Hard work after winning the lottery

"Hello, I'd like to buy a...pregnancy test."

She kept her head down, her voice barely audible, like a mosquito's hum.

The cashier gave her a nonchalant look and took a small box from under the counter.

"Twenty-five."

Hua Yun practically snatched the box, hastily scanned the code to pay, and then fled the pharmacy without looking back.

When she got home, she locked herself in the bathroom on the second floor.

She leaned against the cold door, her heart pounding wildly.

That small plastic box felt incredibly heavy in her hands.

After much hesitation and struggle, she closed her eyes and tremblingly tore open the packaging.

Time seemed to stretch out infinitely at this moment.

One minute.

Two minutes.

It felt like an eternity.

She slowly, very slowly opened her eyes and looked down.

In that small display area, two bright red bars were so clear they were almost despairing.

Like two sharp knives, they instantly pierced through all her wishful thinking and pretense.

Clang—

The pregnancy test slipped from her limp fingers and fell onto the polished tiles with a crisp, jarring sound.

Hua Yun was struck dumb, standing there as if by lightning.

Her body slid down the door panel and slowly fell to the ground, her eyes staring blankly ahead.

It’s over.

It's all over.

She used 20 million yuan in lottery winnings to create a new life; she meticulously planned her idyllic pastoral life.

Ultimately, fate's trajectory was forcibly twisted towards a bottomless abyss that she could never have predicted, all because of that crazy night.

A thought, like a venomous snake, crawled out from the darkest corner of my heart.

Smash it.

While the pregnancy is still in its early stages, and while no one knows yet.

Go to the town hospital for a minor surgery, like removing a trivial tumor.

Then, everything can get back on track.

Her sheep farm, her business, and the wonderful life she had just built for her family can all continue.

The moment this thought arose, it overwhelmed her reason.

Correct.

This is the best way.

It's also the only way.

She trembled, leaning against the wall, struggling to stand up.

However, the moment her fingers touched her lower abdomen, a strange, unprecedented sensation, like a faint electric current, spread from her fingertips throughout her body.

here……

There is a life.

A life connected to her by blood, quietly growing.

The images from that night uncontrollably flooded my mind again.

The man's clean, pleasant scent of slush, his burning body temperature when he lost control, and his suppressed, broken breaths deep in his throat...

Zhou Yanjin.

The child's father is Zhou Yanjin.

He was the man she had only ever looked up to in financial magazines and news since her university days.

It was the person she had secretly loved all her youth, yet she had never even been able to exchange a single word with.

She was the sole protagonist in that absurd ceremony in which she bid farewell to the past.

This is the only connection he left for her...

If she aborts the child, then the relationship between her and Zhou Yanjin...

There is no further connection.

forever.

A scalding tear fell unexpectedly onto the back of my hand.

Then, the second drop, the third drop...

Tears streamed down her pale cheeks silently.

She slowly covered her still flat stomach with her entire palm.

There, another heart beats.

A heart that exists because of her, and also because of that man.

"Baby……"

Unconsciously, she murmured those two words softly in a breathy voice.

My heart felt like it had been ripped open by something.

It was sour and painful, yet it also carried an indescribable, strange softness.

If she abandons it, she can return to the smooth road she originally planned.

If she leaves it behind, she will face a deluge of gossip and an abyss that could devour her.

Can……

Could she really kill this life that was intertwined with her blood and flesh with her own hands?

Should we extinguish the only bond between her and that unattainable man?

Hua Yun closed her eyes, and her tears flowed even more fiercely.

I don't know how much time passed; maybe an hour, maybe just a moment.

She finally opened her eyes.

In those eyes, washed clean by tears, the shattered fear was slowly receding, replaced by an almost tragic, desperate resolve.

She made up her mind.

For the Hua family, this day seemed no different from any other.

But Hua Yun's absent-mindedness was noticed by everyone.

During the meal, she poked her chopsticks outside the bowl several times.

When Li Guifen spoke to her, she was always a beat slow to react.

"Yunyun, are you really not feeling well? Why don't you ask your dad to take you to the county hospital tomorrow?" Li Guifen touched her forehead with concern.

"I'm fine, Mom."

Hua Yun forced a smile, a smile that looked worse than a grimace.

"It's just... there's too much to do at the sheep farm, I'm a bit tired."

She dared not look her parents in the eye.

It was filled with the purest love and trust.

She was afraid that if she looked at him, the psychological defenses she had painstakingly built up would collapse instantly.

This heavy secret, like a boulder, weighed on her heart, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

She knew that this matter could not be kept secret forever.

My belly will grow bigger someday.

Rather than waiting until the truth can't be hidden and the whole village laughs at her, it's better for her to personally uncover this cruelest wound.

A short, sharp pain is worse than a long, drawn-out one.

Late at night.

On a summer night in Baixi Village, the sounds of frogs and insects intertwine to create a soothing melody.

In the living room, only Hua Shu and Li Guifen remained, watching TV and chatting idly about village gossip.

Hua Yun paced back and forth in the room, her palms sweating and dampening the hem of her clothes.

Every time I wanted to push open the door, my courage receded like the tide.

Finally, when the wall clock struck ten, she took a deep breath and, like a prisoner heading to the execution ground, flung open the door.

"Dad, Mom."

Her voice trembled slightly, almost imperceptibly.

The couple, who were watching TV, turned around upon hearing the sound.

"What's wrong, Yunyun? Aren't you asleep yet?" Li Guifen asked with a smile.

"I...I have something I want to tell you."

Hua Shu noticed her expression was off, so he turned off the TV, and the living room instantly fell silent.

"What's going on? Why are you making such a fuss?"

Hua Yun walked up to them, but did not sit down.

Her legs went weak, and with a "plop," she knelt straight down in front of her parents.

This scared Hua Shu and Li Guifen so much that they almost lost their souls.

"You child! What are you doing! Get up!" Li Guifen hurriedly went to help her up.

"No, Mom, let me say it on my knees."

Hua Yun stubbornly pushed her mother's hand away, lowered her head, and spoke with great difficulty.

"Dad, Mom, I'm sorry."

"I...I did something terribly wrong."