Midway, Tan Linyuan's phone rang. He got up and went out to answer it.
It was Tan Jinxian calling. As soon as the call connected, he asked why Tan Linyuan had left so early.
"I took Nanyu to the hospital for a check - up because Weixin pushed her," Tan Linyuan said in a calm tone.
There was a momentary pause on the other end of the phone before Tan Jinxian said, "No wonder Lihua was crying and saying you were going to discipline your own family members. So it was because of this."
Tan Linyuan let out a silent sneer.
"How about it? Is that girl Nanyu okay?"
"She's been checked. There's nothing serious."
"Weixin is still a child. He doesn't have much strength. Maybe it was just that she didn't stand steady," Tan Jinxian said, clearly not taking it seriously.
Tan Linyuan said evenly, "Do you mean that I shouldn't blame him and that Nanyu should reflect on herself?"
"Son, is that what I meant?" Tan Jinxian was a bit displeased. "I'm just reminding you not to talk about disciplining your own family members at every turn. Unity and harmony are the most important things in the Tan family. A harmonious family leads to prosperity in everything."
"I can't be on good terms with someone who cursed my child not to be born," Tan Linyuan's voice grew colder. "I still need to take care of Nanyu. I'll hang up first."
His attitude was straightforward and resolute.
When he returned to the room, seeing that Nanyu was in good spirits, he drove her home.
To make up for what she had suffered today, Tan Linyuan specially bought fresh shrimp.
Nanyu liked to eat shrimp but didn't like to peel them.
So Tan Linyuan took on the role of peeling the shrimp, carefully removing the shells and the veins.
The doctor said that a proper intake of seafood was also good for the mother and the fetus.
Of course, Nanyu was happy to have someone peel the shrimp for her. She leaned over with a smile and opened her mouth.
Not only did she eat the shrimp, but she also occasionally bit his finger, licked it lightly with her tongue, and then pretended to let go accidentally, saying it was an accident.
Tan Linyuan squinted and snorted, saying that it was the baby who was protecting her.
Otherwise, with her repeated teasing, he would surely make her unable to get out of bed.
Nanyu pretended to be shocked and covered her chin, then burst into laughter.
During the conversation and laughter, they had already forgotten about the unpleasantness.
It was not until after dinner.
Nanyu was leaning on the sofa when she suddenly felt her feet swelling and a row of tiny rashes appearing on her arms.
She panicked and quickly called Tan Linyuan over.
When Tan Linyuan saw her reaction, his face turned serious. It was too late to go to the hospital, so he directly called the family doctor.
The doctor examined her and said it was a seafood allergy.
"Seafood allergy?" Nanyu was incredulous. "I've never been allergic to seafood..."
She used to be able to enjoy all kinds of seafood, whether it was shrimp or crab, without any allergic symptoms.
The doctor explained, "It's possible that due to the hormonal changes in your body after pregnancy, you may experience temporary allergic symptoms."
Because she was pregnant, she couldn't take medicine and could only drink more water to promote metabolism.
The doctor said that fortunately, she hadn't eaten much. Otherwise, if the allergic reaction became severe, she might even suffocate or go into shock.
Nanyu couldn't help but feel scared when she thought of this.
Tan Linyuan stood beside her, his expression becoming more and more solemn.
After the doctor left, Tan Linyuan stayed with Nanyu until the allergic symptoms subsided, and then they went to bed.
Lying in bed, Nanyu said with a smile, "I didn't understand Qu Jiaran before, but now I kind of empathize with her."
She hadn't had many reactions during pregnancy. Apart from the restricted diet, she hadn't felt much inconvenience.
But today, just eating a few shrimps had caused such a commotion. She could well imagine what kind of life Qu Jiaran had been living.
"I'll visit Qu Jiaran after the baby is born," Nanyu leaned in Tan Linyuan's arms. "I'll tell her that I can understand her now."
Tan Linyuan didn't know what Nanyu and Qu Jiaran had talked about. "Understand what?"
"She had a very severe pregnancy reaction," Nanyu didn't repeat the words "want to abort the baby" to him.
He was already so worried about her. If he heard this, even if it was Qu Jiaran who said it, he would still be nervous.
The closer it got to the critical moment, the less room there was for mistakes.
The rashes on Nanyu's arm had subsided a lot, leaving only the marks from her scratching.
Her arms were fair, and her skin was smooth and delicate. The red marks were even more obvious.
Tan Linyuan stared at the red marks, lost in thought.
Originally, this was just a trivial matter, but unexpectedly, it became a starting point.
Later, Nanyu suddenly had a stomachache while eating fruit; she cut her finger on a book page while turning it; she almost fell when going downstairs...
One thing after another, it was as if she had been struck by bad luck.
Nanyu couldn't help but joke about herself, "Maybe it's because the due date is approaching and I'm too stressed."
Tan Linyuan just remained silent and didn't respond to her words.
In just one week, Nanyu had five accidents. Although none of them were serious, they all seemed like bad omens.
He spent more and more time copying scriptures in the study at night, and the light in the study often stayed on all night.
Nanyu saw this and understood it all.
He was afraid that the terrifying prophecy would come true.
...
One day, when Nanyu woke up, she felt unwell. Her head and limbs were heavy, as if someone was pressing on her.
She wrapped the quilt tightly around herself and said weakly, "Tan Linyuan, I'm so cold."
Tan Linyuan sensed something was wrong. He immediately reached out to touch her forehead and found that her temperature was abnormally high. He quickly took her temperature.
Thirty - nine degrees.
It was really strange. The room was warm, and Nanyu hadn't gone out in the past few days. How could she suddenly have a fever?
Her belly was already very big, which restricted her movements. Coupled with the high fever, she was in a daze.
"Brother Tan... I'm so hot."
Tan Linyuan was extremely anxious. When he heard her suddenly say this, he paused for a moment.
He looked down and saw her blushing cheeks and teary eyes. For a moment, he couldn't tell what he was feeling.
Even when sick, someone could still be so charming.
He didn't have the heart to admire her for long. He found an ice towel and wiped her body.
"I want to take fever medicine," she groaned as he wiped her back with the cold towel. "I feel hot and cold at the same time."
Even though she was acting coquettishly, Tan Linyuan couldn't give her fever medicine. He could only rely on physical cooling.
He fed her water several times. Finally, when the temperature showed a downward trend, she fell asleep in his arms.
During this time, Tan Linyuan's phone rang hundreds of times, but he didn't answer any of them.
It was not until she finally fell asleep that he picked up the phone on the bedside table.
Apart from a few calls from members of the Chamber of Commerce, the rest were from Liang Yi.
He gently pulled his arm out from under Nanyu and walked out of the room with the phone in his hand.
Liang Yi's irresponsible voice came through, "I've found out. Someone really did find a fortune - teller to cast a spell on classmate Nanyu."
Nanyu had been having a rough time recently. Once or twice could be overlooked, but too many made people suspicious.
Fortunately, Liang Yi was involved in many fields and had some knowledge about these things.
Tan Linyuan frowned tightly. "Who?"
"The one who's in prison. It's said that he had someone perform a spell before."
Liang Yi couldn't help but curse, "That old bastard really planned to keep that little girl in his family for a lifetime. If he weren't in prison now, I'd break his ribs."