Pregnancy really is quite miserable. And it hasn’t even been three months yet.
If he had Jiang Xinhe’s constitution, he’d be vomiting all the way until birth…
No, Jiang Xinhe didn’t even make it to birth before he was gone…
Chen Jue closed his eyes. He couldn’t dwell on this any longer.
Chen Jue went to the water vat, scooped up some water, and washed his face. Aside from slightly reddened eyes, he had returned to being that cold, unempathetic Chen Jue.
Memories are painful, and so is longing—though the latter can keep a person alive.
It’s just that living this way is rather painful, and the quality of life has dropped not by a single point, but by billions of points.
Who could blame people in later generations for having so much advanced technology? Even if they couldn’t tell one grain from another and were all thumbs, they could still have clothes handed to them and food brought to their mouths.
Chen Jue swallowed, his throat still aching from retching earlier.
He had to think of another way. He couldn’t let Jiang Xinhe’s child go hungry.
Leaning against the doorframe, Chen Jue pondered his future life. The family’s assets were visibly limited. If the two chickens couldn’t be eaten, the food supply would run out in just a few days.
It was now mid-April in the lunar calendar, a time when the old harvest was gone and the new one hadn’t yet come in. Even during harvest season, he had no silver to buy grain.
From the original host’s limited memories, this family was very poor. They weren’t native residents and had no farmland, so they had cleared a small vegetable plot at the foot of the mountain.
The Huo family came from a hunting background. In the past, they had earned some money by digging for medicinal herbs and hunting, but unfortunately, the original host’s father-in-law fell seriously ill a few years ago, and all the money was spent on his treatment, leaving them with considerable debt.
This was also why Huo Lin, at nineteen, had married the original host without spending any money—only because he had saved him.
Chen Jue still didn’t quite understand why a man could marry another man. Perhaps he wasn’t entirely considered a man, given that he could carry a child.
Chen Jue’s mind wandered for just a moment before he quickly regained his composure.
He had to survive first.
Based on the above analysis, there wasn’t a single spare coin in the household.
But for a pregnant person, nutrition was crucial.
Not only did he need sufficient staple food, but also fish, meat, eggs, and various nuts to supplement trace elements.
All of these required silver.
The villagers living near the mountains were poor. Aside from having no shortage of firewood, they likely lacked everything else. Living off the mountains meant that the nearby hills probably didn’t have much left to offer, and valuable medicinal herbs would likely have to be sought deeper in the mountains. But the deep mountains were too dangerous.
Chen Jue stared blankly at the layers of deep mountains. The sun had fully risen now, and the scenery here was as beautiful as a 5A-level scenic area.
Unfortunately, this was ancient times, and deep, remote forests were perilous.
It wasn’t just about getting lost—there were also many wild beasts.
A single wolf could likely end his life, let alone tigers or wild boars.
But if he worried too much, he would starve to death.
If heaven had brought him to this world only to live for these three days, then so be it.
Every extra day he lived was a bonus. After all, he was already dead, wasn’t he?
Chen Jue thought coldly.
To others, he looked as though he had no desire to live.
Uncle Liu thought exactly that.
He was tidying up the vegetable garden. It had rained a few days ago, and the weeds in the field had grown faster than the vegetables. While Uncle Liu was pulling weeds, Chen Jue stood at the door. Now that the weeds were pulled, the pests caught, and the soil loosened, he was still standing there, not having changed his posture.
Although he was too far away to see his expression clearly, standing there for so long made him look like a stone statue longing for a husband’s return.
Don't be thinking of doing something foolish.
Pregnant people are prone to overthinking.
Uncle Liu shook his head, pulled a handful of vegetables from the field, picked a long gourd, and walked up with a basket.
Their two families lived not far apart. When their family divided the household years ago, they blamed him, a widower, for being unlucky to his husband, and made him take his three young children to these old houses at the westernmost end of the village.
The Huo family, being outsiders, were assigned to live at the foot of the mountain, which actually made them closer to the mountain than his own family, and they ended up becoming neighbors.
Over the years, the Huo family had helped him immensely, far more than those ungrateful relatives of his.
Uncle Liu walked up with a basket of vegetables. When he reached the fence, Chen Jue was still gazing into the distance. He called out, "Ger Jue."
Only then did Chen Jue turn to look at him. In that instant, his expression startled Uncle Liu.
He felt that something about Chen Jue had changed.
Just moments ago, he had thought Chen Jue might be contemplating something foolish, but now the look in his eyes was quite… sharp?
Uncle Liu couldn't find the right word. Looking at the sickle in his hand used for cutting leeks, he felt that Chen Jue's gaze in that moment was quite similar to this sickle.
And the expression on his entire face wasn't the sorrow he had expected, but rather… cold? Like the ice in a winter lake or the snow on the mountain, utterly devoid of warmth.
This was truly strange.
Uncle Liu couldn't figure out where this peculiar feeling came from either.
He could only shake his head and think to himself, this Ger Jue had always been a quiet and reserved person, but ever since he fell into the river and woke up, he had become increasingly odd.
Perhaps in a few days, once he recovers, he'll be fine again.
Ah, who would have thought he could faint and fall into the river? Getting pregnant was supposed to be a good thing. For a Ger to conceive within a year of marriage proves he has a strong and healthy body, which is rare. Maybe he'll be able to have several children like me in the future, you know it's not easy for a Ger to get pregnant.
But after fainting in the river, he hit his head, and Huo Lin happened to be away for corvée labor at this time and hasn't returned yet, sigh.
Who knows when he'll come back, and who knows how dangerous the work they're doing is? After all, Dashan's leg was broken…
Uncle Liu thought of his eldest son, who was perfectly fine when he left, only to be carried back on a stretcher, and the pain made it hard for him to breathe. Why was he so unlucky as to have his leg crushed?
Was it from digging the mountain?
If it's that kind of hard and exhausting work, it's very dangerous.
I wonder how Dalin is doing now.
Seeing Uncle Liu, who had walked up to him, clutching his chest, Chen Jue quickly stepped forward to support him and checked his pulse on the wrist. His heart meridian was fine.
After a moment, Chen Jue let go and asked him, "Uncle Liu, why are you here now?"
Uncle Liu usually came to cook for him at noon. People in this area ate two meals a day, and it wasn't mealtime yet.
He didn't know why he had come.
Seeing his hunched back, Chen Jue pointed to the yard. "Uncle, come in and sit."
This Uncle Liu said he was forty-five, but he looked much older than his peers. His hair was already graying and thinning, held loosely by a wooden hairpin. His back wasn't good either. Seeing him supporting his waist, Chen Jue wanted to find a stool for him to sit on.
"No need, I'll sit here."
Uncle Liu waved his hand and, supporting his waist, sat down on a bluestone slab by Chen Jue's door. His back had been damaged from going to work in the fields right after giving birth to his youngest child, and it had left a chronic problem. Now, whenever he worked bent over for a long time, it was difficult for him to straighten up.
After sitting down, he smiled at Chen Jue:
"Ger Jue, are you hungry?"
Chen Jue hesitated and shook his head. Although he was hungry now, he felt even more nauseous, so it was better not to waste food.
Uncle Liu carefully observed him: "I saw you standing here for a long time just now. Even though you can get out of bed now, you still need to take care of your health."
So that was it—he had indeed been standing at the door for quite some time.
Despite being a man, Uncle Liu was quite attentive. Not only could he cook, but his words were always gentle. The first time Uncle Liu repeatedly reminded Chen Jue to take care of his pregnancy, Chen Jue was a bit taken aback, but after a few more times, he grew accustomed to it.
So he nodded and said, "Alright."
Uncle Liu, while sorting the leeks in his hands, said: "Ger Jue, don’t mind Uncle Liu being long-winded. I’ll just say a few more words to you.
I know this is the time when you most need someone to take care of you, and with Dalin still away on corvée labor for three months without returning, it’s truly worrying. But you must take care of your health. Only by staying healthy can you wait for him to come back."
He looked at Chen Jue’s belly with satisfaction: "Besides, you’re carrying a child now. This is a great joy, a good omen. When Dalin returns one day, you’ll be reunited. A family of three—how wonderful, don’t you think?"
Chen Jue didn’t respond. He had nothing to say about the missing Huo Lin.
Although he disliked his surname, he had no issue with the man himself. They were all NPCs in this world.
Whether he returned or not had little to do with him.
The original owner had already passed away, and he was not the wife Huo Lin had married.
If Huo Lin didn’t return, he wouldn’t need to think of an explanation.
If he did return, he would consider how to make things clear to him.
He wouldn’t leave the child with Huo Lin either.
Although Huo Lin was the biological father of the child in his belly, this child held a different meaning for him. He was carrying it for Jiang Xinhe—this statement was subjective, but it was indeed the reason he had decided to give birth.
So he couldn’t give the child to Huo Lin.
But how should he explain it to him?
Chen Jue’s brows furrowed slightly. Over the past few days, he had been thinking about other matters and had completely forgotten to consider Huo Lin, the original owner’s husband.
It seemed he still had to leave this place early.
What was the outside world like?
Seeing Chen Jue frowning, Uncle Liu thought he had inadvertently touched on a sensitive topic and hurt his feelings. Huo Lin and the others had been gone for two and a half months, and such a long corvée labor had never happened before. Most importantly, Dashan’s leg was broken—he had gone with Huo Lin, but when asked where Huo Lin was, he shook his head and claimed not to know. The more uncertain things were, the more worrying they became.
On top of that, pregnant people were more prone to overthinking.
So Uncle Liu quickly explained: "Ger Jue, listen to Uncle Liu’s advice—don’t overthink things! Huo Lin will definitely come back!
Don’t be frightened by Qingshan. His leg was broken accidentally by a falling stone!"
Uncle Liu patted his own leg in distress. If he could trade his own leg for Qingshan’s, he would do so without hesitation.
Chen Jue asked: "Broken by a stone? How is he now?"
Why hadn’t Uncle Liu mentioned this before? His own child’s leg was broken, yet he was still here taking care of him?
Uncle Liu also looked at him in surprise: "Half a month ago."
Chen Jue paused. He didn’t know.
Was it because he had been a doctor for too long, and his professional instincts had kicked in?
Chen Jue said, "Oh, I’ve been a bit dizzy these past few days and forgot. How is he now?"
Uncle Liu let out a long sigh. "Still the same, lying in bed, refusing food and water… If I had known he would break his leg, I would never have let him go. I should have scraped together five taels of silver to exempt him from the corvée labor, even if it meant selling everything we own… After the old man passed away, he became the only man in the family, the pillar of the household, but now he's completely ruined…"
The old man? Uncle Liu's husband?
Uncle Liu was also a… Ger.
Chen Jue's gaze shifted as he looked at Uncle Liu. He had felt something was off, and now he realized—Uncle Liu was also a… Ger.
Chen Jue mulled over the word in his mind, a new term in this world.
Author's Note:
Taking a break tomorrow. Five updates a week, as usual. Thank you all for your comments. I'm working hard on writing the second volume.