Ch 165: The Farmer Ger in the Apocalypse

Song Kaiji was in a complete panic, picking up Shen Qing and running outside. He didn’t even know what had happened to Shen Qing—had he twisted something while avoiding the zombies? But the situation earlier had been tense, and Song Kaiji had been affected by the atmosphere, fearing that something serious had happened to Shen Qing.

It was Shen Qing who tugged at him, stopping him. “Don’t go to the hospital… Take me back.” Back to the cave.

“How about letting a healing-type ability user take a look? This matter is settled for now, and Feng Hao won’t dare to do anything for the time being. If he tries any tricks again, we won’t even need to step in—the military will deal with him.” This incident had caused a rift between the military and Feng Hao. When Shao Nan left, his face was extremely grim. People rarely blamed themselves too harshly for their mistakes; instead, all their anger would be directed at Feng Hao.

“We’ll find Qi Zhan, although… he shouldn’t do anything underhanded.” Although Qi Zhan and Tang Wenjie should have split, he was still an acquaintance. He had even stayed at their home for a while, eating and drinking without paying, so he wouldn’t take advantage of them.

Shen Qing, however, shook his head. “No need, I have a rough idea of what’s going on. It’s best if no one else finds out.” It was after the zombie attack earlier that Shen Qing had reacted quickly, and everything about his recent physical condition made sense.

Although Shen Qing had never given birth, he had seen Miao Shi and Zhao Aiye when they were pregnant. Back pain, loss of appetite, a liking for food with vinegar, easy vomiting… these were all minor issues, but the most important one was that zombies were now attacking Shen Qing.

Shen Qing knew that the reason zombies weren’t attacking him was likely because he wasn’t from this world. But if he were pregnant, the child would have half of Song Kaiji’s bloodline, and Song Kaiji would be attacked by zombies.

The zombies weren’t attacking him; they were attacking the part of his bloodline in his stomach that belonged to Song Kaiji.

Shen Qing touched his stomach, his face still pale, but a warm smile appeared at the corner of his mouth. He leaned in and whispered his guess, only to receive a stunned Song Kaiji in return.

Song Kaiji, of course, knew Shen Qing was a ger, and he knew gers could have children. But since Shen Qing looked like a man, he sometimes subconsciously forgot this fact. When he heard Shen Qing say that he might be pregnant, he froze, almost dropping Shen Qing on the ground from the shock.

“What’s wrong? Are you scared silly?” Shen Qing quickly hugged his neck and rubbed against him. “Or do you not like kids?” Song Kaiji was usually good to Nannan, so Shen Qing was just teasing him. “But it’s not certain. This is just my guess.”

“No, no!” Song Kaiji quickly denied it. How could he not want a child with Shen Qing? But his face still showed a hint of guilt. “I’m just… scared. You were killing zombies just now… Damn Feng Hao!” He had discussed with Shen Qing about secretly killing Feng Hao, but when they returned, he was locked up, which was not only embarrassing but also delayed things. Song Kaiji muttered angrily, “I’ll kill him tonight!”

“Uh, there’s no need to rush…” Shen Qing’s face showed a trace of guilt as he touched his nose. If anyone was scared, it was him. After all, he had gone up the mountain with a child inside him, climbing trees and jumping down… He couldn’t bring himself to tell Song Kaiji about that. “We just had a conflict with him, and now he’s dead. It would be too easy for others to suspect us. Let’s wait a few days, until this thing blows over.”

After all, he would still be attacked by zombies, so even if Feng Hao tried to investigate, he wouldn’t find anything. “Take me back first. My condition can’t be treated here. If people find out I’m pregnant…” It was already suspected that he wouldn’t be attacked by zombies, and if the news came out that a man could get pregnant, Feng Hao might figure out that he wasn’t from this world.

Just like Chen Jiaxi, a smart psychic ability user who could figure it out, why couldn’t Feng Hao?

Thinking of Chen Jiaxi, Shen Qing pursed his lips. “I’ll go see a doctor when I get back, and tomorrow you can take me to see Chen Jiaxi.”

Song Kaiji didn’t know, but Shen Qing, who had directly looked at Chen Jiaxi, was clear that Chen Jiaxi had broken her oath and had pried into Shen Qing’s memories.

Although Chen Jiaxi hadn’t betrayed him, Shen Qing still felt uneasy and had to ask her about it. He had truly felt the signs of pregnancy earlier, his stomach aching. However, while speaking, Shen Qing drank two cups of spiritual spring water, and the dull pain in his abdomen gradually stopped, enough to last until he could see a doctor in the county town.

In Anping County, having a ger get pregnant seemed very normal, so he decided to see a doctor there.

Song Kaiji naturally knew that Shen Qing was right. After thinking it over, he changed direction and carried Shen Qing straight to the outskirts of the city. After leaving the base, with two quick shifts, they soon arrived at the cave entrance.

It had been half a month since they last saw each other, and now after a short reunion, they had to part again. Both were reluctant. Shen Qing cupped Song Kaiji’s face and kissed him for a while, coquettishly saying, “Come pick me up here tomorrow at this time. I’ll see the doctor and then come back.”

Song Kaiji also kissed the corner of Shen Qing’s mouth, muttering unhappily, “I wish we could use the phone.” Of course, if he could walk through the cave, that would be even better.

After the huge shock of Shen Qing being pregnant, Song Kaiji gradually came to realize something.

This cave could only be passed by Shen Qing, or… could it be passed by anyone of his bloodline? Song Kaiji’s heart sank as he remembered that day when Shen Qing had brought Miao Shi to the mountain. Miao Shi was Shen Qing’s biological mother, but she couldn’t enter the cave either.

What about their child?

Although this child was a hybrid of two worlds and might be different from Miao Shi, Song Kaiji couldn’t convince himself to be so optimistic and hoped for the best.

Looking at Shen Qing’s smiling face, Song Kaiji didn’t say much, but he hid the small feeling of bitterness in his heart, rubbing his neck and saying, “We’ll see each other tomorrow.”

Shen Qing quickly made his way back to the village. The spiritual spring water was indeed good, and after drinking more, he felt much better, but he still didn’t dare to be careless. He tied up the cart at home and went to Anping County to see the biggest clinic.

He touched his stomach, still feeling nervous despite his rough guess. Previously, when he was ill, Miao Shi had asked a doctor to visit him at home, and back then, Shen Qing had been dizzy. The doctor had assumed he was unconscious, so he didn’t avoid speaking openly. Shen Qing had suffered too much in the old Shen family, and his body was not in the best shape to carry a child.

At that time, Shen Qing had been very upset. He had always wanted a child, even when he wasn’t with Song Kaiji, and Wang San had wanted to partner up with him. He had been thinking about how to have a child without marrying.

Not to mention now, when the child was the one from the person he loved. Shen Qing was afraid it was all just a beautiful dream.

He looked at the old doctor with a white beard, his wrist still resting on the doctor’s fingertips, nervously asking, “Doctor, what’s the result?”

Shen Qing was still wearing men’s clothing, but the mark on his forehead was no longer hidden. However, the old doctor, being old and near-sighted, didn’t notice at first. After squinting and examining Shen Qing for a while, he pulled back his hand and muttered, “You didn’t explain clearly. I was wondering why a man would have pregnancy symptoms?”

The old doctor furrowed his brows, squinted his eyes, and looked Shen Qing over carefully. Then he recalled that there was a famous ger who disguised himself as a man and did business—he was probably the one in front of him.

He pulled out a handkerchief from the drawer and placing it on Shen Qing’s wrist before continuing his examination.

This ger was so careless! But the doctor was a particular person! He was an old man, yet he had to hold a ger’s hand—how awkward! “A little over three months. The pregnancy is unstable… oh, I remember now! You fought a pack of wolves some time ago, didn’t you? The village sent them into the city with a lot of noise. You really don’t take the baby seriously!”

The old doctor was so angry he puffed out his cheeks. This ger’s body was already not suitable for bearing a child, and now, after such a struggle, he was pregnant—he was really careless!

Shen Qing had never been one to pamper anyone in the county town, but when the old doctor scolded him, he could only hang his head in shame. “At that time… I didn’t know I was pregnant.” He nervously looked at the doctor. “Is the baby in danger?”

“Why don’t you ask if your body is in danger?” The old doctor shot him a glare. “Your body has been overworked before. It wasn’t the right physique to carry a child. Only recently have you been supplementing yourself, and you barely managed to get pregnant. You’ll probably suffer a lot as the months go on! If you keep going like this, forget about the baby, you won’t even be able to save yourself!”

Having a child was always dangerous for gers. Shen Qing’s pelvis was narrow, making it hard to give birth, and now he was constantly fighting wolves and tigers—he was really courting death!

The doctor gave Shen Qing two medications, and Shen Qing felt much more comfortable in his abdomen. Knowing that Shen Qing wasn’t short on money, the doctor prescribed a lot of medicine and supplements, explained how to take them carefully, and couldn’t resist scolding him again. He advised Shen Qing to nourish himself slowly and warned him not to overdo it. If the baby grew too big, it would be even harder to deliver. Shen Qing lowered his head and endured the scolding. With a pile of medicine and supplements, he returned home.

The old doctor was still in a foul mood, pacing around the clinic. Then, after a delayed realization, he suddenly thought—was this ger married?

Meanwhile, Shen Qing had returned home. On the way, he ran into some villagers who were puzzled to see him back. They had just heard in the morning that Shen Qing had gone off on another trading trip, yet now, only half a day later, he was back. However, by now, no one saw Shen Qing as just the little ger who had grown up in the village. They exchanged glances but not a single one dared to step forward and greet him.

Shen Qing didn’t care and simply went home. Miao Shi was also surprised—Shen Qing had left in the morning, but soon after, he had hurried back, hitched up the mule cart, and rushed off to town without saying much. Now, seeing him return with a large pile of medicinal herbs, she became worried. “What’s wrong? Are you feeling unwell?”

Shen Qing hesitated. Lian Ou and Lian Rong were still working in his room, so he decided not to mention the pregnancy for now and casually brushed it off. “Not exactly. These are mostly nourishing tonics, just to help with my health.”

Hearing this, Miao Shi nodded approvingly. “You should take good care of yourself. I used to think that just eating well was enough to keep the body healthy. But now I realize that good food only provides basic nourishment—it doesn’t truly restore health. To properly condition the body, you still need prescriptions from a doctor!”

She was reminded of what the doctor had said before—how Shen Qing’s body had been weakened and was not suited for childbirth. But now, looking at him, she noticed that the pregnancy mark between his brows was unusually vibrant. This puzzled her—could the color of a pregnancy mark actually change? She had lived under the same roof as Zhao Aiye for over ten years, and she didn’t remember his pregnancy mark ever changing.

But Shen Qing’s had. And a bright pregnancy mark was a sign of good fertility. Could it be that his body had recovered enough to make childbirth less difficult?

Shen Qing boiled a large bowl of medicine using spiritual spring water. He decided that from now on, he would drink it daily to nourish his body. For the sake of the child in his belly, he didn’t even mind the bitterness. Pinching his nose, he gulped down the entire bowl in one go.

The bitter scent of herbal medicine filled the courtyard, even driving Lian Rong out of the room. When she saw Shen Qing, she quickly ran over with a knotted ornament made by Lian Ou. “Qing Ge’er, look! My second brother learned a new pattern!”

Shen Qing praised it immediately. Lian Ou was indeed skilled with his hands. By now, the knots he made were good enough to sell in town. Shen Qing had once given him a handful of unknown beads to incorporate into the designs, and Lian Ou had a good sense for matching them, making them sell quite well.

Every ten days, Shen Qing paid Lian Ou his earnings. However, Second Aunt Lian had her own plans—she only let Lian Ou keep a small portion while leaving the rest with Shen Qing, intending for him to hand it all over when Lian Ou got married, bypassing the Lian family altogether.

Compared to his own family, they trusted Shen Qing more.

Not every piece was perfect, though. There were still many practice pieces that looked decent from afar but had minor flaws up close. Lian Ou hadn’t had enough time to refine his skills, and if he wasn’t careful, he would still fray the thread.

Lian Rong, however, was even worse at it. Even though Shen Qing provided materials and Lian Ou patiently taught her, after half a month of trying, she still couldn’t get the hang of it. Finally, she admitted defeat, realizing that she wasn’t cut out for this work.

Shen Qing comforted her. “Everyone has different talents. You might not be good at knotting, but maybe you have a knack for studying. When the school opens next year, you should go to class. Then, your brother can make the knots, and you can handle the money.”

Now that he was pregnant, Shen Qing found himself feeling even more affectionate toward children, so he coaxed Lian Rong not to feel discouraged. After thinking for a moment, he added, “These practice pieces are just lying around unused. How about this—you sew them onto some headbands, then you and your brother can take them to the temple fair during the Fifth Month Festival to sell. They may not be perfect, but if you price them cheaply at the market, people will still buy them. Once they’re sold, we’ll split the earnings three ways. How about that?”

Lian Rong was stunned. Wasn’t this just a roundabout way of giving her money? “Qing Ge’er, are you going to the Fifth Month Festival market too?”

Shen Qing shook his head. “No, I won’t be going. I only came back today on short notice, and I’ll be leaving again tomorrow. I won’t be back for quite some time.”

There were still many things to take care of on the other side.

Meanwhile, Feng Hao was spiraling into madness. The blood test strips used for checking infections at the city gate were discarded in the trash once they confirmed there was no zombie virus. No one would keep track of which strip belonged to whom. But Feng Hao was determined to find Shen Qing’s. The patrol captain at the gate thought he was insane and ignored him. So, Feng Hao went to the city gate himself—and took the entire trash bin with him.

The patrol captain: …Fine, whatever. It’s just trash. We’ll just pretend today’s janitor came early.

Feng Hao was truly patient. With hundreds or even thousands of people entering the city daily, he actually went through each test strip one by one, searching for a needle in a haystack. But in the end, he was disappointed. Not a single strip contained zombie virus antibodies.

However, there was one sample that looked strange.

Feng Hao held up the strip in confusion. “…Intersex?”

There were many genetic variations among the samples. He even found an extra-Y chromosome case, which, in normal times, wouldn’t matter. But in the apocalypse, an extra-Y chromosome might actually be an advantage for survival.

And then, there was this strange intersex sample. The genes seemed unusual, different from typical intersex individuals. Feng Hao stared at it for a long time. Ultimately, though, it had nothing to do with vaccine research, so he dismissed it and tossed the strip aside.

But something felt off.

Chen Jiaxi was lying to him—he was sure of it. He didn’t know when she had sided with Shen Qing, but he no longer believed a word she said. He trusted himself, his mind, his memory, his judgment—Shen Qing definitely hadn’t been attacked by zombies, at least not when they first met.

So what changed? Did something alter his body?

Today, the zombie had really attacked Shen Qing. Even though Feng Hao had given many excuses, deep down, he knew there was no mistake.

Determined, he went back to the patrol team, hoping to collect all the test strips from the past six months. The patrol captain looked at him like he was a lunatic. “You think we keep those after testing? What, do you think they’re some kind of treasure? Of course, we dispose of them regularly—we burn them.”

Seeing that Feng Hao looked like a crazed scientist, the patrol captain took pity on him and casually pointed to a storage shed near the gate, where several large garbage bins were kept. “If it hasn’t been burned yet, it’s in there. Take whatever you want. But what’s already burned? Even a god couldn’t bring it back.”

That shed held about a week’s worth of discarded test strips. The sanitation crew had been slacking lately, so they hadn’t been taken away yet. Feng Hao was disappointed—Shen Qing hadn’t been in the base for half a month, so a week-old sample was useless. But just as he was leaving, he noticed some much older test strips on the ground, likely dropped by the workers during transport.

Even though the chances were slim, he picked them all up and took them with him.

The patrol captain watched him collecting test strips from the ground and shook his head. This guy has lost his mind from too much research. How pitiful.

The next day, Shen Qing estimated the time and returned to the apocalypse. Song Kaiji was already waiting at the cave entrance. Watching Shen Qing emerge from the solid rock wall, he once again marveled at the cave’s mysterious nature.

The moment Shen Qing saw him, he couldn’t stop smiling. Overcome with joy, he leapt forward and hugged Song Kaiji’s neck sweetly. “I was right—I really am.”

He took Song Kaiji’s hand and placed it over his belly.

How miraculous. Shen Qing’s stomach still looked the same—flat and firm—but inside, a new life was growing, a child that carried both of their bloodlines.

◦°˚(*❛‿❛)/˚°◦