Chapter 54: The Long-Awaited Egg Has Arrived

Chapter 54: Chapter 54: The Long-Awaited Egg Has Arrived

Since it was inconvenient for Feng Si to go out, she quickly used her communicator to ask Mao Qiu to buy her a cartload of black spheres after she finished selling her wares. ’How else am I supposed to get through this cold season, with its temperatures of forty degrees below zero?’

A short while later, Mao Qiu arrived with the day’s share of coins and knocked on Feng Si’s door. Her entire ten-person family was with her, each carrying a full basket of black spheres.

The entire Mao Family was extremely grateful to Feng Si. While five hundred coins’ worth of black spheres was enough to last someone a year, she had helped them become a wealthy family that earned over ten thousand coins a day.

The Mao Family helped carry the black spheres into the storage room. Mao Qiu then gave Feng Si the coins they had earned that day. Seeing her curled up on the sofa, yawning, she asked with concern, "You haven’t left the house at all lately. How is it you seem to have gotten a little thinner just by staying home?"

"It’s nothing, really." Feng Si casually placed the coins beside her and changed the subject. "The daily food for the City Lord Mansion and Mao Yang—have they been sending people to pick it up?"

As expected, this diverted Mao Qiu’s attention. Her eyes went wide. "Your food is just too delicious! They come to get it every day, and they even buy a few extra servings..."

Mao Qiu continued, "I never dreamed that one day I’d be talking to the Steward and the ladies of the City Lord Mansion..."

As she listened to her friend’s excited voice, Feng Si’s head began to nod on the sofa. Overcome with drowsiness, she wasn’t really paying attention to Mao Qiu’s effusive praise, but she played along, chiming in agreeably now and then.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed before the sound of everyone saying their goodbyes startled her awake. Feng Si jerked her head up, smiled as she saw her guests off, and after closing the door, went to take a look in the storage room.

The black spheres, enough to fill half the room, were stacked neatly on the right side. It was more than enough for one cold season; there was enough for two.

「Late that night.」

Feng Si was jolted awake by a sudden abdominal pain. Clutching her stomach, she arched her back under the covers. A heavy, dragging pain in her lower abdomen grew increasingly urgent, as if something were trying to tear its way out from within.

Her face was pale and her eyelids red from the pain. She curled into a ball under the covers, cold sweat breaking out as tears welled in her eyes. A whimper escaped her throat, like the sound of a small animal in its death throes.

AHH—

’What’s happening?’

In this life and her last, Feng Si had never experienced such abdominal pain. She reached for the communicator bracelet on her bedside table to call for help, but then froze, as if she had realized something. Her pale fingers curled into a tight fist, and she bit down hard on the corner of her blanket.

’Is the egg coming?’

She tried to lift her head just a little, but the pain shot through her body like an electric current, forcing her to shudder and lie back down.

She buried her face in the pillow, gritted her teeth, and took a deep breath. With no experience whatsoever, she could only follow her instincts and push.

A wave of contracting pain seized her, and just as she felt her strength give out completely, it all suddenly vanished. Finally, she passed out from exhaustion.

...

The rain outside suddenly intensified. The PITTER-PATTER of raindrops on metal became a dull, dense drone. To someone in a daze, however, this normally soothing sound was infinitely amplified.

Feng Si’s consciousness was hazy, and she had no strength to move. She was lying face down, curled in a fetal position amidst a heap of crumpled blankets.

’This is awful. I’m so tired.’

A chill on her toes, which were sticking out from the blankets, caused Feng Si to snap her eyes open. She reflexively rolled over and reached behind her waist, under the covers. "My egg!"

Her heart leaped into her throat when her trembling fingertips touched something round and smooth. Her nervousness spiked. Shaking, she explored its surface before carefully and slowly turning over, switching to both hands to firmly grasp the oval shape...

An egg!!

POP— Feng Si could have sworn she heard fireworks exploding in her mind. A supremely gentle smile graced her pale face. Not daring to take the egg out from under the blankets, she buried her head and tucked the edges in even more securely.

Only then did she take a deep breath and pull the Incubator from her storage space, materializing it directly under the blankets. She wriggled her whole body under the covers, lifted a corner to peek, and in the dim light, opened the top of the Incubator and carefully placed the egg inside.

The Incubator had activated automatically the moment its lid was opened. It scanned the egg, immediately adjusted the internal environment and temperature, and only after it emitted a soft BEEP did Feng Si finally sit up.

Leaning back against her pillows, she hugged the Incubator to her chest. She steadied it with one hand while gently lifting the blanket with the other to look inside.

In the center lay an egg the size of a goose’s, its jet-black shell streaked with irregular, thread-like gold patterns. It rested on a thick layer of white feathers—the warmest goose down she had later spent a fortune to find and buy at the market.

’I laid this egg!’

’Soon, an incredibly cute little one will hatch out of it. My very own, most precious, treasured baby!’

Gazing at the egg, Feng Si felt as if her heart were soaking in warm water. The warmth spread through her, chasing the chill from her exhausted body.

Her smile never faltered as she gently rested a finger on the transparent casing, right over the tip of the egg. "My little baby," she murmured, her voice soft, "I’m your mama. I’m so happy to meet you today. You have to hatch safe and sound, okay?~"

She sat like that for a long time, just holding the Incubator and watching, utterly filled with bliss. If not for the waves of dizziness from her exhaustion, Feng Si felt she could have stared at it forever.

"Still," she murmured, "to be with my little egg-baby for the long haul, I have to get my strength back first." Reluctantly, Feng Si placed the Incubator in the middle of the bed, glancing back every other second, constantly worried it might get bumped or jostled.

She sat on the edge of the bed. The bedside cabinet held the supplies and food she had prepared earlier. The food was a simple sweet congee; she had cooked the local yellow millet into a porridge before sleeping and now just needed to add honey. It was convenient and perfect for replenishing her energy.

As Feng Si ate the sweet congee, her eyes never once left the Incubator in the middle of the bed. She was twisted in an awkward position to eat, and the sight made her chuckle softly.

’I finally get why some new moms are so anxious and tense, acting like the whole world is out to get their little treasure.’

’Such a sweet thing to worry about...’

After finishing her congee, Feng Si quickly cleaned herself up and climbed back onto the bed. Kneeling by the headboard, she used both hands to lower a small hammock-like sling tied there, then placed the Incubator inside it.

This kept it close and safe from being knocked over in her sleep. Exhausted, Feng Si rested her head against the side of the Incubator and finally fell into a deep sleep.

...

When she woke the next day, a huge smile was already plastered on Feng Si’s face. She happily hugged the Incubator and looked down at—an egg. An egg that couldn’t move, couldn’t respond, and was utterly still.

And yet, she was utterly captivated. She immediately used her communicator to tell Mao Qiu that the stall would be closed for seven days.

On the other end, Mao Qiu was rather surprised.