"Li Nannan," Cen Yemeng said.
"Why are you jealous of her?" Jiang Ye asked, bewildered.
"She looks very pretty, and you were flattering her," Cen Yemeng's face grew redder, her tone a little indignant. "When she spoke to you, her body language clearly showed she liked you, especially how her legs were always facing you."
"Don't overthink it. She's just a friend and a superior. You'll know when you get to my place. I know plenty of beautiful women. If you get jealous of every one of them, won't you turn into a vinegar jar?" Jiang Ye laughed heartily.
Cen Yemeng turned over, ignoring Jiang Ye.
On the bedside table, her data changed again.
Her blood pressure had risen slightly.
[Fatigue 20%, Anger 30%, Happiness 10%, Jealousy 40%]
Jiang Ye was startled. What a jealous person she was!
He gently hugged her from behind.
After hugging her for a while, her data changed again.
[Fatigue 10%, Anger 10%, Happiness 40%, Jealousy 40%]
Jiang Ye breathed a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep.
The next three days were quite comfortable. Servants brought them breakfast and lunch daily, with a wide variety of dishes, at least forty different items per meal. The kitchen adjusted the proportions of each dish based on how much they ate, trying to make what Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng preferred. The service was exceptionally attentive, almost on par with serving an empress dowager.
When they had nothing else to do, the couple went for walks, chased butterflies, went shopping, fished, and attended concerts. All expenses were reimbursed by the High Priest's financial officer.
The evening banquets were formal, and they dined with the High Priest every day. Li Nannan was naturally present as well.
The High Priest and Li Nannan were quite busy, reviewing documents even during meals, working more diligently than students preparing for college entrance exams.
Jiang Ye, sitting nearby, could see some of the document content, which were all battle reports from the front lines.
From the snippets he glimpsed, he could sense that the situation at the front was extremely dire.
However, the High Priest greeted them with a smile every day. Jiang Ye didn't know if she genuinely didn't take it seriously or if her etiquette was simply impeccable. As a guest, he didn't feel it was appropriate to interfere.
On Saturday morning, the medical team arrived to escort the couple to the Divine Palace Hospital for comprehensive physical examinations for both Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng.
After the examinations, the hospital director dismissed the other medical staff and spoke with Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng privately in the ward.
The director of the Divine Palace Hospital was a square-faced man, appearing to be in his early thirties. In reality, he had undergone rejuvenation once and was 130 years old, possessing considerable experience.
Seeing his serious expression, both Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng's palms began to sweat.
"I have good news and bad news. Which do you want to hear first?" The director's question was a classic.
"The good news," Cen Yemeng took a deep breath.
"The good news is that both of your physical conditions are excellent. Your organs are young and strong, and there are no issues."
Jiang Ye's heart sank. If the good news was about the parents' health, then the bad news must be about the fetus?
Cen Yemeng's face also turned pale; she had thought of this too.
"The fetus's physical condition is also good, and the due date is the same as the trauma team's assessment, indicating stable development during this period. Although you were stranded on a desolate planet, the fetus received adequate nutrition during that time," the director continued.
Jiang Ye was taken aback. The good news was quite extensive.
The parents were fine, and the fetus was doing well. Wasn't this a cause for celebration? Where was the bad news?
Cen Yemeng was also confused. "Then, may I ask what the bad news is?"
"The bad news is... your child has been preliminarily diagnosed with a very rare condition called Rejuvenation Syndrome," the director said.
"Didn't you just say the fetus's physical condition was good?" Jiang Ye frowned.
"This disease is very rare, occurring in only one out of several million people. You might not be aware of it, but I'll explain it in detail, and you'll understand," the director paused. "The reason I classify this as bad news is that in most people's perception, anything different is bad. However, from my medical perspective, this may not necessarily be bad news; it could be neutral, or even good news."
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng exchanged bewildered glances.
They both felt that the director was being rather mysterious. Did people become like this when they got older?
"Rejuvenation Syndrome, the disease is exactly as its name suggests. When an infant is born, their skin, appearance, and even their organs and glands are in a state of aging, like an old man. Oh, I forgot to mention, your child is a boy."
"As time passes year by year, this child's body will gradually become younger."
"While ordinary people grow older and age, patients with Rejuvenation Syndrome experience time in reverse; the older they get, the younger they become. When a patient is ten years old, their physical condition will be like that of an eighty-year-old ordinary person. When a patient is seventy years old, their physical condition will be like that of a twenty-year-old ordinary person."
"Based on existing patients with Rejuvenation Syndrome, individuals with this condition tend to live longer lives because only those with a long-lived constitution can develop in reverse. Those with a non-long-lived constitution who contract this disease would suffer stillbirth in the earliest stages."
"The lifespan of patients is the same as others, even longer than the average, but the order is reversed. From this broader perspective, there are no disadvantages."
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng were stunned into silence.
Their expressions were identical: utter astonishment.
They had never heard of such a disease before!
"How can this disease... how can such a disease occur?" Jiang Ye asked incredulously.
"Are you asking about the cause of this disease or its mechanism?" the director countered.
"We want to know both!" Cen Yemeng interjected eagerly.
"The cause is currently unclear, as this is a disease that occurs in one out of several million people, so the sample size is very small. Due to its extreme rarity, research funding is not allocated to it. Only a few doctors curious about this disease conduct research, with very limited results," the director explained. "The most prevalent theory is that fetuses with Rejuvenation Syndrome are related to the positive and negative universes. We are all born in a positive universe environment, and our bodily processes flow forward in time. In contrast, in the negative universe, space contracts, and time flows backward, leading to organisms that tend to develop in reverse."
Jiang Ye and Cen Yemeng looked utterly bewildered.
Why would their child's illness be related to cosmology?
If it weren't for the director's considerable seniority, they would have left to consult another specialist long ago.
"The key thing is... the process of this child's conception was very traditional," Cen Yemeng said, her face slightly flushed. "Why would it be related to the negative universe?"
"Warp drive malfunction," the director stated. "I've heard about your situation. When your warp ship was hit by the Millian forces, it experienced a period of uncontrolled propulsion, possibly entering the negative universe briefly, which could have affected the fetus. This is just a hypothesis, but there's no better explanation."