Xuan Chiyi didn’t process the words for a moment.
He understood every single word the veteran traditional Chinese medicine doctor said, but strung together, they suddenly made no sense to him.
Xuan Chiyi asked, “You, you mean?”
Gu Yansheng was pregnant! He was carrying his child! He was going to be a father! He really was going to be a father! Xuan Chiyi was overwhelmed with a mix of joy and excitement, standing frozen in place.
Xuan Chiyi was the type of person whose emotions never showed on his face. On the outside, he looked entirely calm, but inside, his emotions were surging like rough seas.
The old doctor wasn’t too pleased with Xuan Chiyi’s reaction, assuming that Xuan Chiyi didn’t want the child.
Although a man becoming pregnant sounded a bit bizarre, not everything in life was absolute.
Pregnancy was already a difficult ordeal, and it was especially harsh for a young man. As a boyfriend, he should be taking good care of the pregnant partner; how could he possibly have this kind of reaction?
The old doctor said, “Although I don’t know what you young people are thinking nowadays, since there is a child, you should cherish it properly. Your boyfriend’s body is a bit weak and malnourished, making it all the more unsuitable for surgery, as that would cause severe harm to his health. Both of you need to think this through carefully.”
Xuan Chiyi asked, “Who wants surgery?”
After leaving the hospital, Xuan Chiyi decided to stay in Jiangcheng. He would not return until he found Gu Yansheng.
He called Yang Ao again, instructing him to use every means necessary to find Gu Yansheng as soon as possible.
His tone was brimming with anxiety and irritation.
Yang Ao asked, “What happened? Why are you in such a rush?” Thinking about how Gu Yansheng had gone to the hospital and seeing how panicked Xuan Chiyi was right now, Yang Ao couldn’t help wondering if Gu Yansheng had contracted some serious illness.
Xuan Chiyi didn’t hide it from him. “Yang Ao, you have to help me. I am only telling you this: Gu Yansheng is carrying my child.”
Yang Ao replied, “Understood. Got it!”
Knowing that Gu Yansheng had no intention of keeping the baby, Xuan Chiyi and Yang Ao accelerated their search efforts.
Returning to the hotel from the hospital, Xuan Chiyi remained restless the entire time.
It was already the dead of night, but he didn’t feel a shred of sleepiness.
Spread out in front of him was a map of Jiangcheng.
Several circles were drawn on the map.
These marked the locations where he previously knew Gu Yansheng had appeared: the bar, the milk tea shop, the hospital.
Xuan Chiyi drew a large circle enclosing all three points, figuring that Gu Yansheng’s activity range must lie within this zone.
Based on what Zhang Fang had mentioned, Gu Yansheng had only arrived in Jiangcheng half a year ago, meaning he must be renting a place, and the residential area would likely fall right within the circle he had just drawn.
To rent a home, he wouldn’t have looked for one entirely on his own; he must have gone through a real estate agency.
Xuan Chiyi immediately relayed this idea to Yang Ao.
Yang Ao noted that the moment day broke, he would head straight to the real estate agencies, though he still asked, “What if Gu Yansheng didn’t use an agency?”
Xuan Chiyi fell silent on the phone. Why did Yang Ao always have a way of pouring cold water on his plans?
Where on earth was Gu Yansheng right now? Such a small person, with a tiny little life tucked away inside his belly, Xuan Chiyi was deeply worried.
Because of the pregnancy, Gu Yansheng had been listless and lacking energy over the past few days.
Whatever he ate, he threw up. If he didn’t eat, he felt starved, but as soon as he finished eating, the vomiting would start all over again. He felt thoroughly miserable, realizing only now that pregnancy was such a grueling undertaking.
His plan to leave Jiangcheng had to be put on hold.
Right now, he simply lacked any extra energy to move to another place and start all over again.
Too many issues piled up in front of him.
First and foremost, whether or not to keep this child was a massive dilemma.
On one hand, he didn’t want to keep the baby because he felt he couldn’t afford to raise it, nor did he know if he could manage raising a child all by himself.
On the other hand, he wanted to keep the child because this was also a life, a gift bestowed upon him by the heavens, and a relative granted to him by fate.
Whether in reality or within the book, he had always stood completely alone without a single relative. But now, he had a child of his own, someone connected to him by blood.
Gu Yansheng had never felt so conflicted in his life.
More than anyone else, he wanted nothing to do with Xuan Chiyi, yet time and time again, he found himself entangled with him. The random person he had turned to for help happened to be Xuan Chiyi, and just as he managed to escape him, he discovered he was carrying Xuan Chiyi’s child. Was he truly powerless to step outside the plot of the book?
Tossing and turning in bed, unable to fall asleep, he had no one to share this secret with.
Only now did he realize that he didn’t even have a single person around him to talk to. This kind of loneliness felt profoundly desolate.
Lost in these thoughts, Gu Yansheng finally drifted into a hazy sleep. When he woke up, he made his decision: he was going to bring this child into the world.
He would raise this child to adulthood. This was his only family left in this world.
Yet Gu Yansheng knew that raising a child was no simple task.
He glanced at the balance in his bank account and let out a sigh. Starting tomorrow, he would have to go out and find a job.
Having lived through hard times himself, he wanted his child to grow up worry-free.
Gu Yansheng figured that once the pregnancy stabilized and before his baby bump started showing, he would leave this place and head somewhere no one knew him to start anew.
Ever since learning of Gu Yansheng’s intention to leave Jiangcheng, Li Hui had been keeping a close eye on him. Privately, he didn’t want Gu Yansheng to leave, even though Gu Yansheng didn’t reciprocate his romantic feelings.
He simply felt that if this young man left here, life would become much harder for him. Every time he saw Gu Yansheng, he couldn’t help wanting to look after him.
That morning, he had spotted Gu Yansheng heading out to work again. Although his complexion looked slightly better than before, he still appeared somewhat pale.
Whenever he asked what was wrong, Gu Yansheng always claimed he was fine.
Moreover, Li Hui noticed that over the past two days, several strangers had appeared around the residential complex, acting strangely as if they were searching for someone.
What gave Li Hui a bit of peace of mind, however, was that Gu Yansheng hadn’t rushed off to leave just yet.
Gu Yansheng quickly secured a new job.
He started working part-time at a cake shop.
Strangely enough, whenever he smelled other odors, Gu Yansheng would feel nauseous and want to vomit, but inside the cake shop, surrounded by sweet and fragrant aromas, he didn’t feel any urge to throw up at all.
Instead, he found the sweet scent comforting, heartwarming, and soothing.
Gu Yansheng felt that the baby in his belly was truly considerate; knowing that his daddy was working hard to earn money to support him, the little one couldn’t bear to let his daddy suffer too much.
Before the pregnancy, Gu Yansheng used to pinch pennies on food, making do with whatever was cheapest. Sometimes, a single pack of instant noodles with two leaves of greens and a fried egg made up a hearty dinner.
Yet, after becoming pregnant, Gu Yansheng could no longer eat instant noodles like before. He needed nutritious food so that the baby growing inside him could develop healthily.
After finishing his shift, Gu Yansheng stopped by the supermarket to pick up groceries. When he returned to the complex entrance, he happened to run into Li Hui, who was just getting off work.
Seeing the bags in his hands, Li Hui smiled with relief. “You’re finally willing to treat yourself a bit better.” In the past, almost everything Gu Yansheng bought consisted of instant noodles and other unnutritious items.
Although rejected by Gu Yansheng, Li Hui remained a gentleman. He didn’t treat Gu Yansheng poorly because of the rejection; instead, he continued to look out for him just as before.
Gu Yansheng greeted him with a polite “Brother Hui,” then smiled sheepishly. “I should always take better care of myself.”
Li Hui nodded, nagging him like an elder relative. “You should have done this ages ago. Stop always eating junk like instant noodles with zero nutrition.”
Chatting along the way, the two walked into the residential compound together.
“Gu Yansheng!” someone called out from behind.
Both of them turned around at the same time.
Upon seeing the person calling his name, Gu Yansheng froze instantly in his tracks.
It was Xuan Chiyi.
Having finally tracked down the person he had obsessively searched for over a month, Xuan Chiyi reined in his emotions and walked step by step toward Gu Yansheng. In this moment, he had a mountain of things to say.
Yet, the instant he laid eyes on Gu Yansheng, all those words suddenly felt unimportant.
Xuan Chiyi walked up to Gu Yansheng and said softly, “Gu Yansheng, I’ve finally found you.”
A jolt of shock went through Gu Yansheng when he saw Xuan Chiyi, making him wonder if he was dreaming.
But looking at Xuan Chiyi standing right in front of him, and hearing him say “I’ve finally found you,” an inexplicable wave of terror gripped Gu Yansheng.
Why on earth was Xuan Chiyi still able to track him down?
Gu Yansheng forced a smile. “Mr. Xuan, do you need something from me?”
Standing beside them, Li Hui looked back and forth between Xuan Chiyi and Gu Yansheng in confusion. This was the first time he was seeing someone from Gu Yansheng’s personal life.
The moment Xuan Chiyi stepped forward, Gu Yansheng quickly whispered into Li Hui’s ear, “Brother Hui, please do me a favor and pretend to be my boyfriend for a moment.”
Though clueless about what was happening, Li Hui didn’t press for details and simply murmured a brief assent.
Xuan Chiyi’s eyes remained locked onto Gu Yansheng.
Compared to over a month ago, the person in front of him seemed to have lost even more weight. His complexion was poor, clearly showing he hadn’t been taking proper care of himself. His gaze dropped once again to Gu Yansheng’s abdomen, which was flat and smooth, but inside it rested his child.
Suppressing his surging emotions, Xuan Chiyi looked at Gu Yansheng and asked, “Gu Yansheng, can we find a place to talk?”
Gu Yansheng looked at him defensively. “Mr. Xuan, I’m sorry, but I don’t think you and I have anything to talk about. If you have something to say, just say it right here.”
He was genuinely terrified of being alone with Xuan Chiyi.
Only then did Xuan Chiyi notice the other person standing beside Gu Yansheng. “Gu Yansheng, who is he?”
Gu Yansheng linked his arm through Li Hui’s and introduced him, “This is my boyfriend.”
“Boyfriend?” Xuan Chiyi looked as though he had been struck by lightning. “You said he is your boyfriend?”
Gu Yansheng had a boyfriend?
Gu Yansheng had a boyfriend?
Then what about that night?
Xuan Chiyi struggled to recover his voice. “You…”
He didn’t know what else to say. The fact that Gu Yansheng had a boyfriend made his month-long longing look utterly ridiculous.
Then what was he?
“You…” Xuan Chiyi couldn’t bring himself to ask the question after lingering for a long time.
He wanted to ask Gu Yansheng if he was willing to stay by his side, and he wanted to ask what was going on with the child in his belly.
Yet right now, words completely failed him.
Xuan Chiyi said, “I’m sorry to have intruded.”
Watching Xuan Chiyi’s lonely retreating figure, a sudden pang of guilt pierced through Gu Yansheng’s heart.
Gu Yansheng reminded himself internally: Gu Yansheng, you must never grow soft-hearted. That is Xuan Chiyi, an absolute psycho from a novel. You need to stay as far away from someone like that as possible.
Driven by desperation earlier, Gu Yansheng had conjured the strategy of having Li Hui pose as his boyfriend. He figured that once Xuan Chiyi knew he was taken, he wouldn’t come looking for him anymore.
Luckily, Li Hui hadn’t asked any questions or said anything unnecessary, cooperating with him the entire way.
The two of them walked back in silence.
As they reached the stairway where they were about to part ways, Gu Yansheng spoke up, “Brother Hui, thank you for your help earlier, playing along as my boyfriend.”
Otherwise, he wouldn’t have known what to do or how to face Xuan Chiyi.
Li Hui smiled. “Just a small matter, don’t sweat it. Who was that guy?”
Gu Yansheng thought for a moment. “Just someone I met once before.”
Judging by the expression that man wore while looking at Gu Yansheng earlier, it was obvious it wasn’t the look of a mere acquaintance. As a man himself, Li Hui could tell that the affection in that stranger’s eyes toward Gu Yansheng was unmistakable.
Yet for some reason, Gu Yansheng seemed utterly terrified of him.
An understanding dawned on Li Hui. “Was your earlier wish to move away related to him? Are you hiding from him?”
Gu Yansheng kept quiet.
Li Hui smiled gently. “It’s fine. If you don’t want to talk about it, I won’t pry. If you ever need anything, just let me know. I’m always here to help.”
“Thank you, Brother Hui,” Gu Yansheng said.
Once inside his apartment, Gu Yansheng felt as though all his strength had drained from his body.
Xuan Chiyi really tracked him down here.
Fortunately, thankfully, Xuan Chiyi hadn’t dragged him away by force like in the book.
He actually seemed somewhat reasonable; upon hearing that he had a boyfriend, he turned around and left without another word.
Gu Yansheng gently stroked his belly and whispered to himself, “Baby, I’m sorry. I can’t let your other daddy know you exist. I chased him away, but I promise I’ll take good care of you from now on.”
Just as Gu Yansheng placed his bags on the table and prepared to make dinner, the doorbell rang.
Assuming it was Li Hui, Gu Yansheng opened the door directly, only to find Xuan Chiyi standing outside, having returned.