Pregnant! I Hope It's a Girl!

Lin Zichen spent more than an hour in Yuan Dongzhi's office, discussing many topics related to the Divine Plant Cult and important figures in China.

They chatted until almost 10 p. m. before finally heading home with Shen Qinghan respective suitcases.

At 10 pm during winter break, the campus was quiet and peaceful.

Walking along the school path, you can hardly see any students.

Yes, there was only a gentle evening breeze.

It brought a cool sensation when it brushed against my face, which felt very comfortable.

"Xiao Chen, the school is so quiet. It's completely unlike its usual lively atmosphere."

"That's normal. It's still winter break, and the students have all gone home for the Chinese New Year."

During summer vacation, many Student Union choose to stay on campus to study or take on assignments to earn Credit.

But it's winter break now, the holiday is short, and there's still the Spring Festival to come, so very few Student Union stay on campus.

"Xiao Chen, I've been sleeping alone for the past two weeks of special training, and it feels so strange. Can I sleep at your place tonight?"

"Then come and sleep with me."

"Then it's settled. I'll come over to your place after I get home, have dinner, and take a shower."

"Okay, before you go to sleep, I'll release my inner energy to warm your feet."

"..."

The two chatted as they strolled along, and soon returned to their respective homes.

Lin Zichen took out his keys, opened the door, and dragged his suitcase into the house.

The lights in the whole room were off.

Only the offices where writers work are lit up.

Standing in the hallway near the entrance, you can clearly hear the sound of typing coming from the writing room.

Even though their son is so talented and the family has no shortage of money, the couple still writes novels late into the night, just like before.

All I can say is that this is true passion.

Change into indoor shoes.

Pull your suitcase into the room and put it away.

Lin Zichen walked to the door of the writing room and gently knocked. "Dad, Mom, I'm home."

"Huh? My son's back?" Lin Yansheng's puzzled voice came from the writing room.

Immediately afterwards, the door opened, and Lin Yansheng and Zhang Wanxin came out.

Seeing Lin Zichen standing at the door, Lin Yansheng asked in confusion, "Didn't you say you were going to have a month of special training? Why are you back after only half a month?"

Lin Zichen: "The special training ended early."

Lin Yansheng frowned immediately upon hearing this. "Has something happened?"

"No, it's just that this year's trainees were quite outstanding and completed their training goals ahead of schedule, so they came back early."

Lin Zichen gave the reason he had prepared in advance.

Lin Yansheng looked like he'd never seen anything like it before. "There's such a thing?"

Zhang Wanxin, standing to the side, didn't have as many doubts as him; she only showed concern.

She looked at Lin Zichen and said, "Why didn't you call home before coming back? You could have told Mom so she could have cooked you something nice."

"I mainly wanted to give my parents a surprise."

"More like a shock."

Zhang Wanxin scolded playfully, "Coming back so late at night without a word, anyone who didn't know better would think a thief broke in."

"Mom, you're overthinking it. You live in the faculty housing of Shanhai University. There are security checks everywhere. Even if a thief could fly, he couldn't get into the house."

"You're back so late, you probably haven't had dinner yet. What would you like to eat? Mom will go and make it for you now."

"Just stir-fry some rice noodles."

"You can't just eat fried rice noodles; you have to eat better at home."

After Zhang Wanxin finished speaking, she walked towards the refrigerator, saying as she went, "How about this, Mom will make you some cucumber salad, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, braised chicken in soy sauce, and bitter melon and pork bone soup."

"Hmm, and another steamed Exotic Beast Meat, please."

"Dean Liu from your research institute sent over several pounds of Ice Crystal Shrimp yesterday, and they're freezing right now. I'll steam them for you."

These are some of the soups and dishes that Lin Zichen usually likes to eat.

Luckily, we had the relevant ingredients in the refrigerator.

The meal was ready around 11 o'clock.

Four dishes and one soup.

The family of three sat down to eat together.

The couple, who had already eaten dinner, treated it as a late-night snack.

"Come on, try this Ice Crystal Shrimp."

Zhang Wanxin placed an Ice Crystal Shrimp into Lin Zichen's bowl, saying with a loving expression, "Don't be fooled by the fact that it's frozen; it tastes very fresh, even sweeter than regular live shrimp."

Thank you, Mom.

"Oh right, Hanhan hasn't eaten yet, has she? Go and call her over to eat together."

"No need, Mom. She's eating at home right now. She sent me a bunch of pictures of her food on WeChat, including a big plate of Ice Crystal Shrimp, and she invited me to come over and eat with her."

Lin Zichen said while eating the Ice Crystal Shrimp.

Lin Yansheng, standing next to her, picked up an Ice Crystal Shrimp and slowly peeled it, saying, "Wanxin, don't keep bringing Hanhan over here. She has her own parents too."

"If you keep bringing her here, Xu Meng and Lao Shen will definitely feel uncomfortable."

"Especially now, she just got home. Xu Meng and Lao Shen haven't seen her for half a month, and they miss her terribly. If you go and call her over here now, Xu Meng and Lao Shen will be ready to yell at you."

"..."

"Yes, I was inconsiderate."

Zhang Wanxin, unusually, didn't argue with her husband, feeling that what he said made sense.

After all, no matter how much she treated Hanhan like her own daughter, she wasn't Hanhan's biological mother; her best friend Xu Meng was Hanhan's biological mother.

He often invited Hanhan to his home, which did seem to neglect the feelings of Shen Jianye and Xu Meng.

Hmm, I'll have to be more careful in the future...

Thinking for a moment, Zhang Wanxin picked up another Ice Crystal Shrimp for Lin Zichen and said with a smile, "Xiao Chen, Mom has some good news to tell you."

"What good news?"

"You're going to have a younger brother or sister!"

"Ah?"

Lin Zichen was stunned for a moment, not quite able to react.

Do you want a younger brother or sister?

Is Mom pregnant with her second child?

Realizing what was happening, he immediately looked at Zhang Wanxin's lower abdomen.

Her skin is very flat; it's impossible to tell if she's pregnant or not.

She's probably only recently pregnant and her pregnancy isn't showing yet.

"Mom, are you pregnant with your second child?"

"Yes, I'm almost two weeks pregnant. I just found out a few days ago."

As Zhang Wanxin spoke, she stroked her belly, which wasn't showing yet, and said with anticipation, "We already have a little man in the family, I hope this time I can give birth to a little girl."

She really is pregnant with her second child...

Lin Zichen felt it was all so sudden, even more so than when Shen Qinghan announced her pregnancy.

After all, Zhang Wanxin is already over forty; in a few more years, she could be a grandmother.

This sudden second pregnancy was truly unexpected.

By the time the child was born, Lin Zichen was already twenty years old.

With such a large age gap, they could both be fathers.

Lin Yansheng took a sip of soup and said slowly, "Ever since you and Hanhan went to university, the house has been so quiet. Your mother and I have really not gotten used to it."

"I want to have a grandson, but I don't know when that will be."

"So your mother and I hit it off immediately. Since we're only in our early forties and there's still a chance we can get pregnant, let's try to see if we can have a second child."

"Then, after about two and a half months of trying to conceive, I finally got pregnant."

"..."

"I see."

Lin Zichen nodded, not having much of an opinion on his parents wanting to have a second child.

As long as the parents are happy, having a second child, or even a third, fourth, or fifth child is no problem.

Anyway, the family is not short of money now, and the parents do not need to run around to support the family. They can afford to raise as many children as they want.

It's nice to have kids at home; it makes things more lively.

11:45 PM.

After finishing his meal and taking a shower, Lin Zichen leisurely sat on the bed scrolling through the news on his phone.

Not long after, Shen Qinghan, who had also finished eating and showering, came over wearing a light pink nightgown to find him to sleep together.

"Xiao Chen, Aunt Xin is pregnant with her second child!"

Shen Qinghan took off her slippers and sat on the bed, speaking to Lin Zichen with great surprise.

Lin Zichen laughed and said, "My parents are so eager to have a grandson that they can't wait for us to have one, so they decided to take matters into their own hands."

Shen Qinghan asked curiously, "Xiao Chen, do you want a younger sister or a younger brother?"

"I'm fine with either one, but my parents really want a daughter."

"It's normal for Uncle Sheng and Aunt Xin to want a daughter. After all, they already have you as their son, so they definitely want a little girl to experience what it's like to raise a child."

After Shen Qinghan finished speaking, she asked, "Xiao Chen, do you think it's better for us to have a son or a daughter after we get married?"

Lin Zichen: "Let's just have twins, a boy and a girl, to have both."

"Should we have a son first, or a daughter first?"

Shen Qinghan found it difficult to choose. "I feel that the combination of brother and sister is very loving, but I also think that the combination of sister and brother is quite good. It's really a dilemma."

"Also, what should we name our son? What should we name our daughter? There are so many things to think about."

"Especially taking care of a baby, I find that so difficult."

"Thinking back to when I was a baby, I would wet my pants all the time, and my mom said it was a real hassle to take care of me."

"..."

"Even when you weren't a baby, you would wet your pants all the time."

"You jerk, you're asking for it!"

Shen Qinghan slapped Lin Zichen in a fit of anger as punishment for his malicious slander.

Then she murmured, "When Aunt Xin gives birth to her baby at the end of the year, I want to go and learn how to be a mother in advance."

She was thinking a bit too far ahead.

She's only a freshman in college, but she's already thinking about becoming a mother.

Lin Zichen smiled and said, "There's no need to practice. When you become a mother, you'll find that you won't even have a chance to take care of the child. My parents and your parents will be fighting over who will take care of them."

"Really?"

Shen Qinghan expressed her doubts about this.

Lin Zichen: "Don't doubt an elderly couple's desire to have a grandchild, especially in families like ours with only one child. Once parents get older and retire with nothing to do, they'll be obsessed with having a grandchild."

Is that so?

Shen Qinghan didn't feel much about it because Shen Jianye and Xu Meng had never pressured her to have a grandson.

After saying this, she stretched out her soft, smooth little feet into Lin Zichen's hands, and said in a sweet, playful voice, "Daddy, warm your good daughter's feet."

"You Little Dirty Girl, you've gotten addicted to calling me 'Daddy,' haven't you?"

Lin Zichen smiled and said something, then held Shen Qinghan's delicate feet and began to release his qi and blood to warm them, fulfilling her small request.

Shen Qinghan retorted, "Don't wrong me. I'm not addicted to calling you that. It's just that you boys like being called that by girls, so I called you that."

Lin Zichen joked, "Your lips taste soft, but your speech is harsh."

"You're the one who's being stubborn!"

Shen Qinghan pouted and said unhappily.

Lin Zichen smiled and pinched her little mouth, then stopped teasing her.

In the time that follows.

The two chatted back and forth, from childhood to the present, and from the present to the future, talking about whatever came to mind, as if they had endless topics to discuss.

As they chatted, the two talked about the attack they had suffered during the day by the Divine Plant Cult.

They talked about the murmurs Shen Qinghan heard, the giant arm formed by the sea, the fall of the Ninth Elder of the Divine Plant Cult, and the mysterious water droplets surrounding Shen Qinghan.

Lin Zichen was very concerned about those water droplets.

Because when those water droplets floated past Shen Qinghan's eyes, they changed into shapes that resembled words.

Looking back now, were those water droplets trying to convey some kind of message to Shen Qinghan?

Thinking of this, Lin Zichen got out of bed and got a pen and draft paper. With his super memory, he copied the shape of the water droplets he saw onto the draft paper.

I didn't realize it until I tried to replicate it. Once I did, I discovered that the shapes those water droplets formed really did resemble some kind of writing.

Lin Zichen randomly picked a few relatively neat shapes, took photos of them, uploaded them online, and saw if he could find anything.

Unfortunately, nothing could be found online.

Isn't it some kind of writing?

Are those water droplets just randomly changing shapes?

No, it can't be a variation.

It must be trying to convey some message, or it must have some special meaning.

Since I can't find it online, I'll send it to someone with more knowledge.

Much information online is not publicly available; most of this unknown information can only be obtained by asking someone.

Soon, Lin Zichen sent the photos he had just taken and uploaded to the internet to Yuan Dongzhi, Song Yuyan, and Liu Chuanwu.

Of the three, the first comes from a prominent family and is more knowledgeable, so he might recognize these mysterious symbols that appear to be writing.

The latter two are researchers who have studied many Ancient Relic unearthed from Ruins, so they are quite likely to recognize these mysterious symbols.

About a few minutes later.

Yuan Dongzhi and Song Yuyan responded one after the other.

The reply came quickly, but the content was disappointing.

Both of them said they didn't recognize the symbol.

"Only the Dean is left..."

Lin Zichen murmured something.

More than an hour later.

Shen Qinghan fell asleep, nestled quietly in Lin Zichen's arms, sleeping soundly.

Lin Zichen wasn't sleepy; he was scrolling through news on his phone.

It was almost 1:30 a. m.

Liu Chuanwu replied.

Lin Zichen quickly opened the chat window and found that Liu Chuanwu had replied with a voice message, not a text message.

It's a 38-second audio message.

Such a long audio message clearly indicates there must be a result.

In order not to disturb Shen Qinghan, Lin Zichen specially got out of bed to get his headphones.

Once I put on my headphones, I couldn't wait to open the voice chat and hear what Liu Chuanwu had to say.

Where did you see these symbols?

"It feels kind of familiar."

"But I can't remember where I saw it right now."

"Thinking back, I vaguely remember seeing it on some Ancient Relic at the research institute."

"Okay, I'll go back to the research institute first thing tomorrow morning and take a look. I'll let you know via WeChat if I get any updates."

Liu Chuanwu sounded a little out of breath, as if he were running to exercise.

If you listen carefully, you can faintly hear a series of crisp clapping sounds mixed in, as well as the indistinct cheers of a woman.

They were shouting things like, "Old Liu, keep going! Give it your all! One shot gives you a million, ten shots give you twenty million!"

Hearing the cheers and shouts of encouragement in the voice message, Lin Zichen couldn't help but feel a slight twitch at the corner of his mouth.

Seriously, can't you stop what you're doing for a moment when you're sending a voice message?

Is it necessary to multitask?

Lin Zichen mentally complained for a moment, but soon he began to admire Liu Chuanwu.

It must be said, the Dean is truly a model worker.

In order to attract sponsorship for the research institute, he went out every night to exercise with his old flame.

This is truly a story that moved men to silence and women to tears; it is one of the top ten most touching stories in Nine Provinces.

P. S.: I'm setting up the bowls, please vote with your monthly tickets and recommendations!