WRA CH58

Chapter 58: “Wifey, is it okay even if you’re pregnant?”

Xiang Zhen and the two Yao decided to convene the First Standing Committee Meeting of the Yao Committee.

Bai Qi said that since the villa hadn’t been remodeled into a conference layout yet, the first session might be a bit shabby.

Xiang Zhen said, “We can hang two banners! Everyone remember to wear a suit to attend. Manning, do you have a suit? I can bring an extra set, and we’ll take a group photo together.”

Dou Manning: “I have one. Shen Ku has a professional camera; I’ll bring it over.”

Bai Qi: “I’ll go get the banners custom-made.”

Xiang Zhen: “Then I’ll go buy a photo printer!”

Xiang Zhen immediately placed an order on his phone for a photo printer that could be delivered by tomorrow morning, filling in the meeting address directly.

All three of them were officially registered Yao with ID numbers; their first meeting absolutely had to be solemn and dignified.

Xiang Zhen put down his phone with peace of mind. Three humble shoemakers equal a mastermind; the three of them could surely come up with a brilliant plan.

When Zhou Sicheng asked Shen Ku about his vasectomy research, he never could have imagined that Dou Manning had already sold him out.

He planned to undergo the procedure next month—a minor surgery taking barely over ten minutes, settling the matter once and for all.

Zhou Sicheng got into bed, and Xiang Zhen naturally nestled into his embrace, saying mysteriously, “Hubby, do you know where I was born?”

Zhou Sicheng: “The Greater Khingan Mountains?”

Xiang Zhen: “You’re so smart!”

Zhou Sicheng: “When I was at your hometown, I saw the essay you wrote. Exceptional literary talent.”

On par with Xiao Kui Bao’s level.

Xiang Zhen felt a bit shy. When a Yao gained sentience, they automatically downloaded the human language pack, but that didn’t include writing skills. When he first learned to write, his handwriting was like chicken scratches, and now his hubby had seen it all.

Resting by Zhou Sicheng’s ear, Xiang Zhen whispered, “Actually, I saw your mother when I was very, very little.”

Zhou Sicheng’s emotions violently lurched, like a massive wave crashing over him, leaving a noisy ringing in his ears. “You were that overwintering sunflower that grew extremely slowly?”

Xiang Zhen: “You know about me?”

Zhou Sicheng’s eyes reddened as he recalled Zheng Ai’s description. “She said you looked sturdy and adorable, very cute. All the surrounding sunflowers had matured, but you only had a few leaves.”

Zheng Ai had also mentioned not knowing whether he could survive the winter. Hearing it initially, Zhou Sicheng only felt a fleeting few seconds of melancholy pity for the plant. Remembering it twenty years later, however, brought a suffocating ache across the irreversible span of time.

The grown-up Xiang Zhen possessed a face small enough to fit in his hands. How had the tiny Xiang Zhen survived year after year of the Northern winters, with heavy snow blanketing the mountains?

Perhaps it was exactly because of this that Xiang Zhen had been so easily deceived by a scumbag who merely “agreed to marry.”

Because he knew too few humans. Heaven had granted him wisdom, but hadn’t immediately given him the feet to walk out of the mountains.

Zhou Sicheng could imagine that when an expedition team accidentally passed by the sunflower thicket, their casual conversations falling into little Xiang Zhen’s ears would have been treated as precious data, pondered over repeatedly.

Xiang Zhen happily curled the corners of his lips. So his husband’s mother had noticed him and even praised him! “Then does that mean we met the parents a long, long time ago?”

Zhou Sicheng: “It does. If only my mother had dug you up and brought you back.”

“I probably grew a bit faster in the mountains,” Xiang Zhen pondered. “Mom didn’t take me away, but she took the seeds of the sunflower descendants that shared my roots.”

“Hubby, did you know? That day on the street when I ran into Uncle Zhang, I instantly recognized the scent of sunflower pollen on him. So, I followed him all the way here.”

Xiang Zhen could still recall the sheer excitement of that day. “I saw my family, and I saw you! I thought there were no kin sunflowers left in the world!”

“Hubby, thank you for settling them here.”

The gorgeous tapestry of destiny unrolled like a scroll. In Zhou Sicheng’s mind surfaced the first packet of sunflower seeds Zheng Ai had handed him, and their blooming every single year. Everything he had planted and harvested was intrinsically linked to Xiang Zhen.

Outside the windowsill were, in fact, the nephews and nieces of his wife’s maiden family.

Their bond of fate had formed so early on.

A sudden flash of unease crossed Zhou Sicheng’s heart. Why had Xiang Zhen said he thought he had no family left in the world? What about the sunflower thicket in the Greater Khingan Mountains…?

Zhou Sicheng’s face drained of color. When searching for Xiang Zhen, he had chased him to the Greater Khingan Mountains. But before his eyes, there was no hazelnut grove and sunflowers as Zheng Ai had described; they had all vanished in a massive fire, replaced only by newly planted Korean pines.

“Zhenzhen, did you experience that fire?”

Xiang Zhen pursed his lips. Oops, said too much. He tried his best to sound nonchalant: “I realized I could move, so I escaped.”

A lump formed in Zhou Sicheng’s throat.

He reached out and stroked the shortened patch of hair on the back of Xiang Zhen’s head. Just this one cluster scorched by lightning was enough to break his heart; how utterly wretched must little Zhenzhen have been, escaping from a raging inferno?

The coincidences of fate were enough to tear one’s heart apart.

What right did he have to play the pity card with Xiang Zhen? They had both lost their most beloved family members at practically the exact same time.

He still relied on Xiang Zhen to heal him. Zhou Sicheng felt anguished, not knowing how to treat his wife even better.

“Wifey, wait for me a moment. I’m going to find something for you.”

Zhou Sicheng kissed Xiang Zhen’s lips, got out of bed, and took the stairs two at a time to a storage room. He opened it; inside were the personal belongings his parents frequently used before they died.

Zhou Sicheng searched frantically through several large trunks and cabinets. He remembered Zheng Ai always wearing a camera around her neck, snapping many photos during her expeditions. Once she accumulated a batch, she would develop them. Those with research value were submitted to the team, and she kept the rest for herself.

Finally, he uncovered a stack of photos labeled by date.

Zhou Sicheng poured them out bag by bag. Amidst the silent, rolling mountains, he found a single sunflower.

He held up that photo.

A sunflower that hadn’t yet bloomed, looking just like the surrounding weeds.

No, be respectful. You can’t call Xiang Zhen’s neighbors weeds.

Zhou Sicheng’s gaze softened as he pressed the photo over his heart. “Found it.”

He went to the study, made a high-definition scan of the photo to archive it, and then brought the photo back to Xiang Zhen.

“Is this me?” Xiang Zhen puffed out his cheeks. Why am I so tiny? My true form now is a tall, handsome, 1.8-meter sunflower!

Zhou Sicheng: “Mn. There’s only one knee-high sunflower here.”

Xiang Zhen: “Don’t say it like I can’t grow tall. I’m super tall now.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Let me see.”

“I’m not showing you! I’ve bloomed now; what if you touch me?” Xiang Zhen recalled that dream—the dream where he grew up in the Zhou family. It turned out it wasn’t utter nonsense after all. In the dream, Zhou Sicheng’s fingers had stroked his petals, asking if that counted as pollination.

Zhou Sicheng looked at the two suspicious blushes on his wife’s cheeks: “Is there anywhere I haven’t touched yet?”

Xiang Zhen snatched the photo, closely examining his younger self and the forest of his homeland.

Unconsciously, a smile broke across his face.

Zhou Sicheng also felt a profound, genuine joy from the bottom of his heart.

“Go to sleep. Tomorrow, I’ll have it blown up, framed, and hung in the house.”

Reluctantly, Xiang Zhen set the photo down. Humans are truly miraculous to have invented the camera.

Yao should take more photos too.

Zhou Sicheng kissed his lips.

He had only intended a brief taste, but Xiang Zhen wrapped his arms around his neck, his soft, moist tongue licking his Adam’s apple, and everything spiraled out of control.

He hadn’t… in far too long.

“Wifey, is it okay even if you’re pregnant?”

Xiang Zhen whispered, “Hubby, I’ve already protected the little sunflower seed. You can do whatever you want.”

Zhou Sicheng lost his grip entirely. While Xiang Zhen’s belly wasn’t too big yet, and while he couldn’t get pregnant with a second child right now—just let loose this once. Just once.

Propping himself up on one arm, he stared at Xiang Zhen’s thick, trembling eyelashes. Reaching out, he pulled a blue-striped necktie and, without a word, blindfolded his eyes, tying a knot at the back of his head.

Xiang Zhen’s vision went black. Unable to see his sun, he hugged his husband uneasily: “Hubby, didn’t you say you wouldn’t play ‘S’ and blindfold my eyes?”

Zhou Sicheng’s fingers traced the boundary between the tie and his eye sockets: “I’m afraid you’ll throw up on me.”

Xiang Zhen said hurriedly, “I won’t, hubby! I’ve already sanctioned the baby!”

Zhou Sicheng unhurriedly unbuttoned his shirt: “Am I your sun?”

Xiang Zhen: “Yes.”

Zhou Sicheng: “Then feel it with your body. Don’t be afraid, I will keep talking to you.”

Xiang Zhen’s pearly white teeth bit into his crimson lower lip, conflicted for a moment. He had been the one to vomit first; he couldn’t blame Zhou Sicheng for harboring such worries.

Hooking his arms around Zhou Sicheng’s neck, he leveraged himself up. Eyes closed behind the blindfold, he sought Zhou Sicheng’s lips, his kiss landing slightly off on his earlobe instead: “Hubby, I’m not afraid.”

Zhou Sicheng’s eyes darkened abruptly.

He’s truly too easy to bully.

…

On one hand, this was his pregnant wife, even softer and more yielding than before.

On the other hand, this might be the limited-edition, pre-vasectomy version of his husband.

They tangled and lingered, the room filled with spring-like passion.

In the end, considering the cleanup and the unique structure of a sunflower disc, Zhou Sicheng tried to pull out.

Xiang Zhen suddenly asked softly, “Hubby, if you leave it inside, will you sleep better tonight?”

With just one sentence, Zhou Sicheng’s floodgates completely collapsed.

…

Zhou Sicheng didn’t suffer from insomnia last night, even though he slept late.

“Wifey, you are the best medicine. I don’t need to go to the psychiatric department for pills anymore,” Zhou Sicheng said, feeding Xiang Zhen breakfast. “I need to make a trip back to the company today. We slept late yesterday, so you rest at home this morning.”

Thank goodness he had stepped down; otherwise, how would he have so much time to spend with his wife?

But since Xiang Zhen liked a handsome hubby with high status and power, Zhou Sicheng had no choice but to make a glorious comeback.

Xiang Zhen nodded: “Okay, hubby. Work hard, I’ll wait for you to come back.”

Zhou Sicheng’s life was simply too good right now. Since he wasn’t driving his wife to work, he didn’t drive himself either, having the chauffeur do it.

He kept his eyes on his wife in the rearview mirror. After all the twists and turns, he had finally achieved the blissful life where the husband went to work and the wife stayed home, watering flowers and drinking afternoon tea.

It would be even better if that afternoon tea wasn’t with Yao.

Xiang Zhen stood there until his husband’s car was out of sight before turning around, preparing to go check on the sunflowers.

Strolling over, he was dumbfounded by the sight before him.

Across the vast, sprawling sunflower thicket, a red envelope hung by a red string from every single stalk.

Xiang Zhen opened one and pulled out two hundred yuan.

“Uncle Zhang, what’s going on here?”

Uncle Zhang found it equally baffling. First thing in the morning, the butler had received orders from President Zhou to hang a red envelope on every single sunflower. They had puffed and panted for an hour hanging them all up.

“President Zhou said that since he’s married, he ought to give red envelopes to the younger generation of his wife’s family.”

Xiang Zhen burst out laughing. Being married to his hubby gave him so much face!

He put his hands on his hips, high-spirited and triumphant. Family, my hubby is pretty outstanding, isn’t he?

Xiang Zhen: “But they can’t spend it either.”

Uncle Zhang: “President Zhou said you are to handle these red envelopes.”

Xiang Zhen thought about it, shoved the opened envelope into his pocket, and ran off to find the butler. “Leave the rest hanging for a day, and then please help me donate it all to a wildlife and plant conservation organization.”

The butler: “Understood, Madam. I will find a reliable organization.”

Xiang Zhen: “I’m going out for a meeting. I don’t know how long it will take, so no need to cook lunch for me.”

Assuming he was going to the bank for a meeting and that the bank provided meals, the butler arranged a car for him.

At 10:00 AM, the three little Yao met right on time. As if by prior agreement, they all wore white dress shirts and black suit trousers. Their looks and aura far surpassed the most popular boy bands of the moment.

Xiang Zhen looked up at the banners.

Top: Warmly Celebrating the Successful Convening of the First Yao Committee

Bottom: Seminar on How to Stop Our Husbands from Getting Vasectomies

Dou Manning set up the tripod. Beneath the banners, the three Yao took a solemn group photo.

Xiang Zhen took the photo to be printed, gave each person a copy as a souvenir, and framed one to leave on the meeting room wall.

Bai Qi reminded them, “Do not upload photos of our meetings to the internet.”

Xiang Zhen: “Mn, I never post anything online.”

When he first started using the internet, Xiang Zhen had enthusiastically posted to interact with humans.

But someone always commented that he gave off a “faintly uncanny valley pseudo-human vibe.”

So Xiang Zhen stopped posting. Humans were too smart. And once he got a husband, he didn’t flaunt his husband online either.

The meeting commenced.

As expected of the one who had watched the most TV dramas, Bai Qi kept a cool expression, and his proposed solution hit right at the core.

“The best way is for an incident to occur that is more urgent than a vasectomy, keeping them too overwhelmed to care about it.”

Xiang Zhen perked up his ears.

Bai Qi said, “We use our magic to make them temporarily impotent. If they’re impotent, there’s no need for a vasectomy.”

“Based on my observations of humans, once a man is impotent, he won’t dare to torment himself.”

Xiang Zhen: “Do you know how to control that?”

Bai Qi: “Still needs research.”

Dou Manning: “Then have you researched a way to reverse it?”

Bai Qi: “Also needs research.”

Isn’t that what we’re holding a meeting to research?

Xiang Zhen felt this wasn’t a good idea. If only they had marriage certificates!

If they had marriage certificates, the doctors wouldn’t dare operate on their husbands without their signatures.

Xiang Zhen fretted, “Manning, why don’t we go to the Civil Affairs Bureau together, kneel at the door, and beg them to issue marriage certificates for us and our hubbies?”

Dou Manning was taken aback: “Ah? I have to kneel too?”

Xiang Zhen: “Yes! You wouldn’t want Shen Ku to get a vasectomy either, right?”

Dou Manning: “True. I don’t want that.”