"Rebirth After the Apocalypse" - No Rebirth (Part Thirteen)...

Gan Man was happily watching them play when Ye Xiqing asked her to reach out her hand, which she did without thinking too much about it. But then she heard this news.

In the post-apocalyptic world, due to disease and environmental factors, most women's menstrual cycles are irregular, and it is not uncommon for them to have periods at all, so this cannot be used as evidence of pregnancy.

But there's nothing to do in winter, so what else can you do besides having children while staying at home? The long winter is a peak season for childbirth.

Ganman has a husband. In the post-apocalyptic world, there is no concept of contraception, so it is normal for her to get pregnant.

If she were outside, she might be praised for her heroic act of giving birth despite the harsh conditions, but in front of Ye Xiqing, Gan Man instantly became nervous.

In front of Ye Xiqing, she always felt like she had returned to the pre-apocalyptic world.

Having children before the end of the world is not only not honorable, but also shameful.

Women face implicit discrimination in the workplace because of childbirth, and housewives are denounced as bloodsuckers by men. Even fellow women do not understand women whose work is affected by childbirth; childbirth seems to have become a taboo.

At that time, Gan Man understood both the desire of single women not to have children and the suffering of housewives, because there was no way out for women.

If you have children, you will be rejected by social work and labeled as a second-class citizen in the workplace.

But if one doesn't have children, it's really hard to imagine someone enduring the gradual loss of physical function and facing aging and death alone in the future.

But once a child is born, one will inevitably fall into a downward spiral, a person who has lost all defenses, entering a strange and structured family, entrusting their fate to the conscience of the family.

If even the strength to struggle is taken away, then it will be even harder to escape the vortex. From now on, all one can rely on is patience.

Gan Man felt terrified. She didn't know which path was more terrifying for her, so at that time she couldn't make any decision.

Unable to suppress any concern about marriage and relationships, and unable to force oneself to develop feelings for a stranger, so they just dragged it out in a clingy way until they suddenly achieved career success.

She doesn't know how her career took off; it just happened that her luck suddenly turned around one day.

She suddenly became a minor internet sensation, with many people ordering clothes from her. She decided to quit her job and focus on her custom clothing business from home, and surprisingly, she actually made an unexpected amount of money, enough to buy a small house and concentrate on design.

Money is a person's backbone. His previously confused life suddenly became clear, and he officially settled down to remain unmarried and childless.

Even if she really is like what's said online, dying at home in her old age without children and not even knowing it, she'll still die at home and it won't bother anyone else.

It would be great if you could stay in your own little family for your entire life.

Although she herself can be considered a staunch advocate of remaining single, she can also empathize with women who enter into marriage.

A woman's life is full of unexpected hardships.

Even if a man is poor, he at least has a poor family to belong to, which is rightfully his.

Even if society defines them as "carrying on the family line," they won't be kicked out if they fail to fulfill that duty.

The elderly couple could only accept their bad luck; they would go out to earn money to support him, and might even have to go to the trouble of buying him a wife.

But women in this society do not have this tolerance. They are born into a society where societal norms force them to wander outside and adapt to other families.

If a man receives all the resources but fails to meet the investors' expectations and experiences some psychological pressure, he can then cry foul about the unfairness of fate.

The woman, however, had nothing in her hands and was even questioned about what she was dissatisfied with and why she wasn't grateful.

If you break their hands and feet, blindfold them, and deafen them, and then accuse them of being too weak, then they are truly pitiful.

Therefore, Gan Man has no intention of entering into marriage, nor does she intend to blame others; she simply wants to live her own life well.

But everything changed in the apocalypse. It wasn't until the end of the world that she realized how afraid she was of death.

When she used to watch disaster movies, she thought that if she were in such a terrible situation, she would definitely die at the beginning and would never endure the torment. She was afraid of pain and she was afraid of enduring it.

When that day finally came, I wanted to live because of the physical pain, because of the difficult circumstances, because I was betrothed to a stranger I had only met once, and because I struggled to give birth.

No matter what, I just want to live.

She didn't know why she was so afraid of death, but it was really strange that when the pain became unbearable at night, she would think about dying.

During the day, while working, eating, or chatting and laughing with my colleagues, I suddenly feel that being alive is pretty good.

The ideas and convictions of the past have never been considered again since the apocalypse.

And so I live, sometimes clear-headed, sometimes confused.

During her time with Ye Xiqing, the feelings from the past returned, and Gan Man suddenly became nervous.

She stared at Ye Xiqing, barely daring to breathe, even feeling a sense of fear, unable to imagine what would happen if Dr. Luo kicked her out of the pharmaceutical department.

Contrary to Gan Man's expectations, Ye Xiqing did not show any particular emotion. She simply took Gan Man's pulse carefully, asked her about her physical condition, and then told her some precautions for pregnancy.

Gan Man:......

She expected to face Ye Xiqing's fury, but she didn't expect her to be so calm. Her heart tightened even more: "Doctor, aren't you angry...?"

Ye Xiqing looked at her, seemingly puzzled: "Angry? Why would I be angry? This is a good thing."

Gan Man:......

That's what they said, but it still felt a little unsettling coming from Ye Xiqing's mouth.

Gan Man was very uneasy, but Ye Xiqing seemed calm and didn't seem to care about what had just happened.

He casually looked at Luan Anchun and said, "Dean Luan, with such superb skills, exchanging a vial of your blood for this is a fair deal, isn't it?"

Luan Anchun hadn't expected such a little incident. After a moment of surprise, he didn't care and shrugged, "No, I won't. Let's be kind to the elderly. I can't be asked to sacrifice myself at such an old age."

Ye Xiqing: ...

"Dean Luan is really not good at making sacrifices. If you learn this technology, how many more people could you save?"

Luan Anchun retorted without backing down: "We're even. If Dr. Luo were willing to hand over this technology to me, it would save even more lives."

When masters clash, neither suffers a scratch.

The two old foxes played a game of cat and mouse for a long time, but in the end neither of them got what they wanted. It was Mao Hong who came back.

On her tray were "Apprenticeship Pork Ribs" that she had bought especially for Ye Xiqing, which cost her a lot of contribution points. She pushed them to Ye Xiqing and said, "Here you go."

Ye Xiqing accepted the offer with satisfaction. Seeing the man's attitude, she realized that this was true sincerity in becoming a disciple. Ye Xiqing decided to impart all the chemistry knowledge she had learned in high school.

He placed the pork chop on his own plate, then gave one to Gan Man, smiling kindly: "You're pregnant now, you need to make sure you get enough nutrition."

Mao Hong: ...

ah?

...

She went out and bought two pieces of meat. When she came back, the weather had changed. Mao Hong felt as if she had been thrown out of the car halfway through the journey and was already late when she got back.

Fortunately, Ye Xiqing kept her word and actually went back to tutor her in high school chemistry.

But Mao Hong's attention had been diverted by what was happening at the dinner table, and she looked at her incredulously: "Why are you so calm about Gan Man's pregnancy?"

Ye Xiqing looked at her strangely: "She's pregnant, not me. Why am I so agitated?"

Mao Hong: ...

Indeed, but why does it feel like Ye Xiqing shouldn't have reacted this way?

She even kindly shared her meat with Gan Man; she doesn't seem like the kind of person who respects the elderly and cares for the young.

Ye Xiqing was unaware that she was perceived this way by others, but—

"She's about to die. Even if I'm usually very stingy, how could I not share a piece of her flesh when someone close to me is about to die?"

Mao Hong suddenly realized, then exclaimed, "What? Who's going to die?"

Ye Xiqing's expression finally turned serious as she looked intently at Mao Hong.

“Gan Man won’t live much longer. You were one of the people I recruited with. You should remember that I recruited the people with the most serious illnesses, and Gan Man was on the list of people with serious illnesses.”

"But Gan Man has always been in good spirits. Is it because of her pregnancy?"

"Yes, but it's not the main reason. Her health wasn't good to begin with. The reason it wasn't outwardly apparent was because she was good at enduring pain; it wasn't because she was truly unwell."

“Her health was already poor enough. I think she could only live for three or four years at most, and now she’s pregnant.”

"As the child grows up, it's impossible for it not to compete with the mother for nutrients, which is like adding insult to injury for her."

"Judging from the current situation, if the child grows up as expected, she may not live to see the end of winter."

"And if she dies, her child will certainly not survive either; it's a lose-lose situation."

Mao Hong: ...

"Then why didn't you remind her! If she hadn't gotten pregnant, wouldn't she have been able to live a few more days!"

"It's impossible to warn people. The human body is very strange. Sometimes, you can live without knowing you have a disease, but once you find out, you will die immediately."

"Gan Man's body is like a hollow tree. She looks alive, but she's actually dead. She's only alive now because of her willpower."

“If I tell her the truth, I’m afraid she’ll lose all her confidence.”

"But I never expected that her husband would let her get pregnant when her health was so poor."

"What's done is done. If we tell her the whole truth now, what do you think she'll choose?"

Mao Hong: ...

Although I know that in the apocalypse, the lives of ordinary people are like weeds, which may be buried by ice and snow at any time, it still makes me feel depressed when I learn that the lives of people around me are about to disappear.

They were so absorbed in their own sorrow that they didn't notice there seemed to be other shadows outside the door.

After finishing her meal, Gan Man noticed that Ye Xiqing's reaction was off. She had originally wanted to say something to her, but now there was no need to say anything.

Feeling completely lost, I walked outside; the sky was already dark.

Gan Man looked up at the sky and suddenly felt not sadness, but just a sense of emptiness.

She left dejectedly, unaware that Ye Xiqing had already walked to the window, watching her departing figure.

Just now, Ye Xiqing suddenly had a very interesting multiple-choice question and wanted someone to choose from it.

...

After that, everything changed, yet it seemed like nothing had changed at all.

The four friends still often eat together.

As usual, Luan Anchun did not eat meat, but shared his portion of meat with Gan Man.

Mao Hong was learning from Ye Xiqing, and if there was any extra meat for sale, she would bring Ye Xiqing two portions.

Ye Xiqing is usually very generous and will share a piece with Gan Man.

Gan Man was actually a little sad, but her optimistic attitude saved her. Even if she was going to die tomorrow, she still had to eat her fill today! She had experienced the apocalypse, what was there to be afraid of!

Gan Man's attitude is incredibly positive. In the past, she would feel embarrassed about eating other people's food, but now she just says thank you and starts eating. She seems to be in even better spirits than before.

Mao Hong watched as Gan Man went from being thin and frail to having some flesh on her cheeks, and her originally heavy mood gradually turned into doubt.

"No, could you have made a mistake in your diagnosis?"

Ye Xiqing sadly put the meat Mao Hong bought onto her own plate and said with a sorrowful expression, "Of course not, it's just a last gasp, a last gasp."

Mao Hong: ...

Although something felt off, Ye Xiqing couldn't possibly lie to her about something like this...