With Shen Wuqiu’s words falling, the spacious living room seemed to sink into a vacuum of congealed air.
After a brief silence, Shen Dad chewed the smashed cucumber he had just put into his mouth once more. Only after swallowing did he raise his gaze to look at Shen Wuqiu. “What did you just say?”
His tone was calm, as if he genuinely hadn’t heard clearly, or perhaps it was the quiet before a storm.
Shen Wuqiu pressed her lips together, preparing to repeat it, but Gu Lingyu spoke up in her stead. “Big Sister is pregnant.”
Shen Dad kept his eyes fixed on Shen Wuqiu, his tone heavy. “I asked you, what did you just say?”
The air pressure dropped instantly, making it clearly the calm before the storm.
Shen Wuqiu met his gaze. “I am pregnant.”
“Whose is it?”
“Mine.”
“Mine.”
They spoke in unison.
Shen Dad’s brow twitched fiercely, his expression growing uglier by the second as he brought a heavy palm down hard on the table.
The storm was about to break.
The wooden round table had poor earthquake resistance, and the bowls and dishes on the table trembled along with it. The porridge in the bowl even sloshed out, splattering a few drops onto Su Yunzhi’s hand.
Su Yunzhi, who had been frozen in shock this whole time, finally snapped back to reality, her gaze darting back and forth between Shen Wuqiu and Gu Lingyu.
Wondering what came to mind, a trace of absurdity flashed in her eyes, followed by disbelief as she asked, “Lingyu, are you a boy?”
Shen Wuqiu was their own daughter, a genuine girl. If the child belonged to Shen Wuqiu and also to Gu Lingyu, the only explanation was that the young person before them was not a girl.
After another few seconds of silence, Shen Dad abruptly turned his head and glared at Gu Lingyu, completely unable to remain calm anymore. He leaped up, shouting, “I’m going to beat you to death, you scumbag.”
The scene instantly plunged into chaos.
Everyone stood up in a flurry, and Shen Wuqiu pulled Gu Lingyu behind her.
Seeing that she was still shielding this scumbag, Shen Dad became even more furious. Giving her no opportunity to speak, he swung his fists and lunged forward again.
Realizing he was playing for keeps, Su Yunzhi hurriedly grabbed him from behind, shooting an irritated glare at Shen Wuqiu. “You two are entirely too reckless. How old are you, and how old is she? Even if you young people couldn’t help yourselves, you should have used some protection.”
It would have been better had she remained quiet, but the moment she spoke, Shen Dad grew even angrier. “Let go of me right now! I’m going to beat this little bastard to death today. If I had known, I should have thrown her out that very day.”
Shen Dad was truly growing more furious the more he thought about it. Dammit, he had kindly let someone stay as a guest, eating his food, living under his roof, and she went and knocked up his precious daughter.
This pent-up anger stripped away all his reason, and he couldn’t even be bothered to figure out whether the young woman standing before him was male or female anymore.
Yet Gu Lingyu stubbornly walked right into the beating. “Uncle definitely can’t beat me to death. I’ll let you hit me, so please don’t be angry with Big Sister anymore.”
Being the descendant of an ancient divine beast, the kicks and punches of a mere mortal couldn’t kill her; at worst, she would just suffer a bit of physical pain.
To the enraged Shen Dad, her honest words sounded like blatant provocation. Unable to swallow his fury any longer, Shen Dad forcefully wrenched open Su Yunzhi’s arms from around his waist. “This little bastard.”
Shen Wuqiu was nearly choked speechless by Gu Lingyu’s fuel-to-the-fire remark, and fearing that Shen Dad might actually strike with full force, she could only pull Gu Lingyu backward, saying helplessly, “Dad, she is a girl too.”
“I am going to…” Shen Dad stopped mid-sentence, pausing for a few seconds before looking at Gu Lingyu. Whether looking at her face or her build, she was unmistakably female. The reason that had been usurped by blind rage gradually began to return, though his emotions were still churning in the storm. Gritting his teeth, he asked, “Then how did the child come to be?”
As for how the child came to be, Shen Wuqiu couldn’t answer that either. She figured that if she told her old father she got pregnant from eating something called a pregnancy fruit, her father would either pass out from fright or faint from anger.
Seeing Shen Dad’s fists clench tighter and tighter, Gu Lingyu poked her head out from behind Shen Wuqiu. “Although I am also a girl, Big Sister’s little one is indeed mine.”
Shen Dad found her extremely displeasing to look at right now. After enduring and enduring, he chose to treat her words as passing wind and stared with deadly focus solely at Shen Wuqiu.
“Shut your mouth.” Shen Wuqiu was utterly exasperated with Gu Lingyu for treating this like a spectator sport. She glared at her, watched the girl shrink her head back behind her, and then turned to Shen Dad. “This is a long story.”
“Then give me the short version.” Shen Dad slammed a fist onto the dining table, causing the dishes on top to rattle with a clatter.
Not only was Su Yunzhi startled, but even Shen Wuqiu felt her heart skip two beats.
From childhood on, although her old father had always maintained a stern, unsmiling image, this kind of explosive display was a first. It seemed the news of her pregnancy had genuinely frightened people.
Shen Wuqiu felt a mild pang of regret for her own impulsiveness. After deliberating for a long time, she managed to squeeze out, “In short, things are not what you are imagining.”
“Ha! Then why don’t you tell me what we are imagining?”
Shen Wuqiu was left speechless.
Watching her lower her gaze and remain silent, Shen Dad automatically interpreted it in his mind as grievance. That only fueled his anger, mixed with profound heartache. His beloved precious daughter, how could she suffer this kind of grievance?
Shen Dad paced around in a circle, still unable to calm down. “Just who is the heartless bastard?”
The sound forced out through gritted teeth was like a physical blade. Gu Lingyu shrank her neck slightly, but still chose to step forward. “It’s me, it’s this heartless bastard.”
Mother said, whether as a clan leader or as a partner, only by being responsible can one give the clan members and one’s partner enough sense of security to follow willingly and wholeheartedly.
Shen Wuqiu no longer wanted to deal with her, letting her stand like a frightened quail right in front of Shen Dad.
Glaring at her and finding her an eyesore, Shen Dad said with a sour expression, “Step aside for now. This is our family business; if you meddle any further, I won’t be polite to you either.”
Gu Lingyu straightened her posture. “Whether it’s Big Sister or the little one, I will take responsibility for both.”
Completely impossible to communicate with, Shen Dad directly ignored her and turned to Su Yunzhi. “Call Junjun and tell him to come back.”
Su Yunzhi moved her lips, hesitating for a moment, but ultimately did not refuse. With something this major happening at home, the family really ought to gather together and figure out a solution.
Shen Wuqiu felt a bit awkward. “Why call him back?”
Ignoring her, Shen Dad urged Su Yunzhi to make the call immediately.
Powerless to stop it, Shen Wuqiu could only watch as Su Yunzhi dialed Shen Wujun’s number.
Shen Wujun on the other end was rushing to punch in at work, so his tone when picking up the call wasn’t very pleasant. “Mom, what is it? Why are you calling so early in the morning? I’m about to go to work.”
Before he could finish, Shen Dad’s loud voice boomed through the receiver. “Get your butt back home right now.”
Shen Wujun paused on the other end. “Dad, what happened?”
“Your sister is being bullied.”
Shen Wujun’s voice instantly turned sharp and urgent. “What’s going on?”
“She’s pregnant.”
The call clicked shut.
Shen Wujun on the other end abandoned his quest for the elevator, sprinted out of the building, flagged down a taxi from the roadside, and headed straight for the train station.
Back at the house, after cursing a couple of times upon discovering the call had been hung up, Shen Dad redirected his attention to Shen Wuqiu. “When did this happen?”
Having stood for too long, Shen Wuqiu felt a dull ache in her lower back and instinctively reached back to pinch her waist.
Su Yunzhi noticed the small gesture. Being a mother herself, while she was annoyed with Shen Wuqiu for lacking self-respect and letting someone get her pregnant, she also felt a twinge of heartache that her daughter had been so foolishly knocked up. Glancing at her belly, though nothing could be gleaned from a glance just yet, she asked, “How many months?”
Shen Wuqiu replied, “The doctor said eight weeks.”
Su Yunzhi mentally calculated the dates. “You’ve only been back for two months.”
Hearing this, Shen Dad internally assumed that she had been betrayed and bullied by some man outside. After all, during these past two months at home, his daughter had been right under his nose. If he didn’t say so himself, not a single young man in the entire village dared to bully his daughter under his watch.
“Tell me that man’s name and address. When your younger brother gets back, I’m going to teach him a lesson.”
The longer Shen Wuqiu stood, the more her lower back ached. She drifted over to the sofa and sat down, feeling completely overwhelmed. She truly hadn’t considered that this single statement would cause her family to imagine so many scenarios; she had simply wanted to inform them, gauge their reactions, and then make a final decision on whether to keep the four little ones in her belly.
“It really has nothing to do with anyone else. These children are just mine.”
Gu Lingyu timely reminded them of her presence. “And they’re mine too.”
Naturally, at this exact moment, no one paid her any attention.
With a dark expression, Shen Dad made a conjecture. “Is that guy an irresponsible bastard?”
Supporting her head and closing her eyes, Shen Wuqiu gave up struggling. “You can assume he is.”
“What do you mean, assume?” Shen Dad interpreted her attitude as a sign of a thoroughly broken heart, immediately feeling a surge of frustrated disappointment. “My daughter, why should she be bullied and let down like this? These children…”
Catching onto another crucial detail as he spoke, Shen Dad’s face paled at a certain possibility, his lips trembling slightly. “These? What did you mean by these just now? Don’t tell me you’ve given birth to children for this bastard before?”
Shen Wuqiu silently scolded herself for talking too much. “How is that possible? What are you thinking?”
Shen Dad was mentally picturing a scene of an older grandson calling him grandpa.
Hearing this, he let out a slight breath of relief, tinged with a bizarre, subtle sense of disappointment.
“Then what did you mean?”
“The doctor said there’s more than one child.”
Shen Dad’s eyes widened. If his daughter were married, he would be overjoyed to have multiple children at once, but under the current circumstances, what a sin. Truly a sin.
Broaching the topic of children, a woman always possessed a natural maternal instinct. Su Yunzhi looked toward her belly once more. “Are they twins?”
Shen Wuqiu didn’t want to talk about it.
Gu Lingyu proudly answered on her behalf, “Not twins. There are four.”
Shen Dad and Su Yunzhi both wore expressions of utter disbelief, turning their eyes in unison to Shen Wuqiu.
After a good dozen seconds, Shen Dad spoke with a complex expression, “Four? Is what she said true?”
Shen Wuqiu didn’t want to discuss this topic right now, so she answered vaguely, “Right now, it’s still not entirely certain.”
Shen Dad shifted his gaze toward Su Yunzhi while keeping his eyes locked on Shen Wuqiu. “Go find someone to drive us. We’re going to the provincial hospital. Right now.”
“There’s no need to go, I only went yesterday.”
“We’re going to the provincial hospital.”
What a chaotic morning.
Wearily sighing, Shen Wuqiu said, “Dad, I’m tired. I’m going upstairs to rest for a bit.”
Seeing that her complexion indeed didn’t look too good, Shen Dad swallowed back the words on the tip of his tongue and remained silent.
Taking that as tacit permission, Shen Wuqiu stood up, steadied herself, and headed upstairs.
Seeing this, Gu Lingyu wanted to follow, but Shen Dad shot her a look of death.
Hesitating for two seconds, she obediently stayed put.
Once the sound of Shen Wuqiu’s footsteps on the stairs faded away, Shen Dad asked Gu Lingyu with a gloomy face, “Whose children are those in Qiuqiu’s belly, really?”
Gu Lingyu answered honestly, “Mine.”
Losing his patience, Shen Dad said, “I’m asking you seriously.”
Gu Lingyu reined in her expression, trying hard to look as serious as possible. “It really is mine.”
Seeing that Shen Dad was on the verge of exploding again, Su Yunzhi turned to Gu Lingyu. “Lingyu, we’re worried about Wuqiu too. You’re close to her, so you must know something. Come on, tell us.”
“The children really are mine.”
“You child…” Su Yunzhi grew somewhat exasperated as well. “Why are you so impossible to talk to? You say you’re a girl, and Wuqiu is a girl. How can two girls have children?”
Gu Lingyu tilted her head and thought about it. If a boy and a girl were strictly required to have children, she offered, “Then you can just pretend I’m a boy.”
Her patience completely exhausted, Shen Dad felt a liver-ache from being stonewalled, his urge to beat her up growing restless.
Looking at her resolute and earnest expression, and recalling that this person showed zero intention of leaving, Su Yunzhi’s mind drifted to other possibilities. I’ve heard that young men nowadays love to be unconventional. Fine young men who love dressing up in women’s clothes.
The more Su Yunzhi thought about it, the more convinced she became that the Gu Lingyu before her was a disguised young man. Look at this figure, what eighteen-year-old girl has a chest shaped quite like that? Chances are it’s fake.
No wonder Wuqiu refused to share a room with this long-distance good friend.
Once this thought sprouted, Su Yunzhi grew entirely certain of it, and her gaze toward Gu Lingyu turned somewhat bizarre. However, noting Shen Dad’s blackened expression, she decided against exposing the matter on the spot.
“Lingyu, come over here. Auntie wants to ask you something.”
With that, she pulled Gu Lingyu into the nearby bathroom and shut the door behind them.
Noticing her inscrutable expression, Gu Lingyu frowned. “What do you want to ask me?”
Su Yunzhi looked at her for a few seconds before saying, “Take off your clothes.”
Utterly baffling.
Su Yunzhi assumed she was feeling guilty. “Tell me the truth, do you just have a fetish for girls’ clothes or something, and that’s why you’re cross-dressing as a woman?”
As she spoke, Su Yunzhi reached out to tug at her clothes to verify.
Frightened, Gu Lingyu quickly wrapped her arms around herself. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to see for myself whether you’re a man or a woman today.”
Gu Lingyu stared at her with a guarded look. “Then tell me first, are you hoping I’m a man or a woman?”
“You’re a man if you’re a man, a woman if you’re a woman.” Su Yunzhi muttered as she reached out to pull at her clothes again.
Gu Lingyu hurriedly dodged away.
While the two of them were scuffling inside the bathroom, someone outside in the yard began rapping heavily on the large iron gate. “Is anyone home?”
Hearing the noise, both of them stopped.
The knocking on the door continued, striking the iron gate with heavy, muffled thuds.
With no other choice, Su Yunzhi temporarily put aside the question of whether Gu Lingyu was a man or a woman and opened the door to go take a look.
The moment she opened it, Gu Lingyu darted out like a gust of wind, sprinting straight toward the iron gate in the yard.
The lower meter of the iron gate was solid metal, while the upper section consisted of iron bars. Through the bars, Gu Lingyu instantly spotted two figures outside dressed in Tang suits.
The moment she saw the two of them, Gu Lingyu’s expression shifted through a flurry of complex emotions before she scampered back into the house in a flash.
By comparison, the middle-aged couple standing at the gate appeared much calmer, maintaining gentle, cultured smiles throughout.
Following close behind, Su Yunzhi looked at the hastily retreating Gu Lingyu with confusion. Lifting her gaze, she saw two strangers with extraordinary poise and attire standing outside the gate. Puzzled though she was, she still smiled and opened the gate wide. “Who are you two looking for? Would you like to come inside for a cup of tea first?”
“Excuse me, is this Mr. Shen Xiangle’s home?”
“Yes.” Hearing that they were looking for her husband, the smile on Su Yunzhi’s face grew even warmer as she pulled the gate open a bit further. “Come on in, Old Le is at home.”
The two middle-aged visitors exchanged a glance before stepping inside.
In the living room, Shen Dad was still immersed in the astronomical bombshell that his daughter was pregnant with four little ones. Seeing Su Yunzhi bringing two strangers into the house, he didn’t display his usual hospitality, instead asking with a furrowed brow, “Who are these two?”
Su Yunzhi blinked in bewilderment, glancing back at the middle-aged couple and then at him. “They’re looking for you.”
“Looking for me?” Shen Dad furrowed his brows even tighter, looking at the pair. Certain he didn’t recognize them, he figured that over the years of contracting mountain forests and land, he often had clients introduced by word of mouth, so unfamiliar clients dropping by for business talks wasn’t out of the ordinary. “Is there something I can help you two with?”
The middle-aged man nodded politely. “We are indeed here on an important matter today.”
Seeing that both of them wore smiling, polite expressions, he figured the matter couldn’t be anything bad.
Su Yunzhi hurriedly assumed the posture of a hostess, inviting them to sit on the sofa.
The middle-aged couple handed over the gift boxes they were carrying. “A small token for our first visit, please kindly accept it.”
“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” Su Yunzhi exchanged pleasantries, casting a sideways glance at the gift boxes. Although she couldn’t see the exact contents, such high-end packaging boxes were bound to contain good things, making her even more enthusiastic toward these two unfamiliar guests.
Inviting them to be seated, Shen Dad also sat down on the sofa. Once Su Yunzhi served tea, Shen Dad initiated the conversation. “May I ask how I should address you both?”
The middle-aged man wore an apologetic look. “I was so happy I forgot to introduce myself. My surname is Gu. Mr. Shen can just call me Junshan, and this is my wife, Dai Ying.”
Shen Dad nodded. “Mr. Gu, what brings you all this way to see me?”
Gu Junshan and Dai Ying exchanged glances once more. After a few seconds, Dai Ying set down her teacup, looked directly at Shen Dad, and said, “To be frank, we are here today because of the child in Wuqiu’s belly.”