Chapter 25

The next morning, Ji Mingfei received a call from the human resources department, asking if she was willing to accept a job transfer and return to the marketing department.

Ji Mingfei thought she had misheard. After repeatedly confirming that it was the marketing department, she explained her current pregnancy and impending delivery to them without much hope.

Unexpectedly, the other party simply said, as if it were common sense, that maternity leave was also available in the marketing department. After confirming that she was willing to accept the job transfer, the transfer order was sent over very quickly.

Ji Mingfei took the transfer order to Chu Yue and asked, "President Chu, did you arrange this for me?"

"I'm just fulfilling a promise I made back then." Chu Yue's nonchalant tone sounded as if she were saying, "This is a deal, don't misunderstand."

Ji Mingfei took a deep breath, gripped her phone, and mustered the courage to say to her, "The child is really not yours!"

Chu Yue couldn't help but frown, and nodded in agreement, saying, "I know, haven't you said it many times? Ten months of pregnancy, your due date is in early July, a month earlier than when we met."

"..."

Fortunately, she didn't know that a pregnancy lasts 280 days, so it seems she really didn't know the child was hers.

"After I finish handing over my work, you can come with me. We can cancel the reservation at the postpartum care center and go back to Tianyuansheng. They have the best medical resources there."

"Can I trouble you for one more thing?" Ji Mingfei wasn't the type to like troubling others, but things that were originally within her capabilities were now beyond her ability.

Chu Yue looked at her and said, "Go ahead."

When people have no choice, their weaknesses are exposed. Ji Mingfei knew that no matter what request she made, Chu Yue would fulfill it for her now.

"I'm still paying off my mortgage, and I don't have the money to rent a place back at headquarters. If I haven't sold my house before I leave, could you help me find a place to stay temporarily? Once I sell my house, I will definitely pay the rent with interest!" Ji Mingfei promised confidently.

Chu Yue listened attentively to her and agreed, "Sure! You can stay at my place, I won't charge you rent."

"..."

*

Plans can't keep up with changes. On the very morning that Chu Yue and Ji Mingfei finished their handover, cancelled their postpartum care center services, and booked their plane tickets to depart, Ji Mingfei's water broke.

She woke up in a wet bed, completely unaware of what had happened. At first, she thought it was just incontinence caused by the baby pressing on her bladder, but after checking on her phone, Ji Mingfei realized that her water had probably broken.

Although her belly hadn't shown any signs of labor, Ji Mingfei was already trembling with fear. She quickly called Chu Yue next door, and after hearing her say that she was about to give birth, there was a knock on the door.

Ji Mingfei, holding her pregnant belly, went to open the door, and the moment she saw Chu Yue, tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.

Chu Yue carried her into the bedroom and calmly asked, "Does it hurt a lot? Are you about to give birth? Where are your ID card, medical insurance card, and medical record? Your hospital bag is in my car. I'll go get you some clothes! Let's go to the hospital right away."

Fortunately, there weren't many people on the street early in the morning. Chu Yue ran two red lights and drove the car to the entrance of the emergency room in less than ten minutes.

The attending doctor pushed Ji Mingfei on a stretcher to the obstetrics department. After a series of examinations, the doctor calmly said to Ji Mingfei, who was lying on the hospital bed, and Chu Yue, who was accompanying her, "Although your water has broken, your cervix is ​​not dilated yet. If necessary, we can give you an oxytocin injection, but we suggest you wait a little longer."

After the doctor left, Ji Mingfei, who only vaguely understood, asked Chu Yue for confirmation, "What did she mean?"

Chu Yue thought for a moment, then pointed to Ji Mingfei's stomach and explained in the simplest terms, "She doesn't want to come out yet."

Chu Yue pulled up a chair and sat on the edge of the bed, patiently explaining to Ji Mingfei the knowledge she had learned recently.

"After your water breaks, you'll feel intense pain with each contraction. Your birth canal will slowly open, and you'll give birth when it's about ten centimeters dilated." Chu Yue gestured with her hand to show the size of ten fingers so that Chu Yue wouldn't understand.

"..."

After reading it, Ji Mingfei suddenly didn't want to have children anymore.

She shook her head vigorously, "...So big? How could it be driven like that? I'd definitely die..."

Chu Yue touched her neck, feeling helpless. She didn't know how to comfort Ji Mingfei. As an expectant mother, this was an unavoidable reality. Her stomach even started to hurt when she heard this obstetrics and gynecology knowledge.

"Well... if I have a C-section, I'll have to make such a long incision. The wound will be very painful once the anesthesia wears off, and it will take time to heal. If I have to choose, I'll have a vaginal delivery."

When Ji Mingfei saw the length of the wound she was gesturing, she burst into tears on the spot.

The mother in the next bed couldn't stand it anymore and pulled back the curtain between them, saying to Chu Yue, "Why are you scaring her? What kind of alpha are you! Can't you see she's already terrified?"

After saying that, she gently comforted Ji Mingfei, "Actually, it's not that painful! Look, I've already had my second baby. It's normal to be scared the first time. Just think that the baby will eventually come out. I can't keep giving birth forever. Think about the days after the pain is over, and you'll get through it quickly."

Perhaps it was because she had cried too hard, Ji Mingfei suddenly felt a sharp pain in her stomach. She gripped the bed railing, breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain.

"Is she starting to have contractions? What are you standing there for? Call the doctor over!" The mother next door waved her hand and urged Chu Yue.

Chu Yue only then realized what was happening and hurriedly ran out to find a doctor.

The mother next door paused for a moment, then asked, "Where did she go?"

Then he pressed the nurse call button by his bedside to call the doctor over for Ji Mingfei.

After being diagnosed by the doctor and confirmed to be experiencing contractions, Ji Mingfei, who thought she could finally give birth, was just beginning her long first stage: cervical dilation.

The pain continued until nightfall, when the cervix finally dilated completely. The nurse pushed Ji Mingfei into the delivery room, leaving Chu Yue outside.

Chu Yue stared at the delivery room door, sitting down and standing up intermittently, wandering around the chairs in the waiting area.

The middle-aged man next to her put down his phone, looked up and said, "There's no use in being anxious. Just sit and wait! This is a battle for mothers on their own. You'd be better off thinking about how to take care of postpartum women. That's where the alphas are on their battlefield!"

Chu Yue glanced at him, and as she sat down, her gaze fell on the cooking video on his phone. Curious, she asked, "What are you watching?"

"Crucian carp soup, it helps with lactation. My wife didn't have enough milk when she had her first child, and I didn't have any experience at the time, so I need to prepare early this time."

Chu Yue opened her phone, sat down, and humbly asked, "Oh, could you send me a link?"

The man pointed to his phone and said, "Just search for this uploader's name and it will come up."

Twenty minutes later, the delivery room door opened, and a nurse came out carrying a baby who was wrapped up tightly in a blanket.

A row of heads looked up in the waiting area. Chu Yue had just stood up when she heard the man next to her say slowly, "It's not yours. She's only been inside for such a short time, she won't be able to come out."

The nurse called out to the waiting area, "Are Li Qiuping's family members here?"

The man next to her rushed forward, bowing and scraping to the nurse with a beaming smile, saying, "That's me! Where's my wife? Why is only the baby out?"

"Mom will have to wait a little longer. After you've seen the baby, take her to the observation room. It's a girl!"

"Okay, thank you for your hard work! Please tell my wife that I'll wait for her outside!" The man rubbed his hands together and strolled around the delivery room door with a smug look on his face.

Chu Yue glanced at the time; she had been inside for half an hour.

One by one, the families of the mothers in the waiting area left. Even the alpha who went in later than Ji Mingfei had seen the baby. Chu Yue finally couldn't help but go up to ask the nurse.

"Excuse me, how is Ji Mingfei? She's been inside for almost two hours."

The nurse looked Chu Yue up and down and said, "She's already given birth. She said her alpha didn't come, and after checking on the baby, she sent her directly to the observation room. What's your relationship to her?"

"I... am her colleague."

"She'll be out soon, just wait a bit!" the nurse said before going back inside.

Chu Yue sat in the chair, somewhat frustrated. It seemed she didn't trust herself at all!

A dozen minutes later, Ji Mingfei was wheeled out. Chu Yue quickly went over to help push the cart, and seeing the pale-faced woman on the hospital bed, she could roughly imagine what she had just gone through.

"Where is my child?" Ji Mingfei asked, holding Chu Yue's hand.

"The nurse said the child is in the observation room."

Have you seen her?

"…not yet."

The nurse next to me smiled and said, "We show the baby to the family right after it's born before sending it to the observation room. Your alpha is late, so let her go to the observation room to see it herself in a bit."

Chu Yue's mood inexplicably improved again.

Ji Mingfei, lying down, could see the smile on her lips and couldn't understand why she was suddenly so happy.

Back in her ward, Ji Mingfei felt extremely hungry. She had been in pain all day and couldn't eat anything. Only after giving birth did she realize how uncomfortable her stomach felt.

"I want to eat egg noodles." Ji Mingfei looked at Chu Yue pitifully.

Chu Yue tucked her in and, after confirming that she didn't have any tests to do for the time being, placed her phone next to the pillow and said, "I'll go buy it for you. You rest for a while, and call me if you need anything."

"Come back soon." Ji Mingfei suddenly became very dependent on her.

Chu Yue patted her blanket and strode out the door.

As Chu Yue passed by the infant observation room, she was completely captivated by the babies in the room. Standing in front of the glass window, she saw a baby staring at her with wide eyes, blowing bubbles like a fish.

She pressed herself against the glass, and the children looked over, trying to figure out which one was Ji Mingfei. The more she looked, the more she felt that all the little ones looked the same, each one wrinkled and scraggly.

Chu Yue lost track of time while looking at the time, and when she remembered that her child's mother was still waiting to eat egg noodles, she panicked and ran away.

In the hospital room, Ji Mingfei tossed and turned in bed, starving. "Why isn't she back yet... I hope she hasn't gotten lost!"