— “Generally speaking, prolactin levels secreted by the anterior pituitary do increase significantly during pregnancy.
— “But, after all, the thing in your stomach can’t be judged by existing medical knowledge or common sense. Hmm… so probably not.
— “You guarantee it.
Xin Hexue recalled the conversation he had with Gu Mifeng back then.
Didn’t Gu Mifeng swear and guarantee it to him at that time?
Well…it seems not.
That man said with a smile.
— “If you have any pregnancy-related troubles, I am fully at your service. I can close the clinic and be your private doctor.
— “Free of charge.
Xin Hexue really wanted to have Xiao Hei smash him against the wall.
He stood up a bit awkwardly, looking like a flustered new mother, and in fact, he was exactly that.
Fortunately, it was black, and he was wearing black clothes, so the abnormality on his chest was hard to detect.
Xin Hexue made an excuse, saying: “Do you know where the restroom in the temple is?”
Since there were Daoist priests in the temple, people living there, and people from the Walled City coming up the mountain to burn incense every month, the living facilities must be quite complete.
Yu Xingzhou also stood up, “I’m not sure, should I go with you to find it?”
Xin Hexue shook his head, “No need, I’ll find a Daoist priest outside to ask for directions. You stay here and keep an eye on that person.”
He glanced up, and both of them knew “that person” referred to the son-in-law kneeling in mourning beside the coffin.
Yu Xingzhou followed a couple of steps out the door, watching Xin Hexue’s back until he reached the end of the corridor. “Why are you in such a hurry? It’s not like I really want to accompany a guy to the bathroom anyway…mkes me seem like some kind of pervert…”
The more he thought about it, the stranger Xin Hexue’s attitude seemed earlier. Although well hidden, his slightly damp hairline had betrayed him.
Yu Xingzhou recalled the wild comments he’d seen when he infiltrated the fan group before. That group had all sorts of crazy fans calling Xin Hexue little sister, big sister, mom, wife, baby…
There were also black fans outside, some saying Xin Hexue only had a pretty face and his skin was so white, was he even a real man, and that thinking of him made people feel breathless, their hearts race, and limbs feel weak.
Others said they wanted to kneel down and beg him to stop paying attention to that bad cat, only to realize kneeling down would let them see Xin Hexue’s little ***.
Damn it, did all these people have gender identity disorder?!
Yu Xingzhou’s ears grew hotter, and he ruffled his hair irritably.
The weirdest thing was, he actually followed these people’s train of thought, and when he noticed Xin Hexue acting strange, he wondered if he was hiding some secret…
………
Fortunately, shortly after turning out of the corridor, Xin Hexue encountered a Daoist priest.
The priest gave him directions.
Perhaps because both weddings and funerals passed through this temple, and there were usually many pilgrims, the restroom interior was quite modern in style, very different from the wooden structure of the main hall outside.
Quietly locking the door, Xin Hexue pursed his lips and undid the diagonal buttons one by one.
Generally, colostrum has a very mild smell.
But the scent was somewhat sweet and cloying.
He didn’t speak, just lowered his head and tidied the mess on his front.
Xin Hexue was using the handkerchief Yu Xingzhou had handed him earlier. The handkerchief had been washed until it was soft and translucent. Yet even such soft fabric touching him brought a tingling sensation, sending shivers down his spine.
There was a faint, soreness and swelling at his nipples.
His chest was thin, rising and falling with his breath. Perhaps because his skin was too white, the pink tips stood out against the snow-white skin, contrasting like the heart of a white peony.
The crimson tips overflowed with moist, translucent traces.
A sense of shameful heat climbed through his body.
“Heh…”
He let out a sneer.
People in the countryside said breastfed children were smarter.
If this saying had any scientific basis, then the little black dog could just stay a fool for life.
Its mother was unwilling to take on the responsibility of breastfeeding.
Formula feeding was fine, but if it demanded breastfeeding, it could pack its bags, get out, and find its own food in the trash.
Perhaps sensing Xin Hexue’s bad mood through the connected womb, the little monster didn’t dare make a sound.
After tidying up and making sure no more fluid was leaking from his chest, he meticulously fastened the buttons again up to the one just below his Adam’s apple.
Xin Hexue looked at the handkerchief in his hand, almost wanting to destroy the evidence. After a moment’s thought, in case of another emergency tonight, he should keep it as a backup.
Silently clenching the handkerchief, his knuckles turning white from the force, Xin Hexue turned and left the cubicle. His luck was probably as bad as the game system said…the faucet at the sink was broken, as turning it produced no water.
He pulled the door open and found the Daoist priest who had given him directions earlier nearby.
“Daoist priest, the faucet in the restroom is broken. Is there somewhere nearby where I can wash my hands?”
Judging by the amount of white hair, this Daoist priest was quite elderly. “No one has been able to fix that faucet properly, it’s always on and off,” the Daoist priest shook his head. “There’s a well in the backyard, it’s very close, just a few steps away.”
Passing through the main hall, they reached a courtyard. It was a spacious open area paved with stone slabs, with an old ginkgo tree so large it would take three people and six arms to encircle it.
Probably used by the Daoists, there was a well in the center, and next to a long stone platform was a wooden bucket.
The water drawing method was still quite primitive. The Daoist priest tied the bucket to a windlass with a rope, turned the crank to lower it, then turned it again to bring it up.
He set it on the ground, and the water rippled, spilling over the edge of the bucket and wetting the stone pavement.
Daoist priest: “There you go.”
He left with his hands behind his back.
Xin Hexue thanked him and bent down to wash the handkerchief.
Swish, swish.
Swish, swish.
There was no wind, but the sound of grass and leaves rustling could be heard.
Xin Hexue finished wringing out the water and looked around.
A large black rat with sleek fur darted out from the azalea bushes. It was almost as big as half a grown cat, scurrying quickly as if navigating streets and alleys, a baby rat following behind, biting its tail as they moved.
He watched as the mother and baby rat scurried forward along the path toward the corridor opposite, then suddenly let out sharp squeaks and instantly changed course, running away.
Was something there?
Xin Hexue’s heart beat faster.
He walked along the path and found an abandoned meditation hall. This hall was open-style, with only pillars and a roof, and no load-bearing walls on the north and south sides. So, his view could completely pass through the hall, and through the dim moonlight, he could see the scene in the courtyard on the other side.
There was also a well there, but the windlass was abandoned, and a broken wooden bucket lay to the side.
The well opening was densely wound with many red threads strung with copper coins, so numerous it was unsettling. A cold wind carrying leaves swept through, causing the numerous cinnabar paper talismans attached to flip and flutter noisily.
Xin Hexue stepped on something. He bent down to pick it up…it was a square card.
He straightened up and wanted to see it clearly by the moonlight when a weight suddenly fell on his shoulder.
The hand was pale and aged.
Xin Hexue turned around. “Master?”
The Daoist priest glanced at the well behind the meditation hall, then shifted his gaze back, staring fixedly at him. “Did you get lost? That’s the end of the road.”
His tone held a clear warning.
It seemed going over to look was not allowed.
Xin Hexue curved his lips into a smile. “Yes, I’m lost. Could you please take me to the hall where the funeral is being held? My friend is waiting for me there.”
………
“Where did you go?”
The young man stood before him, panting slightly. His hair was disheveled, clearly having run around.
Yu Xingzhou raised his voice a notch, “Weren’t you going to the restroom? You were gone so long, I went out and searched all over the place but couldn’t find you.”
He was scared out of his mind, thinking something had happened to Xin Hexue.
After the Daoist priest walked away, Yu Xingzhou crossed his arms, his brow furrowed with a trace of irritable worry. He said with a frown, “Since we’ve teamed up, don’t go too far from me.”
“I just went a bit further to wash my hands because the restroom faucet was broken.” Xin Hexue lowered his eyelashes and walked towards the hall. “It’s nothing important.”
“What do you mean, nothing important?”
Yu Xingzhou followed closely.
—Your safety is very important.
The words hovered on his lips before he swallowed them back down.
Yu Xingzhou finally said, “Acting alone in a dungeon has a high mortality rate. If anything happens, call me and we will solve it together.”
Xin Hexue sat back down on the wooden chair.
He kept his head down, holding a metal card the whole time. He passed it to Yu Xingzhou. “Your task is clearly different from mine, why did you lie to me?”
Yu Xingzhou was taken aback. He took the lost ID card, and the red on his ears flared up like flames.
“Do I have to spell it out? It was already embarrassing enough being directly rejected by you last time.” He stammered, rubbing his uncooperative ears, “I just wanted to team up with you.”
Someone in the front hall was distributing food for a late-night snack.
Yu Xingzhou stood up in relief. “Are you hungry? I’ll go get some food. Are there any dietary restrictions?”
Xin Hexue silently shook his head.
Only when the young man walked inside did he lift his eyelashes.
“Xin… Hexue…? Are you Xin Hexue?”
A faint, hesitant call came from behind.
He turned around. It was Tang Amei’s son-in-law. The man had left his kneeling position at the mourning area at some point and had just returned from outside. He was now standing at the threshold looking at him.
“I have something to tell you. Can you come out for a moment?”
The son-in-law asked.
………
Xin Hexue stood at the door, separated from Tang Amei’s son-in-law by the pathway through the main gate.
“It must be you, Xin Hexue…” The man examined his features. “As they said, a face you can recognize as soon as you see it.”
“You know me?”
Xin Hexue didn’t remember meeting this person.
He stood in the bright area near the candles inside the hall, while the man stood in the shadows, his face unclear.
“Yes.”
From within the dark shadows, he could see the son-in-law nodding. He said, “On my way back, I met your husband. His name is Zhou Liao, he’s your husband, right?”
Xin Hexue spoke urgently, “You saw him? Which day? Where? Did he look okay?”
The son-in-law smiled faintly in the darkness.
“It seems you two have a good relationship and are concerned about each other.”
“Zhou Liao asked me to pass on a message to you.”
“No matter what, you must not remarry. Wait for him to return.”
The person in the shadows added, “You wouldn’t want the child to be without a father, would you?”
Xin Hexue looked at him.
“…The last part is my advice as a neighbor.” The man’s gaze seemed to sweep over Xin Hexue’s abdomen covertly. “I heard after I came back that you two are already expecting.”
“Ah, my A’e and I also had a child once. It’s all my fault for not returning in time. When the child died, it must have hated me terribly, it was still in its mother’s belly.”
As he spoke, he covered his face and cried, his shoulders shaking.
Xin Hexue smelled a salty, fishy odor, somewhat foul, like seaweed soaked in seawater for too long.
The son-in-law’s nasal voice was heavy, with an indescribable strangeness upon listening closer. There was a sound of mucus being sucked in and out from behind his hands.
“Mother… eat… eat fish.”
The little monster in his womb stammered out its first complete subject-verb-object sentence.
The man opposite looked as if his entire shoulder was about to slip off, becoming straight and smooth. He lowered his hands from his face, and the split gills on either side of his face fluttered with his breathing.
There was a salty, fishy, faint corpse smell.
His bulging fish eyes stared at Xin Hexue. “It’s almost time, I should go back in to continue mourning. Guest, eat and drink well. There will be another meal tomorrow morning before the burial.”
It sounded as if he was the one to be buried.
Only after Tang Amei’s son-in-law went inside did Xin Hexue stop holding his breath. He said to the little monster, “Eating rotten fish and shrimp will upset your stomach. We won’t eat it.”
“Be good.”
