CH 67

The sour and spicy flavor intensified, and Shen Tiantian couldn’t help but salivate. She opened her mouth and bit down, intentionally nibbling on Shan Yi’s finger. The bitten person let out a hiss and looked at her with a helpless expression. “Feeling better now?”

Shen Tiantian remained silent and focused on eating the chicken feets.

Unconsciously, she finished the entire bag of chicken feet, and her mouth and fingers now carried the distinct flavor of the snack. Just then, the boarding announcement for the flight to City W came through. Shen Tiantian looked at her damp fingers in embarrassment and realized she wanted to wash her hands.

“Shall I accompany you to the restroom?” Shan Yi chuckled.

Their checked luggage was already taken care of, and they only had their crossbody bags with them. Shan Yi was holding onto them.

“I can go by myself, you stay here and watch the luggage,” Shen Tiantian replied as she stood up and headed towards the restroom.

Shan Yi: …

She intentionally hid the matter about Celia because she was afraid Shen Tiantian would get upset. However, it ended up having the opposite effect. Kang Jiaya was right—choosing to conceal something meant being prepared to face the anger that might result. 

Watching Shen Tiantian return after a moment, Shan Yi sighed inwardly and forced a wry smile. “It’s time to board.”

Shen Tiantian responded with an “Oh,” but as she lifted her foot to walk, she suddenly forgot the gate number and realized her boarding pass was with Shan Yi. “What gate number again?”

Her recent memory seemed to have truly worsened.

“Gate 19,” Shan Yi said without even looking, taking her hand. “Let’s go.”

Having heard Shan Yi’s explanation and knowing that she and Celia didn’t have any substantial relationship, Shen Tiantian had already calmed down considerably. However, her frustration stemmed from the fact that Shan Yi had kept this from her. Last time, she let it go too easily, so this time she was resolute. Nevertheless, no matter how frustrated she might be, she still relied heavily on Shan Yi.

She remembered that she used to be different. When she was sick, she would go to the hospital by herself. When she felt wronged, she would endure it alone. She always thought of herself as quite independent. However, ever since she got together with Shan Yi, in just three short months, she had seemingly changed.

Lost in her thoughts, Shen Tiantian suddenly frowned, to the point where she didn’t hear Shan Yi call her twice. It wasn’t until Shan Yi’s enlarged face came close, warm breath brushing against her skin, that she snapped back to reality.

“What… What are you doing?” Shen Tiantian was startled, her words becoming slightly stuttered. They were outside, so why was she getting so close like that?!

“What are you thinking about?” Shan Yi looked somewhat helpless. She wanted to kiss, but she also feared her wife’s reaction. So, she forcibly restrained herself and said, “Did you put your phone on airplane mode?”

“Oh, can you please step back?” Shen Tiantian belatedly realized and said in a hushed voice.

Shan Yi didn’t immediately move away. Instead, she helped Shen Tiantian fasten her seatbelt, taking the opportunity to catch a whiff of her wife’s natural fragrance. Finally, with reluctance, she returned to her own seat.

Observing Shan Yi’s defeated expression as she wanted to kiss but held herself back, Shen Tiantian suddenly felt a sense of satisfaction. It seemed she had found a way to deal with Shan Yi. With her wife’s passion for kissing, withholding it for a few days and letting her dangle might make her think twice about keeping secrets in the future.

As the plane took off, the ears were filled with the piercing hum. Suddenly, Shen Tiantian felt a bit uncomfortable—not the urge to vomit, but a sense of dizziness. She quickly closed her eyes.

Even during takeoff, Shan Yi had been attentive to her wife’s expressions. Seeing her furrow her brow, she immediately held onto the back of Shen Tiantian’s hand, silently comforting her.

The warmth of the hand on her back did help Shen Tiantian feel a bit more at ease. A sense of warmth flowed through her heart. As the flight smoothed out, the discomfort gradually faded. When she opened her eyes, she saw the hand covering hers, and a hint of a smile flickered in her eyes.

“Would you like to take a nap?” Shan Yi’s voice came.

Shen Tiantian’s eyes shifted and she nodded. Perhaps it was due to waking up early in the morning, and being asked by Shan Yi, she was indeed feeling a bit sleepy.

Shan Yi patted her own shoulder, “Do you want to lean over?”

“No, you’ll scorch me,” Shen Tiantian replied without holding back.

Today, Shan Yi changed her usual style. She dressed very casually, tying her light brown large curls into a high ponytail. She wore an oversized white T-shirt that was knotted at her waist, occasionally revealing a faint hint of abdominal muscles as she walked. Her lower half was clad in loose ripped jeans. Her makeup-free face appeared innocent, resembling a campus beauty. At the same time, one could tell that she was indeed somewhat thin, with bony shoulders. However, she had a well-endowed chest, living up to the phrase “well proportioned curves.”

Shan Yi, feeling a bit rejected, had black lines all over her head. Should she gain weight for her wife?! Silently, she took out an eye mask from her bag, “Do you want this?”

“Yes.” 

Shen Tiantian took the eye mask and put it on, tilting her head back and closing her eyes as she quickly drifted to sleep. Her unconscious head started to lean toward the man seated beside her. Just before it could fall completely, Shan Yi promptly adjusted her head back onto her shoulder and politely nodded at the man.

Gently, she smoothed her hair away from her nose and tucked it behind her ear. Seizing the opportunity while her wife was asleep, she stealthily planted a kiss on her forehead. Already “deep asleep,” Shen Tiantian’s lips curled slightly, and she emitted a soft hum before truly drifting off.

Shen Tiantian was awakened by a strong turbulence.

Her eyes opened with a puzzled expression, and before she could even ask, she heard the sweet voice of the flight attendant. They had encountered severe turbulence and were preparing for an emergency landing at the nearest airport.

Taking a sharp breath, Shen Tiantian turned her head in disbelief to Shan Yi, “Emergency landing?”

With a stern expression, Shan Yi held onto her wife’s hand tightly and reassured her: “It will be okay.”

Fear evident on Shen Tiantian’s face, she was at a loss, her hand instinctively resting on her slightly bulging belly. Her voice trembled as she admitted, “I’m scared.”

If she weren’t pregnant, with Shan Yi by her side, she might not be so scared. But now that she was pregnant, what if something happened to her belly during the emergency landing?! Shan Yi’s gaze shifted to her abdomen, understanding her worries. Her heart tightened, and the hand covering Shen Tiantian’s back of her hand tightened even more. She kept comforting her, subconsciously comforting herself as well.

Gradually, Shen Tiantian began to calm down and her other hand covered the hand on top of hers. Even though the fear still lingered in her eyes, she managed to say, “I’m not scared anymore.”

Perhaps, accustomed to Shan Yi’s dominant demeanor, despite it all, being a woman herself, she must have been scared too?

Shan Yi was momentarily taken aback, realizing that she had turned the situation around and ended up being comforted by Shen Tiantian instead. She looked at her for a moment, then suddenly burst into laughter. Without saying anything, she brought her hand to her lips and kissed it earnestly. “Hmm, I’m not scared either.”

Boom! Another loud noise followed, and the airplane experienced another bout of turbulence, as if losing its balance, descending rapidly.

“Ah—”

Shen Tiantian screamed in fright, her body uncontrollably tilting forward. Instinctively, she closed her eyes, one hand protecting her belly and the other holding onto the seat in front of her. She was breathing heavily.

Shan Yi urged: “Just maintain this posture.”

After saying that, Shan Yi folded the thin blanket she had requested from the flight attendant and placed it inside her seatbelt, creating a barrier between her belly and the belt to minimize the risk of injury.

Another round of turbulence ensued, and the plane finally landed safely at an airport near city W. The cries of alarm gradually quieted down as the broadcast played the voice of the flight attendant.

“The plane has landed safely. Please prepare to disembark in an orderly manner, keeping hold of your personal belongings….”

Shen Tiantian let out a long sigh of relief, feeling her body go weak. A wave of dizziness hit her, accompanied by a sense of nausea.

Quick to react, Shan Yi opened the paper bag containing the chicken feet and handed it to her. Shen Tiantian couldn’t hold back any longer and immediately leaned over, letting out the contents of her stomach.

As she regained her composure, most of the passengers on the plane had already left. The man who had been sitting inside patiently, blocked by Shen Tiantian, remained calm without showing any signs of impatience.

After rinsing her mouth with water, Shen Tiantian looked apologetically at the man and said: “I’m really sorry for inconveniencing you and taking up your time.”

The man, who appeared to be in his early thirties with a strong and resolute facial structure, accepted her apology gracefully. His deep and pleasant voice replied, “It’s okay.”

Even after disembarking, Shen Tiantian’s legs still felt weak. If it weren’t for Shan Yi holding onto her waist, she might have ended up collapsing on the ground.

She was really scared, and even after returning to the waiting area, it took her a long time to recover from what had just happened. It was her first time flying on a plane, and to encounter turbulence like that—she probably wouldn’t dare to fly again in the future.

Shan Yi had been holding onto her the whole time, never letting go of her hand.

It took her about an hour to calm down again. The airline had arranged another plane, and the announcement was now reminding passengers to board. Shen Tiantian’s heart tightened once more, and she clenched onto Shan Yi’s clothes. “I don’t want to get on the plane.”

Less than two hours had passed since the incident occurred, and she hadn’t fully recovered from her previous wave of fear. Now, the idea of boarding a plane again was something she couldn’t accept.

Suddenly, her abdomen contracted sharply, and an intense wave of pain spread rapidly throughout her body, forcing her to confront it. In reality, she had been feeling uncomfortable on the plane already, but the sensation of nausea had been stronger, causing her to overlook the faint pain. However, the gradually intensifying pain had now exceeded her threshold of tolerance.

“Uh…” Shen Tiantian couldn’t help but moan in pain, releasing her grip on Shan Yi’s clothes at her waist. Instead, she placed both hands over her abdomen.

Shan Yi’s heart skipped a beat. “What’s wrong?”

Could it be that she got hurt during the turbulence just now? A hint of fear flashed in Shan Yi’s eyes.

“Uh… My stomach hurts so much.” Shen Tiantian’s face turned pale, and beads of sweat quickly formed on her forehead.

“Hold on.”

While comforting her wife, Shan Yi swiftly dialed the hospital’s number and also sought assistance from airport staff. Soon enough, they had taken Shen Tiantian to the nearest hospital.

By this time, Shen Tiantian had lost consciousness, completely unaware of what was happening around her or how she ended up at the hospital. Her brow was furrowed, and her hands were tightly clutching her abdomen. Her lips had turned so pale that they almost blended with her complexion.

When she regained consciousness again, she was already in the hospital, surrounded by the scent of disinfectant.

Shan Yi was holding her hand, feeling her fingertips move. He quickly looked up and saw her awakening, instantly exhaling a sigh of relief. “You almost scared me to death.”

Shen Tiantian’s hand instinctively moved to her abdomen as soon as she regained consciousness. “The baby…”

“The baby is fine. Please worry about yourself first, Miss Shen.” Shan Yi’s expression turned serious. “Why didn’t you say you were feeling unwell earlier? Do you know how worried I was?!”

When the doctor explained to her that Shen Tiantian’s abdominal pain was due to being frightened and that both mother and daughter were fine, it still gave her a start. She didn’t know how long Shen Tiantian had been in pain or how long she had endured it, only to be on the verge of a miscarriage.

They were her wife and daughter, and of course, she was deeply worried. Knowing that Shen Tiantian didn’t want to burden her with worry, she was both frustrated at her endurance and concerned for her well-being.

“I’m sorry,” Shen Tiantian weakly said, her tone carrying a hint of grievances.