Xiang Zhen sat obediently, listening to the doctor’s instructions.

The human doctor’s attitude had become rather subtle. He delivered the medical advice with extreme earnestness, almost as if he suspected Xiang Zhen had a poor memory.

“What does he eat for his three daily meals at home?” the doctor asked.

Xiang Zhen thought for a moment. “Whatever my hubby feeds me, I eat.”

Over the past two days, Zhou Sicheng had developed a particular fondness for chasing him down to hand-feed him. Xiang Zhen was even being fed while scrolling through short videos, leaving him with zero recollection of what he had actually consumed.

The doctor looked as though he were swallowing back a hesitation, dealing with yet another VIP who loved playing turtle soup mind games. He turned to glance at President Zhou beside him. “What have you been feeding him?”

Zhou Sicheng had an excellent memory and rattled off every single food item he had fed Xiang Zhen recently. He had already cross-checked them all; every item was perfectly suitable during pregnancy.

“It’s too much,” the doctor said. “The fetus is already growing exceptionally fast. If you don’t control his diet, he’s going to suffer during surgery when the time comes.”

Zhou Sicheng’s face went pale. He had been so focused on how thin Xiang Zhen had gotten—having not eaten properly for a whole month—that he had only thought about replenishing his strength and nourishing his body.

Only he knew that the fetus in Xiang Zhen’s belly was growing even faster than what the doctor assumed.

“You can’t give him cake twice a day,” the doctor continued. “Cut back on watermelon, lychee, and the like, too.”

Wealthy families really are extravagantly reckless, the doctor thought. There were even fruits mentioned that he himself had never heard of—could a pregnant person really be fed this much? He had assumed only Xiang Zhen was difficult to communicate with due to a low level of education, but it turned out the highly educated family member wasn’t much better.

The doctor instructed Xiang Zhen once more: “Cake, crabs, lychee, longan, durian—eat as little as possible, ideally none at all. You can eat low-sugar fruits like apples, cherries, and pears.”

Xiang Zhen nodded along. “Mm-hmm, mm-hmm.”

“No strenuous exercise either. No fast running.”

Xiang Zhen obeyed. “Alright.”

The doctor executed a sudden pop quiz: “What did I just say you shouldn’t eat?”

Xiang Zhen’s mind went completely blank.

Zhou Sicheng opened his mouth to answer for him: “Lychee—”

“Family member, keep quiet,” the doctor cut in. “Let the expectant father speak for himself. You can’t follow him around 24 hours a day; he needs to remember it himself.”

Xiang Zhen stammered, “Cake… lychee…”

Going over the medical advice took even longer than the actual examination. By the time Xiang Zhen walked out, he felt as though he could finally breathe freely again.

No wonder humans hated going to the hospital—spirits didn’t like it either!

Xiang Zhen picked up his pace toward the garage and located their car.

Ever since the doctor mentioned that Xiang Zhen’s fetus was growing too fast, Zhou Sicheng had been consumed by worry. After getting into the car, instead of starting the engine, he held the freshly printed ultrasound scan. His handsome, dark brows were knit tight as he stared intently at the vague shadow taking shape inside the abdominal cavity.

Growing this fast in just one month meant that the fetus relied entirely on the mother’s blood for nourishment—which implied that within a single month, Xiang Zhen had drained an immense amount of nutrients straight from his own bones and flesh to feed this little thing.

In the late stages of pregnancy, this would leave the mother severely deficient in calcium.

Zhou Sicheng didn’t dare imagine whether those long, fair legs of Xiang Zhen’s would still be able to run freely and happily if the pregnancy continued like this.

What if they terminated it?

If they terminated the pregnancy… the sooner the decision was made, the better.

Zhou Sicheng leaned over, gently ruffling Xiang Zhen’s golden hair. If his body was pushed beyond its limits, even this golden hair would lose its luster and turn dry. “Wife, how about we do a blood test? Just to see if you’re lacking calcium, okay?”

Before coming to the hospital, he had coaxed and pleaded endlessly, but Xiang Zhen had used being scared of needles from his last acupuncture session as an excuse to refuse. He had even asked Little Sunflower how many tubes of blood a pregnant person needed to draw, and upon learning it was twelve tubes, he had collapsed onto the sofa, utterly refusing to budge.

The funny thing was that despite his wife looking so frail and slender, Zhou Sicheng couldn’t actually drag him against his will.

Zhou Sicheng found himself in a complete dilemma. He didn’t dare force his wife to do anything out of fear he might run away again, yet he was so sick with worry he couldn’t sleep at night.

All of this—every bit of it—was because his mother-in-law had refused to let Xiang Zhen go to school!

Zhou Sicheng had even called Li Guihua to ask her to persuade Xiang Zhen.

Yet Li Guihua had uttered words even more astonishing: “No need for prenatal checkups! What could they possibly check? Why waste that money? I never stepped foot in a hospital when I gave birth to Xiao Zhen. When it comes to pregnancy, just listen to your wife, alright?”

Zhou Sicheng was so furious he could have slaughtered a truckload of watermelons.

Because a man getting pregnant was far too shocking and bizarre, he didn’t even have a single person he could consult! He couldn’t talk to Shen Ku either—he was afraid that if he did, Shen Ku would get a vasectomy overnight.

Why hadn’t he himself gotten a vasectomy earlier?

Xiang Zhen raised a hand to lightly stroke the space between his husband’s brows. “Hubby, don’t worry. I don’t need to draw blood; blood is very precious.”

Zhou Sicheng replied, “The doctor said your pregnancy looks like it’s at 15 weeks.”

Xiang Zhen’s eyelids flickered, looking at Zhou Sicheng in astonishment. “Do you suspect the baby isn’t yours? Hubby, I’ve only ever slept with you.”

“Baby, I’m not suspecting that. The child is definitely ours. I’m worried about your body.” Zhou Sicheng reached out to touch his lower abdomen, feeling that softly rounded curve that seemed so innocent. “During that month you were away from home, you hardly ate or drank, yet your belly plumped up like this. It’s plundering the nutrients inside your body.”

Xiang Zhen argued, “But I soaked up the sun!”

Zhou Sicheng said, “At most, that just helps absorb a bit of calcium.”

Xiang Zhen remarked, “Hubby, your biology is really terrible.”

Photosynthesis is middle school material.

Zhou Sicheng was amused to the point of laughing. “My biology is terrible? Am I no longer your elite master’s degree husband?”

Xiang Zhen nodded. “You are.”

“Then will you listen to your husband? Let’s go back up and get a blood test, okay?”

Xiang Zhen thought to himself that the real reason Zhou Sicheng was stalling on starting the car was just to coax him back into the hospital through the back door. He muttered under his breath, “If I’d known, I would’ve run home myself. It’s only five kilometers; I could’ve made it.”

Hearing that, Zhou Sicheng’s head nearly exploded with anxiety, and he hastily started the ignition.

Xiang Zhen leaned back against the seat, patting his belly. He picked up the ultrasound scan and looked at the little sunflower baby with curved, cheerful eyes, identifying a striking resemblance to Zhou Sicheng from the fuzzy, blurry shape in a single glance.

“Hubby, our baby looks so much like you.”

“…I am deeply honored.”

Zhou Sicheng connected a phone call, instructing Secretary Gao to search for the most authoritative surgical specialists. “Mm, send the surgical case files of these C-section chief surgeons to my email.”

Xiang Zhen suddenly remembered something. “Oh, right! Hubby, when the time comes, I can just have Manning help deliver my baby.”

He wouldn’t need surgery. When the time came, he would just revert to his true sunflower form and have Manning use the power of the sun to extract the little sunflower seed baby.

He could already feel the little sunflower baby’s spiritual consciousness, which meant the little baby was a little spirit too, capable of switching between a sunflower seed and a human infant form.

Zhou Sicheng looked straight ahead in silent speechlessness. If Dou Manning happened to be pregnant by then too, having one pregnant person deliver his wife’s baby—was he living in some harsh ancient era?!

Xiang Zhen looked at the large screen on the dashboard and noticed the weather forecast in the top left corner, which indicated thunderstorm warnings for tomorrow.

“Hubby! I know why our baby grew so fast this month!”

Zhou Sicheng asked, “Why?!”

Xiang Zhen stared at his husband with round, bright eyes, hoping to be praised for his intelligence. “Because the night I ran away, there was a thunderstorm! Rain and thunder nourish the crops! It’s the same for people! Rainwater contains nutrients, so getting rained on makes you grow faster!”

Zhou Sicheng: “…”

It sounds vaguely scientific, but not by much—mostly like a story made up to fool him.

Xiang Zhen felt quite pleased with himself for discovering this new piece of knowledge. It was true that spirits were afraid of thunder, but thunder and dew were all gifts from nature; getting soaked in the rain had its perks.

He pulled out his phone, tapped on Dou Manning’s chat box, and shared his latest prenatal care knowledge: [Manning, when you get pregnant, if it thunders, go outside and stand in the rain! Overcome your fear, and the baby will grow much faster.]

Dou Manning replied: [I’ve noted it down, Zhenzhen.]

Zhou Sicheng ground his back teeth with the tip of his tongue. At this moment, he actually felt a tiny bit sorry for Shen Ku.

Normally, other people’s wives knew to run inside when it rained.

Zhou Sicheng called out, “Xiang Zhen.”

Xiang Zhen instantly sat up straight, stuffing his phone into his pocket. “Mm?”

Zhou Sicheng said, “I don’t know how special your family’s pregnancy mechanism is, but if you don’t intend to spill the whole story, then we follow the standard pregnancy procedures.”

Xiang Zhen’s left hand picked at the back of his right hand. Hearing the gravity in Zhou Sicheng’s tone, his small face scrunched up, thinking anxiously: Why isn’t Manning pregnant yet?

Zhou Sicheng declared, “Starting tonight, no more small cakes.”

Xiang Zhen closed his eyes. It’s really that serious.

Upon arriving home, Xiang Zhen was still feeling a little put out. He scampered over to the sunflowers in the garden to lodge a complaint.

“Family members, Hubby won’t let me eat cake anymore.”

The flower heads of the sunflowers were all facing southeast, their colors turning from bright yellow to brown as they produced their seeds to fulfill their reproductive mission. None of them had time to pay mind to their boss’s trivial complaining.

Xiang Zhen observed the sun sinking in the west. “What’s going on? Aren’t you following the sun anymore?”

In a flash of realization, Xiang Zhen reawakened his innate sunflower common sense.

Oh, right! Once sunflowers set their seeds, they stop turning with the sun to avoid getting sunburnt.

Xiang Zhen cupped his lower abdomen with both hands and lowered his gaze. So that’s how it is. I really am so silly to have forgotten even basic common sense.

Then again, he had grown up in a hazelnut forest where they had to fight for the rare summer sunlight. The noon sun filtering down through the gaps in the tree canopy was so scarce that everyone tilted their flower faces up to catch it, completely unconcerned about sunburn, nor did they permanently face southeast.

If he had been a sunflower on the open prairie, then under constant exposure from a young age, on the very first day he found himself turning his back to Zhou Sicheng—feeling more fearful the brighter Zhou Sicheng shone—he would have known he was pregnant.

Xiang Zhen heard Zhou Sicheng’s footsteps before a pair of arms wrapped around him from behind.

Xiang Zhen turned around, nestling himself against his husband’s chest. “I’m sorry, Hubby. It’s all because I was too silly that I didn’t realize I was pregnant on day one and put you through so much trouble.”

Zhou Sicheng spoke a bit against his conscience: “My wife is plenty smart. Some people don’t even know they’re pregnant until they’re about to give birth.”

Xiang Zhen raised his head. “Are there really people like that?”

Zhou Sicheng replied, “Really. If you don’t believe me, go search the news.”

As Zhou Sicheng spoke, his deep, magnetic voice vibrated through his chest cavity. Xiang Zhen’s cheek pressed against his chest felt a pleasing, tingling sensation.

“Hubby, let me finish eating, and then let me sleep with you.”

Zhou Sicheng caught the implicit hint, but didn’t dare act on it, choosing instead to play dumb.

After finishing the portion recommended by the doctor, Xiang Zhen sat on the bed playing with his phone, sneaking glances at his husband out of the corner of his eye.

He couldn’t understand the books Zhou Sicheng was reading.

“Hubby.”

Zhou Sicheng asked, “Wife, do you want to go to school? Elementary school, middle school, university—take your pick.”

Xiang Zhen replied, “I still have to go back to work at the bank.”

He was already an adult; why on earth would he go to elementary school?

Zhou Sicheng suggested, “Then university. I’ll pick a university for you to audit classes. What major do you want to learn?”

Xiang Zhen didn’t understand and casually offered, “Marxist Philosophy, maybe?”

Zhou Sicheng paused for a moment. “Alright.”

Xiang Zhen shuffled closer, resting his head on Zhou Sicheng’s thigh. Raising his phone with a subtle motive, he opened Sister Li’s column on WeChat Channels and scrolled from top to bottom.

He couldn’t quite articulate what he was searching for either.

No, wait, this time I need Sister Wang.

Xiang Zhen switched apps to find Sister Wang. Squinting at a particular video title, he saw: [What to do if your husband’s sex drive drops during pregnancy.]

Sister Wang really had everything one could ask for.

Listening to the speaker output, Zhou Sicheng let out a cold chuckle. Setting his book aside, he pulled Xiang Zhen up, laid him flat on the bed, and parted his legs.

He knelt at the foot of the bed, lifted the blanket, and slipped underneath.

Xiang Zhen: “!!!!”