Hearing that his aunt was pregnant before he even knew, Wang Dong was labeled a heartless man by his aunt, mother, and grandmother. Liu Chen weakly raised his hand and asked,
"Ahem, should we call Uncle Wang Dong first?"
The ward instantly fell silent.
Hu Min, lying on the hospital bed, tightly pursed her lips and looked expectantly in Liu Fang's direction:
"Sister-in-law... I don't dare..."
"What's there to not dare?" Liu Fang said, then saw Hu Min's expression as if she were about to cry. Remembering what the nurse had just said, she quickly changed her tune, "You rest well, I'll handle it."
As soon as she spoke, Liu Chen saw her grandmother glare at her mother. After her mother left the ward with her phone, her grandmother ambled out as well.
Liu Chen wanted to follow and hear how her mother would talk to Wang Dong, but her aunt grabbed her hand.
"Chenchen, come and feel my belly."
???
Hu Min smiled shyly at Liu Chen's bewildered face.
"If you touch it a few times, the child will be smarter in the future. I feel like both Wang Dong and I aren't as smart as you! You're the top of the school!"
Fine...
Since her aunt had spoken, what else could she say?
Carefully lifting the quilt, Liu Chen intended to place her hand on the outside of her aunt's hospital gown. However, before she could, her aunt lifted her gown herself, exposing her slightly cream-like pregnant belly to the air.
Liu Chen's hand paused slightly and she gently placed it on her aunt's belly.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Liu Chen felt that her aunt's belly seemed to be truly bulging, and there was a heartbeat-like rhythm.
When she voiced her feelings, her aunt Hu Min and her elder aunt Liu Fen were stunned for a moment, then both burst into laughter.
Hu Min wiped away the tears that had welled up from laughing and looked at Liu Chen, explaining,
"The doctor said I'm only a little over two months pregnant, so the baby is too young for fetal movement."
Hearing her aunt's words, Liu Chen did not refute. She had clearly felt the faint thumping heartbeat just now, though it was very subtle.
Perhaps because of Liu Chen's presence, Hu Min's emotions stabilized. She held Liu Chen's hand and asked her elder sister Liu Fen, who was beside them,
"Sister, what should I pay attention to during pregnancy?"
Liu Fen thought about her own pregnancy and shook her head.
"When I was pregnant with Chenchen's cousin Jiang Di, I don't think I paid much attention? Oh, I remember, Jiang Di's grandmother said to eat more grapes during pregnancy so the baby would have big eyes."
Liu Fen couldn't help but laugh after saying this.
"But I ate so many grapes back then, and Jiang Di was still born with small eyes, so ugly, it made me so angry! I felt like all those grapes were eaten in vain."
Liu Chen thought about her cousin she saw this morning. He wore black-rimmed glasses and was a bit chubby. His eyes?
Behind those black-rimmed glasses, his eyes, hmm, they seemed a little small? Slender?
"Plop."
The ward door outside was opened, and Liu Fang walked in with a smile.
"I've spoken to Wang Dong. He said he'll drive over immediately."
...
After eating lunch in the ward, neither Grandma nor Elder Aunt suggested going home.
They were showing through their actions that Hu Min had her maternal family.
Hu Min could naturally feel this, which lessened the impact of Luo Meihong's words from this morning. She even thought that if Wang Dong didn't behave well later, she would have the child herself and live alone, not relying on a man.
Just as Hu Min was listening to her sister-in-law and elder sister recount amusing stories from their pregnancies, there was a knock on the ward door.
"Knock knock."
The previously warm scene in the ward was abruptly interrupted by the knock.
Hu Min subconsciously tightened her grip on Liu Chen's hand, then quickly loosened it, and looked at Liu Chen, asking,
"Did I hurt you?"
Liu Chen shook her head and looked at her mother, who was walking with slightly uncoordinated steps as she got up to open the door.
Liu Chen's position at the bedside couldn't see what was happening at the door. She only heard many footsteps?
As the footsteps approached, Liu Chen finally saw the people entering from outside.
Leading the way was a visibly anxious Wang Dong, followed by a middle-aged couple dressed somewhat festively, though they looked quite old, probably in their early fifties.
Behind them was an elderly woman with white hair. Compared to Wang Dong's anxiety, the old woman's face showed obvious joy.
Seeing Liu Fang, Wang Dong's first question was about Hu Min's condition, "Sister Liu! How is Minmin?"
"The doctor said she needs rest and to protect the pregnancy."
The now smiling old woman spoke before Wang Dong.
"Good, good, we'll rest, we'll rest."
Wang Dong had already rushed to Hu Min's bedside. Liu Chen, with her usual perceptiveness, moved her hand from her aunt's now-loosened grip and stood up, making way.
Hu Min reached out and took Wang Dong's hand, a faint smile appearing on her pale face.
"It's the New Year, did I scare you?"
Wang Dong quickly shook his head. He held Hu Min's hand with his free hand, his large palms completely enveloping her small one.
"Minmin, you've suffered, it's all my fault..."
Liu Chen stood to the side, watching her aunt and Wang Dong engage in their sweet gaze and conversation, and quietly retreated, standing beside her mother.
The elderly woman watched her grandson and his girlfriend's affectionate exchange, her face creased into a smile. She looked around and her gaze landed on Liu Chen's grandmother, Yang Shu, who was the oldest person present besides herself.
"My dear counterpart, why don't we step out and chat?"
Liu Chen's grandmother, Yang Shu, opened her mouth slightly, about to say she wasn't a counterpart, when she saw her second daughter wink at her...
The words of denial turned around and were swallowed: "It's fine, let's leave the room to the two young ones, we can all go out and talk."
So Liu Chen followed her mother to the corridor. Since there were few patients hospitalized today, the temporary beds in the hallway had been removed, making it quite spacious.
The Wang family's elderly woman spoke first with a smile.
"My dear counterpart, look at these two children, they are too young and ignorant. Shouldn't we be the ones to clean up the mess they've made?"
Hearing this, Liu Chen pursed her lips. The old woman was subtly implying that her aunt's pregnancy before marriage was not a good thing.
Yang Shu, however, looked at the Wang family's elderly woman and nodded with a smile. "They are too young. Children make mistakes, and adults can guide them to correct them, after all, they are young."
At these words, the smile on the Wang family's elderly woman's face faltered slightly for the first time.
Did this counterpart mean – if we can't come to an agreement, it's over?