638. No GHS Allowed!
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For several days in a row, Lin Nan had not given a second thought to starting a business.
She had turned into a full-fledged homebody.
Every day, she anxiously rubbed her belly, cursing under her breath. Her fingers hovered over the hospital’s phone number countless times, yet she never gathered the courage to schedule an appointment for an abortion.
She noticed a shift in her mindset.
A week ago, if someone had asked her what she would do if she got pregnant, she would have confidently said, “Abort it, obviously!”
Now? Doubt crept in. Sometimes, while idly scrolling through her phone, she’d catch herself watching parenting videos. Parenting videos!
Meanwhile, Chen Yao, having been part of a five-person game development team in his last job, had almost mastered every step of game creation. With his newfound experience, he found his second job with relative ease, and the paycheck was better than expected—$6,000 a month including overtime during the probationary period.
Pretty impressive for a fresh grad, right?
But the workload was no joke; it was 996 all the way.
Today, he returned home exhausted at ten o’clock at night.
As soon as he stepped in, a delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen. Following the scent, he found Lin Nan busy preparing a late-night snack.
“Weren’t you supposed to stop cooking from now on?” Chen Yao sauntered into the kitchen, snatched the spatula from Lin Nan’s hands, and declared, “Go chill in the living room!”
“It’s not good to rely on takeout all the time,” Lin Nan replied, putting down her utensils. She retreated a bit but lingered in the kitchen, leaning against the sink and stealing glances at Chen Yao’s focused profile while he cooked. She zoned out completely.
Noticing her gaze, Chen Yao chuckled with exasperation, “Let’s wait until you decide not to have the baby before you step into the kitchen again. The smoke is bad for the baby. Plus, if you’re going to have a baby, you need to take care of yourself! Smoke isn’t good for your skin!”
“I have magic, it can shield me from smoke,” Lin Nan protested, shaking her head.
He paused, “But the smoke in your lungs is still bad for your health!”
“You never cared so much when I wasn’t pregnant…” Lin Nan looked away with a huff.
“Not true! I’ve always said you shouldn’t cook! I can do it myself, you know!”
This was true; whenever Chen Yao was home, he rarely let Lin Nan near the kitchen, the most he’d allow her to cook was some soup or porridge.
Lin Nan stared at the band-aid on her finger, absentmindedly rubbing it with her thumb.
But the sweet smell of the late-night snack suddenly turned nauseating, and in an instant, she doubled over, retching into the sink.
Chen Yao nearly dropped the spatula, rushing to turn off the stove and comforting her with gentle pats on the back. “You should step out for a bit, I’ll finish up and we can eat together.”
Despite expelling everything from her stomach, her body still reacted poorly, leaving her dry heaving as if trying to expel her entire stomach.
Chen Yao felt a pang of sympathy, one hand on her back and the other gripping her wrist, hoping to provide some comfort.
After a few minutes, Lin Nan finally calmed down, but she remained hunched over, her brows furrowed. Chen Yao whipped out a tissue to help her clean her nose and mouth.
“Why not just abort it?” He couldn’t bear to see her feeling nauseous and sick all the time.
After years of knowing her, he had never seen Lin Nan look so tormented. Watching her with teary eyes while she vomited was gut-wrenching.
During their dinners, he noticed Lin Nan had no appetite whatsoever. Normally a foodie who would stuff herself at the sight of delectable dishes, she could barely finish half a bowl of rice now.
“I’ll think about it…”
Lin Nan pursed her lips as she replied, rinsing her mouth with some water. “I’m going to the living room to play on the computer.”
“Go ahead, I’ll whip up a few more dishes. You’ve emptied your dinner out already.”
“Okay.”
Back in the living room, Lin Nan curled up on the sofa, picked up her laptop, but quickly lost interest and set it aside, staring blankly at the ceiling.
She didn’t know how long she zoned out, but eventually Chen Yao strolled in with two plates of stir-fry, placing the late-night meal on the coffee table before promptly sitting next to her.
Seeing her lost in thought, he was at a loss for words, so he simply held her cold hand in his warm palm.
“I looked it up online. If you’re experiencing severe morning sickness, you need to boost your electrolytes and vitamins.”
“Should I wake up early tomorrow to get you some fruit?” he offered.
“What if I take a day off tomorrow to take you to the hospital for a check-up?”
Finally, Lin Nan reacted, giving him a tired eye roll. “Taking a day off after just starting? Do you want them to k*ll you?”
Even though she said that, Chen Yao felt she was clearly more important than that. He remained silent for a moment before continuing, “Or why don’t we just go directly to the hospital tomorrow?”
He knew Lin Nan had never wanted kids.
But those words made Lin Nan’s body flinch as she instinctively pressed a hand against her belly.
She hesitated again, shaking her head. “Let’s wait and see.”
“Aren’t you the one who didn’t want kids…?”
“Wait and see,” Lin Nan insisted, turning away. “Just eat your late-night snack and stop worrying about me.”
Chen Yao found his wife’s thoughts harder to decipher by the day. Just a few days ago, when they found out, she was visibly upset, even calculating the costs of raising a child—clearly not wanting one.
Now, it hadn’t even been a week, and she seemed to regret her earlier stance.
But Chen Yao regretted it too. He had initially been quite happy to learn about the pregnancy, but now seeing Lin Nan distressed made him second-guess having a child.
Plus, with his 996 job, he hardly had time to be with Lin Nan, and his parents were too busy managing the restaurant, only checking in on her once in a while.
If only he hadn’t rushed into this job.
He opened a can of cola and munched on snacks, glancing over at Lin Nan, all curled up and lacking any appetite.
At that moment, Lin Nan appeared deep in thought, her eyes half-open and the look on her face filled with a sense of existential dread, as if she was spacing out yet again.
He knew her sleep had been poor lately, making him wonder if she might be experiencing some form of pregnancy depression.
Unlike the older generation who didn’t understand depression much, Chen Yao had researched extensively after learning about Lin Nan’s pregnancy. He came across the description that “pregnant women experiencing major life changes are prone to pregnancy depression.”
Given Lin Nan’s previous magical mishaps that had drastically altered her life, it definitely qualified as a major life change.
Suddenly, Chen Yao felt a wave of worry wash over him. He set his chopsticks down and asked with genuine concern, “Do you feel anxious or irritable? Are you having mood swings? Do you feel like crying?”
After a moment of silence, Lin Nan lifted her head and shot him a glare. “Why would I cry? Did you cheat on me or something?”
“Good, that’s a relief.” Chen Yao relaxed, continuing his late-night snack.
“Neurotic.”
She muttered something under her breath but couldn’t find the words. After a while, she quietly asked, “What if… we just keep it?”
Chen Yao looked surprised. “You’ve thought it through?”
“Yeah, after all, it’s a life. Plus, we have energy now, and if we have a kid early, we’ll have time to take care of it. If we wait a few years until our careers are stable, we might not have the time or energy.”
Chen Yao scratched his head, finding her reasoning vastly different from just a few days ago. “But that’s not what you said last time.”
Lin Nan angrily kicked him right in the kidney.
“Then you should take a break from work during your pregnancy and just stay home as a pretty vase,” Chen Yao teased. “I’ll handle making the money, and you’ll handle being a beauty.”
“Then I’ll get sick from being cooped up at home!”
True enough. While they had three rambunctious parrots at home, playing with parrots every day wasn’t exactly thrilling.
Chen Yao glanced up at the three lively parakeets flapping around the chandelier, each chatterbox smart enough to match a three or five-year-old kid.
“Then… how about we get a cat or a dog too? Walking a dog occasionally could be nice.” Chen Yao suggested. “Besides, we have that huge game room. We bought a bunch of games we haven’t even tried. You could totally help me beat some levels!”
He really didn’t want Lin Nan to go back to work, plus with her being pregnant, aside from entrepreneurship, it would be tough to find a job right now—unless she went back to teaching.
But the class teacher was in the county. There was no way he’d let a pregnant woman drive over an hour every day for a job, right?
Lin Nan pursed her lips, reluctantly agreeing with Chen Yao’s idea.
She was already a homebody, but the thought of being homebound for nine or ten months sent shivers down her spine.
“Want a bite?” Chen Yao picked up a piece of meat and offered it to Lin Nan.
Though still lacking an appetite, she bit down on it nonetheless, leaning against Chen Yao’s shoulder.
How did this pregnancy happen?
Was her magic just not working anymore?
But Lilith had partied for years without ever getting pregnant, which made Lin Nan actually believe that the magic for cleaning out “Aunt Flo” could work as contraception.
Mmp, it’s all Lilith’s fault!
Returning to blame Lilith, Lin Nan suddenly realized that since the wedding day, both Lilith and Li Na had vanished once again.
But she had grown used to it; those two sisters were always like ghosts.
Leaning against her soft, fragrant wife made Chen Yao feel a certain warmth. He suddenly glanced up, his eyes fixed upon Lin Nan.
Lin Nan, however, comfortably wiggled against him, unknowingly teasing his senses, then chuckled, “The doctor said early pregnancy is prone to miscarriage. No GHS allowed!”
“Maybe I should get you a mug?” she said with a smile.
“I still think we should just abort it…”
Chen Yao sheepishly looked down.
——————
Reduced to a mere beast, a 2900 word saga—should be cheaper since it’s not quite 3000.
