Shan Yu’s hands were big and warm, and they felt comforting when resting on his belly, warming Wan Qiu’s heart.

“What’s wrong with you?” Shan Yu couldn’t understand the situation. When he lowered his head to ask Wan Qiu, a strand of long hair beside his ear fell from his shoulders, sliding down Wan Qiu’s face and landing on the pillow, tangling together.

In the darkness of the room, Wan Qiu’s excellent eyesight allowed him to see Shan Yu’s smooth jawline and collarbones under his slender neck, hidden under the skewed collar, revealing a small piece of his chest.

Wan Qiu’s face flushed with heat, and he couldn’t help but lean into it. He whispered, “Husband, it won’t feel uncomfortable if you touch it…”

It was normal for pregnant people to seek comfort from their partners. Shan Yu understood, but Wan Qiu pressing into his arms like that was really unbearable, so he quickly changed the subject and said, “I touched a pointy part of your belly. It’s probably a son.”

“Really?” Wan Qiu’s happiness was evident upon hearing that he was pregnant with a boy. He jumped directly into Shan Yu’s arms, pressed his face against his chest, and asked softly, “Husband, are you happy?”

Shan Yu: “…”

He thought about the feeling of being called father by other man’s children, and to be honest, he wasn’t happy at all, so he responded perfunctorily, “It’s okay.”

Wan Qiu heard the indifference in Shan Yu’s words and couldn’t help feeling disappointed. He turned around, curled up in the quilt, and stopped talking.

Shan Yu was relieved to see Wan Qiu distance himself, but seeing him sleep like that, he couldn’t help but straighten him up and reminded him, “Don’t sleep like this, you’ll upset the baby.”

“Those nights when you weren’t here, I always slept like this, and my stomach was fine.” Wan Qiu pursed his lips and said in a sad tone, “It’s very uncomfortable for me to sleep like this, I feel so stressed…”

Shan Yu was stunned for a moment, a little apologetically looking at the fragile fetus, forgetting the feelings of adults.

He helped Wan Qiu turn sideways, hugged him from behind, and asked carefully, “How about this? Are you feeling better?”

Wan Qiu nodded, feeling particularly safe when his husband held him from behind like this, and whispered, “It would be more comfortable if you could touch my belly.”

Shan Yu: “…”

‘Are you acting coquettishly with me?’

.

With a few days left before the Chinese New Year, Shan Yu borrowed the village chief’s ox cart to go to the market and took Lian Zhou with him.

Since he was expelled from the brothel and thrown into a mass grave, he had become a person who no longer existed in the world. If he wanted to gain a foothold in this era, register a new identity was the top priority.

Fortunately, Shan Yu had some relationship with the yamen from his prescription to the emperor back then, and after some twists and turns, it was settled.

Lian Zhou, wearing a bamboo hat and flowing white clothes, stood up from the ox cart, opened his arms to Shan Yu in front of the dumbfounded gazes of the villagers, and said, “Shanzi! The ground is covered with mud. Come and carry me.”

Shan Yu was unloading the items from the cart into the house. Upon hearing this, he wiped the sweat from his brow and scoffed, “Don’t act like a young master. Come down quickly and help me move these things. It’ll be dark soon, and I have to return the cart.”

Lian Zhou didn’t like the environment or the people here at all. He stretched out his pale index finger and shouted to the noisy villagers, “What are you looking at?” Then he lifted the hem of his new clothes to his knees, stood on tiptoes, and continued speaking to Shan Yu, “Hurry up and carry me in. The ground will dirty my new shoes. Hurry up! I’m going to freeze to death in this damn weather.”

“Who tell you to dress like this; you deserve it,” Shan Yu said, but he still walked to the cart and bent down, grumbling, “You’re so annoying!”

“Come on, Shanzi! Go!” Lian Zhou kicked Shan Yu with his feet and laid on his back with a smile. “Am I still bothering you? Carry me in quickly; the roast chicken in your arms is getting cold.”

Their intimacy shocked everyone, and onlookers hid their faces with their hands, exclaiming that the world was declining and the two were shameless.

Grandma Wang couldn’t stand it anymore and went to say something to Wan Qiu, “Qiu Ge’er, why don’t you care about Shanzi? Letting him being seduced like this by that little vixen? When the little vixen has a child, how can you live a good life? Judging from his charming voice, I think this little vixen is very beautiful.”

Wan Qiu’s eyes reddened as he recounted Lian Zhou’s appearance to Grandma Wang, adding, “When I served him soup. I stole a few glances when I had the chance, but my husband was watching him closely… He’s been wearing a bamboo hat since he recovered from his illness and could get out of bed… I think he looked even more radiant than when he was sick…”

Wan Qiu’s tone turned sour, and before he could finish speaking, tears welled up in his eyes. Grandma Wang sighed softly.

“I’m just telling you! If he was really ugly, why would Shanzi be so good to that little vixen? Didn’t you see that little vixen at the courtyard gate just now? He said he was afraid of dirtying his shoes, so Shanzi obediently carried him on his back. In front of all of us, oh~ the world really has turned bad…”

Wan Qiu had been feeling a bit drowsy lately, when Shan Yu and Lian Zhou returned, he was lying in bed so he didn’t know about the shocking scene. Upon hearing Grandma Wang’s words, he hastily asked, “Did he really! Did he actually carry Zhou Ge’er on his back in front of everyone?”

“It’s absolutely true! Not only did he carry him, but the two of them were laughing and joking for a while. I saw Shanzi moving all those good things to the next room. Didn’t you see the vixen wearing that white dress? He looked so pretty! It caught the eye of every man in the village…”

Wan Qiu couldn’t bear it anymore upon hearing this. Tears fell from his eyes like broken beads, and he bit his lip, crying softly.

Initially, he was afraid of Shan Yu, thinking that his life would be over if the man beat him to death. But one day, Shan Yu suddenly changed. He admitted his mistakes, treated Wan Qiu well, and promised to live a good life.

That fear had turned into cautious hope.

But Wan Qiu found himself falling into despair once more. He had embraced that hope so eagerly, only to find himself waking up from a sweet dream shattered by the unexpected arrival of Lian Zhou.

Hope turned to disappointment, and Wan Qiu couldn’t help feeling hateful of his husband.

He wondered why Shan Yu made so many promises if he couldn’t keep them. Why… why was he making him feel so good and now miserable?

Wan Qiu shed many tears recently, his eyes as red as rabbits’. Shan Yu couldn’t understand why he was crying again, so he could only try to lighten the mood: “You’re a grown man, yet you cry so easily. Are you made of water?”

But when Shan Yu mentioned it, Wan Qiu immediately choked up, sobbing, “Well~ I’m a shuanger~ I’m not as good-looking as Zhou Ge’er to win your heart~ you~ you should go find him~ don’t~ don’t come to me~ Anyway, I’m as rough as a man~ You don’t care about me either~”

Wan Qiu leaned into Shan Yu’s arms; his fingers tightly wrapped around his husband’s waist.

Shan Yu: “…”

‘Then, please let go!’

Note

Our boy, Shanzi couldn’t accept to raise other people children. But later he will love the baby as his.