The surgery lasted over twenty minutes, but to Gu Yuanting, it felt as long as an eternity.

Finally, the loud cry of a baby echoed in the operating room. The baby was born, and the surgery was very successful.

The doctors and nurses began post-birth procedures for the baby. Gu Yuanting glanced at the baby, then his gaze returned tightly to Ranran, whose surgery wasn’t completely finished yet. His taut nerves never relaxed.

After the doctor finished with the baby, the nurse held the baby aside and began to wipe its body.

The doctor then continued with cleaning Su Yiran and suturing the wound. This process lasted another twenty minutes, which Gu Yuanting watched silently. He imprinted every detail in his heart.

Finally, the surgery was completely over. There were no complications whatsoever; everything went smoothly.

Gu Yuanting’s tense nerves relaxed, as if he had just been freed from suffocation. He gasped heavily, then suddenly his vision blurred, something wet streamed from his eyes, his head swam for a moment, and a very vague, indistinct image flashed through his mind, disappearing in an instant.

The image was too blurry and vanished too quickly to grasp, gone in a flash.

Gu Yuanting didn’t notice, nor did he have the mind to notice; all his attention was focused on Ranran, who was lying on the operating table.

He wiped his blurry eyes, only then realizing that, at some point, tears had welled up in his eyes again, clouding his vision.

Gu Yuanting didn’t care about this. He stood up, stumbling slightly due to his numb body. The phantom pain from earlier still lingered.

The doctors and nurses nearby noticed his condition and quickly asked worriedly, “President Gu? Are you alright?”

Gu Yuanting shook his head, steadying himself: “I’m fine,” he looked nervously at Ranran, who still had his eyes closed, “How is he?”

Dr. Chen’s voice held a hint of a smile: “The surgery was very successful; Mr. Su’s condition is excellent. He can be transferred to the ward now.”

Gu Yuanting nodded, looked at Dr. Chen earnestly, and said sincerely, “Thank you.” He then looked earnestly at the other assistant doctors and nurses, “Thank you all.”

The doctors and nurses were somewhat flattered and quickly waved their hands: “Just doing our job, just doing our job.”

The baby nearby was still crying. The nurse had already wiped the baby’s body, given the baby its first vaccine shot, and brought the baby over to allow skin-to-skin contact with Su Yiran.

It was amazing; as soon as the baby touched Su Yiran, it stopped crying. Although the baby hadn’t opened its eyes yet, it seemed to have a natural connection that made it instinctively affectionate towards Su Yiran.

The nurse had prepared formula in a bottle, brought it over, and began feeding the baby. The baby sucked strongly on the nipple, obediently drinking the milk.

Gu Yuanting looked down at the baby. The newborn was tiny, red all over, and a bit wrinkled. Its eyes hadn’t even opened yet, so it wasn’t what one would call handsome, but it lay so obediently beside his Ranran.

One big baby, one small baby. They were a family of three.

After a long while, Gu Yuanting finally reached out and gently stroked the little baby’s face.

Little ugly duckling, he thought to himself as he gently stroked the baby.

---

Papa Su and Mama Su had been waiting anxiously outside the operating room, pacing worriedly in the corridor for a while, then sitting back down on the bench. As they fidgeted, they suddenly heard a loud baby’s cry from inside the operating room.

Papa Su and Mama Su immediately stood up, exchanged glances, their lips trembling without speaking. After waiting anxiously for a long time, finally, the green light on the operating room door lit up, and the operating room doors slowly opened. Su Yiran was pushed out on a hospital bed, and a small baby lay beside him.

Mama Su’s eyes reddened. She quickly rushed over, taking three steps at a time, looking at Su Yiran on the hospital bed, and softly called out, “My child…”

Papa Su also hurried over, anxiously looking at Su Yiran: “How is our child?”

Seeing that Su Yiran still had his eyes closed and hadn’t woken up, both looked at Gu Yuanting beside them.

Gu Yuanting said, “The surgery was very successful. The anesthesia hasn’t worn off yet. Ranran should wake up in about two hours.”

Mama Su’s heart relaxed. She nodded, then looked at the little baby beside them, unable to help but smile widely again, gently touching the little baby: “My sweet grandchild…”

Papa Su also breathed a sigh of relief. He looked around: “Don’t just stand here! Hurry and push our child back to the ward.”

After returning to the ward where they had been staying for the past few days, Gu Yuanting remained by Su Yiran’s side. Su Yiran was positioned in a side-lying posture, with soft pillows under his back for cushioning and sandbags on his abdomen to apply pressure to the wound and promote recovery. His arm was wrapped with a blood pressure cuff for vital sign monitoring, and he had an IV drip administering nutrients.

Gu Yuanting looked at Ranran in this state, at his pale little face, his heart aching. His body began to hurt again. He held Su Yiran’s hand that wasn’t connected to the IV drip, and would touch his forehead and little face from time to time.

After the successful completion of the surgery, and returning to the ward, the sigh of relief Gu Yuanting had felt earlier was once again replaced by tension. The briefly relaxed string in his heart tightened again.

He had done his research, so he deeply knew that a successful surgery was just the beginning. The subsequent post-operative care was also a tough battle and required even more meticulous attention.

A nurse would come by every now and then to check and record Su Yiran’s and the baby’s vital signs, to prevent any abnormal reactions.

Soon, nearly two hours passed.

Gu Yuanting suddenly felt Su Yiran’s left hand move in his own. He quickly looked at Ranran and saw Ranran’s long, thick eyelashes suddenly flutter. Then, he opened his eyes and woke up.

Su Yiran was still a little dazed after waking up. Then he heard Ting-ge’s voice, filled with excitement: “Ranran! You’re awake?”

He turned his head and met Ting-ge’s eyes, filled with excitement, worry, and concern. He couldn’t help but smile at him: “Ting-ge.”

Gu Yuanting, seeing Ranran looking at him, quickly asked nervously, “How do you feel? Is anything uncomfortable? Do you feel any pain?”

“My child!” Papa Su and Mama Su, seeing Su Yiran awake, quickly gathered around, also anxiously asking how he felt.

Su Yiran shook his head and smiled at them: “I’m alright, just a bit weak. Nothing uncomfortable.”

He felt a bit weak. He still couldn’t feel anything below his waist and abdomen. He knew this was because the local anesthesia hadn’t worn off yet. He woke up because the sleep anesthesia had worn off.

Gu Yuanting heard Ranran’s weak and feeble voice, and his heart ached. He stroked his little face, leaned down, and gently kissed his forehead: “Don’t be afraid, Ranran. Everything went smoothly. It’s all over.”

Only then did Su Yiran remember: the baby… the little baby!

He quickly turned his head left and right to look: “Where’s my baby?” As soon as he asked, he saw a tiny baby lying in the bassinet to his right, sleeping soundly with its eyes closed. Their talking hadn’t even woken it up.

Su Yiran stared at the baby with wide eyes, not daring to blink, almost holding his breath. He turned to look at Ting-ge, then back at the baby, saying with a touch of disbelief: “Is he our little baby?”

He found it so magical, incredibly unbelievable. He closed his eyes, then opened them again, and after just one sleep, his and Ting-ge’s baby had arrived in the world, lying right beside him!

Gu Yuanting paused, followed Su Yiran’s gaze to look at the baby, and then he nodded seriously: “Yes, he is our baby.” As he spoke, his voice involuntarily grew even more gentle.

Mama Su looked at Su Yiran’s stunned expression and couldn’t help but laugh: “Silly child, if he’s not yours, whose is he? From now on, you two are daddies!”

Papa Su was also chuckling nearby, making fun of Su Yiran’s dazed look. After making fun, he himself became dazed: “Your Mama and I are now upgraded to grandma and grandpa!” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but grin foolishly.

Mama Su gave him a look, then turned her head to look at their sweet grandchild with Papa Su, also becoming foolishly happy. She gently picked up the baby from the bassinet and couldn’t resist kissing the baby: “Sweet grandchild.”

She saw Su Yiran continuously looking at the baby and quickly and carefully placed the baby beside Su Yiran: “My child, want to touch him?”

Su Yiran reached out with a slight effort, carefully and gently touched the baby’s face. In that instant, his heart was filled with tenderness and love for the little baby, but…

Su Yiran looked at the baby for a long time, then couldn’t help but ask: “Baby… why is he so ugly…”

The baby was all red and wrinkled, completely different from the soft, fair, and cute image he had imagined…

He couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Logically, even if his and Ting-ge’s baby wasn’t exceptionally handsome, he shouldn’t be that bad. How could this be?

Thinking this, he grew a little worried for the baby and couldn’t help but look worriedly at Ting-ge: “If the baby grows up looking like this, will he have trouble finding a partner when he dates?”

Gu Yuanting heard Ranran’s adorable question, and his heart melted completely: “No, and…”

Mama Su heard Su Yiran’s silly remark and couldn’t help but laugh out loud, already answering for Gu Yuanting: “Silly child, all babies look like this when they’re first born. They’ll change in a few days.”

Only then did Su Yiran realize his lack of common sense and that he had made a joke. This was also because during his previous training, they only learned about childbirth knowledge and didn’t mention what the baby would look like after birth.

He changed his thoughts, looking at the baby, and then felt a bit guilty. So what if the baby was ugly? He was still his baby. Su Yiran quickly made up for it by gently stroking the baby, Daddy loves you.

He thought of another question and asked, “Is the baby a boy or a girl?” Papa Su said, “It’s a boy, he weighed five pounds and six ounces at birth. He’s very healthy.”

Babies born from male pregnancies are generally smaller, and five pounds and six ounces was already a very healthy weight.

Gu Yuanting saw that Ranran, even though he was still so pitifully weak after waking up, kept looking at the baby, with all his attention on the baby. He felt both heartache and a tinge of sourness. He quickly said, “Ranran, never mind the baby for now. You need to rest. Why don’t you sleep a little more? Or just close your eyes and rest.”

Ranran was so weak right now; what he needed most was good rest, not to have his attention stolen by the baby.

Su Yiran shook his head: “It’s fine. I’m not sleepy now. I’ll look at the baby for a bit longer.” As he spoke, he couldn’t help but give the baby a gentle smile. He stared intently at the little baby, unable to tear his gaze away even for a second.

Gu Yuanting: “…”