Chapter 3 — I Married My Infertile Neighbor

"An Ran, I thought you'd done so well for yourself! And you married a man who can't even have children."

"The rest of you don't know, do you? Shi Yi doesn't work below the waist. He showed me his medical report when we went on a blind date. I took a photo. I'll send it to the class group so everyone can see."

I hadn't expected Xu Qin to be the woman from his blind date.

Shi Yi was so proud.

To be mocked in public like this... he must be hurting.

I wanted to stop her, but it was too late.

A phone buzzed. A new photo appeared in our university group chat.

Everyone who could make out the report turned to look at Shi Yi.

Some were astonished. Some contemptuous. Others were enjoying his humiliation.

And Xu Qin still wasn't finished.

"This is hilarious. One sickly woman and one useless cripple who can't have children. You really are made for each other!"

"Shut up!"

I glared at her.

I didn't mind being mocked myself. But I couldn't stand people laughing at Shi Yi.

If I hadn't insisted on showing him off, would any of this have happened?

I couldn't bring myself to look at him. All I could do was glare furiously at Xu Qin through reddening eyes.

I rarely lost my temper. Most of the time, I spoke gently and quietly.

My sudden anger startled her.

But she soon recovered, her expression full of contempt.

"I won't. What are you going to do about it? Am I not allowed to tell the truth? The less you want to hear it, the more I'll say it. Your husband Shi Yi is a—"

My anger boiled over. I clenched my fists.

I wanted to hit her.

But Shi Yi put an arm around me and patted my head.

"Easy. Let me handle this, all right?"

There was something steady and reassuring in his eyes.

I nodded.

Once I'd calmed down, he looked at Xu Qin.

"The report is fake."

"Impossible. Do you think we're all idiots?"

As soon as she'd finished, the class president spoke.

"It does look fake. There isn't even a hospital stamp."

Everyone zoomed in on the photo.

"He's right!"

Xu Qin's expression soured.

Shi Yi continued.

"You kept asking my mother's friend to set us up. My mother couldn't keep refusing, so she asked me to go on the date. I wasn't interested in you. I wanted to put an end to it once and for all, so I had a fake report made."

"Even after I showed it to you, you still wanted to be with me. When I turned you down again, you lost your temper and threw water at me."

Xu Qin tried to speak. He didn't give her the chance.

"I have a recording of that date. If you deny it, I'm happy to let everyone hear it."

This time, she fell completely silent.

What more did anyone need to understand?

In other words, everything Shi Yi had said was true.

"So that's why you keep sneering at An Ran. You're jealous! If you can't have him, you want to ruin him. Wow."

Li Yao was the first to turn the mockery back on her.

The others were looking at Xu Qin differently too.

At this point, the sensible thing would have been to leave and salvage what little dignity she could.

But she refused to give up.

She stared at Shi Yi.

"Even if you don't like me, you shouldn't like that sickly thing!"

She pointed at me.

Shi Yi's face turned cold.

"Her health may be poor, but she's kindhearted, sincere and lovely. I love her. She deserves to be loved."

As he said it, his dark eyes were fixed on me.

I actually saw deep affection in them.

I must have imagined it.

He went on.

"You've mocked the woman I love over and over again. Since you insist, I have a gift for you."

He put particular emphasis on the word gift.

While panic flickered in Xu Qin's eyes, Shi Yi addressed her boyfriend.

"The man with Xu Qin at last night's business reception wasn't you."

Her boyfriend's expression changed several times, as though something had occurred to him.

Then he slapped her hard across the face.

"You bitch! You told me you were having dinner with a friend last night. You were off seducing another boss?"

"That's why I couldn't reach you last night, isn't it? You were with him!"

"After all the money I've spent on you, you dare do this to me? I'll beat you to death!"

He slapped her again and again.

Xu Qin ducked and screamed, denying it.

"No! He's lying! I didn't..."

The ugly scene only ended when the class president called the police and officers took Xu Qin and her boyfriend away.

I worried about it the whole way home.

At last, I said to Shi Yi, "I'm sorry."

"It was my fault. I nearly humiliated you. Thank goodness you thought of saying the report was fake. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to face you..."

My voice dwindled.

He raised an eyebrow.

"You think everything I said to your classmates was a lie?"

"Wasn't it?"

The question slipped out.

Then I realized I shouldn't expose him when he was trying to protect his pride.

Still, I wanted him to know how I felt.

I looked at him seriously.

"Shi Yi, whatever you're like, you're still the best man in the world to me."

He stared for a moment. Then he smiled.

"Actually..."

He'd only just begun when my phone rang.

Li Yao.

I hurried to answer.

The next second, her voice nearly split my eardrum.

"An Ran, have you got a death wish? You got married on a whim and didn't tell me?"

I sneaked a guilty glance at Shi Yi, then tried to appease her.

"I'm sorry, Yaoyao. I really didn't know how to tell you. Please don't be angry."

"Well, I am angry! You're about to lose a friend, I'll have you know!"

"Yaoyao, I was wrong..."

She was furious. No amount of coaxing seemed to help.

Then Shi Yi spoke.

"This was my fault. We should have told you from the start, and I should have invited you to dinner."

He sounded sincere.

I'd never seen this side of him before.

Li Yao faltered on the other end.

"Th-Then... what are you going to do about it?"

"Let me take you both to dinner this weekend and apologize in person. Would that be all right?"

"That's more like it."

She hung up cheerfully.

"Thank you," I told Shi Yi gratefully.

I'd been so frail growing up that, apart from going to school, I'd spent most of my time alone at home. I wasn't very good at dealing with people.

"You don't have to be so formal with me."

His voice was cool, yet it made my heart stir.

That night, we lay in bed with a gap between us as usual.

But the cool energy that could restore my health seemed to be tempting me constantly.

I wanted to hold him so badly.

Hidden beneath the covers, I summoned my courage and edged closer.

He promptly shifted away like a startled rabbit.

That hurt.

At the weekend, Li Yao came over with two other friends I got along with.

Shi Yi cooked a whole tableful of delicious food himself.

After we'd eaten and drunk our fill, they dragged me into the bedroom and shut the door, leaving Shi Yi washing dishes in the kitchen.

Li Yao had lived in the same neighborhood as us, so she knew quite a bit about him. The other two were meeting him for the first time.

"Oh my God, he's gorgeous. An Ran, you struck gold!"

"He's better-looking than a movie star. Handsome and rich, too. Where can I get one?"

Li Yao couldn't resist throwing cold water on their enthusiasm.

"What's so great about that? He can't do it. An Ran might as well be a widow after marrying him."

"But he's so tall and fit. He doesn't look like a man who can't!"

"Besides, I read online that the higher a man's nose bridge, the bigger his..."

She didn't need to finish.

Everyone understood.

My face burned.

"All right. Can we talk about something else?"

We chatted all afternoon. Before leaving, Li Yao and the others reminded me, "Don't forget to open our presents!"

I was curious about what they'd brought.

After seeing them off, I hurried back to the bedroom.

The first box was from Li Yao. It held an ornament for the living room.

The second took a very different turn.

It contained... lingerie!

I couldn't bear to look any longer. I slapped the lid shut and opened the third box.

This time, I wanted the floor to swallow me.

Good heavens. What kind of friends had I made?

They'd even given me something to take care of that!

I was still staring in shock when footsteps approached.

Shi Yi was coming into the bedroom!

I hastily stuffed the thing in my hand under my pillow.

"Our parents have asked us over for dinner. Would you like to go?"

"Oh... sure."

Shi Yi had the day off, so he came to bed early with me that evening.

I wasn't sleepy at all.

I wanted to cling to him so badly I could cry.

For the sake of my health, I decided to take the initiative.

"Shi Yi, are you asleep?" I asked softly.

"No."

I inched closer and gathered my courage.

"Could you hold me?"

I felt his body stiffen.

"Um... I've found that skin-to-skin contact with you makes me healthier. It's true. I'm not making it up. I used to cough for ages every morning and evening. Ever since that night I rubbed against you, I haven't been coughing anymore."

He still said nothing. My heart sank a little.

"It's all right if you don't want to."

I started to turn my back to him.