Sissy (Niang Niang Qiang) - Chap 78 END
Chapter 78
Li Chengxiu didn’t even manage to take a few steps, before his legs felt weak. Shao Qun helped him get into the car.
He asked in a trembling voice, “Shao Qun, what should I do? Will it be…”
Shao Qun patted him on the back and said solemnly, “No, don’t think too much. I am a lucky person, and the Heavens have always been on my side. Our son will be fine.”
Li Chengxiu’s eyes gradually became wet. He looked at Shao Qun with an unfocused gaze and choked: “But… she fell…”
Li Chengxiu didn’t understand why this was happening now. He stopped fighting, he had already resigned himself to fate. The only thing he hoped for in exchange was to be able to live a peaceful and stable life. But the Heavens still didn’t leave him be.
He already had nothing. Couldn’t he at least have a child? Why should a weak little life that was only about to be born suffer such twists and turns of destiny?
Li Chengxiu didn’t even dare to think what would happen in case the child was gone…
He was so frightened by his own thoughts that his face was deadly pale. He tightly held onto Shao Qun’s arm. Only this man could prevent him from crumbling down entirely.
Shao Qun comforted him: “Baby, don’t think about it too much. Trust me, it’s all gonna be fine. Most people don’t carry to full term, so many babies are born prematurely after only 7 months. The baby just couldn’t wait to meet us. Don’t be afraid. Believe me, it will be alright.”
Li Chengxiu trembled: “Really?”
Shao Qun nodded firmly: “Really.”
Shao Qun’s heart was beating wildly.
He couldn’t believe something so bad could happen. How could the Heavens make him and Li Chengxiu go through so much?
He repeated to himself over and over again that they already had a hard life, so the Heavens would definitely bless their baby. If something really happened to the child, Shao Qun didn’t know how he would look Li Chengxiu in the eye.
They finally got to where they are today, and Shao Qun was not going to let anything or anyone take Li Chengxiu away from him.
Shao Qun pressed Li Chengxiu’s head to his chest and stroked his back to comfort him. He was afraid that Li Chengxiu would see the panic in his eyes.
Li Chengxiu’s body trembled uncontrollably. He stretched out his hand and gently wrapped his arms around Shao Qun’s waist.
When something like this happened, he realized how important it was to have someone with a strong backbone beside him.
Compared to his panic, Shao Qun’s calmness and determination at this time gave him great strength. Shao Qun’s voice seemed to have magic powers, and it hypnotized him, making him actually believe that their child would be fine and would grow up strong and healthy.
Li Chengxiu still doubted how long this man’s love would last. He was afraid that there would never come a time when he wouldn’t doubt it. However, no matter what happened in the past and what will happen in the future, at least at this moment, Li Chengxiu was grateful that Shao Qun was by his side.
Whether it was when his mother had an accident or when he painfully ended their relationship, Li Chengxiu had always carried everything on his own shoulders. He prayed countless times that someone would help him. Even if it was just a little bit of comfort.
At least now, Shao Qun was there for him.
Li Chengxiu closed his eyes, listened to Shao Qun’s strong heartbeat, felt his warm chest, and his heart gradually calmed down.
When the two of them arrived at the hospital, the surrogate was already in the delivery room.
The hospital was empty and silent in the early morning. Shao Qun wrapped Li Chengxiu in his coat, as they sat down on the bench. He gently squeezed Li Chengxiu’s hand and comforted him: “Both the mother and the child will be safe. Trust me.”
Li Chengxiu was weary, but he still nodded: “Yes, yes… Mother and child will be alright.”
Shao Qun said softly, “Chengxiu, have you decided what your son’s name will be?”
Li Chengxiu took a loud breath: “I thought about it for a long time… I haven’t decided… What about you, have you thought about it?”
“Hehe, how about we call him Xiuqun[6]?”
Li Chengxiu smiled reluctantly: “Don’t joke about this, you brat.”
Shao Qun laughed out loud: “Actually, I don’t like children very much. I find them kind of annoying, but as long as I think that this little one shares your blood, I think of him as a treasure to be protected.”
Li Chengxiu looked at the clock and said softly, “Shao Qun, have you thought about… In case the child… looks like me…”
Shao Qun squeezed his hand and looked at Li Chengxiu with a smile: “I thought about it a long time ago. And you know what? I thought I’ll cross this bridge when I come to it. Back then, all I cared about was deceiving my sister for long enough to manage to lure you back to me.”
Li Chengxiu looked at him helplessly: “You…”
Shao Qun hugged his shoulders, let him lean on his body, and said solemnly: “At that time, I was like a fly without a head. As long as there was a way out, I would rush towards it. I didn’t have the capacity to seriously weigh the negatives and consequences of it all. It turned out that I did the right thing, since this decision allowed me to hold you in my arms like this now. Also… don’t all boys just look like their mothers? If it doesn’t fool my sister and my father, then, hey, so be it. I really don’t care much about it anymore.”
Li Chengxiu looked at him and felt a little moved.
He knew how much pressure Shao Qun had to bear in order to do all these things. He also knew that Shao Qun did feel guilty towards his family. Once this matter was discovered, Shao Qun would probably get himself into hot waters.
Li Chengxiu was undoubtedly the beneficiary of this incident. In order to give him guarantees, Shao Qun pushed himself so far that it made Li Chengxiu suddenly feel uncomfortable.
If you want to be with somebody, don’t you have to share their joys and also their difficulties?
Li Chengxiu raised his hand and gently touched Shao Qun’s frowning eyebrows: “Shao Qun, I like children. I like all of them. You, if…you can… how about you get one of your own?”
Shao Qun looked at him blankly, and then his eyes suddenly became clear. He grabbed Li Chengxiu’s hand, his face full of excitement.
He didn’t know whether he was excited because of Li Chengxiu’s words or because of his actions. In short, he felt that the unusually heavy door in front of him, which had been closed for a long time, suddenly opened up with a loud bang, indicating that he was once again allowed to enter.
“Chengxiu…”
Li Chengxiu gave him a shallow smile: “I mean it.”
Shao Qun hugged him fiercely, as he choked up: “Chengxiu, thank you.”
The best thing Shao Qun ever did in his life was to never let go of Li Chengxiu.
This person had the purest and the strongest soul, the kindest and the gentlest heart, the broadest and the most compassionate mind. Most importantly, this was the only person whom he loved deeply. Only when he was with Li Chengxiu, he could feel that his world was complete.
As the two of them sat so close to each other, they could hear that their hearts were beating in unison. Although they were a little anxious and a little scared, both of them were still hopeful.
The rules dictated that the surrogate and the father couldn’t meet, so Shao Qun and Li Chengxiu could only sit in the waiting hall, anxiously watching the clock on the wall.
The two of them sat around for more than four hours, witnessing as the hospital went from quiet to very full and lively. When they were almost passed out from exhaustion, the person in charge of the surrogacy agency finally appeared.
Shao Qun and Li Chengxiu quickly stood up and looked at the man with nervous anticipation.
The expressions on assistant Chen’s and the intermediary’s faces were now much more relaxed.
“Mr. Shao, congratulations! Both mother and son are doing well.”
When Li Chengxiu heard these words, his body instantly felt much lighter. His nose felt sore – he was about to burst into tears.
Shao Qun hugged him and kissed his forehead with a lot of emotion. Excitedly, he said “It’s alright, everything’s fine!”
Li Chengxiu nodded and sniffed: “That’s really great…”
Shao Qun patted his face: “I wasn’t wrong. The Heavens are on my side after all.”
Li Chengxiu finally let out a sincere laugh.
The intermediary explained: “The child is pretty weak right now. However all the health indicators are within the norm. You can look at him through the glass right now, and in two days you’ll be able to hug him.”
Li Chengxiu was so excited that he just kept repeating “all right” again and again.
Together with Shao Qun they approached the nursery and looked at the small crib through the glass.
The baby was tiny. Since he couldn’t be bathed yet, his skin was red, and his hair was still stained with his birth mother’s bodily fluids which made the child look a little pitiful.
Li Chengxiu pressed his forehead against the glass and intently looked at the little buddy in the crib. After a long time, he finally was sure that an almost transparent nose was indeed breathing in and out.
Although the child looked so fragile and small now, one day he was going to grow up. Li Chengxiu hoped that he would be bigger than himself and also not so thin. This baby should become a man who stands tall. Just thinking about witnessing the whole process of this child’s development filled Li Chengxiu with gratitude.
Shao Qun quietly stood by his side, watching Li Chengxiu’s focused expression, while a deep sense of satisfaction arose in his heart.
Beside him was his wifey, and in that crib there was his son. He had both a wife and a child. As a man, his life could now be considered complete. In the future, his only goal in life was to work hard to earn more money and spend all his days with Li Chengxiu.
The child was supposed to stay with the birth mother for the first month, so after this day, Li Chengxiu and Shao Qun wouldn’t be able to see the child for quite some time.
According to the rules, they were actually supposed to receive the baby only after it turned one month. If not for the emergency situation, they wouldn’t have been able to see the child so early.
If Li Chengxiu hadn’t seen the baby, he would have probably been fine. But now, after seeing his child, he couldn’t sleep so well anymore. He called the agency at least twice a day to ask how the baby was doing, whether he was eating well, drinking well, sleeping well… Since the child was born prematurely, all these issues weighed heavily on Li Chengxiu’s heart.
Li Chengxiu was often distracted at work during the day. After work, he and Shao Qun were busy decorating the nursery, shopping for baby supplies and other stuff like that. Every day passed by with Li Chengxiu looking forward to his son finally turning 1 month.
Once that day finally arrived, Li Chengxiu, who had normally been a diligent worker, took a rare day off just to welcome the arrival of his child.
Early in the morning, Shao Qun nervously told him that his father and his sisters were coming over to celebrate the baby’s One Month Banquet[7].
Li Chengxiu was a little dumbfounded. How could Shao Qun only tell him about this now and leave him completely unprepared for this occasion?
Actually, Shao Qun’s eldest sister had started pestering him about this already a few days ago. Shao Qun didn’t want his family to visit them so early, so he didn’t mention the entire thing to Li Chengxiu.
“You don’t need to prepare anything in particular. Just cook a few more dishes than you usually do. They are family, so you don’t need to prepare anything special.”
Li Chengxiu’s original excitement had gone down considerably, since he was subconsciously afraid of Shao Qun’s family, especially his father.
Even when not speaking, this intimidating old man had a strong oppressive aura. Li Chengxiu wouldn’t be surprised if this man actually pulled a gun at him once he found out that his grandson was not actually his grandson.
Looking at Li Chengxiu’s face, Shao Qun immediately knew what he was thinking and quickly tried to calm him down: “Don’t be afraid. You would have to meet them sooner or later, there’s no way around it. But no one will dare to bully you, as long as I’m here, okay? My dad is a piece of work, but he is not unreasonable. I have talked to him already, so he will not act out in front of you.”
After the pep talk, Li Chengxiu felt slightly relieved.
Shao Qun then went out to buy vegetables according to the list that Li Chengxiu gave him, while Li Chengxiu himself was busy cleaning up.
When the intermediary came over with the child, Li Chengxiu was so excited to hold him that he even forgot to take off his apron.
The heavy and warm feeling of having his baby in his arms made Li Chengxiu’s eyes turn red all of a sudden.
The child looked much better than a month ago. He had already managed to grow soft fluff on his head, and his skin was white like milk. His eyes were big and dark, while his little lips were pink and tender. Li Chengxiu loved this little bundle of joy so much he didn’t know what to do.
Shao Qun looked at him with a smile: “Do you know how to take care of babies?”
Li Chengxiu nodded: “I have some experience.”
Shao Qun asked with curiosity, “Which child have you taken care of?”
“Distant relatives in my village had a baby… Shao Qun, look at him! Isn’t he smiling?”
Shao Qun fiddled with the baby’s little fingers: “It seems to be his regular expression.”
Li Chengxiu rubbed his cheek against the baby’s face: “I’m also smiling.”
Shao Qun laughed: “I can’t really tell who this child looks like exactly. Probably, takes after his birth mother, after all.” The baby’s features were too inconspicuous – at least, Shao Qun believed that his father and his sisters wouldn’t be able to notice anything suspicious.
Li Chengxiu looked at the baby’s facial features carefully and breathed a sigh of relief. On the other hand, he was also somewhat disappointed.
He took out some warm clothes that he had sewed for the baby, picked out a red onesie and carefully dressed the child. Then he put a onesie of a similar style on the little Teacup. The longer he looked at the two cuties together, the more he liked what he saw and the broader his smile got, as his eyes formed little crescents.
Shao Qun, standing nearby, was taking pictures of this cozy familial bliss.
Li Chengxiu had just finished the preparations for the meal, when the doorbell rang. He stood next to the door with the child in his arms and looked at Shao Qun at a loss.
Shao Qun kissed him, said “Don’t be afraid” and then opened the door. General Shao came in first, followed by his three daughters.
“Dad. Sisters.” Shao Qun greeted them in a somewhat flattering manner, as Li Chengxiu nervously looked at the four people who came in.
He had met the father, the oldest and the youngest sister before. The unfamiliar woman was probably Shao Qun’s second sister. She had a gentle smile on her face, and her whole demeanor was different from the rest of the Shao family.
Sure enough, Shao Qun pointed at her and said, “Chengxiu, this is my second sister! You haven’t met yet.”
Li Chengxiu almost bowed to the proper lady-like Second Young Miss Shao: “Hello. Hello.”
The woman covered her mouth and smiled at him: “Nice to meet you too.”
General Shao coughed: “Come on, let’s see the child.”
Li Chengxiu carefully handed the baby to him. The child was in good spirits, so rather than being uncomfortable with strangers, he was more curious about them. He stretched his little hand to grab Old General Shao’s collar.
The general seemed moved, and his face turned a little red.
Shao Nuo exclaimed “So cute!!! I want to take a bite of this little bun!”
General Shao was holding the child in a particularly stiff manner, as if he was holding a precious ancient vase. After a while, he awkwardly handed the baby to Shao Wen and murmured, “It’s fine. The child is fine.”
The always serious Shao Wen also smiled, as she and Shao Nuo proceeded to tease the baby.
Shao Qun then led his family to the dining table.
Shao Nuo looked at the food on the table and praised Li Chengxiu for being such a virtuous cook. What Li Chengxiu didn’t realize though, were the long looks that General Shao kept giving him.
General Shao wasn’t a big talker, neither was Li Chengxiu. The others also didn’t seem to have much to say, so the meal was pretty dull.
Li Chengxiu kept giving Shao Qun uncomfortable looks but it seemed that Shao Qun was used to this kind of atmosphere, so he just blinked at him reassuringly.
After dinner, as they were watching TV in the living room, General Shao said that he had thought about the child’s name.
Shao Qun was stunned for a moment, then he quickly glanced at Li Chengxiu. Li Chengxiu smiled and shook his head. Respectfully he asked General Shao: “What name did you think of?”
“Call him Shao Zheng[8]. I hope this child will be a serious person in the future. I hope he chooses the right path, becomes a righteous man and doesn’t follow a bad example set by his predecessor.” He glared at Shao Qun and snorted coldly, as he said that.
Li Chengxiu felt slightly embarrassed by his words, while Shao Qun smiled awkwardly: “Dad, we’ll do as you say, okay? You want to call the baby Shao Zheng? Very good! What do you think, Chengxiu?”
Li Chengxiu nodded: “I’m fine with it.”
Shao Wen asked: “What about the nanny? Already found one?”
Shao Qun nodded and said, “I invited two nannies already. They both will come in tomorrow.”
Shao Wen said: “After the Shenzhen project is completed, you should come back to Beijing and stay there. It’s a shame to make your dad take such long flights to see his grandson.”
Shao Qun nodded obediently: “Yes. Of course.”
After the Shao family left in the evening, Li Chengxiu sat on the sofa for a long time. He felt really tired.
It was not so much his body that was tired but rather his mind.
The whole evening he was worried what would happen if the truth came out.
Fortunately, so far everything went smoothly. But what happens when the child grows up and things become more apparent? Considering that the Shao family was not exactly a bunch of idiots…
After Shao Qun sent his father off, he came to sit down next to Li Chengxiu and started rubbing his shoulders: “My wifey’s tired. Let me massage you a little. Also, you know, my cooking skills have improved recently. You can now rest assured that I am even able to cook some dishes for you.”
Li Chengxiu smiled: “Last time, your stir-fried green beans were mushy.”
Shao Qun laughed: “You have to leave some room for failure. Only then, you can gradually make progress.”
Li Chengxiu closed his eyes and felt his shoulders being massaged. It was quite relaxing.
Shao Qun said softly: “You have done a good job today. My dad was satisfied.”
Li Chengxiu asked, “How do you know?” Old General Shao hadn’t shown a single happy facial expression throughout the whole evening.
“He’s my dad – of course, I know. He isn’t as rigid as you might think. Let me tell you something, my dad’s ancestors were big landowners for generations but their lands were expropriated during the Cultural Revolution[9]. Originally, my father was engaged to my mother but in those circumstances my other grandfather’s side was suddenly against the marriage. So my father actually took a gun and went to kidnap his bride.”
Li Chengxiu burst out laughing: “Really?”
“Really. I heard it from my sister. Later, when my mother mentioned it again, he wouldn’t admit it even under a threat of death. My father’s temper was quite similar to mine when he was young. He actually became a soldier due to his connections, but because of his bad temper, he had problems in the army. In fact, sometimes I understand why he is so controlling but I still can’t deal with that.”
Li Chengxiu nodded: “So, it’s not easy for you to get along with your dad.”
Shao Qun said: “I hope this child has a temper like yours, not like mine. Otherwise, we’ll have a problem.”
Li Chengxiu smiled, “It means, you also know that you’re not a god’s gift.”
Shao Qun laughed but said nothing.
Li Chengxiu patted his hand: “Let’s go check up on the baby.”
Both of them walked into the nursery and saw the little one soundly asleep with drops of saliva hanging from his mouth.
Looking at his son, Li Chengxiu felt that his heart was full of happiness.
Shao Qun hugged him from behind and asked, “Chengxiu, are you happy?”
Li Chengxiu whispered back, “I’m happy.”
Shao Qun’s kiss fell softly on his cheek: “I will make you feel happy for the rest of your life!”
Li Chengxiu turned his head and looked at him with his bright eyes.
Shao Qun then passionately kissed his lips.
When their lips were tightly pressed against each other, the soft and wonderful feeling reached the bottom of their hearts. Shao Qun was kissing Li Chengxiu, wishing he didn’t have to stop.
Relaxed, Li Chengxiu leaned in his arms, enjoying this tender moment.
Although he had experienced many unbearable things in the past, it was still Shao Qun who had accompanied Li Chengxiu up to this day. This man had many shortcomings and had done a lot of cruel things to him, but he was also the only one who Li Chengxiu could rely on and also the only one with whom he could share the joys of fatherhood.
Being with Shao Qun gave him a real home.
Although he felt sad and desperate at times, he really loved having a place to come back to. After Shao Qun presented him with a blueprint of a family, Li Chengxiu couldn’t refuse such an offer. He only hoped that through his own efforts, he could keep this home forever and ever.
He had hoped throughout all his life that he would one day gain a sense of belonging. And Shao Qun was the one who gave it to him.
This was enough. With that, Li Chengxiu was content.
[1] Just a reminder that the reason for so many “…” in Li Chengxiu’s monologue is not that he is uncertain or thoughtful. It’s due to his speech impediment. In the original, the author showcases it by putting a comma after every single word Li Chengxiu says. Besides, he has a knack of saying a lot with very few words (which is easier done in Chinese than in English). Throughout this translation, I replaced commas with “…” and tried to put it after every “completed pragmatic entity”. Also, in my interpretation, Li Chengxiu is much wordier than he is in the original because if I translated his speech word for word, it would sound in English as if he was a child or there were issues with his grammar. And his speech neither has errors, nor does he come off as uneducated or childish in Chinese. In contrast, Shao Qun has a particular ability of saying very little in a lot of words 😉
[2] Correct me if I’m wrong, but one can do a chromosome test on the 10th week of pregnancy. It screens for congenital disorders, and also can reveal the gender of the baby. However, you could already see the sex of the baby by week 14 on an ultrasound. Or, if one does a prenatal blood test, one can find out the gender on the 11th week. So, mentioning chromosome test at this point seems a bit random to me, since they’ll have to wait for it anyway. But Shao Qun might just be talking for the sake of talking again.
[3] High resolution ultrasound
[4] If I remember correctly, Li Shuo is doing pretty poorly at this time in the story. While Adrian is enjoying his well-deserved happy ending… Time to reread “Additional Inheritance” and “Winner Takes All”.
[5] lol
[6] “Xiu” from Chengxiu and “Qun” from Shao Qun. It’s like if Angelina and Brad called their child Brang or Angrad.
[7] One Month Banquet or “Red Egg and Ginger Party” is the traditional Chinese celebration of a baby’s one month birthday. The custom dates to ancient times when infant mortality rates were high and new babies were named and celebrated only after a month had passed and survival seemed assured.
[8] The character “Zheng” (正) by itself means something “right”, “correct”, “righteous”.
[9] The Cultural Revolution, formally known as the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, was a sociopolitical movement in the People’s Republic of China launched by Mao Zedong in 1966, and lasting until his death in 1976. Big landowners had their lands seized at the time, and the expropriated land was turned over to collective property. This reform lifted a lot of people out of poverty.
