I Became the Mother of His Child

Despite having two elderly people join the household to lighten the mood and dissipate some gloom, the relentless torrential rain outside still continued. From its ferocity and the updates on the television, it seemed like the rain was determined to push people to their limits.

After five or six days, the situation in Z City of F Province became even more severe; Xu Xiuxiu and others were afraid to step outside easily. Occasionally, when they opened the windows, they could even smell the foul stench of the floodwaters spreading. If it weren't for the absence of zombies, Xu Xiuxiu might have thought it was the onset of the apocalypse, especially since stepping outside would require swimming, which Xu Xiuxiu could hardly adapt to.

The sixth day passed swiftly, and night fell once again. The rain continued heavily, its enormous volume quite astonishing. After dinner, everyone went to bed early, as there was not much to do at home; being idle and bored, they slept more, which helped pass the time somewhat.

However, unlike the rest of her family, Xu Xiuxiu's nights were far from peaceful. With the boy and girl twins still young, they would wake up hungry. Naturally, she had to tend to the children at night.

As soon as the boy and girl twins started protesting in their baby-talk, Xu Xiuxiu opened her eyes. As she sleepily got up to feed the two children, and just when she had managed to soothe them back into a drowsy sleep, the dim light in the room flickered unexpectedly a few times before plunging into darkness, leaving only the steady breathing of the three children and the ceaseless torrential rain outside.

It was probably due to the recent continuous heavy rain causing a short circuit or a break in the electric line. Xu Xiuxiu calmed herself, overcoming her initial panic, and immediately fetched a professional mountaineering flashlight from her storage space. These items were mostly abandoned and forgotten in her space, and if it weren't for the recent relentless rains, Xu Xiuxiu might not have even remembered the things she had stored. Ordinarily, she hardly needed any items from her space.

Holding the flashlight, Xu Xiuxiu tucked the twins in before picking up their empty milk bottles and stepping out of the bedroom. Initially, she wanted to wash them clean, since Xu Xiuxiu had a slight obsession with cleanliness and a touch of OCD. Under normal circumstances, she would clean the milk bottles after feeding the children and wipe her chest if she breastfed. However, due to the unexpected blackout, Xu Xiuxiu, despite her OCD, shelved the idea of washing.

Rubbing her forehead, Xu Xiuxiu yawned delicately as she turned around with the flashlight, preparing to go upstairs.

"Why is the staircase all wet?" Xu Xiuxiu shone the flashlight on the stairs. Previously, when she came downstairs, she was too sleepy to notice, but now, as she ascended, a glance revealed dripping water droplets on the stairs, causing an uneasy tightening in her heart.

The first thought that flashed through her mind was ghosts—water ghosts and other fantastical speculations, considering the recent severe flooding and numerous casualties. As someone who had undergone a spiritual transmigration, she genuinely believed in the existence of souls in this world.

But after calming down a bit from her initial nervousness, Xu Xiuxiu realized she had just scared herself. However, waking up in the middle of the night to a power outage and finding dripping water on the stairs inside the house made Xu Xiuxiu feel very uneasy. Could it be that some burglars took advantage of the stormy weather to break in? This thought led Xu Xiuxiu's mind immediately to the three children in the bedroom, prompting her to hurry anxiously towards the bedroom with hurried steps.

The spacious bedroom was unmistakably illuminated by the light of a flashlight in the darkness, and Xu Xiuxiu immediately spotted a tall figure wearing a raincoat standing not far from the bed, with a puddle of water forming right beneath his feet.

"Damn it!" Xu Xiuxiu gasped and then yelled furiously, "Song Yuanhuan, is that you?" Xu Xiuxiu instinctively asked, her question tinged with a hint of testing, but from the panic in her voice, it was clear she was really nervous at that moment.

"It's me." Song Yuanhuan looked up following the flashlight's beam. His gaze was intense and worried as he watched Xu Xiuxiu, who was wearing a thin nightgown, her figure slender and lovely.

Only when Xu Xiuxiu clearly heard his voice did she unconsciously breathe a sigh of relief, then collapsed to the floor, overwhelmed, "Damn it, Song Yuanhuan, can't you stop appearing out of nowhere in the middle of the night? You're almost driving me insane." Xu Xiuxiu glared at him and cursed under her breath, tears welling up in her eyes.

She had been too anxious earlier, her mind a chaotic mess. Now relaxing a bit, she felt her strength drain away, her legs unable to support her, causing her to fall to the floor.

"I'm sorry." Song Yuanhuan saw the pallor of Xu Xiuxiu's face in the light of the flashlight she was holding, realizing he might have frightened her, and immediately went forward to help her up, his voice low and soothing.

To be honest, he hadn't realized his return would scare her, as he had not been home for several days. Despite being busy with risky duties, he was always concerned about the safety of his family, so when he got home, he first went to check on their baby girl in the nursery. Finding it empty, he guessed that Xu Xiuxiu, feeling unsafe, had brought all three children into the master bedroom.

Just then, as Xu Xiuxiu came downstairs after feeding the children, their home, though not particularly large, had allowed them to miss each other merely by chance.

"The flooding is severe; I rarely get any rest, and I didn't know if you all were okay, so I came back to check on you, but I didn't expect to scare you with the power outage," Song Yuanhuan explained, his entire demeanor one of extreme fatigue. The unshaven look and dark circles under his eyes indicated he had not slept properly for several days and nights.

"I became a bit uneasy when the power went out," Xu Xiuxiu said softly, her gaze locked on Song Yuanhuan, unable to hide her concern, "You haven't had proper rest these days, have you!" Knowing him, if he said he rarely rested, it probably meant he really hadn't rested much at all over the past few days. She wondered how he managed, but what could she do? As a soldier, it was both his duty and obligation.

"Mm-hmm," Song Yuanhuan nodded, "Tonight I have three hours to rest, and soon I must rush back." His rare ample rest time was still limited, but worried about his family, he had hurried home. The journey had been prolonged by extensive waterlogging on the roads, so he couldn't stay home much longer.