CH 11

The doctor looked at the crestfallen teenager, who looked frightened out of his wits and sighed in his heart. Young people nowadays do things without regard to consequences, which makes older generations feel anxious and worried. “How about it? Is there any problem? You can tell me about it.”

‘He’s only eighteen years old and may still be in high school.’

“Doctor, must my parents have to sign?” An Wuyang’s face was deathly pale. His fingers somehow found a chair, and he flumped on it, feeling cold all over his body. “If my parents knew, they’d definitely kill me.” Or it would infuriate him. 

‘You know, I’ve been letting my parents down from the moment I was born.’

Now that this thing happened, An Wuyang would not dare inform them even if he died.

“Yes, you must have your parents sign or your legal spouse.” The doctor took off his glasses and wiped the lens off out of comfort for the youngster, and said once more, “With your physical condition, I don’t recommend hiding it from them. Tell your parents.”

He was worried for the child, dreaded that he would not understand and make an insensible decision. 

“Legal spouse? Is it the person whom you registered with for marriage?” A look of concern furrowed his brows. He thought of Huo Yunchuan, but between them was just a one-night stand and no romantic relationship within. 

“Yes, same-sex marriage is also possible.” About five years ago, the country recognized the legality of same-sex registration and lowered the age of marriage to 18 years old correspondingly. Many policies to support multiple births were issued within that half-decade, and the doctor inferred that An Wuyang had a boyfriend. “I suggest you either tell your parents or discuss it with your boyfriend. Maybe one would work.” 

Having heard so much from the doctor’s efforts, though he wanted to be grateful, An Wuyang sunk in a depressive state he could not breathe properly. His hand clutched on his chest as it heaved while he panted for a while. 

At present, he would rather disappear than tell his parents. The idea of going to a small clinic specialized in abortion flashed across his mind. The thought of this mortified An Wuyang, so he whiffed it out of his head. 

Since the doctor had said that the risk of mortality is high, if he died on the operating table, his parents could not get the compensation fee for his demise. 

‘It seems that there is only one viable way left….’

With his hands holding both sides of his head, An Wuyang suddenly regained his awareness that he had delayed the doctor for a long time. He fixed his expression back to clarity and said, “Thank you, doctor. I will think about it again when I go back.”  

The scorching sun stood directly at him as he went out of the entrance door of the hotel.

Obviously, it was a hot summer day, but the teenager standing under the fiery blaze of the sun felt like snow in June. He felt rather cold.

Clutching the test report in his hand, he pondered. How could he be pregnant? ‘Do I want to recheck it?’

But was it because of the embarrassment he felt that made him unable to take a step backward and take the courage for re-examination?

The strange thing about this whole male pregnancy situation was that not every doctor would be as unperturbed as the doctor just now.

Though, in case he encountered someone with a scheming mentality, then Wuyang would know whether he was in danger. 

“….” An Wuyang took out his mobile phone and stuffed it back after quick thinking. He did not wish to find that man. 

But if he refused to look for him, then he would have to shoulder this thing alone. 

Also, the other party had responsibility for the pregnancy.

An Wuyang bit the corner of his mouth and took out the phone again.

He remembered the man had saved his contacts for himself on that day, and it was in the phone book. 

Fortunately, there were no contacts on Wuyang’s phone. His fingers trembling as he flicked down a few times, stopping as the word “Huo Sheng” came in sight.

An Wuyang ruthlessly tapped to call. 

At noon with such sizzling weather, Huo Yunchuan just finished his lunch at twelve o’clock and now leaned on the sofa to rest.

The cellphone with his personal phone number range beside him, the possibility of his parents as the caller first came to mind, or perhaps his friends. 

A well-proportioned arm hugged snuggly by the half sleeve of his shirt stretched out, grabbed the phone, and took it before his eyes. Strange words on the screen made him frown.

An Wuyang.

To be honest, Yunchuan’s impression of this person had faded along with time. 

And frankly, he did not want to answer this unexpected call. 

Though neither had anything to do with anger nor resentment. He just knew that he did not have the means of continuing to contact the other party.

If he exposed himself to the consequences, all would welcome him were a series of trouble after troubles.

So Huo Yunchuan put down the phone and let the other party disappear tactfully.

“….” No one answered the phone, and An Wuyang stood there on the roadside, the phone still stuck to his ear, and with reddened eyes. He never felt so distressed before when he was still in school. 

He was indefatigable, as he wanted to connect and fight once more, but the public bus had already approached over. 

In order to get on the bus, An Wuyang rushed to put away his mobile phone and squeeze through the throng of people desiring to get on the vehicle. 

However, since his hands and feet lacked their usual strength, he was so cramped in all directions that his body almost stumbled down. Fortunately, he had regained his footing, but he was left with a lingering fear. He now carried another life aside from his. If he fell, an innocent life would perish in minutes.

So standing in a crowded public bus, with the jarring scents of the people coupled with the jolting of the bus, An Wuyang regretted it as his intestines gradually turned green.

The only thing he could do was find a handrail on one seat to prevent himself from falling down. 

Meanwhile, in Huo Yunchuan’s office, the phone on the desk rang again and stopped. Quietness settling back in.

The man glanced at the phone phlegmatically and judged that the other did not intend to call himself and rather just missed, thus, stopped after a ring.

If An Wuyang knew what the other was thinking, he, no doubt, would vomit blood and die then and there.

Only in the next second, the crowd motioned toward the exit, and An Wuyang was squeezed once more and drowned in the sea of bodies. When he got out of the bus, only half of his life prevailed.

He then dashed to squat on the roadside and retched.

It was the first time for the other passengers to see such a person who would throw up after riding a bus. 

“Hello, brother?”

Once the call connected on the younger brother’s phone, An Wuyang said in a feeble voice, “Come down to the gate of the community and help me. I’m dying.”

When An Wuji heard it, he kicked his not-so-short legs and thundered down on the high-story building.

Wuji saw his brother, who looked about to pass out. When he was taken home by his younger brother, An Wuyang dived headlong onto the bed and slept until dark and hungry before getting up. 

“Wuyang, your brother said you’re unwell today. What’s wrong?” Ding Wei flicked on the light in their bedroom and walked in on slippers. 

She still had her work clothes on, informing them their mother had just arrived home.

An Wuyang had just awoken on his brother’s bed, raised his arms, and blocked the glaring light from poking his eyes, and said, “It’s okay, I’m much better now. Only had a bit of heatstroke at noon.”

Ding Wei hastened to the bedside and touched his forehead. The temperature was above the usual, but not apparent. “You really okay?”

“En, I’m fine now, just hungry.….” An Wuyang said and got up; his nimble movements told the other party he was fine indeed.

“Then come out for dinner ah,” Ding Wei loosened up a breath and said, “Your father is cooking, and your brother has finished boiling corn.”

“Okay,” An Wuyang responded.

With a guilty conscience, he dared not look straight in the eyes of his parents and kept his head bowed when he came out to eat.

Everyone thought he was still uncomfortable, and they advised Wuyang to take a hot bath right after dinner to rest early on the bed. 

With his whole body cleaned from the satisfactory shower, An Wuyang reclined on the bed, unable to sleep, as he thought of the baffling situation. 

After returning home, he gained better clarity on the seriousness of the matter. And also that his family could not withstand such a blow under their current circumstances. 

He also was trapped. 

And the only way possible was to abort the child on his stomach secretly….

“Sigh.” An Wuyang touched his abdomen irritably and muttered, “I don’t want you, but—” This matter was way out of the season of him being a student, and he knew he could not shoulder this independently.

‘I can’t afford to be a father at all.’

As for the person who could raise the child with no worries… only the other father of the baby.

An Wuyang reached for his cellphone and dialed the number once again.

In a luxury apartment, thirty kilometers away, a phone buzzed and vibrated on the desktop, notifying the man who was wiping his hair that there was an incoming call.

Huo Yunchuan picked up the phone to check, and the circular motion atop of wiping his hair came to a halt. “….” Because the name on the screen was those three words again,

His fingers hesitated on the screen for a long time. He frowned and deciduous to decline the call.

Not that no one answered this time, but was bluntly refused by the other party.

An Wuyang stared at the screen of his phone, dumbfounded, feeling incredulous. It turned out the other party did not want to answer his calls…. If he understood this at ordinary times, Wuyang would never invite himself for all his lifetimes. 

However, the matter was needful of urgency.

This was not the time for being maudlin and lighthearted. 

— Mr. Huo, although I’m embarrassed to bother you, I have something significant to ask of you. 

With a ding dong, the mobile phone notified to received a message. 

Huo Yunchuan sat on the edge of the bed and switched on his phone to check.

—What is this important thing?

He had replied.

After reading the message, An Wuyang breathed a sigh of relief. At least, the other party was still willing to communicate with him instead of blacklisting the phone number straight away.

—Can we talk in person? This matter is grim serious, and to express it succinctly, I’m afraid it’ll make you confused.

Huo Yunchuan received the news and remained silent for a long time. 

He refused to see An Wuyang. 

—Do you need money or work?

He deflected the other’s request by a question of his own. 

The other party faced those two options he would wish to have if it were not for his case. 

—Shall we talk in person? Lafayette Castle Hotel, I’ll wait for you there tomorrow, or perhaps you can call the time. Please, this is more serious than you think. 

The other party did not reply to this message. 

An Wuyang took a suspire, overwrought, as he laid in bed. Still, he persisted in finding Huo Yunchuan. 

If the man spurned to help, he only had to go to that abortion clinic and condemned this life.

Before he slept, An Wuyang called the bakery manager and told him he could not come to work tomorrow. 

After a few exchanges of small talks, he put down his phone and succumbed to sleep when exhaustion took a toll on his body.

‘I woke up at 8:30 the next morning, still feel very sleepy.’

But An Wuyang beat up the gods, got appropriately dressed, and rinsed his face. 

“I bought breakfast.” He spotted his younger brother studying assiduously in the living room and looking up at him as he neared Wuji.

“Okay.” After An Wuyang came out, he ate the breakfast and soy milk purchased by his brother, took the wallet keys, and did not forget to swing a baseball cap on his head. “I’ve something to do, and I may not return at noon.”

An Wuji nodded and watched his elder brother go out, worry written on his face. 

At Lafayette Castle Hotel.

There were countless luxury cars parked in the small square area by the entrance. One of which had a man casually sitting inside, occasionally glancing to the side of the road.

At last, a slender figure appeared at the intersection and strolled in the man’s direction.

When the other party entered the hotel, the man in the car opened the door, and his reflective leather shoes stepped on the warm ground—steady and solemn.