Chapter 62
After this incident, Xia Yi no longer caused trouble. Since he was already pregnant, what could he do?
Moreover, every time he caused trouble, it was Gu Wenzhu who suffered, which made him feel heartbroken.
Recently, he stopped vomiting, and his appetite was getting better. He was constantly eating fish, meat, and eggs, and snacking at all times, his belly swelling like a fermented bun.
Gu Wenzhu’s cheeks, however, became increasingly gaunt, as if he were the one who was pregnant.
Although he never said it, his joy and carefulness were evident, revealing his concern for the child.
Xia Yi no longer had thoughts of aborting the fetus.
Maybe it was because of the pregnancy, but recently, whenever he saw the lively children in the village, he couldn’t help but feel softness in his heart, unconsciously reaching to caress his small belly.
As he felt the baby’s first movements and tiny hands and feet, he gradually developed anticipation for the life growing inside him.
After all, if those delicate young girls in the original world could bravely give birth, why should a big man like him be cowardly?
It’s just giving birth to a baby; what’s the big deal?
One day, after Gu Wenzhu returned from the fields, he felt that something had changed in the house.
Upon closer inspection, he noticed a new teapot on the table and a new ceramic vase on the bedside containing a bouquet of wildflowers still damp with water.
On the window sill, where Xia Yi had torn off the chubby doll, two small paper figures holding hands had appeared. One of the figures had an obviously unnatural and much thicker arm.
Upon closer inspection, he saw that the arm had an additional layer of paper pasted on it, cut to resemble a swaddle.
However, the craftsmanship was very crude; one figure had legs of different lengths, and the other’s body bent upwards, looking like a hunchback.
Gu Wenzhu studied them for a while, then stepped outside.
When he returned, he was holding a bowl of paste. He carefully re-glued the parts that had come apart.
After stepping back two paces to inspect it, he stroked his chin and smiled slightly.
Recently, 179 had become chatty again. Whenever he had some leisure time, it would play soothing light music in his mind or softly read pregnancy guides to him.
One day, he had fallen asleep and was unexpectedly awakened by the dialogues from Peppa Pig. 179 explained aggrievedly that it was for the baby’s prenatal education.
That night, Xia Yi leaned against the headboard, watching Gu Wenzhu carefully caress his slightly rounded belly and plant kisses on it. He couldn’t help but start to fantasize about the child’s appearance.
Whether it’s a boy or a girl, the eyes must resemble Gu Wenzhu’s—those slightly upturned peach blossom eyes, dark like a deep pool…
By the way, Gu Wenzhu’s eyes look like they belong to a goat.
Previously, he only knew he looked like Cang Yi, but upon closer inspection, his appearance was actually a combination of the two.
His nose was tall and straight, casting a shadow on one side of his face under the candlelight. His facial features were deep and sharp, giving him a slight sense of aloofness when he wasn’t smiling.
Gu Wenzhu was murmuring softly to the belly when he suddenly looked up and noticed Xia Yi staring at him with shining eyes, lost in thought.
“What are you thinking about?” Gu Wenzhu asked with a chuckle.
“I was thinking about your two dads,” Xia Yi blurted out without thinking.
As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it.
As expected, Gu Wenzhu’s smile froze on his face. Then, pretending as if nothing had happened, he turned back to continue talking to the belly. But Xia Yi could feel that he had gotten distracted.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything by it, I just said it without thinking,” Xia Yi explained nervously. “I think you look a lot like both of them, and I was hoping the baby would take after you.”
“It’s fine, I didn’t take it to heart,” Gu Wenzhu smiled again and reached out to pat his head. “As for the baby, it would be much better if it looked like you.”
“Big round eyes, a small upturned nose…”
As Gu Wenzhu spoke, his fingers traced each feature he mentioned on Xia Yi’s face.
Gradually, his voice lowered until it faded away completely.
His gaze also grew more intense, carrying a familiar undertone that Xia Yi knew all too well.
“Don’t try anything, the baby is still small,” Xia Yi said warily, pressing a finger against Gu Wenzhu’s lips as he leaned closer.
Gu Wenzhu continued to inch forward, his voice now husky, “I asked Uncle Li, and he said it’s fine after three months.”
“Really?” Xia Yi mumbled as his lips were sealed, still struggling to ask in the last flicker of clarity in his mind.
Gu Wenzhu’s hands didn’t stop, though his movements remained gentle. “Yes, really. Trust me, I’ll be careful. Leave everything to me.”
—
As the weather warmed, Xia Yi’s body grew heavier, and his belly became larger.
With the due date approaching, Xia Yi began preparing clothes and shoes for the baby, as well as blankets and swaddles.
Of course, all of these were sewn by Gu Wenzhu.
Gu Wenzhu didn’t spend much time in the fields anymore. He would leave early and return early, spending his time cooking for Xia Yi and sewing clothes for the baby in the yard.
The little shirts and pants he made were adorable, making Xia Yi eager to give birth and see the baby in them.
He also listened to advice from the village women, tearing up old, soft bed sheets into strips, washing them, boiling them, and drying them in the sun for a few days, preparing them to make diapers for the baby.
Besides these preparations, Gu Wenzhu somehow got hold of some high-quality wood and started building a crib for the baby.
“Didn’t you use up all the wood last time making furniture? Where did this come from?” Xia Yi asked, kicking one of the logs in the yard with his foot.
Gu Wenzhu smiled. “I set aside some wood for the baby’s crib in advance. The leftover wood was used for the furniture.”
Back when he was practicing his craft, he said it was for making a bed for Qilin’s puppy. Clearly, he had ulterior motives.
You little liar.
Even 179 had stopped urging Xia Yi to farm and complete tasks. Its attention had completely shifted to the baby. Every day, it studied various pregnancy guides and supervised Xia Yi’s prenatal exercises.
“Host, you need to move around more. All you do is lie in the yard, eat, sleep, and repeat. The only thing Gu Wenzhu hasn’t done is feed you directly. This won’t be good for childbirth.”
“Host, I think you should massage your chest or do some chest-expanding exercises. Breastfeeding increases a baby’s immunity, but you don’t seem to have the equipment to provide milk.”
179 sounded genuinely worried and quite anxious.
I’m a man. The fact that I can give birth is strange enough, and now you want me to breastfeed?
But at night, Xia Yi couldn’t suppress his curiosity anymore. He hesitated for a while before finally asking, “Zhu Ge, after a ge’er gives birth here, what do the babies drink?”
“They drink milk, of course,” Gu Wenzhu replied matter-of-factly, without even looking up as he continued massaging Xia Yi’s legs.
Recently, Xia Yi had been experiencing leg cramps, possibly due to a calcium deficiency. Since this world didn’t have calcium supplements, Xia Yi had to rely on 179’s advice and asked Gu Wenzhu to make him more calcium-rich foods.
But the cramps persisted, so every evening, Gu Wenzhu would massage his legs to relieve the muscle tension.
Xia Yi wasn’t satisfied with Gu Wenzhu’s answer, so he thought for a moment before asking more indirectly, “What kind of milk do they drink?”
“They drink whatever milk is available,” Gu Wenzhu answered, still focused on massaging Xia Yi’s legs.
This time, Xia Yi couldn’t hold back anymore. He kicked his legs a few times, pressing Gu Wenzhu’s hands against the soft soles of his feet. “I’m asking, for someone like me, what milk will I feed the baby?”
Seeing Gu Wenzhu look up at him, Xia Yi gestured towards his own chest.
Suddenly, Gu Wenzhu understood. “Oh, you’re asking about that? Of course, you can feed the baby. Don’t worry about not having any milk now; it’ll come after you give birth.”
After saying that, he glanced at Xia Yi’s chest and added, “I think I can start practicing every night from now on.”
Seeing Xia Yi’s face darken, Gu Wenzhu quickly added, “If you don’t want to breastfeed, that’s fine. Tomorrow, I’ll go to the nearby village and see if I can buy a couple of goats that have just given birth. The baby can drink goat’s milk instead.”
“After all, ge’er don’t produce much milk to begin with—”
Before he could finish, Xia Yi’s cold glare shot at him like daggers, and Gu Wenzhu immediately shut his mouth.
The next morning, after preparing breakfast for Xia Yi and keeping it warm in the pot, Gu Wenzhu really did go out to find a nanny goat. By noon, he returned with two plump, healthy goats and three soft, fluffy baby goats in his arms.
“I couldn’t buy the goats, but the villagers lent me these. We’ll keep them for a while, and after the baby goats are weaned, we’ll return them. The mother goats will stay until the baby has had enough milk.”
As Gu Wenzhu led the goat to the pen in the backyard, he said, “I’ll go buy some more when the time comes, so don’t worry.”
If these goat aren’t ready, I’ll have to rely on my own body to provide nutrients for the baby. How could I not be worried?
Recently, Qilin had been behaving very well, as if sensing that Xia Yi was carrying a baby. No longer did it charge wildly at him and headbutt his belly as it used to. Instead, it followed him around cautiously, occasionally brushing up against his legs.
Since the goat arrived, the baby had been more active in Xia Yi’s belly.
Xia Yi’s body was growing heavier, and although he didn’t want to move around, he still made time to walk around outside the village every day.
In this world, there were no surgical procedures. Forget about having a C-section if you couldn’t give birth naturally – it was all about relying on your own strength.
Thinking about this made Xia Yi’s scalp tingle. He didn’t even need 179 to remind him; he already felt the urgency. If Gu Wenzhu hadn’t stopped him, he would have been out in the fields every day, tilling three acres just to feel secure about the exercise.
So, every evening after dinner, he’d put down his bowl, take Qilin, and lead the three goats for a walk outside the village.
Sometimes, Qi Zhou would join him for a stroll, but since they never had much to talk about, the two of them would just walk silently along the village path, in an odd but peaceful harmony.
For some reason, though, Qi Zhou hadn’t come to visit in recent days. Xia Yi even went to look at the door of the old house, only to find it tightly closed.
He knocked a few times but received no answer. Er Niu was nowhere to be seen either.
Previously, Qi Zhou had mentioned wanting to visit the county for a few days, so Xia Yi figured they might have gone there.
After spending so much time here, Qi Zhou had learned about the concept of *ge’er*. After going through a dramatic shift in his worldview, he was now able to face it calmly. However, every time he saw Xia Yi’s large belly, he would quickly avert his gaze.
Xia Yi had even given him the heat-suppressant herb that he had yet to use.
When Qi Zhou had asked what it was, Xia Yi had been too embarrassed to explain directly, so he vaguely said, “Just keep it safe. As for what it does, you’ll find out in the future. If you ever start feeling abnormally hot, take it immediately.”
Qi Zhou, though not fully understanding, knew that the world here was a bit strange, so he accepted the herb and carefully tucked it away.
The weather was good today, and after a nap, Xia Yi took Qilin out for a walk.
In the early stages of his pregnancy, he had been too embarrassed to go out, and when he absolutely had to, he would suck in his belly and hold his breath the whole way.
Even though he knew it was perfectly normal for men to walk around with big bellies here, he still hadn’t gotten used to it.
But as his body became more and more cumbersome, there was no way to hide it anymore. After a few times of being surrounded by the village women, who tried to guess the baby’s gender, Xia Yi gave up and decided to embrace it.
He now walked through the village with his belly sticking out proudly, greeting everyone along the way. When he passed by the riverside, one of the women doing laundry tossed him a fresh cucumber, which he caught and began munching on as he continued walking.
His eyes unconsciously drifted ahead, and he hummed a tuneless song under his breath.
Suddenly, two tall figures appeared in his line of sight, walking towards him along the village path.
A large black dog followed by their side.
As soon as Qilin saw the black dog, it shot off like an arrow. Xia Yi called out to stop him, but Qilin ignored him.
“179, you have to admit, some of the villagers are quite good-looking. Besides my Zhu Ge, look at those two up ahead—they’re pretty nice too. One of them looks like Cang Yi, and the other looks like Jie Shang.”
179 was too engrossed in its remote-learning course on practical obstetrics and didn’t pay much attention to what Xia Yi was saying, so it just absentmindedly grunted in response.
As the two figures drew closer, Xia Yi slowly stopped walking. The cucumber remained in his mouth, and he had forgotten to swallow.
One of them, dressed in the Qishan uniform with a distinctive cultivator’s aura—who could it be but Cang Yi? Beside him was a man in a striking red robe, with porcelain-white skin, slanted peach-blossom eyes, and deep black pupils. It was none other than Jie Shang.
At that moment, 179 finally snapped out of its focus on its studies and shrieked, “Host, your in-laws are here!”
Xia Yi was already stunned.
The idea of traveling to another world wasn’t a problem; after all, for the people of Qishan, it was just a matter of taking turns—today it’s this one, tomorrow it’s another.
But why were Cang Yi and Xie Shang here together, walking side by side? Weren’t they fighting to the death? Before Xia Yi had left, hadn’t Xie Shang’s short sword still been pressed against Cang Yi’s chest?
Had they reconciled so quickly?
As they drew closer, Cang Yi and Xie Shang also recognized Xia Yi.
“Wang Lan?” Jie Shang still remembered the delicate man in front of him, with a large belly and dressed like a village farmer. This was the child of the flower spirit, the one his son had gone mad for—Wang Lan.
He looked at Xia Yi, whose mouth was half-open, revealing a few pieces of cucumber that hadn’t been swallowed. Jie Shang’s eyes filled with disdain.
He came to a slow stop, and before Xia Yi could speak, both of their gazes fixed on his swollen belly.
“Ah, I… my name is Xia Yi,” Xia Yi said, unsure why they both called him Wang Lan, but knowing that they were Gu Wenzhu’s parents.
That familiar tension a son-in-law feels when meeting his in-laws for the first time made him anxious, and he started stammering.
“You… you’re pregnant?” Jie Shang’s eyes were locked on his belly, and his voice also became hesitant, “Are you expecting a child?”
Xia Yi, though embarrassed, nodded.
So what if I am? After all, didn’t you give birth to my brother Zhu?
We’re in the same boat.
Jie Shang’s face gradually lit up with excitement. He grabbed Cang Yi’s arm and asked Xia Yi, “Is it Ze Yuan’s?”
Cang Yi, who hadn’t said a word this whole time, now had bright eyes, and his face showed a trace of anticipation.
Although reluctant, Xia Yi had no choice but to nod again.
Yes, congratulations—you’re going to be a grandma.
Ah, no, no, no. This is wrong, very wrong.
‘179, did I see it wrong? Why does Cang Yi have the red mark on his forehead, but there’s nothing on Jie Shang’s forehead?’
179 seemed to be in shock as well, and after a long pause, it mumbled, ‘Host, it turns out Cang Yi is your mother-in-law, and Jie Shang is your father-in-law.’
Damn, I feel awful! Ahhh, I got the CP [couple pairing] wrong!
Ahhhhhhhhhhh!
Oh my god.
