Qingyun is pregnant with twins.
Her voice was soft and gentle, and it sounded exceptionally clear in the quiet room.
Upon hearing this, Rong Chengzhou froze, remaining motionless for several seconds before finally moving his fingers. His fingers, which had been resting on her waist, gently covered her flat stomach. His voice was slightly hoarse as he spoke:
"Didn't you say your period wasn't delayed?"
Jiang Mingxue laughed and said, "That was just a lie."
She wanted to tell him the news in person, to let him personally experience the baby's presence, so she had been holding back until now.
A noticeable ripple appeared on Rong Chengzhou's usually calm face; his thin lips pressed into a straight line, and he was speechless for a moment.
His hot, dry palms gently rested on her lower abdomen, making no further movements, as if afraid of breaking her and not daring to apply any force.
Jiang Mingxue chuckled and pinched his fingers: "Why aren't you saying anything? Are you unhappy?"
Rong Chengzhou finally moved his lips, his calloused palms gently caressing the skin on her lower abdomen. He then slowly exhaled, pulling her back into his arms, his deep voice slightly hoarse: "Happy."
He paused, tightened his grip on her arm, and said in a slightly hoarse voice, "But this is the beginning of your suffering."
Jiang Mingxue was moved, raised her arms to hug him back, and said softly, "But happiness outweighs the lack of happiness, doesn't it?"
She held his hand, placing it on her lower abdomen, and two streams of heat flowed into the still-developing life inside her.
She leaned against his chest and whispered, "From now on, it'll be just the two of us waiting for you to come home. You have to take good care of yourself."
Rong Chengzhou hesitated for a moment, then solemnly promised, "Okay."
--
Adverse reactions during pregnancy largely depend on sperm quality. Jiang Mingxue was very lucky; the baby in her belly was very well-behaved and seemed to know that it wasn't easy for his/her mother to take care of him/her alone. Jiang Mingxue rarely experienced morning sickness in the first three months.
Moreover, she is quite thin and not showing much of a pregnancy, so apart from needing to pay attention to her diet, it has not had much impact on her life.
Starting from the fourth week, his appetite improved a lot. He would eat much more than usual when Rong Chengzhou was not home, and he would eat even more when Rong Chengzhou was home.
That evening, I ate a bowl of egg and shrimp soup, a whole plate of steamed sea bass, half a purple sweet potato, and a bowl of red bean and lotus seed porridge. In the evening, I also ate two segments of red pomelo, a plate of cherries, and a bottle of milk.
She was slowly chewing a cherry while watching TV on the sofa when a hand reached out and took the cherry pit from her mouth. A few seconds later, it handed her a strawberry with the stem removed.
Jiang Mingxue held the unfinished cherries in her hand and shook her head repeatedly: "I can't eat anymore, I really can't eat anymore."
Rong Chengzhou then withdrew his hand and put the strawberries back into the fruit plate.
These days, whenever he's home on weekends, he buys all sorts of fruits and snacks. Even when Jiang Mingxue occasionally craves lychee iced wine, he buys it for her to have half a cup, and he takes care of the rest.
In just two months, Jiang Mingxue had gained several pounds. Since the fetus weighs almost nothing in the first three months, all of these pounds were gained by Jiang Mingxue herself.
She originally weighed 80 pounds, but after marrying Rong Chengzhou, she gained almost 10 pounds.
Thinking of this, Jiang Mingxue got up and weighed herself. As she watched the first number on the scale change from "8" to "9", alarm bells went off instantly.
She jumped off the scale with a "whoosh," returned to the sofa, tossed the cherries in her hand into Rong Chengzhou's mouth, and pushed all the snacks on the table toward him: "You eat."
Rong Chengzhou took the cherries she had left: "Your weight is healthier now, but you're still a bit too thin. You should try to eat more."
Worried that she was too thin and that the baby in her belly would take away her nutrition, Rong Chengzhou would try his best to coax her to eat more when he was home on weekends.
Jiang Mingxue shook her head again: "Let's eat tomorrow, I really can't eat anymore today."
Rong Chengzhou hummed in agreement, took out a wet wipe to clean her hands, and said, "Then watch for a while longer before going to sleep."
Jiang Mingxue nodded: "Okay."
After brushing her teeth and lying in bed, Rong Chengzhou held her and chatted for a while. The next morning, he accompanied her to her prenatal checkup.
This is the first prenatal checkup after confirming the pregnancy.
In the past few months, she would often take her pulse to check on the condition of the fetus. Every two weeks when she returned to the Jiang family for a meal, Grandpa Jiang would personally take care of her condition and prescribe Chinese herbal medicine for her.
However, to be on the safe side, it's best to combine traditional Chinese and Western medicine and use modern instruments to confirm the baby's health.
The hospital was crowded on Saturday, with people queuing to register filling the lobby.
Rong Chengzhou led her to queue for two minutes. Seeing that the queue was basically not moving, he frowned and took her directly to the military priority lane.
Jiang Mingxue followed behind him and walked directly to the front without any hindrance.
Seeing Rong Chengzhou holding her hand with one hand and showing his active military ID and her ID card to the staff with the other, and seeing the envious looks from several pregnant women queuing in the next two lines, she suddenly felt a sense of pride and honor.
Rong Chengzhou always queues normally when buying things or taking a plane.
This was the first time he had used his military privileges.
After completing the registration procedures, he turned around and saw Jiang Mingxue smiling at his back.
He carefully put away the special outpatient card and registration slip for military dependents, then turned to her and asked, "What's wrong? What's making you so happy?"
Jiang Mingxue shook her head, her smile deepening: "I won't tell you."
Rong Chengzhou chuckled and pinched her cheek: "Let's go upstairs."
The first prenatal checkup in early pregnancy required a comprehensive blood test for record-keeping. Rong Chengzhou prepared a thermos and hot water in advance so that she could drink some while waiting for the examination.
After the blood draw, I took out two pre-prepared chocolates from my pocket, tore open the wrappers, and handed them to her.
Jiang Mingxue took it and couldn't help but tease, "Rong Chengzhou, are you Doraemon? How come you have everything?"
It was rare to find an animated character that Rong Chengzhou could understand. He put his arm around her waist and walked towards the ultrasound room, his brows still furrowing slightly involuntarily: "I really hope it's Doraemon, so that I can keep you company at home all the time."
His tone was exceptionally solemn, and Jiang Mingxue could tell at a glance that he felt guilty for not being able to be with her all the time.
She pursed her lips, stood in front of him, raised her hand to gently stroke his brow, and said softly, "Don't blame yourself. Our baby is here to repay a debt of gratitude. He/she was very well-behaved in my belly, and my parents and grandfather have been taking care of me at home. I didn't feel that pregnancy was very uncomfortable."
Rong Chengzhou took her hand and kissed it lightly. Then he bent down, lowered his head slightly to her belly, and gently stroked her still flat stomach through her clothes, as if discussing with the baby inside: "Then I hope the baby can be more obedient and make Mommy suffer less, okay?"
Jiang Mingxue couldn't help but chuckle and ruffled his hair: "Alright, the baby's only a few months old, and you already expect him to be obedient."
Rong Chengzhou didn't care and seriously lectured the baby in his belly: "No matter how many months old you are, you must listen to your mother."
Jiang Mingxue couldn't stop laughing, and pulled his hand to walk forward: "From now on, you will be the strict father and I will be the loving mother. Don't blame the child for not being close to you."
"As long as I'm close to you, that's fine," Rong Chengzhou said nonchalantly. Then, remembering something, he added, "But you can't be closer to me than I am to you. There's a proper order to things."
Jiang Mingxue smiled helplessly: "How petty, Colonel Rong, you're even jealous of a child."
Rong Chengzhou remained noncommittal; he couldn't bring himself to be magnanimous towards Jiang Mingxue.
They arrived at the ultrasound room while chatting. Since family members couldn't accompany her inside, Rong Chengzhou could only wait for her outside.
"Don't be nervous, I'm right at the door. Call me if you need anything." He squeezed her hand tightly and said softly.
Jiang Mingxue nodded: "Okay, I'm going in."
She let go of Rong Chengzhou's hand, walked into the ultrasound room, pulled back the curtain, took off her shirt, and lay down on the bed.
Even though I know the baby is healthy, I can't help but look forward to seeing his/her location and shape in the video later.
The ultrasound room was quiet, with only the slight hum of the equipment. The ultrasound probe moved slowly across her lower abdomen. Jiang Mingxue lowered her eyes, her gaze following the direction of the probe as she counted the time in her mind.
Just after counting to forty-odd seconds, the female doctor paused in adjusting the probe, and the next second she let out a soft "ah".
Jiang Mingxue's heart jumped. She frowned and asked, "What's wrong, doctor? Is there a problem?"
The doctor shook his head: "No, let me check again."
The probe moved little by little across the original spot on her lower abdomen, and Jiang Mingxue couldn't help but hold her breath, her heartbeat quickening in her left atrium.
Those short thirty-odd seconds felt like an eternity. The female doctor examined her carefully again, finally made a conclusion, put away the probe, took out a few tissues and handed them to her so she could wipe the gel clean. She said to her, "You should come and see for yourself."
--
Ten minutes later, Jiang Mingxue got dressed and walked out of the ultrasound room with the results in her hand.
Rong Chengzhou stood at the door, stepped forward and took her hand. He had been just as nervous outside for the past ten minutes: "How did it go? Was the result alright?"
Jiang Mingxue pursed her lips and remained silent.
There were other patients waiting in line to enter the ultrasound room, so she moved aside to make room for them.
She took Rong Chengzhou's hand and walked out into the empty corridor, her hand holding the report clenching slightly.
She kept a straight face, her expression slightly serious: "Rong Chengzhou, I have some bad news to tell you."
Upon hearing this, Rong Chengzhou frowned deeply, but his voice remained calm as he spoke: "Go on."
He made the decision in just two seconds: no matter what problems the fetus might have, Jiang Mingxue's health would be his top priority.
Jiang Mingxue then slowly said, "The bad news is that you may need to change diapers for two months."
"Hmm?" Rong Chengzhou frowned even more, somewhat confused. "What do you mean? Aren't hospitals supposed to keep the gender a secret?"
Jiang Mingxue then coughed lightly and raised the ultrasound report in her hand in a mysterious manner.
Pointing to the words "twin pregnancy" above, her delicate eyebrows curved slightly as she solemnly announced:
"It means—"
"Rong Chengzhou, you're going to be a father of two babies."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Congratulations to Peipei and Colonel Rong on having twins!
Originally, we planned for a son first and a daughter second, but secretly we didn't want Peipei to have to have two children, so we decided to go for it all at once.
No more updates tonight, work will be suspended tomorrow due to a typhoon (thank you so much!). I'll update 5,000 words before midnight~
100 RMB red envelope~
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