The Knight XIV screeched to a halt at the entrance of the Army Hospital. Their arrival was long antic.i.p.ated by a h.o.a.rd of waiting doctors and nurses. It was a full female lineup with no male in sight. As soon as the pregnant ladies got off the car, they could be ferried into the emergency rescue right away.
This sort of treatment could not be bought by any amount of money. It was only possible due to Fan Fan’s position in the military and Xia Lei’s status as a highly regarded hero. Her status was so prioritized that even the hospital director had to show up and greet her out of respect.
As soon as the Knight XIV went still, the doctors and nurses immediately urgently swarmed over, almost eager to be the first face their patient sees.
Xia Lei hopped off the car with Fan Fan in his arms. But as two nurses pushed the stretcher over to them, they heard something positively bewildering. “Quick! Prepare three more stretchers! There are another three women going into labour!”
The nurses froze in her tracks with wide eyes.
Three more pregnant ladies?
What on earth is happening?
The doctors were equally perplexed as well.
Xia Lei was panicking, hard. “Did you not hear me?! Hurry up!”
It was only then that someone scrambled for the phone to request for more surgery theatres and prompted the nurses around to push more stretchers over. It was chaos.
A few minutes later, the four pregnant ladies finally made it into the surgery theatre. Four of them were positioned at four different levels, each of them inside a different theatre. Xia Lei had no idea how to accompany each of them. Till this minute, his mind was still a numbing mess.
A hospital staff member found Xia Lei pacing around the front of Fan Fan’s theatre. Politely, he approached the dishevelled man. “Mister Xia, we need you to register at the counter and sign an agreement letter. What time would you be available for that?”
Xia Lei was unoccupied but it was just courtesy to ask.
Xia Lei asked, “What am I supposed to register for? What agreement letter are you referring to?”
“Mister Xia, the agreement letter is to allow your wife to give birth on our premise. It’s just regular protocol but this process is vital. We need your information to fill in your child’s birth certificate.”
“Bring it to me, I’ll fill that in,” answered Xia Lei.
The staff member pa.s.sed a form and an agreement letter to Xia Lei along with the blank ink pen in his grip.
It didn’t take long for Xia Lei to get to the bottom of the papers. “There’s only one set here. Bring me another three sets.”
“Huh?” The staff member and the two escorting nurses gaped at Xia Lei in shock.
Xia Lei glared at them. “Why are you looking at me like that? Go on, I don’t have much time to spare.”
“Mister Xia, are the other three pregnant ladies your wives too?” The staff member braced himself and asked the important question.
“Of course. What about it?” Xia Lei narrowed his eyes further.
“No, no, no. I have no qualms about it…” The staff member stepped away but abruptly turned around. “Mister Xia, can you present your wedding certificates to me? I can help you fill in some details.”
That took Xia Lei by surprise. He quickly reached into his bag.
The two young nurses began to whisper.
“One man impregnating four women and four of them went into labour on the same day. What the h.e.l.l is going on?” One of them gasped scandalously.
The other nurse whispered back, “There must be no extra marriage certificate. He’s just putting on a show of digging around to burn time.”
“Of course he wouldn’t have any. If there is more, isn’t he committing a crime?”
“d.a.m.n, I’m really curious to see how this will turn out.”
As the two nurses continued to gossip away, Xia Lei presented four red-covered marriage certificates to the waiting staff member. He urged, “Quick, go on. Remember to tell your people to take good care of my wives and children.”
“Right away, Mister Xia.” While the staff member’s polite smile was ever-present, he couldn’t help but think that the other three certificates were fakes.
“What are you waiting for?! Go!” Xia Lei exclaimed nervously.
The hospital staff member quickly strode away. With his back to Xia Lei, he flipped through the four marriage certificates. The first one was Xia Lei and Fan Fan’s, everything on it seemed regular. But as he opened the second one, the man was stunned. The second certificate was Xia Lei and Liang Siyao’s. While the details were fairly regular, there was something unique written on the booklet by hand. A ‘Special Approval’ line that was accompanied by the personal stamp of a chief. The man lifted the corners of the third and fourth booklet. Those two had the same line and the same stamp.
The two young nurses gathered over to the staff member. One of them giggled hysterically. “Sir, this must be fake, right?”
The other nurse hummed. “The one presenting fake marriage certificates is Xia Lei for crying out loud. He’s a national hero, what do we do? Do we do as stated in our protocol or do we just let this slide?”
“Shut up” The staff member chastised them, “Their marriages received special approval!”
“Huh?” The nurses gaped.
All four of Xia Lei’s marriage certificates were usable in hospitals and even at the police department. To others, his marriages were against the law. In reality, his behaviour was granted special approval and was very much legal. To receive special treatment regarding marriage was a feat capable of none other than Xia Lei.
Sentiments were heavily considered by the law. After all, Xia Lei was a hero who selflessly offered his own life to contribute to the country. He had established the Thunder Horse Organization and carried the entire Chinese military industry on his shoulders to greater heights. He was also the one who chased away the American Seventh Fleet and dissolved the battle tension in the South China Sea all by himself. Just that alone was enough to grant him special treatment.
At this point, it wasn’t any of Xia Lei’s concern. He paced down the corridor back and forth without pause to an extent that triggered Qin Xiang a thundering headache.
“Oi. Can you just sit down and stop walking around? You’re just walking in circles like a f.u.c.king clock! My eyes are about to pop out of its sockets!”
Xia Lei smiled wryly. “How can I sit down and relax? All four of my wives are in labour now!”
As if on cue, the doors to three lifts beside the surgery theatre opened to reveal three nurses at the same time.
“Mister Xia, your wife, Long Bing, has requested for your presence,” said one nurse.
“Mister Xia, your wife, Jiang Ruyi, has requested your company in the surgery theatre,” said another nurse.
“Mister Xia, your wife, Liang Siyao, has requested for your presence,” said the last nurse.
Oh s.h.i.+t.
Xia Lei felt like his head was about to explode. Didn’t Liang Siyao and Long Bing explicitly ask for him to not enter the labour room to witness their children’s births? Why the sudden change of mind?
Before he could even get an answer, the door behind him opened. A nurse emerged and stated, “Mister Xia, Chief Fan has requested for you to come inside.”
Xia Lei’s vision went dark.
To marry four women and receive special approval and legal protection over it was a man’s fantasy. Anyone would be jealous about that. However, this head-splitting moment would never be experienced by other men. This was an odd and extremely rare case only to be experienced by Xia Lei. Four women requesting his presence for their birth simultaneously. Every woman would hope that their husband would be present during such a hard time in their life. It was the birth of the fruit of their love. The problem, however, was that the man was incapable of tending to them all at once! He was only one man. How was he supposed to be in four different theatres in four different levels?
“Hahaha…” Qin Xiang was laughing so hard that he doubled over.
Xia Lei mercilessly slapped the back of his skull.
Qin Xiang pressed his sore spot and stared at his a.s.sailant with wide eyes. “All you do is bully me…”
“Three of you may return to your stations. I’ll be there right away.” With that, Xia Lei disappeared into the room behind him.
Laid on the surgery bed, Fan Fan’s legs were spread and bent. There was a piece of white cloth over her lower half that preserved some of her modesty. She whined non-stop, obviously in a lot of pain. But as soon as she noticed Xia Lei’s presence, she instinctively bloomed into a smile. “Hubby, this hurts so bad…”
Xia Lei walked over and held her hand tight. “Don’t worry, this will be over soon. I’m right beside you.”
“Hubby… Ah…” Fan Fan grabbed his arm. A sudden wave of intense pain muddled her senses and caused her to chomp on his flesh hard.
Xia Lei’s jaw fell slack but no screams were produced. His eyes twitched slightly and peered into her stomach.
What entered his field of vision was the sight of a little princess doing her hardest at squeezing herself through the opening. With her chubby b.u.t.tocks raised, she stomped her heels hard. It was eerie watching a newborn do all that!
She was able to achieve that even in the womb, the girl would be unstoppable when she grows up!
“It’s coming! It’s coming! Chief Fan, give me a little pus.h.!.+” The obstetrician cheered her on.
Xia Lei huddled over and whispered into Fan Fan’s ear. “Darling, I’m going to check on them. I’ll be right back.”
“Go…” While Fan Fan wasn’t eager to have him away from her side, she was fully aware of the construct of their chaotic family. She shared the same husband with three other women, all of whom were giving birth now.
No one wanted things to turn out this way but it happened anyway.
Xia Lei rushed out of the sterile s.p.a.ce and opted to use the stairs instead of the lifts in a maddened dash. He barged into the surgery theatre on the first floor, where Jiang Ruyi was situated.
The woman was sweating profusely out of pain. Her lips were trembling miserably. “Ahhh… Pain… Mmph!”
Xia Lei worriedly lunged forward and squeezed her palm. “Ruyi, it’s alright. This pain will be over soon.”
“I’m in so much pain… The only thing you do best since we were kids is bully me. Even your unborn child is bullying me before they’re even out of my womb! Gah…” Jiang Ruyi huffed through her words while she tried her darndest to birth the child.
Xia Lei’s gaze swept through Jiang Ruyi’s swollen abdomen, eyes combining the X-ray vision and data retriever in one go. He immediately saw his other daughter displaying the same behaviour as the one inside of Fan Fan. She too was squeezing against the opening of the birth with freaky body coordination!
Xia Lei gulped nervously. “Did my children really form a pact to be birthed at the same time? If that’s the case, do they share a mental connection? If there’s no mental connection, how are they even communicating with one another to coordinate this?!”
Shockingly agile body coordination, an odd coincidence, mental connection. All the keywords he could think of was a gigantic shock to him!
After staying with Jiang Ruyi for two minutes, Xia Lei mentally braced himself and uttered, “Ruyi, I need to go check on Siyao and Long Bing. I’ll be back in a moment to accompany you, okay?”
Jiang Ruyi gnawed her red lips. “Go, go. I’m alright. Seeing you just for a bit is enough for me.”
Xia Lei gave her a chaste kiss and rushed over out of the surgery theatre once again.
Jiang Ruyi watched him leave with her big round eyes. The faint sadness in her heart dissolved away just in the next second. She treated Fan Fan, Liang Siyao and Long Bing like her closest sisters. This was not a time for jealousy.