Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

By May, the epidemic was gradually under control, and Wujiang City, the worst-affected city, had also lifted its lockdown. However, as the capital, Yanjing maintained extremely strict controls. Yanjing boasts numerous universities, and the return of students from all over the country would have created significant uncertainty. In April, a university in Yanjing implemented a staggered return, but due to negligence, widespread infection among faculty and students occurred, further increasing the pressure on the city to prevent the spread of the virus. With this in mind and after careful consideration, the Yanjing municipal government mandated that all universities in the city switch to online classes for the current semester, suspending the return of students. This news finally put Rong Zixuan and I at ease. With online classes, we wouldn't have to take a leave of absence and would have no problem completing our courses this semester. Next semester would be our senior year, and we wouldn't have any classes. As is customary, seniors are required to conduct internships, projects, and thesis projects. The baby's due date is in October this year. We have our own company and projects. Even if I have to take a month or two off to recuperate after giving birth, I can still catch up with my thesis defense in June next year. When I think about it this way, I suddenly feel that I am very lucky. I can have a baby and study at the same time!

When it was time for my prenatal checkup, Rong Zixuan took me to the hospital's obstetrics department for a routine checkup. This time, the doctor examined me for a long time, longer than usual, and his expression was more serious, which made me feel a little uneasy.

"Congratulations, it's twins!" the doctor said to me after the examination.

I tried to sit up but it was difficult and I failed. Rong Zixuan quickly came over and helped me up. "Doctor, you are serious!"

"How can a doctor joke around like that?"

"But why didn't we find out about the twins before?" Rong Zixuan asked anxiously.

"This is quite rare and coincidental. Perhaps the baby was too small or the fetal position was problematic and we didn't detect it before. I just checked carefully many times and it is indeed twins! You can rest assured! Both babies are healthy."

Hearing this, Rong Zixuan smiled so hard that his mouth almost stretched to the back of his ears. "Thank you, doctor, thank you, doctor," he said, then lowered his head and kissed my forehead. "Aqing, thank you! We are going to be a family of four now!"

Rong Zixuan turned back to ask the doctor, "Doctor, should we reduce the number of twins? I read in a book that multiple births can bring greater risks to the mother."

"Generally, it is recommended that fetal reduction be for three or more pregnancies. For twins, we will assess the mother's condition and give her advice. Your wife is in good health, so fetal reduction is not necessary, but you still need to be more careful."

"Okay, okay, thank you, doctor," Rong Zixuan thanked the doctor and helped me out of the clinic.

"I really hope it's twins, a boy and a girl," I said while touching my belly.

"Me too! But regardless of whether they're twins, boy and girl, I like them both!"

"Would you be disappointed if these were two daughters?"

"Why are you disappointed? I like them both, regardless of gender! This is my child!"

"That's good. I was just worried that you might have a preference for boys over girls."

"What era is this? Why do you still favor boys over girls? Girls are no worse than boys these days!"

"You see, my father doesn't appear to favor boys over girls, but deep down he still does. I understand him, because the era and environment he was born and raised in shaped his thinking. But he also loves me and my sister. I guess he's conflicted inside. On the one hand, he loves us, but on the other hand, he laments that we are not sons, and that my sister and I's children won't be able to carry on his family name. So I'm worried that you'll be the same as him."

"I'm different! However, speaking of this, I also noticed that your father seems to be better to your cousin and your cousin's son, but he is quite cold to your cousin's eldest daughter."

"Right! So I'm also afraid that the child's father will be like this. If that's the case, I'd rather..."

Before I could finish, he covered my mouth with his hand. "Pfft! Pfft! Don't say unlucky words. I won't! I can promise you that!"

"Okay, I believe you!" I replied to him a little arrogantly.

"Well, speaking of this, I want to discuss something with you. The eldest child will have my last name, and the second child will have your last name. It doesn't matter whether they are male or female, only whether they are older or younger. How about that?"

I stopped and looked at him, curiously asking, "Usually it's the mother who suggests giving the child the same last name as the mother, or the daughter the same last name as the mother. It would only be your suggestion if we had two sons. How did you come up with this?"

"I used to have a classmate whose family was very patriarchal, and he had a younger brother. One time when I went to his house, his brother and his mother were having a fight. He pointed at her and said, 'Mom, you don't have the same surname as us. You are an outsider. Don't come to my house anymore.' I was quite surprised at the time that a child could say such a thing. So it's good that we have two children, each with their own surname."

"But I'm afraid that after the child takes my surname, you will feel that it's not your child and you will ignore the child. Many children who take their mother's surname are quite neglected by their grandparents, and even some fathers."

"Don't worry about that. There are only a few of them in this world who are related to me by blood. I won't neglect them. Besides, a surname doesn't mean anything. I just want your surname to have a larger proportion in our family. After all, you gave birth to the child, so this is what you should do! I can't share the pain of childbirth with you, but I can still decide on the surname issue! And your surname is Wei, so Wei Qing of the Han Dynasty might be your ancestor!"

"I don't know if they are the descendants of Wei Qing, but they must be the descendants of my Wei Qing! Let's talk to my dad tonight."

"it is good"

When I learned I was pregnant with two children, I felt even heavier. I stumbled a bit getting in the car. If Rong Zixuan hadn't supported me, I would have fallen. When I got home, my parents had just returned from working in the fields for lunch. Rong Zixuan helped me sit on the sofa with my bulging belly.

"How did the examination go?" my mother asked as soon as she saw me come in.

"Everything is normal, and the doctor said it's twins," I smiled and touched my belly.

"real!"

"Yes! Then Zixuan and I discussed it. After the children are born, the eldest will have the surname Rong, and the second and I will have the surname Wei. What do you think?"

"Really?" My dad put down his chopsticks.

"Yes, Dad, don't you want to find a live-in son-in-law? Although he is not one of them, he is willing to let the child have my surname."

"Yeah, yeah! Okay! Wife, go kill two chickens to give Xiaoqing some nourishment."

"Dad, we haven't finished eating yesterday's chicken yet!"

"Fresh ones are better. We'll eat what we didn't finish yesterday, and you can eat the fresh ones!"

Although Rong Zixuan wasn't a live-in son-in-law, which wasn't what my father had hoped for, my child had my surname, meaning my father's surname would also be passed down through someone else. This was a great blessing for my father, a traditional middle-aged rural man. Rural areas are like that; they value the inheritance of surnames over blood ties. This is also why there's a market for child trafficking. Some extremely feudal families would rather buy a son to inherit their surname than treat their own daughters well.

As summer approached and the weather gradually became warmer, I also put on a maternity dress. Without the disguise of a thick coat, I had to face the "concern" of the villagers. However, to my surprise, everyone knew that we were engaged and assumed that we were already husband and wife, but we just didn't have a wedding banquet. They also asked when we got the marriage certificate, when we would invite them to the wedding banquet, and whether it would be after the birth of the baby? We answered stubbornly that we had received it, and gave vague answers to their other questions. Anyway, they would not ask us to show them our marriage certificate. The identity we had in the outside world was something we gave ourselves! There are many people in the village who got married at a young age, so I seemed less conspicuous. I was still worried about all kinds of bad "greetings", but nothing happened. Now thinking about it is really funny. I always like to worry about things that will happen, and always think of the worst before things happen. When will I change this habit?