The last time Shen Yuan gave birth, he had been on a leave of absence from school and stayed at home. School was something you could pause and return to later, but once you entered society, you couldn’t just shut everything down and hide at home—if you stopped, you were finished. In the end, Shen Yuan held on until his belly was almost impossible to conceal, then finally went home to rest and handed the company over to Uncle Qiao to manage.
Once he no longer had to deal with endless trivial affairs, staying at home actually allowed him to focus wholeheartedly on drawing design drafts. Even with a big belly, he kept launching new collections and even finalized his plans: when the second baby turned one, he would return to the country and open his own studio.
All prenatal checkups were still entrusted entirely to Professor Hayward. Professor Hayward was delighted—another paper to write!
This pregnancy, however, was different from the last. His reactions were much milder. He wasn’t tortured nearly as much and made it steadily to a week before his due date. One morning, labor suddenly started. The pain was mild at first. Shen Yuan figured he would need energy—after giving birth to Little Peanut last time, he had been starving—so he calmly went to eat breakfast. After finishing, he suddenly looked serious and said to Qiao Hailou, “It’s pretty much confirmed.”
Qiao Hailou was hurriedly tying his bow tie and didn’t understand. “Confirmed what?”
Shen Yuan thought for a moment. “I think I’m going into labor early.”
Qiao Hailou: “?!”
Little Peanut, sitting in the baby chair with a spoon in his mouth: “?”
Without another word, Qiao Hailou scooped Shen Yuan up and rushed for the hospital. “John, bring Little Peanut too. We’re all going to the hospital.”
On the way, Qiao Hailou made calls nonstop, urgently arranging and handling work matters.
Even after arriving at the hospital, it wasn’t time to give birth immediately—they waited quite a while. The pain came in waves. Shen Yuan’s face grew worse and worse. By the time he was pushed toward the delivery room, the pain had turned his face pale, and he barely felt like speaking.
Little Peanut was frightened. The child was sensitive and realized that his dad seemed sick. Tearfully, he asked, “Daddy, are you sick?”
Weakly, Shen Yuan said, “Daddy isn’t sick. Your little sister is coming. Be good and wait—after a little while, you’ll be able to see your sister.”
Little Peanut was completely at a loss.
This time, Qiao Hailou also wanted to accompany Shen Yuan into the delivery room, but Shen Yuan directed him to take care of the child instead. “You go look after Little Peanut and wait outside. I’ll be out soon.”
Since Shen Yuan insisted, Qiao Hailou could only obey and hold Little Peanut, soothing him.
As soon as Little Peanut saw Shen Yuan lying on the hospital bed being wheeled away, he burst into tears. “You’re lying—Daddy is sick! Don’t lie to me. I’ve seen this on TV. That’s how it goes on TV. What illness does Daddy have?”
Qiao Hailou had a headache. “Daddy isn’t sick. Daddy is giving birth to your little sister.”
Little Peanut cried until he was exhausted, then slumped against his father’s shoulder, sobbing quietly. Qiao Hailou gently patted his back. He couldn’t sit still, couldn’t calm down. He paced back and forth in the corridor outside the delivery room, every second stretching into eternity. Anxious and tormented, he stood until his legs went numb, sat for a few minutes, then stood up again to pace.
Finally, a doctor came out. Qiao Hailou hurried over. Professor Hayward removed his mask, wearing an expression that spelled bad news. Qiao Hailou’s heart lurched violently. Just that tiny change in expression instantly shattered his composure. All kinds of chaotic thoughts exploded in his head, only to be forcibly suppressed, leaving his mind suddenly blank. His lips trembled. It took all his effort to steady himself enough to ask, “D-Doctor… what happened? Is Shen Yuan in danger?”
Professor Hayward shook his head. “Mr. Shen is not in danger. The baby has been delivered safely.”
Qiao Hailou let out a breath so deep it felt as if he had nearly died and come back to life—then he heard the professor continue, “However…”
Qiao Hailou looked up.
Professor Hayward said, “Your second child appears, externally, to have intersex characteristics. Whether it is pseudo-intersex will require further examination.”
Qiao Hailou froze, then took a deep breath. “Does Shen Yuan know? Have you told him?”
Professor Hayward shook his head again. “I haven’t told him yet.”
Qiao Hailou said heavily, “Please don’t tell him for now.”
Perhaps because of the anesthesia, Shen Yuan fell asleep after giving birth this time. The second baby was fitted with a paper wristband and sent to the nursery. She looked so well-behaved and adorable, no different from any other newborn. Qiao Hailou’s emotions were complicated.
Paper couldn’t cover fire.
Sooner or later, Shen Yuan would know. This couldn’t be hidden.
He would be the one to tell him.
But how should he begin?
Shen Yuan would definitely feel guilty and blame himself. After the last birth, he had developed mild postpartum depression. If this happened again, wouldn’t it just make things worse? Even though Shen Yuan was now probably brave enough to face his childhood shadows, that didn’t mean he could accept a child inheriting his own defect. Just imagining how heartbroken Shen Yuan would be made Qiao Hailou ache. He didn’t know how to say it.
He had spoken in detail with the doctors about the second baby’s condition. Genetically, she was unquestionably a girl. After examination, it was pseudo-intersex. With time, surgery could be performed. The technique was already quite mature and not particularly dangerous.
There was good news and bad news. It was better than the worst-case scenario he had feared—but it was still bad news. For now, only he and the medical team knew. The weight of it was crushing.
Deep in thought, Qiao Hailou returned to the hospital room. He stopped at the door and adjusted his expression, trying to steady his emotions. He still hadn’t figured out how to say it. For now, he would just pretend everything was normal in front of Shen Yuan.
He heard Shen Yuan talking to Little Peanut.
In a gentle voice, Shen Yuan asked, “Little Peanut, did you go see your sister?”
Little Peanut said, “Uncle John took me. She’s so tiny. Why is she pink? I’ve never seen a pink person before. Is it because she’s a girl? Girls all like pink. The girls in my class really like it.”
Shen Yuan laughed. “Newborn babies are all like that. You were the same when you were born—wrinkly, eyes that wouldn’t open. You only got better-looking after a few days.”
Little Peanut was shocked. “Huh?? Really?!”
“Really,” Shen Yuan said. “When we get home, Daddy will find the photos from back then and show you.”
Little Peanut chattered nonstop with his dad. His mouth was quick. Ever since he started learning to speak, he loved imitating adults. Growing up in a bilingual environment, his brain had initially struggled to process everything, so he could only spit out one word at a time. Once he could form full sentences, he became especially talkative.
Every day it was babble, babble, babble—so noisy. He dumped everything onto his dad. Kids were like that. Shen Yuan honestly thought they should rename him “Little Parrot,” he was so loud. Shen Yuan listened, because he’d learned in parenting courses that you had to communicate properly with children and not find them annoying. But he was pretending. Qiao Hailou truly had patience. Not only did he listen to the child’s rambling, he even wrote a daily journal, recording what the baby said and did each day, then laughed at Shen Yuan. “The way he tilts his head up to talk to me is exactly like you, hahaha. I told you—our baby takes after you.”
Because the child was such a mimic, Shen Yuan didn’t dare curse Qiao Hailou in front of him, afraid the baby would learn it. Dreamily, Little Peanut asked, “Then when can my sister play with me?”
Shen Yuan said, “Um… at least another year or so.”
Little Peanut instantly lost interest. From the time Daddy told him he would have a little sister until she was born, he had waited for a very, very long time. Back then, Daddy had said one year. Now there was still another year to wait? That was way too long. He sighed. “Sigh, she’s really slow.”
Shen Yuan laughed. “You even know how to say ‘slowpoke’ now? Who taught you that?”
Little Peanut scratched his head. “Daddy said it. You once said, ‘Why are you so slow?’”
Shen Yuan: “…”
To be honest, Shen Yuan felt that his way of getting along with Little Peanut was not quite like father and son—more like friends. He never deliberately treated Little Peanut as a baby and never used childish reduplications. Little Peanut was clearly more attached to Qiao Hailou. After all, after he was born, it had mostly been Qiao Hailou alone who had raised him, doing all the feeding and diaper changes.
At that moment, Qiao Hailou quietly pushed the door open. Shen Yuan glanced at him without much thought.
Qiao Hailou went to cut some fruit for him.
After being fed a piece of apple, Shen Yuan asked, “When can the baby come out of the nursery and stay with me?”
“I’ve already planned it. This time, you work at the company, and I’ll stay home to take care of her for a while. With you handling the company, I can focus on my drafts at home.”
For a moment, Qiao Hailou didn’t even dare look at the completely unaware Shen Yuan. Smiling faintly, he said, “Probably in another two or three days.”
Shen Yuan knew Uncle Qiao treated him well, but he wasn’t stupid. After sharing a bed for three years, it didn’t take him long to realize that Qiao Hailou was being too careful with him—so careful it felt wrong, as if he were guilty about something.
There was definitely something being hidden from him.
Actually, Qiao Hailou was acting very natural—almost too natural. That excessive calmness made it feel unnatural.
Shen Yuan didn’t bother guessing. At dinner, he asked directly, “Qiao Hailou, what exactly are you hiding from me?”
“Did you cheat on me?”
Qiao Hailou was stunned. “What are you thinking? Of course not. I’m this busy—where would I even find the time to cheat on you?”
Shen Yuan stared at him suspiciously. “Then if you didn’t cheat on me, what else could there be that you can’t tell me? Don’t lie to me. I want the truth.”
“Say it.”
“If you don’t, I definitely won’t sleep tonight. I’ll think about it all night—it’ll be even worse for me.”
“Hurry up. What could it possibly be?”
Qiao Hailou’s head was about to split from all the pestering. He finally surrendered. Helplessly, he said, “It’s about Little Rice Cake…”
Shen Yuan froze.
Qiao Hailou didn’t really dare look at his expression.
Shen Yuan asked, “Little Rice Cake? What’s wrong with Little Rice Cake?”
With difficulty, Qiao Hailou spoke the truth. “She has pseudo-intersex.”
Shen Yuan was stunned for a long time. Then he looked up and met Qiao Hailou’s pained gaze. He smiled lightly. “No wonder you didn’t tell me. You even made me think you’d cheated on me. What’s the big deal? I’m not that fragile. Did you forget I even set up a foundation to help others? With current medical technology, this can be treated. There’s no need to panic like it’s the end of the world. Just treat it like a minor problem. I’m not panicking—why are you?”
Qiao Hailou held Shen Yuan’s hand.
Shen Yuan kept talking. “The professor told me before that there was a chance of heredity, but I always clung to luck. Look at Little Peanut—he’s perfectly healthy. I used to wonder why I was like this. Now I think it’s probably because my biological father smoked, drank, and used drugs. The two of us are healthy—it shouldn’t be a problem… I wasn’t completely unprepared for this.”
Qiao Hailou cupped his cheek. “It’s okay, it’s okay. Haven’t you studied this too? Surgery will fix it. Little Rice Cake will be fine.”
Only then did Shen Yuan seem to calm down. He stopped rambling, took Qiao Hailou’s hand against his face, and trembled as he softly murmured, “Mm.”
Qiao Hailou comforted him. “It’s okay. Everything will get better. You’ve got Uncle Qiao here.”
But Little Rice Cake was still too small to undergo surgery. They would have to wait until she grew a bit more.
Just as Qiao Hailou had expected, Shen Yuan did feel indebted to the second baby. This time, he personally took care of the child, far more attentively than he ever had with Little Peanut.