PTGWD Chapter 74: Dog Egg

Fang Xingzhou: “…”

He glanced at the utterly sincere confusion on Lu Jianchuan’s face and tactfully said, “Hmm, your mom probably just dropped her phone accidentally. It’s fine, I’ll call her back.”

Lu Jianchuan then picked up his wife’s phone and dialed his mother’s number again, holding the phone to Fang Xingzhou’s ear.

The call was answered almost immediately. Madam Lu’s voice was still trembling as she said, “Sorry, Xiao Zh-, Xiao Chuan, I accidentally dropped my phone earlier. I definitely wasn’t scared…”

Lu Jianchuan guiltily shifted his bulky body.

Fang Xingzhou coughed lightly and asked, “Auntie, are you okay?”

Madam Lu: “I-I’m fine. I heard the baby talking. It’s… it’s very cute, but I couldn’t understand what it was saying.”

Fang Xingzhou turned to Lu Jianchuan: “Deer, can you translate what the baby just said?”

Lu Jianchuan shook his head: “I can’t understand it either.”

…So why did they even think of making a phone call with an unborn embryo?

Fang Xingzhou sighed and changed the subject, comforting her: “Deer has been in good health recently, and there are no signs of tireness yet. You don’t need to worry too much. We’ll be home in about twenty minutes, and we’ve brought gifts for you, Uncle, and little sister.”

Madam Lu finally found a sense of safety in Fang Xingzhou’s polite and steady voice.

Thank goodness her son-in-law was a normal, outstanding person.

She said emotionally, “That’s great. I’ll have the housekeeper prepare your favorite dishes.”

Fang Xingzhou: “See you soon.”

Madam Lu: “See you soon. Drive safely.”

After hanging up, Lu Jianchuan looked at his lover with pure admiration, as if Fang Xingzhou was the most amazing human in his heart.

Fang Xingzhou reached over, gently touching the round belly, and smiled. “I didn’t hear it clearly earlier. Let the baby make another sound. It’s so cute.”

Although its father and grandmother tried to cover it up, the egg inside the belly had keenly sensed that it had scared someone earlier. So it hesitated, too afraid to make a sound.

Lu Jianchuan patted it again: “Come on, show Daddy your new trick.”

The egg rolled over.

Its underdeveloped little brain began to work furiously, analyzing all the human knowledge it had been exposed to so far, racking its brains to figure out what kind of sound Daddy and Grandma wanted to hear.

The first thing that came to mind was the injured doggy Liu Bang.

It had seen the human next door showering the spotted dog with intense affection countless times, and it had even sensed the ‘mother’s’ envy of the dog’s tag. Last night, its father had personally bandaged the dog’s wound.

The egg suddenly felt confident.

It tried to vibrate its incomplete vocal cords and let out a sound from the belly:

“Woof.”

Lu Jianchuan, Fang Xingzhou: “…”

The traffic light turned red. Fang Xingzhou slammed on the brakes, stopping at the crosswalk, then turned to look at Lu Jianchuan in shock, then at the belly that was starting to turn pink, and asked, incredulously, “You… gave birth to a dog?”

Lu Jianchuan: “!”

“No, impossible, how could that be!” Lu Jianchuan almost jumped out of the passenger seat. “You’re human, I’m a giant jellyfish. How could we possibly have a puppy?”

The two stared into each other’s eyes for a moment, then simultaneously looked at the belly.

The belly turned an even deeper shade of pink, and even the belly button turned red. The baby realized it had given the wrong answer again and wished it could create another sac to hide itself.

Lu Jianchuan rolled down the window and took a deep breath of the fresh, cold air outside.

“Well, human language is still a bit too difficult for it,” Lu Jianchuan quickly made an excuse for the child. “It’s fine. A baby at negative six months only needs to eat and sleep every day.”

Fang Xingzhou nodded solemnly.

He was already starting to worry about the child’s education after birth.

The two drove to the Lu family home in deep concern.

Lu Hejing was away on a business trip, so Mr. and Madam Lu, along with the heavily pregnant Lu Heyin, were all standing at the door to welcome them. Lu Jianchuan’s belly was so large that without his tentacles, he had to wait for his wife to help him get out of the car.

Under the gaze of three pairs of eyes, Fang Xingzhou opened the passenger door, draped a loose trench coat over Lu Jianchuan, and carefully helped him out of the car.

With the coat covering him, the belly was no longer exposed outside the sweater, but it still had a huge visual impact, leaving the people in the garage silent for a while.

Lu Heyin walked over in shock and compared herself to her second brother. She was almost ten months pregnant and so heavy that she could barely walk, yet her belly was only half the size of her brother’s!

“My goodness…” Lu Heyin didn’t dare to blink. “Brother, are you having twins… no, quintuplets?”

Lu Jianchuan: “Just one.”

Lu Heyin: “What? That’s impossible!”

Fang Xingzhou smiled and changed the subject: “When is your due date, sister?”

Lu Heyin was extremely shocked, as if she was questioning the reality of the world, and said absently, “I’m going to the hospital tomorrow to wait for labor, but why hasn’t Second Brother given birth yet? Can humans be pregnant for this long? …But Second Brother is a man. Isn’t it already abnormal for him to be pregnant?”

Madam Lu’s face was still pale as she stared at the enormous belly, covering for her son: “Your brother… your brother has a special physique. It’s normal for him to be bigger. Don’t just stand there, come inside.”

So, Madam Lu supported Lu Heyin, and Fang Xingzhou supported Lu Jianchuan. The family returned to the living room in an oddly warm atmosphere and began discussing the parenting knowledge they would need in the future.

Fang Xingzhou, concerned about Madam Lu, asked tactfully, “Auntie, are you feeling okay?”

Mr. Lu sighed and answered, “She’s been so worried about the two of them lately that she can’t even eat. Earlier, when she answered the phone, she suddenly fainted for some reason. I was so scared I almost called 119, but she woke up quickly.”

“…” Lu Jianchuan felt guilty. “Sorry, Mom.”

Madam Lu lovingly stroked his hair and then his belly: “It’s fine. Mom just had low blood sugar.”

Lu Heyin couldn’t help but touch her second brother’s belly as well. Feeling the scalding skin, she quickly retracted her hand, her heart pounding.

“Do you think it’s a boy or a girl?” she asked cautiously.

Lu Jianchuan glanced at her belly. Hmm… it was a cute little girl, almost a carbon copy of her mother.

So this was what a real human baby looked like.

He then looked at his own belly, fell silent for a moment, and finally answered cautiously, “Maybe something between a boy and a girl?”

The living room fell silent.

Fang Xingzhou immediately said, “What Deer means is that we don’t know the baby’s gender yet, but we’ll love it whether it’s a boy or a girl.”

Lu Heyin forced a laugh: “Haha, I see.”

Mr. Lu: “…Let’s eat. Come on, everyone, eat.”

Because of Lu Jianchuan’s return, the family had prepared over thirty dishes, filling the entire dining table.

Lu Heyin, worried that she might go into labor at any moment, focused on eating her favorite dishes, claiming, “I need to eat well to have the strength to give birth.”

Lu Jianchuan found this reason convincing. Although human food no longer had much effect on him, he still had an appetite and began devouring the food alongside his sister.

Meanwhile, Fang Xingzhou chatted with Mr. and Madam Lu as they ate, discussing preparations for the upcoming birth.

Madam Lu, still shaken from the morning’s scare, had little appetite and slowly sipped her porridge. She asked, “Have you chosen a name for the baby yet?”

This question stumped both Lu Jianchuan and Fang Xingzhou.

Lu Jianchuan’s name was taken to match on Fang Xingzhou’s name, a couple’s name.[mfn]I can’r remember if I explained it before, but the name “方行舟” (Fāng Xíngzhōu) and “陆见川” (Lù Jiànchuān) poetically mirror each other: “行舟” (sailing boat) glides on water, while “见川” (seeing the river) gazes from land, symbolizing a bond between traveler and observer. The shared “water” radical (氵) in “舟” and “川” visually unites them, while contrasting motion (行) and stillness (见) create harmony. Together, their names evoke a landscape where journey and home intertwine.[/mfn] Other than that, he was mostly called “Jellyfish” by his colleagues at the Institute. He had never considered what a human name for his child should be.

Fang Xingzhou had also been too busy lately to think about names and said, “We haven’t thought about it yet. We’ll decide later.”

Lu Jianchuan leaned over and suggested, “How about Fang Dan[mfn]Fang“egg”[/mfn]? Nicknamed Gou Dan[mfn]Fang “dog egg”[/mfn]—easy to raise! Or Fang Tang[mfn]Fang “candy”[/mfn], sweet and delicious. Or Fang Ai Lu, Fang Ai Chuan?[mfn]Fang❤Lu, Fang❤Chuan[/mfn]”

The table fell silent.

The series of names left everyone with mixed expressions. Mr. Lu sighed, patted his second son on the shoulder, and said gravely, “Let Xingzhou handle the naming. You stay out of it.”

Lu Heyin even covered Lu Jianchuan’s belly with her hand: “blablabla, can’t hear you! Don’t listen to your mom’s nonsense. How can our precious little one be called Dog Egg?”

Lu Jianchuan could only silently stuff a piece of braised pork into his mouth.

Fang Xingzhou smiled and said, “Let the baby choose its own surname and name when the time comes. A name is something it will carry for life, so it should be something it likes.”

Mrs. Lu agreed: “That’s a great idea!”

The egg in the belly was thrilled and couldn’t help but let out a sound of approval. Fang Xingzhou covered the belly button, bent down as if picking up chopsticks, and made a “shh” gesture to it.

The egg nudged his palm and obediently rolled deeper into the sac.

The meal ended harmoniously, with all thirty dishes wiped clean, not even a drop of soup left. Lu Jianchuan’s human form was on the verge of collapsing, and he was afraid that staying any longer might reveal his true form. He hurriedly stood up to say goodbye.

Mr. and Madam Lu brought out the things they had prepared in advance: baby clothes, formula, a maternity bag, diapers, bottles, toys, a gold lock… filling the entire trunk.

Lu Jianchuan hugged his parents goodbye one by one.

When it was Lu Heyin’s turn, both of them were heavily pregnant and had to bend slightly to carefully hug each other’s shoulders.

Their bellies inevitably touched.

The moment they made contact, Lu Heyin’s belly moved, a small bump pressing affectionately against the egg in Lu Jianchuan’s belly.

Lu Jianchuan could feel the egg freeze in the sac.

In its short life, it had never been this close to a peer.

The human fetus looked so small, so delicate, so fragile, so…

It was incredibly surprised, curious yet fearful. After freezing for a moment, it mustered the courage to cautiously approach the other baby, finally poking a small bump in the belly that aligned with where Lu Heyin’s baby had moved.

These two cousins, unrelated by blood, had their first meeting before even beginning their lives.

Lu Jianchuan soon sensed a faint surge of divine power, traveling from his belly to Lu Heyin. He was slightly startled but confirmed that the energy was gentle and wouldn’t harm his family, so he didn’t stop the baby’s little gesture.

Lu Heyin only felt a warm, comforting sensation in her belly.

She smiled, straightened up with a hand on her waist, and looked tenderly at the unborn children. “They seem to like each other.”

Lu Jianchuan also held his belly and said, “She was supposed to be the younger sister, but now she’ll be the older sister.”

Everyone laughed. Madam Lu gave a few more words of caution and saw them off to the garage.

As soon as they left the garage, Lu Jianchuan couldn’t hold on any longer. Only his human head remained, while his body turned into tentacles, coiled around the heavy pregnant sac.

“Whew…” He leaned back tiredly in the passenger seat. As he entered the later stages of pregnancy, his strength had weakened significantly, and his energy was dwindling. Even maintaining a human form was becoming difficult.

“The baby is so excited,” he said lazily, stroking the sac. “This is the first time it’s met my family since gaining self-awareness.”

Fang Xingzhou said, “Let it form bonds with humans other than us. It might help it integrate better into human society after birth.”

Lu Jianchuan tapped the sac with a tentacle tip and said to the baby, “The one with the big belly today is your aunt. The one in her belly is your cousin. The one you talked to on the phone is your grandma, and next to her is your grandpa…”

After finishing, he looked uncertainly at Fang Xingzhou: “Right?”

Fang Xingzhou smiled: “Yes, that’s right. Well done.”

Lu Jianchuan was happy, and the egg was happy too.

The family returned to Xiangxing Street in high spirits, and the next morning, they received a call from Madam Lu.

Lu Jianchuan had returned to his true form and was hanging from the ceiling, cleaning the crystal chandelier. Fang Xingzhou brought his phone into the bedroom, and a tentacle reached down from above to press the answer button.

Mrs. Lu’s cheerful voice immediately came through: “Heyin gave birth!! She had a beautiful granddaughter, so pretty, and both mother and daughter are doing well!!!”

Lu Jianchuan and Fang Xingzhou were both delighted and congratulated her: “That’s wonderful, congratulations!”

Mrs. Lu rambled on: “Do you know how incredible last night was? Heyin went back to her room to sleep after dinner, and her water broke in her dream. She didn’t feel any pain at all. When she woke up groggily, the baby was already halfway out. We were so scared and called an ambulance, but before the car arrived, the baby was born. It went so smoothly, it was like a god was watching over her!”

Lu Jianchuan didn’t find anything unusual about this and said happily, “That’s great! How’s Heyin doing now?”

Mrs. Lu laughed heartily, unable to contain her joy: “She’s doing great! She doesn’t look like she just gave birth at all. Her wounds are almost healed, and she’s eating tangyuan now.”

Lu Jianchuan asked for the hospital’s address, hung up the phone, and climbed down from the ceiling. He still felt a bit unreal and buzzed, “I think I just became an uncle? Zhou Zhou, this feeling is so strange. Even though there’s no blood relation between us and we’re different species, it feels like there’s an invisible bond connecting us.”

Fang Xingzhou held the tentacle and said, “Mhm,” but his mind was on Mrs. Lu’s description earlier.

Although everyone’s physique is different, and the difficulty of childbirth varies greatly, Lu Heyin was a first-time mother. Painless childbirth in a dream seemed a bit too exaggerated.

He instinctively looked at his lover’s pregnant sac.

The egg had clearly heard the good news and was happily rolling around inside, occasionally pushing the sac up.

For no reason, he thought of the overly smooth hunt three days ago, even though there was no connection between the two events.

“Zhou Zhou?” Lu Jianchuan kissed his cheek with his mouthparts.

Fang Xingzhou snapped out of it and smiled. “Let’s find time to visit Heyin and give our little niece a birth gift.”

The egg, hearing this, was clearly even happier and couldn’t wait to meet its cousin again. The sac began to contract rhythmically. Lu Jianchuan said cheerfully, “Sure, I’ll give my little niece the most special gift.”