Chapter Thirty-One: Haicheng Was Also an Orphan

  On the second day morning, I appeared at the gate of People's Hospital with two black eyes. I didn't dare to play truant. Su Haicheng that dead man was missing, and nobody went to investigate. If I were missing, there would be no good outcome.

  Standing at the entrance of People's Hospital, it's hard to describe my current mood, because I couldn't think about anything, my whole heart was beating anxiously, just worrying that it would jump out at any moment. When I saw Su's mother, I took several deep breaths before walking over. "Auntie." My voice was trembling. She wasn't wearing her police uniform today, but a silver-gray suit, simple and neat.

  She responded with a bad tone: "Not bad, Chen Siyi, it seems I underestimated you. You can jump from the second floor, what if the child gets hurt? Maybe for you, this child is dispensable, and you care more about Haicheng. But for me, Haicheng is already dead, he's really gone, I won't be like a little girl thinking he'll come back. So for me, this child is much more important. I know you can't accept my way of thinking, but after all, I'm many years older than you..."

  "Auntie, I understand. I will take good care of this child." I interrupted her words, if I didn't express my stance, she would probably continue talking.

  She nodded: "Let's go upstairs, the doctor should be waiting already."

  Ordinary people go to see a doctor, and it's always the patient waiting for the doctor. Now it's the doctor waiting for the patient. Sometimes having money and power is actually quite good. As I walked into the ultrasound room, I suddenly felt that continuing to listen to her talk would have been just as good, and now I wouldn't have to face these machines.

  The woman doctor in a white coat asked: "How many months pregnant are you?"

  I kept my mouth shut and didn't say a word. I had already thought it through, if she insisted that I wasn't pregnant later on, I would say they were incompetent doctors, the more days we could drag it out, the better.

  But just as I was getting nervous, another nurse came in. The nurse was very pretty and young. Strangely, she smiled at me with particular warmth. The nurse whispered a few words in the doctor's ear, then stood there waiting. The doctor didn't give me an examination, but wrote out a prescription and handed it to me, saying: "Fifty-seven days pregnant should be fine. There's nothing wrong now."

  I sat up from the small white bed, first stunned and then laughed. Su Haicheng said he went out to handle something, this should be the result of his handling. Oh my god, otherwise I really didn't know how to spend today.

  Taking the paper out of the monitoring room, Su's mother hurried over: "Is the child okay?" She took the paper and smiled on her face. "Now that we've already told Haicheng's leaders about your pregnancy, there's no need to hide anymore. I and Grandpa hope you can drop out of school and live at home to rest and take care of yourself."

  My goodness, living in their house? That grandfather looks easy-going but is actually very shrewd. This mother is very capable and also very overbearing. Living in their house, if I were really pregnant, wouldn't that cause a miscarriage from stress?

  "Auntie, in two or three months, this semester will be over. Next semester is internship. No need to take a leave of absence."

  She didn't listen to me at all, but looked at the child in the screenshot on the single and smiled, muttering: "Haicheng's children, these are Haicheng's children."

  There were some more checks afterwards, and by the time they finished, it was already noon.

  At noon, we had lunch at the restaurant opposite the hospital. Su's mother ordered soup and strictly instructed me what I could and couldn't eat. She said: "You spend a lot of money, buying cars and houses, I have no opinion on that, this little money, our family can still afford it. But you also need to take care of the child. I don't want something like last time to happen again, when you jumped off the building. You don't know how much I wanted to slap you when I saw that rope on the balcony."

  "Sorry." I muttered with a lowered head, not daring to look up and meet her eyes, nor did I dare not respond.

  All the dishes were served, two people, four dishes and one soup. They were all nutritious meals for pregnant women. I was eating carefully, knowing she was watching me. After a while, she asked, "Now can you tell me who took you to jump off the building that night? You couldn't have dared to jump off the building, nor could you avoid the cameras in the compound."

  My hand froze and I slowly put down the chopsticks, thinking about how to tell this lie when a familiar voice came: "Auntie, do you still remember me?"

  Atian! How did he end up here? He must have been arranged by Su Haicheng, otherwise it wouldn't be so coincidental. Atian pulled over a chair and sat down beside me, smiling at me: "Si Yi, is the kid okay? That day when I jumped down with you, I was really afraid something would happen. You should know, your belly contains the only evidence of Su Haicheng's existence in this world."

  "Ah Tian," Su's mom smiled, "do you know Chen Siyi?"

  "Of course, she didn't tell you? She and Haicheng got to know each other because I introduced them. Auntie, you should thank me, if it wasn't for me getting Haicheng drunk that night and arranging a room for the two of them, this child probably wouldn't exist."

  "Mother Su coughed and said: 'Some things don't need to be said so clearly.'"

  My face turned slightly red as I lowered my head, this remark was quite something. It's barely acceptable when joking around with peers, but it's really not suitable to say that to elders.

  A Tian asked for a bowl and chopsticks from the waiter and started eating with us. Su's mother asked, "You and Hai Cheng have been old comrades-in-arms for nine years, right?"

  "It's been ten years, our winter conscription is over, and in two months it will be exactly ten years. When I first went there, I was always the one being bullied. He even helped me out, which got us both punished by the instructor together. Auntie, Haicheng is no longer here, if anything happens at home in the future, you can call me and I'll be your surrogate son."

  "Sue's mom let out a cold hum: 'Our family doesn't lack sons. Since you're in D City, help me take care of Chen Siyi more and don't cause another incident like the previous time where she jumped off a building. Protect her until she gives birth to the child, and our family will thank you.'"

  After this meal, Su's mother still instructed a lot before leaving. I and Ah Tian stood by the road watching her car go far away, both letting out a long sigh.

  "The crisis has been resolved." Ah Tian said, "Haicheng's mom is too overbearing. Girl, don't mention you, I'm still nervous when facing his mom. It's really unknown how Haicheng grew up with such a mother. Is this what it means to be a woman?"

  "What about Hai Cheng's dad? He has never mentioned him before."

  "He's a posthumous child, didn't he tell you? His dad went abroad when his mom was still pregnant, an engineering officer in the peacekeeping force, and died abroad. His mom being so strong-willed has something to do with this too. A woman spent all these years raising her son alone, and now that her son is finally grown up, he's dead. So they attach great importance to the child in your belly."

  I glared at him and said in a low voice: "I'm not pregnant!"

  "Alright, alright! Don't be so fierce with me. If I hadn't arranged for my ex-girlfriend to help you, you'd probably have been caught by his mom by now. What's the crime called? Swindling?"

  "Is the nurse who smiled at me your girlfriend?"

  "Hey, girl! Ni," he said with a sly smile, looking at me, "if you don't want to follow Haicheng one day, come with me."

  "Hey Tian, don't make that joke." This wasn't something I said, but rather Su Haicheng who was behind us. I didn't even know when he appeared behind us. Did he also hear me ask Tian about his dad? Today's Su Haicheng wore a loose blue and white striped tracksuit, similar to the usual high school uniform. He had on a white baseball cap and a pair of sneakers. At first glance, he really looked like a high school student. Looking at how he was dressed, it seemed like he was trying to blend in with us.

  Ah Tian was as surprised as I was, staring at Su Haicheng's outfit. Ah Tian burst out laughing: "You look like this... Haha, aren't you afraid that those little girls will rush up and stick to you? Nowadays, girls are very bold."

  "I won't," I said in a low voice. "They'll only discuss who's the attacker and who's the defender between you two. You're wearing earrings, people will think Haicheng is the younger attacker."