Guessing at another person’s thoughts is a troublesome thing.
Some people loathe mind games and emotional maneuvering; others, by contrast, take pleasure in seeing straight through what others are thinking. Li Yang belonged to the latter and he enjoyed it thoroughly.
From a very young age, he had discovered that he seemed to possess a kind of gift, an ability to perceive others’ intentions at a glance. It made him appear deep minded and out of place among his peers and later, in adulthood, it rendered him almost invincible in social arenas and power structures alike.
Yet throughout the entire drive to the hospital after hanging up Ran Fan’s call, Li Yang could not figure out the reason behind it.
Holding onto that confusion, Li Yang met Ran Fan at the hospital, Ran Fan who had clearly been waiting for him for some time, his expression calm yet tinged with a blank, absent dullness.
Ran Fan was seated in the waiting area south of the information desk on the first floor. When he saw Li Yang, he stood up and, before saying anything, handed him a report.
Li Yang opened it.
Diagnosis result: Early pregnancy, four weeks.
Pregnant?
Who?
He looked at the patient’s name. It read Ran Fan, Ran Fan himself.
Li Yang’s thoughts froze for an instant. He fell silent for about five or six seconds,
Then he quickly digested and accepted the fact.
He looked at Ran Fan and asked, “Where do you feel uncomfortable? Have you had morning sickness? Why did you suddenly think of coming to the hospital?”
Ran Fan had not expected Li Yang to accept it so quickly. Caught off guard, he froze for a moment. “You believe this is real?”
Li Yang said, “I can’t think of any reason for you to lie to me.”
Ran Fan was still slow and dazed. “I thought you’d at least take me somewhere else to get rechecked.”
“We do need to check again,” Li Yang replied, “but that’s to ensure your health. Male pregnancy is extremely rare. Without a proper specialized medical team, there’s no way to guarantee everything goes smoothly.”
“……” Ran Fan’s lips moved but no words came out.
Seeing his state, Li Yang pressed a hand to Ran Fan’s shoulder, signaling him to sit down. He meant to touch Ran Fan’s face but in the end, he withdrew his hand.
He asked again, “Why did you suddenly come to the hospital? Are you feeling unwell right now?”
Ran Fan had no physical symptoms at all. Everything, when explained, came down to coincidence.
Earlier that day, the pet hospital had received a medical detection dog that had once worked in healthcare institutions. The dog was very cute, gentle and friendly toward everyone, except Ran Fan, at whom it barked loudly.
After barking twice, the dog’s owner’s expression changed. He pulled Ran Fan aside to talk privately.
He reminded Ran Fan that this dog had a keen sense of smell and extensive experience, capable of detecting abnormal bodily odors. The implication in his words was that there was very likely something wrong with Ran Fan’s body and that he should go for a checkup as soon as possible.
Ran Fan had thought of cancer. Perhaps because recent emotional shocks had come one after another, after getting off work he calmly came to the hospital alone, not thinking to contact anyone, not his father back in his hometown, nor Jiang Wenyu.
After completing a full set of examinations, the doctor added an ultrasound. The very last person who should have been in charge, the obstetrics and gynecology doctor, appeared and told him that he was very healthy and that,
He was pregnant.
Ran Fan answered softly, “I’m fine.”
Li Yang took off his coat and draped it over Ran Fan’s shoulders. “Then are you hungry? Have you not eaten anything since getting off work? I’ll have someone bring something over. Eat a little first.”
Then he added, “Wait here for a while. I’ll go talk to your attending physician.”
Li Yang’s departing figure left behind a layer of borrowed warmth wrapped around Ran Fan.
The man’s body heat, along with a faint, indescribable scent of cologne, seeped into Ran Fan through that warmth.
Ran Fan could not help but drift into a daze.
While waiting for Li Yang to return, Ran Fan had actually already calmed down yet his heart could not help but stir.
Over the past month, he had deliberately tried to forget that night, refusing to think about it at all, pretending nothing had happened.
But now, this twist of fate, like a joint prank played by God and Heaven, had occurred. The pregnancy report was slapped squarely in his face. At this moment, he had no choice but to face it. Drunkenness, sorrow, loneliness, none of them could serve as excuses anymore. The only thing that mattered was that he had not rejected that man.
Li Yang had left behind ironclad proof, engraved into his body.
While he was lost in thought, a shadow fell over him. Li Yang had returned. He sat down beside Ran Fan and called softly, “Ran Fan.”
Ran Fan nodded and heard Li Yang ask, “What do you think now? Do you want to keep this child?”
Ran Fan answered honestly. “I don’t know.”
Li Yang said, “There’s no rush. There’s plenty of time. Think it over slowly. The child is in your body, whether to give birth or not is entirely your decision.”
After a brief pause, Li Yang spoke again. “I hope you’ll give birth to it and raise this child together with me.”
“I also hope that in the future, I can live together with you.”
Ran Fan turned his head and met Li Yang’s gaze.
The man’s face was calm and composed, tranquil as light clouds and gentle wind, so steady it made one’s heart uneasy. Against the backdrop of a hospital filled with the countless sufferings of ordinary lives, he looked handsomely unreal, almost false.
Ran Fan looked at him, a ringing sound rising in his ears.
He knew almost nothing about Li Yang yet he knew that Li Yang most likely did not like children.
The middle aged man who had come to bring Jiang Wenyu back to acknowledge his family had said that Li Yang had not known of Jiang Wenyu’s existence, which was why he had never gone looking for him all those years.
But at the same time, over the course of more than a decade, someone with Li Yang’s family background and appearance had not had a single other child, enough, in itself, to say a great deal.
“Why?” Ran Fan asked the same question he had once asked Li Yang and Jiang Minyu.
Li Yang met his gaze without avoidance. “I thought my actions had already made it very clear.” His eyes lowered slightly. “This child is the best proof.”
Ran Fan’s eyes widened a fraction, his pupils tightening subtly. The noise in his ears grew harsh and grating, like a fishbone lodged in his throat. “Sir.. ”
The man interrupted him. “Li Yang.”
“Mr. Li.”
In the end, Ran Fan still could not bring himself to call Li Yang by his given name. Just those three syllables were enough to make his heart tense and ache in sharp, rhythmic pulls. “You pity me, so you’re comforting me. Isn’t that it?”
“Yes, I do pity you.”
Li Yang did not deny it. He continued, then smiled faintly.
“Do you know? When you pity someone, you begin to feel tenderness toward them. When you feel tenderness toward someone, you begin to feel pain for them and when a person starts to ache for another, they are not far from falling in love.”
The next day
Ran Fan went to work as usual.
The moment he stepped through the door, several colleagues surrounded him, staring at him with undisguised concern.
“Did you get checked? What were the results?”
Ran Fan smiled at everyone. “It’s nothing. Everything’s fine.”
“Cancer? Diabetes? Did you check everything thoroughly? Those medical dogs are very accurate. If there’s an illness, it’s better to prevent it early, you can’t be careless in this line of work.”
“Really, nothing’s wrong.”
Only then did everyone let out a collective sigh of relief, happy for him.
Among the people working at the pet hospital, these few were all local natives. Looking across the entire hospital, Ran Fan was the only outsider and his academic background was also the weakest.
When Ran Fan had first arrived, everyone had more or less kept their distance from him, whether intentionally or not but as time went on, each person gradually grew close to him. There were too many reasons to count: his serious and conscientious work attitude, his thoughtful and considerate way of dealing with people, his patience to the utmost in every interaction.
If Ran Fan hadn’t come out not long after joining, many of his colleagues would have wanted to introduce him to potential partners.
“A false alarm but that’s still a good thing.”
One colleague winked at Ran Fan and teased, “If you ask me, surviving a great scare means great fortune later. Maybe today’s a double blessing.”
By evening, the colleague’s “hint” was confirmed. The hospital director called Ran Fan into the consultation room for a chat and informed him that his position had officially been confirmed.
Ran Fan had been hoping for this promotion for years. He was genuinely happy.
The director was satisfied with him as well. The host and guest were both pleased and the conversation ended on good terms. However, about half an hour later, the director’s office door was knocked on again. Ran Fan returned, this time, to resign.
The director was startled. Seeing that Ran Fan didn’t look like he was joking, he was utterly confused. “What’s going on?”
Ran Fan said, “I’ve always treated becoming permanent as my goal. After achieving it, my heart suddenly relaxed. Actually, I’ve wanted to go out and travel for a long time. Maybe the timing is just right now. I want to go out and clear my head.”
“Then couldn’t you just take leave? Why resign the moment you get promoted?”
Ran Fan shook his head. “Some things need time to think through before making decisions and I also want to see the scenery outside. That all takes time. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, maybe a month, maybe several months.”
“I’ve never acted on a whim like this before. Let me indulge myself just this once.”
The director couldn’t persuade him and could only say that he was willing to keep the position for him, adding another brick of support to this rare moment of willfulness on Ran Fan’s part.
In truth, it was also a form of understanding. The director thought that after mistakenly believing one might be seriously ill, it was only natural for a person’s outlook to change.
The news spread quickly through the hospital.
His colleagues were extremely reluctant to see him go. One after another, they pulled Ran Fan aside, unwilling to let him leave. After work, no one was in a hurry to go home. No matter what, they insisted on having a meal together.
The group found a small restaurant nearby and chatted idly while eating until late into the night.
During the meal, someone tried to persuade him to drink.
Ran Fan waved his hand and shook his head. “I’m not drinking lately.”
“Not even a little? You’re leaving tomorrow just like that, what’s one or two drinks?”
Ran Fan’s attitude was gentle but no one could sway him. “I’ll have a soft drink.”
“Whether you drink or not doesn’t matter. It’s just a pity that even at the very end, we still didn’t get to see Dr. Ran’s boyfriend. You’ve been hiding him for years, our curiosity is killing us.”
Someone joked.
Everyone laughed. Ran Fan laughed along with them. After the laughter faded, he lowered his head and drifted into a daze. Just then, his phone rang.
Ran Fan stood up and moved aside to answer it. His colleagues stole glances at him. They couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, only saw Ran Fan listening the whole time, his expression blank and dazed. In the end, his lips pressed together and he managed to squeeze out a single “Mm.”
Near dawn, the gathering finally dispersed. Everyone clutched their phones and went outside to hail rides.
Unfortunately, the timing was bad. The moment they stepped out, heavy raindrops began to fall from the sky, pounding the ground with a loud, splashing sound.
As they retreated under the rain, a black umbrella entered their field of vision. Beneath the torrential downpour, a man in a trench coat held the umbrella and walked steadily across the damp ground. When he reached the steps in front of the restaurant, he lifted the umbrella slightly, revealing a face blurred by the interweaving rain and lights.
“Ran Fan.”
The man had come to pick him up.
Ran Fan took a light breath, nodded to his colleagues and hurried down the steps.
Just as he walked out, one colleague grabbed him, leaned in close to his ear and said in stunned disbelief, “So you weren’t joking after all.”
Ran Fan didn’t react at first. He vaguely heard the colleague mutter, “Your boyfriend really is as handsome as Jiang Minyu. No, he’s even more handsome than Jiang Minyu.”
✦ ✧ ✦
Fleurveil
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
This chapter was powered by questionable decisions. The next one may require coffee.
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← PreviousNext →
ChaptersChapter 1 · Let’s break upChapter 2 · A hand landed on Ran Fan’s backChapter 3 · Jiang Wenyu’s biological fatherChapter 4 · Li Yang kissed him againChapter 5 · Could you come to the hospital?Chapter 6 · I hope you can give birthChapter 7 · Are you bothered by the fact that I am Jiang Wenyu’s biological father?Chapter 8 · Don’t you think I’m ordinary?Chapter 9 · Don’t consider it me going back on my wordChapter 10 · You are a truly remarkable personChapter 11 · Would you say you’re cold-hearted towards Ran Fan?Chapter 12 · Dr. Ran resigned several months ago.Chapter 13 · Can we meet up?Chapter 14 · You also know the child’s fatherChapter 15 · You are the most important to meChapter 16 · Extra 1Chapter 17 · Extra 2Chapter 18 · Extra 3