novelraw Chapter 291
Chapter 291
Chapter 291: All Talk and No Action, Now He’s Really a Dad
Ever since Qin Chuan moved into his new place, Xia Li had been feeling restless.
The thought of the longing in Lucia’s eyes when she looked at someone else’s spacious living room made his heart ache.
Then he’d look back at his own old and cramped apartment.
Less than 50 square meters, crammed with one person, one dragon, and one cat.
On the bright side, it was small and cozy…
But the reality was that the living environment was terrible, and the transportation was inconvenient.
Poor sound insulation, poor heat insulation, cold in winter and hot in summer, cockroaches and mice crawling everywhere along the external water pipes.
There wasn’t even a decent supermarket within two kilometers. Every time Xia Li went grocery shopping, he had to drive a long way.
In short, it was very inconvenient. “Maybe I should get some more…”
After hesitating for a few days, Xia Li finally couldn’t resist the temptation.
Humans are always insatiable. After experiencing the convenience brought by money once, they are reluctant to take the hard road again.
Xia Li’s original plan was to wait until he earned his first money from the pet hospital to apply for a mortgage.
This way of buying a house was more in line with his current identity.
But only a few days had passed, and he couldn’t hold back anymore.
“Why don’t you rent a place too? When I was looking at apartments with Yivni a while ago, I saw several for rent in my building. They’re on the higher floors though… Just perfect for your Dragon Sister who loves heights.”
On the other end of the phone, Qin Chuan was trying to persuade Xia Li not to be impulsive.
This matter couldn’t be rushed.
Although most of the money they had on hand was cash, it was unreasonable and too risky to purchase so much real estate in a short period of time.
“No, my dragon doesn’t want to rent. She says that if the nest isn’t her own, it’s like living in someone else’s house, and she doesn’t feel safe.”
Xia Li glanced at the dragon with a big tail who was chopping vegetables in the kitchen and sighed.
“I’ll talk to you later, I’m going to help her out.”
After a brief chat with Qin Chuan, Xia Li also felt that this matter should be put on hold for now.
He hung up the phone and went to the kitchen to help Lucia peel shrimp.
Today they were making stir-fried shrimp with broccoli. The shrimp were live ones that Xia Li bought this morning, and they were quite a hassle to process.
As he got up, the little cat, who had been lying on his lap, now fattened into a calico ball, jumped to the floor with a ‘meow’.
The chubby kitty had been sleeping soundly. It didn’t expect its owner to stand up so suddenly and ended up rolling on the floor twice.
There was a ‘thud’.
The trash can tipped over.
Food scraps, fruit peels, tissues, plastic bags, and a bunch of other miscellaneous things rolled out.
“Meow~”
Seemingly realizing that it had caused trouble, Little Cotton sat beside the trash can, meowing in a guilty voice, and wagging its tail.
“Sigh.”
Xia Li had no choice but to go to the balcony to get the broom, saying as he walked.
“It’s okay, Daddy will clean it up.”
He was very patient, picking up the larger pieces of trash and throwing them back into the trash can, then sweeping up the remaining debris with the broom.
“What’s this?”
A plastic stick about thirty centimeters long on the floor caught Xia Li’s attention.
He didn’t remember having anything like this at home.
Pink, long and thin, with a few English letters printed on it.
Picking it up and taking a closer look, Xia Li found this thing oddly familiar.
He seemed to have seen it online.
Turning it over, he saw a window in the middle of the plastic stick, with two red lines.
Two bars appeared on the lines.
During the pandemic a few years ago, the test kits he used at home were similar to this, but obviously, those virus test kits weren’t this big.
It wasn’t until Xia Li saw the inconspicuous words ‘pregnancy test’ printed on the back that…
His pupils suddenly dilated.
What was this?
Unsure, he took another look.
What was this?!
Xia Li felt his heart pounding like thunder, his hands trembling.
He closed his eyes, then opened them again.
He was sure he wasn’t dreaming!!
“Mom!!”
People lose their ability to speak coherently when they are excited.
When the threshold of excitement reaches a certain level, out of biological instinct, they will call out to the person they relied on most as a child.
“Why are you calling for Mom?”
Lucia, the culprit dragon, walked out, wiping her hands with a towel.
Seeing Xia Li kneeling on the floor without any reaction, she walked around and bent down to look at his hand.
Xia Li held the pregnancy test and slowly looked up.
There were tears of excitement in the corners of his eyes, and beads of sweat on his forehead.
He was both surprised and delighted.
And also scared.
Surprised because Xia Li had been taking contraceptive measures, only slacking off during the time he was back in the other world. He didn’t expect to get her pregnant on the first try.
Delighted because he was going to be a father.
As for fear… Xia Li was worried that he wouldn’t be a good father.
“…What is this?”
He asked Lucia, his voice trembling slightly.
Lucia froze, then looked away.
“I don’t know, maybe it’s for Cotton.”
“Cotton is a cat, why would she use this???”
Lucia felt guilty, her tail drooping to the floor, and remained silent.
Xia Li quickly stood up from the floor and pulled her hand to sit back on the sofa.
“The broccoli is blanched, I’m going to stir-fry it…”
Lucia tried to get up, but Xia Li pressed her shoulders to stop her.
Out of instinct to protect Lucia, Xia Li didn’t dare to use too much force. His hands were both strong and gentle, his actions somewhat comical.
“From now on, you’re not allowed in the kitchen, and I’ll take care of the housework.” Xia Li looked into her eyes and said seriously.
Lucia blushed.
For a dragon…
Being found pregnant was still quite embarrassing.
Not only was Xia Li not mentally prepared, she wasn’t either.
“…I want to cook myself.”
Lucia opened her pink mouth and whispered.
“You’re not allowed to!”
Xia Li was very firm. He stared at Lucia’s face for a long time, still unable to understand why the dragon had kept this from him. He pinched her rosy cheek.
“Why didn’t you tell me?!”
“If you had told me, I wouldn’t have been so horny and woken you up in the middle of the night to fool around!”
Xia Li felt guilty when he thought about his nighttime activities lately.
Would it hurt the baby?
“Because I wasn’t sure at first…”
Lucia was panting, her face flushed from being rubbed by Xia Li’s large hand.
“I’ve been testing for a while now. There was no reaction at first, and then last week a faint pink line appeared… Recently the line has deepened, forming two bars.”
Lucia explained everything.
She only learned about pregnancy tests after returning to Earth.
At first, when the black dragon Neer Hulk told her she was pregnant, she wasn’t sure herself. After returning to Earth, she kept trying to find a way to test if she really had a baby, and then she accidentally learned about pregnancy tests.
And this kind of thing could be bought directly from the pharmacy without even showing an ID.
So Lucia secretly bought a box after Xia Li went out.
With a nervous heart, she tested for several days and only recently got the answer.
She hadn’t even had time to tell Xia Li…
◈◈◈
“You, you…”
Seeing the dragon’s shy look, Xia Li couldn’t say much.
It was mainly his fault.
He had been busy with his career lately and hadn’t paid attention to Lucia’s situation. Otherwise, he should have noticed something was wrong when her appetite increased significantly.
Taking two cartons of yogurt from the refrigerator, Xia Li boiled a few shrimp and peeled them for Lucia to eat plain.
Now was the time for Lucia to grow!
One mouth to feed two stomachs!
“Meow~”
Cotton on the floor smelled the shrimp and meowed, begging for food.
However, Xia Li, protective of his child, opened a can of cat food for Little Cotton and sent it away.
He peeled a plate of shrimp for Lucia, and she just blinked at him quietly, her smile as happy as can be.
“Eat, eat more.”
Xia Li finished peeling the shrimp and went back to the kitchen to stir-fry the meat.
As he turned around, he couldn’t help but ask, still a bit concerned.
“By the way…”
“Will it be…laying eggs?” Xia Li said.
Lucia froze, shrimp meat hanging from her mouth, and looked up at him.
“I need to be prepared.” Xia Li took a deep breath.
Dragons were oviparous.
If she laid eggs, they would have to go back to Azure Continent to give birth.
Otherwise, there would be no one to help with the delivery.
The doctor would probably faint.
“I don’t know,” Lucia shook her head. “Maybe. When we dragons lay eggs, it’s the most vulnerable time. The male dragon always guards by our side.”
Lucia buried her head in the shrimp, casually tossing a small piece to Cotton.
Xia Li stood frozen, his expression complicated.
He imagined the scene of a lizard laying eggs.
“Hee hee~”
Seeing him so serious, Lucia couldn’t help but giggle.
Xia Li’s face turned pale, realizing he had been tricked by the wicked dragon.
He was about to hit her, but then he thought that he might be hitting both mother and child, and couldn’t bring himself to do it.
“You dare trick me!”
“Hee hee~ If I’m pregnant in human form, it’s viviparous, the same process as humans~” The evil silver dragon said with a smile.
Hearing this, Xia Li was relieved.
He went back to the kitchen to cook for the mother and daughter.
Although his cooking skills weren’t great, considering that pregnant women shouldn’t eat greasy and spicy food, his pot of boiled vegetables was actually healthy and nutritious.
Xia Li took over all the housework, and now he didn’t even have the energy to go out and buy equipment. He stayed at home all day, looking after the pregnant dragon. The pet hospital was basically run online, with Qin Chuan making more trips to handle things.
Night.
Xia Li tossed and turned, unable to sleep.
This matter was like a seed sprouting in his heart. He always wanted to talk to someone about it, even if it was just to tell him what he should do. Xia Li needed someone to share their experience in this regard.
After holding it in for a while, Xia Li finally gave up on sleep.
The evil dragon beside him was sleeping soundly. Xia Li took out his phone, muted it, and turned the brightness to the lowest setting.
He sent a message to Fang Xia. The message was simple, just nine words.
Summer Dawn: Mom, I’m going to propose to Lucia.
No one knows which will come first, tomorrow or an accident.
Yesterday, Xia Li was still thinking about how to be a good husband.
Today, he was already thinking about how to be a good father.
Proposing to Lucia…
This was the most important promise to Lucia and the little dragon in her belly.
“Why are you still awake…”
Lucia rubbed her eyes and yawned. Seeing Xia Li playing with his phone in the middle of the night, she rolled over and hugged him gently, resting her chin on his shoulder, and said softly.
“It’s late…”
“I’m excited.”
Xia Li put down his phone and turned to hug Lucia’s waist.
“Why didn’t you tell me about such a big thing?” Xia Li was still a bit concerned about this.
“…Because I wasn’t sure at first,” Lucia said coquettishly. “If I had told you in advance, and it turned out I wasn’t pregnant, you would have been disappointed, so I didn’t say anything.”
The evil dragon had her own way of thinking.
Lucia didn’t want Xia Li to be disappointed, so she kept it from him until the two red lines were completely stable before telling him.
“Sigh,” Xia Li kissed her.
“Don’t do this again. You have to tell me everything.”
“Okay!” Lucia nodded obediently.
Seeing her so obedient, Xia Li became restless again. His hands reached down, then lifted Lucia’s long, flowing nightgown in the covers.
Lucia blushed, thinking Xia Li wanted to be intimate with her again. This guy was like a hungry wolf, going into heat every time he saw her…
Clutching the hem of her nightgown, Lucia said softly.
“What are you doing… The baby is watching!”
“I want to hear the sound.” Xia Li said seriously.
Lucia blushed, neither nodding nor shaking her head.
She lay flat on her back, one hand on her chest, the other clutching the hem of her nightgown.
The moonlight outside the window illuminated her face, flushed with a crimson hue. The girl shyly turned her head away, looking like she was at his mercy.
However, Xia Li had no wicked thoughts at the moment.
He really wanted to listen.
He read online that you could hear the baby’s movements and do prenatal education, and he wanted to try it.
Carefully pressing his ear against Lucia’s slightly curved belly, Xia Li propped his head up, listening from her lower abdomen to her stomach, then moving down to listen to her lower abdomen again.
“Huh?”
Xia Li’s eyes lit up.
He actually heard a very faint gurgling sound.
It was the baby’s voice!
“How could you hear anything now… It takes at least twenty weeks of pregnancy for humans to hear the sound, and I’m only three weeks…” Lucia said shyly.
Seeing that Xia Li had no common sense, she couldn’t help but laugh again.
He said he had lived in modern society for more than twenty years.
But he didn’t even know as much as she, a dragon who had been on Earth for less than a year.
When it came to parenting experience, Xia Li was even worse than her!
“Impossible, I definitely heard a sound!”
Xia Li said with certainty.
He clearly heard a rhythmic gurgling sound!
“It’s the baby calling for Daddy!” He said with absolute certainty.
“Pfft…”
Lucia laughed so hard that her body trembled. She explained to Xia Li the reason for the gurgling sound in three words.
“I’m hungry.”
Xia Li: “…”
It wasn’t the baby’s fetal movement, but the sound of the hungry dragon’s stomach rumbling.
Xia Li sat up and slapped his forehead.
“What do you want to eat? I’ll make it for you.”