TIPS – Chapter 64

Hu Chengchun blinked and suddenly realized, exclaiming, “So it really is fetal distress…”

“What?!” Yang Shi and Yang Shuangjiao exclaimed in unison. The two of them were utterly stunned, as if struck by lightning.

However, for Yang Shi, this was a delightful shock. For Yang Shuangjiao and her daughter, it was a disastrous one.

“Fetal distress!” Hu Chengchun scolded with a stern face. “How could you be so careless? What if something serious happens?” Understanding Song Jingwei’s intentions, he deliberately exaggerated the situation despite knowing the truth.

“F-F-Fetal distress?” Yang Shi stuttered, unable to form a complete sentence. She was completely dumbfounded.

Then she turned to look at her son, Shen Junxi, who was just as wide-eyed as she was, his face filled with shock and joy. He couldn’t speak, but his expression said it all. His wife was carrying his child—how could he not be excited?

He immediately grasped Song Jingwei’s hand, his expression a mix of laughter and tears. His wide, unblinking eyes seemed to ask, We’re having a baby—are you happy?

Song Jingwei winced as his hand was squeezed painfully. He hadn’t expected Shen Junxi to react this strongly—he usually appeared so calm…

“Doctor Hu, are you serious?” Yang Shi raised her voice, her heart pounding as she prayed she hadn’t misheard. I couldn’t have misheard that, right?

“Oh? You all didn’t know?” Hu Chengchun said leisurely. “Your daughter-in-law is pregnant —about five months along, I’d say.” He had heard the rumors about Song Jingwei, so he purposely gave an estimate rather than an exact time, letting others speculate on their own.

“R-Really?” Yang Shi was momentarily dazed, but when she finally processed the news, she burst into laughter, overjoyed. “I have a grandchild!” She quickly did the math on her fingers —five months… It should actually be around six months. Maybe it was that time he got pregnant?

But it didn’t matter. As long as it was her son’s child, no matter which month it happened, she was ecstatic.

“You all have been really careless—not even realizing your daughter-in-law was pregnant for five months,” Hu Chengchun muttered. Because of them, he had to keep this a secret and couldn’t even openly sell prenatal medicine.

“Th-This… It really was our negligence…” Yang Shi suddenly felt guilty, the joy on her face shifting into remorse. She sincerely apologized to Song Jingwei, “Jingwei, this is all our fault. We didn’t even notice…” If it weren’t for this accident, who knew when they would have found out? Thankfully, nothing irreversible had happened, or she would have cried herself blind.

Song Jingwei shook his head. “It’s no one’s fault. I didn’t notice either.”

Yang Shi looked at her daughter-in-law, both pained and regretful. She said, “Of course, how could you have known? You’re a man—you’ve never been pregnant before.” Women could at least judge by their menstrual cycles, but a man had no way of knowing. “Honestly, this is my fault. I should have had Xi’er bring in a doctor earlier.” She had thought about it before but somehow ended up postponing it.

Hearing his mother say this, Shen Junxi looked worriedly at Song Jingwei and frantically gestured, Mother, ask the doctor how my wife is doing!

Yang Shi quickly nodded. “Oh, right!” She turned to Hu Chengchun and asked, “Doctor Hu, how is my daughter-in-law? Is it serious?”

Hu Chengchun replied, “Fetal distress can be serious or minor, depending on the case. I’ll prescribe two doses of medicine first. If he still feels unwell after taking them, then he’ll need proper rest and care.”

These words sent a wave of panic through Yang Shi and her son. Before, they hadn’t known Song Jingwei was pregnant and thought the fall wasn’t too serious. But now that they knew, even the thought of a small injury made them extremely anxious.

“Doctor Hu, what should we do?” Yang Shi asked anxiously. Her eldest grandson had to be safe.

“I already said, take the medicine first and observe for a while. Right now, I can’t say for sure,” Hu Chengchun replied, moving over to the table and opening his medicine box, which already contained pre-prepared prenatal medicine. Since Song Jingwei wasn’t actually suffering from fetal distress, any random prenatal medicine would do.

Hearing this, Yang Shi and her son felt uneasy. Their hearts were up and down like a rollercoaster. Shen Junxi clenched Song Jingwei’s hands tightly, as if holding him like this would keep him safe.

Meanwhile, Yang Shuangjiao and Wang Chunxing had already foreseen the consequences of their actions. They only wanted to quietly slip out of the room, return to the guest quarters, pack their belongings, and flee.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Song Jingwei said coldly, glancing at them from the corner of his eye.

Yang Shuangjiao, holding her daughter’s hand, froze mid-step, then awkwardly turned around and walked back to the table with a forced smile. “Nowhere…”

“Oh,” Song Jingwei responded flatly before continuing, “Then let’s discuss the matter of compensation.”

Yang Shuangjiao’s eyes widened. “Compensation?” She was extremely sensitive to anything related to money—just hearing that word made her react like a cash-counting machine.

“My medical expenses, emotional distress compensation, and the lock outside—are you going to deny responsibility?” Song Jingwei listed one by one, calculating everything down to the last detail.

Yang Shuangjiao’s eyes widened even more. What… what responsibility…..?

“The medical expenses and nutrition costs alone are at least two taels of silver. That’s a small matter. The real expense is the mental distress compensation—I was so terrified I almost lost my life and the baby. That alone should be no less than a hundred or eighty taels. As for the lock, let’s just say I’m being generous and won’t count it.”

As Yang Shuangjiao’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, Song Jingwei calmly concluded, “So, in total, you owe me 102 taels of silver.”

“…” Yang Shuangjiao and Wang Chunxing stood there like two wooden statues, completely stunned.

“If you don’t have silver, you can pawn anything valuable. But you absolutely cannot deny responsibility. Otherwise, I will report this to the authorities and charge you with breaking and entering, as well as assault.”

Only now did the two women realize what kind of terrifying person they had provoked. Song Jingwei was giving them no room to retreat, no options at all—either pay up or face the law.

Yang Shuangjiao made one last desperate struggle. “Why must you be so ruthless? We’re family, after all! And besides… Niuniu didn’t even steal anything from you! She didn’t lay a single finger on you! Y-you… you’re being too cruel!”

Seeing that Song Jingwei remained unmoved, she turned to Yang Shi and pleaded, “Sister! My dear sister! Are you really going to make us pay? Whether you believe it or not, Niuniu never even touched him!” Now she understood—everything Song Jingwei had done was just to force them out.

“Elder Sister…” Yang Shi hesitated, wanting to say something, but she truly didn’t know what. If she were in Yang Shuangjiao’s position, she would never have ended up like this. In the end, the problem was her elder sister’s own doing, not anyone else’s.

“Yang Shuangqiao, say something!” Yang Shuangjiao stood up and shouted. She was used to ordering her younger sister around and had always been domineering towards her.

Seeing this, Song Jingwei pursed his lips in annoyance. He had thought that scaring them would be enough to drive them away, but now he realized he had underestimated their shamelessness—and overestimated his own patience.

“You have two choices,” he said coldly. “One, pack your bags and leave now. Two, stay as long as you want. If you choose to leave now, I won’t pursue this any further. But if you refuse to leave, be prepared to face the authorities and spend some time in prison.”

“…”

Hearing this, Yang Shuangjiao first breathed a sigh of relief—so they could still leave unscathed. But soon, embarrassment overtook her. Sneaking away earlier was one thing, but being kicked out was entirely different. If they packed up and left immediately, wouldn’t that be the same as admitting to crimes they hadn’t committed?

Song Jingwei glanced at them coldly, as if he knew exactly what they were thinking. “What’s wrong? Would you rather go to prison?”

Yang Shuangjiao shivered, a chill running through her entire body. Gritting her teeth, she grabbed her daughter’s hand and, before leaving, snapped at Yang Shi, “We’re leaving. We’ll never come back here again. You take care of yourself!”

This damned place—it looked nice on the outside, but inside, it was filled with heartless people! So rich, yet unwilling to suffer even the smallest loss—ugh!

As she watched her elder sister storm off, Yang Shi let out a long sigh. Their relationship had always been strained, and after today, they might never see each other again. But the most complicated feelings she had weren’t for her sister—they were for her daughter-in-law. She sincerely said to Song Jingwei, “I’m really sorry. That’s just how my sister is…”

“As long as you don’t blame me for driving them away, that’s enough,” Song Jingwei said, knowing that Yang Shi must be feeling conflicted. To comfort her, he added, “Suffering losses can be a blessing. But greedy people like her will never have good endings.” A person like Yang Shuangjiao would face her retribution sooner or later.

Hearing this, Yang Shi could tell he was trying to make her feel better, and it did bring her some relief. She patted his hand and said, “You just rest and don’t overthink things. Taking care of your health is the most important thing right now.” She was truly relieved that Yang Shuangjiao and her daughter had left—at least they wouldn’t disturb Song Jingwei anymore. If this had gone on, who knew what else might have happened?

Seeing that Hu Chengchun was still waiting, Shen Junxi gestured to his mother, Mother, go see Doctor Hu off.

Yang Shi nodded. “Alright, you stay here and take good care of your wife. I’ll escort Doctor Hu out and then brew the medicine for him.” As she spoke, she reached for her money pouch and asked Hu Chengchun, “How much do I owe you? Is it really two taels of silver?”

Hu Chengchun chuckled. “Don’t listen to your daughter-in-law’s nonsense. Just one string of coins is enough, including the consultation fee.” The two taels he had mentioned earlier were exaggerated—most of it was supposed to be for “nutrition,” while the actual prenatal medicine didn’t cost much.

“Haha, I thought so.” Yang Shi took the two packets of medicine, handed over the payment, and walked him out.

Once the room fell silent, Shen Junxi leaned down and gently embraced his wife, finally unable to hold back his emotions. Burying his face in Song Jingwei’s shoulder, he both laughed and cried.

“…”

Song Jingwei was completely dumbfounded. He had seen many expectant fathers before, even excited ones—but never like this…

“…”

Shen Junxi couldn’t speak, so he had no way to express his emotions with words. The only thing he could do was give his wife a careful hug, afraid to use too much strength, and press a soft kiss to his hair.“Thank you,” he thought to himself. “Thank you for still being by my side. Thank you for being willing to carry our child.”