Shocking! The Protagonist of the Mpreg Story Is a Straight Man - Chapter 36

“Of course I’m keeping it.”

After learning that he was truly pregnant, Pei Nan didn’t actually feel as repelled as he had imagined. Having experienced the initial panic and the restructuring of his worldview, he seemed to accept the fact that he could get pregnant quite easily.

He had been raised by his mother alone, so he didn’t find the idea of a man being pregnant shameful. On the contrary, through constant reflection, he was able to empathize more with his mother’s feelings. At the same time, he felt that the content of the original book world might have subtly changed many of his perspectives, which is why his current mood could be described as very calm.

He hoped Xue Xingqi could discuss it with him just as calmly.

Xue Xingqi had to rely on deep breaths to adjust his state of mind. Listening to Pei Nan’s matter-of-fact words, the abyss in his heart continued to expand. Things were so bad that he could barely suppress the beast in his soul. How did it come to this?

He didn’t understand how, when he left home this morning, there were morning kisses and a clingy lover, yet before they even had time for their date in the evening, he was hit with such “disastrous” news. He gripped Pei Nan’s hand tightly, his mouth opening and closing, unable to speak for a long time.

Pei Nan thought Xue Xingqi found it unacceptable, and his heart grew cold inch by inch. Slowly, he tried to withdraw his hand from Xue Xingqi’s palm, but then he was pulled into the other man’s embrace. With his chin resting on Pei Nan’s shoulder, Xue Xingqi’s voice was low in his ear, whispering almost imploringly, “Can we not break up? We can bring the child back to raise; I will love them as my own biological child.”

“What on earth are you talking about?” Pei Nan’s brain stalled. He used a great deal of effort to push the man away. Facing each other, Pei Nan used the faint light from outside to see Xue Xingqi’s bloodshot eyes; his long eyelashes were drooping in clusters, looking as pitiful as a puppy drenched in the rain.

Xue Xingqi didn’t speak, his eyes filled with a misty sadness as he looked at Pei Nan.

Pei Nan immediately felt an overwhelming heartache. He cupped Xue Xingqi’s face with both hands. “What do you mean ‘break up’ or ‘bring them back to raise’? The child is in my stomach. How exactly do you plan on ‘bringing them back’?”

Xue Xingqi’s furrowed brow gradually relaxed. “In your stomach?”

“Feel it.” Pei Nan pulled his hand down and placed it on his slightly curved lower abdomen.

“Wasn’t it just weight gain?” Xue Xingqi had long noticed the changes in Pei Nan’s abdomen and waistline, but after the other’s repeated insistence, he had accepted the explanation of gaining weight. After all, in his life experience, he had truly never encountered a situation where a man could get pregnant. He was simply worried that if Pei Nan kept getting “fat” like this, he would have to take him for a check-up to see if he was ill.

Just now, before Pei Nan spoke, he thought Pei Nan had some terminal illness. Now it seemed like he was the one suffering from delusions.

“I probably did gain a little weight, but there’s definitely a child here too. Now, are you still sure you want to raise it?” Pei Nan had an expression that suggested: Even though I’m pregnant, it’s very normal and not worth making a fuss over.

“Of course. This is my child, right?”

“Who else’s would it be?” Pei Nan gave him a white-eyed look. “Did you think it was mine and some other woman’s? Please, I don’t have messy relationships.”

If it weren’t for the fact that Xue Xingqi looked so miserable he was about to cry, Pei Nan wouldn’t have let him off so easily. What, did he think Pei Nan was so immoral that he’d cheat on his boyfriend just to find someone to carry on his family line?

“I didn’t mean that. I… I just didn’t expect this to be a possibility.” Xue Xingqi’s mushy brain finally cleared up a bit, and his speech became smoother. “Before you were with me, you were so popular. School beauties, department beauties, and class beauties were always surrounding you. Every time you had a competition, they stood in the front row. Sometimes I even felt your gaze on them was deeper than the way you looked at me.”

“Don’t you start twisting things here. There’s only one of you and so many of them; of course they were a bigger target to spot. Which time did I not stop looking at them the moment I saw you? If you want to count it that way, when I was competing, you stood with them for a long time too. The campus forums have plenty of high-engagement threads with photos of ‘handsome men and beautiful women’.”

Both of them were influential figures on campus. If they started bringing up old debts, they each had their own ledgers that could be discussed for three days and five nights.

“But I liked men to begin with,” Xue Xingqi said righteously.

“I also only like you,” Pei Nan replied with equal righteousness.

He loved Xue Xingqi. He had made all his plans before the other came home. Even if Xue Xingqi couldn’t accept this child, he would have given birth and raised them himself. But now he couldn’t help but reflect on what he had done to make a “chosen son of heaven” like Xue Xingqi willing to be a “cuckold” and raise a child he thought belonged to another woman. How did he turn Xue Xingqi into this?

“I also only like you,” Xue Xingqi said, refusing to be outdone. “The fact that there is a story between us is entirely due to my persistence.”

Pei Nan sighed in his heart. What do you mean ‘entirely due to your persistence’? It was entirely due to the system’s electric shocks. Damn it, remembering that made him want to hit someone specifically, his hands were itching to hit Xue Xingqi. But seeing the other’s face indignant to the point of being childish, yet still carrying a trace of lingering fear and grievance he didn’t want to do anything anymore.

It was rare for Xue Xingqi to show this side of himself. Pei Nan’s heart softened. He knew very well that Xue Xingqi might not be as pitiful as he acted, but he was willing to coax him at this moment.

Pei Nan leaned in and kissed Xue Xingqi. “Then just be more confident. Stop thinking about all that nonsense all day long. Even the screenwriters of melodramas aren’t as imaginative as you. People would think you’re trying to star in an 8:00 PM soap opera with me. What’s next? Am I going to ‘run away with your ball’ while you chase me and I find it impossible to escape?”

Xue Xingqi was calmed by Pei Nan’s kiss. “Of course I have enough confidence. But this is a child. Raising a child isn’t like raising a pet. This is my first time being a father; bear with me.”

“True, a total ‘silly dad’.”

Xue Xingqi grinned, looking quite foolish indeed, bearing no resemblance to his elite image in the outside world.

He bent down and leaned against Pei Nan’s lap, pressing his ear to Pei Nan’s stomach as if listening for something.

“It’s still just a bean sprout. What could you possibly hear?”

“I’ll just try. Just in case.”

Xue Xingqi remained in that position, and Pei Nan didn’t bother him. After a while, he heard Xue Xingqi speak again. “Are you tired? What about training later? It will interfere with your competitions, won’t it?”

“It can’t be helped. You win some, you lose some. I’ve already tasted what it’s like to be a champion; now it’s time to experience what it’s like to raise a child.”

To say he had no regrets would be a lie. He had only just tasted the fruit of victory, and his heart was full of grand ambitions. He often told Xue Xingqi that his training volume had decreased, but the training load was always there. He had been following the coach’s arrangements every step of the way, making steady preparations for next year’s competitions.

Xue Xingqi sat up and hugged Pei Nan tightly. “You can do anything you want to do. I don’t want this child to bind you, nor do I want anything else to bind you. I liked you first before I liked this child. I will always want you to be safe and happy.”

“Don’t say anything yet. I know you value family and feel that having a child makes a family more complete that having a child makes your own life more well-rounded. But that’s just one way to live. When I realized I liked men, I accepted the fact that I would no longer have my own children, and I didn’t feel that life would be lacking because of it.”

Pei Nan smiled. “I understand your concerns, but since I’ve decided to keep it, I’ve made all the preparations.”

“In that case, I have also made all the preparations.” Xue Xingqi lowered his head and kissed Pei Nan’s brow. “I will take good care of both of you.”

This Christmas Eve was both stimulating and peaceful. The stimulation was mainly mental; the peaceful part was the two of them lying in bed. “Fairy fights” (sex) were definitely out of the question now. Before they knew, Xue Xingqi could shamelessly drag Pei Nan into bed; now, he only carefully held Pei Nan’s waist, asking if he was tired one moment and if he wanted to change positions the next, annoying Pei Nan so much he didn’t want to talk.

“When should we tell the families? Let’s get engaged. Let’s get engaged quickly. We can get married once the baby is born. We can start choosing suit styles now and have them designed in advance. For the venue and such, I’ll let the mothers choose.”

Pei Nan sighed, rolled over, and turned his back to Xue Xingqi. “Just go to sleep. I’m tired. I can’t listen to your chanting anymore.”

Xue Xingqi looked at Pei Nan’s short hair and his fair neck, unable to resist taking two playful nips. “Sleep then.”

Pei Nan thought Xue Xingqi would at most be “crazy” for one night and would return to normal the next morning back to being his handsome, aloof “high-mountain flower” boyfriend. Surprisingly, after waking up, Xue Xingqi was even crazier. Fearing that the Christmas crowds outside might hurt him, he suggested staying home to watch prenatal education videos.

“I found out about the prenatal classes my cousin took when she was married. I’ve signed myself up. I’ll go on time and then come back to teach you.”

Pei Nan’s head was full of question marks. He reached out to feel Xue Xingqi’s forehead. “You don’t have a fever. What nonsense are you talking about in broad daylight?”

Xue Xingqi smiled. “It’s scientific parenting.”

“Whatever you say.” Pei Nan raised an eyebrow and let it go.

At lunchtime, Xue Xingqi was busy from 9:00 AM to 12:00 PM and wouldn’t let Pei Nan lift a finger. The final result of three dishes and a soup made Pei Nan want to suggest they just hire a live-in nanny.

“Give me a little more time; I’ll get better at it.”

Pei Nan conceded on that point. There was nothing Xue Xingqi couldn’t do, only things he didn’t want to do.

In the evening, Pei Nan thought Xue Xingqi would be cooking again and was about to suggest making something simple. Unexpectedly, Xue Xingqi brought over some clothes and dressed him from the inside out, wrapping him up tightly before carrying him toward the door.

Sitting in the car, Xue Xingqi fastened Pei Nan’s seatbelt. Seeing Pei Nan’s dazed look, he couldn’t help but tilt the man’s chin up and give him a firm, lingering kiss.

“This is our first Christmas together. How can we not have a candlelight dinner? Whatever others have, my Nannan will have too.”

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