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墨書 Inktalez
After bumping along for seven or eight hours, plus the time spent in traffic, my discomfort was genuine. As soon as I got out of the car, I leaned against the roadside and started to vomit, emptying out the Eight Treasure Porridge I had eaten earlier.
Beside me, Wang Xu was patting my back with a bottle of mineral water in hand, while my mother-in-law occasionally exclaimed in amazement, "Yes, yes! My daughter-in-law is pregnant and experiencing morning sickness. It's all right, it's all right. Oh, congratulations!"
My single bout of vomiting made my mother-in-law very happy. Whenever someone looked over, she would bring up my pregnancy, perhaps to show off what had previously been a source of ridicule from the villagers. I didn’t mind her behavior; after all, people are like that.
I felt the same way. If I were in a situation where people laughed at me, I would strive to prove them wrong. Perhaps it was my weakened emotional state or something else, but I found myself understanding some of my mother-in-law's actions. However, this understanding left me feeling helpless. I knew that before long, she would do something that would make me realize what it meant for good intentions to be mistaken for foolishness.
With Wang Xu's considerate support, we still had a ways to go home. We could either take a motorcycle or walk. I really didn’t want to get back into a vehicle and suggested we walk for a bit.
Wang Xu was worried about my health and protested several times, but I directly asked him what we would do if something happened on the bumpy motorcycle ride. He fell silent at that point. My mother-in-law happily played peacemaker in the middle, saying we could walk if that’s what I wanted.
It was clear that returning to her hometown energized my mother-in-law. Although it was now dusk and approaching darkness, she cheerfully defended me. This unusual behavior indicated she was feeling good about herself.
However, halfway through our walk, my mother-in-law became more impatient than Wang Xu. She kept complaining about how long we had been walking and lamented that if she had known it would take this long, she would have insisted on taking a vehicle. It seemed she was quite anxious to get home. Wang Xu couldn’t take it anymore and retorted, "Mom, why are you saying all this? Didn’t you agree to walk? You’ve been back home before; how long could it possibly take?"
"I know! Of course I know! But why has it taken so long today? It feels like the road has stretched!" My mother-in-law grumbled a few more times but then fell silent. Everyone knew whether the road had actually lengthened or not; her anxiety was as clear as day—anyone who couldn’t see that would be foolish.
In her haste, we walked for just over half an hour before reaching the village. The few houses we passed were lit up brightly; if we had delayed any longer, it might have been hard to see the road.
Originally, my mother-in-law and Wang Xu lived in a low bungalow with several rooms that had been renovated into a two-story house in recent years. It housed several of my mother-in-law's relatives. Upon arrival, the relatives warmly welcomed us, and my mother-in-law's smile seemed to stretch from ear to ear.
Wang Xu and I greeted each of the dozen or so relatives who came over while leaving my mother-in-law alone to chat away with them about me—specifically about my pregnancy—insisting that there was already a baby inside me.
Upon hearing this news, the relatives naturally congratulated us and bombarded me with questions about various details. Having never been pregnant before, I didn’t know much about these things; however, I had done extensive research online beforehand. Most of the questions thrown at me were ones I had already looked up, so answering them wasn’t too difficult.
At that moment, I felt extremely nervous; I had no idea where I might slip up in my responses. The internet is one thing; reality is another. Who knows if some of those online sources were just fabrications? This thought only heightened my anxiety.
Perhaps Wang Xu had been observing my expression for quite some time because he subtly steered the conversation away: "Okay, okay! Zhuang Jun has been in the car all day and must be tired. Let’s go inside and talk."
The relatives agreed and headed into the house first while my mother-in-law remained in the crowd proudly discussing her earlier topic. Wang Xu walked behind me and squeezed my hand gently, whispering, "If you really can’t handle it anymore, just go inside and rest for a bit. Your condition is special right now; don’t force yourself if you don’t want to deal with everyone. I'll cover for you; it’s fine."
Wang Xu was being considerate here just when I didn’t want to face this crowd anymore. With so many pairs of eyes on me at once and recalling how anxious I felt earlier made me dread making a fool of myself in front of everyone again. Nodding slightly in agreement with him, I casually mentioned that I felt tired too.
"Alright, I'll take you back to the room to sleep later. How about you eat first, and then sleep after?"
I shook my head, eager to go right now, but I had to hold on for just a couple of minutes: "No, I'm not hungry. I'm just really sleepy; my eyelids are fluttering. I don't know why I'm always so prone to drowsiness."
"Hey, silly, you're pregnant now, so of course you're feeling sleepy. I saw you so energetic in the car, mumbling away. Why didn't you want to sleep then? It seems like you're only wanting to sleep now. It's fine; just go ahead and sleep. I'll save some food for you. When you wake up, just call me, and I'll heat it up and bring it to you."
Wang Xu's casual remark made me alert. Why did he suddenly mention my not sleeping in the car? I immediately replied, "Of course I didn't want to sleep in such a bumpy car! Not everyone can sleep anywhere like you do."
After I said that, Wang Xu looked a bit strange: "I was just saying that casually; I didn't mean anything by it. I'm not blaming you. If you want to sleep, then sleep; if you don't want to sleep, then don't. Why are you overthinking it?"
I rolled my eyes: "Of course! Didn't your mom say that? Drowsiness, vomiting, and mood swings are all normal reactions for a pregnant woman. If you can't handle it, then you can just leave."
"Alright, alright." Wang Xu looked helpless: "I won't say anything more; it's all my fault. I didn't adjust quickly enough. Now I remember clearly. Just go back to the room and sleep; we'll talk when we wake up."
Wang Xu quickly ended the topic and pulled me to ask a relative about the room situation. We finally went to a room on the far right of the second floor. The relative smiled and introduced it as being close to the bathroom in case I needed it at night.
Although these thoughtful gestures came from relatives I didn't usually interact with, I was still quite touched. After thanking them, I entered the room and looked around; it was simple but very clean.
"Alright then, dear, you go ahead and sleep; I'll help organize your luggage," Wang Xu said as he reached for my bag.
I jolted and quickly grabbed it back from him. Seeing his puzzled expression, I immediately explained: "You should go downstairs; the relatives are waiting for you. If you're gone too long, people will start talking. We came back to see them; they might think you're under my thumb or something. Don't let them label you like that; if it comes to that, Wang Xu, I'll get mad."
Wang Xu looked surprised and laughed: "Look at you; you're overthinking again! You're not under my thumb now? Of course, I'm willing to be under your thumb! Alright, alright, since you're thinking of me like this, I'll go downstairs first. You take a nap; call me if you need anything."
Finally managing to send him off, the sound of the door closing nearly made me jump out of my skin. I hurriedly took out the medicine from my bag; in my confusion while leaving, I forgot to switch bottles or something. Leaving it out like this would make it easy for Wang Xu to discover.
After feeling annoyed with myself for being careless for a while, I quickly walked over and locked the door tightly. Then I opened the bottle cap and shook out all the white pills inside. After counting how many I needed for the next few days, I put the extras back into the bottle. Holding onto it felt like holding a hot potato as I walked over to the window and looked out at the barren mountains behind me. After pushing open the window with effort, I threw the bottle out.
I didn’t have much strength to throw it far, but at least it was somewhat concealed. Feeling a bit worried but having no choice but to endure it for now until I could think of another plan later.
The remaining pills were placed back into a black pouch. I wanted to find a corner to hide them but felt everything was unsafe until finally hiding them under the mattress where they were pressed down securely before letting out a sigh of relief.
From initially resisting to gradually accepting being tormented by my emotions, I had to control myself well; I couldn't let myself be defeated in the end by my own self.
I walked to the door and unlocked it, then took off my clothes and wrapped myself in a blanket to lie down and rest. It was no different from last night. I wasn't feeling sleepy at all; even though my head felt heavy, I couldn't fall asleep. I closed my eyes but suddenly opened them again, and when I realized it, I had no idea how long I had been awake.
Until the sound of footsteps came one after another, faintly mixed with my grandmother's joyful laughter. I hurriedly closed my eyes. Not long after, I heard the sound of the room door opening and closing. I tried hard to relax, not wanting to be caught faking sleep. The footsteps clearly softened intentionally and walked over to my bedside.
Before long, the footsteps slowly circled to the other side. Wang Xu hadn't said a word the entire time; it seemed I had narrowly escaped a disaster.
Every movement he made produced faint sounds, allowing me to roughly judge what he was doing. After a long wait, he finally got into bed, but I couldn't tell if his face was turned toward me!
Fearing that Wang Xu might still be looking at me, I could only pretend to turn over in my sleep and face away from him. This way, he wouldn't be able to see my expression unless he got up.
This helped me avoid pretending to be asleep, but every time I tried to actually fall asleep, I failed miserably. In a daze, I dozed off for a bit only to be startled awake by some faint sounds. When I opened my eyes again, I felt confused, while behind me, Wang Xu's steady snoring accompanied my sleepless night.
Realizing this situation made me even more anxious. Instinctively, I picked up my phone and sent a text message to Gu Xiang's number. After sending it, I realized that it was the middle of the night and here I was texting Gu Xiang—wasn't that disturbing?
I held no expectations in my heart; perhaps Gu Xiang would only see my "help!" message when dawn broke. But to my surprise, just a few seconds later, Gu Xiang actually replied!
"What's up?"
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