Chapter 84: Examination

The next morning, Chang Yu woke up bleary-eyed, stretching his arms in a massive yawn. Having just gotten out of bed, his mind was still clouded with sleep. Vaguely, he remembered that something catastrophic had happened yesterday. Gazing around, he noticed the room was silent, the doors and windows tightly shut, and not a soul in sight. The furniture was neatly arranged, the floor spotless and tidy—everything was just as it had always been, as if nothing had ever happened.

At this, Chang Yu inexplicably breathed a sigh of relief, a profound sense of fortune welling up from within.

“Thank goodness, everything is still as it was. It must have been just a dream!” he thought. “Haha, it’s really odd, I actually had an incredibly vivid and bizarre dream last night. I dreamt that I, a grown man, gave birth to a child! Ahahaha—how ridiculous! Something so preposterous could only happen in a dream, right?”

“In the annals of medicine, I’ve never heard of any man being able to give birth like a woman. Although, now that I think of it, Katya mentioned once that an ancient text recorded a male otherworlder who’d had a child. I remember feeling a sincere sense of admiration for that man at the time. After all, a man giving birth—that’s mortifying. I’d be so embarrassed. If it were me, I’d have found a rope and hanged myself by now. That man must have possessed unimaginable courage to keep living in this world!

“Of course, having the child is the lesser ordeal; the real trial is raising the child, day in and day out, dealing with all the mess and shame, with your own disgrace and black history constantly before your very eyes. What misery! If it were me, I’d have already broken down. Just thinking about it leaves me speechless!

“Hahahaha… but thank goodness it was just a dream! What a false alarm, what a relief!”

Muttering to himself, Chang Yu ran a hand over his hair to calm his nerves, reciting the words his grandfather, the old director, used to say to soothe him as a child: “Stroke your hair, and you won’t be scared; stroke your ears, and you’ll be scared for just a moment.”

Just as he was regaining his composure and preparing to drink some cold water to cool down, a crisp child’s voice rang out:

“Chang Yu, what are you grinning about?”

No sooner had the words fallen than Yang Yang crawled out from the covers, yawning as he got out of bed.

Chang Yu froze like a drake caught mid-crow, his expression filled with terror, laughter stuck in his throat.

At that moment, despite the thousands of things he wanted to say, only a single syllable emerged: “Eh?”

“What’s gotten into you?” Yang Yang grumbled, displeased, looking at Chang Yu as if he were being snubbed.

“So it wasn’t a dream—not a dream! It’s real, all of it’s real!” Chang Yu’s face fell, looking utterly dejected and lost.

“Wake up already!” Yang Yang gave him a strange look, mocking, “It wasn’t a dream. You really did have a child, and a chubby baby boy at that!”

On hearing this, Chang Yu leapt up from the bed, pacing anxiously around the room as he muttered, “Utter humiliation, absolute disgrace! How could my lifelong reputation be ruined like this? I’m not even married, and now I have a child? If I take him out in public, how am I supposed to explain it to people I know? If they ask who the child’s mother is, what am I supposed to say? That the child doesn’t have a mother and is all my doing? Should I tell them the story begins with an ancient tree root and an infertile fat man? Even if I told the truth, who would believe such a tale? It sounds like utter nonsense!”

The sudden arrival of a child made Chang Yu question his very existence, nearly pushing him to the brink of collapse. He could already foresee his life nailed to the pillar of shame.

Unlike the agitated Chang Yu, Yang Yang was quite at ease. He reclined on Chang Yu’s large bed, legs crossed, swaying idly—utterly relaxed.

Suddenly, Chang Yu’s phone rang, shattering the harmony between the unlikely pair.

“Hello?” Chang Yu answered absentmindedly, not even checking to see who was calling.

“Are you awake?” came Katya’s cool, clear voice from the other end.

“We’re up,” he replied, sneaking a glance at Yang Yang.

“Good. Come downstairs quickly,” Katya instructed.

“Why?” he asked, still muddled.

“We agreed yesterday to give Yang Yang a full medical examination, remember?” Katya replied patiently.

“Oh, right!” With her reminder, Chang Yu finally recalled. His earlier panic had nearly made him forget. Because Yang Yang was originally a Poria mushroom and had just taken human form for the first time, Katya was deeply concerned about his health, afraid that something might have gone wrong in the transformation, leaving him with hidden issues.

So, before leaving Chang Yu’s apartment the day before, Katya had arranged to meet early that morning for Yang Yang’s checkup.

“We’re waiting for you downstairs. Move quickly,” Katya reminded him.

“Where are we having the examination? It’s not at the hospital, is it?” Chang Yu asked.

“You’ll see a large truck downstairs—the examination will be done in the truck’s compartment,” Katya explained readily. “The medical staff are all from our bureau, highly professional. It won’t take long.”

Not bothering to wash up, Chang Yu hurried Yang Yang downstairs. At a glance, he saw a large, military-green truck. The compartment was so spacious it filled the entire sidewalk, its shape boxy and upright—unmistakably military. And the license plate! Red plates, no small background there.

As soon as she spotted them, Katya waved them over. “We’ve been waiting ages. Come in quickly!”

She opened the truck’s compartment door and led Chang Yu and Yang Yang inside. The space was vast, but crammed with all manner of medical equipment, making it feel especially crowded. Two women in white lab coats were working inside, one of whom Chang Yu recognized.

“Xia Lin!” he greeted, waving at the demure-looking girl who looked no older than seventeen or eighteen.

It hadn’t been long since he’d last seen her, and it was thanks to Xia Lin’s help that he’d been discharged early from the hospital.

“The bureau is taking Yang Yang’s case very seriously, so they made an exception and sent me,” Xia Lin explained softly to Chang Yu. “Let me introduce you—this is Sister Chen, an expert from our medical team.”

Xia Lin gestured to the middle-aged woman beside her, also dressed in a white coat.

“Hello, Sister Chen. Sorry for the trouble today,” Chang Yu said politely, shaking her hand even though he’d never met her before.

“We’re all on the same team, no need for formalities,” Sister Chen replied with a smile.

At that moment, Xia Lin caught sight of Yang Yang, adorable as a porcelain doll, and her eyes sparkled with delight—her joy nearly written across her face.

“So this is our little star today? He’s absolutely precious! Come here, let me hold you.”

Yang Yang, too, brightened at the sight of Xia Lin. He scrutinized her from head to toe, his gaze lingering especially long on her gentle face and her rather impressive chest.

Xia Lin was, after all, a young and beautiful woman, far more charming to Yang Yang than a rough-and-tumble man like Chang Yu.

“Sister, hug!”

With mischievous cleverness, Yang Yang trotted over, waving his little arms, and dove straight into Xia Lin’s embrace. From his sweet expression to his endearing words, he played the part of an adorable little boy to perfection—an Oscar-worthy performance that even Chang Yu found convincing. For a moment, he couldn’t help but wonder: Was this truly his child?

Just last night at home, Yang Yang had been wild and unruly—but now, in front of others, he was the very image of innocence.

“Such a good boy!” Xia Lin cradled Yang Yang against her chest, unable to hide her smile.

“Sister, you’re so pretty!” Yang Yang buried his face in her chest, rubbing back and forth like a spoiled puppy.

“Small in size but quite the charmer,” Xia Lin laughed. What girl doesn’t like to be called pretty, especially by such an adorable boy? As the saying goes, children always speak from the heart.

Xia Lin was delighted, planting a kiss on Yang Yang’s cheek, which made him beam with joy. As he nuzzled against her chest, he flashed a sly, roguish grin at Chang Yu, one that spoke volumes—a little rascal at heart.

“Don’t spoil him too much—this kid’s no innocent,” Chang Yu warned, his sharp eyes never leaving Yang Yang. That wicked grin hadn’t escaped him. Remembering Yang Yang’s unruly behavior at home and seeing his current act, Chang Yu easily deduced that this display of sweetness was all to take advantage of Xia Lin. The way he kept snuggling into her chest was no accident.

Ah, the little rascal is quite the flirt! Better make sure Katya keeps her distance in the future.

“I think he’s quite attached to me,” Xia Lin replied, unconcerned by Chang Yu’s warning. What ill intent could a child possibly have? They’re angels—so pure, so sweet.

“Well, suit yourself,” Chang Yu sighed. If she didn’t mind, what more could he say?

Yang Yang, meanwhile, noticed that Chang Yu was trying to spoil his fun. Seizing a moment when no one else was looking, he stuck his tongue out at Chang Yu—fiercely, at that.

“We’re about ready to begin the examination,” Sister Chen announced briskly. Her style was all action, no unnecessary questions or chatter—efficiency above all else.

“All right, let’s get started,” Chang Yu agreed.

“It’s just a routine checkup, little one, nothing to be nervous about,” Xia Lin soothed Yang Yang gently. “I’m going to put you into something that looks a bit like a space capsule. Just lie still and don’t move, okay?”

She carried Yang Yang over to a cylindrical white device—the MRI machine. She laid him at the entrance, positioning him on his back, and as the machine whirred to life, he was gently slid inside.

Throughout the process, Yang Yang remained calm and obedient, showing none of the panic one might expect when faced with the unknown.

“He adapts pretty well,” Chang Yu observed, recalling how fidgety he’d been the first time he underwent an MRI. Yang Yang was far braver than he’d been.

The scan took quite a while, the MRI chamber spinning and its lights flashing throughout. Chang Yu began to worry, despite his outward show of annoyance toward Yang Yang—deep down, he cared more than anyone.

No matter how much of a handful, he was still his own flesh and blood.

“Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,” Katya reassured him, noticing his anxiety. “They need to examine his entire body, not just one organ. That takes extra time. And you don’t need to worry about any risky procedures—they’re letting you watch the whole process to put your mind at ease.”

“But do you think they might dissect Yang Yang for research?” Comrade Osmanthus joked. If she hadn’t brought it up, Chang Yu might not have started to worry.