After a long period of anxious sighs, the doors to the delivery room finally opened, and the group of four swiftly stood up.

The doctor looked exhausted. He pulled down his surgical mask and looked at the group of people.

During this brief two seconds of silence, Lu Beichuan's heart had already jumped up in alarm. Countless possibilities flashed through his mind, and the terror caused him to instinctively hold his breath.

"The baby hasn't come out yet. It looks like Mrs. Lu doesn't have the strength to keep going. If it comes to it, we'll choose to do a C-section. Mr. Lu, we'll need you to..."

Without waiting for the doctor to finish speaking, Lu Beichuan said with a calm face, "I'm going in."

The chief physician paused for a moment before nodding and leading Lu Beichuan into the delivery room.

It was only after walking through a long hallway that they reached the actual delivery room.

When the doors were pushed open, a wretched cry pierced Lu Beichuan's eardrums. The cry felt more like a knife that was slicing his heart a thousand times.

A sweaty Ye Zhen was lying on the operating table. In coordination with the nurse's directions, Ye Zhen was doing expulsion breathing. She was gripping the operating table, and the veins on the back of her hands were bulging.

Seeing this sight, Lu Beichuan felt as if someone was squeezing his heart. He strode over to the operating table and stared nervously at Ye Zhen. "Ye Zhen, look at me! I'm here!"

Ye Zhen heard his voice and turned her head to look at him with a pained expression while she gasped for breath. She seemed a bit incredulous. "You... Why... Why did you come inside?"

For a moment, Lu Beichuan only silently held her hand. Then, he answered, "I should have been here for the start."

He should have followed Ye Zhen into the delivery room from the start. He shouldn't have waited outside and left Ye Zhen all alone in the delivery room until now.

"Ah... It.... It hurts so much. Lu Beichuan, you bastard! I don't want to give birth anymore!" Ye Zhen clutched Lu Beichuan's hand like it was a lifeline.

"Mrs. Lu, we can see the baby's head now! Push hard!"

Ye Zhen desperately clutched Lu Beichuan's hand. Shaking her head and crying, she said, "It hurts too much. I don't want to give birth anymore! I don't want to!"

Lu Beichuan looked calm, but he was actually clenching his back teeth to remain quiet. However, the bulging veins on his hands and the tights lines on his face revealed his inner fear.

As he listened to the nurse's voice and Ye Zhen's weak screams, it felt as if his heart had stopped beating.

If he had known how life-threatening giving birth was, he wouldn't have let Ye Zhen come close to death's door.

This was too much suffering, truly too much.

Lu Beichuan let Ye Zhen claw the back of his hand even when blood came out from the scratch marks. He kept trying to comfort her. "Don't be scared. I'm here. I'm here. I'll always be with you..."

How much does a woman have to love you in order to be willing to have your child?

Lu Beichuan knew that Ye Zhen didn't love him. But that's okay. It's okay that she doesn't love him. He would love Ye Zhen even more in the future. He wouldn’t let her suffer the slightest bit again.

It seemed that Lu Beichuan's presence and encouragement gave Ye Zhen strength and courage. She clenched her teeth, raised her head, and used all of her strength to push.

"Ahhh!"

"The head came out!" The nurse cheered.

Once the baby's head came out, the rest would be easier.

Ye Zhen softly lied on the operating table. Breathing heavily, she continued to follow the chief physician's instructions. The chief physician used the surgical tools to orderly deliver the baby. When the umbilical cord was cut, the baby's loud cries resounded in the delivery room.

Waiting outside the delivery room, Mrs. Lu and Old Master Lu seemed to hear the baby's cries. The two of them looked at each other, then they turned to look at the delivery room's doors in tacit understanding.

The red light outside the delivery room finally went out.

The chief physician came out again and smiled tiredly at the people outside. “Congratulations Old Master Lu and Mrs. Lu, the mother and baby are safe and sound.”

Their hanging hearts finally smoothly landed.

The old butler, who was lending an arm to support Old Master Lu, smiled with tears in his eyes. "Old Master Lu, you can finally stop worrying, right? The mother and baby are safe and sound!"

"Safe and sound! Good, very good!" Old Master Lu was overwhelmed with joy. There were tears in the corners of his eyes. He totteringly stood up as he kept muttering, "Good, that's very good..."

Mrs. Lu's hands were clasped together in prayer. Tears appeared in her eyes as she thanked the heavens.

A nurse came out with the baby. Smiling at Mrs. Lu and Old Master Lu, she said, "Congratulations, the mother and baby are safe and sound!"

Lu Beichuan subsequently came out of the delivery room. His face was deathly pale.

Almost as soon as the nurse had appeared with the baby, Mrs. Lu and Old Master Lu simultaneously stepped forward. They looked at the sleeping baby that was wrapped up in swaddled clothes. Their eyes were filled with love and affection.

"Beichuan's child certainly takes after him in looks. He looks exactly like him" Old Master Lu was smiling as he teased the baby. "Little great-grandson, I'm your great-grandfather. Open your eyes and look at great-grandfather."

"Dad, look at this baby. His eyes, his nose, his little mouth, he looks just like Beichuan when he was born. How... How much does the baby weigh?"

A newborn baby's skin and face were still wrinkled and scrunched up. Newborn babies wouldn't even be able to open their eyes yet. How could he possibly look the same as an adult?

The nurse smiled. "Old Master Lu, Mrs. Lu, the baby is 6 pounds and 7 ounces. He's very healthy."

Mrs. Lu's gaze lingered on the baby, but she didn't move to take the baby from the nurse. The baby was so small and fragile. She didn't even dare to touch this porcelain-like baby for fear that he would break with a single touch.

"I'm going to take the baby to the newborn nursery. Which family member can come with me?"

Lu Beichuan said in a low voice, "Mom, you go to the newborn nursery first. I'll wait here for Ye Zhen to come out."

Mrs. Lu repeatedly nodded and blindly followed the nurse to the newborn nursery.

Lu Beichuan continued to patiently wait outside the delivery room.

It ended up taking almost half an hour of waiting before Ye Zhen was wheeled out by a nurse.

Lu Beichuan lowered his head and stroked Ye Zhen's moist hair. He gently kissed her forehead and whispered, "Thank you, you've worked really hard."

***

After five hours of labor, Ye Zhen didn't even have the strength to lift a finger right now. She drowsily fell asleep right after giving birth without even seeing her baby.

When she groggily woke up, she didn't know how long she had been asleep. Her body felt nice and clean though. It was obvious that someone had helpfully wiped her down while she was asleep.

As soon as she turned her head, she met someone's staring gaze.

"Awake? Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"

Ye Zhen wasn't in the mood to think about her own condition. She jumped straight to asking, "Where's the baby?"

Mrs. Lu, who was holding the baby, came forward and brought the baby to Ye Zhen. Mrs. Lu said, "The baby is here! Ye Zhen, don't worry. The baby is 6 pounds and 7 ounces. A healthy weight."

Ye Zhen forcibly kept her tired eyes open. It took a lot of effort to raise her head to look at the red and wrinkled baby.

The baby was very well-behaved and was peacefully sleeping his grandmother's arms. He looked so small in Mother Ye's arms. His face was barely bigger than a palm. Even so, Ye Zhen teared up when she saw that little bundle.

This was the baby she had carried to full term and arduously given birth too. His body was the flesh that had fallen from her body. Again and again, she had been so close to passing through death's door while laying on that operating table before she finally gave birth to him. He was her most precious treasure. It would be worth exchanging her life to protect him.

The villains, the plot, the ending?

None of that was important to Ye Zhen anymore.

If someone dared to hurt her baby, she would make that person pay for it!

But...

After a while, Ye Zhen couldn't hold back anymore. She bursted into tears as she looked at her baby.

Why was the baby she had worked so hard to give birth to so ugly?