Before It ShrivelsChapter 25

Qi Shu and Wen Yan soon went back. I couldn’t guess what they talked about, and I didn’t even bother to. 

There were only a few people in this world who’d dare to scold Qi Shu in his face, Wen Yan’s one of them. They’ve been friends since young, and Qi Shu had incomparable tolerance for him. 8ZIw0e

I personally witnessed Qi Shu wait for the other outside the coffee shop to take Wen Yan home. There’s a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere between them, no room for a third party at all. 

Even at present, these two obviously had an awkward relationship and were displeased with one another, making me feel that my presence is unnecessary.

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I’ve been thinking about it when Qi Shu suddenly picked me up without warning.

Caught off guard as my body soared, I let out a soft cry, and reflexively hugged his neck, my body hung on him like a koala. tAdSrY

“What are youー”

There were so many staff members in the shop. He doesn’t feel ashamed, but I am! 

“Going home,” he said coldly.    

Wen Yan opened his mouth but hesitated, looked at us and finally sighed, “I’ll go back first. Xiao Xiao, take care of yourself.”

Hytox8

I felt uncomfortable being held by Qi Shu like this. I had to bid him farewell to him in a haste. “Bye, senior.”

    

When we got back, Qi Shu smoked in the living room. The smell of smoke made me feel sick, so I wanted to go upstairs to rest.

I was stopped by Aunt Zhang when I passed the kitchen. She said that during my absence, she received several express deliveries and placed them in the storage room on the third floor for me. viHQbP

 Express deliveries… I remember, I’d once bought baby clothes and toys.

“…Throw it away for me.” The pit of my stomach felt stuffy and I waved my hand wearily.

She was uncertain. “Throw it away?”

“En, throw them all away.” Og2c5r

At the time I bought it, I didn’t know the child’s gender. I bought two blue and pink clothes. In the end, I never found out whether I was pregnant with a baby boy or a baby girl.

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I must’ve done something wrong in my previous life. Now I have to be reminded again and again that I lost my child.

    

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There were several large and small parcels scattered on the ground. I only glanced at it, and there was a sudden bang in my head.     

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ーーDidn’t I ask for it to be thrown away?     

I felt a splitting headache as I struggled to sit up.   Do2rkG

Qi Shu raised his eyes when he heard the sound, his gaze dark.    

“What are these…” His voice sounded rough and husky. “Are you pregnant?”

Although it’d been posed as a question, it had no room for doubt.     

If I am pregnant, I wouldn’t throw them away.     c5o7N

If I am pregnant, it would be somewhat visible if we were to calculate it.   

If I am pregnant, I wouldn’t have surgery to have my gland removed.     

Qi Shu understood. 

“No….” I exerted myself to smile at him, then knelt on the ground and picked up the scattered clothes and toys and placed them into the box one by one.     tneXv4

“I used to envy other people for having children and buying them toys to playー”    

“XIAO YU!!” He bent down and grabbed my wrist, which forced me to stop.   

I looked up, and was greeted by his bloodshot eyes. Because he strongly asserted, blue veins burst up on his neck.

“Don’t lie to me…” He said hoarsely.     fVj3SR

Lie? When did I lie to him?     

I gave all my heart and spilt my guts to him, and he abandoned it like a shoe.

I spoke of my love and affection, treated him, my benefactor, as a lover, and curried favor with.    

Now that I finally wanted to lie to him once, couldn’t he just cooperate and believe me?     QrlVE9

We stared at each other for a long time. He took a deep breath, released me and stood up. “If you’re unwilling to say it, I’ll go check it myself.”

“Stop, don’t bother.”    

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Isn’t it just pregnancy? It’s gone anyway. There’s nothing I can’t say.

I closed my eyes. “Yes, I was.” r34PKZ

“What?!” His eyes widened and stared at me in disbelief, then his body staggered. He managed to grab the armrest of the sofa when he almost fell.    

“Was… What do you mean by ‘was’?”    

My heart ached heavily, as if a thousand needles were poking it.     

Despair flooded in, wave after wave, trying to break the dike in my body.  S 309r

I desperately want to beg him to stop asking.

But I still answered him as if abusing myself. “Was. It’s gone now.”    

With a thump, Qi Shu fell on the ground.    

A flash of lightning split the darkness, immediately after, countless raindrops pattered on the glass.   3zBmPb

Thunder roared outside the window. In the room, only the sound of our breaths intertwining could be heard.

I slipped my hand in my pocket and clung to the first aid medicine.

When he looked up again, his eyes were red and filled with grief. “How could it be gone…”

Look, he really forgot what he had done to me, and asked me why it was no more.     ZniejC

How ridiculous ah…    

“Aborted it.”    

I lied to him again.    

This time, he believed it.     AjwcB1

“Do you…. hate me that much?” A tear rolled out of his eye, hit the carpet, and vanished from sight.

“You’d rather kill it than give birth to my child…”    

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It was the first time I saw Qi Shu’s tears.     

I suffered more than he did. w6ZaDQ

I loved him so happily yet in the end, all he left me was pain.

“Remember what you told me?” I raised my hand tremblingly and touched the corner of his eye. “You said you wouldn’t get married or have kids.”

He opened his mouth, but made no sound.

“You didn’t want it, and I didn’t want it, so I just…aborted it.” bgBM2

My voice was quiet, all my strength had been sapped out.

Tears rustled down his face. “I thought, I thought…”

Until the end, he did not say what he’d thought.

Or maybe he did, but perhaps I couldn’t hear it anymore. yxQDWu


The author has something to say:    

Today’s playlist: 《I Love Him

[If I still have any regrets, what about it?]

s LyQv

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36 comments

  1. 🤖 sigh it would have hurt QS a thousand times more had XY been honest about the cause. It would’ve been life changing…for everybody.

  2. Shit …why do I feel as if like there is some misunderstandings between them…🥴

    I hope I’m wrong …

    Thanks for the chapter!!

  3. Suffer. Suffer a lot more than you do now.

    I’m just waiting for the moment he gets to know that he was the one to “abort” his own child and to smash the necklace with its remnants inside. Qi Shu can go to hell.

  4. Shameless b@stard! He doesn’t even know what he did … Hope he will be a complete train wreck when the Truth Bus slams into him head on!!

    • I’m sorry this made me laugh 🙈. I thought this was a stress-inducing story but it’s actually a stress-reliever for others www 🎏⭐ Thanks for reading!

  5. Y’all are underestimating just how selfish Qi She actually is, I think that he would rather have known Xiao Yu wanted to give birth and know that he actually saved Xiao Yu’s life(because lets be honest he was not going to survive giving birth) than think that Xiao Yu hated him that much.

  6. Well, meh maybe if Qi Shit knows about it he might have some ideas and feel like he needs to be responsible. Personally I prefer this exchange, being colder, hiding information about himself. Like the lost of the fetus is hard enough, imagine being interrogated about it by the abuser.

    Thanks for the chapter <3

  7. I really tried to feel things, maybe this is not just my cup of tea, or that I am a heartless one. The thing is, the most glaring premise that keeps me detached is that Qi Shu bought(?) Xiao Yu as a bed companion, and yet Xiao Yu hopes that one day Qi Shu would love him? I mean, it’s supposed to be a contract with no strings attached. I can’t seem to empathize with this and the story is very predictable.

    In contrast, I feel for the abuse Xiao Yu went through, even though he is bought as a bed companion, no person has the right to inflict physical/mental pain to another.

    Furthermore, I guess I also hate how miscommunication is used as a plot device here many times, that kind of turned out meh.

    Also, miscarriage is a very common plot driving device, however, this story exposed only a little on what Xiao Yu feels about the fetus, which failed to create whatever atmosphere the miscarriage plot should give.

    Lastly, keep in mind that this is just a short story, which means that there is a limited space to expound writing in creating atmospheres. But I think this could be a decent read, for those who seek angst and pain, I crave angst, sadly this is not for me.

  8. How dare this stupid fucker shed a tear?! What right do you have? Take those tears back! You’re disgusting.

  9. Tell him that he is the reason why they lost their baby. it was his abuse and torture that resulted into an abortion

  10. Dammit!!!!! You should have told him he killed the baby!!! He deserve to suffer!!! Ugh my blood pressure…