The Road Home

Chapter 31

The saying, "hundreds of emotions flooding in together,[1]" was too flimsy a description to be used for this moment. Lu Yanchen had much that he was unable to say. He did not have a way with words and was unable to accurately express what he was feeling in his heart.

The kitchen lights did not have a high wattage, but they felt like the blazing sun broiling his back and made his throat feel parched. In a low voice, he asked, "How do you know?"

Gui Xiao's lower lip was tucked lightly between her teeth, and her hands were behind her back as she tried to restrain her bashfulness. "Tested with a home pregnancy test. I haven't gone to the hospital yet."

Jumbled feelings that he could not decipher surged up in his heart, wave upon wave, causing his chest to feel tight. Completely without warning, he pulled her into his arms, inquiring, "Are you feeling unwell at all?"

"No." She blushed. "Probably it's too early right now... Things just started, maybe?"

"How did you realize it?"

"... My mom called me and said that she dreamed I was having a baby. I counted up the days and then went and did the test." Now that Gui Xiao thought about it, she felt it really was remarkable. "Probably it's the mother-daughter connection, how she can even dream about that."

Were it not for her mother's teasing, she would not have even detected it.

That was because her period had always been irregular since she was young, and there actually was no fixed day when it would come.

Ever since she was a child, her overall health had never been very good, and as a result, from the time she started getting her period, it had always come twice a month and had never been normal.

As far back as she could remember, the one rare time period that she had had a normal menstrual cycle was when she and Lu Yanchen were dating.

This was particularly so in the month that they had had their first kiss. For the first time ever, her period had come late. Back in that era, she didn't know as much. Though she clearly knew that kissing should not make you pregnant, her heart had still been in her throat and she had thought, oh God, what if? What if she of all people did get pregnant after kissing? Later on, they had broken up. Her periods went back to being twice a month, and she once more fell into the complicated mode of over and over nursing her health and improving her body's wellness. Later when she was in university, she and her roommates had chatted about their respective first loves, and Gui Xiao had aired this embarrassing experience of hers. Those several girls had discussed it and surmised that being in a relationship helps estrogen balance.

The girls had even been worried for Gui Xiao. If in the future such irregular periods weren't conducive to getting pregnant, that would be quite problematic.

She had not expected, though, that she would get pregnant so easily. Lu Chen was honestly all-capable.

The night she saw the pregnancy test results she had wanted to call him, but she could not let all the people at the base who were doing communication monitoring listen to the two of them discuss pregnancy stuff. And so, she had suffered in waiting until now. Earlier, when he just arrived back at home, she had already wanted to tell him, but feeling anxious, she had not known how she should begin the conversation.

Lu Chen, right here, in my belly, there's a baby. It's yours...

It was as if the day before was still that summer day that was so hot it made people feel testy, and she was still not yet sixteen years old. The entire way facing into the breeze produced by the electric fans, she had stepped into the billiards hall, made her way between pool table after pool table, and turned into the small room furthest inside. At the time, every ruffian in town who had made a bit of a name for himself was there. Lu Yanchen, his arm resting on the windowsill, had thrown a sideways glance at her while he smoked a cigarette.