Absurd nonsense.
She was an old maid who had been single since birth and was now twenty-eight years old. Forget about sleeping with a man, she had not even held a man’s hand. How could she possibly have a child?
Could it be that she was truly so gifted that she could reproduce asexually?
Ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous.
Shen Wuqiu pushed Gu Lingyu’s hand away angrily and snapped, “Stop spouting nonsense.”
With a nervous and solemn expression, Gu Lingyu said, “I am not lying.”
Shen Wuqiu grabbed the hand that was trying to reach for her stomach once more. Driven to extremes by anger, she laughed bitterly. “Little sister, did your teacher or your mother fail to tell you how children are made?”
“Of course they did.”
“Since you know, let me ask you: I have never even had a boyfriend, so how could I possibly have a baby?”
Gu Lingyu blinked. “Why do you need a boyfriend?”
Shen Wuqiu looked at her speechlessly. “So you genuinely have no idea how children are made, do you?”
“Of course I know.”
Then tell me, how did my child come about?
“You ate the fruit.”
Shen Wuqiu thought she must have misheard. “What did you just say?”
Gu Lingyu looked at her, hesitated for a few seconds, and then honestly replied, “Because Sister ate the pregnancy fruit.”
“Ate what?”
“The pregnancy fruit.”
What fruit?
“The pregnancy fruit.”
Pregnant with what?
“The pregnancy fruit.”
Shen Wuqiu stared at her deadpan. “What on earth is that thing?”
“It is a fruit that causes people to get pregnant and bear babies after eating it.”
Huh? Shen Wuqiu heard every single word Gu Lingyu said clearly, but the meaning of the entire sentence was completely beyond her comprehension. “Are you making up a story for me?”
Gu Lingyu pressed her lips together and did not answer.
The moment she went silent, Shen Wuqiu inexplicably panicked. “Why did you stop talking?”
Gu Lingyu looked at her. “You ate the pregnancy fruit of your own accord. I did not intend for you to bear babies.”
In an instant, all the bizarre things the young girl had said to her previously strung themselves together in her mind. The tense, rigid energy throughout Shen Wuqiu’s body suddenly leaked away. She released Gu Lingyu’s hand, lowered her head to look at her own stomach, and still felt that this was a fairy tale.
“How is that possible? How could there possibly be a fruit in this world that makes people pregnant when eaten?”
Gu Lingyu pressed her lips together. “For three thousand years, my clan has relied on this pregnancy fruit to conceive offspring.”
Bizarre.
Simply bizarre.
Shen Wuqiu secretly pinched her own palm. It hurt; this was no dream.
Since it was not a dream, the problem must lie with the person in front of her. Taking a deep breath, Shen Wuqiu decided not to let the other person’s wild talk lead her astray. “Do you not find what you are saying absurd?”
Gu Lingyu’s eyes remained fixed on her stomach, and instead of directly answering her question, she uttered another sentence that frightened her: “Sister is amazing. There is more than one baby in here.”
A wave of nausea washed over Shen Wuqiu. She quickly covered her mouth and ran toward the bathroom.
Once again, Shen Wuqiu clutched the toilet bowl and vomited until she was dizzy and disoriented. She firmly believed she was being frightened into vomiting.
How could this possibly be morning sickness?
How could it be?
Gu Lingyu stood guard outside the bathroom door. Listening to the sounds of vomiting coming from inside, her own emotions were deeply conflicted: she was glad the pregnancy fruit had not gone to waste, felt heartache for Shen Wuqiu’s extreme morning sickness, and felt anxious over her partner’s stubborn refusal to accept the reality of having babies.
“Sister, are you alright?”
At that moment, hearing Gu Lingyu’s voice terrified Shen Wuqiu. “Get out.”
Gu Lingyu lingered in place, refusing to leave. “Sister, do not worry. Mother said that the more intense the morning sickness reaction, the healthier the babies are, and it will pass in a few days.”
To hell with the babies.
To hell with being healthier.
Shen Wuqiu’s usually good manners completely collapsed. She pulled open the door and stared coldly at Gu Lingyu. “I do not want to hear a single word from you right now. Get out.”
The fierce older sister was quite scary.
However, Mother had said that carrying babies was a very arduous task and made one prone to anger easily.
As a qualified partner, she ought to show more tolerance during such a critical juncture.
Thinking along these lines, Gu Lingyu no longer felt wronged. She addressed Shen Wuqiu’s stomach, “Babies, you must be good.”
“Get lost!”
“Sister has worked hard.”
Before she could finish her sentence, Shen Wuqiu slammed the door shut.
For an entire day, Shen Wuqiu did not step foot out of her room again. She simply lay on the bed, doubting life itself.
The more she doubted, the more she felt life was devoid of meaning.
So much so that when she heard the familiar cat meowing from outside at dusk, she had no energy to care. She simply watched blankly as the white cat scratched open the window screen little by little and leaped inside, feeling neither astonishment nor surprise.
After jumping in, the white cat instinctively rolled around on its small towel before leaping onto the bed. It lay flat at the foot of the bed, studying Shen Wuqiu intently for a good long while before cautiously creeping closer to her.
Shen Wuqiu looked at it expressionlessly.
Reaching the center of the bed, the white cat paused again, continuing to lie down and size up Shen Wuqiu. Seeing no reaction from her, it got up and crept closer once more.
Shen Wuqiu still offered no resistance. The cat trotted right into the crook of Shen Wuqiu’s arm, stood there for a moment, and finding that Shen Wuqiu remained unresponsive, finally picked a comfortable spot and curled up.
Shen Wuqiu lay motionless on the bed, lifeless.
“Meow.”
Hearing that cat meow, her pupils finally shifted. She raised a hand to stroke the white cat’s head.
As if encouraged, the white cat stretched out its tiny tongue and began licking her face.
It was still that uncomfortable, prickly, tickling sensation, but Shen Wuqiu did not stop it. Instead, she turned her head and buried her face deep into the white cat’s fur.
Every single word Gu Lingyu said was ridiculously absurd, yet she could not bring herself to completely ignore it.
The white cat seemed to sense her mood, extended a little paw to wrap around her neck, and meowed softly, “Meow.”
Shen Wuqiu closed her eyes, forcibly suppressing that wave of nausea. She would rather believe that the white cat in her arms could turn into a human than believe there was a fruit in this world that could make someone pregnant.
Unwilling to accept it though she was, the next day before dawn, Shen Wuqiu scrambled out of bed. Without telling a soul, she drove straight to the county town.
She registered for the emergency department at the people’s hospital. Following a round of examinations, the doctor told her to see the gastroenterology department. After a diagnostic evaluation there, the doctor recommended that she head over to the gynecology and obstetrics department as well.
Shen Wuqiu sat on the bench in the hallway outside the gynecology department for a very long time, yet at the exact moment the doctor called her name, she discarded her registration slip and fled the hospital.
They were all a bunch of quacks.
That day, Shen Wuqiu turned off her phone, drove around the county town until dark, and only then headed back home.
The moment she drove her car into the courtyard, a white cat trotted in right behind her.
Yet the person sitting at the courtyard gate eagerly craning her neck had no mind to care about a cat right then.
As soon as the car entered the yard, Father Shen, sitting by the entrance, rained down a torrent of scolding: “Have your wings grown stiff or something? You go out and come back without even letting anyone know! Do you think everyone in this family is dead?”
Shen Wuqiu did not rush to get out of the car. She rested her head against the steering wheel, not wanting to say a single word.
The white cat, however, would not stand for it. Hearing Father Shen speak so harshly, it let out a series of berating meows directly at him.
Only then did Father Shen notice the white cat. Looking at the cat standing up so fiercely to protect her, his expression became extremely complicated. “You are like this, and even the cat you raise is the same, running off all day long without even giving a notice.”
Shen Wuqiu finally raised her head and looked at the white cat standing its ground against Father Shen. Finding a sliver of solace in her heart, she pushed open the car door and stepped out listlessly.
Seeing her lifeless appearance, Father Shen could no longer bring himself to hurl harsh words. His tone softened slightly. “I look at you and think you simply do not treat this home as a home, nor do you treat me as your father.”
Su Yunzhi chimed in from the side as well, “Wuqiu, it is not that Auntie is lecturing you, but even though you are an adult, you should at least say something when you go out. You have no idea how worried we were.”
“Meow.”
“Meow meow.” Shen Wuqiu beckoned to the white cat. The cat immediately ran over to her and rubbed against her leg. Bending down to pick up the white cat, she looked at Father Shen and said, “I am sorry for making you worry.”
Her tone was low, her expression shattered.
Looking like such a pitiful sight, how could Father Shen still harbor any anger? “What happened?”
“Nothing.” Shen Wuqiu shook her head, her entire body feeling limp and devoid of any strength, forcing her to put the white cat back down on the ground.
Su Yunzhi remarked, “Looking at you like this, it hardly looks like nothing. We are family after all; if something happened, you should speak up sooner.”
Her deliberately sharpened tone always sounded somewhat weird and snide. Even if it were meant out of kindness, it still carries malicious undertones.
Shen Wuqiu rubbed her throbbing temples as waves of physical weakness continued to wash over her. Instinctively, she reached out to steady herself against the doorframe ahead, but her dizziness caused her vision to blur, and just as she was about to collapse, the white cat shrieked fiercely at Su Yunzhi.
Startled by the cry, Su Yunzhi, who was leaning against the other side of the doorframe, reacted in time to catch her.
Clearly, Su Yunzhi had not expected her to be this weak. Frowning, she asked, “What is wrong with you?”
The sensation of dizziness grew increasingly intense. Shen Wuqiu could hardly stand steady and had to allow Su Yunzhi to help her over to the sofa. Leaning back against the sofa to catch her breath, she finally started feeling a little better.
Although Su Yunzhi kept muttering nonstop, she still poured a cup of warm water and fed it to Shen Wuqiu’s lips. “Look at this terrible complexion. If you feel unwell, you should rest and see a doctor properly instead of running off without a word.”
Father Shen was both distressed and worried. “Alright, say less. Can you not see she is feeling miserable right now?”
Having her good intentions spurned, Su Yunzhi retorted petulantly, “You think I do not know she is miserable? She is just as stubborn as you are. Throwing up like yesterday, refusing to eat a single bite all day, and not going to the hospital either, who is she going to blame for feeling this miserable now?”
Shen Wuqiu took a couple of sips of water from the cup, but no sooner had she swallowed than the familiar wave of nausea surged back up. She quickly leaned toward the nearby trash can. “Blech.”
Su Yunzhi set the water cup down. “If she throws up even from drinking water, what is to be done?”
Standing nearby with furrowed brows, Father Shen remained silent for a moment before speaking in a stern voice, “Call Huaizi and have him come over to drive Qiuqiu to the hospital.”
Hearing this, Shen Wuqiu quickly raised her head and waved her hand. “No need. I actually went to the hospital today.”
“Then what is this all about?”
Shen Wuqiu slumped flat against the sofa, saying nothing while the white cat curled up beside her and licked her hand.
Seeing this, Father Shen’s heart instantly leapt into his throat. “Child, speak to me.”
Shen Wuqiu shook her head, speaking feebly, “Do not worry, I am fine.”
As she spoke, she tried to sit up.
Father Shen pressed her back down. “Where are you going?”
“I am going to my room to lie down for a bit. My head is spinning.”
“Would you be vomiting like this if you were fine? Would your head be spinning if you were fine?”
With nothing left to say and catching the wall clock in the living room pointing past the number nine out of the corner of her eye, Shen Wuqiu looked around and frowned. “Where is Gu Lingyu?”
“Do not even ask. You were missing since early morning and your phone was turned off. That girl Lingyu was so worried she was about to cry, saying she wanted to go look for you, and she still is not back yet.”
Shen Wuqiu frowned. “When did she go out?”
“She left before breakfast.”
Shen Wuqiu glanced outside. While inwardly irritated by someone meddling in her affairs, the thought of the pitch-black night outside made her worry all the same. “She is not familiar with the area. Why did you let her go out?”
The white cat curled beside her stopped licking her hand, quietly leaped off the sofa, and prepared to dart outside.
Su Yunzhi noticed it, though she thought nothing of it. Glancing at the cat briefly before ignoring it, she said to Shen Wuqiu, “That girl has a stubborn streak just like you. We tried to stop her, but could we possibly tie her down? She vanished in the blink of an eye.”
Having lived together for over a month, Shen Wuqiu knew the young girl’s temperament well enough. Still, feeling an undercurrent of unease, if nothing else, the person had disappeared straight from her house, she said, “Dad, have Uncle Tang drive me to look along the road.”
Father Shen actually liked Gu Lingyu quite a bit, though at the moment his favoritism was clear. “You are in this state yourself, and you are still worrying about others?”
Shen Wuqiu closed her eyes, still uneasy, and struggled to sit up.
Father Shen pressed her right back down, refusing to let her move. “Look at your complexion. Tell me honestly, did you contract some serious illness?”
“No.”
Father Shen clearly did not believe her.
Helpless, Shen Wuqiu had to fabricate an ailment. “It is just that my stomach is vulnerable this time of year, some mild gastroenteritis.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Well, vomiting like this is no solution. If it is just gastroenteritis, go to the township clinic tomorrow to get a few intravenous drips.”
As they spoke, a commotion arose at the iron gate outside. Su Yunzhi hurried out to check and, seeing that Gu Lingyu had returned, put on a stern face to scold her. “Little ancestor, you are finally back. None of you are giving me any peace of mind.”
Someone asked knowingly, “Has Sister returned?”
“She is back, she is back. Hearing that you went out, she wanted to go look for you even while feeling sick as a dog.”
Joy blossomed across Gu Lingyu’s face as she trotted into the house. “Sister, I am back.”
When nobody was missing, there was no worry; once someone appeared, it brought annoyance.
Without even sparing her a glance, Shen Wuqiu closed her eyes and said coldly, “If you go running off blindly like this again in the future, you had better pack up and go home early.”
The smile on Gu Lingyu’s face stiffened slightly, and she retorted unconvincingly, “Who told Sister to disappear without saying a word?”
Shen Wuqiu was tickled by her unreasonable badgering. “Is this my house or yours?”
That remark hit a slightly sensitive nerve, prompting Father Shen to step in as a peacemaker. “Qiuqiu, how are you talking? She was only worried. Besides, Lingyu is right; leaving all day without a word and vanishing without a trace is indeed your fault.”
Shen Wuqiu turned her head away and let out a light huff.
A bit haughty.
Instantly, Gu Lingyu no longer felt wronged. Taking small, quick steps, she walked over to sit beside her, holding out a few small red fruits that looked just like cherries. “Here, eat these.”
How could Shen Wuqiu dare to eat anything offered by her? She gave a cold snort. “I am not eating that.”
Gu Lingyu stubbornly kept holding the fruit out.
The atmosphere grew somewhat awkward.
Father Shen had no choice but to act as the mediator. “Lingyu, what are these?”
“Sour fruit.”
“They look just like cherries; I thought they were cherries. Can these be eaten?”
“Yes, they can.” Gu Lingyu fed the fruit directly toward Shen Wuqiu’s lips, coaxing her ingratiatingly, “If Sister eats this fruit, you will not vomit so badly anymore.”
Shen Wuqiu kept her lips tightly sealed, having zero intention of eating it.
When Gu Lingyu refused to give up, Shen Wuqiu grew annoyed, batted her hand away, grabbed the sofa for support to stand up, and headed straight upstairs.
Gu Lingyu hurriedly followed behind her.
Su Yunzhi called out from the back, “Have you two had dinner? Dinner is still being kept warm on the stove. If you are not eating, I am turning off the heat.”
Gu Lingyu rubbed her stomach and asked Shen Wuqiu, “Sister, have you eaten?”
Shen Wuqiu ignored her completely. Gu Lingyu had no choice but to lick her lips. “Then let us not eat tonight.”
Her tone clearly betrayed her reluctance. After taking two steps, Shen Wuqiu ultimately softened a little. “Then please dish it out, Auntie.”
Gu Lingyu chimed in instantly, “Then I will keep Sister company and eat a little too.”
Shen Wuqiu could throw up even from drinking water, so how could she possibly stomach food? She symbolically chewed on a piece of snow pea, and the moment Gu Lingyu wolfed down the entire braised sea bass until only a fish skeleton remained, she got up once more and headed upstairs.
Watching the little tail trail her all the way to her bedroom door, Shen Wuqiu’s temper flared up again. “What are you doing? I am going to sleep.”
Gu Lingyu held the red fruits right in front of her face again. “Sister, eat a few.”
Shen Wuqiu pushed the door open, stepped inside, and shut it firmly in her face.
Standing at the doorway holding the sour fruits in silence for a brief moment, Gu Lingyu returned to her own room, changed her identity, and sneaked back into Shen Wuqiu’s room.
Shen Wuqiu had already grown accustomed to the white cat, which had learned how to open and close windows by itself. Having spent two days vomiting until even the acid in her stomach was gone, her whole body felt weak and limp. She lacked the strength even to wash up, and as soon as she entered the room, she collapsed flat onto the bed.
Her hand rested unconsciously over her stomach, but the moment she thought of Gu Lingyu’s absurd claims, she instinctively pulled her hand away. To curb these petty habits, she shifted into a different sleeping position, clasping her hands together to use as a pillow, resting her cheek sideways on them as she watched the white cat grooming itself nearby. “Do you have babies?”
Hearing this, the white cat stopped grooming. “Meow.”
“Tell me, how many wildcats have you been with?”
“Meow.”
Finding this posture somewhat uncomfortable, Shen Wuqiu flipped onto her back, closed her eyes, and let her mind involuntarily drift back to those previous dreams. She muttered under her breath, “You said she came from a dream, when will she ever go back to her dream?”
Pricking up its ears to listen to her mutterings, the white cat pondered for a moment before scratching its little ear with its paw and looking deeply melancholy.
What on earth was to be done? Mother had said that after eating the pregnancy fruit, one had to cultivate one’s moral character and temper, especially avoiding desires.
Yet as a qualified partner, how could one leave a partner unsatisfied?
If word of this got out, where would she put her face?
While the white cat was busy brooding over there, Shen Wuqiu had already drifted slowly into dreamland.
After hesitating time and again, the white cat ultimately decided to fulfill its duties as a qualified partner.
Following a flash of shimmering light, the white cat on the bed transformed into an exquisite and charming woman.
Gu Lingyu rested her chin in her hands, lying prone on the bed to stare at the sleeping woman for a long time. Only then did she lower her head against the other’s stomach, listen attentively for a while, and carefully reach out to stroke it. “You little ones must be good and stop torturing Sister, or else I will skin you alive.”
The belly sliding gently beneath her palm instantly quieted down.
Satisfied, Gu Lingyu looked back up at the sleeping Shen Wuqiu. The more she looked, the closer she crept, until her lips lightly brushed against the other’s before parting, only to press down firmly the next moment.
Amid the intertwining of lips, the person in her dream instinctively whimpered and parted her mouth, allowing a certain nimble little fish to swim freely within, even occasionally letting the fish from her own territory leap into the other’s domain.
This time, however, she dared not be as unrestrained as before. After a long, lingering kiss concluded, she affectionately planted a soothing parting kiss on the corner of the other’s mouth, considering her duty fulfilled.
Just as she was about to transform back into a cat form and slip under the covers to sleep, remembering something else, she took out a sour fruit, chewed it into pulp in her own mouth with a scrunched-up face, and then leaned down to pass it over into the mouth of the sleeping Shen Wuqiu. Patiently coaxing her until she swallowed it all, she finally felt at ease crawling into the warm embrace to fall fast asleep.
When Shen Wuqiu woke up, her mind was enveloped in a brief blank slate. Lying in bed waking up for a good long while, she slowly regained her consciousness.
Some fragmentary details of last night echoed in her mind, but they flashed past too quickly to ever catch hold of.
This ethereal feeling was not particularly pleasant. Irritated, Shen Wuqiu sat up, raised a hand to knock against her head, and unconsciously smacked her slightly dry lips.
A tiny trace of sweet-and-sour lingering aftertaste remained in her mouth. Shen Wuqiu stopped knocking on her head as those fragmentary details floating in her mind suddenly snapped together.
She reached out to touch her own lips, then swallowed hard. The sweet-and-sour flavor was still there.
Could last night not have been a dream?
Flipping out of bed, Shen Wuqiu walked over to the door and twisted the doorknob. The door was locked tight and secure.
Could it just be an illusion of her taste buds?
Feeling a strange sense of unease, Shen Wuqiu went to the bathroom to rinse her mouth. Holding a mouthful of tap water for dozens of seconds, she felt none of that familiar nausea or urge to vomit.
Why did she no longer feel like vomiting?
Not knowing what exactly she was trying to prove, Shen Wuqiu hurried through her washing up, went downstairs, and entered the kitchen.
Su Yunzhi was busy flipping an egg pancake. Hearing her approach, she offered an indifferent greeting: “Feeling better today?”
“Mm, much better.” Shen Wuqiu leaned in close to the egg pancake and took a deep breath. There was still no urge to vomit; instead, smelling the aroma made her appetite stir.
Su Yunzhi swept a sidelong glance at her. “You have not eaten properly for two days. Are you hungry?”
Glancing at the freshly plated egg pancake on the tray, Shen Wuqiu nodded.
Putting down the bowl of egg batter and wiping her hands, Su Yunzhi took a bowl from the cabinet and ladled a portion of millet porridge from the nearby rice cooker. “With gastroenteritis, you should not eat anything too greasy. Drink some porridge this morning.”
Shen Wuqiu was somewhat pleasantly surprised. “Thank you, Auntie.”
Without a word, Su Yunzhi turned back to flip pancakes, adding a moment later, “Junjun said the job you recommended to him is very good, and asked me to thank you properly.”
Shen Wuqiu had originally intended to carry the porridge out, but hearing her speak, she paused. “As long as he likes it.”
With her back turned, Su Yunzhi continued flipping the pancake. “I know that for all these years, you have not been very fond of me, and I never expected you to treat me like a real mother, after all, for all these years, I truly did not treat you like a real daughter either. I just hope you will not hold my past shortcomings against me.”
Shen Wuqiu had never imagined that Su Yunzhi would speak to her like this one day, leaving her temporarily at a loss for words. After a prolonged silence, she said, “Auntie is speaking too seriously.”
“I am saying these words to you in all sincerity today. Seeing you in that state yesterday, my heart ached a little too. I have thought a lot about it; becoming a family is probably predestined by fate after all.”
Finishing her sentence, Su Yunzhi turned around to look at her, as if demanding some sort of stance.
“Since Auntie says we are family, there is no need to dwell on extra words among family members.”
Though those bland words did not entirely hit the mark for Su Yunzhi, they offered some comfort. Knowing that Shen Wuqiu had always been a cold person unaccustomed to many words, she did not push further, lowering her head to arrange the tableware as she changed the subject. “Is Lingyu awake? Should we call her down to have breakfast together?”
“I will go up and check.”
“Mm. By the way, is there anything specific you want to eat for lunch?”
Shen Wuqiu was not particularly picky about food, but prompted by Su Yunzhi, she suddenly found herself craving something. “Sea bass, maybe.”
Su Yunzhi gave her a strange look. “How come you have taken a liking to fish too? Did you catch that from Lingyu?”
A belated sense of surprise washed over Shen Wuqiu. She had been fed too much fish liver oil as a child, which had developed an aversion to fish in her; growing up, while she was not entirely averse to touching fish, she certainly never craved eating it.
“Maybe so,” Shen Wuqiu muttered evasively.
Stepping out of the kitchen, she pulled out her phone. Du Niang told her that fluctuating food preferences during pregnancy were completely normal.
Shen Wuqiu resolved never to trust Du Niang again. Downing the rest of her bowl of millet porridge in one go, she stormed angrily back upstairs.
Perhaps fueled by pent-up frustration, her knocking was not as polite as before; she hammered furiously against the door until it swung open from inside.
“Sister.”
Glancing at her without lingering, Shen Wuqiu said in a less-than-pleasant tone, “Come down for breakfast.”
“Okay.” Right in front of her, Gu Lingyu stretched lazily, accentuating a chest area that was already quite prominent.
Suppressing a surge of irritation, Shen Wuqiu simply turned around. “Hurry up.”
“Sister’s morning sickness today…”
“I do not have morning sickness,” Shen Wuqiu interrupted irritably.
Catching herself and feeling self-disgusted at her own testiness, she took another deep breath. “My stomach just feels a bit out of sorts.”
Gu Lingyu did not argue further. “Then is Sister’s stomach feeling better today?”
Shen Wuqiu nodded, and recalling last night’s dream, asked, “Those fruits of yours from last night?”
“Already… why?”
“Nothing, I suddenly wanted to taste what they taste like.”
With a straight face, Gu Lingyu replied, “Those fruits can only be eaten by someone carrying babies.”
Well, she certainly was not going to admit she had morning sickness. Defeated, Shen Wuqiu muttered, “Never mind then.”
After a second thought, she still felt a bit unreconciled. “Are those fruits sweet and sour?”
“That I would not know, since I have not carried babies yet myself.”
“Are you not even curious about how they taste?”
“Not curious. Mother said curiosity killed the cat.”
Shen Wuqiu felt like an arrow had just pierced her knee.
As the saying goes, the more one fears something, the more one pays attention to it.
The more Shen Wuqiu worried about being pregnant, the more she noticed her symptoms resembling pregnancy. Not only were her dietary habits quietly shifting, but her sleep schedule was changing too, and occasionally when she touched her stomach, she even hallucinated the illusion that something was moving inside.
Coupled with her late period…
She was truly panicking.
Thus, when her period was delayed by a full twenty days, Shen Wuqiu secretly made another trip to the county hospital.
This time, gathering her courage, she went straight to register at the gynecology and obstetrics department.
From registration until she stood before the doctor holding her checkup sheet, Shen Wuqiu’s nerves remained tightly strung like a criminal awaiting sentencing.
The doctor first scanned the checkup sheet, then brought one of the papers closer, squinting to examine it carefully for a long time before finally looking up at Shen Wuqiu with an extremely complex expression.
Seeing the doctor’s expression, Shen Wuqiu felt a complex mix of emotions as well. The doctor did not look like she was looking at someone who was pregnant, but rather someone diagnosed with a terminal illness.
After a long pause, the doctor adjusted her glasses and asked, “Do you want them?”
A vague and abrupt question left Shen Wuqiu blank for a moment. “Want what?”
“The babies are eight weeks along. Do you want them?”
Did she look like someone here for an abortion? Wait, what did the doctor just say? Plural?
“What do you mean by babies?”
“The ultrasound shows four gestational sacs. Barring any accidents, this means quadruplets.”
Shen Wuqiu’s mind went completely blank. Pregnancy in itself was already a thunderbolt she could not bear, and now four struck at once?
The doctor seemed to understand her shock, having been quite startled herself upon first glance at the results.
“Medically speaking, quadruplets are not unheard of, but they are relatively rare. The mother may have to bear quite a significant amount of pressure.”
“Doctor…” Shen Wuqiu swallowed hard, trying to keep her voice from sounding too strained. “Is there a mistake in these results?”
The doctor gave her a sidelong glance. “Are you doubting our hospital’s equipment, or my professional skills?”
“I do not mean that, it is just… you can also see what I filled out on the medical chart: I am unmarried.”
The doctor tapped her chin. “That is why I did not say congratulations first, but instead asked if you want them.”
“My point is, I do not even have a boyfriend.”
“Then it seems these children cannot be kept.”
Frustrated, Shen Wuqiu raked her hands through her hair and spoke candidly, “Is it possible for someone without sexual experience to get pregnant?”
The doctor paused, then peered from above her glasses frames. “Young lady, artificial insemination is not permitted like that.”
Shen Wuqiu had no idea how to respond. Sitting down in the chair, she took three deep breaths in succession before saying, “I have not had artificial insemination, nor have I had sexual experience. So how did the child in my belly come about?”
The doctor countered, “So how did the child in your belly come about?”
Shen Wuqiu was on the verge of a breakdown. “I am asking you.”
The doctor looked at her. “Are you certain you have truly never had sexual experience?”
Shen Wuqiu nodded decisively. “Never.”
“Think carefully. Are you absolutely certain? You do not even have to think too far back, just within the last two or three months.”
Shen Wuqiu nodded. “Really, none.”
Looking at her, the doctor asked once more, “Really?”
The moment Shen Wuqiu met her eyes, Gu Lingyu’s pair of eyes somehow flashed into her mind, followed by those unspeakable scenes. Her certainty wavered instantly, and lowering her gaze, she muttered, “I did have a few related dreams.”
“You young people nowadays sometimes play so wildly that you cannot tell reality from dreams anymore.” Withdrawing her gaze, the doctor stopped dwelling on the issue. “You should carefully consider the children now. If you want them, you will need to pay extra attention to all aspects. If you are not considering keeping them, quadruplets are extremely rare.”
“Doctor.”
“Yes.”
“Even if the dream were real, but…” Even if it had not been a dream, she was certain the participant in those unmentionable encounters was also a woman!
The second half of the sentence died in Shen Wuqiu’s throat.
After waiting for a long time without a follow-up, the doctor did not bother to indulge her curiosity, seeing as they were very busy. “Any other questions?”
Shen Wuqiu shook her head, then quickly nodded. “What did you say just now about if I am not considering keeping them?”
“If you are not considering keeping them, you need to make a decision as soon as possible.” The doctor paused. “Of course, you must think it over carefully. Quadruplets are quite rare. My recommendation is that you go back today and discuss it with your family first.”
With that, the doctor eagerly called in the next patient.
Not until the next patient stepped up to the desk did Shen Wuqiu scramble to her feet and rush out of the hospital.
Unlike the cool tones of the hospital, the sunlight outside was blindingly bright.
May in the southern regions already carried the breath of mid-summer, and the eleven o’clock sun was dazzling and scorching.
Looking at the young girl standing with her back to the light at the main entrance, Shen Wuqiu found her beauty bordering on sacred.
Her vision swam slightly as she stood frozen in place for a long moment, blankly watching the other person take step after step toward her.
“Sister.”
Reacting like an old woman whose wits had slowed down, Shen Wuqiu blinked after several seconds. “Why are you here?”
Gu Lingyu did not answer, simply bending down to take her hand. “Sister, let us go home.”
Shen Wuqiu stared at her, nodding only after a long pause before mechanically following her steps.
Sitting quietly in the car for a long while, Shen Wuqiu finally whispered, “I really am pregnant.”
“Mm, I know.” For Gu Lingyu, this was a foregone conclusion. However, her partner clearly had a somewhat difficult time accepting it.
“The doctor said it is quadruplets.”
To be honest, when she first sensed the four lives inside her stomach, Gu Lingyu herself had found it incredible. Their clan had always struggled with bearing offspring; even with a pregnancy fruit, it was far from certain a new clan member would be born in a century, let alone four at once.
For their people, this was a joyous occasion worthy of being recorded in history.
Yet precisely because she understood the difficulty of nurturing offspring, she felt anxious.
Propagating the lineage was her mission as clan head, but she also hoped her partner would remain safe and healthy.
Slumped over the steering wheel, Shen Wuqiu turned her head to look at her. “One pregnancy fruit, one child, right?”
Gu Lingyu nodded.
Shen Wuqiu looked at her. “So there really are fruits in this world that make people have children.”
“Sister, do not be afraid. I will stay with you.”
There were simply too many questions in her mind, and suddenly not knowing where to begin asking, Shen Wuqiu simply gave up. Lifting her head, she took a few deep breaths before turning the ignition. “Let us go home.”
On the way home, silence stretched between them the entire journey.
The impact of the four thunderbolts was simply too massive for Shen Wuqiu to endure, and having no idea how to face this reality, she could only numb herself through work.
It happened to be time for rice transplanting across the fifty mu of paddy fields.
These paddies had been left fallow by villagers, and Father Shen had leased them at a low rate to grow a season of rapeseed in the first half of the year, followed by rice transplanting once the rapeseed was harvested.
As soon as Shen Wuqiu arrived home, she busied herself right away helping toss rice seedlings.
She even harbored the malicious thought that as long as she worked hard enough, perhaps these little babies would just miscarry on their own.
Perhaps validating the saying that mother and child share a single heartbeat, she dreamed of the children that very day.
In the dream, four chubby little children were laughing and calling her mommy just a moment ago, but in the next second, the scene twisted drastically: the once-cute children became mutilated and deformed, weeping as they begged her, “Mother, do not leave us.”
The imagery was so terrifying that Shen Wuqiu woke up drenched in a cold sweat.
Fortunately, by then daylight had broken, and the bright sunlight drove away much of the dream’s chill.
Unwilling to dwell further on the dream, Shen Wuqiu rushed straight to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face upon waking.
As she prepared to head downstairs, Gu Lingyu happened to step out of her room. “Sister, good morning.”
“Morning.” Shen Wuqiu stood in place waiting for her to walk over, and once she reached her side, she…
She asked her, “If the child is born, whose child will it be?”
Gu Lingyu felt her question was somewhat inexplicable. “They will be yours and mine, of course.”
“Do they have any relation to me?”
“You are the one who gives birth to them, so of course they have a relation to you.”
“Weren’t they turned from fruits? Aren’t they the sacred treasure of your clan?”
“The fruits were nurtured using my vital essence, and they grow inside your body, so naturally they are the children of you and me.”
Shen Wuqiu did not speak. After quite a while, she simply let out a sound of acknowledgement and then went downstairs, looking entirely like a walking corpse.
Shen’s father also noticed her abnormality. “Qiuqiu, have you been too busy lately? Why do I feel like you’ve been absent-minded lately and your spirits aren’t very good either?”
“Maybe.”
Su Yunzhi saw that the porridge in her bowl was empty and scooped another bowl for her. “As a young woman with no experience, taking on so much land all at once inevitably brings a lot of pressure. Why don’t you hire a few more people?”
Shen Wuqiu did not let Su Yunzhi fill it to the brim, taking small sips of the small half-bowl of thin porridge before saying, “Mm, I know. You don’t need to worry.”
The more Shen’s father looked at her appearance, the more worried he became. “I feel that my physical health has improved a lot recently. Why don’t you take a rest for a couple of days, and I’ll go help you look after things?”
Hearing this, Shen Wuqiu glanced at him, only then noticing that her father’s physical state indeed looked no different from that of a healthy middle-aged man. Although she found it strange in her heart, it could still be considered a happy event. “Dad, why don’t we still go to the hospital for a check-up?”
Mentioning the hospital, Shen’s father became impatient. “Even if you’re not sick, a hospital will find an illness out of you.”
Gu Lingyu, who was quietly drinking her porridge, timely inserted a sentence, “Uncle’s body is very healthy. There is no need to go to the hospital.”
Shen Wuqiu glanced at her.
Gu Lingyu quickly buried her head in her bowl and continued drinking her porridge.
Shen Wuqiu inexplicably felt like laughing. For some reason, at this moment, she suddenly had an impulse:
“Dad, Auntie, I have something to tell you.”
“Hm? What is it?”
“I am pregnant.”