Chapter 9: Morning Sickness

“I’ve been staying at home, it’s not cold at all.” Li Zhenguan met Wang Zhao’s gaze and said softly, a little shy.

Just as he finished speaking, a gust of wind blew by, and he couldn’t help but shiver. Wang Zhao sighed, “Is your uncle home now? I’ll go in and greet him first, then we can go out.”

Li Zhenguan came back to his senses and quickly responded with a “Mm-hmm”. Meeting her gaze, he couldn’t help but smile again.

He walked a few steps, then slowed down, unconsciously sizing up the woman walking beside him.

Wang Zhao was wearing a loose trench coat today, with a white shirt underneath as always, making her look even thinner. She seemed to have always been very slim, carrying a distant coldness in his memory, even when speaking softly there was an unconscious hint of iciness.

She looked rather unapproachable.

However, Li Zhenguan’s gaze shifted downward, landing on Wang Zhao’s hands.

She explained, “I wasn’t sure what to bring, so I bought some fruit on the way out.”

She had purposely bought it at an imported supermarket, more expensive than regular fruit. This wasn’t a formal visit, so she hadn’t prepared as fully or ceremonially.

Li Zhenguan nodded, but with a smile on his face, his delicate features lighting up.

The two quickly arrived at the door. Wang Zhao followed a step behind Li Zhenguan as they entered.

A middle-aged man greeted them first, politely taking the bag from Wang Zhao’s hand. Li Zhenguan introduced in a low voice, “This is my uncle who manages our household, just call him Uncle Zhang.”

Wang Zhao greeted the man, saying “Hello Uncle Zhang.”

Then she pulled Wang Zhao inside. She saw a man standing at the living room entrance, wearing casual home clothes, looking to be in his thirties or forties, appearing very young and well-maintained, somewhat resembling Li Zhenguan.

This time without Li Zhenguan needing to say anything, Wang Zhao spoke first, “Hello Uncle.”

Yang Jin grunted in acknowledgement, his expression somewhat cold, which was within Wang Zhao’s expectations.

Uncle Zhang, however, was very polite, bringing out a few cups of tea from the kitchen and inviting Wang Zhao to sit and have a cup.

Li Zhenguan sensed the chilled atmosphere and spoke up, pulling Wang Zhao to leave. “It’s getting late, we won’t have tea. Dad, I’m going out with Wang Zhao first.”

“Be careful.” Yang Jin stood up and gently admonished, “You’re pregnant now, there are many things you can’t eat, remember that yourself.”

As he spoke, he had Uncle Zhang bring a thick coat from upstairs and draped it over Li Zhenguan. “The temperature will drop tonight, wear an extra layer.”

After saying that, he reminded Wang Zhao of a few more things, looking very worried about the two of them going out.

Wang Zhao could only say, “Uncle, I will take good care of Zhenguan and bring him safely home later.”

After leaving, Li Zhenguan said a little awkwardly, “My dad is just like that, he’s actually very easy to get along with usually.”

It seemed he had also noticed his father’s coldness toward her.

Wang Zhao didn’t mind. She started the car and asked the person beside her with a smile, “Are you hungry? What do you want to eat for dinner?”

“Sichuan and Hunan cuisine.” After thinking for a moment, Li Zhenguan decisively replied.

During the past few days at home, ever since his parents found out he was pregnant, they had strictly controlled his diet.

But Wang Zhao didn’t respond to his words. Instead, she picked up her phone, looked at it and said, “You’re pregnant now, your diet should be lighter. I know a Huaiyang cuisine restaurant that’s quite good, I’ll take you to try it.”

Li Zhenguan glanced at Wang Zhao, wanting to say something, but in the end stayed silent and obediently agreed.

Only then did Wang Zhao put down her phone and drove towards the Huaiyang restaurant she mentioned.

This Huaiyang cuisine restaurant wasn’t in the busy district, but outside the Third Ring Road, on the sixth floor of Wanhua. There were many other restaurants here too. The reason Wang Zhao knew about this place was actually through the original owner.

When she looked through the original owner’s phone and other billing records, she found that the original owner had come to this restaurant a few times. She figured the food must be quite good, otherwise the original owner wouldn’t frequently visit.

After parking in the underground garage, Wang Zhao led the way to the elevator upstairs. As soon as they exited, someone was there to greet them.

Sitting in the private room, Li Zhenguan finally spoke, “Do you come here often?”

“I’ve come a few times with family and friends.” Wang Zhao flipped through the menu and handed it to the man beside her, saying softly, “Order whatever you want. The dishes here should all be suitable for you. Let me know if you have any food restrictions.”

After saying this, she rang the bell to have the server come in and replace the tea on the table with plain boiled water.

She had previously read several physiology books, one of which was called “Healthy China Tour Series of Books on Popularizing Health Knowledge in Rural Areas: Health Care”. The main content of this book was about how pregnant people should maintain their health, as well as some precautions during pregnancy and childbirth.

Ever since learning that Li Zhenguan was pregnant, she read through this book again. Regardless of whether she liked this person or not, since she had already decided to take on this responsibility, she would not retreat or feel weak. Within her capabilities, she would try her best.

She seemed to have always been this kind of person.

When Li Zhenguan was ordering, he heard Wang Zhao’s voice and looked up, happening to meet her gaze.

Wang Zhao asked, “Done ordering?”

“Mm.” Li Zhenguan put down the menu. “I ordered four dishes. Crab meat lion’s head meatballs, crucian carp steamed with rice wine, shrimp with Longjing tea, and one chicken broth cooked with bean thread noodles.”

Hearing this, Wang Zhao couldn’t help but glance at Li Zhenguan. He still had a smile on his face. “What is it?”

She came back to her senses and also smiled. “Nothing, just quite a coincidence that our tastes are very similar.” Then she said to the server standing to the side, “For the staples, we’ll have rain flower soup dumplings with a side of scallion pancakes.”

After saying that, she looked at Li Zhenguan again. “Is there anything else you want to order?”

He shook his head. “This is enough.”

When the server left the room, the tea had also been replaced with warm plain boiled water. She felt the temperature before pouring a cup and placing it in front of Li Zhenguan.

The man quietly said thank you.

Wang Zhao suddenly found it a bit interesting.

In the process of interacting, the two of them obviously weren’t that familiar with each other, yet they were already at the stage of getting married. Even though she was mentally mature and always had her own ideas, at this moment she couldn’t help but feel a sense of unfamiliarity.

It was like a train running on a track. Suddenly a fork appeared ahead, and at the junction she hesitated for a moment before making a decision.

Sometimes, she would also doubt herself, whether the decision she made now was the right one, whether the track she chose was the correct one. Of course, this wouldn’t affect her, but occasionally her heart would also feel momentarily lost.

Wang Zhao believed that most people would feel this way.

In the end, the dishes they ordered weren’t finished. During the meal, Li Zhenguan went to the restroom. When he came back, his complexion didn’t look too good. After that, besides drinking a few mouthfuls of plain boiled water, Wang Zhao noticed that he barely touched his chopsticks again.

She thought for a moment and understood. He was now about three months pregnant, probably still experiencing morning sickness.

She hadn’t considered it thoroughly enough.

Therefore, she quickly finished her own dinner and ate a few more bites without moving much. The remaining dishes were directly packed up by the server.

She stood up and said to the pale-faced man, “Let’s go.”