At the beginning of June, on a Tuesday, Liang Zhiyi scheduled a prenatal checkup. However, Pei Chen had a contract negotiation on the same morning, and the timing clashed.
In the past, no matter how busy he was, Pei Chen would always make time to accompany her to her checkups. But this time, the contract was crucial to the company’s development over the next year, and she didn’t want him to delay something so important for the entire company because of her.
That night, while they were in bed, he held her in his arms, his voice gentle: “I’m just worried about you being alone; I want to be with you.”
The early stages of pregnancy are the most critical, and he was very afraid that something bad might happen.
Leaning against his chest, the young woman smiled up at him: “It’s alright, it’s just a routine checkup. Don’t worry. I can ask Zhi Mian to go with me tomorrow, and my mom is at the hospital too. You can go to the company with peace of mind. I’ll tell you the results as soon as they come out.”
In the end, he agreed and kissed her softly on the cheek.
“How have you been feeling these last few days? Is it uncomfortable?”
“It’s better, not as bad as before,” she said with a smile, looking at Pei Chen. “I heard from Mom that when she was pregnant with you, she had a strong reaction too. It seems our baby takes after their dad.”
Pei Chen smiled, gently touching her belly: “I’ve read that in another two or three weeks, the early pregnancy symptoms should ease up.”
“Yeah, and I think I’m starting to show.”
Now, her belly was visibly slightly rounded. The young woman murmured in confusion: “I heard from Aunt Zhang that most women don’t start showing until after four months. Why am I showing at three?”
“It varies. Showing early can be related to the thickness of the abdominal wall, the amount of amniotic fluid, or the size of the baby. As long as the checkup shows everything is normal, it’s fine,” he explained scientifically.
She grinned, “Someone is definitely living up to being a top student.”
He patted her head, “I’ll have Uncle Zhao take you to the hospital tomorrow morning. Let me know if anything comes up. Don’t overthink things on your own, okay?”
Not long ago, Liang Tianming, worried about Liang Zhiyi, had arranged for a driver to be at her disposal. When she went out alone, the driver would take her wherever she needed to go.
She nodded obediently, “Okay.”
—
The next morning, Zhi Mian arrived at Liang Zhiyi’s house to accompany her to the hospital.
On the way, Liang Zhiyi received a call from Pei Chen asking if she had left yet. A little later, Gong Qinxin also called to check on her. Seeing this, Zhi Mian teased her with a smile: “Look at you, being so cherished by so many people.”
Liang Zhiyi laughed, “What, are you jealous?”
“Not at all. I think it’s better that you alone bear the hardships of pregnancy. I wouldn’t want to go through that again.”
“Well, you never know. Maybe in the future, you’ll decide to have a second child, and then you can have a little brother or sister for Hengheng to play with.”
“I haven’t thought about that yet. As for giving Hengheng a companion,” Zhi Mian said, patting the young woman’s belly with a dimpled smile, “I’m more interested in the one you’re carrying.”
“How about we arrange a betrothal for our children?”
Zhi Mian laughed, “If you have a boy, they can only be brothers.”
Liang Zhiyi also laughed, “I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl yet.”
“Does Pei Chen prefer a boy or a girl?”
“He seems to like both. Oh, right, I remember you once mentioned that Duan Zhuo really wanted a girl?”
“Yes, when Hengheng was first born, he was a bit disappointed, but he got over it later,” Zhi Mian chuckled. “Now, he absolutely adores him.”
Some parents don’t develop deep love for their children right away; it often grows over time as they interact with their child after birth. Zhi Mian mentioned that when she and Duan Zhuo first bathed their baby together, feeling that tiny little being lying peacefully in their arms, her maternal instincts flooded in at that moment.
As Liang Zhiyi listened, she could almost feel the same kind of joy and warmth.
After a while, the two arrived at the hospital. Zhong Xinrou had already helped Liang Zhiyi book an appointment. When it was their turn, Zhi Mian accompanied the young woman inside, with Zhong Xinrou also by her side.
Originally, Liang Zhiyi had been worried about the baby’s development, but the checkup brought an unexpected and delightful surprise — according to the ultrasound, she was carrying twins.
This news left everyone present stunned. Liang Zhiyi was completely shocked: “Isn’t it usually possible to detect twins after about a month? How come it’s being discovered so late…”
“If you’re pregnant with twins, it’s true that it can be detected as early as a little over a month. However, some women have longer menstrual cycles, or the fertilized eggs implant later. Moreover, in your case, it’s possible that the gestational sacs were overlapping earlier, making it hard to see,” the doctor explained while pointing to the ultrasound image for Liang Zhiyi. “But now it’s clear, you’re definitely having twins…”
This also explained why Liang Zhiyi’s early pregnancy symptoms were particularly severe, and why she started showing after just three months — carrying twins would naturally make her belly bigger.
The doctor informed her that she was expecting identical twins. So far, all indicators for the two babies were normal, and they were developing well.
Turning to Zhong Xinrou, the doctor joked, “Dr. Zhong, you’re going to be a grandmother of two babies at once!”
Zhong Xinrou was overjoyed, “I never expected this…”
Zhi Mian squeezed Liang Zhiyi’s hand, her almond-shaped eyes smiling, “Zhizhi, this is amazing! You’re going to give Hengheng two little playmates at once.”
Liang Zhiyi smiled softly, still a bit dazed from the excitement.
After the checkup, Zhong Xinrou gave her plenty of instructions, which the young woman dutifully noted. Once they left the hospital, instead of calling Pei Chen right away, she decided to visit his office in person.
Zhi Mian, concerned, offered to accompany her, but Liang Zhiyi insisted it wasn’t necessary and said she would take her private car there.
So, Zhi Mian left first, and half an hour later, Liang Zhiyi arrived at the Chengzhi Technology building.
As she walked into the company, the employees greeted her with smiles. When she learned that Pei Chen was still in the meeting room, she decided to take care of some work first.
After she became pregnant, Pei Chen had delegated some of her work to others so she wouldn’t have to exert herself too much.
Once she finished her tasks, she went to his office to wait for him. It wasn’t long before Pei Chen finished signing the contract and came out of the meeting room, with his assistant following closely behind. He was giving instructions with a composed and sharp expression, “Continue to follow up on this in the next steps…”
When Pei Chen reached the office door, his assistant helped push it open. He was in the middle of a conversation when he noticed Liang Zhiyi sitting on the sofa inside, her chin resting in her hand as she flipped through a magazine.
She was wearing a matcha-colored long dress that highlighted her fair, delicate skin. Even without makeup, the sunlight streaming in from the window made her complexion look as youthful and radiant as it had been during her school days. There was no hint that she was about to become a mother.
Hearing the door, she turned her head to look at him, her dark eyes sparkling with a cheerful light as she greeted him:
“Honey.”
Pei Chen was momentarily stunned, a soft expression unconsciously appearing in his eyes. He said a few words to his assistant, who nodded and left. Then he walked over to her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? Did you finish the checkup?”
“Yes, I didn’t want to disrupt your work, so I didn’t tell you. I wanted to surprise you.”
Pei Chen sat down beside her, pulling her onto his lap, and gently placed his hand on her belly. “So, how did the checkup go today? Is the baby developing well?”
“Well…”
“What’s wrong?”
Seeing her hesitate, Pei Chen’s brows furrowed slightly. He suddenly thought he might have guessed what was bothering her. “Is there something wrong?”
Looking distressed, Liang Zhiyi lowered her head. Pei Chen felt his heart sink as he gently pressed her head against his shoulder. “Zhizhi, it’s okay. I told you before, whatever happens, you need to tell me. I’ll face it with you. Did they find something wrong with your health, or is there something wrong with the baby?”
“It’s just… a little surprise. I only found out today.”
She bit her lip.
“A surprise? What kind of surprise?”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and murmured playfully, “Maybe the heavens saw how much you love children, so they decided to give us two at once.”
Pei Chen blinked in surprise. Before he could fully comprehend her words, she met his gaze with a smile and said, “Pei Chen, I’m having twins.”
For a moment, Pei Chen was so overjoyed that his mind went blank. “Twins?”
“Yes! I didn’t expect it either.”
She handed him the ultrasound report and explained why the twins had been discovered so late. As Pei Chen looked at the report, his heart was flooded with happiness—happiness that seemed to multiply a hundredfold.
Finally, he hugged her tightly, his deep voice filled with uncontainable joy: “Zhizhi, I’m so happy.”
He had already felt incredibly blessed to have married her and to be expecting a child, a symbol of their love. But now, the thought that they would soon have two babies made this happiness even more precious.
“I wanted to come to the office and tell you in person because I knew how happy it would make you,” Liang Zhiyi said, smiling as she embraced him.
“So you were deliberately teasing me earlier?” He ruffled her hair gently. “Don’t scare me like that again. I almost thought something was wrong.”
She snuggled into his embrace, playfully pouting:
“I was wrong, I won’t dare do it again.”
Pei Chen carefully asked her about the details of her prenatal checkup that morning. While he was overjoyed, he couldn’t help but feel concerned.
Having another baby in her belly meant she would endure even more hardship, and the risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth would be higher.
Pei Chen sighed, gently stroking her head with a pained expression. “Zhizhi, you already look so uncomfortable most of the time.”
She smiled softly. “It’s alright. After all, there are two little ones in there. It’s bound to be a bit tougher, but let’s just think of it as an extra sweet burden.”
Pei Chen kissed her on the lips, promising that he would do everything in his power to take care of her and their two babies. Liang Zhiyi smiled, squeezing his hand. “Alright.”
She thought, although the process of being pregnant is tough, the love Pei Chen gives her turns all the pain into happiness.
—
The news that Liang Zhiyi was expecting twins was undoubtedly a huge surprise, and when it reached their friends, like Ji Fei’er and Xuan Xia, they were all thrilled for the couple.