Fortunately, Bai Yun didn’t continue to ask.
He quickly sent a doctor’s cell phone number, and Lu Jiu contacted the doctor and made an appointment for a consultation three days later.
That day, he pulled a cap low over his face, masked up, and stood lurking outside the hospital entrance for half an hour, making sure no one noticed him.
Then he darted inside, headed for the elevator, and frantically pressed the “6” button.
When he reached the sixth floor, under the curious eyes of women and couples waiting in the corridor, he kept his head down and hurried all the way to the room at the end of the hallway. He knocked three times.
“Come in.”
He slipped inside and shut the door immediately.
A young female doctor wearing gold-rimmed glasses was typing something on her computer. When she saw him, she greeted him casually. “You’re Mr. Bai’s friend, right? Where’s the girl?”
Lu Jiu took a deep breath. “There’s no girl.”
The doctor froze mid-keystroke. “…Pardon?”
“There’s no girl,” he repeated, walking forward and pulling down his mask with immense embarrassment, “The patient is me.”
The doctor’s mouth opened, then closed again.
Adjusting her glasses, she scrutinized him up and down, her tone steady, “And what exactly is the issue?”
Lu Jiu silently thanked the heavens that she didn’t tell him, ‘Wrong department, men’s clinic is to the left.’
“I think I might be pregnant.”
“…What?”
The doctor stared blankly at him; he could only offer a sheepish smile.
She leaned closer. “Sorry, what did you say? I didn’t catch that.”
“I said,” Lu Jiu swallowed, his throat dry, “I think I might be pregnant.”
It turned out Bai Yun truly had found him a doctor with “exceptional acceptance skills, high-level expertise, discretion, and a tight lip.”
After another daze of nearly a minute, she quickly regained her composure, “Have you ever… bought one… pregnancy test before?”
“Um.. I Have..”
Lu Jiu actually had, just two days ago.
It wasn’t until that moment that he remembered the existence of pregnancy test kits.
Two nights earlier, when he was the only one left in the company, he’d quietly ordered one through a late-night delivery app. The next morning, he tested it in secret.
One line.
He had breathed a sigh of relief then, almost ready to cancel the appointment with the doctor. But then another thought hit him, he was a man. What if the situation wasn’t the same as with women?
So, with unease tangled in his chest, he came anyway.
The doctor’s surname was Gao.
Dr. Gao took a deep breath and asked after some thought, “When was the last time you had intercourse?”
“August thirtieth, I think?”
“That’s almost two months ago. Was it with a man or a woman?”
“A man.”
Dr. Gao asked calmly; Lu Jiu answered just as calmly.
“All right. I’ll first give you a blood test form. Once that’s done, we’ll do an ultrasound. You mentioned your health has always been fine during physical exams?”
Lu Jiu struggled to recall. “I don’t think I’ve ever had a very detailed one.”
School health checks were always perfunctory. His dad and brother, Lu Mingyang and Lu Quning and his stepmother all had regular private checkups. Lu Jiu had never cared much about that sort of thing.
“I see. All right.”
With the two forms in hand, Lu Jiu went downstairs to the lab in silence.
“Host,” 111 mumbled inside his mind, “I still think it’s impossible. That blind man you met before you transmigrated couldn’t have been serious, right?”
The mention of that blind man made Lu Jiu’s stomach churn. Why hadn’t he grabbed him and demanded a clear explanation?
But honestly, what sane person would have believed such a thing back then? The fact that he hadn’t called the police was already kindness enough.
After the blood draw, he went back up to the sixth floor and lay down on the ultrasound bed.
Dr. Gao picked up the ultrasound probe, then paused. “Did you hold your urine?”
“Uh, yes. Should I… relieve myself first?”
“No, no… that’s fine. Hold it.”
The cool probe pressed gently against his lower abdomen.
The examination began.
Lu Jiu, who had always been fearless by nature, felt his heart pounding wildly now. Part of him thought he was making a fool of himself that at any moment, Dr. Gao would chuckle and tell him, ‘You’ve been overthinking.’
He would be embarrassed, yes, but also relieved.
And yet, another part of him whispered, what if it’s real?
What then?
Could he possibly have… a uterus?
He stared blankly at the white ceiling, the faint hum of the machine filling the silence. Dr. Gao’s face was unreadable, her focus unwavering.
The probe moved slowly back and forth, circling the same area. His heart followed its path, up, down, spinning, weightless.
After what felt like an eternity, Dr. Gao suddenly said, “You do have an organ that resembles a uterus.”
Lu Jiu’s heart plummeted.
“It’s similar in shape and position,” she continued, her voice calm but hesitant, “And I can see what appears to be a gestational sac.”
His entire body went rigid.
“The heartbeat isn’t audible yet,” she added softly, “but it should be in about a week. Lu Jiu… you’re pregnant.”
The blood test confirmed it.
Although some of the indicators differed slightly from a typical female pregnancy, Dr. Gao said that might be because of his physiology. For now, everything looked stable, a viable pregnancy.
When she said “This pregnancy,” Lu Jiu felt a sharp wave of discomfort.
“The child’s other parent,” Dr. Gao hesitated before asking, “Can he come in for a consultation?”
Lu Jiu was silent for a long time.
“I want to terminate it,” he said at last.
Dr. Gao fell silent too.
“I understand,” she said finally, “but your condition is very unusual. We’ll need to confirm that a termination won’t seriously harm your body.”
“It doesn’t matter if it does,” Lu Jiu replied, his tone steady, eyes firm. “As long as I don’t die, do it.”
“…All right. I’ll need to do some research and run a deeper examination through other methods. Once I’m sure the procedure won’t be too dangerous, we’ll discuss it again. If there are complications, we’ll reconsider. Is that acceptable?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll contact you soon.”
When he walked out of the hospital, Lu Jiu couldn’t describe his feelings. It was as if the ground beneath him had turned to cotton, soft, sinking, unreal.
“Host,” 111 whispered timidly, “you really want to… get rid of it?”
“What else would I do? Keep it?”
“I mean… this is your and your future lover’s child. Maybe it’s destiny… ”
“Destiny?” Lu Jiu’s voice was cold. “I might not even end up with Bai Yun.”
111 froze.
“You don’t plan to stay with him? But… I thought you two got along so well…”
“So what if we do?” Lu Jiu’s tone grew quieter, colder. “If it were another man I liked, I’d get along with him too. That doesn’t mean we could spend a lifetime together. It doesn’t mean I could bear his child.”
The system fell silent.
For the first time, it glimpsed another side of its host, one that was distant, detached, and resolute.
Lu Jiu took the entire day off from the company. Back at the dorm, he crawled into bed, pulled the blanket over his head, and slept.
Lu Jiu took the entire day off from work. Back in his dorm, he crawled into bed and pulled the blanket over his head, sleeping through the afternoon.
When evening came, he vaguely felt his phone vibrating. He picked it up, Bai Yun’s name flashed on the screen.
He set it down without answering. The vibration continued for half a minute before the call disconnected.
A minute later, one short buzz, WeChat message.
When he woke up the next morning, the notification still sat there:
Bai Yun: “Did everything go smoothly?”
Lu Jiu stared blankly at the four words.
Then he tossed the phone aside.
The next day. Then the third. He went to class, went to work, followed his schedule as usual.
On the fourth day, Dr. Gao called him back to the hospital.
They ran more detailed tests this time, and after reviewing everything, Dr. Gao spoke gravely:
“Lu Jiu, don’t do it. If you try to abort, you’ll be in serious danger.”
Lu Jiu froze. “Even if it’s risky, I don’t mind.. ”
“You can’t not mind!” Dr. Gao’s brows furrowed deeply. “There have been documented cases of male pregnancies internationally, and your situation matches two of the most dangerous ones. If you go through with an abortion, the chance of complications.. fatal ones are very high. I’m not exaggerating.”
She sighed, her tone softening. “Have the baby. Live. Don’t be afraid, I’ll help you.”
Lu Jiu took another leave of absence from his professor and spent the day asleep again.
That night, he dreamed, fragmented, chaotic dreams.
He dreamed of the other world, of the photo frame that had always sat by his childhood bedside, his mother’s smiling face behind the glass.
Then a bottle came flying and smashed it to pieces.
His mother fell from the shattered frame, landed on the floor, clutching her swollen belly and crying out in pain.
Lu Jiu, terrified, screamed for her, eyes red, and turned toward the direction the bottle had come from.
There, his father stood there, drunk, sneering cruelly.
A second later, a truck came barreling across the street, hitting him full-on.
Then the scene shifted. In this world, his mother lay in a hospital bed. He held her hand until the very last moment, crying so hard that his ears rang.
Through the dizzy hum of grief, he could faintly hear Lu Mingyang’s voice over the phone:
“Hello? Yeah, I’m at the hospital. Huh? Do you need me there tomorrow? My wife’s still in the hospital… fine, fine, I’ll come. Hahaha, I know, Mr. Li.. hahaha.. ”
That laugh twisted, distorted, like it was being wrung from a throat that had no air left. Even as oxygen drained away, that laughter clawed its way out, crawling like worms, writhing, trying to force itself into Lu Jiu’s ears.
Bzzz…
Lu Jiu jolted awake, gasping.
Bzzz..
His phone vibrated again. He grabbed it with trembling fingers.
Bai Yun.
He hung up immediately.
✦ ✧ ✦
Cressilia
[Translator]
☕ A LITTLE SOMETHING FOR THE TRANSLATOR
You clicked all the way to the end. That deserves one final button press. ☕
☕ BUY THEM A COFFEE →
✧ (づ｡•ㅅ•｡)づ ☕ ✧
✦ thank you for reading ✦
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ChaptersChapter 1 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (1)Chapter 2 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (2)Chapter 3 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (3)Chapter 4 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (4)Chapter 5 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (5)Chapter 6 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (6)Chapter 7 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (7)Chapter 8 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (8)Chapter 9 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (9)Chapter 10 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (10)Chapter 11 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (11)Chapter 12 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (12)Chapter 13 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (13)Chapter 14 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s room (14)Chapter 15 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (15)Chapter 16 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (16)Chapter 17 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (17)Chapter 18 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (18)Chapter 19 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (19)Chapter 20 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (20)Chapter 21 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (21)Chapter 22 Part 1 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (22)Chapter 22 Part 2 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (22)Chapter 23 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (23)Chapter 24 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (24)Chapter 25 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (25)Chapter 26 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (26)Chapter 27 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (27)Chapter 28 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (28)Chapter 29 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (29)Chapter 30 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (30)Chapter 31 Part 1 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (31)Chapter 31 Part 2 · After Breaking into the Big Boss’s Room (31)Chapter 32 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (1)Chapter 33 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (2)Chapter 34 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (3)Chapter 35 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (4)Chapter 36 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (5)Chapter 37 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (6)Chapter 38 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (7)Chapter 39 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (8)Chapter 40 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (9)Chapter 41 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (10)Chapter 42 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (11)Chapter 43 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (12)Chapter 44 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (13)Chapter 45 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (14)Chapter 46 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (15)Chapter 47 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (16)Chapter 48 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (17)Chapter 49 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (18)Chapter 50 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (19)Chapter 51 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (20)Chapter 52 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (21)Chapter 53 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (22)Chapter 54 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (23)Chapter 55 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (24)Chapter 56 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (25)Chapter 57 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (26)Chapter 58 · The Empire’s Number One Beta Crown Prince (27)Chapter 59 · Hatching Baby Zombies (1)Chapter 60 · Hatching Baby Zombies (2)Chapter 61 · Hatching Baby Zombies (3)Chapter 62 · Hatching Baby Zombies (4)Chapter 63 · Hatching Baby Zombies (5)Chapter 64 · Hatching Baby Zombies (6)Chapter 65 · Hatching Baby Zombies (7)Chapter 66 · Hatching Baby Zombies (8)Chapter 67 · Hatching Baby Zombies (9)Chapter 68 · Hatching Baby Zombies (10)Chapter 69 · Hatching Baby Zombies (11)Chapter 70 · Hatching Baby Zombies (12)Chapter 71 · Hatching Baby Zombies (13)Chapter 72 · Hatching Baby Zombies (14)Chapter 73 · Hatching Baby Zombies (15)Chapter 74 · Hatching Baby Zombies (16)Chapter 75 · Hatching Baby Zombies (17)Chapter 76 · Hatching Baby Zombies (18)Chapter 77 · Hatching Baby Zombies (19)Chapter 78 · Hatching Baby Zombies (20)Chapter 79 · The Mermaid on the Shore (1)Chapter 80 · The Mermaid on the Shore (2)Chapter 81 · The Mermaid on the Shore (3)Chapter 82 · The Mermaid on the Shore (4)Chapter 83 · The Mermaid on the Shore (5)Chapter 84 · The Mermaid on the Shore (6)Chapter 85 · The Mermaid on the Shore (7)Chapter 86 · The Mermaid on the Shore (8)Chapter 87 · The Mermaid on the Shore (9)Chapter 88 · The Mermaid on the Shore (10)Chapter 89 · The Mermaid on the Shore (11)Chapter 90 · The Mermaid on the Shore (12)Chapter 91 · The Mermaid on the Shore (13)Chapter 92 · The Mermaid on the Shore (14)Chapter 93 · The Mermaid on the Shore (15)Chapter 94 · The Mermaid on the Shore (16)Chapter 95 · The Mermaid on the Shore (17)Chapter 96 Part 1 · The Mermaid on the Shore (18)Chapter 96 Part 2 · The Mermaid on the Shore (18)Chapter 97 · The Mermaid on the Shore (19)Chapter 98 · Give me a drop of blood (1)Chapter 99 · Give me a drop of blood (2)Chapter 100 · Give me a drop of blood (3)Chapter 101 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (4)Chapter 102 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (5)Chapter 103 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (6)Chapter 104 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (7)Chapter 105 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (8)Chapter 106 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (9)Chapter 107 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (10)Chapter 108 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (11)Chapter 109 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (12)Chapter 110 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (13)Chapter 111 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (14)Chapter 112 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (15)Chapter 113 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (16)Chapter 114 · Give Me a Drop of Blood (17)Chapter 115 · Extra 1: A Little Conversation After Drinking (1)Chapter 116 · Extra: A Little Conversation After Drinking (2)Chapter 117 · Extra: A Little Conversation After Drinking (3)