Chapter 20: Having a Child with Ruanruan

Xia Ruanruan went upstairs first. When Huo Beiqing didn’t come up right away, she decided to take a bath.

By the time Huo Beiqing entered the bedroom, the sound of running water filled the room.

He glanced at the tightly closed bathroom door and tugged at his collar.

When Xia Ruanruan finished her bath and stepped out, Huo Beiqing wasn’t in the bedroom.

She looked around and noticed that the study was lit.

Thinking about her guitar, she put on a bright smile and walked over, knocking on the study door.

“Dr. Huo, are you going to take a bath now?”

Huo Beiqing had been holding his book for ages without turning a single page.

Hearing her voice, he lifted his eyelids and let out a low “Mhm.”

Soon, he stepped out of the study.

Xia Ruanruan quickly moved aside, still beaming.

Having just taken a bath, her skin was flushed from the hot water, her face soft and dewy with a natural pink hue.

Huo Beiqing averted his gaze.

That night, he took an unusually long time in the shower.

By the time he came out, Xia Ruanruan was already sitting on her makeshift bed on the floor, her hair mostly dry.

Yet, he still wasn’t out.

Xia Ruanruan began to suspect that something had happened to Huo Beiqing inside.

But she hadn’t heard any noises of him bumping into anything.

Just as she hesitated about getting up to knock on the door and ask, click, the door was pulled open from the inside.

Huo Beiqing opened the bathroom door, and the first thing he saw was the floor bedding that Xia Ruanruan had already laid out.

His dark eyes lowered slightly.

Seeing that he had come out, Xia Ruanruan greeted him warmly, grinning, “You’re done showering?”

Huo Beiqing: “…Mm.”

He walked to the other side of the bed, towel-drying his hair, debating whether he should say something.

Xia Ruanruan was already leaning on the edge of the bed. “Dr. Huo, can I discuss something with you?”

“Mm.”

“Well, I want to learn an instrument.”

Huo Beiqing: “…”

So this was why she had been acting strange all night?

Which meant that the medicine his mother had prepared—Xia Ruanruan probably didn’t know about it.

Still lying on the bed, she looked up at him like a kitten trying to please its owner, her voice soft. “I want to learn the guitar, but I walked around a lot today and didn’t see any for sale.”

“Dr. Huo, do you know where I can buy one?”

“Could you… help me buy one?”

Huo Beiqing: So one was acting strange because she wanted to learn an instrument, and the other was acting strange because she wanted him to make a baby.

But… he couldn’t exactly make a baby on his own.

Huo Beiqing threw the towel over his face and lay down directly.

Seeing this, Xia Ruanruan understood that he didn’t want to help.

She was a bit disappointed, but she could understand.

There weren’t many entertainment options in this era, so few people learned instruments, and even fewer sold them.

They were hard to find and expensive.

If they were a loving couple, maybe he’d be willing to go through the trouble for her.

Thinking about how she had ended up marrying Huo Beiqing in the first place…

Xia Ruanruan realized that the kindness he and his parents had shown her over the past few days had made her forget her situation—she had gotten a little ahead of herself.

She curled up on her floor bedding, but then, from behind her, Huo Beiqing’s voice came: “Mm, I got it.”

Xia Ruanruan turned around in disbelief.

Huo Beiqing removed the towel from his face, sat up, and said, “I’ll ask around with my friends.”

Xia Ruanruan leaned on the bed’s edge, grinning widely. “Thank you!”

Then, still lying there, she giggled foolishly to herself.

After a moment, she suddenly said loudly, “Thank you, Dr. Huo!”

Huo Beiqing: She startled him—he was getting older; his heart couldn’t take it.

But the little girl, smiling like a sunflower, was easy to please.

Now that she had someone to help her get what she wanted, Xia Ruanruan quickly fell asleep on her floor bedding.

She had slept on it for a few nights now and was getting used to it.

It no longer felt too hard to sleep on.

Xia Ruanruan fell asleep quickly, but Huo Beiqing, lying alone in the big bed, couldn’t sleep.

Not because he wasn’t tired or had insomnia, but because…

He felt unbearably hot.

He opened the balcony window, letting the cool autumn night breeze in.

The cold wind chilled his fingertips, but his body still burned.

Staring into the pitch-black night sky, Huo Beiqing regretted drinking that bowl of medicine.

Xia Ruanruan, sprawled out in all directions on the floor, had no idea how many times Huo Beiqing had paced around her that night.

The next morning, when Huo Beiqing came downstairs, the dark circles under his eyes were severe.

Lin Wei figured that her grandchild was already on the way.

That evening, Huo Beiqing didn’t come home for dinner.

Dean Huo returned alone, saying that Huo Beiqing was working late.

By the time the sound of a car came from the yard, it was nearly nine o’clock.

Huo Beiqing pushed the door open, preparing to sneak upstairs quietly to sleep, but—

Click—the living room light turned on.

His mother stood by the switch, a hint of reproach in her voice. “Why are you back so late?”

As she spoke, she gestured for him to follow her.

Huo Beiqing stood at the entrance, his feet feeling glued to the floor.

And he didn’t want to move.

Since he didn’t immediately follow, Lin Wei, being considerate of her son’s hard work, poured out the medicine and brought it over herself.

“Come on, it’s the perfect temperature right now.”

Huo Beiqing: He couldn’t drink this again. If he did, he might not survive.

Seeing his hesitation, Lin Wei frowned. “What’s wrong? Are you too tired?”

“You shouldn’t overwork yourself. The hospital doesn’t run on you alone.”

“I’ll talk to your father about not assigning you so many surgeries. Your main priority right now is having a child with Ruanruan.”

As soon as she said that, Huo Beiqing walked over, picked up the bowl, and downed it in one go.

Then he said, “It’s late. Mom, go to bed. You don’t need to wait up for me next time.”

Lin Wei nodded. “Don’t come home too late if you can help it.”

“Mm, I know.”

That’s what he said, but what he was really thinking was—he needed to move out.

To the house assigned to him by the hospital.

He couldn’t keep drinking this medicine.

If he did, he really would make a mistake.

Huo Beiqing went upstairs.

Xia Ruanruan was already on her little floor bedding, half-asleep.

Hearing the door open, she lifted her head. “You’re back?”

Her voice was soft and drowsy.

Huo Beiqing tugged at his collar and gave a low “Mm.”

Xia Ruanruan lay back down, ready to continue sleeping.

But then Huo Beiqing spoke again. “How was school today?”

Xia Ruanruan yawned. “Pretty good.”

She was basically in a literacy class—nothing difficult.

In fact, the teacher even praised her for being smart.

After answering, she was about to drift off again, but Huo Beiqing spoke once more.

“I’m going to be busy for a while, so I won’t be staying at home.”

“Oh.” Xia Ruanruan responded casually, without surprise, curiosity, or concern.

Huo Beiqing: “…”

“I have an assigned apartment near the hospital. Pack your things and move in with me.”

The reason he wanted to bring Xia Ruanruan along was to prevent his mother from saying anything and to avoid raising any suspicion within the family.

“Move out?”

Xia Ruanruan sat up.

Huo Beiqing nodded.

He couldn’t tell Xia Ruanruan that he was trying to avoid those fertility-boosting medicines, so he simply said, “I’m too busy. Traveling back and forth wastes a lot of time.”