As a colleague, Ling Yao was concerned about Su Xuezhen’s future career development, but as a friend, she was genuinely happy for her. Seeing the silly grin on Su Xuezhen’s face, she couldn’t help but smile too. “You’re that happy?”
“Very happy.”
With coupling gel still on her belly, Su Xuezhen couldn’t touch it—she could only look at it, but her eyes were already filled with tenderness.
“The baby’s a little over five weeks along. Just matches the time you were trying to conceive.”
It was still very early in the pregnancy, so not much could be seen yet. Today’s exam ended there. Ling Yao handed her a towel, her expression sly as she grinned and teased, “Not bad, you two.”
“Hit the mark on the first try.”
Su Xuezhen slowly wiped her belly with the towel, her smile tinged with a blush.
“Come back in two weeks for another check-up to open your file. By then, you’ll be able to see the fetal heartbeat and the embryo.”
Ling Yao handed her a parenting guidebook, one that the hospital distributes to first-time expectant mothers coming in for prenatal exams. “Take this home and have Officer Cen read it.”
“Sure, I’ll make sure he studies it thoroughly.”
Su Xuezhen took the booklet with a smile. “I’ll be counting on you until the delivery.”
“No need to be polite.”
Ling Yao waved her off cheerfully.
Su Xuezhen left holding the parenting guidebook. On her way back to the pediatrics department, she flipped through a few pages. The content was straightforward and easy to understand—perfect for new parents. When Wei Juan saw her coming back with the booklet, she immediately understood what was going on. She walked over with quick little steps and, speaking from experience, reminded her, “Pregnancy—those first few months are the most dangerous. You have to be extra careful.”
Beside her, Lü Ziyue laughed. “Dr. Su is a doctor herself—how could she not know all this?”
“Being a doctor is one thing, but it’s her first time being a mom, isn’t it?”
Wei Juan, in full big-sister mode, started recounting her own experience from pregnancy to childbirth in a torrent of words. The youngest among them, Lü Ziyue, couldn’t stand it and cheekily stuck her tongue out at Su Xuezhen.
Su Xuezhen tapped her on the nose and said to both of them, “I’m going back to the office to read for a bit. Rounds start after two.”
Wei Juan immediately quieted down, and she and Lü Ziyue responded in unison, “Okay.”
The pediatric hospital had been allocated two wards with a total of six beds. Usually, they admitted children with mild conditions. One of the rooms currently housed a young patient named Ma Baocheng, who had a cystic lymphangioma. He was only three years old, and the prior intratumoral bleomycin injections had been ineffective. Within half a year, the tumor had relapsed. After diagnosis, surgery was the only option.
Su Xuezhen was the lead surgeon for the operation. The cyst wall was thin and required a high level of anatomical precision—any carelessness could cause rupture and damage to surrounding blood vessels and nerves. She had to stay completely alert.
At exactly two o’clock, Su Xuezhen put on her mask and stethoscope and went with Lü Ziyue to do rounds. The first patient was a girl suffering from an intestinal infection due to a high fever. She was currently receiving IV fluids and had fallen asleep, her expression peaceful.
Her mother stood by the bed and immediately stood up when she saw Su Xuezhen. “Dr. Su.”
In a low voice, Su Xuezhen asked, “How was Chengcheng’s appetite at lunch?”
“Much better. No more vomiting, and the fever’s gone down.”
The woman looked greatly relieved. “Can we go home after this drip finishes?”
Su Xuezhen nodded. “Yes, if everything’s fine, she can go home. Just make sure she rests well and sticks to a light diet.”
“Okay, okay—thank you, Dr. Su.”
The woman smiled as she saw her off. Su Xuezhen then moved on to the next ward. The atmosphere here was less calm—the patient was younger and had a tumor.
Both parents were textile factory workers, working hard to afford treatment. They could only visit after work, so the child was currently accompanied by his grandparents. The grandfather wasn’t in the room, and the grandmother was playing with him using a wooden rocking horse.
The bed was covered in toys of all kinds.
The little boy could speak in simple phrases. Upon hearing the door open, he looked up before his grandmother could react and called out, “Doctor Auntie!”
Su Xuezhen smiled as she walked over and greeted them directly, “Aunt Wang, I’m here to do rounds.”
“That old man had to go to the bathroom right at this time,” Grandma Wang Cui Cui said with a smile, quickly stepping aside to make room for her and Lü Ziyue. “Go ahead.”
Su Xuezhen crouched down in front of the bed. “Did Baocheng eat well today?”
“I did! I ate a lot!”
Ma Baocheng reached out, gesturing to show how much he had eaten. He grinned, dimples appearing in his cheeks.
“That’s amazing.”
Su Xuezhen patted his head gently. “Auntie’s going to do a quick checkup, okay?”
Ma Baocheng obediently lay down. He was clearly already used to the process. Seeing this made Wang Cui Cui’s heart ache again. She thought, How could such a little child suffer this much?
Because children had limited patience, Su Xuezhen had to move quickly. With Lü Ziyue’s assistance, she completed the checkup efficiently.
“Baocheng was so good—didn’t move at all,” she praised.
Ma Baocheng really liked this doctor big sister. She played with him and had such a gentle voice. He didn’t quite understand why his family always looked so sad when they saw her, but instinctively, he felt like something painful always followed after seeing this sister.
After finishing the checkup, Su Xuezhen chatted with the boy for a while before leaving the ward. By the time she got back to the office, it had already started pouring outside. The torrential rain, accompanied by strong winds, had swept away the oppressive heat. What was expected to be a brief storm showed no signs of stopping.
The hospital was short-staffed, and this year’s allocation quotas hadn’t been approved yet. It wasn’t realistic for each department to have staff on night duty every day, so typically two doctors from the whole department would cover the night shift together. For each person, it came around roughly once a week. Su Xuezhen’s next night shift was scheduled for the following Wednesday.
Double-income households rarely cooked at home, since they were usually too busy. They mainly relied on the workplace cafeteria. For dinner, Su Xuezhen had a bowl of stewed noodles at the canteen. It was steaming hot, and after finishing it, she felt completely refreshed. When she stepped outside, the rain still hadn’t let up. Looking at the downpour, she realized riding her bike home was out of the question—she’d have to walk with an umbrella.
Su Xuezhen and Cen Bai lived in Changhua Street in the Mingfeng District. When they met on a blind date, both were already working—one a doctor, the other a police officer—both in government-assigned, iron rice bowl jobs.
Thinking that they likely wouldn’t change careers for the rest of their lives, they had picked a marital home close to both of their workplaces. Usually, it only took her about ten minutes to bike home, but walking took half an hour.
By now, it was already 7 p.m. Though it was raining, the sky was still bright. Every few seconds, lightning flashed, followed by rolling thunder that lit up half the sky—an oddly eerie scene.
Su Xuezhen tightened her grip on the umbrella and dashed into the rain. Water had accumulated heavily on the roads, and before long, her pant legs were soaked. Braving the storm, she finally made it to the hospital’s front gate. The gatekeeper, Old Liu, spotted her and shouted loudly, “Dr. Su, be careful!”
Su Xuezhen waved at him and said goodbye. When she looked up again, she saw a beam of light fall on her for a moment before quickly shifting to the side. Then, someone strode toward her.
The man had a buzz cut, single-lidded eyes, and a high nose bridge. There was a rebellious air about him. He wore a white short-sleeved shirt, and the exposed muscles on his arms were strong and well-defined, exuding power.
This big guy, with his gruff but honest look, was none other than her husband, Cen Bai.
Su Xuezhen recognized him instantly and exclaimed excitedly, “What are you doing here?”
“Passing by.”
Cen Bai took her umbrella without another word and pulled her into his arms with one hand to shield her.
Su Xuezhen glanced down and saw he was wearing slippers. She knew immediately—his route from the police station was in the opposite direction of the hospital. There was no “passing by” about it. Not to mention, from his outfit, it was clear he had already gone home and changed after work.
But she didn’t call him out on it.
Cen Bai only realized after pulling her close that her shoulder was completely soaked. His brows furrowed, and he looked down at the umbrella with increasing disdain. “This kind of umbrella is a pain to use. Get on—I’ll carry you.”
Not having to wade through water was a great thing. Su Xuezhen took the umbrella from him and climbed onto his back without a word. Cen Bai gripped her calves with both hands and easily carried her.
That small bundle on his back felt like his whole world. The two of them walked home slowly without saying a word. Cen Bai had a quiet temperament and had never been much of a talker. Su Xuezhen, however, felt sweetness blooming in her heart. She already saw through his tsundere nature long ago. She gave a light cough. “I went to get a check-up today.”
Cen Bai immediately responded, “Yeah? What did they say?”
He might be tsundere, but he always answered when asked and gave whatever was requested.
“What do you mean, ‘what did they say’? You don’t know the consequences of your own handiwork?”
Su Xuezhen leaned against his neck and gave him a playful bite.
“You’re really pregnant?”
“That fast?”
The pain wasn’t even enough to count as a tickle—Cen Bai was completely thrown by the news of her pregnancy. He was so excited that even his usually calm and steady voice pitched up. His steps even turned unsteady. “I’m gonna be a dad.”
On his back, Su Xuezhen could feel just how happy he was—his whole chest seemed to be vibrating with joy. Seeing him getting more and more excited, she quickly warned, “Hey, take it easy.”
Cen Bai immediately calmed down. “What else did the doctor say?”
“They couldn’t detect the fetal heartbeat or fetal pole yet. It should be visible in another week.”
“Next time I’m coming with you. Don’t just squeeze it in during your lunch break at the hospital because it’s convenient.”
Caught red-handed, Su Xuezhen blinked. “Of course I’ll bring you along. I’m only responsible for giving birth to this child—raising it is your job.”
“You and the baby are both my responsibility.”
For once, Cen Bai said something romantic.
It sounded sweet, pleasing to the ear, and a little surprising. Bored on the walk home, Su Xuezhen chatted with him about some pregnancy health tips. Because of the rain, the two of them took hot showers when they got home. Outside, the storm still raged, but inside, the two of them slept peacefully.
In the middle of the night, Su Xuezhen was shaken awake by Cen Bai. Only then did she realize how high her body temperature had gotten. Cen Bai was panicked and quickly got out of bed to grab a thermometer. “Are you running a fever?”
“I’ll get the thermometer.”
Su Xuezhen was groggy, her body soft and weak. She wanted to speak but found she couldn’t open her mouth. Her body temperature was unnaturally high and wouldn’t go down.
Cen Bai placed the thermometer under her armpit and hurriedly got dressed, ready to rush her to the hospital at any moment.
Three minutes later, just as he was about to check the reading, the thermometer suddenly made a crack and shattered. When he turned back to look at Su Xuezhen, she had already closed her eyes and fallen into a deep sleep. When he touched her, her body temperature had already returned to normal.
Cen Bai stayed up the whole night, afraid that the strange fever would come back.
Su Xuezhen’s temperature had dropped rapidly, and she slept soundly until dawn. When she woke up, she found Cen Bai sleeping at the edge of the bed, still wearing his jacket. Surprised, she said, “Why are you sleeping here? Did you sleepwalk?”
Cen Bai reached out and touched her forehead again. When he didn’t feel that strange heat from the night before, he finally relaxed. “You had a fever last night.”
Su Xuezhen was completely confused and slowly got out of bed. She grumbled at him, “I thought it was just hot because you turned off the fan.”
The damp towel from last night was still sitting on the table by the bed. It definitely wasn’t a dream. Something was off. Cen Bai couldn’t make sense of it. He stared blankly at the broken thermometer pieces still on the floor.
“See, I’m perfectly fine.”
Su Xuezhen grabbed his hand and placed it on her forehead to prove she wasn’t running a fever.
That touch, however, changed everything. The moment their skin made contact, a voice suddenly echoed in her mind:
[No way, I still need to take her to the hospital today just in case—maybe she’s burned her brain.]
Su Xuezhen broke out in cold sweat. That was Cen Bai’s voice—but in that moment, he clearly hadn’t said a word out loud.
