WRA CH81

“If your husband is capable, it’s very easy to get pregnant.”

The sunflower spirit, newly returned from his wanderings, brought this bombshell piece of news to the coffee spirit.

Unseen for a month, the fetus in Xiang Zhen’s belly was developing perfectly, causing his normally flat abdomen to bulge slightly.

Dou Manning reached out and touched it. “Is there a little spirit inside here too?”

Xiang Zhen nodded. “I can feel his spiritual consciousness.”

“Getting pregnant is simple! Manning, you should have one too! That way, the two of them can keep each other company.”

Dou Manning was somewhat tempted. He still remembered the sheer joy of seeing a fellow spirit companion at the gates of the construction site.

Who knew how many years it would take for the divine land to nurture naturally born spirits? If he wanted to have a child, it was best to do it early so the spirit babies of the same age could play together.

After eating his fill and changing his clothes, Xiang Zhen was off with his truck driver husband to transport peaches.

Dou Manning walked him to the construction site gate and watched the truck merge onto the main road. How nice, he thought.

Remembering something, he asked Shen Ku, “Does Zhou Sicheng still have a bit of money?”

Shen Ku replied, “Of course. A wolf pretending to be a dog is still a wolf, no matter how hard it tries.”

Engineer Shen was different. Engineer Shen was the real deal.

Dou Manning felt relieved. Raising a child costs money; how could driving a truck around all day provide a stable growing environment for Zhen Zhen and their little melon seed?

He thought back to what Xiang Zhen had said: If your husband is capable, getting pregnant is easy.

Dou Manning glanced at Shen Ku, a thoughtful look in his eyes. Was Shen Ku not capable?

He was already incredibly capable. The frequency was extremely high, they didn’t use protection, and Engineer Shen held absolutely nothing back.

Dou Manning looked down at his own lower belly and reached out to touch it. Could it be that he just hadn’t noticed yet?

Zhen Zhen hadn’t realized it right away either; he only found out after a whole month of morning sickness. Zhen Zhen and his husband had gotten together a month before he and Shen Ku did. Since Zhen Zhen was now over two months pregnant, by that logic, the coffee spirit should be about a month along.

He needed to give his coffee tree form a proper check. He couldn’t be a clueless father.

Seeing Dou Manning constantly touching his belly, Shen Ku assumed he was hungry. Earlier, when Xiang Zhen was eating in the cafeteria, Manning had only watched and hadn’t eaten anything himself. “Wifey, there’s chicken soup in the rice cooker. Let’s head back and have some.”

Dou Manning replied, “No thanks, Shen Ku. I have some business to attend to outside.”

He needed to turn into a coffee tree and carefully inspect the branches and leaves for a single coffee bean. Wild coffee trees could grow to be 4 to 10 meters tall, and Dou Manning was a very tall, lush coffee tree, which was why he could store so many coffee beans. The corrugated iron shack was far too small; he couldn’t stretch out at all.

Dou Manning looked toward the mountain opposite them. He would go up the mountain to check.

Hearing Dou Manning’s tone—as if he were about to embark on a grand mission—Shen Ku’s mental alarms blared. Zhou Sicheng’s wife had just returned; what was Dou Manning planning to do? Could there be some special family mission they had to take turns executing?

“Where are you going? I’ll drive you.” Shen Ku nervously grabbed the hem of his wife’s shirt.

Dou Manning looked down at Shen Ku’s fingers.

Shen Ku let go, noticing his palm had left a smudge of dust on Dou Manning’s white shirt. “Sorry, honey.”

Dou Manning: “Do you not want me to go out?”

Shen Ku answered honestly, “I’m afraid you’ll suddenly leave on a long trip, just like Xiang Zhen did.”

Dou Manning smiled, “I won’t, hubby. Then I won’t go. Let’s head back to work.”

Zhen Zhen hadn’t been throwing up because Zhou Sicheng was too rich; it was just morning sickness. It turned out they had all been overthinking it. Finding a rich husband wasn’t a problem after all.

Dou Manning went back and drank the chicken soup under Shen Ku’s close supervision.

The chicken soup Shen Ku stewed was quite oily and packed with various dried seafood ingredients. Dou Manning preferred light flavors and usually only took two sips of the broth. It always took some coaxing from Shen Ku before he would open his mouth to eat a few shreds of chicken.

Today, Shen Ku served a large bowl of chicken soup as usual. It contained a chicken leg and expensive mushrooms brought over from his family home. Usually, Manning would just pick out the mushrooms, take two sips of soup, and claim he was full.

But only the meat had real nutrition.

Shen Ku expertly pulled out a tray of seasoning bottles and began mixing a vinegar dipping sauce for the chicken leg. He stirred it with a long-handled spoon and returned with the bowl, only to find Dou Manning voluntarily holding the chicken leg, eating it bite after bite with a furrowed brow.

Shen Ku panicked internally. Such abnormal behavior meant something was definitely fishy.

Considering he might be pregnant, Dou Manning pinched his nose and forced down the highly nourishing chicken soup. Zhen Zhen had a great appetite, so he would definitely give birth to a chubby, pale little melon seed. The coffee spirit didn’t want to fall too far behind, lest Shen Ku accuse him of being a picky eater in the future.

The more heartily his wife ate, the more nervous Shen Ku became. He feared this might be their last meal together, and that Dou Manning was deliberately leaving him with a picture-perfect memory.

It wasn’t that he was paranoid. Come on—after witnessing the sudden, overnight fallout between Zhou Sicheng and Xiang Zhen, Shen Ku felt his past imagination had actually been lacking.

“Wife, why is your appetite so good today?”

Dou Manning’s fingers paused for a moment. “It’s nothing. It’s just pretty tasty.”

Shen Ku’s legs were practically cramping up. There was absolutely something going on!

Dou Manning resiliently finished the entire bowl. “I’m sleepy, hubby. I’m going to take a nap.”

Shen Ku immediately went to make the bed, spreading out the folded quilt and switching the AC to silent mode. Shen Ku himself didn’t take naps. If he did, he would have to wash his hair and shower, which would wake Dou Manning. He usually just sat to the side and drew blueprints.

When it was time for the afternoon shift, Dou Manning still hadn’t woken up. Shen Ku tiptoed out, skipping the project department office, and went straight to the two exits of the construction site. He slipped the security guards a red envelope. “If Manning leaves, let me know.”

Though if Dou Manning had the same agility as Xiang Zhen, guarding the gates would be utterly useless.

Shen Ku was starting to feel a bit envious of Zhou Sicheng.

…

As soon as Shen Ku left, Dou Manning opened his eyes. He sat up, the entire layout of the construction site appearing clearly in his mind.

Spirits were highly sensitive to cameras. He could practically feel exactly how many cameras were directly above his head just by standing there, making them incredibly simple to avoid.

Dou Manning found a blind spot, vaulted over the fence, and leaped out of the construction site.

The newly built high-speed rail station wasn’t in the city center. Following the tracks, one could see a mountain pierced by a tunnel. With a whoosh, Dou Manning arrived at the foot of the mountain. He climbed up, found a spot with sparse vegetation, and reverted to his true form.

The size of a coffee tree adapted to its environment. Dou Manning grew into his largest possible form, nearly colliding with the surrounding trees. He carefully observed every branch as the wind flipped the leaves back and forth.

Regrettably, the coffee tree bore no fruit.

Dou Manning shifted back into his human form. His shirt was a bit worse for wear, covered in what looked like numerous scratches from branches. He took the same route back, and in no time at all, he was sitting at the cafeteria’s coffee stall, picking up a book of prose to read.

When Shen Ku stepped into the cafeteria and saw his wife perfectly fine, he breathed a massive sigh of relief. He must have been overthinking it.

That night, Dou Manning felt that Shen Ku was a bit different. It seemed he desperately wanted him to make noise, shedding his usual restraint.

Dou Manning accidentally let out a few soft pants.

It sounded so incredibly sweet that Shen Ku grew even harder. He wiped the sweat from Manning’s forehead with his calloused palm and took a few deep breaths. No, Engineer Shen couldn’t keep living these construction site days anymore. It was too unfair to his wife.

After finishing a round, Dou Manning picked up his phone and saw an invitation from Xiang Zhen to visit Zhou Sicheng’s house tomorrow for a belated birthday celebration.

“Hubby, are you going?”

Shen Ku pulled out a fresh bedsheet. “Yes.”

Dou Manning replied to the message: We’ll be there.

“What kind of gift should we bring?”

Shen Ku: “Two cups of coffee.”

Dou Manning: “No, Zhen Zhen can’t drink that.”

Shen Ku: “I’ll prepare something.”

Gifting Zhou Sicheng didn’t require too much effort, but it couldn’t be too shabby either, as both parties were well aware of each other’s true identities. Shen Ku planned to go home and fetch something suitable.

The next day, Shen Ku drove Dou Manning back to his family home. Naturally, he didn’t dare bring his wife upstairs, instead having Dou Manning wait in the car for a moment while he ran inside to grab the gift.

Mother Shen knew Manning loved mushrooms, so she stuffed a bunch of premium dried goods for her son. She stripped off the expensive packaging and stuffed everything into cheap red plastic bags.

As long as his mom packaged them to look unassuming, Shen Ku accepted everything.

Shen Ku had parked the car in the shade. Dou Manning rested his eyes for a bit before Shen Ku returned.

Ignition, start. When pulling out of the side road, Shen Ku was about to turn right, but Dou Manning quickly prompted him to turn left.

Shen Ku was confused. “Isn’t it that neighborhood we used to live in?”

Dou Manning: “No. Zhou Sicheng’s house—did you forget the way? Just drive one intersection forward and we’re there.”

This was the wealthy district; Zhou Sicheng’s villa was destined to be not far from the Shen family home.

Shen Ku’s brain short-circuited. Wait, didn’t Xiang Zhen hate Zhou Sicheng’s capitalist identity?

And what about Dou Manning?

Before he could figure anything out, they arrived at Zhou Sicheng’s house.

The moment he stepped into the Zhou residence, Shen Ku felt deeply uneasy. When the four of them sat down together, the wealth gap between the two sides was glaringly obvious. Engineer Shen was even still wearing his everyday construction site clothes.

Zhou Sicheng was dressed impeccably, every single detail radiating the luxury built by exorbitant wealth.

Xiang Zhen’s temperament had drastically changed; every sentence he spoke was in staunch defense of the capitalist.

Dou Manning was like grass swaying in the wind, bending whichever way Xiang Zhen blew: “Zhen Zhen, I really envy you for finding such a husband who contributes so much to society.”

The completely out-of-place Shen Ku: !!!!

Wife, what are you envious of??!

Are blue-collar identities completely out of fashion now?! If the world was changing this fast, couldn’t someone have given him advance notice!

I have money too! Don’t envy someone else’s husband, wife!

Shen Ku was just about to say something.

Xiang Zhen added, “At least your husband didn’t lie to you.”

Dou Manning glanced at the modestly dressed Shen Ku, a smile in his eyes: “That’s true.”

Shen Ku: “…”

Dou Manning leaned closer and whispered to Shen Ku, “Hubby, what I just said was merely returning a courtesy, because Zhen Zhen told me before that he was envious of my husband.”

“I don’t envy that his husband is rich.”

It was as if Shen Ku had swallowed a piece of hard candy whole—he felt choked, yet intensely sweet.

So, was it confirmed that the world version had updated? It wouldn’t change again, right?

They wouldn’t flip-flop again the moment he put his “Second Young Master Shen” coat back on, would they?

This absolutely, definitely wasn’t a trap laid by Zhou Sicheng to rip off his disguise, right?

Even the legendary Cao Cao might not have been as paranoid as Engineer Shen.

But his paranoia was blasted to ashes the moment Zhou Sicheng casually dropped the line: “Your wife can get pregnant.”

“…”

The world version hadn’t just gone through a massive storm-like update; it had even installed a brand-new patch.

Pregnant??

How could a man get pregnant?

Not only could men get pregnant, but Zhou Sicheng was even urging them to have a kid, claiming that only when Dou Manning got pregnant would the shared secret between the two brothers be revealed.

Shen Ku: “…”

What did that mean?

Had Dou Manning already discussed with Xiang Zhen about bearing Engineer Shen’s child? Shouldn’t he have discussed this with Engineer Shen instead?

Did Dou Manning make this monumental decision right there in their tin shack that froze in winter and roasted in summer?

He had never demanded he buy a house or anything, and even let him spend his money however he wanted.

How could Engineer Shen be so incredibly lucky to marry a wife like Dou Manning?