Chapter 379: Possibly Pregnant

A few days later, Miao Yijia received a call from Miao Cuixia, inviting her to come to her house for a meal.

Miao Yijia felt delighted inside, and reservedly asked her whether Chen Songbai was there.

Miao Cuixia sighed, cursing 'unfilial son'—those three words had practically become her catchphrase. She called Chen Songbai several times, but he didn't answer; she called again, and Chen Songbai, pestered into answering, said no more than three sentences before using overtime as an excuse to refuse coming home for dinner and then hung up directly.

Miao Cuixia was both angry and helpless.

Upon learning that Chen Songbai wasn't home, Miao Yijia felt slightly disappointed, thought it over, and still agreed to come.

Since that night she laid her cards on the table, Chen Songbai's attitude toward her had plummeted, and if she couldn't win over Miao Cuixia's heart, she would have no hope at all.

Miao Yijia didn't dress up specially; knowing what the elders liked, she simply tidied herself up and went out, taking a taxi to Chen Songbai's house.

Upon entering, Miao Cuixia was wearing an apron and holding a spatula, greeting her to sit quickly, eat some fruit, and saying dinner would be ready soon.

Miao Yijia put down what she was holding, went into the kitchen to help Miao Cuixia.

Seeing her, Miao Cuixia sighed continuously, while stir-frying she complained: 'Our Songbai is blind-eyed, marrying such a daughter-in-law; I should have firmly objected from the start. You, why didn't you leave Songbai earlier…'

Miao Yijia blushed, bashfully saying: 'Auntie, please don't say that; it's all because of an accident.'

"I don't care whether it was an accident or not. Since Songbai did it, he must take full responsibility." Miao Cuixia served the fish from the pot, took her hand, and earnestly said, 'You've grown up under my watch, obedient and sensible; if you truly become my daughter-in-law, I'd wake up laughing in my dreams. Keep trying, Yijia—help me persuade Songbai; Xia Xuan has already agreed to divorce, I don't know what he's still holding onto.'

Miao Yijia said embarrassedly, 'Auntie, my words won't be heard by my cousin.'

"He's just muddle-headed now; he'll have moments of clarity." Miao Cuixia said, 'You must never give up—I'm firmly on your side.'

Miao Yijia gave an embarrassed smile.

After the meal was ready, the three sat around the table to eat. Miao Yijia had brought two bottles of good wine; she opened one and personally poured it for Chenfu: 'Uncle, don't be angry with your cousin—getting upset will harm your health. He is still quite filial.'

Miao Cuixia smiled: 'Our Yijia is thoughtful, unlike that Xia Xuan, who always wears a gloomy face.'

Chenfu: 'Don't mention that unfilial son—just thinking of him makes me angry.'

"Alright, let's not talk about it—let's eat." Miao Cuixia sat down, picked up her chopsticks, and placed a piece of fish meat on Miao Yijia's plate, saying, 'This is the fresh fish we bought at the market this afternoon; try it.'

"Thank you, Auntie."

Whether the fish wasn't prepared well or her stomach was upset, as soon as Miao Yijia put the food in her mouth, a wave of nausea rose; she tried to hold it in to avoid being rude in front of the elders, but the more she suppressed it, the worse she felt. She hastily put down her chopsticks, covered her mouth, and rushed to the bathroom.

She had lived here for a while and was extremely familiar with all the facilities in the house.

Chenfu was sipping baijiu when he froze.

Miao Cuixia also froze.

"Why are you just sitting there? Go see what's happening." Chenfu set his wine cup on the table and ordered Miao Cuixia.

Miao Cuixia snapped to attention and hurried toward the bathroom. Miao Yijia was squatting by the toilet, retching; she had only eaten a mouthful and couldn't bring anything up.

"Yijia, what's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?" Miao Cuixia bent down, rubbed Miao Yijia's back, and asked anxiously.

Miao Yijia waved her hand, but as soon as she opened her mouth another bout of dry heaving hit, leaving her unable to speak.

As Miao Cuixia watched, being someone who'd been through it, she suddenly thought of something and exclaimed delightedly, 'Yijia, you couldn't be… pregnant, could you? Have you missed your period this month?'

Miao Yijia pressed one hand against the edge of the toilet, her spirit suddenly tensing. After the reminder, she recalled that her period this month had indeed been delayed.

Noticing her dazed expression, Miao Cuixia's joy rose to her eyebrows; she helped Yijia up, leaned in, and asked, 'After that night, you didn't take any medicine, did you?'

Miao Yijia's complexion gradually turned pale.

"You poor thing, are you scared out of your wits? It's okay, it's okay—I'm here." Miao Cuixia soothed her, pulled out a tissue for her to wipe her mouth, poured some water into a cup and handed it to her, saying, 'I'll accompany you to the hospital for a checkup to find out whether you're pregnant.'

Miao Yijia's fingertips felt cold as she held the cup and took a sip of water.

"Oh dear, that's for rinsing your mouth—why did you drink it?" Miao Cuixia said.

Miao Yijia's expression grew somewhat dazed; she took another mouthful of water, rinsed her mouth, spat it into the toilet, and her hand trembled slightly.

Miao Cuixia took her arm and led her out, returning to the dining room. She placed the braised fish on the other side, far from Miao Yijia, fearing the smell would make her nauseous again.

"Nothing serious, right?" Chenfu asked casually after taking a bite of vegetables.

"Dad." Miao Cuixia couldn't hide her delight, 'Yijia might be pregnant—Songbai will have a child, our Chen family will have an heir!'

Miao Cuixia's emotions grew increasingly excited, and her voice rose accordingly.

Upon hearing this, Chenfu shifted his gaze between Miao Cuixia and Miao Yijia, happily stroking his white‑short hair and exclaiming, 'Really?!'

Miao Cuixia: 'I haven't gone to the hospital for a check yet, but based on my experience it's almost certain. Think back—when I was pregnant with our Songbai, just smelling that fishy odor made me want to vomit. Yijia is exactly the same as I was then.'

Miao Cuixia placed spare ribs and vegetables on Miao Yijia's plate, saying, 'Yijia, from now on I'll personally take care of you—eat more; you're so thin, if you don't put on some weight you won't have the strength to bear a child later.'

Miao Cuixia's words sounded as if she had already decided that Miao Yijia was pregnant.

Chenfu chimed in: 'Yes, yes, yes—eat more.'

Miao Yijia was absent‑minded, couldn't hear what the two were saying, and the food she shoved into her mouth had no taste.

After finally finishing the meal, Miao Yijia said she wanted to go home, but Miao Cuixia, unwilling to let her go alone, said, 'There's a spare room here—stay the night, and I'll accompany you to the hospital tomorrow.'

Miao Yijia found a myriad of excuses before refusing her insistence.

Miao Cuixia saw her out of the residential complex, watching her get into a taxi before turning back.

After the taxi had gone a stretch, Miao Yijia saw a pharmacy open by the roadside and urged the driver to stop. She entered the pharmacy, bought several pregnancy test sticks and stashed them in her bag, returned to the car, and made it home without incident.

She double‑locked the door, dragged her bag into the bathroom, and desperately prayed in her heart that Miao Cuixia was mistaken—that she wasn't pregnant.

Miao Yijia herself didn't even notice that, while unpacking the box, her fingers kept trembling. She first looked at the instructions; unable to focus, she read the same few lines over and over, but the words simply wouldn't sink in.

She followed the steps shown in the diagram, sat on the toilet waiting, clasped her hands tightly together, and fixed her eyes on the area where the red line would appear.

After a while, two clear red lines appeared.

Miao Yijia picked up the test stick from the floor; looking at it up close, the two red lines only grew clearer, never fading.

"Pop."

As her hand loosened, the test stick fell to the ground, and along with it dropped Miao Yijia's tears.

She knew better than anyone that nothing had happened between her and Chen Songbai.

Miao Yijia took a quick shower, then returned to her room in a daze, lay on the bed tossing and turning, unable to sleep; a wave of panic washed over her, and she involuntarily curled up, clutching herself.

As dawn approached, Miao Yijia was about to drift off in a haze when a sharp phone ring jolted her awake; she jerked upright, eyes flying open, exhausted all over, and slowly sat up from the bed.

She picked up the phone on the bedside table; it was a call from Miao Cuixia. Miao Yijia covered her forehead, feeling helpless.

Miao Yijia smoothed the messy hair stuck to her face back behind her head, answered the call, and Miao Cuixia's voice came through immediately: "Jiajia, are you awake? I don't know where you live; tell me, and I'll come find you, then accompany you to the hospital. We need to go early—I heard it's hard to get an appointment at big-city hospitals."