BABHFD : Chapter 57 – Fatty

After Leonid returned home from the hospital, he stayed put, focusing on his recovery. Ren Zhouyuan, meanwhile, took on the monumental task of preparing for their wedding, running from place to place every day, busier than ever.

 

Leonid had initially wanted to surprise Ren Zhouyuan with the perfect wedding venue, spending countless hours reviewing the world’s most romantic wedding locations and even flying to see some of them in person. However, none of these places felt quite right.

 

He wanted to give Ren Zhouyuan a unique wedding, but all the beautiful locations felt overused and lacking a personal touch. Then, inspiration struck—why not hold the wedding at the orphanage where Ren Zhouyuan had grown up? It was like his “mother’s home,” the perfect choice.

 

However, just as Leonid was about to finalize this plan, he had an accident. Rushing to the orphanage while preoccupied with his thoughts, he accidentally sprained his ankle at the entrance.

 

Ren Zhouyuan had given him no shortage of eye rolls over this incident. But when he saw the selected venue, he was more surprised than anything. Leonid’s idea of a surprise truly was a surprise—Ren Zhouyuan hadn’t expected him to think of this.

 

After some thought, though, Ren Zhouyuan declined and chose Leonid’s second option. His explanation was simple: “The director who watched me grow up is no longer there, and there’s not much tying me to that place anymore. The only connection is the friends I grew up with.”

 

One such friend was Zheng Bo. They had grown up together in the orphanage, but Zheng Bo had been adopted when he was nine. Before that, he was Ren Zhouyuan’s closest friend, almost like a big brother.

 

Zheng Bo took care of Ren Zhouyuan, but after being adopted, they lost touch, exchanging letters only occasionally. As they grew older, the letters became less frequent until they stopped altogether. They reconnected only when Ren Zhouyuan became pregnant with An An.

 

“At that time, I was really desperate, with no one to rely on and afraid of being treated as a freak at the hospital. While going through old things, I remembered Zheng Bo had said he wanted to be a doctor when he grew up. After much effort to contact him, I found he had indeed become a doctor.” Ren Zhouyuan smiled at the memory, though it still tugged at Leonid’s heartstrings.

 

For Leonid, Zheng Bo was almost like a savior for Ren Zhouyuan, having played a crucial role in An An’s safe birth. Leonid had never met Zheng Bo but already held him in high esteem, immediately categorizing him as a father figure without any of the initial skepticism he had for Fan Wenfeng.

 

Once Leonid’s leg had healed enough, they arranged to meet Zheng Bo and invited him to their wedding. Since An An’s birth, they had met a few times, but Zheng Bo was usually busy. This time, he made sure to free up his schedule to meet Ren Zhouyuan’s significant other.

 

Leonid was impressed by Zheng Bo, who seemed to share a similar gentle demeanor with Ren Zhouyuan. Knowing the history, Leonid treated him with great respect.

 

Zheng Bo, on the other hand, found Leonid a bit too dominant. But seeing the undeniable happiness on Ren Zhouyuan’s face and the way Leonid cared for him, he felt more relieved than worried.

 

During a brief moment when Leonid stepped out, Zheng Bo tapped his finger on the table, thinking for a moment before asking, “Is he the one?”

 

Ren Zhouyuan, understanding the question, nodded, “Yes, he’s the one.”

 

Zheng Bo nodded, clinking his glass with Ren Zhouyuan’s. “Congratulations,” he said, then added with a teasing smile, “Looks like I’ll be busy again soon.”

 

Ren Zhouyuan didn’t understand, but Zheng Bo just shook his head, and the topic changed to wedding preparations when Leonid returned, making Ren Zhouyuan forget all about it.

 

As the wedding day approached, Leonid had been ordered to rest his leg, and though he had recovered significantly, he still couldn’t do heavy work. Walking around, however, wasn’t much of a problem.

 

Their suits, ordered from abroad, finally arrived just before the wedding. They planned to try them on together, but a last-minute issue at the Maker Base kept Leonid busy, so Ren Zhouyuan went alone.

 

Leonid had chosen two matching but differently colored suits—a dark gray one and a pure white one with a subtle gold pattern. Ren Zhouyuan picked up the white suit to try on.

 

Lately, he had been so busy with work and eating a bit too much, not realizing he had gained weight until he looked in the mirror and saw his rounder face. With growing anxiety, he put on the suit, hoping it would still fit.

 

But fate doesn’t spare anyone who’s gained weight. When he tried to zip up the pants, he found they were too tight.

 

Panicking, Ren Zhouyuan struggled to get the zipper up, finally succeeding only to have it pop open again as soon as he relaxed. Dejected, he changed back into his clothes, holding the pants and feeling like crying. How had he gained so much weight?

 

When Leonid came home and saw Ren Zhouyuan looking downcast, he immediately asked what was wrong. After much coaxing, he found out the problem and couldn’t help but laugh.

 

Seeing him laugh made Ren Zhouyuan even more upset. He threw the pants at Leonid and poked his head, accusing, “It’s your fault for keeping me so busy and making me eat so much. And now you dare laugh!”

 

Leonid tried to comfort him, but his barely suppressed laughter only made it worse. Ren Zhouyuan mumbled in frustration, retreating to his room to write out a weight loss plan.

 

He listed all the food he had eaten recently, striking out the high-calorie items. Once done, he realized that most of what he had been eating lately were things he usually avoided.

 

A thought struck him, and a seed of suspicion was planted. This had happened once before, but it was such an unusual occurrence that he hadn’t considered it until now. An idea formed, making his heart race.

 

That night, Leonid, wanting to get intimate, was gently rebuffed by Ren Zhouyuan, whose mind was preoccupied. He couldn’t sleep, too focused on his suspicion to think about anything else.

 

Leonid, thinking Ren Zhouyuan was mad at him for calling him fat, tried to coax him, only to be pushed away. He felt helpless, unsure of what he had done wrong.

 

The next morning, after dropping An An off at school, Ren Zhouyuan sent Leonid off on an errand and sneaked to the pharmacy to buy a pregnancy test. It had been years since he last used one, and he had to carefully read the instructions before proceeding.

 

His heart pounded as he waited for the result, too scared to look, fearing disappointment. If he was just fat, he might drown himself in the toilet.

 

Peeking through one eye, he saw the result. Closing his eyes again, he took a deep breath, then opened them fully.

 

Two lines… What did two lines mean? Ren Zhouyuan froze, then grabbed the box with trembling hands, scanning the instructions. “Pregnant,” it said. His mind went blank for a moment.

 

“I’m… pregnant?” he murmured. After about thirty seconds, he gasped, looking at the test stick again. “I’m pregnant?!”

 

Touching his still-flat belly, he couldn’t believe that the long-awaited baby had quietly made its presence known.

 

Looking at his reflection, Ren Zhouyuan felt tears of joy welling up, overwhelmed with emotion.