Chapter 18 : Production Prep—Are You Planning on a Second Child? p1
Xue Yu and Zhou Siyan drove for another two days. As they neared the South Continent, the road ahead became much clearer. There were more pedestrians, all sorts of strange people: some walking on all fours, some with only half a head, others covered in horrifying scales. It was clear that these people, like them, were seeking medical treatment in the South Continent for various difficult ailments.
Upon reaching the checkpoint for the buffer zone, their SUV was stopped. A guard in a full gray-blue combat uniform approached with a gun to question them.
They got out of the car. Zhou Siyan presented their White Tower resident IDs, explaining they were there for medical treatment.
The guard’s sunglasses covered most of his face. After checking their IDs, he asked, “What illness are you here for?”
Zhou Siyan lifted his trench coat to reveal his swollen abdomen. “Parasitized by a contaminant.”
Naturally, he couldn’t reveal he was in the South Continent to give birth. Unlike the White Tower, the South Continent didn’t outright ban procreation, but birth quotas were still strictly controlled. In the White Tower, both men and women were sterilized; in the South Continent, sterilization was only for men. If a couple in the South Continent planned to have a child, they had to go through layers of applications. Once they received a birth quota, the government would arrange for a doctor to perform a reversal surgery on the man, and the couple would be given only three months to conceive. After three months, regardless of whether the woman was pregnant, the man had to undergo sterilization again.
This policy applied to local residents of the South Continent. For pregnant women from outside seeking medical care, the rules were clear: the hospitals in the South Continent only provided abortion services and would not assist with any deliveries. If anyone was found to have secretly come to the South Continent to give birth, they would be permanently blacklisted.
However, despite the clear regulations, the South Continent was poorly managed, and underground “black” doctors were everywhere. As long as you had the money, these doctors would perform any surgery.
The guard then looked at Xue Yu. “And you? What’s your illness?”
“I’m not sick,” Xue Yu said. “I’m here to accompany him.”
Countless patients came to the South Continent for treatment every day. The guards’ workload was heavy, so they didn’t dig too deep and issued them a medical pass. The pass was only valid for seven days. After seven days, they had to leave, whether their illness was cured or not.
Outside vehicles were not allowed into the South Continent, and visitors seeking treatment were not permitted to carry weapons. However, there was a luggage storage service at the checkpoint. For a fee, you could leave your vehicle there.
Xue Yu led Zhou Siyan to a bench in the shade and had him sit down while she climbed into the SUV to pack. She didn’t want to leave anything behind: clothes, rations, toiletries, wild vegetables she’d picked on the road… she stuffed everything into her bag. She had heard that prices in the South Continent were high. She was completely broke; the few hundred dollars she had saved had been given to Murray. She was now, without a doubt, penniless.
Zhou Siyan came over. “Xue Yu, you don’t need to bring everything. We can buy things once we’re in the city.”
“It’s fine, you don’t have to carry it. I’ve got plenty of strength now.” Xue Yu shouldered the backpack, which was stuffed to the point of bursting. She even wanted to bring the clay pot she had found, and the bag’s zipper was about to give way. She then picked up a woven bag and called Blueberry out. She hung the bag on Blueberry’s tail hook. “Blueberry, you can help out too. You have too much free time on your hands, that’s why your mind is always full of dirty thoughts.”
Xue Yu had often seen Blueberry hook things with its tail. It was very strong, so carrying a bag was no problem. Blueberry blew a stream of bubbles and happily swung the woven bag back and forth. The baby of Blueberry and Blackbrow was being carried in the panther’s mouth.
Zhou Siyan stood behind Xue Yu. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and with the other, he opened her backpack, took out the clay pot and the cans, and put them back in the car. “You don’t need to bring these.”
“If we don’t bring them, we’ll have to buy them. Don’t worry, I’ll carry it. You just take care of yourself.”
“We’ll need to eat and drink on the way back too,” Zhou Siyan said. “Let’s leave these for the return trip. Otherwise, if we bring them into the city and use them all up, we’ll have to buy more anyway.”
Xue Yu realized he had a point. She helped him unload the cans and rations and put them in the trunk. After packing everything and locking the car, Xue Yu shouldered her backpack and slung a sizable brown leather bag over her arm. She looked at her reflection in the car window and felt like a country bumpkin coming to the city for work.
Who would have thought that at the age of twenty-three, she would be lugging bags and baggage, trekking across mountains and rivers to help her ex-boyfriend give birth? This was too miserable. She was definitely the most tragic transmigrator in history!
Zhou Siyan finished the vehicle storage procedure with the guard and came over to take the bag from her hand. “What’s wrong?”
Xue Yu turned and pouted at him. “Nothing.”
He studied her face. “Then what’s with that expression?”
“What’s wrong with my expression?”
Zhou Siyan shrugged. “You look like life has been very hard on you.”
The corners of Xue Yu’s mouth drooped even further. Life IS hard on me, okay!
In contrast to her gloomy face, Zhou Siyan seemed much more relaxed. The sharp lines of his features had softened considerably. It was clear he was really looking forward to the baby’s birth.
…
It was a long way from the checkpoint to the city proper. Outside vehicles were forbidden, so everyone had to walk. It would take a full day to get to the city from here. The road was bustling with people, more than ninety percent of whom were patients from out of town. The cause of their illnesses was mostly mutations and deformities from contamination factor infections. There were people with two heads, people covered in fur, people paralyzed and crawling on the ground… all sorts of strange and misshapen individuals. Compared to them, Zhou Siyan, who just had a big belly, could be considered normal.
The climate in the South Continent was humid and hot, like a steam basket. The heat waves were almost suffocating. Zhou Siyan took off the trench coat he had been using to hide his stomach and wore only a black shirt, openly revealing his protruding abdomen. However, he still maintained the style of an extreme sexual conservative, with the buttons on his cuffs and collar fastened to the very top.
This was the first time Xue Yu had seen a human settlement outside the White Tower. The South Continent was very different. The infrastructure in the White Tower was primarily metal; even the skyscrapers were built of it, giving it a cold, hard, and rigidly ordered style, a true city of steel with a clear class structure. The South Continent, on the other hand, was much more like the Earth she remembered. Most of the buildings were still concrete structures, and they weren’t very tall. The roads were in poor condition, with cracks and exposed earth everywhere. But it was lively, with street vendors everywhere, much like the tropical regions of Earth.
There were many food stalls, and Xue Yu’s mouth watered. This was the first time since she had transmigrated that she had seen such a wide variety of food.
Zhou Siyan was unmoved. He walked straight ahead, his eyes fixed forward. He quickly reached out and wiped her chin. “The pollution levels in this grilled meat are very high. Endure it for now. We’ll buy food once we’re in the city.”
Xue Yu covered her mouth, feeling the moisture. It had been too long since she’d had anything good to eat; she was actually drooling.
The journey from the checkpoint to the city was grueling. There were no vehicles, only walking, and the weather was hot. Blueberry and its baby were water-type spirit bodies and were panting from the heat. Xue Yu had to keep pouring water on them. The temperature was too high, and the baby in Zhou Siyan’s stomach was also listless. It usually managed a few words here and there, but since arriving in the South Continent, it hadn’t made a sound.
Xue Yu saw the veins on the back of Zhou Siyan’s hands turning purple and knew how hot he was. He had always preferred the cold and hated the heat. In the past, when she had slept in his arms, it felt like holding a furnace, and she would often wake up in the middle of the night from the heat.
“Zhou Siyan, do you need to rest?” Xue Yu asked with concern.
He turned to look at her. “Are you tired?”
“I’m not tired,” she shook her head. “I’m mainly worried about you and the baby.”
“I’m fine. Let’s walk faster. We can rest once we’re in the city.”
They had no more time to talk and rushed on, even eating their lunch of compressed biscuits while walking. Finally, just as the sky was darkening, they arrived in the South Continent city. It was incredibly lively, with a bustling night market, a completely different world from the solemn, gloomy nights of the White Tower.
Many hotel owners were soliciting customers on the streets, their target audience being the out-of-town patients. These hotel owners had connections with the local black doctors. They would first get customers and then refer them to the underground clinics, taking a cut of the fee.
As soon as Xue Yu and Zhou Siyan arrived, they were stopped by an auntie. She was clearly experienced. She glanced at Zhou Siyan’s stomach and said with a grin, “Well now, young man, a male mom, are we? Are you here for an abortion or a delivery? Auntie here has connections for both.”
“Don’t you worry. Auntie’s seen it all. Never mind a man being pregnant, I’ve even seen a hermaphrodite who knocked themselves up.”
“Auntie knows a very skilled old doctor for abortions. Want me to introduce you?”
Seeing that Zhou Siyan was ignoring her, the auntie turned to Xue Yu, circling her and looking her up and down.
“I’m not sick,” Xue Yu said quickly. “I don’t need to see a doctor.”
“Not sick is good! Health is a blessing!” The auntie gave a thumbs up. “For the healthy ones, Auntie has services too. Interested in selling any organs? Liver, kidney, cornea, I’ll take anything.”
A chill ran down Xue Yu’s spine. “I still have use for those things, so I don’t think I’ll be selling them for now.”
“You can sell yours and then buy someone else’s to transplant! Auntie has channels, absolutely fair and honest.”
Zhou Siyan pulled Xue Yu away and quickly led her off.
He had his own connections and knew a hotel owner here. The owner was a young, muscular man with an intimidating tattoo covering his arms and the back of his neck. From their conversation, Xue Yu learned that the man’s name was Guan Xun. He was a childhood friend of Zhou Siyan’s who had left the White Tower for some reason and settled in the South Continent.
Guan Xun’s hotel was a bit out of the way, but the conditions were good, and it was very clean. While they were checking in, Xue Yu stood to the side with her bags, her eyes darting around curiously.
Guan Xun leaned against the front desk, fiddling with an unlit cigar. He spoke to Zhou Siyan with a serious expression. “Didn’t you say you were going to get rid of the baby? Why the sudden change of heart?”
“I have my reasons.”
Guan Xun looked disappointed, as if scolding a child who wouldn’t live up to his potential. He tossed the cigar onto the counter. “How are you going to raise it after it’s born? If you’re discovered, you and the child will be finished.” His jaw twitched slightly. “Siyan, I really hope you’ll think this through. I’ve already been kicked out of the White Tower. As your friend, you should learn from my example. The White Tower is the best safe zone on this planet. you shouldn’t throw away your future for some pitiful paternal love.”
Zhou Siyan’s gaze was unwavering. He stood by his decision. “I’ve already considered all of that.”
“Fine then.” Guan Xun took the room key and led them upstairs. In the elevator, he seemed to remember something and glanced at Zhou Siyan. “What kind of monster did you even get involved with to end up pregnant? It’s too bizarre.”
Xue Yu clutched the straps of her backpack and stared at her toes.
“Just drop it,” Zhou Siyan said. “I have my own plans.”
The hotel rooms here were different from those on Earth, more like rental apartments. There was one bedroom, one living room, and a kitchen. The bedroom had only one large bed. The living room had a small sofa and a screen embedded in the wall for watching videos.
Guan Xun tossed the key to Xue Yu. “This is the best room I have. You can stay here for now. I have some things to take care of, so I probably won’t be back for a couple of days. Call me if you need anything.”
“Thank you, boss.”
After Guan Xun left, Zhou Siyan immediately went into the bathroom for a cold shower. Only after his body temperature had cooled down a bit did he feel some life return to the baby in his stomach.
After he was done, Xue Yu went in. When she came out with her hair down, she saw him at the sink, washing clothes. In the blue plastic basin were the underwear she had worn the day before.
His hair was also still wet. He wasn’t dressed as conservatively as usual, wearing only a black tank top. The muscles in his arms were lean and solid, his waist was narrow, but his belly protruded in a semicircle, creating a strange silhouette.
“You’re in no condition to be doing this. Why are you washing clothes by hand? There’s a washing machine here.” Xue Yu walked over and took the basin, intending to wash them herself.
Zhou Siyan’s long fingers continued to scrub the fabric. He didn’t look up. “You don’t wash them clean enough.”
When they had lived together in the dorms, Zhou Siyan had also handled all the chores. He was proactive; if he saw something that needed to be done, he would just do it. He hadn’t always been so diligent at first. The main reason was that when he awakened his spirit body, his body had undergone a drastic bestial transformation, and his strength had become terrifyingly immense. At that time, Xue Yu had been a little afraid of him and had been somewhat resistant to his intimacy at night. When she touched his beast-like back muscles, a flicker of fear would always cross her eyes. So, he had started doing chores frequently: scrubbing shoes, washing clothes by hand, getting on his knees to mop the floor. He would hold her on his lap and say with a smile: My strength has increased, so I can scrub shoes faster than anyone, wash clothes cleaner than a washing machine, and mop the floor faster than before. Xue Yu had to admit that he had cleverly used chores to ease her anxiety about the vast power gap between them.
Xue Yu snapped back to the present. She squeezed her own arm. Since Blueberry had appeared, she could feel the power welling up inside her, growing stronger by the day. Though she didn’t know her current physical limits, she was confident that with her current strength, she could protect Zhou Siyan after he gave birth.
He was still washing clothes. He gestured with his chin toward the wallet on the sink. “Go buy some food. My clothes aren’t dry, and I don’t want to go out and show my face.”
So conservative. An outstanding graduate of the school of male virtue. Xue Yu thought to herself.
She picked up the wallet. “Is there anything you want to eat?”
“Get some meat. The baby needs nutrients. And nothing too heavy. Keep it light.”
“Okay.”
Xue Yu took the pollution monitor and went out. She didn’t dare go far, just looked for a restaurant on the streets near the hotel. She went in, ordered a steak for herself, tested the pollution level, and took a bite. Deciding it was acceptable, she ordered more dishes and had the staff pack them up. The food here was completely different from on Earth. There were no fancy cooking methods. Everything was either steamed or grilled, and a sauce was poured over it once it was cooked.
Xue Yu was starving too. She ordered four servings of beef, a fish, a chicken, and a side of vegetables. The staple was noodles. She didn’t know what kind they were; they tasted like they had been sitting around for years.
She hurried back with the food, only to see Zhou Siyan waiting for her at the intersection. He didn’t like to show too much skin when he went out. His jacket had only been through a spin cycle in the washing machine, but he had thrown it on anyway. He stood under the dim yellow streetlight, and even with his large belly, his shoulders and back were straight.
“Why did you come out?” Xue Yu ran toward him, out of breath.
He took the food bags from her. “I was afraid you’d get lost, so I came down.”
Even at night, the temperature showed no signs of dropping. In the short time Xue Yu had been out, her damp hair had completely dried, and it now fanned out around her shoulders like a clump of dry grass. She fanned herself with her hand and said confidently, “The roads here aren’t complicated. I recognized them after walking them once. It’s only in the White Tower that I get lost.”
..