The Passerby Female Supporting Character – Chapter 55
by Little PandaYou’re Pregnant?
For an instant, dark lines formed all over Song Linlin’s face. The hand holding the bowl froze stiff, and she just stared blankly at Zhang San. She wasn’t even sure if she’d heard correctly. What had Zhang San just said?
Treating infertility…
Making conception easier…
What on earth was all this?!
Song Linlin considered herself a woman with perfectly normal functions in every aspect. What the heck was this “treating infertility”? It was too ridiculous!
And that effect mentioned later, making conception easier—hearing that made Song Linlin’s vision go dark. She had absolutely no desire whatsoever to have children. Besides, taking a step back, where was she supposed to find someone to have a baby with? Wasn’t Zhang San just worrying about pointless things…?
Song Linlin’s expression was now as awful as if she’d swallowed a fly. Setting down the white porcelain bowl in her hand, she looked at Zhang San’s earnest expression and felt a headache coming on. She simply couldn’t fathom what Zhang San was thinking. And to think Song Linlin had even come over to help out all morning, only to be coaxed by Zhang San into drinking all of that medicinal food without knowing its effects.
No wonder Zhang San had refused when she offered her the remaining bowl earlier. So this stuff actually had that kind of effect!
“Zhang San, what are you playing at?!” Song Linlin demanded.
She had already drunk both bowls of medicinal soup. It was too late to vomit it back up now. The soup had started taking effect almost as soon as it went down. Song Linlin felt warm all over, a hot current flowing within her body, especially noticeable in her stomach and lower abdomen. It was impossible to ignore.
Seeing Song Linlin’s clearly unhappy face, Zhang San was rather baffled by her question, not understanding how she had managed to offend the other party. Zhang San scratched her head, looking completely clueless, and asked somewhat dazedly, “Huh? What did I do?”
Zhang San had started preparing this medicinal food for Song Linlin right after returning to the Xuanyun Sect last night! The recipe was even a secret family formula, said to be incredibly effective, with everyone who used it having nothing but praise.
How could it be that after she had painstakingly prepared this for Song Linlin for so long, using precious medicinal ingredients—this portion of medicinal food was worth quite a lot—
Song Linlin was now questioning her?
Song Linlin looked at Zhang San. Zhang San wore an expression of pure, innocent ignorance, her large, sparkling eyes filled with clear cluelessness. It was obvious she had no idea what Song Linlin was questioning her about.
Seeing her like this, the words Song Linlin hadn’t voiced got stuck in her throat and were silently swallowed back down. Getting angry at Zhang San was simply like playing music to a cow1.
Right now, Song Linlin just felt a massive headache.
After two or three seconds of silence, Song Linlin finally sighed, her tone a mix of helplessness and speechlessness. She asked, very curiously, “Since you understand the effects of this stuff… I really want to know, why did you make this medicinal food for me to take?”
Song Linlin certainly didn’t remember ever expressing any thoughts about wanting a child in front of Zhang San. It couldn’t be that Zhang San just had nothing better to do and decided to stew her a pot of this stuff, right?
“Um…”
Hearing this question, Zhang San looked a bit embarrassed. She didn’t answer immediately, instead seeming to recall something awkward. She sat there, gathering her thoughts for a good while, before finally saying in a small voice, “Weren’t you and Lin Qianqian trying to have a baby?”
“???”
Song Linlin was even more bewildered now, completely lost. She looked at Zhang San with a strange expression. In that moment, Song Linlin’s silence was deafening.
The two stared blankly at each other in the kitchen. Song Linlin imagined the scene Zhang San described and felt it was too unreal. She retorted, “How come I didn’t know about this?”
“It happened!”
Seeing the person opposite her refusing to admit it, Zhang San immediately said, “I saw it! That night, inside the tent, you and Lin Qianqian…”
The scene from that night was too stimulating; Zhang San felt she would probably have a hard time forgetting it for the rest of her life. Waking up from sleep only to find the two people sleeping next to her had rolled together, their mouths almost touching.
In her fifteen years of life, she had only seen similar scenes like this twice.
Hearing the other mention this incident, Song Linlin also recalled the situation at the time. Although she and Chi Qianning had indeed gotten up to some unspeakable things in the middle of the night, how could that possibly be related to having a baby?
Song Linlin felt a bit awkward now too, but of course, she couldn’t admit to something she hadn’t done. Forcing down her embarrassment, she said, “Who did you hear such nonsense from? That person was completely talking rubbish2!”
“Huh?”
Seeing Song Linlin’s insistence, Zhang San now felt a little uncertain herself. Recalling the past event, she mumbled quietly, “I heard it from Yu Dai-shijie3. Back then, I saw Ao Wan Zhanglao4 kissing a man late at night, and Yu Dai-shijie said the Elder probably wanted a child. Later on, that Elder really did get pregnant.”
“Er… Is that wrong then? If you two didn’t want a child, what were you doing back then?”
Song Linlin was choked by this question. She really couldn’t answer it easily. Her old face couldn’t help but flush red, and she could only put on a stern expression and say, “Little kids should act like little kids! These are adult matters!”
“Besides…” Song Linlin added a crucial piece of knowledge for the other party, “Two women can’t have a baby together!”
“What, it’s really like that?!” Zhang San was shocked. But she had brewed a whole pot of medicinal food for Song Linlin, using so many ingredients. “Then wasn’t all my effort wasted?”
Song Linlin sighed helplessly. And she had been forced to undergo infertility treatment. “Glad you know…”
“Wait.”
Song Linlin suddenly realized a problem. Since Zhang San had misunderstood her and Chi Qianning’s actions back then, logically, since both were women and could potentially get pregnant, why did Zhang San only make her drink this stuff?
Could it be that she looked like the one on the bottom? Clearly, in that situation back then, Song Linlin had been on top!
Song Linlin felt looked down upon. Annoyed, she said, “Zhang San, why didn’t you ask Lin Qianqian to drink this? We’re both women, it’s not like she can’t get pregnant.”
“Um… well…”
Ever since realizing she had misunderstood Song Linlin and Lin Qianqian, Zhang San had been feeling awkward. Now, being stared at directly by Song Linlin, it seemed she had no choice but to answer.
After mulling it over for a good while, Zhang San finally said in a small voice, “Who asked you to always be sticking to her when you have nothing better to do? Besides…”
Zhang San paused here, sighing emotionally, “Besides, I really can’t imagine Lin Qianqian being pregnant.”
Song Linlin thought about that image. It was indeed a bit incongruous. But why did these words sound so uncomfortable? Did she, Song Linlin, look like someone who gets pregnant easily?
She decided not to continue this pointless conversation with Zhang San. The medicinal soup she had drunk was still continuously exerting its effects in her body. Song Linlin felt her qi and blood surge, becoming much more abundant. This state of being hot all over persisted, making Song Linlin start to worry.
“There shouldn’t be any problem after drinking this medicinal food, right? Why do I feel like my qi and blood are surging uncontrollably?” Song Linlin asked.
This was Zhang San’s first time trying to make medicinal food. Logically, she had strictly followed the recipe and added the ingredients only after precise calculations; there shouldn’t be any issues.
However, hearing Song Linlin say this now, she suddenly felt a bit unsure too. She said weakly, “It should be fine…”
“What do you mean, ‘should be fine’?” Song Linlin started to panic a little too. She had drunk all of that medicinal soup by herself. What if something went wrong because of it?
“Don’t panic yet!” Zhang San felt that her medicinal soup definitely didn’t have any major problems. After all, she had calculated everything so carefully. And if there really was a problem, it probably wouldn’t wait until now to manifest.
Zhang San reached out, her fingers resting on Song Linlin’s wrist, feeling the other’s pulse condition5, carefully sensing the beating pulse. She said, “I also know some medical skills. Don’t move, let me check for you.”
“Is there any problem?” Song Linlin didn’t dare to move carelessly. After a moment, she asked cautiously.
“No major problem.”
Zhang San shook her head, also breathing a sigh of relief. After all, she was the one who made the medicinal food; Song Linlin was, at best, just helping out. If something really went wrong, the responsibility would definitely fall on Zhang San.
She said, “The medicinal food is definitely fine. It’s just that your own cultivation realm is too low, so your body can’t fully absorb all the nutrients contained within it all at once.”
“To put it simply, you’ve been over-supplemented. It’ll slowly get better in a couple of days.”
Song Linlin relaxed. This outcome was acceptable, not too serious. Although the main purpose of this stuff was treating infertility and enhancing conception ability, it had also somewhat strengthened Song Linlin’s constitution. As long as she ignored its primary function, thinking about it this way, drinking two bowls of medicinal soup didn’t seem like a loss.
After all, the cost of that medicinal food was so high, and it tasted pretty good too. Just consider it drinking a major restorative soup6.
It was already the Hour of the Horse7. Song Linlin had spent the entire morning at Zhang San’s place. Now that things were settled, it was about time to head back.
“If there’s nothing else, I’ll head off first,” Song Linlin said.
Enough embarrassing mix-ups had happened this morning. Right now, Song Linlin just wanted to go back to her place, lie down, and have a good sleep.
Zhang San nodded. After such an awkward incident, she also felt too embarrassed to face Song Linlin and naturally wouldn’t stop her from leaving now. “Okay.”
Song Linlin walked out of the Ziting Residence area. According to her usual habit, she should head straight to the dining hall for lunch. However, having drunk two bowls of soup at Zhang San’s, her body was overloaded with nutrients, and she really had no appetite right now.
The heat remained within her body, continuous and unending, and her qi and blood were steadily rising. Song Linlin felt like she had become someone brimming with vitality, her head even feeling a bit dizzy.
Finally making it back to her residence, Song Linlin pushed open the bedroom door and headed straight for the bed, collapsing onto it face up.
Chi Qianning, who was sitting by the bed, saw Song Linlin finally return after being gone all morning and asked, “Why are you only back now?”
“I went to Zhang San’s place,” Song Linlin explained, lying on the bed.
Song Linlin felt that something was wrong with her body. She hadn’t noticed it much at Zhang San’s, but as the medicinal strength continued to spread without being absorbed, Song Linlin was now burning hot all over, especially in her stomach and lower abdomen where the heat was most intense.
Then, inexplicably, she felt a coolness near her nose. Song Linlin subconsciously reached up to touch it. Lifting her finger, she saw bright red.
“WTF!”
This shock jolted Song Linlin, who had been lying lazily on the bed, bolt upright. In disbelief, she touched her nose again, only to get another handful of blood.
Chi Qianning also noticed the commotion beside her. She turned her head to look at Song Linlin and then froze slightly. Song Linlin was sitting there blankly on the bed, blood continuously streaming from her nose. The blood was smeared by her fingers, staining her face.
“You… why are you having a nosebleed?” Chi Qianning asked, astonished.
Song Linlin couldn’t bother with the blood all over one hand. She clutched her nose. That medicinal soup was too potent; the qi and blood in her body were churning, undigested, and finally just flowed right out.
“It’s all that Zhang San’s fault!” Song Linlin was already regretting why she had nothing better to do this morning than to specifically go looking for Zhang San.
Chi Qianning, however, could vaguely sense that something seemed off about Song Linlin’s body. She reached out, her cool fingers touching Song Linlin’s feverish skin. Placing her fingers on the wrist, she could feel the pulse beating abnormally fast. A thread of her power entered Song Linlin’s body, probing the condition within.
As her power circulated throughout the body, Chi Qianning could naturally sense the surging force of qi and blood filling Song Linlin. She couldn’t help but frown her pretty eyebrows and asked, “What exactly did you randomly eat?”
Then she raised her hand again, her fingers pressing against Song Linlin’s lower abdomen. “The qi and blood are thickest here.”
Chi Qianning pressed the other’s lower abdomen a few times, feeling that something still seemed off. She thought for a moment about what human organ corresponded to this location, combined with this subtle sense of change.
The next moment, Chi Qianning’s usually calm and composed8 expression instantly turned to shock. Her eyes widened, her voice filled with disbelief, “Song Linlin, you’re pregnant?”
Chi Qianning subconsciously wondered how this child came to be, only belatedly remembering that it seemed impossible for her to get Song Linlin pregnant.
Song Linlin forgot about clutching her bleeding nose. Her blood-stained hand immediately waved dismissively as she loudly denied, “How is that possible! No!!!”
The author has something to say:
Little Snake: What? She’s actually pregnant? (Pupils shaking in shock)
Realizes she doesn’t have the ability to get Xiao Song pregnant: Wait, the child isn’t mine?!
Footnotes
- 對牛彈琴 | duì niú tán qín | Lit. “play the zither to a cow”; Idiom meaning to address the wrong audience, to talk over someone’s head, or waste effort on someone who won’t understand or appreciate it.
- 胡說八道 | húshuō bādào | Lit. “recklessly speak eight ways”; Idiom meaning to talk nonsense, drivel, or rubbish.
- 虞黛師姐 | Yú Dài Shījiě | Shijie (師姐) means ‘Senior Sister,’ a common term of address for a female senior disciple or member within a sect or school.
- 敖婉長老 | Áo Wǎn Zhǎnglǎo | Zhanglao (長老) means ‘Elder,’ a title indicating high rank and seniority within a sect or clan.
- 脈象 | màixiàng | Pulse condition; Assessing the pulse is a key diagnostic method in Traditional Chinese Medicine.
- 大補湯 | dà bǔ tāng | Major restorative soup; A potent tonic soup designed to greatly replenish energy, blood, or vitality.
- 午時 | wǔ shí | Hour of the Horse; Traditional Chinese time corresponding to 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM (23:00 to 01:00).
- 風輕雲淡 | fēng qīng yún dàn | Lit. “wind light, cloud pale”; Describes a calm, nonchalant, or unperturbed demeanor, often implying composure in the face of events.
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