I woke up to find I have a child - Chapter 66
Han Feixu accepted the piece of paper and looked down at the number. She recognized the area code digit (1) but she didn’t recognize any of the other numbers.
….
Han Feixu silently folded up the page and placed it in the side cabinet.
It seems that Dr. He and Dr. Zhang is quite close, otherwise Dr. He would not have memorized Dr. Zhang’s phone number.
The night was late and so everyone was fast asleep. Auntie Li had set up things for He Yanran in the guestroom downstairs while Yan Yureong also followed them, yawning loudly as she made her way to her exclusive guest room. Han Feixu turned off the lights in the bedroom, leaving only the night light beside the bed.
The night light’s light was quite soft, so it wouldn’t disturb the child’s sleep. Han Feixu lay on the bed, briefly touching Yiyi’s forehead first before taking out her phone and texting Ye Mingxin she was safe while telling her the doctor’s diagnosis as well.
Ye Mingxin replied almost immediately. It seems she had been anxiously waiting for their news on the other side of the phone.
The two of them texted good night to each other before getting ready for bed. Han Feixu was about to put her phone down when she remembered about the pediatrician He Yanran had mentioned. So she propped herself up on the pillow and searched through her contacts one by one.
There really was a person named Zhang Rui in her contacts and in her circle of friends on her Weixin. The woman seemed to share a lot of articles related to medicine and clicking on her inbox, Han Feixu found that she had contacted Doctor Zhang in February.
They didn’t text each other much, just a few short words.
?Doctor Zhang: Have you returned?
Han Feixu: En, I have.
Dr. Zhang: How is the child?
Han Feixu: She’s fine, she’s adapting pretty well.
Dr. Zhang: That’s good. By the way, have you seen Yanran lately??
Han Feixu blinked and slowly her expression turned into a sly one.
Han Feixu’s sleep schedule has been forcibly adjusted some time ago and now she could naturally wake up before seven in the morning. Yesterday she was up all night because of nerves and so she slept a little longer than usual today. At half past seven, she noticed movement beside her. Opening her eyes, she found Yiyi wide awake and playing with her hair.
Before she was even fully awake, Han Feixu quickly placed a palm against her child’s forehead. After making sure she no longer had a fever, she withdrew her hand and sat up, “Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?”
Yiyi squirmed, “Yes, Mama. I feel sticky.”
After a night of sweating, of course she would feel sticky. However, as she couldn’t take a shower yet , she had just recovered. Han Feixu quickly got her a dry towel and out of her sticky clothes before wiping her down like a table and then changing her into new clothes.
Yiyi sat obediently on the bed, her arms raised high as if she was about to surrender to an enemy. Han Feixu pulled a shirt over her head and Yiyi’s voiced came out muffled, yet excited as she asked, “Mama, when will Mommy be coming back?”
“Next month,” Han Feixu then said after some thinking, “Although it’s not set in stone. However, she should be able to make some time in the middle of her filming to return. She’ll definitely come back to see you.”
Yiyi’s head popped up from under her shirt as she said happily, “Then will Mommy take me to the aquarium when she comes back?”
Han Feixu raised an eyebrow, “You want to go to the aquarium?”
“Uh-huh!”
“Why don’t I take you? I’m right here while your Mommy doesn’t even know when she will be back.”
Yiyi hesitated for a moment before Han Feixu narrowed her eyes, “What, could it be that you don’t want me to take you?”
They had finished putting on her shirt and Han Feixu moved to grab her pants. Yiyi lowered her head as she replied in a voice as quiet as a mosquito’s: “Isn’t it because you can’t take me out with you?”
This time it was Han Feixu’s turn to be silent. Ever since Han Feixu made her comeback, she has not taken Yiyi outside with her or even picked Yiyi up from school. She meticulously had her private affairs covered up and even emphasized many times to Yiyi to not tell anyone that she is Yiyi’s mother. Yiyi did agree to her requests and even thought it was all good fun at first, but she didn’t think it was fun anymore.
Han Feixu pursed her lips, placing the pants to her side as she stretched out her arms to hug Yiyi, letting her sit in her lap, “The aquarium….Mama truly can’t take you right now. How about this, when it’s winter break, Mama can take you on vacation to another country. How about our little family of three go take a vacation abroad?”
Yiyi asked doubtfully, “Family of three….Mommy is coming too?”
“Of course,” Han Feixu laughed, “how else can you create a family of three?”
Yiyi had forgotten the last time her entire family went out to play together. To be fair, she couldn’t even walk at the time, much less remember it.
After receiving a promise from her mother that they would be going on vacation soon, Yiyi happily put on her pants and ran downstairs to share the good news with her grandma. Han Feixu chased after her, but turned back after making sure Yan Yuerong had firmly captured her in her arms. She returned to her own bedroom and changed into regular clothes before coming back out.
Early this morning, Ye Mingxin had gone straight to Director Tian Chengxian to ask on Han Feixu’s behalf for leave. After hearing that Han Feixu had rushed home because her child was sick, Tian Chengxian nodded understandably, “Oh, so the child is sick, of course you’ll have to return home quickly. Even if she stayed she wouldn’t be able to film well and her heart would be focused on her child–wait, child?! Han Feixu has a child?!”
The sudden escalation in volume almost shattered the glass table in front of them. Ye Mignxin quickly opened the door and looked around to make sure no one was outside before closing it and walking back with a lingering fear, “Was that really necessary, Director Tian? You’re going to bring the paparazzi down on me again!”
Tiann Chengxian immediately recognized his wrongdoing and apologized repeatedly before Ye Mignxin forgave him. The office was quiet for a while when a few beats of silence later Tian Chengxian asked curiously, “Whose child is it?”
Ye Mingxin: “….”
“Of course the child is mine! We got married in 2012, who else could it be?!”
“I know, I know, I’m just asking,” Tian Chengxian said quietly. After thinking for a while, he suddenly realized, “Oh, so it turns out that Han Feixu hasn’t been filming in the past few years because she was taking care of her child. Now that her child is older, she decided to make a comeback.”
Tian Chengxian slapped his thigh and was very satisfied at having solved a secret mystery so early in the morning. Ye Mingxin did not share his satisfaction as she sat there unhappily. She didn’t know that Director Tian wasn’t already aware of this matter as she thought that since Director Tian already knew everything since he even knows that they are married.
Meanwhile, on the other side of China, the entire family was having breakfast together. Yan Yuerong and Yiyi were watching cartoons in the living room while Han Feixu and He Yanran were sitting out on the patio. Han Feixu casually brought up a topic, “I haven’t seen Dr. Zhang for a long time.”
He Yanran had just lifted the glass of juice to her mouth, her lips touching the rim of the cup when Han Feixu asked her a question. Hearing her words, she maintained her posture, raised her eyes faintly to look up at Han Feixu.
Han Feixu’s expression didn’t change in the face of her stare, “Last time I chatted with her, she mentioned you to me.”
She suddenly lost her appetite for this juice.
She placed her glass back onto the table and crossed her arms as she asked, “Why did she mention me?”
Han Feixu suddenly felt that something was wrong with the atmosphere. She stayed silent for a few seconds and then said hesitantly, “S-She didn’t say much, just asked if I had seen you lately.”
“And what did you reply with?!”
Han Feixu looked at He Yanran’s intense gaze and suddenly had a feeling that if she didn’t tell the truth, He Yanran was going to immediately perform a show. A show of cutting her into pieces or one of a butcher slaying a cow.
She quickly straightened her back and said the truth in one breath, “I told her I haven’t seen you and then she dropped the subject to ask me about other things.”
Han Feixu didn’t look like she was lying, so He Yanran let her go. She sneered coldly, “Insincere hypocrite, pretending to care.”
Han Feixu looked back at her blankly and it took her a while to realize that He Yanran was not talking about her, but Dr. Zhang.
Han Feixu was mindful of her every move, not daring to speak up anymore about this topic, but she had already made up her mind. When she returns to Hengdian in the future, the first thing she’s going to ask Ye Mingxin is about the relationship between Dr. He and Dr. Zhang.
Since she was going to have to stay here all night before she returned, He Yanran had nothing else to do so she asked in a bored tone, “What did Zhang Rui mean but asking if you had seen me lately?”
Han Feixu blinked and put forth a guess, “Perhaps she’s just being polite.”
“Rubbish!”
Han Feixu: “….”
“If she’s being polite, why bother mentioning me? She’s like a dog who caught a mouse, meddling unnecessarily! Have you ever seen me interact with her? The reason she asked is to put on a show, so that I would hear of it and create a false impression of her!”
If you already know that’s why she did it, then why are you asking me?
Han Feixu spoke up after a few seconds of silence, “That doesn’t seem right. It was February when she asked me, which was about half a year ago. If she really wanted to create some sort of false impression, she clearly didn’t succeed.”
He Yanran looked at her with disdain, “So what if it happened half a year ago? Didn’t you still end up telling me? I’m telling you, that person is extremely sinister. Don’t even mention half a year; as long as it serves her purpose, she’s even willing to dig a pit for ten years if it means achieving her goal!”
Han Feixu just looked at her dumbfoundedly and responded dryly after a while, “Oh.”
She doesn’t know if Dr. Zhang was actually evil or not, but she could at least tell Dr. He really hates Dr. Zhang, so she won’t be bringing up Dr. Zhang again. With no other choice, she quietly took a sip of her juice.
Since today is Saturday, she spent half the day at home with Yiyi. IN addition to watching cartoons with her, she also read her story books, played with building blocks and solved puzzles together with her. If she was being honest, however, it was all really boring = =
The things Yiyi watched were things that children loved to watch, which meant childish and unexciting. Han Feixu wanted to sleep after just ten minutes. She couldn’t continue like this, so she called Shen Sangluo and asked her to come over and be bored with her.
When she heard that Yiyi was sick, Shen Sangluo arrived at the door with a cake in the shape of a Disney princess without any prompting. Since Yiyi’s throat was not inflamed, Han Feixu allowed her to eat sweets. Han Feixu mercilessly cut the princess in half with one slash, placing the upper body on a small plate before serving it to Yiyi who was sitting on a high stool with her legs dangling on the side. When Han Feixu told her she could eat, she happily grabbed a fork and placed the princess’ head into her mouth.
Shen Sangluo, who was watching the whole process: “….”
If she had known this was going to happen she would’ve bought a bear-shaped cake instead. At least eating a bear’s head would look kinda cute and not horrifying and cruel like the current scene was = =
Yiyi had a great time eating the cake while Han Feixu and Shen Sangluo sat nearby and watched as they talked. After eating the cake, Yiyi felt sleepy and Han Fexiu took her upstairs before putting her to bed. Shen Sangluo wandered around aimlessly on the first floor while she waited and froze when she bumped into He Yanran.
He Yanran took the initiative to introduce herself, “Hello, my name is He Yanran. I am the family doctor employed by Ye Mingxin and Han Feixu.”
Shen Sangluo understood immediately and smiled, “Hello, I’m Han Feixu’s friend. The name’s Shen Sangluo.”
“The leaves of the mulberry tree remain beautiful before the fall*.” He Yanran complimented politely, “It’s a very nice name.” (*T/N: A line from a classical Chinese text called “Shijing” or “Book of Odes” that contains works of Chinese poetry from 11th to 7th century BCE. The characters for Sangluo are in that line of poetry.)
Shen Sangluo laughed sheepishly, “I also wished that my name came from the Book of Odes, but unfortunately it doesn’t. My name comes from Sang Luo state*.This is the name my grandfather gave me. He was a big fan of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, especially of Zhou Yu and Zhou Yu’s was stationed in Sang Luo state. He gave me this name before I was born, saying it could be used for either a girl or boy.” (*T/N: ???, Famous military training ground/ancient battlefield of Zhou Yu, famous general who worked for Sun Ce in Romance of the Three kingdoms)
He Yanran never expected the origin of her name to come from this, “I apologize then for my misunderstanding.”
“It’s fine, most people think my name comes from the Book of Odes and I would rather they believe that anyways, it definitely has more charm than the actual origin.”
He Yanran’s lips curled up slightly, “I am a pupil of the sciences so I hadn’t studied much Classical Chinese in college. My only knowledge of Classical Chinese comes from middle school so I only remember these two sentences or so.”
As they talked, they learned that Shen Sangluo had graduated from Peking University, and He Yanran had graduated from Peking University School of Medicine. There is only the neighborhood of Wudaokou separating the two places. They were both about the same age, with similar education and experience. Before becoming a family doctor, He Yanran had also been working for the government. Although one of them is a doctor and the other is a civil servant, the systems they worked for were similar.
So as soon as Han Feixu left Yiyi’s room, she heard the sounds of engaged conversation coming form below. When she made her way down the stairs she walked onto the scene of Shen Sangluo playfully pushing He Yanran’s shoulder, causing the other party to burst out with laughter.
Han Feixu: “….”
Han Feixu looked at the two of them with a smile, “What are we talking about?”
“Just some school stuff from the past.” Shen Sangluo took a sip of water before she continued her conversation with He Yanran without a second glance at Han Feixu: “I heard that most doctors have OCD and germophobia, is that true? I once had a classmate who studied veterinary medicine and I met him only once after college. After that party, as long as he was there, I would definitely not attend.”
He Yanran smiled and said nothing, but Han Feixu asked curiously, “Why?”
“We went out to eat together when a plate of sizzling chicken was served. When the chicken was served, he told us that animals have moods too and that some animals instinctively know when they are about to die. Like humans who get acne due to stress, animals do too, so he was advising us not to eat any chicken skin. After all, who knows what the chicken was thinking before it died. Maybe it was in a particularly bad mood and then many small pimples appeared on its skin. Plus, there are pus inside pimples.”
Han FeixuL “…please stop talking.”
“Now you understand why I won’t go out to eat with him. If he’s there then I am not, and if I am, he is not.”
He Yanran said: “It’s true that most medical workers have a similar problem, you can say it’s an occupational hazard. I also have a similar problem so when I go out to eat with my friends, every time they will tell me in advance to shut my mouth or else they won’t take me out.”
Shen Sangluo looked over with great interest, “Hahaha, seriously, what disgusting things do you say?”
He Yanran shrugged, “It’s several times more disgusting than that classmate of yours, but although it may be disgusting, what I say is the truth.”
“Every word you said has only heightened my curiosity. You know what, if we go out for a meal together you can tell me some of that science of yours. I want to see where my tolerance limit is.”
Han Feixu kicked her, “Didn’t Dr. He say that her science is much more disgusting than a chicken in a bad mood? If you can’t even stand the chicken, how can you last a meal with Dr.He?”
She glared at Shen Sangluo while saying that, but the other party only blinked and replied, “How can those two things be compared? My veterinarian classmate is not good-looking and talks about such disgusting topics. Of course I can’t stand the assault on both of my senses. However, Dr. He is good-looking. No matter how disgusting her words are, at least her appearance can offset them.”
After saying this, she looked over at He Yanran who smiled back at her. Then she snapped her head back at Han Feixu and gave her a cold, indifferent look, as if telling her to buzz off.
“….”
Holy sh*t, Shen Sangluo is openly having an affair!
Han Feixu made a quick excuse before dragging Shen Sangluo to her bedroom. She smiled politely at He Yanran before they left and He Yanran smiled back. When they turned around, however, her gaze changed and her eyes lingered on Shen Sangluo for a few moments before she moved away.
After closing the door, Han Feixu turned around and scolded Shen Sangluo, “Shen Sangluo! Are you crazy? Is there something wrong with your brain to do such a thing in front of me? What about Jiang Linyan? What about me? What about Ye Mingxin? What about Yiyi?”
Shen Sangluo listened to her ramble for a while before interrupting, “What did I do? What grave thing have I done? Besides, no matter what I do, what does it have to do with you four?”
“What do you mean it doesn’t matter!” Han Feixu looked at her with disappointment, “Jiang Lingyan is so kind to you, yet are you even worthy of her if you’re doing something like this? Not to mention, you met He Yanran in our home. So when Jiang Lingyan finds out, Ye Mingxin and I will both be dragged into this mess and suffer. If it was just us, then forget it, but what about Yiyi? When she grows up and hears about this, she will definitely ask me how you and He Yanran met. Then if she finds out that you two only met because she was sick, that you did something unforgivable to Jiang Lingyan, it will leave behind a psychological trauma on her young mind!”
Shen Sangluo showed genuine wonderment at her train of thought, “You are really good at making things up…..you’ve even managed to strung together things completely unrelated to each other.”
Han Feixu opened her mouth again but Shen Sangluo quickly stopped her, “Stop! Stop talking for a second and listen to me, ok? Who said I was going to do something unforgivable to Jiang Lingyan? What I do has nothing to do with her and I also asked Dr. He just now and found out that she has no partner either. So who cares about the relationship development between two older single women? Don’t randomly force a hat onto me*! And using Yiyi to scare me…if we really do get married down the line, Yiyi will end up becoming our matchmaker! She’ll be too happy to handle it when she learns of it!” (*T/N: In Chinese, when someone is cheating/getting cheated on we use the metaphor that they’re wearing a hat, specifically a green one. It comes from an old chinese story)
Han Feixu looked at Shen Sangluo in shock, “I never expected that you are such a person.”
Shen Sangluo: “….what?”
“You run away after sleeping with someone, turn their backs on them and then ruthlessly change your personality!”
Han Fexiu looked a little crestfallen, “What happened to you in these past 10 years? Where did that innocent and virtuous girl from back then go?”
“…..I’ll just say she was eaten by me, satisfied?”
Shen Sangluo stared at her speechlessly as she moved over a chair, sat down, and continued, “I know you want to matchmake me with Jiang Lingyan, but she and I are just not suitable. Don’t you think I haven’t thought of giving it a try? But I know it won’t work out just by thinking of it, let alone actually trying. And we are all adults, you… you can be considered half an adult, but you can’t force me to be with her just because I slept with her twice, okay?”
Han Feixu also moved over a chair and sat down with wide eyes, “I didn’t mean it like that, but I thought you liked her? Quite a bit too. What made you change your mind?”
“I’ve always had these thoughts, “Shen Sangluo crossed her right leg and placed her left arm on the armrest of the chair, “The first time we slept together, I felt bad and sorry towards her for doing so. Not to mention we were both drinking and had sex while drunk. The second time, however, she should be the one feeling sorry towards me. She knew what I’m like when I’m drunk and still got me drunk anyways. She really thought I didn’t know what she was doing? Are you kidding me? My IQ is still pretty high.”
Actually, Shen Sangluo only figured out something was fishy about a month later, but she’s not going to tell Han Feixu this little detail = =
“In short, we’re even now. I don’t owe her and she doesn’t owe me.”
There is no such thing as being even when it comes to relationships and emotions, but Han Feixu was drawn into her logic. It was only a while later did she pull apart the ball of logic in her mind, “You’ve only talked about things that have to do with the bedroom. However, you never said anything about your emotions. Jiang Lingyan really likes you, but you…don’t like her?”
Shen Sangluo fell silent, and then said, “I am being realistic.”
Han Feixu blinked, “And?”
“And because I am realistic, I will consider many factors when I judge whether a relationship can develop. And because I am realistic, I only have two requirements for a partner: same viewpoints and compatible temperaments. Of these two requirements, which one have you seen Jiang Lingyan meet?”
Her temper is hard to say, much like room temperature water. Han Feixu can’t tell if it’s hot or cold just from looking at it with her naked eye. As for the viewpoint, that’s too general of a word. A persons’ three views is something slowly formed from birth and cultivated for decades by their surrounding environment, the influence of their parents, their school education, and the personality of their friends. Han Feixu thought about this for a long time before she finally understood the meaning behind Shen Snagluo’s words.
“To put it bluntly, you just think Jiang Lingyan’s family is too rich, right?!”
Shen Sangluo: “….”
Do you really think that’s what I meant?!
Han Feixu was still confused, “But Ye Mingxin’s family is much richer than mine and aren’t we still married and living the good life?”
“You two almost divorced before, so please think of a better example next time you give an example, thank you very much.” Shen Sangluo rubbed her forehead tiredly as she explained, “This has nothing to do with money, okay, maybe it has a little to do with it, but money is not the important part. What I mean by viewpoint is a persons’ aspirations, their three views, and their character. Someone’s material foundation, ie money, can affect these things but it’s not a big impact. What really affects them is their education and their character that is raised and cultivated by their family.”
Her words were complicated, but Han Feixu seemed to understand after thinking about it for a while.
“So you think Jiang Lingyan’s academic qualifications are not good enough? Compared to you, she does seem a little inferior, but she’s still from a top school and can compete with you!”
Shen Sangluo’s face collapsed and she held her forehead, “Trying to explain things to you is like trying to teach an ox how to play the piano. Just keep thinking that I’ve turned my back on her, is that good enough?”
Han Feixu frowned and said nothing.
As a friend, she can give her good friends emotional advice, but she cannot help them make emotional decisions, let alone force them to like someone. Han Feixu understands this fundamental truth.
But she still hopes Shen Szangluo will think about it again. Shen Sangluo may be slow when it comes to emotions, but her thoughts are not. For some reason, Han Feixu had a feeling that the person her friend likes is Jiang Lingyan but she hasn’t realized it yet. Han Feixu stayed in her room, quietly thinking for a while.
Since she couldn’t interfere with Shen Sangluo, she had no choice but to find a roundabout solution
Han Feixu took out her phone, opened WeChat, found Dr. Zhang’s WeChat DM that she read yesterday, and then sent a message.