Dajun sat on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), rubbing his hands together with a foolish grin as he looked at Su Wan.
His eyes were like he was looking at a hen that had just laid a golden egg.
“Wan’er… what do you want to eat? Tell me, I’ll go get it for you.”
For the first time ever, Dajun called her “Wan’er,” his tone unusually gentle—so gentle it gave Su Wan goosebumps.
This man was truly disgustingly realistic.
Su Wan slowly opened her eyes, pretending to be weak and breathless.
“Dajun… I want a cup of hot water…”
“Alright! I’ll go heat it up right away!”
Dajun didn’t hesitate at all. He jumped off the kang and rushed to the kitchen.
Watching him leave, the weakness on Su Wan’s face disappeared instantly.
She suddenly sat up—her movements as quick as a startled cat.
Time was running out.
Mother-in-law Zhang Guihua’s trip to fetch Old Doctor Liu would take at most twenty minutes round trip.
Su Wan grabbed the sewing basket at the head of the kang.
It was used by Zhang Guihua for making shoes, filled with scraps of cloth, thread, and needles.
Su Wan rummaged through it, her fingers trembling.
Finally, in a corner, she found a thick steel needle used for stitching shoe soles.
The tip glinted coldly—it looked painful just to see.
Su Wan gritted her teeth without hesitation.
She bit her left index finger hard, forcing blood to rush to the tip.
Then, holding the steel needle with her right hand, she stabbed it straight into her fingertip.
“Hiss—”
The pain shot straight to her heart. She sucked in a cold breath, almost crying.
But she didn’t have time to care.
Bright red blood immediately oozed out.
Su Wan quickly pressed her finger against the inside of her pants.
She smeared the blood along her inner thigh and the crotch area.
Once wasn’t enough—she squeezed out more blood.
Until that small area was stained red, looking like the start of menstruation.
After finishing, she quickly wiped the needle clean and threw it back into the basket, then put everything back in place.
She lay back down, her heart still pounding like it wanted to jump out of her throat.
She wasn’t sure this would work.
But it was the only thing she could think of.
As long as there was “blood,” Old Doctor Liu would definitely not diagnose pregnancy.
She had barely lain down for two minutes when chaotic footsteps sounded outside.
“Quick, quick! Uncle Liu, she’s right in here!”
Zhang Guihua’s voice was urgent and hurried.
The curtain was lifted, and a cold gust of wind rushed in.
Zhang Guihua entered with a small elderly man carrying a medical bag.
Old Doctor Liu had a goat-beard and wore old glasses with one broken arm—he looked like a traditional rural doctor.
Dajun also followed behind, carrying a cup of hot water.
“So this is Dajun’s wife?” Old Doctor Liu placed his medical bag down and slowly walked to the bedside.
“Oh, her complexion really isn’t good.”
Su Wan curled up under the blanket, showing only her pale face.
She was genuinely afraid.
Old Doctor Liu, despite being a barefoot village doctor, was experienced enough to feel a pulse.
If he noticed something wrong…
“Uncle Liu…” Su Wan called softly.
“Stop talking. Extend your hand.”
Old Doctor Liu sat on the edge of the kang and took out a small pulse cushion from his bag.
Su Wan trembled as she slowly extended her right hand—her wrist thin like a reed stalk.
Old Doctor Liu placed three fingers on her pulse.
The room instantly fell silent.
The only sound was the old wall clock ticking: “click—clack—click—clack.”
Every second felt like torture pressing against Su Wan’s chest.
Zhang Guihua stood nearby, holding her breath, staring at the doctor’s hand as if she could will him to diagnose a pregnancy.
Old Doctor Liu narrowed his eyes. His brows furrowed and relaxed repeatedly.
Su Wan’s heart rose to her throat.
She tried to control her breathing, hoping to disrupt her pulse.
After nearly a full minute, Old Doctor Liu withdrew his hand and stroked his goat beard without speaking.
“How is it, Uncle Liu? Is it pregnancy?” Zhang Guihua couldn’t hold back and asked urgently.
Old Doctor Liu shook his head, then nodded, speaking ambiguously:
“The pulse… is somewhat slippery, like pregnancy—but also a bit weak, like insufficient qi and blood.”
His vague answer made Zhang Guihua anxious enough to stomp her feet.
“Just tell me clearly! Is she pregnant or not?”
Old Doctor Liu clicked his tongue.
“Don’t rush. Besides nausea, does she have any other symptoms?”
Su Wan bit her lip and whispered:
“My stomach hurts… it feels heavy and sore…”
She deliberately lifted the blanket a little, revealing a faint stain of blood on her pants.
“And… it looks like I started bleeding just now…”
“What?!” Zhang Guihua’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
She rushed forward and yanked the blanket open.
Sure enough, on Su Wan’s gray cloth pants, there was a striking patch of bright red.
It wasn’t much, but it stood out sharply against the dull fabric.
Zhang Guihua’s face collapsed instantly, like she’d just been slapped hard.
The earlier excitement deflated in an instant, like a punctured balloon.
“You’re bleeding? Then that means…”
Old Doctor Liu leaned in for a look and shook his head.
“If she’s bleeding, then it’s not pregnancy.”
He gave his conclusion.
“This is menstruation. Her body is weak, both qi and blood are deficient, and she’s caught a chill. That’s why her period is irregular and she has stomach pain and nausea.”
“This is called dysmenorrhea—what we commonly call period pain.”
Old Doctor Liu packed up his medical bag as he spoke.
“Eat better food, replenish your blood, avoid heavy labor, and she’ll recover in time.”
Zhang Guihua stood there completely stunned.
Not pregnant?
Just menstruation?
Her “grandson” had turned into a pool of menstrual blood?
The emotional shift was too extreme for her to accept.
“That can’t be right… she was vomiting so badly earlier…” she still refused to give up.
“That’s stomach cold!” Old Doctor Liu said impatiently.
“People with weak bodies often feel nauseous during their period. Alright, it’s nothing serious. I’ll prescribe some warming medicine for the uterus. She’ll be fine in a couple of days.”
With that, he slung his bag and left.
Being dragged out on a cold day only to handle a false alarm left him annoyed.
After he left, the atmosphere in the house dropped to freezing point.
Dajun put down the cup of hot water on the table and walked out without even looking at Su Wan.
“Damn it. All for nothing,” he muttered.
Zhang Guihua stood by the kang, her face darker than soot, her eyes burning with resentment as she stared at Su Wan.
“You useless thing!”
She gritted her teeth.
“Can’t even lay an egg, and now you’re pretending to be sick? Made me waste a trip and even two yuan on consultation fees!”
“If you’re not pregnant, stop lying around!”
She yanked the blanket off Su Wan.
“Get up! Wash all the dirty clothes in this house! Don’t eat until you’re done!”
She stormed out and slammed the door so hard the whole room shook.
Su Wan curled up on the cold kang mat, trembling.
Not from cold—but from fear.
She looked at the needle prick on her finger and felt a wave of lingering panic.
She had passed this round.
But only temporarily.
The child was still growing, and this couldn’t be hidden for long.
One month… two months… once she started showing, it would be a disaster.
She had to find a way.
To completely eliminate this hidden danger.
Night fell.
The Wang household had fallen silent again.
Su Wan slipped out of the wood shed.
She had to find Lei Deshui.
This was too big for her to handle alone.
She needed to tell him.
Even if he got angry, even if he abandoned her—she still had to say it.
It was responsibility. And fairness.
Su Wan ran all the way to the back mountain melon field.
There was no moon tonight. The melon shed stood alone in the darkness like a monster.
She pushed the door open.
Lei Deshui was sitting by the bed, sharpening a small wooden horse with a file.
Something he had been casually making these past few days. No one knew who it was for.
When he saw her, his eyes lit up. He quickly hid the wooden horse behind his back.
“Why are you here so late? Missing me?”
He smiled and stood up, reaching for her.
But Su Wan didn’t move.
She stood at the doorway, looking at him under the dim kerosene lamp.
Then suddenly, tears fell.
“Brother Lei…”
Her voice broke.
“I… I think I’m really pregnant…”
Clang—
The file in his hand dropped to the ground.
He froze in place.
The smile on his face stiffened.
Those eyes that were usually full of arrogance and sharpness widened in shock.
And beneath it… a flicker of disbelief and rare panic.