Qingyun, we have a baby.

During these days of trying to conceive, Ren Rushuang and Su Yun had the housekeeper send things to Songyunting every day, such as the finest bird's nest, ginseng soup, and imported fruits. They knew that Rong Chengzhou was about to return to the army, and these few days were crucial.

In contrast, the couple became much more laid-back, even reducing the frequency of their encounters to ensure Jiang Mingxue's sleep.

Rong Chengzhou didn't want to put pressure on Jiang Mingxue, so he didn't tell her many of the precautions mentioned in the pregnancy and childbirth books. The situation was the same before and it is the same now. The only difference is whether there is that layer of protection.

The regular week passed quickly, and Jiang Mingxue happened to have half a day off the day before Rong Chengzhou left.

When Rong Chengzhou came to pick her up at noon, a bunch of white and purple flowers lay quietly on the passenger seat, the petals still covered with dew.

He picked up the flowers and handed them to her after she sat down. Jiang Mingxue looked down at the beautiful bouquet and asked in confusion, "Is today some special day? Why are you giving me flowers?"

The man's face was calm and gentle: "It's not a special day. I just happened to see it on my way here and thought I'd buy it as a gift."

Jiang Mingxue smiled slightly, her wisps of hair falling loosely by her temples, her profile illuminated by the bright bouquet of flowers, making her look gentle and beautiful: "I didn't realize that Colonel Rong was so romantic."

Neither of them are good at expressing their feelings. They usually talk about eating and sleeping most of the time. They've barely even had a few arguments, let alone prepared surprises for each other.

Rong Chengzhou chuckled lightly: "It seems I haven't been sending you enough flowers. I'll send you more in the future."

Jiang Mingxue quickly dissuaded her, "No, these flowers won't last long in my hands. You'd be better off buying me something more practical."

Rong Chengzhou raised his hand and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear, placing his palm on the top of her head as he softly said:

"There's no need to choose one or the other; my wife will have everything that others have."

--

Rong Chengzhou always kept his promises quickly. After taking her out for lunch, he went to the mall in the afternoon to buy her some practical things.

He accompanied her to choose every piece of clothing, bag, and shoe, offering his thoughtful opinions, and the money was all deducted from his salary card.

As they passed a high-end cheongsam brand store, Rong Chengzhou stopped in his tracks: "I've never seen you wear a cheongsam before."

Jiang Mingxue turned to look at him and took his hand, saying, "Let's go inside and take a look. It's been a long time since I've worn a cheongsam."

She bought one or two cheongsams during her school years, but she usually works at the clinic and mostly wears loose, casual clothes that are convenient for her work, so those two cheongsams have been gathering dust.

Rong Chengzhou helped her choose a white cheongsam with Suzhou embroidery by Huamu Shen. The cheongsam was embroidered with light blue orchids that slanted upwards along the waistline, and two light pink crabapple blossoms were hidden under the hem, which would shimmer faintly in the light.

When Jiang Mingxue came out of the fitting room, Rong Chengzhou paused for a moment as he looked up.

His prominent Adam's apple bobbed slightly, his thin lips were pressed straight, and his voice was low and restrained: "It looks good, it suits you very well."

"Really?" Jiang Mingxue walked to the dressing mirror, turned around, and smiled at herself. "It seems pretty good, but the size is a little big."

Rong Chengzhou nodded slightly, then turned to the store manager and asked, "Can this one be customized?"

The store manager replied apologetically, "I'm sorry, sir, this model is discontinued. This is the last one. How about you take a look at our newer models? Those can all be customized."

Rong Chengzhou frowned slightly: "Want to see?"

Jiang Mingxue shook her head: "No need to look anymore. A looser fit is just right. I can wear it when I go out."

Jiang Mingxue's temperament is suited to wearing cheongsams, but her slender figure doesn't suit very form-fitting cheongsams. On the contrary, loose-fitting styles like this accentuate her elegant and refined demeanor.

Rong Chengzhou nodded slightly, asked the shop assistant to pack the cheongsam, and turned to her, saying, "Next time I come back, I'll have a few custom-made for you."

Jiang Mingxue shook her head slightly: "The cheongsam is too formal, I can't usually wear it."

The man slowly moved a few inches closer, the crisp scent of cedarwood pressing down on him, his voice deep:

"Then wear it only for me to see."

Jiang Mingxue's face suddenly flushed, and she turned her head away, saying, "You wish."

Rong Chengzhou let out a low laugh, swiped his card, and picked up the things he had bought that day.

His hands were almost too full to carry all the bags, but he still managed to free one hand to hold hers.

"Let's go home."

--

The next morning, after dropping Jiang Mingxue off at work, Rong Chengzhou returned to pack his luggage to go back to his unit.

In the past, I would have nothing to do after two days of rest at home, but now I always feel that a month of wedding leave is not enough and it passes by in the blink of an eye.

Fortunately, my current residence is in the north of the city, so I can come back to visit on weekends when I have time.

Rong Chengzhou packed his things and got into the car arranged by the butler to go to the station.

Before leaving, he stopped by Yuanhe Medical Clinic to say goodbye to Jiang Mingxue in person.

After settling the patients in, Jiang Mingxue came out of the clinic and stood in front of him.

In late November, the northern part of the city was already deep into autumn, and the weather was getting cooler. Jiang Mingxue wore a long khaki trench coat, wrapping herself up tightly, with the belt hanging down to one side of her body, accentuating her slender waist.

Rong Chengzhou took her hand and warmed it for her: "Are you cold?"

Jiang Mingxue shook her head: "It's alright, it's not very cold."

Her hands were warm, which reassured Rong Chengzhou. He pulled her into his arms and rested his chin on her neck, saying, "I'll be back in half a month at most."

Jiang Mingxue nodded: "Okay."

"Just eat and sleep on time, and send me a message if you need anything. Don't worry about bothering me."

Jiang Mingxue: "Okay, I understand."

Knowing he would be back soon, this parting was not as heavy as the last one.

The leaves of the sycamore tree have long since fallen, leaving only bare branches.

They stood under the eaves and embraced for two minutes. Jiang Mingxue let go of his hand and stood up straight from his embrace.

She smiled faintly, tugged at his sleeve, and called his name: "Rong Chengzhou".

"Hmm?" The man looked down at her, his gentle voice rising slightly at the end. "What's wrong?"

Jiang Mingxue smiled without saying a word, but simply held his hand and pinched one end of the trench coat belt, then gently tugged to untie it.

The floral-patterned cheongsam he had helped her choose yesterday, hidden beneath her trench coat, was revealed.

She didn't say anything, she just stood in front of him, wearing the clothes he had given her, to see him off.

The man's gaze fell upon her, his deep eyes growing even darker.

"Do you like it?" she asked him with a gentle smile.

Rong Chengzhou reached inside his trench coat and gently grasped her slender waist. His jawline tightened slightly, and his voice was slightly hoarse with restraint: "I like it."

Jiang Mingxue smiled brightly and spoke in an exceptionally gentle voice: "Then we'll take a good look at it when you get back. Get in the car now."

Rong Chengzhou's gaze lingered on her waist for a long time, and his burning palm remained there for a few seconds before he slowly withdrew his hand.

He buttoned up her trench coat, re-fastened her belt, and hid the cheongsam that he had only ever seen. He solemnly reminded her, "It's cold, don't get cold."

Jiang Mingxue suppressed a laugh, not revealing his little scheme.

After fastening his belt, Rong Chengzhou stood still and said, "You go in first, then I'll go."

Whether it was the parting in Haining or the last time I went to Ancheng, it was always him who stood there watching the other leave first.

Jiang Mingxue nodded and said softly, "Remember to wear the jade pendant I gave you, and be careful."

Rong Chengzhou nodded: "Okay."

He only got into his car and left after she turned and went into the clinic.

--

Knowing that we would meet again someday, I felt reluctant to part this time, but not as disappointed as I did last time.

I was only slightly unaccustomed to it for the first two days, but I quickly adjusted.

Jiang Mingxue regularly goes to bed early and gets up early. During the day, she sees patients at the clinic, and at night she goes back to read medical books, sleeps with her teddy bear, and occasionally takes the time to do Baduanjin exercises to improve her health.

When she has free time, she will send Rong Chengzhou a few messages to say hello. When Rong Chengzhou has no tasks in the evening, he will call her to chat for a while.

The two of them have significantly more topics to talk about compared to before.

On another occasion, Rong Chengzhou led his troops on a field training exercise and did not receive his cell phone for two consecutive days.

When I turned the computer back on, I received a series of messages from Jiang Mingxue, which was unprecedented:

[Rong Chengzhou, I encountered an unreasonable patient today who insisted that the medicine at our clinic was poisonous, causing him dizziness and stomach pain. He clearly just didn't want to pay for the medicine.]

Today, Huaijing came over and broke my vase. He then compensated us with ten German-imported glass vases. I didn't have enough space in my study, so I've put them in yours for now.

I'm not as sleepy in the mornings lately since I haven't been drinking tea, but my mouth is starting to water from craving it.

Mom brought me lotus root and pork bone soup today, it was so delicious! Aunt Lian said she'll learn to make it for me tomorrow.

[...]

Haven't you gotten your phone yet? I'm so sleepy, I'm going to bed now. Goodnight.

Good morning, I'm off to work.

[Rong Chengzhou, if you don't reply to my message, don't even think about going to bed.]

They've been talking more lately than before, but this is the first time the number of red dots has reached double digits.

The cold, lifeless screen seemed to hold his vibrant wife; just looking at it, he could imagine the expressions on Jiang Mingxue's face when she sent him these messages.

Whether distressed, charming, or angry.

It swept away his fatigue from the past two days.

Rong Chengzhou hadn't even had time to change out of his training clothes; he replied to her messages one by one as he walked back to the dormitory:

[CM]: How was it finally resolved? You weren't hurt, were you?

[CM]: Go ahead, the whole house is yours, do whatever you want with it.

[CM]: You can drink some, don't have to hold back.

[CM]: Is it really that good? I'll have to learn how to make it from Aunt Lian when I get back.

[CM]: I just got my phone back, it's not that I didn't reply to you on purpose.

[CM]: In this cold weather, Peipei, how can you bear to make me sleep on the floor?

"Hey, bro, watch where you're going, you're about to crash into a telephone pole."

Xing Kaiyu finally finished his training mission, but he still had to keep an eye on Rong Chengzhou, who was replying to his wife's messages.

Rong Chengzhou glanced up briefly and said, "Oh."

Then, we went around the utility pole and continued walking back.

Xing Kaiyu: "......"

It's time to find a wife.

He also took out his phone and scrolled through his contacts.

He opened Xu Yan's chat window and typed a few words: 【Are you asleep?】

On the other side, Rong Chengzhou replied to Jiang Mingxue's messages one by one, and then lingered on the chat interface for a few more minutes before turning off his phone.

My phone has message notifications set up, so I won't miss them.

He unzipped his camouflage training uniform and took out the jade pendant and wedding ring from the inside pocket.

I carefully inspected it under the streetlights to make sure it hadn't been bumped or cracked during training before I put it away with peace of mind.

Back in his dorm, a message notification sounded. Rong Chengzhou opened the message and saw a reply from Jiang Mingxue:

Of course I could bear to, but you happen to have too much internal heat and need to cool down.

Rong Chengzhou chuckled and glanced at the time. It was already midnight. She was still awake, most likely because he hadn't replied to her messages.

His training clothes were dusty, so instead of going to bed, he sat in the chair in front of his desk and called Jiang Mingxue directly.

Jiang Mingxue was resting her head on the bear's arm while reading his reply when the screen suddenly switched to the call interface. She pressed the answer button.

A slightly hoarse, deep voice, raspy from long hours of training, came from the phone: "Why aren't you asleep yet?"

Jiang Mingxue lay down with her phone to her ear: "I slept too much during my lunch break, and now I have insomnia and can't sleep."

Actually, I couldn't sleep well because I was worried about Rong Chengzhou getting into trouble.

Receiving his message now puts me at ease, and my eyelids are starting to feel sleepy.

Rong Chengzhou: "Then I'll chat with you for a while, and I'll hang up after you fall asleep."

Jiang Mingxue nodded: "Okay."

Are you in your dorm now?

"Yeah, I just got back."

"Are you very tired? Why don't you go take a shower and go to bed first?"

"No, I want to hear your voice."

Jiang Mingxue couldn't help but smile, burying her head in the soft down comforter, and softly asked into the microphone, "What do you want to hear me say?"

Rong Chengzhou leaned back in his chair: "Will you tell me just because I want to hear it?"

Jiang Mingxue wasn't about to fall for his trap and remained cautious: "That depends on my mood."

A soft chuckle came from the other end of the phone, followed by the voice saying, "What if I wanted to hear you call me husband?"

Jiang Mingxue thought for a moment and said, "Hmm... I can't bring myself to say it in this atmosphere."

"Then forget it." Rong Chengzhou didn't force her and asked her how she had been these past two days.

"Today is your period, is it late?"

Jiang Mingxue touched her lower abdomen and shook her head: "No, it came this morning, right on time."

Rong Chengzhou was somewhat surprised; he had miscalculated.

Jiang Mingxue mocked him: "Colonel Rong is no good, he hasn't gotten pregnant after a week of trying."

Rong Chengzhou hadn't expected this outcome.

Once again, they were labeled "incompetent," yet powerless to refute it.

He calculated the dates: "Peipei, were those days your ovulation period?"

Jiang Mingxue nodded: "Yes, it was 14 days before my period, which happened to be the last two days of our honeymoon. My period is very regular."

Rong Chengzhou certainly couldn't doubt a doctor's determination of ovulation.

Then he can only suspect himself.

He gripped his phone, his brow furrowing involuntarily.

That doesn't make sense.

All the indicators from the pregnancy test were clearly normal.

Could high-altitude radiation have really had some effect on him?

Rong Chengzhou was also a little unsure for a moment, and silently doubted himself for two minutes.

Then, feigning composure, he said, "It's alright, we still have the Fertility Tower."

Jiang Mingxue: "No, there are a lot of patients lately due to the autumn and winter season change, I don't have time to stay at your place."

Rong Chengzhou: "Then let me wait until my next vacation. No rush. It'll give you some more free time."

He quickly composed himself and instructed, "Be careful not to touch cold water these next two days. Have Aunt Lian make you some brown sugar ginger tea."

Jiang Mingxue turned on speakerphone, lay on the bed, covered her mouth and yawned, her voice somewhat languid: "I know."

Rong Chengzhou could tell she was sleepy, so he didn't ask any more questions. He sat quietly in his chair and waited for the soft breathing sounds coming from the phone before putting it down.

Instead of hanging up, she temporarily turned off the phone, grabbed a change of clothes, and went to the public bathroom to shower.

He turned on the microphone when he lay down on the bed, placed the phone next to his pillow, and fell asleep listening to Jiang Mingxue's breathing.

The occasional crackling sound of electricity came from the phone. Rong Chengzhou had only been lying down for a few minutes when he suddenly heard a soft, drowsy voice coming from the phone:

Goodnight, honey.

--

Before they knew it, it was early December. Rong Chengzhou's tasks were not so urgent for the time being, so he sent a message to Jiang Mingxue in advance, saying that he would be home on Friday, but it would be quite late, and that she didn't need to wait for him and should get some rest.

After finishing my flight mission at 8 p.m., I went back to my dorm to shower and pack my luggage without eating, and then took a car back home.

However, the northern part of the city covers a large area, and the air force base is located in a remote area. In addition, there was a traffic jam during Friday evening rush hour, so it was already past midnight when we got back to Songyunting.

He pushed open the door and went in, turning on the light in the entryway.

A dim, warm light spilled into the living room, and upon looking up, one could see a small, thin figure curled up on the sofa.

He paused, changed his shoes, and walked over quietly.

Jiang Mingxue lay in the corner of the sofa, the blanket draped over her body slipping down to her knees. Her long, thick eyelashes drooped gently, casting a faint shadow beneath them.

The dim light in the entryway illuminated her peaceful sleeping face; her brows were slightly furrowed, indicating she wasn't sleeping soundly.

My heart melted instantly, and my usually stern face, which had been busy all day, softened without my noticing.

He didn't say anything, but simply pulled up the blanket to cover her, then bent down and picked her up horizontally, his movements as gentle as if he were holding a fragile and precious exhibit.

Even so, Jiang Mingxue still managed to wake up after a while.

She finished reading her book tonight and waited for Rong Chengzhou to come back, so she didn't sleep soundly.

She lay in his arms, opened her sleepy eyes, and said in a soft, drowsy voice, almost like a spoiled child, "You're back."

Rong Chengzhou hummed in agreement, his tone gentle: "Next time I come back late, you don't need to wait for me."

Jiang Mingxue hugged his neck: "Anyway, I don't have to go to work tomorrow, so I want to wait for you."

Rong Chengzhou was deeply moved. He gently placed her on the bed, lowered his head and kissed her forehead, and whispered soothingly, "You've got some dust on you outside. I'll go take a shower and be right back."

Jiang Mingxue replied with an "Oh," and then said, "Okay."

Rong Chengzhou had showered in the army, but since he was traveling by car, he could easily pick up bacteria, so he took a quick shower and came out of the bathroom soon after.

Jiang Mingxue leaned against the headboard, forcing herself to stay awake while waiting for him to return. She nodded several times during the wait, almost falling asleep.

Rong Chengzhou felt heartbroken and turned off the light, holding her in his arms: "Go to sleep."

Jiang Mingxue shook her head and grabbed his sleeve: "Wait a bit before you sleep."

"What's wrong?" he asked, bowing his head.

She grabbed his fingers: "Rong Chengzhou, do you know how to take a pulse?"

The man shook his head: "I don't know, but you can teach me."

Jiang Mingxue placed his fingers on his own wrist, corresponding to the three positions of Cun, Guan, and Chi.

"Can you feel the pulse?"

Rong Chengzhou hummed in agreement: "Yes, there is a very obvious pulsation."

"Then remember this feeling."

Jiang Mingxue moved his hand to the same spot on her wrist.

Can you tell the difference?

Rong Chengzhou frowned and carefully sensed it: "Your pulse seems a little different from mine."

But he wasn't a medical student, so he couldn't explain the difference.

Jiang Mingxue patiently guided him: "Is it beating more smoothly than your pulse?"

Rong Chengzhou: "Yes."

"Does it feel like a bead is rolling forward, passing through your ring finger, middle finger, and index finger in turn?"

Rong Chengzhou replied solemnly, "Yes."

A vague idea began to form in his mind, and he turned his head to look at her.

Jiang Mingxue looked up at him, her eyes filled with tenderness:

"A smooth and flowing pulse, like pearls rolling on a plate, indicates a happy pulse."

She smiled faintly, and amidst his bewildered expression, spoke softly, word by word:

"Rong Chengzhou, we're having a baby."

-----------------------

The author's note: Colonel Rong oscillates between being capable and incapable every day.

100 RMB red envelope~