The lights at the camp blazed bright.
Jiang Fuyue was sent into the delivery room.
“Is she giving birth?”
“Is Sister Yue okay?”
“Why did it start in the middle of the night? Heaven bless her, she must be safe!”
“…”
Everyone threw on coats and paced back and forth on the open ground, anxiously looking over.
The two obstetricians had already gone in.
At the time, Liu Weihua was the first to hear Jiang Fuyue’s voice, brought her out of the room, and then ran to call the doctors.
Even now, his hands were still trembling slightly.
“Brother, want a cigarette to calm down?” A colleague walked over and patted his shoulder.
Liu Weihua waved his hand. “Thanks, I don’t smoke.”
“Alright. Only two left anyway, I can’t bear to smoke them.” He put the cigarette pack back into his pocket.
Liu Weihua glanced toward the delivery room, then couldn’t help but laugh. “Honestly, when my wife gave birth, I wasn’t this nervous.”
“That’s obvious. Look around, who here isn’t nervous?”
If they weren’t nervous, they wouldn’t all be standing outside in the cold in the middle of the night instead of sleeping.
This past year, Jiang Fuyue’s presence had been both a pillar and a soul for them.
It felt like as long as she was there, any difficulty could be overcome, any problem solved.
Even if she did nothing, just standing there was enough to give them endless courage and drive.
They couldn’t imagine what would happen to the whole team if she ever fell.
“She has to be safe!” Liu Weihua clenched his fists tightly.
“She will be,” his colleague nudged his shoulder. “Sister Yue is so strong, giving birth won’t defeat her.”
Soon, villagers who saw the brightly lit camp also gathered upon hearing the news.
“Is she giving birth?”
“How is the situation?”
“Are both mother and babies okay?”
“…”
Men, women, old and young, all quickly gathered together. Sleep still lingered on their faces, but their eyes fixed on the delivery room were full of anxiety and concern.
To the medical team, Jiang Fuyue was support, their soul.
But to the villagers, she was a deity, a belief!
“Great divine one, please protect Agata!”
“Pray that Agata is safe and everything goes smoothly!”
“I sincerely kneel and pray…”
Inside the delivery room.
Jiang Fuyue was drenched in sweat, gripping the handrail with both hands. “…How is it?”
“The cervix isn’t fully dilated yet. You’ll need to wait.”
Still have to wait?!
Jiang Fuyue felt her scalp go numb.
She had never considered herself afraid of pain, but at this moment, she truly was afraid, and it truly hurt.
“How much longer?”
“Hard to say. It varies from person to person. Some dilate slowly, some quickly.”
Jiang Fuyue gritted her teeth. “Is there any way to speed it up?”
The doctor thought for two seconds. “…How about getting down and walking?”
“Okay.” Jiang Fuyue shakily got off the delivery bed.
…
At the same time, Xie Dingyuan rushed as fast as he could and finally arrived on the island.
From Jiang Fuyue’s earlier messages, he knew the medical team was stationed on an open area near the dock.
Following traces on the ground, he made his way there and saw a large group gathered on the flat ground, all anxiously looking toward one place.
“What are they doing?”
Liu Weihua: “Waiting for Professor Jiang to give bi—”
Uh! Before he could finish, he turned his head, and went silent.
P-Professor Xie?!
At this moment, the villagers also noticed this unfamiliar face.
“Who are you?”
“What are you doing here at a time like this?”
“Forget it, grab him first!”
Huang Guiyu was the first to act. With a wave of his hand, his brothers rushed forward and surrounded Xie Dingyuan.
Each one looked alert, their eyes fierce.
Huang Guiyu: “Where did you come from?”
Xie Dingyuan explained seriously: “I’m here to find my wife, Jiang…”
“Bah! Where would you have a wife here? Leave Duofu immediately, or don’t blame us for being rude!”
Xie Dingyuan: “Jiang Fuyue is.”
“Who? Jiang Fuyue? There’s no one on this island…” Wait! Huang Guiyu froze.
Usually everyone called her Professor Jiang or Agata, they had almost forgotten her real name.
Professor Jiang was Jiang Fuyue, right?
Quickly recovering, Liu Weihua spoke up: “Old Huang, he’s Professor Jiang’s fiancé, the father of the children!”
“Huh?” Huang Guiyu was stunned. “Wasn’t there some blockade? No one could get on the island?”
Liu Weihua: “Now’s not the time to worry about that.”
“Oh! Right!”
Xie Dingyuan’s arrival caused quite a stir. The villagers didn’t recognize him, but the medical team knew his relationship with Jiang Fuyue.
“Professor Xie, you…”
“I want to go in.”
…
Jiang Fuyue held her belly. After walking for just thirty minutes, she was already drenched in sweat.
After checking, the doctor said, “Three centimeters dilated. How do you feel now?”
“Contractions, about every four to five minutes.”
The doctor nodded. “Do you want to eat something?”
Jiang Fuyue froze. “I can still eat?”
“Of course. Giving birth takes strength. How will you push if you don’t eat?”
Jiang Fuyue: “I’ll eat!”
“Alright, I’ll have someone cook two sweet soup eggs.”
“Wait!”
“…Yes?”
Jiang Fuyue: “Three.”
She was hungry.
“…Alright!”
During the waiting time, Jiang Fuyue leaned against the wall, taking deep breaths to ease the pain of contractions.
Hearing footsteps, she thought the doctor had returned. “That was fast…”
The next second, she froze.
She thought the pain had caused hallucinations, so her first reaction wasn’t joy, but confusion.
Why would she see Xie Dingyuan here?
Yet the embrace was so real.
His trembling hands touched her back, his body warm, his scent familiar, carrying a trace of travel-worn urgency.
“…Professor Xie?” Jiang Fuyue asked tentatively.
“It’s me. I’m sorry, Yueyue, I came late.”
Jiang Fuyue paused, then a smile spread across her lips. She reached out and hugged him back, her voice soft and light, “You’re here?”
Just those words nearly made the man cry.
“Sister Yue, the eggs are here! I thought it might not be enough, so I had the kitchen make four—”
Uh!
What’s going on?
After the two separated, the man turned around,
“My god! Professor Xie?!”
Xie Dingyuan: “Thank you for your hard work.”
“N-No, not hard at all! It’s what I should do!”
Jiang Fuyue ate four sweet eggs, while Xie Dingyuan stayed by her side the whole time.
“Are you full?”
“Mm.” She nodded.
Suddenly, a wave of more intense and frequent pain hit. Jiang Fuyue’s face twisted.
“Jinjin…”
“Four centimeters dilated. You can go in and start delivery!”
Jiang Fuyue took a deep breath and turned to look at Xie Dingyuan.
He held her hand tightly, with no intention of letting go.
He wanted to accompany her through childbirth.
“You go wait outside,” Jiang Fuyue said calmly.
“Yueyue?” A trace of shock flashed in his eyes.
“I can do this. Go wait outside.”
“No! I want to stay with you!”
Jiang Fuyue gritted her teeth. “Go out. Trust me, okay?”
“This has nothing to do with trust…” He just wanted to be with her, not miss even a second.
At this moment, the doctor spoke: “The medical conditions here aren’t as good as outside. Although we’ve tried our best to maintain sterility, one extra person means one extra risk of infection. So I suggest you wait outside.”
In the end, Xie Dingyuan had no choice but to let go.
As Jiang Fuyue was pushed inside, the man stood there, eyes red, tears flickering within.
Inside the delivery room.
Doctor: “Why didn’t you let Professor Xie accompany you? It’s obvious he’s suffering.”
Jiang Fuyue curled her lips slightly: “It’s too ugly. I don’t want him to see.”
“He wouldn’t mind.”
“I mind.”
“…Alright.”
Actually, as professional obstetricians, they didn’t really recommend men accompanying the birth either.
But some pregnant women believed that if a man witnessed the entire process, he would cherish them more and treat them better in the future.
However, reality was often the opposite.
Jiang Fuyue hadn’t thought about any of that. She simply loved beauty and cared about her image, that was all.
“Sister Yue, we’re starting. Are you ready?”
“Mm.”
“Follow my instructions to adjust your breathing. Only push when I tell you to.”
…
Two hours later.
Jiang Fuyue’s face turned pale. “No… it hurts too much…”
The doctor began to panic as well: “What’s going on? It shouldn’t be like this!”
“Anesthesia! The dose is too low!” Jiang Fuyue gritted her teeth, her whole body trembling as she forced out the words.
She herself was a professional, and the doctor didn’t doubt her judgment at all.
“The cervix is about to fully dilate. If we add more anesthesia now…”
It would be extremely dangerous!
On top of that, conditions were rudimentary, and many professional instruments were lacking…
“Jinjin!” At this moment, another doctor came in, holding a bowl of dark herbal medicine. “Use this.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know either. The witch doctor brought it. The villagers all say it works.”
“Nonsense! How can we take random medicine at a time like this?!”
“But… we have no other choice!”
Jiang Fuyue reached out: “Give it to me.”
“Sister Yue?!”
“Give it to me. I trust him.”
…
From deep night to dawn, half of a red sun gradually rose over the sea horizon.
Finally,
“Waaah, waaah…”
Two baby cries sounded one after the other.
“She gave birth? She gave birth!”
“Thank heavens! Amitabha!”
“…”
Xie Dingyuan’s knees went weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
Fortunately, Liu Weihua, standing beside him, reacted quickly and caught him.
The two doctors each carried a baby out and walked up to him. “Professor Xie, congratulations, dragon and phoenix twins, both a son and a daughter.”
As if waking from a dream, he didn’t even look at the children and rushed straight inside.
“Master?” Fu Suizhong turned to look at the man who had stood all night.
There was still the bitter herbal scent on him from boiling medicine.
Standing in an inconspicuous corner at the back of the crowd, almost no one noticed the master and disciple.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but after only one night, he felt like his master had aged several years.
The white hair had lost its luster, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were deeper.
But his figure was still straight and upright, standing firm like a mountain.
“Let’s go.”
“You’re not going in to take a look?”
“As long as they’re safe, whether I see them or not doesn’t matter.”
“…Oh.”
After guarding all night, boiling medicine, delivering it, finally when everything was fine, he just left.
Fu Suizhong hadn’t realized before that his master could be so selfless.
Is he holding the script of a tragic supporting male lead?
Pitiful!
“Don’t forget to pack up the stove and carry it back to the bamboo house.”
Fu Suizhong: “…” Instantly regretted those two seconds of sympathy.
What tragic? This guy is just bossing people around!
…
The day Jiang Fuyue gave birth to the dragon and phoenix twins happened to be October 1st, National Day.
Everyone said the two children were upright and pure.
The news was sent back that very day to the Xie family, the Jiang family, and the Han family.
Personally informed by Xie Dingyuan.
Han Yunru woke up early in the morning, habitually reached for her phone, opened WeChat, and, “They’re born! They’re born*!”
* sounds like saying it is raw
Jiang Da was woken up by her and sat up abruptly: “Which dish is raw? I’ll stir-fry it a bit more!”
“You idiot, always thinking about cooking! Yueyue gave birth, one boy and one girl, dragon and phoenix twins!”
“Really?! When?! Who said it?!”
“Here, Ah Yuan just sent the message, and photos too. Look… the two little ones look exactly the same!”
Jiang Da stared at the phone, disbelief filling his eyes: “I, I’m a grandfather?”
Han Yunru wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes. “And I’m a grandmother too.”
Most importantly, Yueyue was safe.
The first photo was Jiang Fuyue sleeping peacefully.
Only after that came photos of the two children, like casual snapshots, much rougher than the one of their mother, even a bit blurry and out of focus.
Xie family.
“They’re born! They’re born!” The old madam’s excited voice echoed throughout the residence.
The newspaper slipped from Xie Zhentong’s hand, and his glasses tilted askew before he even had time to fix them. “Yueyue gave birth?!”
“Yes! Ah Yuan just sent the message. Natural delivery, Yueyue suffered all night. Just from his tone, you can tell how heartbroken he is.”
“It’s our fault toward that young girl… the children are okay, right?”
At the mention of the children, the old madam smiled so much her wrinkles deepened: “They’re wonderful! A son and a daughter, complete!”
“See? I told you there’d definitely be a little princess! Now the pink clothes can be used, Ah Yuan also chose pink…”
“Yes, yes, the aesthetic of you straight men is consistent nationwide.”
“Mom,” Xie Yunzao had just entered. “What’s making you so happy? I could hear you and Dad from outside.”
“Yueyue gave birth!”
“Really?”
“There are photos too, just a bit blurry. Who knows what Little Nine was doing…”
“Let me see… oh my! Two little sweethearts! So cute! Is the older one the brother?”
“Yes. It’s good the older one is the brother, he can protect his sister when they grow up.”
The old master eagerly leaned over: “You have photos and didn’t tell me sooner? Let me see…”
“Don’t grab!”
…
Han family.
Just like Han Yunru, ever since Jiang Fuyue went to Duofu, the old master’s first thing every morning was to check WeChat, then read the news about the A–K standoff and international situation.
Today was no different. As usual, he had just picked up his phone,
Clang!
Han Shen heard the noise and thought the old master had fallen, so he rushed in immediately.
Han Ke and Han Heng followed closely behind.
But as soon as they pushed open the door, they saw the old master holding his phone, his whole body trembling.
“Dad, what’s wrong?”
“She, she gave birth…” Even his voice trembled.
“What?”
“Yueyue gave birth! Dragon and phoenix twins! A pair of little treasures!”
Han Shen: “!”
Han Ke: “!”
Han Heng: “…So young as I am, I still couldn’t escape becoming a grand-uncle?”
“Get lost! Dad, are there photos?”
“Yes, yes, look, the three of them are sleeping so soundly…”
The four of them quickly huddled together around the phone, smiles filling their eyes and brows.
Even the toughest men could be this gentle.
Sister Yue has delivered!
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