue Geer to know about medicine and childbirth, and to be so good at it—amazing!"

This time Huo Jilin answered him: "His medical skills are truly excellent."

He had always known Chen Jue was skilled in medicine. Otherwise, he wouldn't have trusted Jiang Xinhe to his care back then.

Of course, he had never said this to Chen Jue. If Chen Jue knew, he'd probably want to kill him.

Because saying that would be like stabbing someone with words.

Huo Jilin knew full well that Chen Jue didn't want to see him right now, but he still couldn't help speeding up, hurrying along the uneven country path toward home.

That stone house, which the surrounding mountains made look like a chicken coop, had actually become his home in just a few short days.

Huo Jilin couldn't help being amazed at how adaptable he was.

Or rather, he'd always been good at adapting.

He knew what he wanted, and he would change anything to make it work for him.

He came from the wealthy Huo family and could have lived a carefree life as a dandy. But to inherit Huachen Pharmaceutical, he needed a military record, so he joined the army and put up with the brutal training.

During marches, he had slept in the wilderness and the Gobi Desert, so having a roof over his head now was nothing compared to that.

Huo Jilin walked toward the stone house, lost in thought. He was tall and broad-shouldered, his long strides covering twice as much ground as an ordinary person's, even outpacing Zhou Dajiang, the expectant father.

Zhou Hehua, who had come to visit, had lost a lot of weight, but her voice hadn't changed.

She called out loudly: "Aiyo, Huo Lin, why are you walking so fast? It's Yan Geer who's giving birth, not your husband. Besides, you don't need to worry about Jue Geer's delivery—it's sure to go smoothly!"

Ever since she had been caught speaking ill of Chen Jue behind his back that day, Zhou Hehua had decided not to oppose him anymore. She had followed Chen Jue around for several days, pleading in a hushed voice until she finally got a prescription from him.

After taking it for over three months, her body had changed noticeably. Though she had lost weight, her complexion was much better, she no longer gasped when walking, her chest wasn't tight, her hands and feet weren't cold, and most importantly, the pain during her monthly cycle had disappeared.

Although she still hadn't conceived, she had great confidence in herself and believed she would definitely get pregnant.

So now, hearing that someone was giving birth didn't make her jealous. She had arrived early in the morning carrying a piece of meat and a basket of eggs—things that other families might not even have in such quantities for the New Year.

Huo Jilin glanced at this woman. She was one of Chen Jue's patients, and she had come to his house to buy medicine just a few days ago.

Since she was Chen Jue's patient, Huo Jilin didn't bother with her and said flatly: "Of course."

The surgery from yesterday was Huo Jilin's first time assisting. He had been a pharmaceutical merchant before, familiar with various herbs and the use of various instruments. He had even worn protective suits in operating rooms to observe the use of equipment firsthand, but he had never served as a first assistant.

The scene of Chen Jue tearing open the abdominal cavity with his bare hands had shaken him.

It wasn't that he had never seen blood, nor that he had never witnessed such major surgery, but he suddenly felt a pang of panic—thinking that Chen Jue would one day have to give birth like that too, and he felt anxious.

He had strained to control his wrist, managing to hand Chen Jue the gauze without trembling.

Chen Jue was due to give birth in about two months.

Huo Jilin was thinking this, and before he knew it, his pace had picked up. Zhou Hehua laughed at him from behind: "Look how worked up you are! Dajiang, can't you hurry up? Hey, hey, carry the basket for me!"

Zhou Dajiang came running right back, took the basket from her, and then hurried off to see his husband and his big, strapping son.

Over at Chen Jue's place, he was already awake. It wasn't his rooster that woke him this time—it was the baby.

Man, that kid could really eat. He'd nursed three times during the night, peed three times, and was already fussing awake again early in the morning.

If Chen Jue didn't have to keep an eye on Zhang Yan, he'd have gone to sleep in the woodshed himself.

He thought to himself, this was one of the reasons he'd sworn off having kids in his past life.

Kids were straight-up little demons.

Aunt Zhou had shown up bright and early—old folks can't sleep in, and she was worried about her grandkid.

She'd come early to milk the goat and heat up the milk.

After it was done, she handed a bowl to Chen Jue first: "Jue Ge'er, you didn't sleep well last night, did you? The baby's too fussy, huh? How about I stay over tonight?"

Chen Jue shook his head: "It's fine. Warm up some extra goat's milk for the night—the baby's got a big appetite."

Aunt Zhou's face crinkled into a big, beaming smile: "Of course! An eight-jin little boy!"

After the baby was born yesterday, Aunt Zhou and her husband weighed him—eight jin, born from Zhang Yan, who only weighed a hundred and ten jin himself.

That was already a hefty weight, not to mention that big head of his, which alone must've been three jin.

Chen Jue had a bit of a grudge against the kid who'd put Zhang Yan through so much pain.

Aunt Zhou went back to warming the milk. She said to Uncle Zhou, who was stoking the fire, with admiration in her voice: "This boiler of Dalin's is really something. Thank goodness for this little stove—it can keep things warm all the time. Otherwise, getting up in the middle of the night to heat the baby's milk would be such a pain."

Uncle Zhou said: "Then let's get one of these boilers made for our place too. Let me ask Dalin if he knows how to build one. Oh, Dalin's back."

Huo Jilin walked into the yard and looked over at Chen Jue, who was sitting under the tree drinking goat's milk. He was scratching Little Flower's head as he drank.

At first, Huo Jilin had worried the goat would butt him, but over the past few days, he'd noticed the little goat only butted him.

Huo Jilin stopped at the yard gate, quietly watching Chen Jue. Chen Jue noticed him, but only gave him a cold look from under his eyelids—not a single extra expression for him.

When he finished his milk, he set the bowl on the table and got up to go inside. The door to that room now had a red cloth hanging over it—men weren't allowed in, except for Zhou Dajiang.

Zhou Dajiang handed Zhou Hehua's meat and eggs to Aunt Zhou, then carried the baby's milk in to see his husband.

Aunt Zhou came out to greet Zhou Hehua. Zhou Hehua said she wanted to go in and see the baby. Aunt Zhou could tell from her cheerful expression that she wasn't in a sour mood anymore, so she let her go in.

Zhou Hehua carefully held little Tuan Tuan in her arms, her face still full of envy and resentment: "How'd he get so big, so chubby? Zhang Yan, you're so skinny—how'd you give birth to such a big baby?"

How was he born?

Zhang Yan's face was a little pale. He instinctively looked at Chen Jue.

Chen Jue took over the conversation and said to Zhou Hehua: "Don't envy a big baby. A kid can grow after it's born—during pregnancy, eat as little as possible so the birth is easier."

Zhou Hehua came from a well-to-do family with a history of diabetes. It was good to tell her this ahead of time. Now that she'd finally slimmed down, she shouldn't wait until she got pregnant and then let herself go, only to blow back up—that wouldn't be good.

Even though Chen Jue had safely delivered Zhang Yan and the baby, and Zhang Yan hadn't had any heavy bleeding or blood clots, Chen Jue didn't want to go through another surgery like that again.

A C-section is always a last resort compared to natural delivery.

Even with modern technology being so advanced, it's still a last resort—let alone in these crappy conditions in ancient times.

That was also why he hadn't operated on Zhang Yan from the start. He didn't want to go there unless he absolutely had to.

Zhou Hehua now hung on Chen Jue's every word. She said "okay, okay, okay" with her mouth, but her eyes were still glued to the baby's face.

She didn't even seem tired. Before, she'd complain about carrying a basket, but now she'd been holding an eight-jin baby for a whole stick of incense without putting him down.

It was only when people started showing up one after another to see the baby that she carried him out.

The door to Chen Jue's room was kept closed—only one person could go in at a time, and they didn't let many people in.

This was the second day after the surgery. Even though the season meant fewer germs, Chen Jue didn't dare let his guard down.

Chen Jue had Aunt Zhou keep people out. Zhang Yan's body wasn't up for receiving visitors right now. They could look at the baby for a little while, but not for long—Chen Jue set a strict time limit.

Aunt Zhou now thought of Chen Jue as a miracle doctor. Whatever he said, she listened.

The uncles, older brothers, aunties, and sisters-in-law couldn't go in to see Zhang Yan, and they didn't really mind. In this era, a man who gave birth was nothing but a birthing vessel—he got attention for his belly during pregnancy, but once he'd delivered, nobody paid him any mind.

Plus, they didn't really want to go in and face Chen Jue's cold stare anyway.

When they'd heard Zhang Yan had given birth, they'd all brought a few things over, but they hadn't expected to come to Huo Lin's house to see Zhang Yan and the baby.

Who would've dared come to Huo Lin's house before? Even passing by their place in the past, people would speed up.

So this was the first time Huo Lin's house had this many visitors.

Not only was Chen Jue unused to it, but the visitors coming to see the new mother were also super uncomfortable—especially looking at the room Chen Jue had set up, which looked like a funeral parlor. They didn't know where to put their hands or feet, and didn't dare let their butts touch the edge of the kang.

The bedding was way too white. Even with the red cloth hanging at the door, it still felt creepy.

So those who were allowed to visit one at a time would take a couple of glances at Zhang Yan by the edge of the kang, say a few perfunctory pleasantries, and then quickly make an excuse to go out and see the baby.

Today, the one who stayed the longest was Zhou Hehua—the one who usually disliked pregnant people and new mothers the most.

Seeing her expression was a bit awkward today, Chen Jue felt her wrist for a moment and asked her: "What's wrong? Your pulse is stable now, your body is gradually recovering, and your cold womb symptoms have decreased a lot. Keep taking the medicine I prescribed. Don't be impatient—you're only twenty-four, right at the best age for having a child."

"No, no, I'm not impatient. It's just... well... Jue Ge'er, come outside. Let me tell you..."

Zhou Hehua glanced at Zhang Yan, who was listening, and for once showed some shyness.

"What's so mysterious?" Zhang Yan said with a smile from where he leaned against the kang. It really was the first time he'd seen Zhou Hehua look so bashful.

Chen Jue followed Zhou Hehua outside. There really wasn't any place in their house for private conversation—just three stone rooms. One was the main hall, packed with visitors. Beyond the main hall was the bedroom. The other room was the kitchen, which also had people in it now.

So Chen Jue stood by the firewood shed: "Go ahead."

Zhou Hehua coughed awkwardly: "Um, Jue Ge'er, this morning I found... that... that long thread... is that what you said means... I'm about to release an egg..."

"Cough, cough..."

A coughing sound came from behind the firewood shed.

Huo Jilin set his bowl down on a wooden stump and coughed for a while. If he'd known Zhou Hehua was going to say something like that to Chen Jue, he wouldn't have drunk water just now.

When Chen Jue had arrived, he'd been splitting firewood back here. Seeing that Chen Jue and Zhou Hehua were about to exchange private words, he couldn't help but stop and listen.

And this was what he heard.

What did "release an egg" mean?

Author's note: It'll be explained in two chapters from now. There's no romance involved or anything. The original female lead isn't a big deal either—there are no romantic relationships at all, so don't worry.