Lu Jiao didn't say anything else. He led me into the hospital.
Su Jiayi watched our backs as we left. She couldn't help but mutter, "He's handsome, sure, but just way too cold. I wonder how his wife stands him."
At the hospital, Lu Jiao was the one handling the registration and waiting in line. I just sat and waited quietly. In the seats next to me were several heavily pregnant women. All of them were accompanied by their mothers-in-law or husbands. I looked at the tall, long-legged Lu Jiao in the line and couldn't help but touch my still flat belly, thinking to myself that I hadn't made the wrong choice this time. The things from my dream wouldn't happen.
After getting our number, the two of us sat waiting quietly. Lu Jiao watched the heavily pregnant women walking back and forth in front of him. His expression was a little strange, as if he was already seeing me ten months from now. He nervously clasped his hands. I could feel his anxiety. He must have been thinking that I had to be safe and sound.
A young nurse called out, "Number five, Lin Yao."
We went in together. The checkup was simple and over in about ten minutes.
The doctor held the report and said, "The fetus is developing normally. It's just that the mother is a bit malnourished. She needs to eat more iron-rich foods. Her body is too weak. Later on, the baby will grow quickly and her body won't be able to keep up."
The doctor then went over some other precautions. We both listened quietly.
As we were about to leave, the doctor glanced at the tall and sturdy Lu Jiao, cleared his throat, and said, "She's still in her early months. You young people need to be careful. Try to control yourselves a bit."
I understood instantly, and my face turned bright red. I nodded frantically, but Lu Jiao was completely clueless. He even blurted out, "Control what?"
I quickly tugged his arm to get him to stop talking. He said with a straight face that he would strictly follow the doctor's orders.
Seeing this, the doctor just said it plainly. "Be careful not to have intercourse during the early stages."
Lu Jiao immediately fell silent. He said, "Thank you, doctor." His expression shifted several times. He lowered his head, took my hand, and walked out.
Just as we left the room, we ran into a female doctor in a white coat. She saw Lu Jiao first. Her eyes suddenly lit up, and she asked in pleasant surprise, "Lu Jiao, what are you doing here? Are you feeling unwell?"
After asking, she must have realized something was off. This is the gynecology department, after all. What would a grown man like Lu Jiao be doing here?
Just then, Lu Jiao spoke up. "I'm here with my wife for her prenatal checkup."
As soon as he finished speaking, Gu Shunyin must have seen me trailing behind him. She looked at my delicate face and slender figure, then saw Lu Jiao holding my hand tightly. Her face instantly turned pale, but she quickly forced a stiff smile. "Is this your wife?"
Lu Jiao nodded.
I gave her a slight smile. "Hello, my name is Lin Yao."
Her voice was a little strained. "Hello, I'm Gu Shunyin. I'm a friend of Lu Jiao's."
Lu Jiao clearly didn't want us to talk any further. He said in a cold, distant tone, "Miss Gu, you must be busy. We'll be on our way."
As they brushed past her, Gu Shunyin heard Lu Jiao asking me, "What do you want to eat? We're not going to the cafeteria today. How about I take you to a proper restaurant?"
Although his voice was soft, it carried a hint of barely perceptible affection. Gu Shunyin's expression soured even more. She was practically going crazy with jealousy inside.
She used to be in love with Lu Jiao and chased after him. Later, when she heard he got married, she fell seriously ill. She had just barely managed to give up on him when, not long after, she heard he was getting a divorce. That little flame of hope in her heart immediately flared up again. She had even been asking around to see if his divorce was real. But who knew that now, not only did he have a wife, but they even had a child on the way? Gu Shunyin simply couldn't swallow this.
"Little Gu, what brings you here?" asked Sister Lu from the office, holding a piece of paper. "Where did that couple you were just talking to at the entrance go? They left this behind and didn't even notice."
Gu Shunyin thought it was a prenatal checkup report and casually took it, but one look told her it was a registration form for a literacy class. She froze. Then a sense of superiority instantly swelled within her.
"Sister Lu, that belongs to my friends. Give it to me. I'll take it to them."
She held the registration form and walked quickly back towards the main gate, the corners of her mouth curling up into an irrepressible smirk. To think that Lu Jiao's wife was an illiterate country bumpkin. Just a village girl who used her pretty face to latch onto him. Lu Jiao probably didn't even really like her. He was likely forced into it because she got pregnant.
Just as Lu Jiao and I had decided what to eat, we heard someone call out from behind us. "Lu Jiao, you forgot something."
Gu Shunyin came over, waving the piece of paper.
I subconsciously glanced at the bag in Lu Jiao's hand, remembering he had the prenatal report. The registration form had been in my pocket. It must have fallen out during the checkup.
"Oh, my registration form," I said with a smile and reached for it. "Thank you, Dr. Gu."
But when I tried to pull it back, it wouldn't budge. Confused, I looked up at her and suddenly caught a hint of mockery in her eyes.
"I never would have guessed Comrade Lin was so studious, even signing up for a literacy class." Gu Shunyin deliberately emphasized the words literacy class. "As it happens, I'm the English teacher for the literacy class on weekends. Comrade Lin, if there's anything you don't understand, you must ask me."
As she said this, she feigned a casual glance at Lu Jiao. She must have been feeling incredibly smug, thinking that being a university student and my teacher really boosted her status.
A woman's intuition is sharp. I immediately knew all her hostility was because of Lu Jiao.
I yanked the registration form back. "I haven't decided if I'm going yet. Lu Jiao said it might be inconvenient since I'm pregnant and told me to think it over carefully. Right, Lu Jiao?"
I took a step back, faced him in the morning light, and gave him a gentle smile.
To Lu Jiao, that smile was more dazzling than the morning sun. He looked into my smiling eyes, and the gaze of this usually cold man softened. He then asked Gu Shunyin, "Dr. Gu, my wife isn't very far along yet. Can she attend a literacy class? Will it be too tiring?"
That was his biggest worry.
Hearing this, Gu Shunyin ground her teeth in anger. Seeing how gentle Lu Jiao was with me made her want to cry. Lu Jiao was handsome but had a cold demeanor. She had pursued him for so long and had never seen him this gentle.
She suppressed her anger and said, "No. In fact, she needs more exercise. Lying around all the time will only make childbirth more difficult."
That was half truth, half lie.
As she was leaving, she deliberately added, "Comrade Lin, I'll be waiting for you at the literacy class."