Chapter 79: Prenatal Checkup

Fan Xia helped Rong Xiu into the room when they returned home. The room was filled with a faint scent of aromatherapy. Rong Xiu lay on the bed, holding Fan Xia’s hand, and asked, “I interrupted your dinner party. Are you upset with me?”

Fan Xia bent down to kiss his forehead, her voice like a spring breeze: “How could I be upset with you? If I were to blame anyone, it should be the baby in your belly, tormenting you so much that you can’t eat or sleep well.”

“Then you should blame me instead.” Rong Xiu said with a slight smile, his fingers fiddling with the buttons of her clothes.

“I can’t bear to blame you.” Fan Xia stroked the back of his hand, but didn’t stop his playful actions, like an indulgent owner allowing a pet to play, her gaze tolerant. The quietly burning aromatherapy intertwined with their breaths, the temperature seemingly rising.

Rong Xiu’s cool gaze also seemed to be ignited, burning with silent flames. He shifted his position, reversing their positions. Fan Xia leaned back on the bed, her waist cushioned by velvet pillows, her posture languid. Rong Xiu knelt on the soft bed, leaning his body beside her, his narrow waist not yet showing signs of pregnancy and his ample buttocks outlining the softest waist-hip curve.

Rong Xiu tugged at her disheveled collar, his heavy breath pressing down. Because of his pregnancy, it had been a long time since he had been loved by Fan Xia so passionately. Fan Xia supported his soft, sunken waist, indulging him, but only to a point.

Just as things were about to ignite, she dodged Rong Xiu’s eager lips and covered him with the blanket: “It’s not yet three months, the fetal position is unstable, we can’t have intercourse.”

Rong Xiu’s fingertips softly curled around her hanging silky black hair, his gaze flickering: “But… it’s only a few days away.”

“Since it’s only a few days, let’s endure a bit longer, for the baby’s sake.” Fan Xia kissed the corner of Rong Xiu’s eye tenderly.

“…Alright.” Rong Xiu closed his eyes, his long lashes trembling slightly. In his heart, he thought: Before they went to the hospital for a checkup, they often did it, and he was pregnant then too, wasn’t he? And nothing happened.

But seeing Fan Xia’s gentle and caring gaze, he didn’t dare to voice these irresponsible thoughts about the child.

It was evident that Fan Xia truly cared about this unborn child.

Wen Lan Sheng had been pregnant with Fan Xia’s child when he was in his teens, but due to the deep blood feud between their two families, that child wasn’t fortunate enough to become Fan Xia’s daughter. The one in his belly now was Fan Xia’s first child in the true sense.

Naturally, Rong Xiu also cherished this child, being careful with every move, afraid of doing anything that might harm the baby in his belly. But he was more afraid that his pregnancy would prevent Fan Xia from being satisfied.

It wasn’t uncommon for wife-masters to have affairs during their husbands’ pregnancies, let alone now with Gu Jin eyeing her covetously from the outside. He was young and beautiful, not even 20 years old, with fresh skin that could ooze water without any skincare products. Such a person constantly hovering around Fan Xia would tempt any woman.

If a husband couldn’t satisfy his wife-master, she would naturally seek release with other men outside.

Rong Xiu was afraid, anxious like a caged beast, which was why he even regarded a small receptionist in the company as a potential rival and had her transferred. He knew all too well how to take advantage of vulnerabilities – wasn’t that the path he himself had taken initially?

That’s why he was so eager, not wanting to give Gu Jin a chance. Once he climbed into Fan Xia’s bed, who knew if he might also become pregnant with Fan Xia’s child, using the pregnancy to curry favor with Fan Xia, and eventually giving birth to an illegitimate daughter to contend with his own child? He would absolutely not let that day come.

“What are you thinking about?” Fan Xia stroked the corner of his eye, smiling at his absent-minded gaze.

Rong Xiu came back to his senses, hiding the cold light in his eyes, and nestled in Fan Xia’s arms, his soft tone almost like a spoiled child: “I was thinking that in a few days, the baby will be three months old, and we can check the gender then. Do you prefer a boy or a girl?”

Fan Xia’s fingers ran through his soft hair as she said, “I like both.”

Rong Xiu raised his head from her embrace: “Really? You’d like a boy too?”

“Of course. If it’s a boy, he’ll surely be as beautiful as you.” Fan Xia said with a smile, her eyes showing no signs of concealment or evasion. It seemed she truly didn’t care; whether the child in his belly was a boy or a girl, she would treat it well.

A sweet feeling permeated Rong Xiu’s heart, and he embraced Fan Xia’s neck, kissing her.

The more Fan Xia treated him well, the more Rong Xiu wanted to give birth to a daughter to repay her kindness.

Although society nowadays advocated for gender equality, and many celebrities and wealthy merchants boasted about being ‘son slaves’, raising sons lavishly and daughters frugally, Rong Xiu knew these were all just for show. Money was where the love was. When it came to inheritance, wasn’t it always the daughters who inherited the vast majority of the family business? Those noble husbands in wealthy families, weren’t they all desperately trying to give birth to daughters?

If one couldn’t give birth to a daughter for the wife-master, couldn’t continue the family line for the wife-master, that was a husband’s incompetence, a failure of the womb. Encountering a harsh father-in-law, one might even be pointed at and scolded as a rooster that couldn’t lay eggs.

For a newly married husband, only by giving birth to a daughter could the family be considered stable. Even if the wife-master had affairs with third or fourth partners in the future, there would be no fear. A daughter was the foundation, a confidence that no number of sons could bring.

Rong Xiu’s hand, hidden under the blanket, caressed his belly, repeating in his heart: “It must be a daughter, it must be a daughter.”

“By the way, have you made an appointment for the prenatal checkup? I need to arrange my schedule so I can accompany you,” Fan Xia said.

She was always like this, arranging everything in advance, not even missing the prenatal checkups that most women found troublesome and made excuses to avoid.

Married men often said that marriage was a fire pit that wore men down, but Rong Xiu felt surrounded by full tenderness and love. Every moment with Fan Xia made him grateful for his decision to interfere in an illicit relationship, even if it meant being condemned by thousands. He gazed at Fan Xia with his heart and eyes full of love, thinking how wonderful it was to marry the right person.

On the day of the prenatal checkup, Fan Xia made time to accompany Rong Xiu to the hospital.

Today, he wore a simple white sweater with a black coat over it. As his belly was already three months along, his lower abdomen was slightly protruding. To take care of the baby, he walked very slowly, and Fan Xia also slowed her pace, holding his hand and saying softly, “Why are your hands so cold?” She then put his hand into her coat pocket.

A young nurse accompanying them, seeing Fan Xia’s gentle actions, couldn’t help but smile and say, “The relationship between you and your husband is really good, Madam CEO.”

Hearing the nurse’s admiring praise, Rong Xiu’s lips curved into a faint smile.

Due to their special status, they had dedicated nursing staff accompanying them, and professional doctors waiting early. Naturally, they didn’t have to queue like ordinary pregnant men.

He held Fan Xia’s hand, passing through the non-VIP prenatal checkup area. He saw many pregnant men with big bellies, dressed plainly, with altered figures and swollen legs, queuing and waiting. Due to their physical inconvenience and lack of seating, they stood uncomfortably, holding their papers and struggling to keep their backs straight, waiting for their numbers to be called.

Some pregnant men had two or three-year-old boys with them, having to take care of themselves and their children, some even juggling work responsibilities. Their faces looked tired and haggard, clearly having failed to have a daughter in their first pregnancy and now trying for a second child.

On the waiting area seats nearby sat a row of pregnant men’s wife-masters, looking grim as they played on their phones, gaming or watching handsome men’s live streams, occupying all the seats. An outsider might think they were the pregnant ones, the ones with big bellies waiting uncomfortably for prenatal checkups.

Rong Xiu looked at them, then glanced at Fan Xia’s gentle and clear profile beside him, gripping her hand tighter.

“What’s wrong?” Fan Xia felt the grip on her hand tighten slightly and asked.

“Nothing.” Rong Xiu rested his head lightly on Fan Xia’s shoulder, his voice extremely low as he said, “…It’s so good to have you.”

Finally, it was time for the prenatal checkup. Rong Xiu, with an anxious heart, nervously stared at the display device nearby. Although he couldn’t understand anything, his expectant gaze seemed eager to immediately discern the child’s gender.

“Congratulations, Madam CEO, it’s a little young master,” the doctor said with a smile.

But the smile on Rong Xiu’s face instantly disappeared. A boy? How could it be a boy?

Rong Xiu didn’t speak for a long time, his expression indescribably difficult.

It was Fan Xia who responded to the doctor’s congratulations on his behalf: “Thank you, is there any problem with the child?”

The doctor said, “No, the child looks very healthy at present. Just continue to come for regular prenatal checkups from now on.”

“Alright. By the way, doctor, I wanted to ask, my husband has been experiencing severe morning sickness these past two days. It’s already three months and there’s no sign of it decreasing. Does he need to take any medication?”

“Yes, Madam CEO, he…”

Rong Xiu had no heart to listen to what the doctor was saying, his mind filled only with the word ‘boy’.

Pregnancy was supposed to be a joyous event, and if it was a girl, it would be double the joy. But if it was a boy, that joy would be tinged with a faint frost. It was like a fine pearl with a crack; like spilling leftover oil on a world-famous painting. It could hardly be considered joy anymore.

What use was a boy? He couldn’t continue the Fan family line, nor could he ward off the covetous Gu Jin.

Yet he would waste a year giving birth to him, a year in which his figure would change, he would lose collagen, and face the unknown challenges of postpartum recovery, his body difficult to return to its pre-pregnancy state.

With his face sagging, his body deteriorating, it was already hard to keep his wife-master’s heart, and now to give birth to a boy. Gu Jin would probably laugh himself to death if he knew. In the next six or seven months, what could he use to captivate Fan Xia’s heart?!