"The doctor said you"re four weeks along, which is why you"re not showing any symptoms yet. The baby was a little at risk, so you need to have a good rest."
Yun Muxi was shocked and placed her hand on her lower abdomen. She caressed it gently. "There"s a baby in here?"
She could not help but recall when she first had Niannian. Back then, she too had no idea that she was pregnant. She went to the hospital for a checkup, thinking that it was a gastrointestinal problem. However, the doctor informed her that she was already three months along. She had the same reaction as she did now; shocked that there was a baby in her stomach. However, she was much fl.u.s.tered back then. She was still a child but was giving birth to a baby!
She did not have serious symptoms back then. It seemed like Niannian pitied her and did not torture her. She vomited for a week and it stopped. Then, she ate well, drank well, and slept well. Furthermore, because she was skinny, her b.u.mp did not show until much later. Even at the point of birth, her stomach was not crazy big. Hence, she had quite a chill pregnancy. Eventually, Niannian seemed to be unable to wait any longer and came out prematurely at eight months.
Yun Muxi snapped back to reality and replied faintly, "Okay, noted!"
Gong Yu and Murong Ye asked in surprise, "Noted? That"s it?"
She replied faintly, "Yea, what else?"
Murong Ye frowned and asked softly, "What about marriage?"
Gong Yu also looked at her nervously as he waited for her answer.
Yun Muxi spoke so calmly as if she was deciding what to eat for dinner. "I don"t plan on getting married!"
The men were in shock. Gong Yu"s face was filled with disappointment.
Murong Ye could not help but frown. "You already have a child, why aren"t you getting married?"
Yun Muxi spoke as-matter-of-factly, "Why must I get married just because I have a baby?"
"So you"re not keeping the baby?" Murong Ye"s voice rose by a few decibels.
"Of course I"m keeping the baby. It"s a life. How can I not want it?"
"But didn"t you say you"re not getting married?"
"I don"t think there"s a conflict between getting married and having children!"
"I already have Niannian, what"s wrong with having one more? There"s no conflict between this and getting married."
"But..."
Murong Ye turned to look at Gong Yu. At that moment, his face was as dark as the clouds before a thunderstorm. His expression was terrible.
Murong Ye then glanced at Yun Muxi, who looked as if nothing happened. He suddenly pitied Gong Yu. Few Men could stand someone as stubborn as his sister who was really a block of wood.
Murong Ye sighed and patted Gong Yu"s shoulder. "I"ll go and check if the porridge is here."
Then he strode out of the ward.
Gong Yu stared at Yun Muxi with a cold gaze. After a moment of silence, he spoke again, "Yun Muxi, what are you thinking?"
She lowered her gaze and avoided his. She could imagine how bad his expression was so she avoided it completely, for fear of being moved.
She replied faintly, "Nothing. I"ll keep the child and you don"t have to be responsible. I want the child, so I will naturally take all responsibility."
Hearing Yun Muxi completely excluding him from this whole thing, Gong Yu felt like his heart was being cut into pieces by a sharp knife. There was so much blood and it hurt so much he dared not breathe. "But what if I am willing to take responsibility? I really want to go through everything with you."
Yun Muxi did not let him finish. "But I don"t want to."
Gong Yu"s blood was boiling. He stood up suddenly and clenched his fist, making his bones crack. The veins at the back of his hands were protruding and he clamped his lips tightly against each other.
He tried very hard to control his emotions. He was on the verge of strangling Yun Muxi. "How can there be a woman so stubborn!"
Other women would be crying, making a fuss, and threatening to commit suicide just to get their man to marry them. On the contrary, Yun Muxi was not even accepting Gong Yu"s request to be responsible for her! What did she want from him?
Gong Yu took a deep breath and let go of his hands before taking a seat. He stared at Yun Muxi. "Xiao Xi, let"s get married, okay? The child needs a father."
Yun Muxi did not even look at him. She leaned her head sideways and said, "Niannian did not have a father, and she grew up well."
"But was Niannian really happy?"
Gong Yu"s words made Yun Muxi froze instantly.
Yes, although Niannian was cheerful and mature, she was overly-mature because she grew up without a father. This situation caused others to pity her. Growing up without a father, she was bullied outside but did not dare to mention it at home. She suppressed it in her heart. Yun Muxi clearly remembered how Niannian told Mou Yichen that the kids at her kindergarten teased her for not having a father. Yun Muxi also remembered Niannian"s joy and happiness when Mou Yichen agreed to attend the parent-child sports meeting with her. She also clearly remembered how Niannian played so crazily with Gong Yu when he was in the ward. The laughter that filled the ward was Niannian"s need for paternal love.
Gong Yu continued slowly, "Xiao Xi, stop insisting. No matter what happened in the past, you only have to know how infatuated I am with you. Haven"t I proven my feelings for you after I chased you all the way from there to here? Can"t you feel my feelings for you after this period of time? Can you let go of the past and let us continue moving forward?"
"But what if I cannot let go?" Yun Muxi stared outside the window and her voice faded like a smoke.
Gong Yu held her hand and placed it against his cheeks. He stretched out his hand and caressed her hair gently. "Xiao Xi, I was really in the wrong, okay? Can you give me another chance? It"s fine even if you can just give me a chance to make amends!"
Gong Yu"s words painted himself extremely inferior. He had stooped to a level so low that he had forsaken his pride. His sovereign status as a duke from the past was now on the ground, being stepped on all over.
Yun Muxi remained silent as she looked outside the window. It was not that she was not moved, instead, she was afraid that once she opened her mouth, she would agree.
Gong Yu planted soft kisses on her slender fingers. A warm drop of tear fell in between her fingers and rolled down gently.
That drop of tear stung her heart instantly. She was shocked and turned to look at Gong Yu.
Gong Yu"s eyes were closed gently and his lips remained on her fingertips. Tears were dropping so silently, it made her panic. She could not bring herself to look at his face that showed how hurt he was. She stretched out her hand and wiped away the tears at the corner of his eye gently. Her gentle action surprised Gong Yu.
He opened his eyes suddenly, let go of her hand, and left the ward in a hurry.
At that instant when he closed the door behind him, he became weak and leaned against the door.
"Gong Yu, can I talk to you?" Murong Ye was leaning against the wall with his hands in his pockets. He looked ahead of him with no expressions on his face. His tone was also unusually peaceful.
Gong Yu wiped his face and nodded.
Murong Ye turned and walked towards the end of the corridor. Gong Yu took a deep breath and followed behind.
Murong Ye kept on walking towards the bed at the end of the corridor. When he looked outside, he saw that night had fallen and the streets were lit up by colorful neon lights, forming a rainbow-colored dragon.
Gong Yu stood beside him and said calmly, "Go ahead, what do you want to talk about?"
"I want to know everything that happened between you and Xiao Xi in the past."
"There are some things that are not suitable for you to know because they"re really absurd."
"I want to know nonetheless. She is my biological younger sister. I have the right to know."
"So you"re gonna believe everything I say?"
"As long as you say it, I will believe it."
"If I told you that Xiao Xi and I did not meet in this world, would you believe it?"
"What?"
Murong Ye frowned and stared into Gong Yu"s beautiful eyes as if he wanted to spot some clues in them.
Gong Yu ignored him and continued, "I met Xiao Xi in another world. We did not know that these two worlds were connected. Xiao Xi somehow went into that world suddenly, entering into my world, my life, and even my heart."
Gong Yu paused for a moment before continuing," When I first saw her, I found her strange. Her hair was strange, her clothes were strange, even she as a person was strange. But it was love at first sight. I thought that I would never fall in love with a woman, but I fell in love with Xiao Xi so easily. I"ve been through a lot since young. I grew up in the palace, just like those shown on the dramas here. There were constant fights and my Empress Dowager died very early when I was just ten." "I have two older brothers. Actually, before I turned five, the five of us were very happy. However, Father then married two other concubines suddenly, who caused the palace to fall into chaos. After my Empress Dowager pa.s.sed, the two of them caused a bigger ruckus. They even started to provoke the relationships between my brothers and me by taking sides. I was the most gifted among the three of us, and Father valued me the most. But I wasn"t willing to get involved in the fight. I didn"t want us to kill each other, so I quit. I moved out of the palace and was completely given up on. Ever since then, I lived alone in my Emperor Yu Mansion. Although there were many people, I still felt lonely. But when Xiao Xi appeared, I regained hope in my life. We lived happily there. Although there were incidents here and there, they were not big problems. We loved each other."
Gong Yu stopped and glanced at Murong Ye. He was listening very attentively.
"Actually, during then, Xiao Xi came back several times. During her last trip back there, she told me very seriously: Duanmu Gongyu, I have returned. I have decided to be with you. But I need to tell you beforehand, if you do not like me anymore, you can be upfront about it. I will leave you without hesitation. But you cannot like me and someone else at the same time. I will only accept your undivided love. If you trample on our love, I will hate you all my life and will never forgive you!"
Gong Yu paused again. He looked out the window, far into the distance. It seemed as if he was looking at Xiao Xi instead of the night view.
"Till today, I can still remember her expression when she told me those words. She was so firm, which is exactly like the Xiao Xi that I loved. During then, I actually vowed in my heart, that I will love this woman with all my life and it shall not change. I will never let her down. I will use all of my love to love her and dote on her, treating her like the treasure of my life."
Gong Yu"s eyes were coated with a layer of deep pain. His brows furrowed as he stared into the distance.
"If...if that incident didn"t happen, perhaps we"ll be living happily over there right now."