Liu Chen initially thought her mother had some reservations, perhaps a phobia of surgery. However, as she listened to her mother's words, Liu Chen was stunned.
After a few seconds of silence, she looked at Chen Long, who was massaging her mother's feet at the end of the bed.
"Dad Chen, what my mom just said, is she worried that after the surgery, the child won't be as smart as me?"
Chen Long frowned and nodded.
"Yes, I explained it to her, but she wouldn't listen. The doctor said that if the mother is fully conscious, her wishes should be respected. However, the doctor also said that a C-section should be done as soon as possible, otherwise, she'll have to go through double the pain."
Liu Chen looked at Chen Long's plea for help and nodded. She thought for a moment, realizing she couldn't force her mother, who was in the late stages of pregnancy. She needed to be gentle.
"Mom, let's do a C-section. Don't worry, with your and Dad's genes, I managed to become the top scholar. If it's with Dad Chen's genes, even if it's not a natural birth, it won't be too far off."
Hearing Liu Chen's words, Liu Fang's face showed a flicker of confusion. The child's reasoning seemed plausible.
Liu Chen, seeing her mother showing signs of wavering, tried even harder.
"What's more, Mom, look at this date, it's so good. March 28th. In the north, 'two eight, two eight' means 'card card prosperity.' This is a lucky day."
Liu Fang squinted her eyes, listening to her daughter's words. Her defenses finally crumbled. She had been in pain all day and was frankly exhausted.
The willpower she had held onto earlier dissipated. Feeling another surge of pain, Liu Fang quickly said to Chen Long at the end of the bed,
"Go, go! Tell the doctor I want a C-section!"
***
Watching her mother being wheeled into the operating room, Liu Chen only managed to stick a good luck charm she'd just taken out of her backpack onto her mother's foot before the operating room door closed tightly.
Inside the waiting room, there were only two rows of seats, each seating about four people.
"Chen Chen, sit down. The doctor said a C-section takes at least an hour. I've already called your grandfather and asked him to come from the factory."
"Mhm."
Liu Chen replied and sat down next to Chen Long.
Normally, two people who were good at socializing would be chatting about interesting events that had happened around them recently. But now, with the person they loved most undergoing surgery, neither of them felt like talking.
Twenty minutes later, Grandpa Chen came rushing out of the elevator. Seeing the two sitting on the bench, and then looking at Xia Tian and Dong Tian standing in the corner of the waiting room, he walked up to Chen Long and asked directly,
"How is it?"
Chen Long, hearing his father's question, rubbed his face with his hands, trying to shake off his drowsiness. Then he looked up.
"Chen Chen convinced her. Ah Fang agreed to a C-section. She's inside now, the doctor is operating. They said about an hour. It's been half an hour."
After speaking, Chen Long lowered his head, continuing to stare at the floor of the waiting room, like a robot answering a question.
Seeing him like this, Grandpa Chen rolled his eyes and sat down on Chen Long's other side, muttering,
"Look at you, like you've lost your soul. Have you booked the confinement center yet?"
Liu Chen heard this and suddenly remembered. Her mother had gone into labor over a month early. The confinement center indeed needed to be secured quickly.
Looking up at Grandpa Chen, she saw the smug expression on his face and couldn't help but tentatively ask, "Grandpa..."
Grandpa Chen had originally wanted his disobedient son to ask a few more questions, preferably praising him and admitting he wasn't as good as him. But as soon as his granddaughter Chen Chen spoke, he forgot all his original plans.
"Ah~~ Chen Chen, don't worry! Grandpa isn't like that scoundrel who's unreliable. I'm going to find someone for a spot this afternoon!"
After speaking, Grandpa Chen unzipped his plush leather jacket and pulled out a warming flyer.
"Look~ When Grandpa makes a move, it's a Queen's Suite!"
Liu Chen's gaze fell on the amount indicated after the Queen's Suite on the flyer.
One hundred and eighty-eight thousand...
Liu Chen raised an eyebrow and looked at Chen Long, wanting to see his reaction to the price.
Chen Long flipped through the flyer and only asked,
"Is this confinement center reliable? Last time I saw Ren Yu arrange a confinement center for Chen Chen's aunt, Hu Min, and it didn't seem to be this one?"
Liu Chen glanced at the name of the establishment on the flyer, as well as its address.
"This one has a nurse and confinement nanny system, and it's in a luxury suite in a five-star hotel, so it should be better than that one. That one mainly has been open longer and has accumulated more clients."
In fact, Liu Chen said this because she had heard from a colleague in her previous life that the Angel Baby Confinement Center that Grandpa Chen had secured required reservations ten months in advance.
And after this confinement center opened, high-net-worth families in C City tended to prefer them.
Because the center occupied the top three floors of a five-star hotel, security and privacy were maximized.
Chen Long was still hesitant, but after hearing Liu Chen's words, he reluctantly agreed to Grandpa's arrangement.
"Then let's stay at the one you found."
"What 'then'? I'm telling you, I've already thought it through. When we sign out of the confinement center, we'll sign a contract with the top-tier confinement nanny they provide and take her home. We'll have her work at our place, preferably until our little treasure goes to kindergarten."
The elder had clearly thought this through. Seeing Chen Long's perfunctory attitude, his face immediately fell. However, he still seriously explained his plan for everyone to hear and offer suggestions.
"Dad!"
After hearing this, Chen Long suddenly turned his head and called out loudly to Grandpa Chen.
Startled by the sudden shout, Grandpa Chen flinched back. As he regained his senses and was about to speak, he was tightly hugged by Chen Long.
"Dad, thank you! I love you!"
Grandpa Chen froze as Chen Long hugged him.
After all, if they really calculated, father and son hadn't been in such close physical contact for many years.
Grandpa Chen swallowed, then tentatively reciprocated his son's embrace with his hands, before struggling to break free. However, because Chen Long was hugging him so tightly, he didn't succeed.
With a sigh, Grandpa Chen looked at Liu Chen, who was sitting on Chen Long's other side, and quickly said,
"Chen Chen, quickly help me pull your dad off. My old bones are about to be crushed by him."
Liu Chen looked at the grandfather's mouth, which was clearly happy but trying hard not to smile. She simply turned her head slightly, pretending not to see his 'plea for help.'
When Chen Long finally hugged enough and released Grandpa Chen, the operating room light finally changed.
Noticing this, Liu Chen sprang up from her chair and stood on tiptoe, looking towards the corridor behind the glass door of the operating room. She wanted to be the first to see her mother.
However, the first person to appear was not her mother, but a young nurse, holding a wrinkled, closed-eyed, newborn infant.
As everyone's attention was drawn to this wrinkled infant who looked like an old man with his eyes closed, a deafening cry came from behind the operating room door.
"Sister Fang!"
Chen Long turned to walk into the operating room, but in his haste, his toe caught on the ground, and he fell forward.
At this moment, the operating room door opened, and a mature nurse, who appeared to be older, walked out, also holding a crying infant.
"Oh? This family member, it's not that serious, it's just a C-section, no need for such a grand gesture."
Chen Long heard this, quickly stood up, and his eyes darted between the first infant and the crying one.
"These... are both mine?"
The mature nurse heard this and nodded.
"Who else could they be yours? You're the only C-section on this entire floor tonight. You can't deny it!"
Chen Long looked at the two infants, still in disbelief.
"This, twins?"
The mature nurse, seeing Chen Long's disbelief, was also puzzled.
"No, family member, didn't you accompany your wife for her prenatal check-ups? Our examination clearly indicated twins."
Chen Long, asked this, finally came to his senses. The confusion on his face receded, replaced by a wildly upturned smile.
"I'm sorry, I, I was just too happy and forgot."
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of a bed's wheels could be heard from inside the operating room. Chen Long quickly raised his chin and looked inside.
Liu Fang was lying on a gurney, asleep. She was probably tired and had started snoring. Listening to her mother's snores, Liu Chen finally felt at ease.
They say giving birth is like walking through the gates of hell, especially at her mother's age. And to have twins! While waiting outside, Liu Chen had repeatedly asked herself if supporting her mother's decision was the right thing to do.
Liu Fang had come out. Chen Long followed beside Liu Fang's bed, all the way down the elevator. Liu Chen shifted her feet, but seeing Chen Long holding her mother's hand tightly, she ultimately stayed put.
Grandpa Chen glanced at Liu Chen, then at the two nurses.
"These children?"
"You can take a look at the children. Since they are premature, they will need further observation."
Grandpa Chen looked at the two children and was still a bit uneasy.
"Make sure to watch these children carefully. They can't be mixed up with anyone else's..."
The senior nurse, clearly having heard such concerns before, explained smoothly.
"Don't worry, elder. See, both children have wristbands with their birth time and their mother's name on them. And they are one-time use bands; once opened, they cannot be resealed."
Grandpa Chen, seeing the bands on the children's wrists, finally felt relieved. Then, he looked at the senior nurse, hesitating to speak.
Seeing the elder's demeanor, the senior nurse knew what he wanted to say. After all, she had delivered thousands of babies. She nodded, indicating for the elder to look at the one in her arms.
"I'm holding a girl, and she's holding a boy. A boy and a girl, elder, you have good fortune!"
Hearing this, Grandpa Chen smiled so wide that his eyes couldn't open any further. Who would have thought that in his old age, he would experience a day with grandchildren filling the house.
"Ah, thank you, thank you."
Grandpa Chen said, pulling out two red envelopes from his pocket.
"Please don't refuse. It's just for good luck, and thank you for your trouble."
The senior nurse stepped aside, letting the red envelopes fall empty. "Elder, really, we can't. We have too many surveillance cameras. If I accept your red envelope, I'll lose my job."
Grandpa Chen was surprisingly taken aback by this.
"This, this is how it was when Chen Long was born, why is it not like that now?"
Liu Chen playfully touched the two infants. Strangely, the elder's eyes, which had been closed, opened when Liu Chen stroked his cheek. His chubby face revealed small, bright eyes. Seeing Liu Chen, he began to smile.
Liu Chen felt that blood relations were truly marvelous. She and Hu Qian had been like sisters for so many years, yet she had never felt any similarity or telepathic connection with her.
But at this moment, looking at the chubby little face of the younger brother, Liu Chen found him cuter than any child in the world.
"Waa~~~!!!"
Perhaps because Liu Chen had spent too long with her elder brother, the younger sister felt neglected. Her crying, which had stopped, instantly intensified.
Liu Chen heard the cry and quickly turned around to look at her third younger sibling, who was now crying loudly.
Gently touching her cheek with her fingertip, the earth-shattering cry abruptly stopped. Her large eyes were round and dark, much like the eyes of the stray cats Liu Chen had encountered by the roadside.
Even though she knew that the third younger sibling was still an infant, Liu Chen couldn't help but make a judgment.
The third younger sibling was more clever than the second younger brother.
"I am your eldest sister, Liu Chen."
As if guided by an unseen force, Liu Chen introduced herself, and saw the third younger sibling's eyes widen.
"Hehe!!"
The senior nurse holding the third younger sibling, seeing the little girl smile, looked at Liu Chen with some surprise.
"It seems this child likes you. This is the first time she's smiled since she was born."
"Really?"
Estimating that Chen Long and her mother had enough alone time, Liu Chen and Grandpa Chen took the elevator downstairs to her mother's ward.
It was a single room with a private bathroom and television. Her mother was still snoring, and Chen Long sat beside her, keeping watch.
Liu Chen suddenly felt that perhaps this was why she had supported her mother's pursuit of happiness. While she was soaring higher and higher, there was always someone by her mother's side, who always used a strong facade to numb her heart.
Chen Long heard the door open and looked back. Seeing them, he lowered his voice and asked,
"Where are those two children?"
Liu Chen sat in a chair by the bedside, looking at her mother's sweat-dried forehead. She also lowered her voice and explained what the nurse had just said.
"Okay, as long as they're fine. Chen Chen, why don't you go back and get some sleep? Sister Fang is sleeping anyway, and I'll stay here."
Liu Chen shook her head and sat by her mother's bedside, holding her mother's right hand.
"Dad Chen, I want to stay with my mom."
In her sleep, Liu Fang let out a laugh, as if dreaming of something. By the time Liu Chen and Chen Long looked over, the laughter had disappeared, leaving only a faint smile on Liu Fang's face.