134. Morning Sickness

The party that day, due to Yan Li's appearance and Ling Chuan Jiang's disappearance, the atmosphere had died down. In the end everyone gave Secretary Zhang a few words of blessings and the house hastily emptied out. Su Yi Cheng was called into the study room by Secretary Zhang, while An Ran was pulled into the living room by Mrs. Zhang for a chat.

In the study room, Secretary Zhang had his hands behind him, stood in front of the window and looked out, while Su Yi Cheng was standing a few steps away from him. For a while, neither said anything.

The moon tonight was bright and beautiful, the round moon was sprinkled with starlight around it, a cold beauty.

They stood there for a while. Sighing, Secretary Zhang slowly starts to say, “After a few years, he will retire. There was no need.” His tone was heavy, there was this unspeakable gloom.

“He doesn't think so.” Su Yi Cheng just faintly replied.

Secretary Zhang turned his head back, looked at him, and said, “I know you really hate him for the tricks he played on you last time.”

“The materials that I handed over were real, none of it was fake.” Su Yi Cheng explained, “Uncle Zhang, it's not that if I don't provoke people they won't provoke me, sometimes power is an enticing thing for people. He's afraid that I would get in his way, so he wanted to eliminate me by any means. I cannot just stand there waiting for someone else to slaughter me.”

Secretary Zhang looked at him, finally shook his head, “Just..” He and Ling Chuan Jiang worked together for so long, it could even be said that Ling Chuan Jiang had brought him up, so naturally he would know his conduct. In fact, he was aware of his errors, he even asked for his opinion on work in the past. Even after all these years it's not easy for anyone.

“Ring ring ring---”

The phone in Secretary Zhang's studio rang at this time. He looked at the caller ID, then glanced at Su Yi Cheng. He let out a sigh as he picked up the phone, it was Mrs. Ling who had called.

Su Yi Cheng looked at him, then nodded, and just said, “Uncle Zhang, I will leave first.”

Secretary Zhang just nodded, and waved his hand.

When he came out An Ran and Mrs. Zhang were in the living room. Mrs. Zhang was talking as she was patting An Ran, a big smile was present on both their faces, it seemed as if they were happy. Seeing Su Yi Cheng appear, Mrs. Zhang looked at Su Yi Cheng and playfully scolded, “You ah Ah Cheng, I knew you were hiding away your wife, if it weren't for me insisting that you bring An Ran today, were you going to keep hiding her from me?”

“Not at all, An Ran's sensitive, she's shy.” Su Yi Cheng laughed as he headed over towards them.

“Che, An Ran's fine chatting with me, we're this familiar already.” Mrs. Zhang turned her head to look at An Ran, and asked her, “An Ran, isn't that right.”

An Ran smiled and nodded, “Yes, I'm comfortable with auntie.”

Su Yi Cheng rubbed his nose in embarra.s.sment. He muttered, who was the one who pulled him aside before reaching here, asking what Auntie Zhang was like, is she nice, kind and what not.

She sent Su Yi Cheng and An Ran out to the yard. Mrs. Zhang was still reluctant. Perhaps it was because she had no children, the house gets very lonely, no genuine liveliness.

She pulled on An Ran's hand, reluctant to let her leave, “An Ran ah, why don't you two stay the night, we have a lot of empty rooms.”

An Ran looked at her in amus.e.m.e.nt, and said, “Auntie, I will come visit you.”

Mrs. Zhang was a little disappointed, but could only nod. She could only remind them to be careful on the road, and to drive slowly.

In the car, An Ran looked at him, and couldn't help but ask, “Does that issue with the mayor have anything to do with you?” She clearly heard Ling Chuan Jiang say ‘Counting on you', at that time there was no one else, it was clearly directed towards Su Yi Cheng.

Su Yi Cheng turned to look at her, then turned back to look at the road. He just nodded slightly, and said, “I handed over the materials.”

An Ran nodded. Silently, she turned to look out the window. Somewhat speaking to herself, “Isn't politics just like that, he framed you in the past, in any case no one is safe.”

Su Yi Cheng chuckled and shook his head. He knew that she was thinking too much, and reached out to stroke her hand, holding her. Not turning his head, he asked, “Are you imagining things again?”

An Ran turned to look at him, and squeezed his hand back, “You exposed him today, will there be someone who'll expose you tomorrow? Like last time?” She found out herself, apparently being pregnant can make you easily depressed, she was p.r.o.ne to worry about everything.

Su Yi Cheng was defeated by her. He glanced over at her, knowing that if he doesn't answer her now that she would overthink. So he pulled the car over to the side, pulled on her hand and carefully scrutinized it, put it up to his lips and gently kissed her, then raised his head to look at her, asked, “An Ran, in your eyes am I a man of no principle?”

An Ran shook her head. She looked at him with some confusion. He was really outstanding, this is something she had known from the start, and had never doubted.

“Then why are you so worried that I would be exposed or framed by someone?” With that, Su Yi Cheng pinched her nose playfully.

“I, I'm just afraid that it'll be like last time.” She muttered in a low voice as she looked at him.

“Dummy.” His large palm stroked her head, “Last time it was something they deliberately made up, it was nothing at all, and I didn't let go of my principles, we have nothing to be afraid of at all. The investigation team will conduct the investigation according to the leads provided, no one will hastily make a judgement on the basis of the data, there still needs to be an investigation and all.”

“Really?” An Ran was still uncertain, and looked at him with some doubt.

“Of course it's true.” Su Yi Cheng gave her a definite reply. Then he reached out to stroke her face, as he said to her, “An Ran, trust me, last time that was a mishap, after that lesson, I will never let that same mistake happen again, to let someone take an opportunity to exploit me.”

An Ran looked at him earnestly. A while later, she nodded. She muttered in a low voice, “I actually knew that, and believe you. But I still can't help but think.”

Su Yi Cheng reached out to pull her into his embrace, his hand patted her, he softly whispers into her ears, “I know, I know.”

“Okay.” An Ran hugged him back, with some strength.

Sometimes the media is such a powerful community, even if many try to hide the news, they will always somehow manage to dig it up. The news about Ling Chuan Jiang being investigated by the disciplinary committee was exposed by ‘Jiang City News', even about the progress of the investigation, Ling Chuan Jiang's use of the public office to accept bribery of nearly 5 million yuan, which even involved powerful corporations, that kind of news caused an uproar in the city.

Su Yi Cheng was still busy with Ke Ji City, and the bidding of the project was slowly getting on the right track, so compared to before, he had some time to see people.

However, as Su Yi Cheng was slowly settling down, An Ran, who did not have morning sickness before, suddenly had some morning sickness that acted up, she had no appet.i.te, even smelling would make her gag. At first Auntie Zhang only came once every three days, but now because An Ran's sickness was so severe, and Su Yi Cheng had to go to work, they could only have Auntie Zhang come over every day to take care of An Ran.

Qin Yun and Lin Xiao Fen also came over every other day to deliver chicken soup. Before, she was fine with drinking chicken soup, but now the smell of it was unbearable, she would run to the bathroom and throw up, scaring Qin Yun and Lin Xiao Fen that they stopped bringing over soup. Qin Yun didn't know where she had heard it from, but she heard that eating pigeon eggs was good for pregnancy, so instead of bringing over soup she brought over a bag of pigeon eggs, then accompanied An Ran and chatted the entire day. In consideration of Su Yi Cheng being busy due to work, and she was uneasy with An Ran going outside on her own, Lin Xiao Fen would from time to time make An Ran's favourite food and bring it over.

Pregnancy could really change a person's preferences, what she loved to eat before, she could not stand the smell of it now, and the things she didn't like before, she now had this inexplicable craving for them. However in the end she still didn't have much appet.i.te, her mouth was unenthusiastic, nothing she ate was flavourful. She ate little, and threw up a lot, a week of this, An Ran wasn't able to gain any weight, but rather thinned a lot. Su Yi Cheng watching this had a frown on his face, full of heartache.

Su Yi Cheng had come back from a dinner party, An Ran was already asleep, her eyes closed as she lied on her side on the bed, her arms on top of his pillow.

Upon seeing her thinning face, his mouth became pointed, and rubbed her face with heartache, then lowered his head to kiss her forehead.

Then he gently lifts up the blanket covering her, put his large palm over her belly, stroked it softly, and whispered, “Baby, don't torture mommy, daddy feels sorry for her.” As he said that, he gently leaned over, put his ear against her belly, and continued, “You need to eat well, don't be picky about food, wait when you come out, daddy will buy you lots of delicious food.”

“Hehe….” Laughter came out from above Su Yi Cheng, clear and sweet.

Su Yi Cheng raised his head, then saw that An Ran was already awake. Her eyes wide open staring at him, her face had a smile.

He got up and reached for a kiss, then after a while he released her, reached out and combed away some stray hair. His voice sounded a bit sorry as he said, “Did I wake you up?”

An Ran smiled and shook her head. She looked at the time, and looked at him again with some pity, “So late.”

He doesn't answer her, and doesn't go wash up and change, just took off his socks, his coat, and lied down on the bed with his arm around her, so that his chest became her pillow.

He lowered his head and kissed the crown of her head, asked, “Are you still throwing up a lot today?”

Leaned against him, An Ran nodded, and slowly closed her eyes, feeling this inexplicable peace. Suddenly she remembered something, chuckled, and reached out to hit his chest, “Heng heng, it's all your fault, it's because of your ‘little sweetheart' that I'm like this.” She was afraid of hurting him, so she didn't hit too hard.

Su Yi Cheng m.u.f.fled a laugh, and drew her into a tighter hug. He admitted his mistake, and said, “Yes, it's my bad.”

“Forget it, I'll forgive you, seeing how you apologized wasn't bad.” Holding back a yawn, a certain someone was deliberately speaking magnanimously. Actually, not only is it his the ‘little sweetheart' in her belly, it's also her darling too.

Su Yi Cheng doesn't refute her, and just followed along, so long as she's happy. However as he hugged her, he noticed how thin she has become. He couldn't help but frown. She was obviously pregnant, but she seemed to be even thinner than she was before pregnancy, almost like a bone person.

With some heartache he whispered into her ear and said, “Wife, let's find a time to go out and play.” Being shut indoors all day must be making her depressed, going out and sightseeing, should pick up her mood, and perhaps may improve her appet.i.te too.

An Ran in his arms was getting sleepy, she hadn't slept much today, and she had thrown up almost everything she'd eaten this morning, even the smell would send her retching for a while, but not eating made her so very hungry, once she ate she had no appet.i.te. However, for herself and her baby in her belly, she tried her best to eat more, and of course, she vomited more. So, she had been eating and throwing up all day, didn't even have time to get sleepy, so now she was extremely exhausted.

With weariness, An Ran asked, “Do you have time?” Recently he had been busy, even though not as busy as before, but he doesn't have much free time, and had to leave for work early morning. Of course, he returns late too, just not as bad as before.

Hearing that, Su Yi Cheng felt guilty, and said, “Sorry, I haven't had the time to keep you company.” Recently, he truly did not have any time to be with An Ran. They say that during pregnancy women become sensitive and frail, they will often feel lonely, and will need company more than before. But concerning that, he seemed to be doing a bad job, not a qualified husband.

“Silly, you're struggling for us.” An Ran chuckled. She reached out and pulled on his hand and placed it on her belly, her head rubbed against his chest. Then she slowly closed her eyes, even though she really wanted to talk to him a bit more, but her eyelids were really getting heavy, and the baby in her belly is calling her to sleep.

Su Yi Cheng chuckled, his large palm caressed her belly, the most intimate contact with the baby. A while later he held her and softly says to her, “An Ran, we'll take a stroll this weekend, look at the mountains, look at the ocean, we'll go wherever you want, okay?” Accompanying her to relieve boredom, together, it can be considered as him unwinding too.

Su Yi Cheng hugged her, and didn't hear her answer for a while. He cautiously calls out, “An Ran?”

The person in his arms seemed to have heard him, rubbed her head against his chest, then murmured, “Yi Cheng….” Her voice was not clear, obviously speaking in her sleep.

He then lowered his head, and saw that the person in his arms already had her eyes closed, her little lips slightly open, listening carefully, he could even hear a lovely little snore, faint, gentle. He laughed and shook his head, and lowered his head to give a kiss on her lips. Her top lip closed, the little lips started to pout, it looked so adorable.

He moved as slowly and quietly as possible, slowly drew his arm out of her neck, and gently placed her head on her pillow. Then he quietly lifted the covers up and got off the bed, grabbed a pair of pyjamas from the wardrobe to change into, and went into the bathroom.

The next morning when An Ran woke up again, Su Yi Cheng had already left for work. She came out rubbing her eyes out of the sleepiness, Auntie Zhang was already here. She saw her muddle-headed appearance, and laughed as she said, “Madam, do you want me to heat up your breakfast now, the breakfast was personally done by the mister when I arrived.”

Hearing that, An Ran seemed to clear her head, looked at her and asked, “Yi Cheng made it?” Recently because Auntie Zhang came over every day, and Su Yi Cheng was busy with work, An Ran needed about 8-9 hours of sleep, so Auntie Zhang had been making breakfast for her after waiting for her to wake up.

Auntie Zhang laughed and said, “Yes ah, the mister said that he hadn't made breakfast for you in a long time, and was afraid that you'd forget the taste of his cooking.” How could she forget the taste of his cooking, it was obvious that he couldn't stand seeing her lose that much weight, he clearly felt heartache for his wife.

An Ran had a pretty smile on her face, nodded, and said, “I'll go brush my teeth now.” She turned around and went into the bathroom. She was in a good mood, her voice was in high spirits, even her footsteps were light.

Auntie Zhang was watching her, and laughed. She had been a housekeeper for many years, and had gone through many employers, but very few instances had she seen such a happily married couple, people observing them would be envious.

She laughed as she shook her head, turned around to heat up the cold breakfast, then poured a large gla.s.s of milk. Not sure if it was because Su Yi Cheng's cooking was that great, but after eating his food, An Ran seemed to have a good appet.i.te, after that little breakfast she also managed to get that large gla.s.s of fresh milk down. It was really a miracle, she did not vomit, did not even feel nauseous.

The watching Auntie Zhang was a little dumbstruck, even when she was cleaning up the table she couldn't help but mutter to herself, “So even the little darling in the stomach can recognize their own family's handiwork, knew that the father had woken up early morning to make it, so did not want to waste his effort, and torment the mother.”

An Ran had heard it and laughed. She looked down on her belly, and rubbed it. It wasn't the handiwork, it was the intention, she and her baby both valued the breakfast that he had made, so eating it made them especially happy, blessed.

When Lin Li called An Ran had just woken up. She said that she hadn't seen her in a while, so she'll come over this evening to talk and eat, they should hang out.

An Ran thought it was okay as well, Su Yi Cheng always came home quite late, and Auntie Zhang would leave after making dinner, so she always ate dinner alone. Besides, she and Lin Li really hadn't seen each other in a while, ever since being discharged from the hospital, a month had pa.s.sed since then. Thus, she readily agreed.

In consideration of An Ran's pregnant state, Lin Li had found a place close to her house, the area was also quite quiet and secluded.

When An Ran arrived, Lin Li wasn't there yet. She still liked to sit by the window, so she went straight to a window seat. She drank from the gla.s.s of water that the waitress brought her, and would look out the window from time to time and watch the people pa.s.sing by.

The waitress gave her a menu, An Ran looked at it first, but just looking at the pictures of the dishes, An Ran had no appet.i.te for them, instinctively rejected them, somewhat repulsed.

Lin Li energetically rushed over. It looked like she had been running, her hair was messed up by the wind, when she got over to her seat her breath was still unsteady.

Seeing her appearance, An Ran couldn't help but grumble, “Why were you in such a hurry! Look at you panting, I won't run away.”

She grabbed the gla.s.s of water the waitress had left, and drank half of it, “I didn't want to make you wait. Traffic was jammed up all the way up to Garden Street, almost died running."

“You can just give me a call.” An Ran said. She can just say that she'd be a little late, she wouldn't mind waiting a little more.

As she said that, Lin Li gave her a glare, “You're so certain that you have your cellphone on you.” Did she think that she wanted to run over here, who was the one who forgot to take her phone with her, she called so many times yet no one picked up, made her scared that she'd keep her waiting for too long, so she got off the car half way, and ran over here.

“Ah!” Upon hearing that, An Ran looked through her bag. She indeed did not find her cellphone, then she remembered, before leaving she was afraid it'd be windy, so she grabbed a coat before leaving, while leaving the cellphone on top of the counter. When she left she hadn't noticed, so she just went out the door without it.

She looked at Lin Li apologetically, and said, “I forgot it at home.”

Lin Li glared at her, and waved her hand, “Whatever, I'll just consider it as exercise.” After that, she looked at the menu on the table, and asked, “So, did you see anything you like.”

An Ran shook her head, and pushed the menu aside, said, “You can order, I really don't know what to eat.”

Lin Li looked at her, doesn't say much, and just looked over tonight's special. After all, she had been pregnant before, she knew how bad the sickness can be, even if you just look at something you'd have no appet.i.te.

She just chose a few dishes randomly, asked for two bowls of plain rice, and the two girls chatted as they ate.

Today was a good day, even though she didn't have much appet.i.te, but she didn't feeling like vomiting either, so An Ran told herself to eat as much as possible, even if she didn't like it.

Halfway through the meal, Lin Li suddenly thought of something. She quickly took something out of her bag, and pa.s.sed it over to An Ran saying, “Oh yes, I'm returning the key to you, I already found a place, turns out the company has a dorm arranged for me, and I already handed over the paperwork last week, it had been approved the day before yesterday, so I already moved my stuff into the dormitory.”

“You really have a dorm?” An Ran looked at her, somewhat doubtfully.

Lin Li glared at her, and said, “Of course it's true, do you not see what our company does, we do real estate, buy houses, don't tell me they'll let their employees sleep on the streets ah.”

An Ran gave her a dirty look, but doesn't say much more. She just reached out and accepted it.

“Gu An Ran.”

Suddenly a voice came up from behind, listening carefully one could hear the anger and unhappiness from their tone.

An Ran and Lin Li turned around at the same time, only to see not too far from them, Ling Lin was looking at them with a face full of anger.

---END OF CHAPTER---

Uh oh, why is this person back again =.= seriously, An Ran already left, what more do this b* want lol.

And surprise, since the last chapter was so short I was able to finish this chapter not too long after. Hope you guys enjoy it, happy Good Friday and Easter :)