ACMS 61

Chapter 61 – Surgery

Shen Hechuan never expected that his simple “No” would earn him a stunned “Are you pregnant too?” from Qiao Le.

Seeing the shocked look in Qiao Le’s eyes, a vein throbbed on Shen Hechuan’s temple. “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Qiao Le also felt it was a bit ridiculous after saying it, but he still couldn’t help complaining, “You won’t do this, can’t do that—aren’t you acting just like I did when I first got pregnant?”

Back then, he almost shoved Shen Hechuan off the bed.

Shen Hechuan paused and explained, “Your condition is still unstable. I’m afraid of hurting you.”

Qiao Le dismissed it. “I told you, just use your hand. You’re not that powerful.”

Shen Hechuan: “……”

“Uh…”

Realizing what he’d just said, Qiao Le met Shen Hechuan’s deepening gaze and gave a dry smile. He quickly tried to pull away and scooted back. “That’s not what I meant, don’t get the wrong idea—”

Shen Hechuan reacted quickly and grabbed him by the ankle, stopping his retreat. He braced a knee on the bed, leaned down closer, and said, “Not that kind of meaning?”

With pregnancy hormones already stirring up his desire, Qiao Le became even more aroused under the heat of Shen Hechuan’s breath and the faint scent of his body wash. He unconsciously bent his knee to nudge against Shen Hechuan’s waist.

Shen Hechuan’s expression shifted. He lowered his head and kissed Qiao Le’s slightly parted lips.

Qiao Le propped himself up on his elbow and tilted his head back.

He smiled briefly under Shen Hechuan’s gaze as if he wanted to speak, but restrained himself, suddenly looking a bit shy.

“Baby,” Shen Hechuan’s voice was lower than usual, “there’s no one else at home.”

“Don’t be afraid,” he said softly.

…

Afterward, Qiao Le lay on the bed and blinked at Shen Hechuan.

Shen Hechuan noticed and laughed. “Shy now?”

Qiao Le rolled over and grabbed a few wet wipes, handing them to Shen Hechuan. Shen Hechuan took them and wiped his hands.

Seeing that, Qiao Le offered in return, “I can help you too.”

“No need,” Shen Hechuan said as he tossed the used wipes in the trash.

Qiao Le looked at him suspiciously. “Are you sure?”

“…Sure. I’m going to wash my hands,” Shen Hechuan said and headed to the bathroom.

Qiao Le stared after him, more convinced than ever—something was off with Shen Hechuan.

Shen Hechuan had always been very enthusiastic in this area. Before the pregnancy, even a simple hug or kiss would often get out of hand.

Now they’d gone that far, and he could still hold back from letting Qiao Le help him?

Back then, Shen Hechuan would coax and tease him into it.

Qiao Le couldn’t make sense of it, but he was certain—Shen Hechuan was hiding something.

After washing his hands, Shen Hechuan changed into pajamas in the dressing room. When he returned to bed, Qiao Le specifically checked down there and asked skeptically, “You really don’t need to take care of it?”

“…Sleep,” Shen Hechuan said as he lifted the quilt and wrapped Qiao Le up.

Qiao Le, trapped in his arms, couldn’t move and had no choice but to say, “Alright, good night.”

“Good night.”

—

The next day, Shen Hechuan went to the office. Left alone at home, Qiao Le got bored and arranged to have lunch with Fang Jiaxu.

They hadn’t seen each other over the New Year and caught up on recent events.

Fang Jiaxu said his family had arranged a blind date for him. The guy was a university math teacher—introverted but very considerate. They both had a good impression and were thinking about moving forward.

The scene from over a year ago of helping Fang Jiaxu beat up his scumbag ex was still fresh in Qiao Le’s mind. Hearing Fang Jiaxu had met someone new made him genuinely happy.

“Then let’s have dinner together sometime,” Qiao Le suggested.

“That’s what I was thinking too, maybe when things are a bit more stable,” Fang Jiaxu replied. “How about you? How’ve you been lately?”

Qiao Le told him about running into Liang Shuling.

Fang Jiaxu exploded. “She has the nerve to come see you? What did she want? Don’t tell me she’s suddenly feeling guilty and wants to make it up to you and Xiao Man? I don’t believe she’s that kind-hearted.”

“No idea,” Qiao Le mused. “Seems unlikely.”

If Liang Shuling truly wanted to make amends, even from Hong Kong, she could’ve reached out through their uncle and aunt—but she never had. Never took the initiative.

Based on what he knew of her, if it hadn’t been for that chance encounter, she probably would’ve stayed out of their lives forever.

“So what did she want from you?” Fang Jiaxu asked, puzzled. “It’s been so long.”

What did she want?

Qiao Le paused with his chopsticks midair. A suspicion flashed through his mind, but he calmly picked up food and said, “Who knows. I didn’t ask.”

“I’m telling you, if she tries to guilt-trip you, don’t fall for it,” Fang Jiaxu warned. “If anyone has it hard, it’s you.”

Qiao Le chuckled. “I’m not doing so badly. Things are pretty good now.”

“Not doing badly?” Fang Jiaxu disagreed. “Dropped out of school, buried in debt, raising a kid on your own—worse than a widow.”

“…That’s a terrible analogy,” Qiao Le said, exasperated. “You can just stop talking.”

“Well, you get the idea,” Fang Jiaxu waved it off. “Anyway, eat first. I need to take this call.”

He picked up his vibrating phone and answered.

The caller was his blind date. The other party asked where he was, said they’d brought him some local specialties, and casually asked if he was free for dinner.

“Are you trying to give me specialties, or are you asking me out to dinner?” Fang Jiaxu teased. “You’d better think carefully before answering.”

The other party gave their answer, and Fang Jiaxu grinned from ear to ear. “Alright then, come pick me up tonight.”

From their conversation, Qiao Le could tell Fang Jiaxu was genuinely satisfied with this blind date partner.

A blind date…

He couldn’t help recalling the first time he met Shen Hechuan.

That whole mistaken “blind date” incident—even now, thinking about it made him laugh and cry.

Fang Jiaxu hung up and said to Qiao Le, “What are you grinning about like an idiot?”

“Nothing.” Qiao Le snapped back to reality, carefully choosing his words. “I wanted to talk to you about something. It’s about a friend of mine—he’s having a bit of a situation—”

“Which friend?” Fang Jiaxu asked.

“Don’t worry about that,” Qiao Le said. “So this friend of mine, not long after he got married, his husband suddenly lost interest in… that aspect—”

Fang Jiaxu looked surprised. “Shen Hechuan can’t do it anymore?”

Qiao Le: “……”

A few seconds of silence passed before Qiao Le firmly repeated, “I said it’s a friend, a friend!”

“Ohhh.” Fang Jiaxu stifled a laugh. “So this friend of yours just happens to be pregnant, huh?”

Qiao Le: “……”

Forget it.

Giving up all pretense, Qiao Le laid it all out, telling him what had happened with Shen Hechuan the previous night. “What do you think it means?”

Fang Jiaxu listened and said, “So he reacted, but held himself back?”

“Yeah.” Qiao Le was completely baffled.

Fang Jiaxu said, “Maybe he’s afraid of hurting you. Your condition’s delicate right now—he might be scared he won’t be able to control himself.”

Qiao Le was half-convinced. “You really think that’s it?”

“Well, it’s not like he’s got someone else outside, right?”

“No way!” Qiao Le said without hesitation. “Shen Hechuan’s not that kind of person.”

“There you go, then.” Fang Jiaxu comforted him. “Don’t overthink it. He’s holding back because he cares about you. That just proves how important you are to him.”

Is that really it?

Qiao Le still felt like something was off, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“Tell you what, I’ll send you some resources.” Fang Jiaxu said. “These are the treasures I’ve built up over half my life. Some of them don’t even require actual penetration—just right for your current situation.”

Qiao Le: “……”

“You want them or not?” Fang Jiaxu asked.

“I do!”

Qiao Le thought, life needs a little passion and surprise. One must always be eager to learn and grow!

Just then, his phone rang in his pocket, cutting off his thoughts. When he pulled it out, he saw it was Jiang Hong calling.

They hadn’t seen each other since that meeting at the Chen household. Their last contact on WeChat was around New Year’s.

Qiao Le stared at the screen for a moment, not picking up right away.

Given Liang Shuling’s sudden appearance, he had a pretty good idea what this call was about.

Fang Jiaxu saw him just staring at his phone and asked, “Whose call is it? Why aren’t you answering?”

Qiao Le picked up. “Aunt Hong.”

“Lele.” Jiang Hong’s voice came through the speaker. “Sorry for calling out of the blue—did I catch you at a bad time?”

“Not at all,” Qiao Le replied. “Did you need something?”

“There’s something I wanted to talk about.” Jiang Hong paused for a moment, then said, “Your mother came back. You already know, right? She said she’s met with you.”

Just as he thought.

Qiao Le had guessed right.

“I know,” he said. “Did she go see you?”

“She asked to meet me this morning,” Jiang Hong replied. “But I didn’t mention that I had already met with you.”

Qiao Le was a little surprised. He had thought Jiang Hong was calling to act as a go-between—but she had actually kept his secret from Liang Shuling.

His heart warmed. “Thank you.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” Jiang Hong said. “I wasn’t sure if you even wanted to see her, so I didn’t say anything.”

At the moment, Qiao Le really didn’t have any intention of meeting Liang Shuling again. He chatted with Jiang Hong for a bit longer, then hung up.

That evening, after his bath, Qiao Le used his tablet to download the “resources” Fang Jiaxu had sent him.

The file was massive—comics, novels, videos, it had everything.

No wonder Fang Jiaxu said it was his lifetime’s collection. It took Qiao Le nearly two hours to download it all, and before he could even start looking through it, Shen Hechuan came home.

Shen Hechuan had brought back a late-night snack: roasted sweet potatoes and stir-fried chestnuts.

The smell was so good that Qiao Le immediately forgot about the file. Barefoot, he jumped off the sofa and ran over. “That smells amazing.”

He took the paper bag from Shen Hechuan’s hands. Even before opening it, the rich, sweet aroma hit his nose and made his stomach growl.

“Careful, it’s hot,” Shen Hechuan warned, taking off his coat and tossing it aside.

He’d been out at a social gathering that night. Though he hadn’t smoked or drunk himself, the smell of others had still clung to him. When Qiao Le caught a whiff, he wrinkled his nose and urged, “Go take a shower—you smell gross.”

“Mhm. You go ahead and eat.”

Shen Hechuan loosened his tie and headed for the bathroom. Qiao Le sat down and started peeling the sweet potatoes. But the smoke and alcohol smell from Shen Hechuan’s coat was overpowering, so he put the food down and grabbed the coat to bring it to the laundry room.

As he walked, he casually reached into the pockets—and pulled out a folded sheet of paper.

He gave it a shake and glanced at it.

[Postoperative Care Instructions for Male Vasectomy]

His steps froze.

Vasectomy?

Vasectomy??

Vasectomy???!!!

Shen Hechuan got a vasectomy???!!!

Qiao Le:“Σ(っ °Д °;)っ??!”