Pregnant Salted Fish Chapter 1

TL: Hua

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The first thing Xu Yanqing felt when he opened his eyes was — heat. An intense, scorching heat spread limitlessly through his limbs and bones.

Just then, a hand reached out to him. It was an incredibly beautiful hand, with the pampered smoothness and fairness of someone well-cared for. Its flawless fingers were long and slender, a pure work of art. As it touched Xu Yanqing, he could even see the faint blue veins beneath the white skin.

Xu Yanqing stared intently at the hand, momentarily thinking he might be a hidden hand-con (fetish).

But soon, he had no time for such trivial thoughts.

Those bony, distinct hands pulled at his clothes, and with a gentle tug, he crashed straight into their owner’s embrace.

Already burning up, Xu Yanqing felt his neck tightly constricted by his clothes, giving him the illusion of being on the verge of suffocating.

He raised a hand, trying to free his suffocating neck, but it was tightly clasped by the person’s other hand. A searing pain shot through his wrist. The hands’ owner had great strength; Xu Yanqing strained to lower his head and could even see the faint, bulging veins in those hands from the effort.

Xu Yanqing, with his whole body limp, blinked in confusion. As he neared suffocation, a question formed in his mind: What on earth was happening? How had he, who was just showing off his test papers in his dorm, ended up being “murdered” by someone else?

“Let go of me,” Xu Yanqing finally managed to gasp out, his gaze slowly falling upon the owner of those hands. He shook his head with difficulty, unsure if it was the inexplicable heat within him making his vision blurry.

“Who are you?” The hand constricting Xu Yanqing’s neck finally loosened a bit. Xu Yanqing gasped for air, then heard the other person’s voice—clear as jade yet with a hint of hoarseness.

What a beautiful voice! Xu Yanqing, who had just suspected himself of being a hand-con, raised a hand to scratch his tingly ear, now wondering if he was also a voice-con.

Freed from the restraint, Xu Yanqing shook his dizzy head once more, then slumped weakly against the man’s body. Before his eyes was a dark-green Taoist robe, a color of distant elegance. He even caught a whiff of a crisp, clear scent emanating from the person beneath him. Xu Yanqing leaned in and sniffed; the smell was truly delightful.

Just as Xu Yanqing fell into bewildered contemplation, he vaguely heard a sigh, and then he was completely pressed down by the person.

The dark-green, thin fabric brushed his face. Both of Xu Yanqing’s wrists were pinned down, and then he was enveloped by a dangerous aura. Xu Yanqing instinctively tried to push the other person away, but his wrists were still tightly held.

Amidst his struggles, Xu Yanqing’s consciousness began to grow hazy. All that remained before him was that dark-green blur and an endless pain.

…

Xu Yanqing’s body ached terribly. To think he, an eighteen-year-old virgin who had barely reached adulthood and had never even touched the hand of the opposite sex, was now enduring such pain.

Alright, maybe he was a closeted gay after all, but a rookie like him had never experienced anything like this. He had read minimalist descriptions of such things in novels, stating that the first time would hurt, but he never imagined it would hurt so intensely, nearly making him pass out completely.

And the person on top of him had completely lost his mind, acting without any consideration whatsoever. Oh, perhaps he did have some consideration, but Xu Yanqing couldn’t feel it at all.

At this moment, Xu Yanqing lay on the bed, somewhat doubting his life. Now that his mind had cleared, he finally had time to think about other things.

Just a short while ago, he was diligently sitting at his desk, working on test papers and furiously devouring his top-grade sugar oranges. Five test papers were just finished, and a large basket of oranges on his table hadn’t even been fully consumed when he suddenly lost consciousness. The next thing he knew, he was lying on this completely unfamiliar bed.

Before losing consciousness, what else was he doing besides test papers and eating oranges? Xu Yanqing took a breath, turned over on the bed, and then trembled all over from the pain. He didn’t dare to move recklessly anymore, only staring at the bed’s tassels, lying quietly.

—

[The Crown Prince stared at the woman in front of him with a sinister expression. He lifted his cold hand and landed it on her face, which had turned pale from fear. His voice dripped with an almost sickening gentleness: “Why did you leave me? Was I not good enough for you?”]

[Su Xuelian was terrified, trembling all over. Outsiders might not know how deranged the Crown Prince’s personality was, but she knew it all too well. Having failed to escape the Eastern Palace this time, she couldn’t imagine what terrifying things this man would do next. She no longer feared what he would do to her, only that he wouldn’t let her beloved Pei go.]

Xu Yanqing held a freshly peeled orange, biting into it fiercely. Sweet juice filled his mouth. With his other hand, he typed out his comment: “This dog Crown Prince is disgusting. In modern times, he’d be a scumbag with half the criminal code on his back—forced love, imprisonment, murder; he’s absolutely despicable…”

“Don’t say that, commenter above. Actually, the Crown Prince is quite pitiful. He lost his mother at a young age, and although his father is the emperor, he was a Taoist who became emperor in his youth and rarely disciplined him, which led him astray step by step.”

[Su Xuelian’s eyes were teary, yet she pleaded for him to spare her beloved Pei. The gloom in the Crown Prince’s eyes deepened: “Do you need me to remind you of your identity? You are my future Crown Princess, not Pei Yu’s fiancée. Your elopement with Pei Yu is a capital crime punishable by extermination of nine generations of your clan.”]

“F*ck! The female lead never wanted to be this so-called Crown Princess, okay? It’s all because of that power-hungry old man from the Su family! The female lead and the male lead were always meant for each other, a match made in heaven.” Xu Yanqing continued to comment while devouring his orange. He usually never commented on novels, but today was truly an eye-opener, encountering such a bizarre supporting male character.

“The Redemption of the Caged Bird” was a novel with an unexpectedly serious title but a very sweet and healing story. The female lead, Su Xuelian, was the prime minister’s daughter. Because an eminent monk had once prophesied that she would be destined for royalty, she was betrothed to the Crown Prince of Daliang from a young age, disregarding her own wishes.

The male lead was a young man the female lead had found and taken in. He was exquisitely handsome, but unfortunately, he was mute. He grew up with the female lead, and their bond was naturally extraordinary.

Sadly, the female lead had an unavoidable engagement from childhood. The deeper her feelings for the male lead became, the greater the pressure she felt, until she became depressed and fell ill. This illness made the male lead pity her even more. He wanted to elope with her. The female lead knew they couldn’t escape but still nodded in agreement. With a resolve to die, she decisively eloped with the male lead.

As expected, before the female lead and male lead could enjoy even two months of good days, their whereabouts were discovered by the Crown Prince.

[Spoilers, please! Is this a tragedy? By the way, the Crown Prince is so crazy, and the Emperor doesn’t care at all?]

[1st Floor: The Emperor grew up in a Taoist temple due to some special reasons. You could say he’s a Taoist Emperor who’s quite indifferent to everything, including his own son.]

[2nd Floor: It’s crazy that a Taoist can have children! Not only did he have such a weird son, but he also indulged him so much without supervision. Doesn’t he worry his son will squander the entire country?!]

[3rd Floor: OP is overthinking. This is just a brainless sweet romance. The Crown Prince only became a ‘brain-damaged’ person when it comes to the female lead; in other matters, he still shows some of the charisma of a Crown Prince.]

[4th Floor: Is this the female lead’s halo? Always having such a devoted second male lead around. Ah, I feel so bad for the Crown Prince!]

[5th Floor: You guys are crazy for feeling sorry for a psychotic character!]

Xu Yanqing didn’t even bother with his orange anymore. He furiously poked his phone screen with his finger. Even though this second male lead had done so many outrageous things to the male and female leads, some people still sympathized with him.

[6th Floor: But the female lead was the Crown Prince’s fiancée, after all. In the end, it was the female lead who first betrayed the Crown Prince.]

…

With the feudal marriage system, this one comment could spark a hundred floors of debate. Xu Yanqing placed his phone on the quilt. A wave of laziness washed over him, and he didn’t even want to comment anymore. If he kept watching them argue, Xu Yanqing would almost forget why he made his original comment. Speaking of which, what was the ending of this novel—HE (happy ending) or BE (bad ending)? No one had answered his question.

The arguments in the comment section made Xu Yanqing unable to continue reading the novel. But just thinking about the plot made him too angry to sleep, so he angrily got up, sat at his desk, and pulled out a few test papers.

It was the seven-day National Day holiday. His roommates had all gone home, but he stayed in the dorm due to some special circumstances. In the quiet dorm, there was only the sound of Xu Yanqing devouring oranges and the scratching of his pen on the test papers until a sudden dizzy spell sent him into unconsciousness.

The next time Xu Yanqing woke up, he was lying on this unfamiliar bed, feeling like a salted fish being grilled on a hot stove, followed by some events unsuitable for JJWXC.

Xu Yanqing had read hundreds, if not thousands, of novels. Enduring the pain in his body, he idly thought that he might have transmigrated. However, when others transmigrated, they became princes, generals, or imperial descendants. But him? On his first day transmigrated, he was nearly killed.

Speaking of which, if he had really transmigrated, he wondered if it was soul transmigration or body transmigration. If it was body transmigration, that would be fine; the school could report him as a missing student. But if it was soul transmigration, his body would probably lie in the dorm for five or six days until his roommates returned.

The thought sent a shiver down Xu Yanqing’s spine. Imagining his roommates returning to find him dead was too horrifying; he couldn’t bear to think further.

As for his parents, Xu Yanqing shook his head. He chose to ignore problems he couldn’t solve, adopting a very Zen attitude.

Subconsciously, his fingers caressed the pillow, and then Xu Yanqing touched a wooden hairpin. He instinctively turned his head and looked over. The other man on the bed was still sound asleep.

 

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