Chapter 81: The Pitiful Female Supporting Character from a Patriarchal Family in the 2000s (End)

Ye Zhou had only been guessing at first, but seeing Ai Xiaoling’s expression, he could not calm down for a long time, his mind a mess.

Seeing Ai Xiaoling equally distracted, he lowered his voice to soothe her, “Eat something first, otherwise it’s bad for your health.”

Ai Xiaoling nodded but smelled the scent again and could not help but dry heave several more times.

She barely ate a few bites, then hid under the covers.

Seeing her like this, Ye Zhou lost his appetite as well, quickly tidied up the food, and got into bed to hold her.

He hugged her in his arms, recalling their earlier intense activity, feeling a bit scared, and breaking out in cold sweat.

“Is there anywhere uncomfortable?” Ye Zhou asked worriedly.

Ai Xiaoling opened her eyes in his arms, looked at him, then reached out to wrap her arms around his neck, burying her head in his neck and honestly said, “My lower abdomen feels a bit swollen.”

“Do you want to go to the hospital now?” Ye Zhou suddenly became nervous.

She shook her head and looked at him, “But every time after, I more or less feel like this.”

Maybe it was because it was too intense.

Every time it happened, it happened several times a night.

Ye Zhou: “…..”

“Really don’t want to go get it checked?” Ye Zhou was still a little worried.

“I don’t think it’s serious enough to go to the hospital yet.” Ai Xiaoling said, her face showing worry. “But my work is really busy now. It’s so annoying.”

If she were pregnant, how could she keep up with work?

Just after she spoke, Ye Zhou raised his hand and pressed his index finger against her red lips to stop her from continuing, “Don’t overthink and let it affect your mood. There will always be a solution. I will always be by your side.”

“Mm.” Ai Xiaoling looked tired and snuggled deeper into his arms, “I’m sleepy.”

“Sleep.” Ye Zhou gently patted her hand.

She was really tired and soon fell asleep, while Ye Zhou, holding her, had clear eyes. When he looked at her, his gaze often fell unconsciously on her flat lower abdomen.

Ye Zhou’s gaze became particularly gentle.

If there were that possibility, it wouldn’t be bad.

After waking up, Ai Xiaoling’s discomfort had disappeared, but her appetite remained poor.

Counting carefully, it had been nearly two months since her period came.

On the way back, Ai Xiaoling suddenly asked Ye Zhou, “What if I really am pregnant?”

Ye Zhou did not answer directly but silently looked ahead while driving.

After a while, he said, “I am very sorry.”

“It’s not just your fault.” Ai Xiaoling was very clear-headed.

When she was with Ye Zhou, she was reckless too.

“If you are pregnant, then we will register our marriage early and hold the wedding. Okay?” Ye Zhou asked her, turning his head.

Although the wedding was already being prepared, he still did not want others to discuss her behind their backs.

Ai Xiaoling still had a lot of work unfinished. She was not as worried as Ye Zhou, but was concerned about how to handle work.

Seeing a pharmacy, she said to him, “Go buy a few pregnancy tests. You go.”

“Okay.”

Ye Zhou soon came back with a few pregnancy tests.

He wanted to buy ten, but the store only had three left.

Mother Ye was not home, so Ye Zhou took Ai Xiaoling to the third floor of a building materials store.

She took the pregnancy test into the bathroom while he waited anxiously at the door outside, unable to stand still, pacing back and forth.

Ye Zhou’s thoughts were complicated. He did not know what feelings to express.

“Click—”

The door just opened.

Ye Zhou immediately went forward and stared at her, his heart beating faster than ever.

“I don’t seem to know how to use these,” Ai Xiaoling said, looking at the three pregnancy tests in her hand.

Three tests meant three possible results.

Ye Zhou took them and examined them carefully, then flipped through the instructions to compare one by one.

Pregnant, not pregnant, invalid.

“No problem, tomorrow I will take you to the hospital for a check-up.” Ye Zhou reached out to rub her head. “Let’s go, I will take you home.”

“Okay.”

On the way, Ye Zhou glanced at Ai Xiaoling several times, seeming to want to say something but hesitating.

Ai Xiaoling naturally noticed, and when they arrived downstairs at the supermarket, she asked, “Is there something you want to tell me?”

“Tomorrow morning—” he paused, then looked at her seriously and said, “Tomorrow morning we will first go get our marriage certificate, then go to the hospital, is that okay?”

“What if I’m not pregnant?”

“No matter the result, I want you and me to get the certificate first.” Ye Zhou showed a rare stubbornness, holding Ai Xiaoling’s hand, his eyes full of hope. “Can we?”

He hadn’t been so anxious before.

Thinking that the wedding was being prepared, and the bridal house was nearly done decorating, she would marry him sooner or later.

But Ye Zhou was really anxious now, not only because of this matter.

Before Ai Xiaoling could answer, Ye Zhou’s eyes quickly darkened, his voice lowered, “Not okay? If you don’t want to, then—”

“Okay.” She didn’t want the father of the child to be disappointed.

Before she finished speaking, Ye Zhou’s eyes lit up with joy, so excited he didn’t know what to say.

He held her hand, his dark eyes full of countless thoughts.

Ai Xiaoling smiled and leaned forward to kiss Ye Zhou’s face. “See you tomorrow.”

“Remember to bring your household registration book, I will come to pick you up tomorrow morning.”

“Okay.” She got out of the car, smiling brightly and waving goodbye to him.

Ye Zhou stayed in the car downstairs for a long time before leaving, thinking about many things by himself, occasionally smiling like a big fool.

The next day.

Before dawn, Ye Zhou was already waiting downstairs at the supermarket.

Ai Xiaofen had seen him early and went over, saying, “Xiaoling hasn’t gotten up yet, I’ll go upstairs to wake her.”

“No need,” Ye Zhou stopped her gently, “Let her sleep a little longer.”

Ai Xiaoling woke late, at almost noon.

Ye Zhou was not in a hurry, took her to eat, and planned to go to the civil affairs bureau to get the certificate in the afternoon.

Filling out forms, stamping, every step Ye Zhou watched Ai Xiaoling closely, even leaning in to check if she wrote it correctly, afraid the process would not go smoothly.

When the stamp was pressed, his heart felt suspended, his eyes not blinking.

Ai Xiaoling noticed his nervousness and reached out to hold his hand.

When the stamp was done, Ye Zhou thought he would feel settled, but his heart kept pounding nonstop.

His inner feelings still fluttered.

Ai Xiaoling took the marriage certificate, Ye Zhou’s eyes followed her the whole time.

“You have one too.” She said.

Ye Zhou waited until she finished looking, then collected both books.

Ai Xiaoling: “…”

This man is really domineering.

After getting the certificate, they went to the hospital, heard morning check-ups were the most accurate, so Ye Zhou took her back home and planned to go the next day.

When they went back to their own homes, Ai Xiaoling asked Ye Zhou for the marriage certificate, but he refused to give it.

“?”

“There’s nothing special to see, I’m keeping it for you.” Ye Zhou gave a formal explanation.

Ai Xiaoling glared.

He actually slipped away for the first time and acted stubborn.

Ai Xiaoling: “This man really is—”

Ai Xiaofen heard they got the certificate today and asked Ai Xiaoling for it when she got home.

Ai Xiaoling originally wanted to peek at it, but after hearing Ye Zhou took it all, she laughed a lot.

“He’s so afraid you’ll divorce him? I heard if the certificate is lost, you can’t get a divorce.”

“…” Ai Xiaoling was helpless but couldn’t help smiling.

That night, lying in bed, she was a little dazed.

She and Ye Zhou really got married.

Ai Xiaoling thought and put her hand on her belly, feeling that having a child with Ye Zhou might not be so bad.

After all, he was a responsible person.

Now a responsible boyfriend, and later he will be a responsible husband and father.

Ai Xiaoling daydreamed for a while, then got up and opened the computer to work.

Once online, several messages kept coming in.

Everyone congratulated her on getting married.

Ai Xiaoling was surprised. How did everyone know?

Looking closely, Ye Zhou had already posted their marriage certificate online, with a caption a little childish, unlike his usual style, making Ai Xiaoling smile.

But it was also very… cute.

When the pregnancy test results came back, Ai Xiaoling thought she would feel relieved, but unexpectedly, she also felt disappointed.

Not pregnant.

Instead, because she worked overtime too much, anxiety caused an endocrine disorder.

Her nausea was because her stomach had been bad recently, probably also caused by work-related anxiety.

Ai Xiaoling looked at Ye Zhou holding the test report, feeling embarrassed about the misunderstanding.

She knew he was looking forward too, but he didn’t mind. Instead, he was more worried about her health and seriously told her, “You need more rest. I will find out and take you to see a traditional Chinese doctor to take some medicine to regulate it.”

She was somewhat resistant to taking Chinese medicine.

“Be obedient,” Ye Zhou coaxed, “Health is more important.”

“Alright.”

Ai Xiaoling was not pregnant, but news that they got married spread everywhere.

Whenever someone asked Ye Zhou, his mood visibly changed, the corners of his eyes tinting with a smile.

This caused people at the company to ask from time to time; it seemed all their business partners knew about their marriage.

Ai Xiaoling was helpless.

The traditional Chinese doctor Ye Zhou found was very good. After just a few doses of medicine, Ai Xiaoling clearly felt that her sleep and appetite improved a lot.

Their wedding arrived as scheduled.

Ai Xiaoling left the house that she and Ai Xiaofen bought, and their wedding was held at the largest hotel in the county.

Mother Ye divorced early and took Ye Zhou with her.. The two of them drifted through many places. When the Ye family heard that Ye Zhou got married, they thought about having him return to the old home to “acknowledge his ancestors” and bring the bride back to the Ye family to hold a wedding, completing all the tedious rituals.

In the end, Ye Zhou didn’t care about any of that.

Ye Zhou picked Ai Xiaoling up from the supermarket and went straight to the hotel.

Who cared about going back to the Ye family?

The Ye family was still in the countryside, far away, with bad roads. No one cared.

As for acknowledging ancestors, Ye Zhou cared even less. Young people didn’t believe in such things.

That night, the two of them held their wedding in the hotel. The venue was luxuriously decorated, with many fresh flowers, and the stage was decorated dreamily.

For the local area, this wedding was quite grand, attracting countless envious gazes.

During the toasting, Mother Ye followed behind the newlyweds, laughing happily, not feeling like anything was missing.

When the Ye family learned of this, they were furious, their faces turning ashen.

Ai’s family didn’t find out until the third day after the wedding. Mother Ai kept wondering how Ai Xiaoling suddenly left and was angry she didn’t leave any money.

Then they heard from villagers that Ai Xiaoling had gotten married and held the wedding at a big hotel.

Mother Ai didn’t believe it. Back home, she seemed to realize something, hurriedly searched the cabinet, found the household registration book was missing, and collapsed to the floor, beating her thigh while crying loudly: “That damn girl, that damn girl—”

When Ai Xiaofen got married, she didn’t get much bride price.

She thought Ai Xiaoling was beautiful and worked away from home making money, so the bride price shouldn’t be less.

She had planned to use that money to marry off her own son.

When Father Ai returned home, he brought news that Ai Xiaofen was also married, and to a man outside the province.

Neither of the two daughters notified them. It was clear they had cut ties.

Not a single cent was received, and it meant they would no longer get their salaries. Mother Ai was so angry that she fainted.