TMSCEW Extra 1

“Woman, you’re playing with fire.”

Cheng Jun’s foot rested against the wall, one hand in his pocket, his face lowered, his eyes deep. The flickering firelight illuminated his profile, accentuating his handsome features. He spoke with a low, husky voice, his words filled with ambiguity.

“…”

Ruan Jiujiu crouched on the ground, tending to the flames, unable to bear it any longer. “It’s just roasting sweet potatoes, do you have to be like this?”

The flames in front of her burned brightly, and the resin crackled, faintly smelling of roasted sweet potatoes. They had all agreed to visit a rural farm together, and Tuna and the others were on their way. Ruan Jiujiu took the opportunity to roast a few sweet potatoes to eat together.

Ruan Jiujiu didn’t know where Cheng Jun had picked up the lines from domineering CEO novels, thinking that she would like them. He had studied them like a research paper for a long time and applied them indiscriminately to all aspects of life, including where they shouldn’t be used.

Ruan Jiujiu couldn’t stop him.

She glared at Cheng Jun with annoyance and said, “Come here, have some sweet potatoes.”

“Oh.”

Just moments ago, he had the demeanor of a domineering CEO, but in the blink of an eye, he turned into an obedient and well-behaved golden retriever, squatting beside Ruan Jiujiu and watching her as she used a stick to pull out the roasted sweet potatoes.

The sweet potato skin was still very hot, but Cheng Jun reached out his hand without any precaution. Ruan Jiujiu hadn’t had time to stop him when she saw Cheng Jun’s fingertips touch the sweet potato.

His movements froze, and he quickly pulled his hand back.

Ruan Jiujiu said, “…I guess you got burned, didn’t you?”

Cheng Jun was silent for a moment and then said, “Let me try again.”

Ruan Jiujiu: !!!

Some people are willing to give up even their lives for the sake of food.

The sweet potatoes had cooled down a bit, and they finally managed to eat them. The outer skin was crispy and charred, while the inside was soft, moist, and sweet. It melted in the mouth and was incredibly delicious. Unfortunately, Ruan Jiujiu didn’t roast too many, just enough for each of them. After Cheng Jun finished his, he started staring at Ruan Jiujiu, and she handed him the remaining half with a playful smile.

“Here, the last half. We’ll have dinner later.”

Cheng Jun obediently finished the remaining half of the sweet potato.

He wiped his hands and suddenly paused.

Ruan Jiujiu sat beside him, blinked her eyes, and looked at him in confusion.

It was as if Cheng Jun had just realized something. He extended his palm, and the tips of his index and middle fingers were bright red.

He sighed slowly and softly, “It hurts.”

Ruan Jiujiu: …

So, did he only start feeling the pain after finishing eating…

In fact, there wasn’t much fun in the rural farm. For everyone, it was just a change of location to gather together. The chat records in their group were frequently reaching the limit, and if it weren’t for Ruan Jiujiu’s presence in the group keeping Cheng Jun entertained, he would have kicked out the other members long ago, as was his usual habit.

“I heard that Gu You’s wife is pregnant.”

“Oh, really? So soon?”

“Probably because they didn’t use any protection.”

At this point, Tu Nan’s secretary, Wen Xi, nudged Ruan Jiujiu’s arm with her elbow, teasing, “What about you? You’ve been married for so many years, what are you thinking?”

Ruan Jiujiu hesitated and said, “Um… I haven’t thought about it for now.”

When it comes to having children, it’s better to go with the flow. Ruan Jiujiu had been with Cheng Jun for two or three years, and Cheng Jun always acted spoiled towards her. Sometimes he would act like a dog, and when he got angry, he would pretend to be pitiful, making Ruan Jiujiu unable to deal with him. They were still enjoying their time together, so they weren’t in a hurry to have children.

Ruan Jiujiu hoped that Cheng Jun would make the decision about such matters. She could only try to provide him with enough security.

They laughed and played after dinner, returned early to rest, and planned to go strawberry picking the next day.

Houses in the suburbs were much colder than the buildings in the city. Ruan Jiujiu took a shower, crawled into bed early, and buried herself under the covers. Before long, Cheng Jun also got into bed and held Ruan Jiujiu in his arms.

Ruan Jiujiu pushed his chest with her head raised and said, “Don’t hold me while sleeping.”

For the past few days, he had been holding her while sleeping, and it had given her a stiff neck.

Cheng Jun asked, “Are you already finding me annoying?”

Ruan Jiujiu replied, “No, it’s not that.”

Cheng Jun said, “Women…”

Ruan Jiujiu couldn’t resist Cheng Jun’s persistence, so she ended up sleeping in his embrace. As she drifted off to sleep, Cheng Jun started kissing her cheek. Ruan Jiujiu patted his restless hand and Cheng Jun grumbled, “My hand hurts.”

Ruan Jiujiu realized and instinctively pulled his hand away, saying, “Does it really hurt? I can ask the host if there’s any medicine…”

“No need.”

Cheng Jun interlocked his fingers with hers and rolled over in the darkness to pin her to the bed.

“You are my medicine.”

Ruan Jiujiu replied, “…If you keep saying such crazy things, I’ll kick you off the bed.”

Cheng Jun instantly became more disciplined, saying, “Alright.”

They didn’t have to wait until the next day for strawberry picking. Cheng Jun had already planted many small, bright red strawberries on Ruan Jiujiu. As they reached the final step, Ruan Jiujiu lay naked under the covers, her cheeks flushed, looking so adorable that one would want to devour her in one bite.

Cheng Jun’s lips were against her neck, his eyes half-closed, and his hand instinctively reaching for the bedside drawer.

Then, his movements stopped.

Ruan Jiujiu: ???

Cheng Jun kissed her pure white neck, sounding frustrated, “I… forgot to get something.”

It had been a while since this happened.

Last time, Ruan Jiujiu remembered that Cheng Jun had gone downstairs in the middle of the night to buy it. Now, in the middle of nowhere, there was nowhere to buy such precautions. He propped himself up on the bed and said, “I’ll ask Tu Nan for a loan.”

Ruan Jiujiu blushed and said, “You can’t borrow something like that! No way!” It was too embarrassing!

Cheng Jun pitifully nuzzled her chin and repeatedly whispered her name, melting Ruan Jiujiu’s heart.

With a shy expression, Ruan Jiujiu said softly, “I calculated, today is the safe period… It should be fine.”

Once in a while, it shouldn’t be a problem, right? It would truly be a stroke of fate if it happened.

The chances of having a child depended on Ruan Jiujiu, who was actively inviting him to take action in front of him. One was a devil, and the other was an angel, making Cheng Jun hesitate for a moment. At this moment, Ruan Jiujiu hooked her arm around his neck, leaned in, and kissed his lips. Her soft body pressed tightly against his, and she said with a teasing smile, “You can push me away, and we can go back to sleep.”

Cheng Jun’s Adam’s apple moved up and down with difficulty.

…

The result of her initiative was that the next day, Ruan Jiujiu and Cheng Jun successfully took a day off from the strawberry-picking group.

Ruan Jiujiu’s reason was that she wasn’t feeling well due to her menstrual cycle and wanted to rest in bed. Wen Xi came to check on her, and Ruan Jiujiu was lying under the covers. Cheng Jun poured her some water, and Wen Xian believed her, telling her to rest well, and they would bring back more strawberries.

As soon as Wen Xi left, Ruan Jiujiu blushed and started pounding Cheng Jun. Her strength wasn’t great, and Cheng Jun acted as if nothing had happened, asking her gently what she wanted to eat later.

Ruan Jiujiu said: …

She couldn’t believe him.

During the two-day rural farm stay, Ruan Jiujiu harvested strawberries twice: one batch on her body and another in the trunk of the car.

The thought of having to go back to work the next day made Ruan Jiujiu’s mood even worse, and she occasionally shot Cheng Jun cold glares, completely forgetting that she had been the one to initiate things that night.

Receiving deathly glances from her all the way, Cheng Jun had an innocent expression on his face.

A few days passed, and Ruan Jiujiu felt completely fine, so she forgot about the whole incident.

But when she finally realized the seriousness of the situation, it was already too late…

She had initially thought it was just due to recent stress and hormonal imbalance. Ruan Jiujiu went to get a checkup, but the doctor gave her a strange look and suggested a few additional tests. When the test results came back, Ruan Jiujiu sat alone on a bench in the hospital, staring into space, until Cheng Jun came in with two bottles of mineral water.

Cheng Jun asked, “Are you feeling unwell?”

Ruan Jiujiu shook her head dazedly and handed him the test report.

He glanced at it.

“…”

“…”

The two bottles of mineral water fell to the ground with a loud clang and rolled a long way.

The couple’s expressions were filled with gloom and despair, especially Cheng Jun, as the husband, showed absolutely no signs of happiness. The nurse even thought that their marital life had reached the brink of breaking down and politely suggested they go back and think it through carefully.

Ruan Jiujiu, who had never considered becoming a mother before, was also deeply shocked but thankfully not feeling much at the moment. On the way home, she tried to comfort Cheng Jun, telling him that if he couldn’t accept it, it would be okay to consider terminating the pregnancy.

Cheng Jun had a grim expression when he left the hospital, and he still had that expression when he got home. He barely touched his food, which made Ruan Jiujiu worry.

He gently stroked her head but remained silent.

That night, Cheng Jun held Ruan Jiujiu in his arms and didn’t sleep at all.

Cheng Jun’s unease was so apparent that even others noticed. During a work meeting, while they were discussing a topic, Cheng Jun had a distracted look on his face, allowing Fu Zicheng to talk for the most part, and he didn’t even flip through the PowerPoint slides on his notebook for a while.

He stared at his phone, scrolling up and down the screen, seemingly engrossed in something, with a serious expression.

Others occasionally glanced at Cheng Jun, and everyone collectively speculated that there might be an issue with Fu Zicheng’s proposal. Even Fu Zicheng stuttered for a moment, starting to doubt himself.

If they were to take a look at Cheng Jun’s phone right now, they would see the search queries displayed on it:

“The dangers of abortion,” “The specific processes of natural childbirth and cesarean section,” “The impact of childbirth on women,” “How to minimize the harm of childbirth to women,” “Do women want to have children?” and similar topics. Even topics like “Specific symptoms of postpartum depression” had been researched extensively.

Cheng Jun stared at the screen for a long time.

In his mind, he saw the expression on Ruan Jiujiu’s face as she sat on the hospital bench. She held a test report and looked at Cheng Jun with nervousness, shock, and confusion.

Behind the nervousness, shock, and confusion, there was no fear, but there was an unmistakable sense of delight. It seemed she wanted this child.

After Fu Zicheng finished speaking, the employees in the office were waiting for Cheng Jun to express his opinion. Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Cheng Jun’s face remained expressionless. He closed his notebook with a loud snap, and the collective body of the people in the room involuntarily shuddered.

Cheng Jun remained silent for a long time.

It was as if he was making a decision on something extremely difficult. He straightened his posture.

“Let’s have the baby,” if that’s what she wants.

The rest of the people: ???

---

Author’s note: Cheng Jun: As long as she’s happy.

 

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