Chapter 34: Chapter 34: Cousin is Generous Enough
Zhang Hao’s ears heard something that didn’t quite register, and he let out an ’Ah,’ leaning close and asking Xiao Ru:
"Sick, are you? Let me feel, see if you’re really in heat."
Xiao Ru gave a little cry and, blushing, ran off into the dispensary.
Zhang Hao jokingly said to Xiao Ru, "You know, keep some distance from your sister Lin Wan, or she’ll lead you astray."
Lin Wan slapped Zhang Hao’s shoulder, "What are you talking about? How did I lead her astray?"
"I’m telling you, this little girl’s previous suitor was cleaned out by her in no time at all."
"The next day she came to work all glowing, if you ask me, she enjoyed herself in bed more than I ever did."
Zhang Hao felt that Lin Wan was exaggerating, while Xiao Ru was stamping her feet in frustration inside the dispensary.
"Lin Wan, stop it, that was my secret to you, how could you tell it all to Doctor Zhang, how am I to face anyone in the hospital now?"
Though her words sounded like a complaint, Xiao Ru wasn’t really angry.
Zhang Hao laughed, "No worries, if needed, I will keep you company."
Leaving the hospital and heading home, Zhang Hao received a call from his mom.
"Son, have you finished work? If you’re off, go buy some lamb. Your cousin said he wants to do a barbecue tonight."
After hanging up, Zhang Hao rushed towards the market.
Uncertain about how many guests would attend the barbecue, he bought several pounds of lamb and some barbecue sauce, then hurried back.
Before his car even stopped, the phone rang again; this time it was Song Xin.
The two hadn’t contacted much in the past couple of days, and Song Xin began the call by complaining that Zhang Hao had grown cold towards her.
She pressed him about their previous conversation, asking if they should try being together.
But Zhang Hao wasn’t interested in making wedding clothes for others.
"I know about the ultrasound. Tell me the truth now, what’s really going on?"
Zhang Hao was blunt, and on the other end, Song Xin remained silent for a long while, taking her time to speak.
Her breathing revealed a touch of resignation.
Zhang Hao didn’t rush to hang up, just turned off the car’s engine.
He sat in the driver’s seat, waiting for Song Xin to decide whether to come clean about all the things she had hidden.
A few minutes later, Song Xin broke the silence, "Since you already know, I won’t hide it from you anymore, the child is Lin Zhen’s."
"I initially planned to pin it on you, but you weren’t as foolish as I had imagined; I failed to seduce you twice."
"And you found the ultrasound in my bag, but my desire to give us a try was sincere."
"I’m not looking for a father for the child in my belly. If you are willing,"
"I can get an abortion now and have a child that belongs to both of us."
Zhang Hao didn’t immediately respond; in fact, he hadn’t thought about marriage or having children before this.
He just focused on using his skills to treat and cure people, but the world was too crazy.
"Zhang Hao, you could say something. If we delay any longer,"
"The abortion will do too much harm to my body, and it might even result in me being infertile for life."
However, Zhang Hao asked a very provocative question.
"Is this your first child with Lin Zhen, or have there been similar situations before?"
Song Xin took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
"I promise you, this is the first child. I took precautions, took the medication in advance, but still, it happened."
"If you’re not willing to accept me, could you lend me a few thousand bucks? I don’t have that much on me right now, and I can’t afford the surgery."
Hearing his goddess ask him for money, Zhang Hao’s heart softened, despite the fact their past relationship involved some scheming and trapping.
But he could understand Song Xin’s approach; perhaps if it had been another person, they would have succeeded.
"I don’t have that much on hand either, let me think of a solution."
"Then hurry up, there’s no more time to delay," Song Xin urged.
Zhang Hao readily agreed and hung up the phone, only to see his cousin already standing outside the car door, looking at him with a grin.
Zhang Hao immediately opened the car door, got out, and went to the trunk to get the lamb meat he had bought, along with a bunch of other stuff.
As Liu Gang took the items from him, he looked at Zhang Hao with a smile and asked, "Who were you just on the phone with, kiddo?"
"Did you run into some trouble? You even mentioned money. Tell your cousin, maybe I can help you out."
Zhang Hao knew he had just started working and that it would be a while before he could get his salary.
But the situation with his goddess couldn’t wait.
However, asking his cousin for a loan was somewhat difficult to bring up.
"It’s nothing, let’s go inside."
Liu Gang felt that Zhang Hao was definitely hiding something, but he didn’t press for an answer right away.
While He Qianhui was bustling about in the kitchen preparing food, Zhang Hao and Liu Gang chatted in the living room.
"We’ll have to move all this stuff outside later. If we do it inside, we might get carbon monoxide poisoning."
Liu Gang was arranging the eco-friendly charcoal in the grill when he suddenly stood up.
Taking Zhang Hao with him, he went to the bedroom.
Liu Gang’s monthly salary was around five thousand yuan.
Furthermore, he was paid in cash, and he had just received his salary yesterday and hadn’t had time to deposit it into his account yet.
He closed the bedroom door and asked his cousin what exactly the matter was.
Being persistently questioned by his cousin, Zhang Hao finally spilled the beans.
"Borrowing money for an abortion? That child couldn’t possibly be yours, right?" Liu Gang asked.
Zhang Hao shook his head like a wave drum: "How could it be mine? If it were, I wouldn’t bear to let her go through with it, that would be my child too."
Liu Gang let out a sound of understanding, opened his bedside drawer, and took out a stack of cash.
Zhang Hao’s eyes lit up upon seeing the money. Just as he reached out to take it, Liu Gang drew the cash back in.
"I’m lending you this money. You’ll have to pay it back with your next month’s salary, but there’s one more thing."
"What is it?" Zhang Hao knew his cousin’s few thousand yuan wouldn’t come easy.
Liu Gang sneered and said, "What the hell else could it be, except wanting your sister-in-law to get pregnant as soon as possible."
"I heard everything you two talked about in the room that day."
"You need to think more about me, I’ve been married to your sister-in-law for so many years and we don’t even have a shadow of a child."
"You have no idea what people outside are saying about me. You should also consider your sister-in-law, if she gets talked about behind her back, wouldn’t you feel upset?"
"I know what’s on your mind; my sister-in-law is so hot, it feels great to be with her. Aren’t you just worried that if she gets pregnant, you won’t be able to play around with her anymore?"
"We’re brothers. I don’t want to deprive your sister-in-law of the joy of being a woman later in life."
"As long as you can get your sister-in-law pregnant right away, when the child is born, you can still be with your sister-in-law. Your cousin is generous, isn’t he!"
Zhang Hao didn’t know what to say. Sure, his cousin was good, but what he proposed was against ethics.
In Zhang Hao’s mind, as soon as his sister-in-law got pregnant, their illicit affair would come to an end.
