“Alright, that’s settled. Don’t worry about the railroad company’s affairs—I’ll discuss a solution with the Hall brothers. We’ll fight when we need to fight, and get a proper doctor for Afu. I’ll ask Rong Hong to handle the students’ matters. He’s managing thirty boys, so fifteen more won’t make him much busier…”
In the following hour, Lin Yuchan’s feet barely touched the ground as Su Minguan carried her directly away from the worksite, with bursts of laughter echoing behind them. Then they took a rental carriage and raced back to the San Francisco hotel. Su Minguan didn’t trust the creaking elevator and carried her upstairs in full view of everyone, gently placing her in the center of the bed as if setting down an unstable Song Dynasty porcelain piece.
“The restaurants in Chinatown aren’t clean—don’t go with them. The fisherman’s wharf has fresh seafood. If you want some, I’ll buy it and find someone to cook for you. Do your clothes still fit? Tomorrow I’ll get a tailor. Are you tired? Do you need a massage? Also, no bathing alone—I’ll help you…”
Lin Yuchan propped her chin, listening with amusement to Su Minguan’s endless chatter. He kept a straight face throughout, hiding all emotions, leaving only a usually deeply dormant caretaker personality operating like a robot, emotionlessly arranging every trivial detail…
“Little baby boy, don’t be nervous,” she finally laughed aloud, “The barefoot doctor hasn’t been home in over ten years—his skills might be rusty.”
He was suddenly interrupted, stunned for quite a while, forgetting what he was saying. When he came to his senses, he looked at her somewhat dazedly, his gaze moving to the white linen sheets beneath her.
After a long while, he lowered his head and said, “I know what I’m talking about.”
His features were open and frank, as if quite justified, but his voice was very small, like a child who had done something wrong.
“Hee hee hee!” Lin Yuchan heard her exaggerated laughter. She fell headfirst onto the bed, gasping for breath: “You can know about this, too? Are you an immortal?”
Laughter masked her nervousness, but with her ear against the sheet, she could still hear her pounding heartbeat.
Although she possessed the nineteenth century’s most advanced contraceptive measures, they were far from ideal. “Kidney garments” had short shelf lives, high breakage rates, and were expensive. Worse yet, a certain someone didn’t know how to treasure them—what should have been a reusable product, he used like disposable items, sometimes leaving her quite embarrassed.
She was crystal clear in her heart, knowing that pregnancy probability could only be reduced, not eliminated. To deal with that tiny possibility, she could only work twice as hard to earn money, keeping long-term deposits in banks and money houses, no longer engaging in speculative trades like cotton futures that staked her entire fortune.
But after so many years without incident, Lin Yuchan subconsciously felt she was probably constitutionally weak from childhood, resulting in natural deficiencies that made conception difficult—the type who would need injections and medication in modern times to fulfill baby dreams.
This overseas trip, she hadn’t expected Su Minguan to stow away, so naturally hadn’t prepared for this aspect.
Looking back now, it must have been those first few days on the ship. The stowaway had boldly slept in a first-class cabin. The ship’s bar sold condoms, but they were of terrible quality and had to be discarded. They couldn’t return to the pure times of lying in bed reading. The bottom line of the compromise was not allowing him to finish inside.
Sure enough, an accident happened.
…If the barefoot doctor’s skills were sound, at least it showed she had been taking good care of herself these past few years.
She looked up at Su Minguan and smiled foolishly.
Su Minguan looked at her somewhat resentfully: “I’ll have the concierge call for a registered Western physician.”
But he had barely been out for a minute when the door opened again. Su Minguan returned with a helpless expression, ushering in a gentleman in a blue naval uniform.
“Ah, I have just learned that a foreign lady in my realm is with child—this is an auspicious sign, and I am exceedingly joyful. If you need any assistance, please speak freely…”
His Majesty Emperor Norton I was making his routine inspection of the realm and happened to hear Su Minguan inquiring about obstetric doctors at the hotel lobby. Without question, he insisted on coming upstairs to meet this fortunate Chinese lady and offer royal blessings.
Though mad, he was surprisingly learned. He immediately told Lin Yuchan that in Western medicine, obstetrics wasn’t considered proper medical science, and no related registered physicians could be found in all of California. However, he knew an experienced female midwife who was very skilled and kind…
“I shall immediately summon her.”
Not long after Norton I left, a middle-aged midwife indeed arrived as promised, beaming like a flower. Like looking at a doll, she examined Lin Yuchan from head to toe, checking hands and feet, pressing her belly, asking a series of questions about when her periods were, when nausea and fatigue began…
There were no blood or urine tests as Lin Yuchan had imagined. Western medicine wasn’t that advanced yet.
Lin Yuchan answered straightforwardly. Su Minguan was somewhat embarrassed, his ears slightly red, but couldn’t just walk away and listened to their conversation with eager curiosity.
The midwife glanced at him with a smile, quite fond of this serious and responsible young man.
The midwife then congratulated her, saying the symptoms matched and it was likely good news, but it would be best to observe for two months until her belly showed before announcing the happy news, to be safe.
Lin Yuchan: “…”
I could be this kind of midwife, too.
Su Minguan wanted to pay the consultation fee, but the midwife declined with a smile: “That lovely old fellow just likes helping people—how could I charge money? This consultation is free. I wish you happiness.”
Lin Yuchan chuckled to herself for quite a while, then suddenly felt tired and leaned back, falling onto the bed.
Su Minguan gently lay behind her, carefully encircling her shoulders.
“A’Mei… I’m sorry.”
Lin Yuchan rolled over to face him. He hurriedly warned: “Slowly!”
She smiled and said softly, “Aren’t you happy?”
He shook his head, gently plucking away a stray hair, caressing her ear.
“I thought you wouldn’t be happy.”
He remembered the past. She always seemed afraid of pregnancy, though she enjoyed being close to him, she always found various excuses. Fortunately, they later figured out a solution, or he probably would have become a monk at Jing’an Temple.
Lin Yuchan thought seriously, looking at his slightly bewildered eyes with their clear pools of water.
“I’m very happy,” she said word by word.
In the past, she had indeed been somewhat afraid of pregnancy. Life was too difficult, money was hard to earn, and hand-to-mouth survival. She was like a salmon swimming upstream, only focused on struggling forward, not daring to hang another weight on herself.
But now, life pressure wasn’t so great, her sense of security increased daily, and supporting a child independently wouldn’t be a problem. With hundreds of little gluttons at the orphanage, one more wouldn’t eat her food.
Perhaps because of this, “pregnancy and childbirth” didn’t seem as overwhelming as in her youth.
What she once dared not face, she could now handle calmly. She felt she had made considerable progress.
As for physiological dangers… Living in modern times, Lin Yuchan had watched childbirth documentaries and had been terrified, wondering why humans had to endure such inhumane ordeals despite evolution. But after so many years in the Qing Dynasty, her mindset had changed slightly—not just childbirth was a deadly trial. In the wicked old society, deadly trials were everywhere.
In her ten years in Shanghai, she had experienced three city-wide epidemic outbreaks. One was smallpox. Fortunately, she had been inoculated and escaped unscathed. At other times, despite careful attention to hygiene, she had accidentally contracted dysentery and fever several times, but with timely medical treatment, she suffered no serious harm.
There were also two natural disasters causing rice price spikes—though they didn’t greatly affect Lin Yuchan, and she actively participated in private fundraising for relief. But months later, when official disaster relief finally arrived, countless poor people hadn’t survived the famine, quietly starving to death on society’s margins.
As for encountering bandits on roads, storms at sea, neighboring fires, police shooting wildly with stray bullets flying, and nearly having her neck cleanly severed by Cixi—these didn’t count as incidents.
In short, the old society was full of pitfalls everywhere. Adding one more “pregnancy risk” pitfall didn’t seem so terrifying.
She had faced many life-threatening dangers these past dozen years and wasn’t afraid to face one more.
Moreover, she considered herself scientifically literate, not superstitious, not too young, well-fed and clothed, in good health—surely she’d rank in the top 1% of Qing Dynasty pregnant women?
After quickly weighing all negative factors, Lin Yuchan calmly accepted reality, putting on a serious face: “I’ve thought it through. I’m not afraid. Since I let you into my bed, I can bear this risk. You have vow restrictions against having children—I understand, I can raise it myself…”
Su Minguan’s face darkened slightly as he buried her head in his shoulder.
“You’re overthinking,” he said heavily. “Roosters don’t lay eggs. Any man could keep that vow for life.”
Lin Yuchan was stunned for quite a while, then laughed until she rolled all over the bed.
When had he learned this peculiar way of being unreasonable? The Su family ancestors would be shameless!
Su Minguan reached out to block the bed’s edge, afraid she’d roll off, and couldn’t help smiling too. Unconsciously, his smile deepened, then he laughed aloud quite boldly. They laughed together in each other’s arms as he carefully lifted her onto himself.
Lin Yuchan laughed loudly: “I’m not that delicate! Put me down.”
He willfully held her, saying hopefully: “Better not be like me. Be like you.”
Somehow, this short-sighted remark suddenly made her eyes moist as she buried her face in the pillow.
Having a child, leading this new life into the dawn of a new world. The prosperous era she and her lover might not see, that person closest to them could witness as hoped.
This alone seemed to compensate for all risks.
Su Minguan held her again, reluctant to let her leave his embrace, nibbling her ear, skillfully finding sensitive spots. In just seconds, she couldn’t struggle, was dizzy, and about to surrender.
“Not now—the midwife just said at least three months…”
Su Minguan measured his touches appropriately, lips against her ear.
“A’Mei, let me discuss something with you.”
The magnetic voice was especially penetrating, stirring her brain to mush.
She hazily thought: seducing again, up to no good.
“Mm…”
“A’Mei, is the surname Lin alright?”
She reacted for a while, cleared her head, and opened her eyes to see his careful pair of eyes containing two pools of clear water.
Lin Yuchan’s heart leaped as she instantly understood his intention.
The Su family ancestors would truly lose all face this time.
She asked: “Regardless of gender?”
“Regardless of gender.” Seeing she wasn’t scared by this earth-shattering proposal, Su Minguan pressed his advantage, excitedly fantasizing: “I’ve already thought of a name—Lin Mubai, suitable for boys or girls…”
Lin Yuchan: “…”
Whose narcissist is this? Please take him away.
“No, it should be surnamed Su,” she laughingly argued with him. “Called Su Aiyu, Su Muchan, Su Philuna…”
He laughed aloud, gently pinching her thigh.
“I’m serious.”
Lin Yuchan crawled out of his arms and propped her chin, thinking carefully.
With a twenty-first-century independent woman’s heart in her body, she naturally welcomed this windfall. She remembered discussing with female classmates before—if not marrying, fine, but if marrying, they’d fight for children to take their surname, at least one each. Those who agreed were good men…
Simple fantasies of young girls.
However, after more than ten years of struggling in the nineteenth century, she knew nothing could be taken for granted.
“People will question it, think it unlucky, assume you’re a son-in-law, insult and look down on you. Your abilities and past achievements will all be ignored.” She lowered her voice, seriously reminding: “I agree unilaterally first. You have eight months to reconsider—please think through the risks.”
Su Minguan lowered his eyes, gave her lips a butterfly kiss, and nodded.
Since being willful, he had to bear risks and be prepared to clean up the situation.
He had learned the news less than two hours ago. With blood rushing to his head, unable to distinguish directions, it indeed wasn’t a good time for decisions.
He temporarily set aside this thought and asked with a smile: “Can you tell the gender?”
He turned her around, looking left and right as if trying to see “I’m pregnant” written on her face. He pestered her to undress, recalling the midwife’s mentioned symptoms, checking methodically for swelling, examining if her belly had bulged, even instinctively pressing his ear against it to listen…
Lin Yuchan couldn’t stand it and resumed her negotiating tone, saying seriously, “I’ll take care of my own body. But I can’t abandon what needs to be done. Don’t restrict me.”
She got out of bed to dress.
Su Minguan helplessly called: “A’Mei, being stubborn again. Come back.”
Lin Yuchan thought: How is this being stubborn? In modern times, medical workers work frontlines even at nine months—nobody has heard of bed rest when the belly doesn’t even show yet. That’s palace intrigue dramas.
She pushed the door open and went downstairs. Her stomach was empty, and she suddenly felt hungry.
Su Minguan strode behind her, looking tense and helpless.
She went to the hotel’s first-floor bar, casually ordered a simple plate of Hangtown fry (a Western specialty oyster omelet), and smilingly cut a piece to fork-feed him.
She asked calmly: “Which medical book says pregnant women should stay in bed from the beginning?”
Su Minguan disagreed, checking that the eggs and oysters were indeed cooked before pushing the plate to her, replying: “I saw it a lot as a child.”
Though Su Minguan had rich life experience, he had never cared for pregnant women. His impressions of childbirth mostly came from childhood in that garden full of wives and concubines—in that exquisite garden filled with sweet fragrances, if any concubine’s belly showed the slightest movement, she immediately received the master’s complete favor, instantly lying in bed to “preserve the pregnancy,” calling doctors every three days, beginning daily tonics, even replacing opium paste with the highest grade “horseshoe earth”…
Though he had also seen laboring women working hard with big bellies, in his heart, “immediately lying down like an empress when pregnant” was the optimal choice.
Lin Yuchan was speechless. He had grown up in palace intrigue dramas. This deeply rooted strange impression would indeed be hard to correct.
She suddenly remembered something and asked Su Minguan, “Do you have no siblings?”
He found her mental leaps strange and answered casually: “I had some, but they all died before one month old. Only I survived. What about it?”
This was normal in old society, even in wealthy families. So they valued this “sole heir” excessively, causing his early rebellion and direct declaration to end the Su family line.
Lin Yuchan said, “Your mother was fortunate to get pregnant right after marriage. Didn’t you say those other various concubines, trapped in the garden with nothing to do, all became severely addicted to opium? Your father was old too, so they became increasingly unable to conceive. Any movement would cause them to make a big fuss and stay in bed, mostly your father’s idea. Any ordinary healthy girl who could run and jump, who would willingly suffer that stuffiness for months? That midwife just said keeping a good mood is most important.”
One good thing about talking to Su Minguan was that no matter how she criticized his father and ancestors, he never got angry and sometimes joined in the criticism.
Sure enough, after listening, he found it reasonable, couldn’t find counterarguments, and could only slowly adjust his worldview.
But he still didn’t completely compromise: “Don’t go to the railroad worksite anymore. It’s dusty there, and the food isn’t clean. The roads are bumpy too—traveling by cart or on foot isn’t safe. And Afu’s illness… don’t let him pass his sickness to you.”
“But Afu and the others can’t manage alone. They’re almost out of meal money and won’t let people help… Tomorrow, who knows if more people will come to smash things…”
“I know.” Su Minguan said gently but firmly, “Back then, I escaped while they couldn’t—I owe them. I’ll handle it.”
Despite the noisy bar with no other Chinese people, he instinctively lowered his voice.
After betraying that “home” filled with money and opium smells, the Heaven and Earth Society’s Guangdong hall was his only home. The brothers and uncles of various personalities there—though some didn’t like him, some didn’t get along with him, some would scold him, argue, and fight with him—were all the closest family who accompanied him through adolescence.
Of these people, few remained in the world now. Afu was one of them.
After completely handing over Shanghai’s Yixing, Su Minguan had focused on being a passenger, appreciating the scenery across the ocean without desires. Only today did he suddenly rediscover some enthusiasm for action.
Su Minguan paused, then composed himself seriously.
“However, you have more experience in this area. I need to ask—what insights does Miss Bai Yushan have?”