This passage sounded more like advice. Chen Fangli thought indifferently.

In the silent car, he didn’t speak, and Xu Yingchun wasn’t discouraged, as if she had just told a very long story.

Her story was true, except the protagonist wasn’t her friend, but her cousin, usually a quite rational person, but somewhat love-brained when it came to relationships.

Xu Yingchun had actually said quite a lot privately, but the other party wouldn’t listen. However, that woman wasn’t someone who cheated for money or sex, just had some small flaws that all women have, so she couldn’t be bothered to interfere anymore. She just let her cousin do as he pleased, only privately reminding him to be careful and not to have children.

She opened the car door and got out, taking Chen Fangli to the emergency department of the hospital. However, just as they were about to enter the hospital, Chen Fangli unexpectedly called Xu Yingchun’s name.

“Xu Yingchun.”

His voice was particularly cool in the deep night. This man’s voice was very clean, always pleasant to hear. Even Wang Zhao had mentioned several times before that he had a good voice, one that could make people feel a sense of cinematic quality.

Xu Yingchun was also inevitably enchanted for a moment, but she was always a person with clear self-awareness. Chen Fangli wouldn’t like her, so she didn’t reveal any unusual emotions.

Everyone likes attractive people, it’s normal to have a slight fondness. But knowing there’s no future, that slight fondness would be buried under layer upon layer, and over time, it would be lost.

This is normal people’s emotions, considering worldly factors, considering all realistic reasons, so emotions can sometimes be controlled at will.

Under Xu Yingchun’s gaze, Chen Fangli seemed to smile, or perhaps he didn’t. Under those particularly dark eyes showing coldness, he asked a question as if casually.

“Did they end up together in the end?”

Xu Yingchun was stunned for a moment. She hadn’t reacted yet.

Chen Fangli looked at the woman beside him.

Xu Yingchun now knew what he was asking about. Her emotions became complex, but after a few seconds of silence, she answered Chen Fangli, “They got together.”

Her cousin had only contacted that woman for a week before they got back together, and her cousin even took a week off work to fly to Gefi City to see that woman.

Only then did Chen Fangli truly smile faintly, murmuring in a barely audible voice, “That’s good.”

His voice was so low that only he knew what he said, and Xu Yingchun beside him couldn’t hear his mumbling at all.

This is also a very good ending, isn’t it?

The woman successfully found a partner, and Xu Yingchun’s friend was no longer uncomfortable. Even if it was unwillingness to let go, even if it was a desire for control, as long as they were together, wasn’t that enough?

And he didn’t feel that his feelings for Wang Zhao were just a kind of unwillingness to let go, as Xu Yingchun had implied. That was too belittling of this relationship. It not only looked down on him, but also on Wang Zhao.

They entered the hospital. At this time, most of the doctors had already finished their shifts, and the entire hospital was quieter. Xu Yingchun led Chen Fangli to the emergency department to find the on-duty doctor.

After examination, the doctor found that Chen Fangli had mild gastric bleeding. During the process, he felt a bit unwell and went to the bathroom to vomit, discovering slight traces of blood in the vomit.

He was stunned for a long time before standing up and leaning against the partition, feeling a bit dizzy. He wanted to take out a cigarette to smoke, but found that the cigarettes he had smoked earlier were given to him by Xu Yingchun.

With a severe headache, Chen Fangli staggered out of the bathroom. His damp hand pressed against his brow, and he returned to the corridor.

Because the doctors had already finished their shifts, some examinations could only be done tomorrow. However, from now on, Chen Fangli needed to stay in the hospital for observation and receive some medication infusions. During this time, he needed to fast from food and water.

He hadn’t expected it to be this serious this time. Previously in England, he had only felt a bit uncomfortable, often taking some stomach medicine or painkillers was enough. This was the first time he had gastric bleeding, feeling like needles were pricking inside, and his head was also aching severely.

He sat in the corridor receiving an IV drip. The night here was quite cold. The on-duty nurse asked him to go inside and lie down in a hospital room for a while. Chen Fangli didn’t refuse. He had a slight germaphobia, but he could tolerate it, and at this moment he was really feeling unwell, the cold liquid making his entire hand numb.

While he was receiving the IV, Xu Yingchun was still waiting nearby. She received a few phone calls in between, which sounded like they were from old classmates and family. After she hung up, Chen Fangli told her to go back first, saying he could stay here alone.

They were all adults, and everyone would have to go to the hospital alone a few times.

Xu Yingchun hesitated for a moment, but still nodded, saying she would come back to see him tomorrow.

Chen Fangli didn’t refuse.

He lay on the hospital bed, one hand resting over his eyes, half-closed, as if asleep, but he was thinking about Wang Zhao.

Many things floated through his mind at once. Most of all, a sentence Wang Zhao had said when she was still in university – that she wouldn’t marry before thirty. This woman seemed to be a potential non-marriage advocate.

At that time, Wang Zhao was firmly not expecting marriage, so he thought that in the year or two he was abroad, things wouldn’t change much. Who would have thought that upon returning, everything had undergone such great changes, becoming unrecognizable to him.

As for Wang Zhao, she finished watching the movie with Li Zhenguan and the others around seven or eight o’clock. Because they were watching with family members, they unanimously chose a comedy. Fortunately, this comedy was of good quality, at least not nonsensically funny.

Now that they were leaving the cinema, it was already late. The two families didn’t eat together, planning to eat when they got home. Besides, they had eaten a lot at noon and had some snacks in the afternoon, so all five of them didn’t feel very hungry.

After sending Li Zhenguan and the other two off in their car at the intersection, she then took her parents to their own family car.

This day had been busy and tiring.

Sitting in the car, Zhang Ke said to Wang Zhao, who was in the driver’s seat, “Let me see your marriage certificate again.”

Wang Xuechun joked, “You’ve been looking at it with the in-laws all afternoon, haven’t you seen enough?”

Zhang Ke glanced at her sideways, not bothering to respond.

Instead, Wang Zhao suddenly remembered that the marriage certificate should be with Li Zhenguan. After taking photos in the afternoon, she hadn’t taken it back, it was left in his backpack.

Zhang Ke was a bit disappointed, but it was still okay, his face still smiling.

“When we get back today, let’s see how many people we need to invite on our side, estimate the number of tables,” Wang Xuechun said to Wang Zhao. “You should also check who you want to invite from your side, and about the bridesmaids, see who you want to invite, tell us in advance to avoid not being able to find people at the last minute.”

Wang Zhao nodded absentmindedly.

In her heart, she was still thinking about Chen Fangli’s situation. From the looks of it, Wang’s parents probably didn’t know much about their child’s love life, otherwise they wouldn’t say nothing about it. They had been together for seven years before. Zhang Ke also didn’t seem like a very open person, carrying a bit of Chinese-style parental feudalism.

After returning home and taking a shower, Li Zhenguan sent her a text message saying they had arrived home.

Wang Zhao hesitated for a moment looking at the phone screen before sending back a simple “Mm”.

The next second, Li Zhenguan’s video call came through.

The young man’s face appeared on the screen. Seeing Wang Zhao’s damp hair, his gaze flickered, “You’ve already showered?”

Wang Zhao nodded a bit distractedly, sitting down at her desk. She put the phone on the stand on the table, hesitating about how to tell Li Zhenguan that she was going to the hospital to see her ex-boyfriend tomorrow.

Li Zhenguan didn’t notice Wang Zhao’s absent-mindedness at all. He was in a good mood today, and had now entered his own room, lying on the bed, exposing most of his collar, revealing a large area of fair skin, especially his delicate collarbone.

He had practiced dance for a while before, so he had some body management. Though looking thin and slender, he actually had some muscles on his abdomen, appearing very lean. The pregnancy had only softened his abdomen a little, and during this time he had stopped dancing, only exercising scientifically every day.

He watched Wang Zhao drying her hair, his chin resting on the soft pillow, and suddenly asked a question, “Wang Zhao, do you prefer a girl or a boy?”

Wang Zhao looked up at him.

What kind of question was this?

Having stayed in this world for a long time, she still found it hard to adapt to some things, like the man opposite her being pregnant and asking if she preferred a girl or a boy, giving her an indescribable sense of disconnection.

Meeting Wang Zhao’s gaze, Li Zhenguan tugged at the corner of the pillow and said, “I think a girl would be better. She won’t be bullied in the future, and having a child that looks like you would be great, she’d definitely be very pretty.”

Wang Zhao’s emotions were complex. She opened her mouth, and finally managed to say with difficulty, “Our family doesn’t… doesn’t favor girls over boys, it’s fine whether you have a girl or a boy.”

But Li Zhenguan didn’t quite believe Wang Zhao’s words.

Nowadays, many people say they’re happy with either a girl or a boy, but would they really be as happy with a boy as with a girl? They might have some emotions behind their backs.

Li Zhenguan still wanted a girl. He rubbed his belly, suddenly feeling a bit sad and worried, “You think it’s a girl in my belly, right?”

Realizing it wasn’t quite right, he added, “Actually, a boy is good too, it’s just that in this world, boys don’t have it easy in anything. They face discrimination at work, and in the future, they’ll have to bear the pain of childbirth. So I think it’s better to have a girl. This way, as parents, we won’t have to worry too much about her being bullied at school, she’ll suffer less.”

Wang Zhao was suddenly at a loss for words. She didn’t know if this was the unique sentimentality of pregnant men, and only managed to say with great difficulty, “It’s fine whether you have a girl or a boy, our family really doesn’t care about this. Girls have their way of being raised, boys have theirs, there’s no differential treatment. We’re not a family that needs girls to carry on the family line, and look how much my dad likes you.”

Heaven knows if her expression was normal when she said this. However, seeing that Li Zhenguan’s mood wasn’t quite right, as if he had fallen into a dead end, Wang Zhao still said this long paragraph expressionlessly, trying to comfort him.

Really, she never thought she would have a day when she would say these things.

Indeed, until the very end, one should never be too certain about some things, otherwise, they might be severely slapped in the face.

As for her original plan to tell him about going to the hospital to see Chen Fangli, Wang Zhao decisively threw it to the back of her mind. With Li Zhenguan in this state, getting emotional over whether it’s a girl or a boy, how could she dare to tell him about this?

To tell a pregnant man who’s depressed over whether it’s a girl or a boy that she’s going to see her ex-boyfriend?

It would probably cause chaos and uproar.

Moreover, Wang Zhao somewhat suspected that Li Zhenguan was someone who favored girls over boys.