Absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Zhou Zheng had gone on a three-day business trip out of province; Lin Shuang went on a three-day self-driving trip with Miao Cai. The two of them were also out and about for three days.

They both got home on the same day, and seeing each other, the passion ignited instantly — they were kissing and pawing at each other all the way into the bathroom.

At the critical moment, Zhou Zheng reached over to feel around in the drawer, feeling and feeling, and asked her breathlessly, “Did you buy some?”

“What?” Her face was flushed, her mind starved of oxygen, not quite processing. “Buy what?”

“We’re out of condoms.”

“Are there really none left? Go check the bedroom.” Lin Shuang clung to him.

“That was the last one at home — we used it before we left, remember?” He looked at her. “You said you’d buy more. Did you forget?”

“I forgot.” She was frustrated. “Is there really none left in the house?”

“None.”

The two of them stared at each other.

The house was fairly spacious and they kept stock in several different spots, but with the supply scattered across so many places, restocking sometimes fell behind.

Lin Shuang whined, clinging to Zhou Zheng and refusing to let go, her body already primed, just waiting for him to hold her.

Zhou Zheng held back and held back, then stuffed her back into the bathtub and gritted his teeth as he pulled his clothes back on to go downstairs.

By the time he came back, the mood had lost that certain edge.

The next day, Lin Shuang caught Zhou Zheng researching contraception methods.

The rhythm method wasn’t reliable, an IUD could harm a woman’s body, oral medication had side effects, condoms were a hassle — after looking it all over, a vasectomy seemed the most convenient, a permanent solution.

“I’m going to get a vasectomy.”

Lin Shuang immediately refused without even thinking. “No need — we’ll just use condoms, that way neither of us has to suffer for it. Besides, what if we get divorced someday — wouldn’t that be unfair to you.”

She said it just offhandedly.

A shadow passed through Zhou Zheng’s eyes; he didn’t say anything, but his expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

About half a month later, Zhou Zheng said to her, “I have a few days off this week, and some free time — would you come with me to Wancheng?”

“What for?”

“I’ve scheduled a vasectomy.” He said it calmly. “I found a specialist in Wancheng. I need a family member’s signature, and you’ll need to drive on the way back.”

“A vasectomy?” Lin Shuang froze for a moment, then frowned. “Why would you do that, I never asked this of you.”

He calmly laid out the numbers for her, as if reciting facts: “The condom expense alone — you only use that one imported brand — costs about 4,000 a year. That’s not a small amount. We’re not having children, but condoms aren’t a hundred percent effective either. And with a fixed partner, both of us in good health, there’s no need to keep using them all the time. Besides, a vasectomy is just a small outpatient procedure, no side effects on the body, painless, and very safe.”

“But,” Lin Shuang squirmed, scratching her cheek, “it’s still a surgery, no matter how you put it.”

“I don’t want to have to stop halfway through to go find something.” His expression was perfectly composed, as if explaining some proper piece of knowledge. “I want to be able to go without one too — feel a bit more, try all sorts of things.”

Lin Shuang’s face suddenly flushed.

Being with Zhou Zheng, she sometimes felt like the more reserved one of the two of them.

Aside from the occasional playfulness in bed, in broad daylight, Teacher Zhou had never before spoken about something so improper in such an earnest tone.

The surgery date was already set, and Zhou Zheng was determined to go through with it. Lin Shuang was still hesitant, but in the end went with him to Wancheng anyway.

She was more than a little uneasy, and asked the doctor, “If he wants children later, would he still be able to have them?”

The doctor explained, “A reversal procedure is usually not a big problem.”

“Is the reversal success rate high? Would it affect his health?” She’d looked into it online — opinions were all over the place, some good, some bad — and felt uneasy about the possibility of complications.

“This is only a very minor procedure with basically no effect on the body. There are also several vasectomy methods now — the vas deferens can be cut, or a blocking agent can be injected. If future fertility is a consideration, a safer method can be chosen, and reversal technology is quite mature too. Based on clinical cases, it’s safe and reliable.”

The doctor explained quite a lot, and Lin Shuang finally nodded, letting out a breath.

If Zhou Zheng ever regretted it later, if he ever wanted children — at the very least, she couldn’t be the one holding him back.

It really was a minor outpatient procedure — after three hours of observation he could be discharged. Zhou Zheng’s steps were a little stiff, but seeing Lin Shuang sitting outside with a worried look on her face, he still managed to raise an eyebrow lightly and ruffle her hair.

She squeezed his hand. “Am I supposed to take care of you these next couple days?”

“How do you want to take care of me?”

“I’ll stew you some soup, get you properly nourished.”

Zhou Zheng smiled, pulling her close. “Your debut in the kitchen — I’m looking forward to it.”

They were to abstain from sex for a month after the surgery, and both of them followed the doctor’s orders faithfully.

The day the restriction lifted, both of them were very much in the mood.

The feeling of coming together — it really was different this time.