Chapter 127: Six Months

Chapter 127: Chapter 127: Six Months

Su Wan pulled the covers over herself, deciding it was better not to think about it.

The next day at dawn, Su Wan got up. Mother Su and Father Su personally escorted her to the university, only returning after watching her enter the classroom.

The moment Su Wan stepped into the classroom, she was met with stares from the students who were already there.

Her steps faltered for only a moment before she continued walking inside, finding a seat within the first three rows.

She had just sat down when another young woman approached her and asked curiously, "Comrade Su Wan?"

"And you are?"

"My name is Hao Mei. I’m your roommate. I never saw you come to the dorm, so I’ve been curious about you for a while. I heard you couldn’t attend military training because you were pregnant. I figured you’d just conceived, I didn’t expect your belly to be this big already."

"How far along are you?"

"Six months," Su Wan said. She didn’t sense much malice from the other girl, so she pursed her lips and added, "It’s because I’m having twins, so it’s more obvious."

"Twins! No wonder your belly looks so big."

Hao Mei exclaimed in surprise. She stared at Su Wan’s belly with a fascinated curiosity, not daring to get too close. Finally, she offered an awkward, "That must be tough."

For a moment, Su Wan didn’t know how to respond.

Luckily, she didn’t have to, as the professor came in to start the class.

The other students, while curious, didn’t pry. They simply focused on the lecture, with no time to meddle in others’ affairs.

The age range of students who had made it into Capital University was wide. Besides, this was the first batch of students since the college entrance exams were officially reinstated, so people from all walks of life were present. A situation like Su Wan’s wasn’t considered all that strange.

"Su Wan, you actually dared to show your face at the university."

When the first class ended, Su Wan had to make a trip to the restroom.

As her pregnancy progressed, the pressure on her internal organs caused all sorts of issues to arise.

She had just stepped out of a stall and was washing her hands at the sink when Xu Rongrong appeared beside her, arms crossed over her chest.

Zhang Chunhua wasn’t with her this time; Xu Rongrong was flanked by a different group of female students.

Su Wan glanced at her, then turned to leave.

Xu Rongrong, arms still crossed, let out a soft scoff.

The students standing with her immediately moved to block Su Wan’s path.

Su Wan wasn’t afraid of them getting physical. If Xu Rongrong really dared to lay a hand on her, Su Wan was fully prepared to march her pregnant belly over to the military district and cause a huge scene.

"Miss Xu, what is it that you want?" Su Wan stopped walking.

"Do you know when Lu Zhengchuan is coming back?" To Su Wan’s surprise, this was the first thing Xu Rongrong asked.

Su Wan hadn’t expected that. She paused for a moment. "I don’t know."

"You don’t know, but I do." A smirk played on Xu Rongrong’s lips as she leaned in to whisper in Su Wan’s ear, her eyes glinting with confidence and provocation. "He finished his mission and returned a while ago. And last night, guess where I saw him?"

"Where?" Su Wan knew Xu Rongrong was saying it just to provoke her, but she was affected all the same. She turned to look at her, unable to stop herself from asking.

The smile in Xu Rongrong’s eyes widened. "At my house, of course," she said smugly.

"He came to visit my family. What do you think? Did he talk to me?"

Su Wan looked at her, her voice as calm as she could manage, but her short, quick breaths betrayed her true feelings to Xu Rongrong. "So?"

"And can you guess what he said to me?"

Su Wan lowered her gaze and turned her head, refusing to engage.

Xu Rongrong circled around to face her again, forcing Su Wan to meet her eyes. She opened her mouth and enunciated every single word. "He greeted me. He asked how I’ve been these past two years."

"And can you guess how I answered him?"

Xu Rongrong stared at Su Wan’s flawless complexion and delicate features, her fists clenching at her sides in jealousy.

’Why? I was willing to concede so much, to marry Lu Zhengchuan without any conditions. I would have even brought a handsome dowry, plus my family’s power and influence—it would have been nothing but beneficial for him, but he still refused!’ The more Xu Rongrong thought about it, the more indignant she felt.

’I thought giving him the cold shoulder for two years would make him regret it and come crawling back to me.’

’I never expected him to just go and get married out of the blue, and even have a child on the way!’

’His actions showed not a single shred of regret. If anything, they proved that I never mattered to him at all.’

This realization caused an unbearable sense of injustice and resentment to well up inside Xu Rongrong, who had pined for Lu Zhengchuan for two years without ever getting anything from him.

’Aside from not being as pretty as Su Wan, she was better than her in every other way!’

’What right did Lu Zhengchuan have to look down on her?’

’She refused to believe it!’

"I don’t want to hear it," Su Wan retorted. "You’re just old acquaintances who ran into each other. It doesn’t mean anything happened. If you two really had such deep feelings for each other, why would Lu Zhengchuan have married me?"

Xu Rongrong’s expression froze for an instant before she recovered, the corners of her narrow eyes lifting into a smirk. "Alright then. If you don’t mind, that sets my heart at ease. I was worried you’d get upset, and I would’ve felt bad continuing to see Lu Zhengchuan."

"Since you don’t mind, I can feel free to spend time with him without any worries. When that happens, you’d better not throw a fit, sister-in-law,"

she said, drawing out the word "fit."

Beneath her sleeves, Su Wan’s hands were clenched tightly. Hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy made her emotions extremely volatile, and she had to take several deep breaths to get herself under control.

"Oh."

Tossing out that single syllable, Su Wan turned and walked back toward the classroom, unwilling to hear another word from Xu Rongrong.

This time, Xu Rongrong didn’t stop her. She watched Su Wan’s retreating figure, the jealousy in her eyes so intense it was almost a physical presence.

’Why!’

Xu Rongrong kicked the base of the wall before turning and storming off in a rage.

Back in the classroom, Su Wan sat down again, taking several deep breaths to calm her turbulent emotions.

’One moment, an image of Lu Zhengchuan and Xu Rongrong chatting happily would flash through her mind. The next, she’d recall how coldly he treated his other admirers. Did this mean he was only cold to people he *didn’t* like?’

Su Wan forced the images from her mind and tried to focus on the lecture. To distract herself, she threw herself into her studies with a vengeance.

Nothing was more important than the babies in her belly and her education.

-

"Soy milk for sale!"

"Get your tea eggs!"

"Last few tea eggs! Selling them cheap, two for fifteen cents!"

"Buy some tea eggs, get a free soy milk! Don’t complain that the milk is cold—it’s not a cold day out, after all!"

Mother Su and Father Su worked hard, selling off the last few tea eggs and the remaining soy milk in their thermoses.

"Business was good today, we sold out completely." Mother Su’s only goal each day was to sell all her stock. Sometimes they didn’t, and they’d have to take the leftovers home and eat them, since the food certainly wouldn’t keep until the next day.

Now, she could even boast to the folks back in her village that she was sick and tired of eating eggs!

Still, they only failed to sell out four or five times a month.

"That’s right. Let’s go, let’s head home first. I’ll pack up and bring Wanwan her lunch." Father Su felt a boundless energy for everything these days.

The two of them finished packing up their tricycle and were just about to wheel it away.

Just then, several thugs carrying clubs emerged from an alley, blocking the elderly couple’s path.

"Where do you two think you’re going? Don’t you know this street is protected by Brother Hu? We’ve let you run your little stall here for a month. It’s time to pay the protection fee, don’t you think?"