Chapter 37: The Outcome (2)

In the days that followed, Su Ting’s daily routine became waking up, fetching milk, buying breakfast, eating breakfast, and making milk tea. Meanwhile, He Yan’s routine consisted of waking up, eating breakfast, and serving as the taste tester.  

Although Su Ting was good at analyzing her mistakes, she also had a knack for running into unexpected issues. One day, the fire was too strong and burned the tea leaves; the next day, she accidentally added too much sugar. Another time, she misjudged the water ratio, and once, she even mistook salt for sugar.  

In just a week, He Yan experienced a full spectrum of milk tea flavors.  

At this point, he realized that plain milk… actually tasted pretty good.  

Fortunately, as she moved past the frequent trial-and-error phase, Su Ting became more stable in her milk tea-making. Her milk tea gradually improved, achieving a smooth and delicious consistency.  

As for He Yan, who had not been a firm fan of milk, he quickly switched sides after tasting the rich and silky milk tea. So when He Dongchuan expressed doubts about whether milk and tea could really make a tasty drink, He Yan passionately defended it. “It’s really good! Way better than plain milk! Dad, you have to try it!”  

Unlike He Yan’s enthusiasm, Su Ting, the one who had been making the milk tea, remained calm. “You’ll know if it’s good once you taste it.”

Although her tone remained calm, the slight lift at the corner of her eyes and the smug curve of her lips betrayed her confidence in the milk tea she had just made.  

He Dongchuan said: “Alright, I’ll give it a try.”  

“Just wait.”  

After so many attempts, Su Ting had perfected the milk tea-making process. There was no more flustered confusion like the first time—her movements were smooth and practiced, almost effortless.  

In just over ten minutes, a fresh pot of milk tea was ready.  

She lifted the clay pot, placed a clean white cloth over a large bowl, and had He Yan hold it steady while she poured the tea through.  

The cloth was far more effective at straining than the metal sieve. The filtered milk tea had a rich caramel color, looking thick and silky. Su Ting had He Yan grab a spoon, scooped up a sip for herself, and tasted it.  

Perfect sweetness, rich milky fragrance—flawless!  

She poured a cup for each of them and handed them over without a word, merely lifting her chin in a silent cue for them to taste it.  

He Yan eagerly took a sip from his enamel cup, but it was a bit hot, so he only dared take a small sip. He Dongchuan, less wary of the heat, drank a larger mouthful.  

As the milk tea slid down his throat, He Yan smacked his lips, savoring the taste. “Delicious!”  

He Dongchuan raised an eyebrow. The taste was a little unusual, but definitely not bad. He nodded. “Not bad.”  

Su Ting grinned.  

Ever since she had boldly claimed she would amaze He Dongchuan with her braised pork, she had been waiting for a moment like this. However, braised pork was tricky to cook, and since their monthly ration of pork was limited, the cost of experimenting was too high. After two failed attempts, she had to give up.  

Milk, on the other hand, was something they had already subscribed to—half a catty delivered every day. He Yan couldn’t drink that much on his own, so if she didn’t turn the excess into milk tea, it would just go to waste. That made experimenting stress-free.  

Well, except for wasting some sugar and tea leaves.  

But since those ingredients were used in small amounts, the waste was limited. And besides, her efforts weren’t in vain—she had successfully figured out how to make milk tea.  

Noticing how Su Ting’s expression practically screamed, Go on, praise me! even as she pretended to be indifferent, He Dongchuan’s lips curved into a faint smile. “How did you come up with the idea of boiling tea leaves and milk together?”  

“It wasn’t my idea.”  

Although she had worked out the method herself, Su Ting had no intention of claiming credit for inventing milk tea. After a brief pause, she explained: “I heard someone mention it before. I was skeptical about the taste at first, but I also heard that Mongolians drink milk tea all the time.”  

He Dongchuan nodded. “They do, but theirs is salty milk tea. We might not be used to it.”  

“They don’t add sugar?” Su Ting feigned ignorance. Then, as if talking to herself, she muttered: “Maybe I should try making it with salt next time.”  

Halfway through drinking his milk tea, He Yan was struck with a sudden sense of dread. He quickly spoke up: “You can try making salty milk tea, but… can I not be the one to taste it?”  

“Wouldn’t it be an honor to be the first person to try it?”  

He Yan: “…” Not really, thanks.  

Su Ting had only been joking and had no real intention of making salty milk tea. Seeing his wary expression, she relented: “Alright, alright. If you don’t want to, I won’t make you.”  

He Yan let out a sigh of relief and contentedly drank the rest of his milk tea. Then, with the air of someone striking a great deal, he asked: “Mom, can I stop drinking plain milk and just have milk tea from now on?”  

“What?”  

“Milk tea is made from milk, right? And milk is good for you. So milk tea must be good for you too! Plus, it tastes way better. Can I just drink milk tea from now on?”

Su Ting paused her finishing work and said with a look of regret: “Although your logic is not wrong, it’s a pity that milk tea is an unhealthy drink. You shouldn’t drink too much. So in the future, you must continue drinking milk, and I won’t make milk tea often—only once or twice a month, no more than that.”

Failing to outsmart her and suffering a loss instead, He Yan looked disappointed and asked in confusion: “Why? Isn’t milk good for the body? Isn’t white sugar good too? And tea leaves—both you and Dad always brew them in water. They’re all good things. So why is milk tea, which is made from them, unhealthy?”

Su Ting thought to herself that she wasn’t a researcher—how would she know why combining three healthy ingredients resulted in something unhealthy? But that didn’t stop her from making things up. “Didn’t you see how much sugar I put in when making milk tea? Eating too much sugar is bad for the body. If you want to drink milk tea every day, you can, but I’ll only make it without sugar for you. It will taste bitter. Do you want that?”

Among Su Ting’s more than ten past failures, He Yan had tasted bitter milk tea before, and the memory was still vivid in his mind. He quickly shook his head and said: “Then I’d rather drink milk regularly.”

As he spoke, his eyes landed on the remaining milk tea in the large bowl. Raising his glass, he asked: “Can I have a little more milk tea today? I already finished mine.”

Since she had already refused him once and there was only a thin layer of milk tea left at the bottom of the bowl, Su Ting generously agreed and poured the remaining milk tea into his glass.

He Dongchuan saw this and asked: “You’re not drinking any yourself?”

Su Ting touched her belly and shook her head. “I’d better not. I don’t know if I should.”

Although she wasn’t certain whether pregnant women could drink milk tea, Su Ting remembered that her former colleagues had stopped drinking milk tea and coffee after getting pregnant. So, during this period, she would at most take a sip to taste it, but the drinkable milk tea had mostly gone into He Yan’s stomach.

He Dongchuan understood. “I see.”

After finishing the milk tea, He Dongchuan washed the dishes. When he came out, he saw that it was about time, so the three of them prepared to leave.

Today was the 18th, and they were going to the hospital for a check-up.

…

The city hospital was also in the central district, farther than the department store they usually visited, but it only required one more transfer and took about ten more minutes to get there.

Before they set off, He Dongchuan was a little worried. Ever since Su Ting started experiencing morning sickness, she hadn’t left Pingchuan. He was afraid she might get motion sickness on the boat or bus. Because of this, when they passed by the supply and marketing cooperative, he deliberately went inside to buy some wampee fruit. Since she was pregnant and couldn’t take motion sickness medicine, if she really felt nauseous, she could only suppress it with something sour.

However, after getting on the boat, Su Ting was in good condition. Although she wasn’t completely unaffected, she didn’t feel nauseous enough to throw up. The wampee fruit that He Dongchuan bought wasn’t wasted either—mother and son shared them between themselves.

He Dongchuan didn’t eat any. He couldn’t stand the sourness of wampee.

Thinking back, if he didn’t consider Su Ting’s picky eating habits, her taste in food had actually been more similar to his. But ever since she started experiencing morning sickness, her preferences had gradually aligned more with He Yan’s. Now, there was another person in the courtyard who was enthusiastic about trying new dishes.

By the time they transferred to the city hospital, it was exactly nine o’clock.

It wasn’t particularly early, but in this era, there weren’t many pregnant women who came to the hospital for check-ups. So after getting their number, they only waited for less than half an hour before it was their turn.

“You sit here for a while and don’t run around.” He Dongchuan instructed He Yan before following Su Ting into the doctor’s office.

The doctor was a middle-aged woman in her forties, with shoulder-length hair that was characteristic of the era. The buttons of her white coat were fastened all the way to the top.

Seeing the two people enter, she paused her writing on the medical record and asked: “Comrade Su Ting, correct?”

“Yes, I’m Su Ting.” Su Ting sat in the seat opposite the doctor.

After flipping through Su Ting’s records, the doctor asked: “When did your last period stop?”

“Around the 27th of the month before last.”

“That means it’s been about a month and a half. Have you had any morning sickness?”

“I didn’t have any before, but recently, I’ve been feeling a bit nauseous.”

The doctor responded with a simple “Hmm” and then proceeded to ask Su Ting in detail about her symptoms. Afterward, she asked Su Ting to extend her hand so she could check her pulse. A few minutes later, she said: “It looks like you’re pregnant.”

Su Ting nodded. After waiting for a moment without hearing anything further, she couldn’t help but ask: “That’s it? No further tests?”

The doctor chuckled at her question. “What kind of tests do you want to do?”

Su Ting had no idea what kinds of tests were necessary for pregnancy during this time period, so she could only ask uncertainly: “Like, using a scientific instrument to scan my belly?”

Su Ting had great trust in traditional Chinese medicine.

Whenever she had health issues in the past, her first choice had always been a Chinese hospital, and she was more willing to drink bitter herbal medicine than take Western treatments.

But decades later, even traditional Chinese medicine had begun to rely on scientific instruments for diagnosis. Doctors who still dared to prescribe medicine solely based on pulse readings were rare—at least, Su Ting had never encountered one.

Because of this, pulse diagnosis felt almost like something out of legend to her.

Worried that the doctor might misunderstand her intentions and think she doubted her medical skills, Su Ting quickly explained: “It’s not that I don’t believe your diagnosis, it’s just… I just want to confirm it again.”

The doctor wasn’t as sensitive as Su Ting had feared. Not only did she not take offense, but she even smiled and said: “It’s fine. Since most of the pregnant women who come here don’t want to do additional tests, I went ahead with pulse diagnosis.”

Hospital instruments weren’t free to use. Any additional tests required extra fees, and many villages and work units didn’t cover those costs, meaning patients had to pay out of pocket.

Pulse diagnosis, on the other hand, was much cheaper. Unless there were complications requiring medication, a normal check-up only cost a few cents for the registration fee.

Many pregnant women—or their families—were reluctant to spend extra money. Even if they made the trip to the hospital, they would choose the more affordable option. Unless absolutely necessary, they wouldn’t opt for medical imaging or other tests.

Over time, the doctor had stopped routinely recommending instrument-based examinations and would instead diagnose patients through pulse reading first.

If the pulse was unstable and required further examination, the doctor would issue a test order for the pregnant woman. But if the pulse was steady, she wouldn’t bother.

For one, even if she issued the order, most pregnant women wouldn’t actually go through with the test. And for another, many people, after seeing the cost, would assume she was just trying to make money. It was a thankless task, so why should she go through the trouble?

She hadn’t expected that this patient would be different from the others.

With that thought, the doctor swiftly filled out the test order. After tearing it off and handing it to Su Ting, she pointed to the fee section and emphasized: “Before doing the test, you need to pay at the window first.”

Su Ting glanced at the fee section. Compared to the average income of this era, the cost wasn’t cheap.

But He Dongchuan was already a high-income earner, not to mention that she had just signed a publishing contract and would soon receive a manuscript payment of 3.90 yuan. This amount of money was nothing to them.

So, after a quick look, Su Ting nodded decisively. “Alright. By the way, Doctor, I had breakfast before coming here. Will that affect the test?”

“It won’t. No need to worry.”

Relieved, Su Ting took the test order and went to pay the fee before proceeding with the examination.

There were even fewer people in the testing department—rather, aside from the medical staff, there was no one else. As soon as Su Ting handed over the payment slip, a nurse led her into the examination room.

The examination process was quick, but the results took a long time—they wouldn’t be available until the afternoon. So, after finishing the test, they couldn’t leave the hospital. Even lunch was eaten there.

The hospital resumed work at 2 p.m., and Su Ting and the others arrived right on time to pick up the test report.

Su Ting had previously seen prenatal test reports posted by her colleagues on social media. The content was always very concise—besides the expectant mother’s personal information, there were only the test items and their results. If the result was positive, it meant she was pregnant; if negative, she wasn’t.

Before receiving her own report, Su Ting assumed that while the examination process in this era might be different from the future, the report should be just as straightforward…

And it was. The report she received was just a thin sheet of paper. The only thing that surprised her was that the test results were handwritten by the doctor.

She couldn’t understand them.

Su Ting stared at the report for a long time before looking up and asking He Dongchuan: “Do you understand this?”

“…No.”

Well, there was no choice—they had to ask the doctor.

With the test results in hand, the three of them returned to the obstetrician’s office.

No one was inside, so they walked straight in.

It had only been a few hours, so the doctor still remembered them. Seeing them enter, she asked: “The results are out?”

“They are.” Su Ting handed over the report.

The doctor took it and carefully examined it, her head lowered. Throughout the process, she didn’t look up, and her expression remained serious. The atmosphere in the office gradually became tense.

After a long silence, the doctor finally looked up. Seeing the family of three holding their breath in nervous anticipation, she smiled and said: “Congratulations.”