Chapter 152 IF - Pei Route (End): Goodnight... Senior...
Yun Zhan bought a ticket for the next available flight, and it was already late at night when he got off the plane.
Just as I reached the corner of the delivery room corridor, a clear baby's cry suddenly pierced my ears.
The crying wasn't loud, but it instantly made Yun Zhan stop in his tracks.
She stood there, rain still dripping from her body, her mind going blank again... The baby... was born?
Before she could react, the delivery room door clicked open.
The nurse came out carrying the baby wrapped in swaddling clothes. When she saw Yun Zhan, who was soaking wet, she paused for a moment before smiling and saying, "Miss Pei has already told me that you are the other mother of the child, right? The baby was just born and is very healthy."
Yun Zhan opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but found his throat tight, so he could only nod stiffly.
Her gaze passed over the baby in the nurse's arms and landed on Pei Yanxi lying on the hospital bed. Her face was as pale as a sheet of paper, and her bangs were still damp with sweat. Her lips were bloodless, but her eyes were still open, as if she was waiting for something.
Yun Zhan took a deep breath and stepped into the ward, leaving a trail of wet marks on the floor from the rain.
As soon as she reached the bedside, Pei Yanxi seemed to sense something. She slowly opened her half-closed eyes, and when her gaze fell on her, she gently moved her fingers, weakly reaching out to grab her rain-soaked sleeve.
“Yun Zhan…”
Pei Yanxi's voice was soft, hoarse from childbirth, yet exceptionally clear.
The pressure from the fingertips was weak, yet the grip was firm, as if they had grasped some lost treasure that had been found again.
"You said...you like me...I heard you."
Pei Yanxi smiled, a slight curve appearing on her pale lips.
Yun Zhan squatted down, looked at her tired face, and his eyes instantly welled up with tears again.
She raised her hand to wipe the sweat from Pei Yanxi's forehead, but found that her hand was also wet and cold. She could only gently place her hand on Pei Yanxi's sleeve and say, "I'm here, senior, I'm here."
Pei Yanxi looked at her soaked clothes, her eyes softening like water: "How...did you get so wet?"
"fine."
Yun Zhan shook his head, his gaze falling on her pale lips, then shifting to the baby in the nurse's arms not far away, his emotions churning: "You and the baby... are both healthy?"
“Hmm,” Pei Yanxi nodded, tightening her grip on her sleeve.
"I've been waiting for you... for so long."
Pei Yanxi's gaze fell on Yun Zhan's face, then glanced at the swaddled baby in the nurse's arms.
She suddenly tightened her grip on Yun Zhan's sleeve: "Yun Zhan, look... look at our child."
Pei Yanxi paused, her breathing softened, and a soft smile spread across her voice: "It's a daughter, we have a daughter now."
As soon as he finished speaking, the nurse next to him was very perceptive. She gently carried the baby forward and stood beside Yun Zhan, lowering her voice to gently instruct him: "Support the baby's head and neck with your left hand and support her bottom with your right hand. Be gentle and don't touch her little head."
Yun Zhan's breathing instantly softened, his body tensed instinctively, and he slowly reached out his hand.
Following the nurse's instructions, Yun Zhan carefully took the baby, bending his arm slightly to hold the swaddled baby securely against his chest.
The tiny bundle in his arms, as light as a doll, made Yun Zhan nervously at a loss.
She looked down at the baby in the swaddling clothes. Her daughter's eyes were closed, her long eyelashes like two small fans pressed against her fair face, her nose was small, her lips were pursed into a pale pink, and her breathing was so light that it was almost inaudible.
The crying she had heard in the corridor seemed to still ring in her ears, but now she nestled obediently in Yun Zhan's arms, not moving at all, being excessively well-behaved.
An indescribable shock suddenly struck Yun Zhan's heart, even more intensely than when he heard that Pei Yanxi was pregnant.
This is her and Pei Yanxi's daughter, proof of their bloodline, the little life that slowly grew in Pei Yanxi's womb...accompanying Pei Yanxi through countless hard days and nights.
Yun Zhan's fingers gently brushed along the edge of the swaddling clothes. The soft touch of his fingertips made her nose tingle and her eyes well up with tears again.
"She's so small..."
Yun Zhan murmured softly, his voice so soft he was afraid of waking the child in his arms, but his gaze couldn't bear to leave that little face.
The warmth from her arms seeped through the fabric, making her tremble. All the doubts, anxieties, and loneliness of being a wanderer from the past were soothed by this little life.
Pei Yanxi lay on the hospital bed, watching Yun Zhan carefully holding the child, and the smile on her lips deepened.
She reached out and gently touched the back of Yun Zhan's hand: "She looks like you, her eyes are just like yours, I'm so happy... From the very beginning, I hoped she would look like you when she was born."
That way... I can see you more often.
Pei Yanxi suddenly thought of something, and her gaze darkened.
Her gaze fell on Yun Zhan's profile as he held the child, her fingertips still gently brushing the edge of the swaddling clothes. Her tone gradually slowed, carrying a hint of probing: "Yun Zhan..."
Pei Yanxi paused, a bitter feeling rising in her throat, and looked up into Yun Zhan's eyes, her own eyes revealing a tension she herself was unaware of.
Although the child was born, she was never entirely sure she could keep the man she had once desperately tried to "bind" with the child...
"You have a family, children... and a wife who loves you, do you still want to... leave?"
As she said this, Pei Yanxi's fingertips tightened slightly, and she even softened her breathing.
She looked into Yun Zhan's eyes, which reflected the child in his arms and her pale face, but she dared not look too deeply, afraid of seeing a trace of hesitation, afraid that all her expectations would be dashed.
The weakness after childbirth had not yet subsided, but the tension in her heart was more unbearable than the pain she had just experienced, and her fingertips even began to tremble slightly.
Yun Zhan paused in holding the child, looked down at his still quiet daughter in his arms, and then looked up at the unease in Pei Yanxi's eyes.
She didn't speak immediately, but slowly released her hand that was supporting the child's back and gently grasped Pei Yanxi's hand that was on the sheet.
Pei Yanxi's hands were cold and still weak from childbirth, but they stiffened slightly when Pei Yanxi held them.
"I'm not leaving."
"Senior, I will stay here to be with you and our child."
The tension in Pei Yanxi's eyes gradually faded, and her gaze brightened.
Yun Zhan added, "I used to feel like something was missing from my life, but later I realized that what I lacked was not the old environment, but you."
"It's good that you're not leaving..."
Pei Yanxi murmured softly, a faint smile slowly curving her lips, her stubbornness completely replaced by tenderness in her eyes.
"From now on, we'll... watch her grow up together."
Night was falling.
Only a warm yellow wall lamp was left on in the ward; the baby had already been taken to the nursery by the nurses.
Only Pei Yanxi and Yun Zhan remained in the room, the air so quiet they could hear each other breathing.
Pei Yanxi lay on her side, still feeling tired after childbirth, but she wasn't sleepy at all.
She watched as Yun Zhan brought in a small stool from outside, placed it next to the bedside table, sat down, and held a tablet computer in his hand, his fingertips lightly sliding across the screen... seemingly filling out something?
The light from the wall lamp fell on Yun Zhan's profile, even the strands of hair hanging down were bathed in warm light.
"What are you writing?"
Pei Yanxi turned to look at her, her voice hoarse as if she had just woken up, breaking the silence in the room.
Yun Zhan paused for a moment, then looked up at her with a gentle smile in his eyes: "Write your application to stay in this world."
She had always hesitated about whether to stay for a long time, but now she has no more doubts.
She could honestly tell herself that she wanted to stay in this world.
Pei Yanxi's heart trembled slightly. Her gaze fell on the tablet screen, but she couldn't make out the words on it.
She paused, but couldn't help asking, her voice tinged with uncertainty: "Is it because of... the child?"
If it was only for the sake of the child, her initial "scheme" did achieve its goal, but that was not the reason she truly wanted... What she always wanted was for Yun Zhan to stay because of her.
Upon hearing this, Yun Zhan put down his tablet, turned around, and faced Pei Yanxi directly.
The light from the wall lamp fell into her eyes, revealing the earnestness in them: "It's not because of the child, it's because of you."
Yun Zhan paused, recalling the months when Pei Yanxi was abroad. He often stared blankly at the old room, saying he was reading, but actually he was searching for traces of Pei Yanxi in the study.
A soft melancholy spread through Yun Zhan's voice.
"Even without children, I would still say I like you, and I would still come to find you... Senior, it was never her who kept me here, it was you."
Pei Yanxi's eyes instantly welled up with tears, but a faint smile slowly curved her lips, and the last bit of uncertainty in her eyes vanished.
She didn't speak again, but just quietly looked at Yun Zhan. The room returned to silence, but it was no longer the previous stillness, but a warm and peaceful atmosphere.
After a long while, Pei Yanxi watched as Yun Zhan picked up the tablet again before softly asking, "Are you done writing?"
Yun Zhan nodded, tapped the screen lightly with his fingertip, and said with a smile, "It's already submitted."
"Then we can rest now. Tonight... you'll have to sleep in the small bed."
"It doesn't matter."
Yun Zhan stood up, walked to the bedside, and tucked the blanket around Pei Yanxi.
"Goodnight, senior. See you tomorrow..."
Author's Note:
Pei's storyline is over; what follows is the side story.
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