Chapter 271: Chapter 160: I’ll Cherish Whatever You Give Birth To

At his wife’s prompting, Lu Yuan finally came to his senses. He moved closer to his child and picked it up.

Lu Yuan held his child up for his wife to see, grinning as he said:

"Honey, look! You did it! You laid an egg!"

After showing it off for a moment, Lu Yuan carefully cradled the egg in his arms, terrified that one slip of the hand would shatter it.

Lu Yuan couldn’t bear to imagine how he’d face his wife if he broke it.

Su Liyan also found it unbelievable. ’How is this possible?’

’How could I have given birth to an egg? Just a few days ago, I could still feel it moving inside me.’

’And Lu Yuan said the baby’s heartbeat was strong and healthy when he took my pulse.’

Exhausted, Su Liyan lay limp on the bed, unable to get up and see her child right away.

’This egg,’ Su Liyan thought, ’don’t tell me I have to incubate it too?’

Ten months of pregnancy, and now she had to incubate an egg for several more months.

That was something Su Liyan absolutely could not accept.

Su Liyan’s mother quickly grabbed a small blanket to wrap around the egg, saying, "Son-in-law, be careful! Don’t let my grandchild get cold. The shell is especially slippery, so don’t drop it."

Su Liyan’s mother finished wrapping the blanket around the egg and carefully took it from him.

At that moment, Su Liyan’s mother looked completely calm. There wasn’t much she hadn’t seen.

Lu Yuan looked at the egg and couldn’t hold back his laughter any longer, letting out a chuckle.

Lu Yuan laughingly asked his wife, "Honey, so after ten months of pregnancy, you laid an egg, huh?"

Lu Yuan didn’t mind. A baby or an egg, it was all the same to him—it was his child regardless.

Lu Yuan was just joking around with his wife.

Seeing that Lu Yuan didn’t mind at all, Su Liyan, whose heart had been tight with anxiety just moments before, finally relaxed.

The egg had truly left Su Liyan completely flabbergasted.

Su Liyan looked at her mother and asked, "Mom, when you gave birth to me... was I an egg, too?"

Seeing that there was no tension between the couple, Su Liyan’s mother finally revealed the truth. "Yes, I laid an egg when I had you, too. But it wasn’t like this when I had your younger brother."

Lying on the bed, a confused Su Liyan continued to press for answers, determined to get to the bottom of it.

Seeing her daughter’s insistence, Su Liyan’s mother began to recount the specific details of her birth.

Su Liyan’s mother said, "The year I gave birth to you, the pain was also unbearable. It scared the midwife away before you were even born."

"Sigh... After that, the villagers gossiped endlessly about us, and your father gave me more than a few dirty looks."

"Your father was determined to carry on the family line, which is why we later had your younger brother, Su Changliang."

"Only after I had a son could I finally hold my head high in our family."

Lu Yuan and Su Liyan were completely engrossed, their faces showing the rapt attention of eager gossipers. They stared at her mother, hanging on every word, all but munching on melon seeds.

Su Liyan’s mother set the egg down on the bed and continued, "When I gave birth to you back then, you were an egg, too."

"But I was the only one who knew you were an egg."

"I waited until you broke out of the shell before I called your father in and told him you were born."

"You were in that egg for several hours back then."

"If I hadn’t called for him, your father wouldn’t have even stepped into the room."

"But when I had your brother, it wasn’t nearly as painful, and he was born a baby."

"Maybe the first birth is always more painful and difficult."

Lu Yuan and Su Liyan listened to the story, nodding in understanding. So that was how it was.

Lu Yuan asked, "Mom, was this what you were hemming and hawing about in the backyard with me?"

Su Liyan’s mother replied, "Yes. I was worried you would mind and didn’t know how to bring it up. Seeing you now, it’s my daughter’s good fortune to have married such an open-minded man."

Lu Yuan chuckled.

Su Liyan looked at the egg and said, "A few hours isn’t so bad. At least I don’t have to incubate it, right?"

The other two heard Su Liyan’s muttering and laughed again.

Song Meiqin, who had been waiting outside the door for a long time, heard the laughter from within. Realizing Liyan had given birth, she excitedly entered the room to see the baby.

Hearing the door push open, Su Liyan quickly curled her tail and hid it under the blanket.

"Congratulations, Nephew and Liyan, on the birth of your son!" Her voice preceded her into the room.

As Song Meiqin entered, she saw an oval-shaped egg lying on the bed.

What a huge egg!

Song Meiqin was also a worldly person. Although she had no idea what was going on, she managed to appear quite calm.

Lu Yuan took the trouble to give Aunt Song a carefully edited explanation.

Once she understood, Song Meiqin walked over, patted the top of the egg, and said, "Good, good. This is very good."

...

「The next morning.」

A shriek from Gu Ziye tore through the sky.

"Wow! What a beautiful egg!"

Gu Ziye gazed at the huge egg before her, absolutely captivated.

Her curiosity and girlish excitement were going into overdrive.

She didn’t care whether it was a baby or an egg; she stroked it, wanted to hug it, and even gave it a little kiss from time to time.

Yesterday, Gu Ziye’s room had been the farthest from theirs.

Gu Ziye had slept like a log all night, completely oblivious to any of the commotion in the residence.

Gu Ziye’s four Personal Guards didn’t concern themselves with disturbances in the residence; their only duty was the close protection of their mistress, and they ignored everything else.

Meanwhile, Zhao Qiao’Er was off to the side, complaining to Lu Yuan, "You promised you’d tell me when there was good news, but you made me wait in my room all night for nothing!"

After telling off Lu Yuan, Zhao Qiao’Er sighed and started in on her friend, "Some friend you are! So unreliable. You leave for the night and don’t even come back to the room, just leaving me all by myself."

Lu Yuan and Song Meiqin had to placate Zhao Qiao’Er. When she got emotional like this, it was best to soothe her feelings right away.

Everyone gathered around the egg, a happy and harmonious group, chatting and laughing as they congratulated Lu Yuan and Su Liyan on their new child.

Su Liyan thanked everyone, then turned to her mother. "Mom, didn’t you say that when you had me, I hatched after just a few hours?"

Indeed. It had already been several hours since last night, so why wasn’t there any sign of movement?

Everyone else was curious, too, wondering what was going on inside the egg.

Su Liyan’s mother didn’t know what was happening either. Although she had laid an egg once herself, that was the extent of her knowledge.

Su Liyan’s mother said, "I suppose the hatching time varies a bit for each egg. It shouldn’t be too different, though. It will probably come out by noon today."

Lu Yuan wasn’t concerned. They had all waited ten months; what were a few more hours?

Lu Yuan said, "Alright, everyone is tired. Let’s go have breakfast first, then get some proper rest."

It was true. Many people hadn’t slept well because of his wife giving birth, and now they were surely all hungry.

Lu Yuan picked up the egg and placed it back into a large basket he had hastily prepared the night before.

The basket was lined with a blanket, and he wrapped a layer of cotton batting around the egg for insulation.

Lu Yuan didn’t let his wife get out of bed.

Su Liyan’s body was actually recovering very quickly; she could have gotten out of bed after just a few hours.

But Lu Yuan’s heart ached for her, and he insisted he would bring her food to the room and feed her himself.

Seeing Lu Yuan’s insistence, the others all chimed in, telling him to take good care of Su Liyan.

Su Liyan couldn’t argue with everyone, so she gave in and sat on the bed, waiting for Lu Yuan to bring her meal.

Afterwards, the group left Su Liyan’s room one by one to go have breakfast.

Lu Yuan brought a bowl of shredded chicken and mushroom congee from the kitchen, along with a few boiled eggs.

Lu Yuan fed his wife spoon by spoon, even as Su Liyan protested that she could eat by herself.

But Lu Yuan simply refused. He was going to spoil his woman.

Watching Lu Yuan earnestly peel an egg, Su Liyan rewarded him with a kiss on the cheek.

Su Liyan asked Lu Yuan, "Honey... are you really happy, even though it’s an egg?"

Lu Yuan looked at his wife with deep affection. He set down the food and cupped her face in both his hands.

He leaned in very close, stared into Su Liyan’s eyes, and said firmly, "Yes. No matter what you give birth to, I will treasure it!"