Chapter 8 She Wasn't Pregnant at All
Zhou Lin just shook his head and looked at her with an almost pious expectation in his eyes: "Don't worry. Just... be well."
Su Hexi took the money. Now that she had it, she felt more at ease.
The next day, she took the money and went straight to the textile factory's sales department.
She knew that she still needed to familiarize herself with the clothing patterns and sewing techniques of the 1980s. She first used a small amount of money to go to the textile factory's store and buy some of the cheapest and relatively low-quality cloth scraps and odds and ends.
These fabrics are dull in color, rough in texture, and some even have slight flaws, but they are cheap and perfect for training.
She cleared a small space at the back of the shop, set up the old table, and began to recall and draw the clothing patterns in her mind with a pencil.
She combined the design concepts of her previous life with the conservative aesthetics of this era, creating some simple and elegant yet ingenious styles.
For example, there are shirts with a slightly cinched waist, neat straight-leg pants with slightly flared hems, and sketches of several dresses with subtle changes in necklines and cuffs, which are different from the rigid styles commonly seen on the market.
Drawing is not difficult, but turning the drawings into reality is difficult.
Although his soul contained the drawings of top designers, his body had no muscle memory and was extremely unfamiliar with this old foot-operated sewing machine.
She pressed the pedal, and the needle went down, but the stitches were crooked, sometimes sparse, sometimes dense. Either the uneven force tore the thin material, or the stitches were too close and snagged the thick fabric, breaking several precious needles.
"Swish--" Once again, because of distraction in calculating the size, the sewing needle went off-center and cut a long cut on the side seam of a pair of pants that was about to be completed.
"What the hell is this!" Su Hexi pounded the table in frustration, looking at the waste, distressed and frustrated. This is all money!
But the unyielding spirit in her bones was completely aroused. She just didn't believe that she could be stumped by such a small difficulty!
She removed the threads and put the scraps away, planning to make patchwork or purses later, then cut the fabric anew and start over.
During the day, she practiced sewing on the sewing machine frantically, practicing straight lines, arcs, and various sewing techniques on scraps of cloth.
At night, I study patterns and modify clothes under the dim light, often staying up late into the night.
At the same time, she did not slacken her weight loss efforts, getting up early every day to run and being extremely strict with her diet.
She barely touched the food Zhou Lin brought her, whether it was egg custard, noodles, or even the occasional meaty dish. She would secretly throw it away. She just wanted to lose weight as quickly as possible so she could better show off the clothes she made.
She was completely immersed in the world of studying and losing weight, neglecting sleep and eating. She was often so hungry that her chest was sticking to her back and she felt dizzy and drowsy that she could not bear it anymore. Only then did she remember to drink some hot water and eat something to fill her stomach.
Suddenly, a strong feeling of dizziness hit her without any warning. Her vision suddenly went black, her ears were buzzing, and her heart was beating wildly. She subconsciously tried to grab something to steady herself, but her hands were too weak to exert any strength.
The world was spinning.
"Bang!"
Without any warning, she fell down from the sewing machine, her forehead hitting the cold sewing machine table with a dull sound, and she completely lost consciousness.
Just then, Zhou Lin arrived, carrying freshly cooked millet porridge and a steamed bun. He had noticed Su Hexi was getting thinner and thinner, and her complexion was getting worse. He was worried, so he specially replaced her with some fine grains to nourish her.
I pushed open the half-open door and didn’t see anyone at first glance. I was wondering, but when I glanced down, I was immediately scared to death!
Su Hexi was seen slumped under the sewing machine, her face as pale as paper, her eyes closed, and the place on her forehead that had just been hit quickly became red and swollen.
"Xiaoxi!" Zhou Lin's bowl of porridge fell to the ground with a "bang", and the warm porridge spilled all over the floor. He rushed over and helped Su Hexi up from the ground.
"Xiaoxi! Wake up! What's wrong with you?!" Zhou Lin's voice changed, and a huge fear gripped him. He suddenly picked her up and carried her sideways. Her lightness frightened him! Not daring to delay for a moment, he rushed out of the tailor shop like a madman and ran towards the county hospital.
In the hospital, there was a chaotic examination.
Su Hexi was still unconscious, lying on the hospital bed with a pale face.
Zhou Lin was so anxious that his eyes were red and his whole body was shaking. "Doctor! How is she? Is the child... Is the child okay?"
The doctor pushed up his glasses and gave him a strange look: "Child? What child? She's not pregnant."
"Wha...what?" Zhou Lin was stunned, as if he hadn't heard clearly. "Not...not pregnant? Impossible! She vomited a lot before, and..."
"That's vomiting caused by low blood sugar and possibly a mild concussion," the doctor said confidently. "The test results are clear, there's no sign of pregnancy. She fainted from overexertion and low blood sugar. There's just a skin injury on her forehead, a little swelling, nothing serious. But her body is too weak! If she keeps starving like this, it'll be strange if nothing serious happens!"
Zhou Lin could no longer hear what the doctor said next.
Not pregnant...
She wasn't pregnant at all!
The neighbors' speculations, the rumors, his self-proclaimed "tolerance" and "responsibility"...it turned out to be a ridiculous misunderstanding from beginning to end!
After the huge shock, there was an indescribable sense of relief, almost like collapse, as if the shackles that had been tightly binding his heart had suddenly loosened! The heavy burden of "cuckold" and "raising someone else's child" that had almost suffocated him disappeared in an instant!
But then, deeper guilt and regret surged up like a tide, almost drowning him.
He had misunderstood her like that, and even asked her to abort a child that didn't even exist! He recalled her intense reaction, the words "divorce," the words "get out"... Had she been deeply hurt by his distrust? Was she so desperate to dispel his misunderstanding that she ignored her own health and frantically starved herself to lose weight?
Su Hexi, lying on the hospital bed, quivered her eyelashes and slowly opened her eyes. The hospital's snow-white ceiling filled her eyes, the smell of disinfectant wafted through her nose, and her forehead throbbed with pain.
"Xiaoxi! Are you awake?!" Zhou Lin immediately stepped forward, his voice filled with fear and guilt.
Su Hexi turned her head and saw Zhou Lin's anxious and complicated eyes. She frowned and struggled to sit up: "What's wrong with me?"
"You fainted. You have hypoglycemia." Zhou Lin hurriedly helped her up. His voice was low and hoarse, full of apology. "Xiaoxi... I'm sorry... I... I misunderstood you before. The doctor said you... are not pregnant."
Su Hexi paused. Zhou Lin knew that she was not pregnant, so he didn't have to be a father and she didn't cheat on him. So could they still get a divorce?
She looked up at him, her eyes calm and even a hint of mockery: "Oh, now you know?"
Her reaction made Zhou Lin feel even more ashamed: "I'm sorry, it's all my fault! I shouldn't have believed those words, I shouldn't have thought of you like that... I..."
"Alright!" Su Hexi interrupted him, her tone cold, "Whether I'm pregnant or not, we must get a divorce!"
"No!" Zhou Lin's voice was hoarse, and he begged in a humble way: "Xiaoxi, please forgive me this time. I will never misunderstand you again. I will listen to you in everything and depend on you for the rest of my life. Let's not get divorced, okay?"
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