She was really pregnant!!!
Tang Hao’s mind was buzzing. He didn’t even know how he had made it home. His hands and feet felt weak.
He had never imagined that he would have another child at this age.
At first, he had married Zhou Ping simply because he wanted someone to help take care of the two children. Zhou Ping understood that perfectly well, so she had suggested that they have a marriage in name only.
For ten years, the two had treated each other with mutual respect, but they had actually developed feelings for each other long ago. Neither of them, however, had been willing to break the status quo.
Ten years ago, he had finally taken the first step while he was slightly drunk. After that, the two of them officially became a couple.
But at the time, they had both been determined to raise the two children properly.
On top of that, Tang Youyou had been manipulated by Cai Jinhe, and they were already so overwhelmed dealing with everything that they had no thought of having another child.
Yet they never expected that ten years later, a child would arrive at a time when it really shouldn’t have.
“What do you mean, ‘a time when it shouldn’t have’?”
As soon as they got home, Tang Youyou went straight into the kitchen. She had just come out when she heard Tang Hao muttering to himself.
She stuffed a bowl of pork rib soup into Zhou Ping’s hands, then pointed toward Zhou Ping’s belly.
“Be careful. It might hear you.”
“Oh, right, right, right!”
Tang Hao suddenly snapped back to reality and hurriedly apologized to Zhou Ping’s stomach.
“Son—no, daughter—ah, no…”
He grabbed his hair, looking somewhat frustrated.
“Dad doesn’t know whether you’re a boy or a girl yet, but what Dad just said was just a slip of the tongue. Dad was wrong. You absolutely can’t take it to heart.”
Zhou Ping’s mouth twitched.
She had only just gotten pregnant. The baby wasn’t even as big as a tadpole yet. How could it possibly hear any of this?
But seeing how seriously Tang Hao was taking it, her heart couldn’t help beating faster.
Her right hand instinctively rested on her stomach, gently caressing it.
*There was a child here… a child belonging to her and Tang Hao.*
After they got together, they hadn’t never considered having a child.
But back then, Tang Youyou had been extremely sensitive. They were worried that if they had another child, she would be even less willing to accept them.
So, as if they shared the same unspoken understanding, neither of them had ever brought it up.
They never expected that a child would arrive unexpectedly anyway.
And the Tang family was about to face an investigation and liquidation.
“I’ll find a way!”
Tang Hao suddenly sprang back to life, startling the others.
Tang Youyou quickly understood.
“Exactly. Didn’t the doctor say we still have half a month? We’ll definitely think of something. Are you hungry? Let’s eat first.”
She rubbed her stomach.
The original owner had been called to the ancestral home first thing that morning, so Tang Youyou had been starving for ages.
The family sat down around the dining table.
Tang Hao clapped his hands, and the servants who had been waiting out of sight filed out one after another, bringing dish after dish from the kitchen.
Looking at the delicious spread, Tang Youyou silently swallowed.
*Steamed chicken wings with black bean sauce, garlic vermicelli prawns, pan-fried hairtail, lotus root and pork rib soup…*
*This smells incredible.*
Wait.
One dish after another kept appearing until there was barely any room left on the table.
Only then did they finally stop.
Tang Youyou counted.
Four people.
Ten dishes?
Even capitalists weren’t supposed to waste food like this, were they?
It was only 1968. Most people across the country still couldn’t eat their fill, yet their family had ten dishes for a single meal.
Tang Jiaojiao was already holding her chopsticks, waiting to eat.
Seeing that Tang Youyou wasn’t moving, she asked curiously,
“Sis, why aren’t you eating? Don’t you like these dishes?”
“You don’t like them?”
Zhou Ping, who had just happily finished the bowl of pork rib soup Tang Youyou had served her, put down the bowl and frowned.
“What do you want to eat? I’ll make it.”
She was about to stand when Tang Hao stopped her.
“I’ll do it. You’re pregnant.”
At least in the Tang family’s main household, there was no such thing as a gentleman refusing to enter the kitchen.
Besides, they had plenty of free time, so Tang Hao had spent quite a bit of time learning how to cook.
His cooking was actually pretty good.
“No need!”
Tang Youyou hurriedly stopped them.
If they made anything else, there really wouldn’t be enough room on the table.
“I just think this is too much. It’s a little wasteful.”
Tang Jiaojiao looked at the ten dishes on the table and tilted her head.
“Too much? Didn’t you say you wouldn’t eat if there were fewer than ten dishes?”
*Gaaah?!*
Tang Youyou stared at her stiffly.
At last, she managed to dig that particular memory out of the original owner’s mind.
*Oh my goodness.*
*This original owner really was something.*
She couldn’t just rely on her parents’ love and do whatever she wanted.
Well…
In the original owner’s mind, her parents weren’t simply doting on her.
They were guilty.
They were remorseful.
They were afraid that her deceased biological mother would come back and haunt them.
Fortunately, although the family of four couldn’t finish all the food, they would give the leftovers to beggars on the street.
Tang Youyou’s memories contained many scenes of the original owner taking food out to give to beggars.
Still, it was too wasteful.
“I was immature before. Don’t waste so much food from now on. If we can’t finish today’s meal, we’ll save it for dinner.
“Oh, right. Mom shouldn’t eat leftovers.”
As she spoke, she put a chicken wing into Tang Jiaojiao’s bowl and began shoveling rice into her mouth.
Tang Hao and Zhou Ping exchanged a glance.
Their eyes were slightly red.
Their child had really grown up.
“Mom, eat. You can’t go hungry now.”
Tang Youyou looked up from her delicious meal.
Seeing that Zhou Ping hadn’t eaten a single bite, she put several prawns into her bowl before returning her attention to the food.
Anyone who had known Tang Youyou before would know that she had been born with everything handed to her.
Her grandfather was the seventeenth-generation successor of the Tang Family Medical Clinic and a highly respected master in the field of traditional Chinese medicine.
Her father hadn’t inherited his talent for traditional Chinese medicine. Instead, he had studied Western medicine and become a leading specialist in cardiac surgery.
After retiring, her grandmother devoted herself to taking care of her.
Her mother ran a huge conglomerate, ensuring that Tang Youyou had never lacked food, clothing, or anything else.
She had also inherited the Tang family’s ancestral Shennong Space from her grandfather.
At a young age, she had already mastered the Tang family’s secret technique, the Eighteen Tang Sect Needles.
With her exceptional acupuncture skills, she had treated countless difficult and complicated illnesses.
Because of this, she had stopped following her professors around starting in her third year of university.
After completing a year of hospital internship, her grandfather had kicked her straight into the clinic to treat patients.
Officially, it was to give her more practical experience.
In reality, her grandfather simply wanted to retire.
Of course, she’d never dared say that to his face.
The consequences would’ve been disastrous.
Anyway, Tang Youyou’s twenty-two years of life had been smooth sailing.
If she had any particular hobby, food was definitely one of them.
She didn’t care where she ate or what the surroundings were like.
From state banquet restaurants to roadside food stalls, as long as the food was delicious, she could be found there.
And watching her eat was genuinely enjoyable.
She was already exceptionally beautiful.
She was 165 centimeters tall and weighed 50 kilograms.
With her curvy figure, fair jade-like skin, and long black wavy hair cascading down to her waist, every movement of her hair seemed to make people’s hearts itch.
Beneath her willow-shaped brows was a pair of misty almond-shaped eyes, their irises dark as ink.
Her eyelashes glistened with moisture, and whenever she tasted something delicious, her eyes would light up instantly.
Her naturally curved lips would lift into a slight smile, as though even the air around her became brighter.
Just watching her was enough to whet the appetite of anyone nearby.
And that was without mentioning how the three people at the table felt when they saw her completely absorbed in her meal for the first time.
Their stomachs began to growl.
The three of them had completely forgotten the worries weighing on their hearts.
The entire dining room was filled only with the faint clinking of bowls and chopsticks.
After eating their fill, Tang Jiaojiao still had half an hour before she needed to return to work.
She couldn’t bear to leave such a wonderful sister, so she decided to stay with her until the very last moment before going back to the hospital.
Only then did Tang Youyou remember the antique paintings and calligraphy she had taken from Cai Jinhe.
She opened the wooden trunk right there in front of her family.
But the moment Tang Hao saw what was inside, his brows furrowed.