Chapter 36 Free Duck Kneading and Pounding
"Anesthesia tolerance?" Ye Chuyi was taken aback. "I've never heard of that?"
Ye Chucheng said very seriously: "Yes, and at this stage of his pregnancy, anesthesia is very bad for the fetus."
His gaze slowly swept across Ye Chuyi's face and landed on Wei Sibei, who was lying on his side. His hand, hidden under the blanket, crumpled the quilt covering his abdomen.
"Dr. Jianjie is already downstairs. I'll call her up now," Ye Chuyi said, taking out her phone.
"Hey, brother! When did you get here?" Wei Sibei deliberately stood up unsteadily, his eyelids drooping and his eyes unfocused, but his tone was somewhat urgent.
Ye Chuyi sat back on the bed, letting him lean against her, and cooperated by putting on a worried expression.
Ye Chucheng crossed his arms and said casually, "Are you alright?"
Wei Sibei gave a muffled "hmm," and said, "I'm still a little dizzy, but it's nothing serious. I'm sorry to have worried you."
Ye Chucheng shuddered again and quickly said, "Then let's go out for dinner. There's also a soup, it'll be ready soon."
He walked to the door and was about to close it when he suddenly said, "Oh, right, Ye Chuyi, go buy a few bottles of wine."
"Okay."
He could hear the cheerfulness in Ye Chuyi's tone, so he left the door open and opened it even wider.
Ye Chucheng's small apartment has two bedrooms, a living room, and a semi-enclosed balcony. Except for Chu Yi's room, the furnishings and layout are exactly the same as the apartment Ye Chu Yi rented.
Aside from the coffee table and sofa, the living room was sparsely furnished. As Ye Chuyi said, every inch of footsteps was covered with bottles and jars he had collected.
The clock had just struck noon when Wei Sibei and Ye Chucheng sat side by side on the sofa, one tall and one short.
Ye Chucheng now deeply regrets not going to buy the wine himself.
Wei Sibei interlaced his fingers, resting them on his stomach, leaning back slightly against the cushion. Ye Chucheng, on the other hand, leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs, not fully seated.
Judging from his posture, Wei Sibei, who was visiting for the first time, seemed more at ease than Ye Chucheng, as if he were the master of the place.
An awkward atmosphere, tinged with a hint of ambiguity, made it difficult for the two of them to breathe. Ye Chucheng wanted to loosen his collar, and just as he raised his hand, he remembered that Chu Yi hadn't returned yet, so he lowered it again.
The sofa was a right angle. Ye Chucheng tilted his head and looked out the window. It was bare, with nothing interesting or that could distract him.
He simply sat down on the other side of the right angle.
Their gazes seemed to meet at a certain point in the middle, but just as they were about to touch each other, they would tacitly turn away.
Wei Sibei wanted to break the silence and was about to speak when Ye Chucheng immediately found something to do and made a call to Chu Yi.
"Hey, why are you taking so long to buy some wine? What are you dawdling about?"
Ye Chuyi, carrying a box in her arms, stepped into the elevator and said, "It's only been five minutes, boss. It took me more than three minutes just to walk to the supermarket. I'm downstairs. I would have been there by now if you hadn't called me."
Her voice came from the other end of the phone, still at that same fast and energetic pace.
Wei Sibei watched him hang up the phone and said, "Don't put pressure on her, the wine is quite strong."
Ye Chucheng gave a stiff, awkward laugh, and then the doorbell rang.
Ye Chucheng immediately got up to open the door, taking the whole case of wine from Ye Chuyi's hands while letting out a long sigh of relief: "Thank goodness, Miss."
Looking at her older brother's attire and then at Wei Sibei's clothes, Ye Chuyi could hardly believe her eyes.
Are the two brothers playing Miracle Leng Leng at home?
Both men were dressed in impeccably tailored suits, each one of superior quality, with neatly tied ties and even their trousers without an ounce of wrinkles.
This was the first time she had ever seen Wei Sibei in a suit.
He looked like a decent person, and despite his usual roguish demeanor, he had reached a new level of handsomeness.
The most bizarre thing was that Ye Chucheng was wearing leather shoes in his own home.
For a moment, it was impossible to tell who was more ill than whom.
These two men are like the desert under the scorching sun and the grassland in the morning dew.
Wei Sibei is like the desert; beneath his bronze skin lies a sharp profile honed over the years, the shadows cast by his brow bones resembling the undulating shadows of sand dunes. Only when his black pupils are focused can one see a mirage-like, fatal attraction. A semi-permanent mockery always lingers on his lips, and a few casual words can drive someone half-mad with anger. The scars beneath his shirt are a testament to his resistance against this society.
Ye Chucheng is like the grassland. Seemingly lush and verdant, it actually harbors untamed wildness and danger. The comfort of a gentle breeze and the unpredictable nature of fate are both internalized in this man.
When they stand together, it's like a strange pressure difference, a clash between the northwest wind and the southeast monsoon, seeing in each other's pupils a distant place they have never reached.
Just as Ye Chuyi was about to help Wei Sibei up, Ye Chucheng, who had already walked into the kitchen, coughed and said, "Chu'er, come and serve the dishes."
Ye Chuyi patted her taut belly and said softly, "Where did this suit come from? Did Xiao Ji bring it to you while I was out?"
Wei Sibei nodded twice.
Ye Chuyi really wanted to knock herself unconscious. What kind of men were these? Was it too late for her to regret it now?
She quickly kissed the button of his suit jacket: "Don't be nervous, I'm here for you."
Then, she skipped over to take the vegetables from Ye Chucheng's hand.
The three sat around a square table, with Ye Chucheng in the middle.
Four dishes and one soup, including both meat and vegetables.
Ye Chucheng, unusually attentive, was about to pour Wei Sibei a drink when Ye Chuyi quickly stopped him, saying, "Brother! How can he still drink now?"
Ye Chucheng was embarrassed and stood awkwardly in mid-air.
Wei Sibei squeezed her palm from under the table: "It's okay."
"No way." Ye Chuyi forcefully took his wine glass. "Is having a fever something to joke about?"
However, it's too much of a rude act for Wei Sibei to be the only one drinking with him.
Ye Chucheng took the initiative to say, "I remember now, we have juice at home."
“…Why didn’t you say so earlier?” Ye Chuyi knew where he had put them. The only place on the balcony that wasn’t occupied by antiques was a stack of juices, all of them lychee flavored.
That place was a forbidden area; no one was allowed to enter except for Ye Chucheng himself.
She didn't want to go in either; if someone got hurt, she couldn't afford to pay for it.
After clinking three glasses of lychee juice together, Ye Chucheng finally regained some of his host's demeanor.
"Si Bei, do you know how to fix sewers?" he asked out of the blue.
Ye Chuyi and Wei Sibei were both taken aback. Ye Chuyi swallowed the zucchini in her mouth and asked, "Brother, is the sewer broken? I know a repairman, I'll contact him for you."
"No, it's fine. I was asking if Si Bei usually fixes the sewers?"
Just as Ye Chuyi was about to say "yes," a memory suddenly flashed through her mind: during a vacation abroad, Wei Sibei's house had indeed experienced a broken drainpipe. Not wanting their time together to be disturbed, he decided to try it himself. As a result, what was originally just a cracked drainpipe somehow developed into a large hole, flooding the living room and even seeping downstairs.
Ye Chuyi spent the entire night on the sofa until 11 p.m.
After that, Wei Sibei never touched the sewer again.
She looked at Wei Sibei's expression, and sure enough, he also looked ashamed and remorseful. The two of them choked in silence.
That choked-up meant 'I can't'.
Ye Chucheng then asked, "And what about pickled vegetables?"
There was a time when Ye Chuyi was about to say "yes" again, but then she suddenly pictured Xiao Ji and Lao Si vomiting and having diarrhea after eating it. Her cheeks stung and her expression became conflicted.
Wei Sibei couldn't understand why cucumbers and radishes, which could be eaten raw, could cause such a reaction when pickled.
This time, he managed to squeeze out two words: "No."
"You can't even do this?" Ye Chucheng's eyebrows furrowed in dismay. "Then, how about knitting a sweater?"
"..."
"..."
This time, there's no need to even think about it; it's obvious—no way!
Let alone knitting sweaters, I doubt they've ever even wrapped a ball of yarn around their neck.
"Brother," Ye Chuyi quickly tried to smooth things over, "What era are we living in? How many young people know how to knit their own sweaters?"
“Am I not a young person? I knit my own sweaters. All the sweaters, scarves and gloves you’ve worn since you were little have been knitted by me.”
She ladled a bowl of soup for her brother and stated, "What you're describing are not things that ordinary people do regularly."
Take pickled vegetables for example. First of all, she doesn't eat pickled vegetables much; secondly, normal households don't use antiques as pickling jars.
Ye Chucheng replied confidently, "Is my sister an ordinary person? Of course, she's not someone an ordinary person should be paired with."
Wei Sibei spoke with the same emotion as a recent graduate in their first job interview, lacking any real skill: "I don't know how, but I can learn."
Wei Sibei barely touched his chopsticks, while the Ye siblings ate as they talked.
Ye Chucheng said nonchalantly, "You can't do anything, how are you going to live? And you're even looking for a repairman? You're a young woman living alone, letting strange men come to your door, with your address information on the order—is that safe?"
Ye Chuyi: "Brother, don't make me sound like I'm defenseless, okay? I could kick three people flying with one kick..."
"If you can kick three people away, then you don't need to live with another man at all."
Seeing that half of the dishes on the table were gone, Ye Chucheng ordered her again, "I also ordered a fish, go and get it."
Although the situation was awkward for just the two of them, he didn't want Wei Sibei and his sister to be alone together. Sending Wei Sibei seemed inhumane. Sending Ye Chuyi was the best solution.
Before leaving, while Ye Chuyi went to the bathroom, she whispered to Wei Sibei, "Don't worry, I'll take care of my brother for you."
Wei Sibei shook his head: "I'll handle it myself. If I can't even handle your brother, do you think I'm worthy of pursuing you?"
He would help Ye Chuyi sort out the complicated family relationships that might exist in other families in advance.
There were absolutely no problems with Wei's mother. She treated Ye Chuyi like her own daughter, and Wei Sibei's preparations were completely useless.
It's not a waste to use it to appease my brother-in-law now.
Ye Chucheng ordered the steamed fish, which was ranked number one in the city. The owner was very strict; it was dine-in only, no takeout. Takeout was allowed, but customers had to bring their own containers. Ye Chuyi chuckled inwardly; at least they had some hospitality. She thought to herself, "I've already prepared a whole table of dishes, why would I need to go out and get the fish halfway through?"
The round trip took about half an hour.
She pushed the door open again, and wow, the two brothers had gotten involved with a genius bartender?
Three bottles of baijiu were spilled on the ground, but not a single dish was missing. Ye Chucheng, his face flushed, had his arm around Wei Sibei's shoulder, calling him "brother" repeatedly.
She walked up to the two men, but neither of them even glanced at her.
Wei Sibei excitedly introduced the gold belt to Ye Chucheng, while Ye Chucheng put his other hand on the armrest of Wei Sibei's chair, half-hugging him and almost pressing his face against him.
"Brother? Are you alright?" She knew all too well what Ye Chucheng was like when he was drunk, and to prevent him from going crazy, she had to quickly get him to bed.
Ye Chucheng then noticed her, and Wei Sibei followed his gaze.
Ye Chucheng pointed at her angrily and said, "Chu'er, where have you been? Your brother-in-law is so pregnant, and you're still running around. Hurry up and take care of him."
He stood up unsteadily and pushed Wei Sibei toward Ye Chuyi's room.
Wei Sibei's legs were a little unsteady, so Ye Chuyi helped him hold onto the wall for support.
Ye Chucheng slurred, "You silly girl, you don't know how lucky you are. Such a good man, and you still complain that he can't fix the sewers, can't pickle vegetables, and can't knit sweaters. How many young people these days can knit sweaters?"
"...Okay, your memory is pretty good, you didn't miss a single word." Ye Chuyi first let go of Wei Sibei, then kicked Ye Chucheng back to her room with a thud. Judging from the looks of it, she'll be sleeping until tomorrow.
In her own pink little house, Wei Sibei had already made the bed, taken off her shoes and coat, and sat on the edge of the bed with a normal expression, like a favored concubine waiting to be favored.
Ye Chuyi had drunk with him before and knew that his alcohol tolerance was bottomless; he could easily drink three bottles of baijiu.
"Chu'er," Wei Sibei called her with a wistful smile.
"What?" Ye Chuyi's eyes widened, her voice slightly nasal.
“Nothing. So that’s what your brother calls you.” He rolled over to his left, involuntarily letting out a heavy sigh, and carefully placed his belly on his lap, his eyes narrowing slightly. “I’ll call you that from now on, it sounds nice.”
Ye Chuyi stiffened her neck in disbelief. They were used to calling each other by their full names; what if Wei Sibei started calling her "Chu~er~" with such tenderness...?
yue……
It's chilling to think about.
He was slumped in the cushions like a stranded whale. Seeing her reaction, he stubbornly sat up: "What? You don't allow anyone other than your brother to call you that, do you? Not even me?"
Her small bed was against two walls, and Ye Chuyi sat down beside it. Wei Sibei stretched out his long legs and pressed them onto her thighs: "I don't even have a special nickname for you."
"Then you can come up with a name that's different from what my brother calls me. Do you want to be like him?" Ye Chuyi glanced at the long legs pressing down on her, her right corner of her mouth unconsciously turning up, while her left corner stubbornly turned down, forming an asymmetrical little parenthesis. "If you call me Chu'er, then I'll treat you as my brother."
"No!" He desperately craved her touch, pinching her hand and placing it on his stomach. "I'm your man, you can't treat me like a brother."
"Okay, okay, you're not." Ye Chuyi shook her head helplessly, paused for a moment, and coaxed, "How about Chuchu? Yiyi? Or Yeye?"
"Ugh..." Wei Sibei glanced at her with disdain, "Repetitive words, disgusting."
"Then what do you want to be called? Xiao Ye, Xiao Chu, Xiao Yi? I'm not your secretary."
"Why does it have to be small... Big is fine too, Da Ye, Da Chu, Da Yi, hey? I'll call you Da Yezi! How about that, haha!"
"..." Ye Chuyi was speechless. She pushed his leg away and pretended to stand up. "Go with the others."
"Hey, hey, don't go, don't go." Wei Sibei grabbed her wrist. "You know how bad I am at naming things, so I'll just call you Chu Yi. But you can give me a different name. Like, what's your WeChat nickname for me?"
"What else could this be?" Ye Chuyi tilted her head and looked at him.
"It's not my name, is it? Let me see." Wei Sibei, supporting his belly, scooted over to sit next to her.
Ye Chuyi: "Why did you bring this up again?"
Seeing her dawdling, Wei Sibei blinked a few times and then groaned, clutching his stomach.
"Ouch, it hurts so much. I think I can't get pregnant anymore." He swayed his waist, almost pressing his belly against her.
Ye Chuyi: "Fine, fine, I'll show you, okay?"
Sure enough, as soon as Ye Chuyi brought up the page, his stomachache disappeared.
Every conversation on the interface ended with Wei Sibei. His gaze moved upwards, landing on the other person's contact name—[Wei Sibei].
Not a word more, not a word less—these are the three words that perfectly encapsulate his unwavering commitment to his principles.
"Huh?" He looked disappointed. "It's not even 'Si Bei,' it's 'Wei Si Bei.'"
"What, you don't have this name?" Ye Chuyi's slender fingers flew across the keyboard. "Then how about Wei Sinan, Wei Sidong, or Wei Sixi? You can choose!"
"Then..." he couldn't help but ask, "What's Wei Bowen's nickname in my contacts?"
Ye Chuyi, as if working with a computer, brought up Wei Bowen's page for him—also displaying the three large characters "[Wei Bowen]".
"Hey? How about I change your contact name to 'Uncle'?" Ye Chuyi suddenly got excited and clapped her hands in approval.
Upon hearing this, Wei Sibei coughed repeatedly, then clutched his stomach and gasped for breath.
"It's no longer effective. I've heard the story of the boy who cried wolf too many times, so I don't believe it anymore."
"I'm not lying to you this time, it really hurts." He took a few deep breaths, and fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. "Your daughter kicked you like that, oh wow, it really hurts."
Ye Chuyi placed her hand on his stomach, and the force inside was indeed considerable.
Wei Sibei took the opportunity to ask a few more questions. Ye Chuyi's contact list was full of full names and surnames. Even Director Zhang did not receive special treatment; she had registered his full name with three characters.
Very official, extremely formal.
Only Ye Chucheng was referred to as 'brother' by her.
Wei Sibei poked his large belly and played around with it: "You're so careless! So, I treat you the same as everyone else, with no difference whatsoever?"
Thankfully, it didn't turn out as he imagined, where men were categorized by cake flavor.
Ye Chuyi has a photographic memory; she can remember anyone she's met even once, and call them by name the next time they meet. Therefore, she doesn't need special notes to remember who's associated with each account.
Ye Chuyi: "What you said is just like my brother. When I first added him on WeChat, I wanted to change my name to 'Ye Chucheng' in front of him. He scolded me, so I changed it to 'brother'."
Seemingly feeling that theoretical instruction wasn't enough, and that he needed to demonstrate it through example, Wei Sibei pulled up his phone's screen: "Look, here's the nickname I gave you: [AAAAAAAAAAA]. That makes you number one in my contacts, and Lao Wang is number two, right?" Wei Sibei glanced at her as if reminding her, "And I even pinned your messages to the top. Can't you even give me a slightly more unique nickname?"
Ye Chuyi leaned over for a look: "Looks like a salesperson."
Wei Sibei shoved her: "Just write, 'The most handsome, perfect, and outstanding husband in the world...'"
"I'm afraid it can't fit so many words in..."
"Well then, love love love, Brother Si Bei, love love love, that's alright too."
"He just said he wouldn't be my brother anymore."
With his hands resting on his knees and his knuckles slightly curled, Wei Sibei struggled and said, "Tsk, how can these be the same? The Queen of the Women's Kingdom calls Tang Sanzang 'Brother Tang,' is the same as Li Kui calling Song Jiang 'Brother.'"
Ye Chuyi, with one hand wrapped around her feverish hand, suddenly realized: "Oh, I understand, my feelings for you are like Li Kui's feelings for Song Jiang."
"Oh, Chu Yi, can't you understand how I feel about you and what effect I have on you? If you won't even give me a heart, I'm going to get angry." He anticipated Ye Chu Yi's words and preemptively struck, "My pregnancy hormones are almost depleted, and I'm subjectively angry right now."
"What's the purpose..." Ye Chuyi thought to herself, "Well then, let's call it 'Free Duck'."
She peeked at Wei Sibei with a mischievous grin.
Wei Sibei, perceptive as ever, asked, "What are you thinking about?"
She changed her mind: "Let's call him Little Blackie."
"..." Wei Sibei had almost rubbed the fabric on his knees until it sparked. "You can see I'm tanned, but I'm still tall, I'm still strong, and I have such a perfectly curved pregnant belly!"
Ye Chuyi chuckled and, before the other person could jump out of bed and hit her, added a red heart before his name.
“I said, that’s enough already. Xiao Ji told me that you’re wandering around the boxing gym, forcing people to compliment your belly, and you can’t express any different opinions.”
Wei Sibei: "How can you say I'm forcing someone? You said my belly looks good, didn't you? Weren't you just being sincere in praising me?"
Ye Chuyi lowered her eyes, the curve of which was a perfect semicircle, healthy and full, symmetrical, quite beautiful.
Throughout the pregnancy, he was never idle. Not only was he not idle, he was also running around everywhere. There was no such thing as taking care of the pregnancy. Apart from a few major injuries that made him uncomfortable, the baby was always quite healthy.
For the past month, he has often said he is not feeling well, although there is a 50% chance that he is just being dramatic and asking her to stay with him.
Ye Chuyi admitted, "I was genuinely praising you. So, am I just treating you like an ordinary person?"
Wei Sibei scratched his head: "That's true."
Oh, does this mean that Ye Chuyi has a possessive desire for him? His belly is only for her to admire, and she can't touch it to show it off.
As he thought this, he couldn't help but chuckle twice. Suddenly, his expression changed, and he stiffened his back, afraid to move. His brows furrowed, and his face showed pain.
Ye Chuyi dared not joke with him anymore: "What's wrong? Are you about to give birth?"
"No..." Ye Chucheng wasn't there, so he didn't care about appearances. He grabbed his shirt collar and wiped the sweat from his face, his voice muffled by the fabric.
"Leg cramps..." Wei Sibei squeezed out the three words through gritted teeth, his toes suddenly curling up and veins bulging.
Ye Chuyi hugged his calves to her chest, took the peppermint oil from the bedside table, and as soon as she placed her palm on it, she heard him whimper like a young animal from his nose, his eyelashes drooping wetly.
She touched his stomach; it wasn't hard.
There were indeed no signs of her giving birth.
Wei Sibei felt a little better after being rubbed by her, and then said, "It's okay, I don't want to give birth to the child here with your brother."
His sweaty ankles rubbed against her waist, his pregnant belly pressed against her thigh through her clothes, creating tiny ripples with his chuckles.
The cramps had subsided, but Wei Sibei showed no intention of moving an inch.
“Continue…” Wei Sibei ordered her around like an arrogant commander.
"Continue with what?"
Are you pretending to be stupid with him again?
Could she have also caught the "pregnancy brain" syndrome?
No way, this kid has been growing up in such a silly environment since he was so young. His whole family are complete idiots, and no one can understand the other's subtext.
"Knead it, pound it."
He was sweating profusely, perhaps due to pregnancy hormones, which made Wei Sibei quite embarrassed.
He loved the feeling of sweating profusely and dominating the boxing ring, but Ye Chuyi didn't. Eight years ago, when he was covered in sweat, she wouldn't let him hug her.
Now her sweet and soft little nest is all wet.
She took out a few tissues to wipe his sweat, but the scalding heat startled her so much that she immediately pulled her hand away.
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Author's Note: I'm late, I'm late! I was so engrossed in finding deals that I neglected my writing. [Chin resting on hand]
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