Chapter 37: Pregnancy and Rumors

The festival ended by the time it was at nine.

Yuqi and Yueyue were completely wasted, forcing Xiaoyun and Leyan to carry them back home.

"Geez, I thought Yuqi could at least drink more than this," Xiaoyun murmured as he put Yuqi on the sofa.

"Well, she didn't really like to socialize with other company bosses. She was much more focused on communicating with her employees," Leyan explained as she put Yueyue on the sofa.

"How about Yueyue? She just collapsed after like three drinks." Xiaoyun pointed out as he put Yuqi back down.

"I'm pretty sure that was her first time drinking... I should have told her to stop." Leyan replied.

"We're going to go take a shower and sleep. Goodnight, Mom. Goodnight, Xiaoyun."

With Nami yawning and heading upstairs with Lily, the two sat on the sofa next to the two drunkards.

"Hey babe, didn't we have Nami because we were drunk one night?" Xiaoyun suddenly asked as he leaned back to the sofa.

"Yeah. I miss having no kids to worry about and just being free with ourselves... Maybe I should have never asked for kids."

"Maybe..."

As the two felt the surge of nostalgia flushing into their brain, they felt a moment of inner peace.

But it ended when Leyan brought something up. A thing that was Xiaoyun's worst nightmare.

"Honey, can you pass me a pregnancy test?" Leyan suddenly asked.

Xiaoyun froze for a second, but he eventually made one before handing it over to her.

"Um, sure... what is it for? Didn't we use protection for the past few days?" Xiaoyun nervously asked.

"Well, we did. But that night and that day with Yueyue... None of us were using any protection at all.

What's worse is my period hasn't come yet at all... So I'm a little worried." Leyan replied as she held the pregnancy test tightly.

"Oh shit... Fuck!"

Xiaoyun clenched his heart tightly, his mind filled with regret as he already had three daughters, as Songming did.

"Those two need to get it checked too... I'm going to go check now."

As Leyan headed upstairs to the restroom with her pregnancy test, Yuqi was woken up by the noise.

"Hm? Xiaoyun, what was mom talking about?" Yuqi asked loudly as she still looked a little drunk.

"Um, Qiqi, has your period come out yet?" Xiaoyun nervously asked.

"My period? It has stopped coming for almost a month now... FUCK! SHIT!"

Yuqi immediately got up from the sofa, her eyes wide open as she realized what Xiaoyun was trying to suggest.

Without saying anything, Xiaoyun handed her another pregnancy test.

"I be right back!"

As Yuqi ran up the stairs, echoing throughout the living room, Yueyue was finally awakened by all the noise.

"Why was sister cursing so loud? What's up with the stair sound?" Yueyue asked as she stretched out her arm, her head still a little dizzy.

"Yueyue... had you had your period?"

"I don't know. I haven't checked the days yet. Let me take out my phone... I haven't had it for almost a month.

I think I always have it a little late, right? Yeah... It's just a little late." Yueyue casually said it out loud, not realizing anything was off at all.

But Xiaoyun knew what he needed to do as he handed her a pregnancy test into her hand.

"This..."

Yueyue's face blushed as she understood what Xiaoyun was trying to say, making her sober in a millisecond.

"I-I will be right back."

As Yueyue headed upstairs, all Xiaoyun could do was pray with his head down on his knee.

"FUCK, there's no way all three of them are... No fucking shot." Xiaoyun murmured to himself as he slapped his face.

"You fucking dumbass, why didn't you use protection before? What had gotten in your brain to cum inside them?"

Xiaoyun slapped himself again, still unable to believe what he had done, but his mind slowly accepted the fact that there was nothing much to do now.

---

After waiting for thirty minutes, the three finally walked back down together.

"Um, Xiaoyun... We have some good and bad news." Leyan announced as the other two girls stood behind her.

"What is it? Just tell me. I am fine with whatever it is... I'll take responsibility for it."

Seeing Xiaoyun looked determined to know the result, the three slowly lifted their result into the air.

"Fuck, of course, this has to happen," Xiaoyun murmured as all three results came back positive.

But his brain quickly came up with a solution, as he could tell all three of the girls didn't really look like they wanted a kid right now.

"Maybe I can go to the city to get pills? All I need to do is to go to a pharmacy or some store that sells——"

"No!" All three of them yelled at the same time.

"Why not?" Xiaoyun asked softly.

"The city is way too dangerous right now. We don't want to lose you again." Leyan argued.

"Yeah, the city is now a death zone. Even Yezi told me that Renqin's bus almost died trying to leave." Yueyue added.

Seeing Xiaoyun still a little hesitant about their point, Yuqi decided to put the final nail in the coffin.

"We actually decided to keep it... as long as you don't mind, of course."

Xiaoyun's brain froze for a second as he couldn't process what Yuqi said out loud until she shook him on the shoulder.

"Hello? You there?" Yuqi asked nervously as all three of the girls looked a little afraid that Xiaoyun was still going to reject their idea.

"Sorry. Can you just give me a second to think?"

The three nodded in agreement as they waited for Xiaoyun to make a decision, which only took less than a minute.

"You know what, as long as you guys are fine with it. I'm actually fine with it as well... But——"

All three of the girls looked toward Xiaoyun with high hopes, waiting for him to continue as he purposely paused.

"As long as you guys don't mind me giving you all a wedding before your guy's bellies get too big, then I'm fine with it."

This time, all three of the girls froze as Xiaoyun's joke was a little bit too far until he waved his hand toward them.

"Hey, don't say that! We can't let anyone know about this. This joke isn't funny," Leyan said softly as the other two looked down in embarrassment.

"It's kinda hard to hide this. Yezi and everyone is going to see you guys at some point... I wasn't joking about the wedding."

Xiaoyun suddenly had a change of heart as he felt a sense of responsibility towards all three of them.

"You not afraid of the scandal?" Leyan nervously asked.

"Scandal? If anyone has a problem with it, they can leave. Besides, it's the apocalypse, and we consented to it.

I don't care what other people think... And it's not like we ever said we're blood-related in public." Xiaoyun pointed out.

"We really can get a wedding?" Yuqi and Yueyue both asked as they looked at Xiaoyun in excitement.

"Yes, I promise... Leyan, too." Xiaoyun quickly added the last part.

"Wait, why me? I am already married to you. Isn't it a little weird to marry the same person twice?"

Leyan took a step back and looked down at the ring on her finger, which still showed her as a widow.

"You don't want to wear your wedding dress again? Besides, don't you want to be equal to your daughters in front of everyone?" Xiaoyun asked.

"I do..." Leyan looked down in embarrassment as she said it.

"Come on, Mom. We don't mind it. Let's marry together!"

Yuqi and Yueyue both forcefully pushed Leyan forward, forcing her to be in the middle as the two hugged Xiaoyun.

"Um, what are you guys doing?"

As the four looked up, Nami was standing in the middle of the staircase, looking down at them.

"We are getting married! All three of us to Xiaoyun!" Yuqi excitedly announced, as the other two still looked a little shy.

"You guys aren't hiding anymore? Oh... That makes sense." Nami murmured as she noticed the three positive tests on the table.

---

A week has passed since the festival.

Xiaoyun was sitting inside the security room with Yezi, as the worker outside was still working outside.

"Wait, you serious? You are marrying your mom and your sister? They all agreed to be with you?"

Yezi's face was in complete confusion as he was completely caught off guard by the news that Xiaoyun had announced.

"Yes, we have been in love since the outbreak," Xiaoyun replied.

"Um, I guess that's why you said you found your family back in that speech... But you guys aren't blood-related, right?" Yezi quietly asked.

"What do you think?" Xiaoyun asked, his eyes appearing to be looking at an idiot.

Yezi immediately took it as Xiaoyun went from being adopted into Leyan's family to falling in love with them, which was still a little weird for him.

"Hey, Yezi... What do you think how other people will think about this?" Xiaoyun quietly asked.

"Well, most people would probably be fine with you with Yueyue and Yuqi since the age gap wasn't that big.

But with Leyan... Everyone in the town knows her as your mom. It might raise a few eyebrows——"

"If they don't like it, they can leave," Xiaoyun stated his intention.

"Then it probably doesn't matter... However, the hardest part is probably convincing everyone that you are having three wives.

It is kind of backward, you know, almost like those kings and emperors in the textbook having their own harem with like a whole inner palace——"

"I'm treating them all equally. I'm not going to select a queen or any of that kind." Xiaoyun clarified.

"Xiaoyun, it doesn't matter how you think about it. Other people have different interpretations.

Here, let me call Lingang to make this easier for you guys. Take this as an early wedding gift to Miss Leyan for saving me."

As Yezi took out his phone, Xiaoyun couldn't understand what Lingang had to do with public opinion about the wedding.

"Hello, Mr.Yezi." Lingang's voice came from the other side.

"Can you come here for a second?"

"Yes, sir."

As the call hung up, Yezi suddenly brought up something that made Xiaoyun even more confused.

"I guess Huayi won... Love always prevails. Can you get up for a second?"

"What do you mean by that?" Xiaoyun curiously asked as he stood up.

"Huayi predicted that you guys were in love because of the way you guys acted around each other.

I thought she was just being overly sensitive, but I guess I was wrong... Anyway, you can go now."

"Wait——"

Before Xiaoyun could say anything, Yezi shoved him out of the room and closed the door right in his face.

"Sigh, always more work to do... Maybe I should start thinking about my wedding with Huayi." Yezi murmured as he took out a picture of him and Huayi in the wallet.

---

Another few days passed.

As Xiaoyun waved good morning to people going to work, he could hear people talking all around him as he walked towards the security room.

"You heard? The leader is having an affair with his mom?" One of the men whispered.

"What? I thought it was his sister Yuqi. I mean, I don't blame him. Have you seen how hot little Qiqi looked?

Don't tell my wife this, but I think I'm falling in love with her. She was so beautiful and nice when I traded the food stamp for food." The other men commented.

"Come on, wake up. She's never going to like someone like you," one of the women laughed.

"Hey, shut up! I can at least dream, okay?" The man argued.

"Wait, what? I heard it was his twin sister, Yueyue. She's always next to him and acts almost like his bodyguard.

One time, I even saw her lift a tree by herself. She's so strong and dominant, and she is so attractive, too," a fourth man chimed in.

"What if he married all three of them?" One of them suddenly suggested.

"He would be so lucky! I wish I could marry just one of them, and I will be satisfied. Miss Leyan looked so young despite giving birth to three beautiful daughters.

She even taught people how to grow food, which was so magnificent and noble. She is perfectly my type," the first man replied.

"But aren't they related?" One of the women finally spoke out.

"Come on, Mr.Xiaoyun said he was an orphan. It's clear that he was adopted into the family and then fell in love with all three of them.

And even if they are related, it's the apocalypse. Who's going to enforce the law? You? Or the boss with the gun and food?

Quite frankly, I would do it if I was him. Who doesn't want their harem and rule like an emperor?" The first man argued as he got increasingly louder and louder.

"Hey, no chattering. It's time to get back to work," Qijian warned as he approached the group of workers.

---

"So what do you think?" Yezi asked as he leaned back in his chair, his legs on the control panel that ran out of power.

"Um, it seems most people don't care?" Xiaoyun replied as he scratched his head in confusion.

"People's mindset has completely shifted since the outbreak. The only thing they care about is food and security.

They could care less if you proclaim yourself king as long as they keep getting what they need," Yezi explained.

"But I just feel like they... have less morals?"

"I wouldn't say less morals... If you have ever been in a war zone, people care about their basic needs more than anything.

If a dictatorship could ensure that all their basic needs were met, they would all support it over some useless democracy." Yezi replied, thinking back to his smuggling days in the Middle East.

"Anyway, you got a date for the wedding yet?" Yezi asked as he snapped back to the present.

"Yeah, they wanted to get married before this month's end, so two weeks from now," Xiaoyun replied.

"Okay, how about the layout and plans?"

"Here it is."

Xiaoyun handed the papers over to Yezi, which was a five-page documentation detailing every single thing needed.

"Hm... yeah, this is doable," Yezi murmured as he finished reading the paper.

"Thank you, Yezi. I can't imagine if I had to do this alone."

Xiaoyun bowed down with gratitude, knowing how much the rumor that Yezi had spread had actually helped him gain acceptance.

"There's no need to say thanks. You forgot we're brothers?"

"you're right, we're brothers..."

After Yezi supported Xiaoyun back up, they sat back down in their seats.

"Anyway, let's get back to business. So the store that Yuqi is running only offers food right now, right?"

Xiaoyun nodded in agreement as he thought back to the menu he had seen a few days earlier when visiting the grand opening at 302.

"Some people have too many food stamps but nothing to buy. They want to buy things that are not just basic needs." Yezi raises his concern.

"Just give me a list of what people want, and I can try to stock it in the store. Assuming I had touched that item in the past."

"Okay, I'll ask Lingang to collect a list."

As Yezi took out a piece of paper and wrote it down, Xiaoyun still had another concern as he thought back to his visit to the food store they opened.

"Yezi... To be honest, I don't think this list is going to do much... I think there is inflation with the food stamp right now."

"Really? Inflation?" Yezi asked with a surprised face.

"Yeah... The wages that we set for the work are a little bit too high, and now some people are buying more food than they need and hoarding it," Xiaoyun replied.

"Well, then we either lower their wage or increase the food price. But both of them will be noticeable, and people might get mad." Yezi gave his simple solution.

"That's just going to incentivize people to buy up even more food that they don't need. They're just going to spend the food stamp they get right away knowing how it will be worth less in the future." Xiaoyun argued.

"I don't know then..."

As the two sat in silence, Xiaoyun's brain started brainstorming different possible ideas.

"Wait, I got it! How about we charge rent? We literally own the most valuable thing in this town!" Xiaoyun pointed out as he realized the most important thing they technically owned.

"Genius! But whoever is going to implement that is going to get blasted... Fine, I guess I will do it."

Yezi only accepted the job as a bottle of wine that he had tried once at Xiaoyun's dinner appeared out of thin air.

"Anything else?" Xiaoyun asked.

"Oh, right. I had been sending Lingang to drive toward the city outskirts, and you wouldn't believe what he saw."

"What is it?" Xiaoyun asked, intrigued.

"A massive three-meter tall zombie throwing rocks at buildings. It was like a hulk that isn't green, trying to break inside the entrance of a skyscraper." Yezi explained as he tried to describe it with his hand.

"Did he get any picture of it?"

"He was using a binocular so that he couldn't drive too close to it. What's worse, however——"

Yezi left a cliffhanger, not continuing any further as he waited for Xiaoyun to hurry him.

"What? Come on, just say it. Don't leave me hanging like this." Xiaoyun asked in an irritated tone.

"Well, he saw an entire horde of zombies walking outward. So they are starting to exit the city."

"What! Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Xiaoyun's face was full of worries, as he knew how close Luoping was to the city.

"No need to be alerted. They are walking on the main road toward the highway. By the time Lingang drove back, they were already heading in the other direction."

"Whew, why do you have to scare me like this?" Xiaoyun angrily punched Yezi on the shoulder as he let out a sigh of relief.

"That's what you get for making me the bad guy," Yezi joked as the two relaxed in their chairs, watching the worker work outside in the sun.