In the quiet ultrasound room of the private hospital, three men, one lying down, one sitting, one standing, made the atmosphere feel oddly tense and delicate.
Jiang Xu lay on the examination bed, exposing his slightly rounded lower abdomen. Shen Fangyu stood to the side, a piece of gauze stuck to his head, arms folded as he stared at the image on the ultrasound monitor. Tang Ke held the probe and rolled it over Jiang Xu’s skin, with two heavy dark circles hanging under his eyes.
“Jiang Xu,” he said, “just because you made me listen to a few songs that night, I haven’t slept for two nights.” The moment he closed his eyes, it was nothing but those endlessly brainwashing four lines of “ah~~~.”
Jiang Xu gave a half-smile. “I’ve been living like that for over a week already.”
“You, losing sleep? Yeah right,” Shen Fangyu said. “I think you sleep just fine.”
As soon as he finished speaking, two pairs of eyes turned to him at the same time.
One was full of gossip and shocked curiosity; the other carried an unmistakable intent to kill and silence him.
Shen Fangyu: “……”
“Ahem.” Shen Fangyu waved his hand and said to Tang Ke, “Just do the exam properly.”
Doctor Tang clearly couldn’t do the exam properly. He felt like he’d just discovered something incredible. “You two…” He looked at Jiang Xu with wide, eager eyes.
“We’re not living together,” Jiang Xu said.
“I didn’t say you were living together!” Tang Ke’s pupils trembled wildly.
“……” Jiang Xu reached out to grab the probe from his hand. “If you’re not going to do it, I’ll do it myself.”
“I will, I will.” Tang Ke didn’t dare ask any more. He hurriedly pulled himself together and got back to his professional role, resuming the examination that had just been interrupted.
At four months, the baby’s organs were basically fully developed, and the genitalia were already clearly differentiated. If during the last examination it had still looked like a girl, this time they could confirm with about seventy to eighty percent certainty that the child in Jiang Xu’s belly was indeed a little girl.
The little girl’s head appeared on the screen. Tang Ke busied himself measuring the biparietal diameter. Shen Fangyu leaned closer to take a look and said happily, “She looks a lot like me. A pretty girl.”
The clarity of a 2D ultrasound obviously wasn’t enough to make out the baby’s features. Jiang Xu rolled his eyes. “This is a 2D ultrasound, not a 4D color one. Which eye of yours can tell she looks like you?” He stared at the image on the screen a bit longer, then added after a pause, “If she looks like anyone, she looks like me.”
Tang Ke had never imagined that one day he’d hear these two overachievers arguing like elementary school kids fighting over a toy, competing over who the baby resembled. The whole plot was so absurd it felt surreal. He failed to control his expression and let out a laugh.
The moment he did, both of them turned to look at him and said in unison, “What are you laughing at?”
Tang Ke’s smile froze stiffly on his face.
What was going on?
Weren’t these two supposed to be rivals?
Wasn’t he, Tang Ke, the one closer to Jiang Xu?
Why did it suddenly look like the two of them were the real family?
And he, the longtime friend and the baby’s examining doctor, had somehow become the outsider.
This was unreasonable.
Just as he was about to argue back, Shen Fangyu suddenly pointed at the screen. “Is the baby’s right arm tucked behind her back? We can’t see it from this angle. Jiang Xu, why don’t you go downstairs and walk around for a bit, then come back and check again?”
Tang Ke looked over. It was true.
Fine. Better not get distracted again. If he kept zoning out… he cast Shen Fangyu a meaningful glance… he might even lose his identity as the baby’s examining doctor.
This situation wasn’t uncommon in prenatal checkups. Generally, it wasn’t a big problem. But before the baby was born, nothing could be said for sure. It wasn’t impossible that the baby was hiding her right hand because of some issue. Hearing this, Jiang Xu pulled down his clothes and stood up. “Alright.”
“I’ll go with you.” Shen Fangyu followed naturally, and the two of them went downstairs side by side.
Doctor Tang, who had just processed what happened, stared at their backs as a question mark slowly rose above his head.
Because Jiang Xu had previously delayed a prenatal checkup against medical advice, Tang Ke had contacted Shen Fangyu first this time. In his mind, Shen Fangyu was just a convenient tool, someone to urge Jiang Xu to come in for examinations and to help with surgery if needed. How had this “tool” suddenly started to look like he was about to replace him as Jiang Xu’s closest friend?
With a head full of grievances, Tang Ke finished putting away the equipment and concluded once again, “This is absolutely unreasonable.”
The private hospital where Tang Ke worked was very upscale. Not only had it built a sizeable park in land-scarce A City, it was also constructed along the riverbank. The October river breeze brushed against their faces. Reeds and silver grass along the shore intertwined, swaying in the wind like a stretch of white mist.
Beside the walking path was a bicycle lane, and cyclists occasionally sped past. Streetlights hung from the roadside trees, softening the night.
“No wonder more and more people switch to private hospitals every year,” Shen Fangyu remarked. “The environment here is really nice. I’m tempted to quit and work here.”
Doctors were used to walking quickly during their busy hospital routines. Jiang Xu rarely had the chance to stroll so slowly. He looked at the tiny clusters of osmanthus blossoms at the treetops, dotted like little stars, and glanced sideways at Shen Fangyu. “Feel free. I won’t see you off.”
“That won’t do,” Shen Fangyu said. “If you don’t leave, I can’t leave. It’s a matter of dignity.” As he spoke, he put an arm around Jiang Xu’s shoulders. Perhaps because the scenery was pleasant and soothing, Jiang Xu didn’t shrug him off.
A couple pushing a toddler who was just learning to speak passed by them. A small bell hanging from the stroller jingled crisply in the breeze. Shen Fangyu suddenly asked, “Jiang Xu, have you calculated the due date?”
Jiang Xu tilted his head toward the river shimmering under the moonlight. He knew that even if he didn’t say anything, Shen Fangyu was probably calculating it himself. Sure enough, Shen Fangyu quickly said, “Well, would you look at that, April 1st.” He couldn’t help laughing. “The baby’s due date is around April Fool’s Day. What a coincidence…”
Jiang Xu cut him off coldly. “That only proves that you and I meeting each other was a joke.”
Shen Fangyu wasn’t discouraged by his sharp tone and let his thoughts wander elsewhere. “Hey, what should we name our child? How about Shen Jiang? Sounds pretty grand, your surname and mine together.”
Jiang Xu shot him a look. “Then it should be Jiang Shen.”
“Shen Jiang!”
“Jiang Shen.”
“Shen Jiang!”
“Jiang Shen,” Jiang Xu said firmly.
“Jiang Shen doesn’t even sound like a name,” Shen Fangyu argued. “‘Shen’ sounds like a surname. Who uses ‘Shen’ as a given name?”
“That’s your problem for having that surname,” Jiang Xu said. “If you think it doesn’t sound like a given name, then pick another character. But the surname has to be Jiang.”
“How about this,” Shen Fangyu compromised. “Let’s use neither your surname nor mine. If the baby’s born on April Fool’s Day, we could call her Yu Renjie. Wouldn’t the police station allow a surname different from the parents’ nowadays?”
Jiang Xu didn’t know whether that was legally allowed, but based on his limited naming experience, if his daughter were saddled with a name referencing “April Fool’s Day” from birth, she’d probably never forgive Shen Fangyu for the rest of her life.
“‘Great wisdom appears foolish,’” Shen Fangyu rattled off nonsense cheerfully. “Such a good name.”
Jiang Xu seemed thoughtful. “How about we buy a durian tonight?”
“When did you start liking durian so much?”
Without a trace, Jiang Xu removed Shen Fangyu’s hand from his shoulder and glanced at the white gauze on his head. “A durian works better than an apple if you’re going to smash someone with it.”
Shen Fangyu: “……”
Finally having silenced the person beside him, Jiang Xu felt satisfied and quietly enjoyed the bustling night view of A City. A City was a beautiful place. From the very first day Jiang Xu dragged his suitcase out of the station, he had liked it here.
And in the blink of an eye, he had already spent so many years here.
From studying, to working, to settling down, now he even had a child… and an unreliable partner he was planning to muddle through life with.
From one person to three.
Although it had all begun as a joke of fate, full of reluctant compromises that left one laughing helplessly, somehow, after all the twists and turns, it had pieced together a future that was still worth looking forward to. Like the moon over A City, pitted and scarred on the surface, yet still bright and clear, shining into people’s hearts and adding another blaze to the fire of their ambitions.
“Let’s head back.”
The night breeze was growing cooler, and they had been walking for quite a while. Jiang Xu still had to prepare a departmental meeting report when he got home, while Shen Fangyu needed to revise his unlucky student’s thesis and prepare for tomorrow morning’s class.
But Shen Fangyu suddenly grabbed him.
Jiang Xu glanced at the sleeve that had been tugged. The other man, perceptive as ever, released it at once.
“We won’t discuss the formal name for now. But I’ve already thought of her nickname.”
Under the moonlight, the ever “making do” Doctor Shen curved his lips. “Let’s call her Xiaoxiao.”
Jiang Xu raised an eyebrow, signaling him to continue.
Jiang Xu’s face was reflected in Shen Fangyu’s eyes. “Because you look good when you smile. I like seeing you smile. But you don’t like to smile, so she can remind you to smile more.”
The evening wind lifted the loose strands of hair on Shen Fangyu’s forehead. His peach blossom eyes were languid, longer at the corners than round eyes, yet not as sharp as phoenix eyes, carrying a soft, affectionate charm.
Jiang Xu’s heart suddenly trembled, as if brushed by the fluttering wings of a butterfly, leaving behind a faint, fuzzy tickle.
He lowered his gaze, avoiding Shen Fangyu’s eyes, and took a few steps toward the hospital building.
Shen Fangyu hurried after him, pressing close behind. “Is it okay?”
Jiang Xu didn’t answer, so Shen Fangyu kept asking. One “is it okay” after another crashed into Jiang Xu’s heart. Irritated, Jiang Xu turned back, intending to tell him to shut up.
Instead, Shen Fangyu pulled out his trump card, a portable speaker.
The familiar music started playing. Instantly, countless people out for a stroll turned to look curiously. Jiang Xu snatched the speaker and fumbled for the mute button, failing to find it. In the end, he simply smashed it onto the ground. Only then did it finally fall silent.
Aware of the probing gazes around them, Jiang Xu, stricken with secondhand embarrassment, quickly picked up the broken remains and threw them into a trash can. Lowering his voice, he said, “Shen Fangyu, are you insane?”
Shen Fangyu leisurely pulled another one out of his coat. “Come on, today I’ll learn from Jia Baoyu. Qingwen tears fans; Jiang Xu smashes speakers. Smash as many as you want.”
Back when Jiang Xu and Shen Fangyu were preparing for the college entrance exams, Dream of the Red Chamber had been a must-know classic in the literature section. It was often tested through plot questions, making many students, especially science-track boys who disliked reading, miserable. Jiang Xu still remembered studying late into the night, flipping through the book while drawing mind maps. He couldn’t help saying, “So the college entrance exam’s Dream of the Red Chamber questions taught you this?”
“I learned a few other things too,” Shen Fangyu said. “But you probably wouldn’t like to hear them.”
Jiang Xu had no desire to know what else he had learned. He stared coldly at the hand reaching to turn the speaker on again.
“Don’t play it.”
“Then do you agree?” Shen Fangyu asked.
“Agree.”
“Not agreeing means I sing, but you still have to agree the nickname is Xiao—” Shen Fangyu stopped mid-sentence when he realized Jiang Xu had said “agree.”
He stared at Jiang Xu in shock.
“Say that again?”
Jiang Xu rolled his eyes, shoved his hands into his pockets, and turned around. Raising his voice slightly, he enunciated each word:
“I. Agree. To. All. Of. It.”