Young Brave Hearts – CH 106

Chapter 106: Pregnant with Lu Rangchen’s Child 02

◎ “You’re incredibly alluring.” ◎

Zhu Yunque was never one to be pretentious.

But the moment she found out she was pregnant, an inexplicable sense of bewilderment and fear completely overwhelmed her.

It was a complex and anxious feeling.

So much so that she skipped evening self-study that day, taking leave and being taken home by Lu Rangchen.

Lu Rangchen scheduled a prenatal checkup for her the next day.

It was at a very good private obstetrics and gynecology hospital; no waiting, no hassle.

On the way home, he took her to an imported supermarket and bought her lots of nutritional supplements and food.

He treated her like a child, speaking to her with constant patience and gentleness.

Although he was usually like that, too.

But the feeling was different.

Unlike now, Zhu Yunque was no longer just herself; she was also the mother of Lu Rangchen’s baby in her womb.

This deep, unbreakable bond with Lu Rangchen, this sense of destiny, was both novel and profound for Zhu Yunque. This child, the fruit of their love, made the undeniable connection between their fates even clearer.

That indescribable, wondrous feeling filled the entire night.

So the two had a heart-to-heart talk throughout the night.

About this unexpected little life.

To be honest, Lu Rangchen’s initial surprise wasn’t much better than Zhu Yunque’s.

He genuinely hadn’t expected this to happen, even though they always used protection. However, his biggest worry at that moment was Zhu Yunque’s condition.

The girl seemed completely unprepared.

She was preoccupied the whole way home.

No matter how he tried to comfort her.

That was why Lu Rangchen initiated this conversation.

He held Zhu Yunque on his lap and earnestly asked her if she really wanted this little life.

“I know you’re afraid.”

He raised his hand to wipe her slightly moist eyes. He said, “I won’t force you. You can choose whatever you want. I respect your choice.”

Zhu Yunque hadn’t expected his attitude.

After a slight surprise, her expression softened. She asked him just as earnestly, “And you? Are you welcoming it?”

“What do you think?”

Lu Rangchen raised an eyebrow seriously. “It’s my own flesh and blood, and it’s with you. Of course, I welcome it.”

He paused, then said, “Or perhaps I’m looking forward to it.”

“…Looking forward to it?”

“Of course.”

Lu Rangchen smiled and said, “It’s just that it did come a little early, so I said, if you’re not ready yet, you can—”

Before he could finish, Zhu Yunque stopped him with her finger, blocking his slightly parted lips.

Her ears inexplicably burned as she said, “No, that’s your baby; I can’t bear to.”

A smile slowly bloomed in Lu Rangchen’s eyes.

He held her two slender, white fingers, kissing them gently as if coaxing her, and said, “So it’s settled then?”

“It was settled from the beginning.”

Zhu Yunque gently looked away, saying, “If it happens, we’ll have it.”

“Since you’ve already thought it through,” Lu Rangchen tightened his arms around her soft waist, glanced at her lower abdomen, then looked up at her with deep, doting eyes, saying, “Then what are you afraid of? What are you worried about?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Can I share the burden with you?”

The man’s tone was persuasive.

His magnetic voice sent shivers down her spine.

Zhu Yunque silently looked at him, her pounding heart instantly surrendering.

She had to admit, Lu Rangchen’s love for her was always substantial enough to give her the courage to move forward.

She considered it for a moment. Zhu Yunque pursed her lips and spoke the truth: “…I’m afraid of pain.”

This was almost every girl’s greatest fear in early pregnancy.

Whether it was a natural birth or a cesarean section, childbirth was very taxing on women.

Lu Rangchen was certainly aware of this.

After learning about Zhu Yunque’s misunderstanding, he went back and specifically researched childbirth-related information.

Therefore, he knew all too well the harm the little one would cause Zhu Yunque.

But it was too late to put the brakes on.

Now that they’d reached this point, they needed to find a solution.

Lu Rangchen tucked a stray hair behind her ear and said, “You know I’ve been working really hard to earn money lately. With how advanced medicine is these days, I can’t guarantee anything else, but I think money can definitely help alleviate your pain.”

“Once your belly gets bigger, I’ll find a nanny to take care of you.”

“If you’d like, the nanny can stay at our home to help take care of the baby until the child goes to middle school or high school.”

“A postpartum care center is also necessary. I heard Zhou Jin has already booked one. I’ll go ask her for advice and find the best one in Nancheng. If you feel tired after giving birth, you don’t have to go to work. You can do whatever you want at home.”

“Like taking care of the baby, I’ll do it, and you can help me, okay?”

“Of course, if you’re worried about your figure, then you don’t need to worry at all,” Lu Rangchen smiled faintly, “because I don’t care at all.”

He tilted his head slightly and kissed the tip of her chin, his voice deep, and chuckled, “I wish you weren’t so pretty, so other men wouldn’t stare at you.”

Zhu Yunque had heard many sweet words.

But none had ever been as outrageous as this.

Zhu Yunque laughed irritably, “You’re overthinking it. What’s so interesting about a married woman like me?”

Lu Rangchen chuckled seriously, “That’s because you haven’t noticed.”

Wherever the two of them went before, almost every time they encountered a young man, those men would stare intently at Zhu Yunque.

Of course, this often happened to him, too.

A group of young and pretty girls would glance at Lu Rangchen.

However, no matter where they went, Lu Rangchen’s eyes were only on Zhu Yunque. The girls would glance at him a couple of times, then, realizing he was already taken, they would automatically look away.

Of course, that was a tangent.

Zhu Yunque steered the conversation back, saying, “You may not care, but I do.”

She lightly pinched Lu Rangchen’s pert nose and said, “I don’t want to be a dried-up mess at thirty while you still look like a flower.”

This corny remark immediately made Lu Rangchen laugh.

He chuckled softly twice and said, “So that’s what you’re worried about.”

Zhu Yunque raised an eyebrow haughtily. “Who told you men to be such visual creatures?”

“Fine.” Lu Rangchen knew he wouldn’t believe any promises he made, so he shrugged and smiled. “We’ll see.”

“But to be honest,” he picked Zhu Yunque up in a princess carry, drawing out his words, “I wasn’t attracted to you because you’re pretty.”

“Really?”

Zhu Yunque wrapped her arms around his neck and laughed. “Then what was it?”

“Because you’re so adorable, of course.”

Lu Rangchen kissed her lips, his deep, clear eyes fixed on her. “You’re lovable, and you make people want to protect you.”

“…”

“Basically, you’re incredibly alluring.”

…

Although they were supposedly talking about the baby in her belly, they inevitably ended up having another intimate encounter that night. Having already conceived, and no longer needing to worry about contraception, Lu Rangchen experienced for the first time what true intimacy felt like.

Of course, for the safety of both mother and child, he remained quite restrained.

It only happened once or twice.

The next day, he threw himself into the role of expectant father, getting up early to heat milk for Zhu Yunque, preparing her nutritional supplements, and then taking her to the hospital for a checkup.

As it turned out, he hadn’t just made empty promises to Zhu Yunque.

The private hospital’s service was indeed excellent; Zhu Yunque had booked an appointment with the best specialist, and the examination was completed quickly with the results.

The results were clear.

Both she and the baby were healthy; it was just that the pregnancy hadn’t been discovered in time.

Zhu Yunque was already a month and a half pregnant.

The doctor’s opinion was that Zhu Yunque was too thin and needed to be given more nutrition.

So, for a long time afterward, Lu Rangchen prepared a variety of meals for Zhu Yunque every day.

For the first two months, she had very little appetite.

She was vomiting and nauseous; it was a very difficult time.

It wasn’t until three months later, when her belly became visible, that she gradually regained her appetite.

Also quickly, news of Zhu Yunque’s pregnancy spread throughout the school. The head of student affairs, worried about her being overworked, immediately reduced her workload by one class and relieved her of her duties of supervising students in the evenings.

Deng Jiao learned about her pregnancy from other classmates.

She was extremely unhappy about this.

Of course, despite her dissatisfaction, she had no say in the matter; she was simply curious whether Zhu Yunque’s baby was a boy or a girl.

Zhu Yunque said she didn’t know either.

Neither she nor Lu Rangchen asked.

During lunch break, the two sat in the office eating the lunchbox Lu Rangchen had brought for Zhu Yunque. Deng Jiao exclaimed dramatically, “Huh? Why didn’t you ask about something so important? I remember doctors usually tell you things subtly.”

“It’s not important.”

Zhu Yunque shrugged gently. “He said he likes both boys and girls.”

Deng Jiao was genuinely a little jealous.

She grimaced and shrugged, “And you?”

“Me too.”

Zhu Yunque gently touched her belly.

Thinking to herself, she liked anything of Lu Rangchen, a million times over.

–

Speaking of the pregnancy, Zhu Yunque genuinely didn’t know when the news spread widely within and outside their circle.

She only remembered that for a while, many people rushed to her house to deliver things.

Some were delivered by courier, some by drivers themselves.

Basically, whatever was cheap was delivered.

She was given whatever she liked to eat.

The most special item in the package was from overseas.

A large box of prenatal vitamins, supplements, and baby supplies.

The address was a little unfamiliar.

But seeing it was from Australia, Zhu Yunque instantly understood.

She immediately called Feng Yanlai.

Feng Yanlai didn’t hide anything, admitting she had bought it, saying she heard about Zhu Yunque’s pregnancy from Zhu Ping’an.

Zhu Yunque and Lu Rangchen had agreed not to announce it for three months.

So they waited until then.

She had thought Feng Yanlai would be unhappy since she hadn’t invited her to the wedding.

But Feng Yanlai was much more open-minded than she had imagined.

She hadn’t attended the wedding because she didn’t want to upset anyone, especially herself; she was content knowing Zhu Yunque was married, and the wedding was successful.

But pregnancy was different.

This was a truly significant matter for the woman.

After all, it was her own flesh and blood; how could she not feel heartache? Feng Yanlai didn’t beat around the bush and soon asked her how she was feeling lately, whether she was in a good mood, and so on.

Perhaps it was due to hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy.

Zhu Yunque’s eyes suddenly welled up with tears at her question.

After a few seconds, she smiled and said, “I’m fine; everything’s fine. Lu Rangchen is very indulgent towards me, giving me the best of everything.”

This wasn’t a lie.

Lu Rangchen truly did take meticulous care of her.

Whether it was food, clothing, or daily necessities, he no longer listened to her. He didn’t care about frugality or extravagance; he even changed her skincare products three times, all of them high-end.

Not to mention her daily needs.

Even so, several times when Zhu Yunque was feeling unwell and particularly irritable, Lu Rangchen always comforted her, never getting angry.

No matter how busy he was, he would always apply pregnancy oil to her every night, stay with her, and hold her as they slept.

It was precisely these little things, these seemingly insignificant details, that confirmed Zhu Yunque’s belief that Lu Rangchen’s love for her was timeless; he truly, truly, truly loved her.

These were matters between the young couple that Zhu Yunque couldn’t easily discuss with Feng Yanlai, so she could only vaguely say that she was doing well and everything was fine.

Feng Yanlai was relieved to hear this.

She said, “Okay, as long as you’re doing well.”

She also said that she would find time to come back and visit her after the baby was born.

Speaking of reasonable things, she couldn’t help but ask Zhu Yunque how Cheng Liru was doing, whether she had come to see her after learning about her pregnancy, or if she had been targeting her.

Zhu Yunque knew that Feng Yanlai didn’t care whether Cheng Liru cared about her; she was just afraid that Cheng Liru would make things difficult for her.

She was even more afraid that after the marriage, Lu Rangchen would side with her mother and cause her trouble.

After all, in her eyes, life wasn’t a novel or a TV drama.

It couldn’t be that perfect.

But in reality, Cheng Liru was just overthinking things.

For so long, Cheng Liru hadn’t only missed the wedding, but she hadn’t seen her even once.

Lu Rangchen and Zhu Yunque lived a carefree life in their own house.

Lu Rangchen only visited Cheng Liru when necessary.

Zhu Yunque had no idea what Cheng Liru’s attitude or opinion of her was since their marriage.

Lu Rangchen had protected her too well.

But she didn’t care.

There were too many things in this world to care about; how could she possibly attend to them all?

Hearing this, Feng Yanlai finally felt relieved. “It’s best to keep to ourselves; that way, everyone’s at peace.”

She sighed, “But I really feel bad for her. I’ve anonymously sent her gifts every year for years; I guess she just threw them away.”

Cheng Liru was gentle and dignified, but she was stubborn on certain issues.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have remained so dismissive of her daughter-in-law after so many years of marriage.

But regardless, Cheng Liru wasn’t a bad person; otherwise, Zhu Yunque wouldn’t be so at ease. So even without Feng Yanlai saying it, Zhu Yunque knew she would definitely treat Cheng Liru as her own mother in the future.

They chatted for a while without realizing it.

Just before hanging up, Feng Yanlai remembered to ask if she had chosen a name for the baby.

She also asked if it was a boy or a girl.

Zhu Yunque answered Feng Yanlai with the same words she had used to answer Deng Jiao, adding, “I haven’t decided on a name yet. I think there are still a few months left, so there’s still time.”

“Even if there’s still time, you should choose early. Otherwise, it’ll be too rushed to announce the name after the baby is born.”

Advice from someone with experience was always worth considering.

So that evening, after having dinner with Lu Rangchen and taking a walk by the lake, Zhu Yunque seriously asked Lu Rangchen what their child’s name was.

Lu Rangchen took her hand, thought for a moment, and said, “We can name it something simple; that way it’ll be easier to raise.”

Zhu Yunque’s lips twitched, and she glanced at him sideways. “Like what?”

Lu Rangchen chuckled and said, “Like Zaozao, it can be used for both boys and girls.”

“…”

Zhu Yunque looked at him with amusement. “Does it have any special meaning?”

“Of course it does.”

Lu Rangchen stopped, pulled her close, and kissed her on the lips, grinning cheekily, “Hurry up and come out of my wife’s belly; don’t stop us from enjoying our time together.”