Huo Tingzhou went to the military hospital for a full-body check-up every three months. Whenever he suffered minor injuries during training, Elder Liang would be the one to patch him up, so the two had always maintained a good relationship in private.
If not for this, Elder Liang wouldn’t have stopped him that day and slipped him that thing…
But in all the years Huo Tingzhou had been stationed at the military base, Elder Liang had never sought him out on his own initiative.
And certainly not like this—with furrowed brows and a grave expression.
The last time the two had interacted was during his premarital check-up the day before.
Recalling Elder Liang’s hesitant look earlier, Huo Tingzhou had an inkling of what this might be about.
But this wasn’t the place to discuss it.
Huo Tingzhou took the bicycle from Jiang Si’s hands and introduced them.
"Jiang Si, this is Dr. Liang from the military hospital. You can call him Elder Liang."
Hearing that he was a doctor from the military hospital, Jiang Si greeted him politely, though a thought nagged at her.
Had something gone wrong with the premarital check-up results?
It must be!
If it weren’t for some urgent issue, Elder Liang wouldn’t have come during mealtime.
Nor would he have scrutinized them with that look.
The only thing Jiang Si wasn’t sure about was whether the news Elder Liang brought was good or bad.
After all, she and Huo Tingzhou had been eating and drinking together lately, and he’d consumed plenty of the spiritual spring water.
She knew the water had restorative effects on old injuries or chronic ailments.
But just how potent those effects were, she couldn’t say.
Her biggest worry was whether the water’s miraculous properties had raised Elder Liang’s suspicions.
Noticing Jiang Si’s troubled expression, Huo Tingzhou reassured her, "Don’t worry. It’ll be fine."
He’d just had a physical in August, and all his indicators were normal.
The premarital check-up had only added a few extra tests. If there was a problem, it could only be related to reproductive health.
But this was the part that puzzled Huo Tingzhou.
He’d never fooled around outside, and he’d always been meticulous about hygiene.
Logically, there shouldn’t be any issues—unless…
His thoughts drifted to that experiment he’d participated in half a month ago.
If that was the cause, then it wasn’t just his reproductive health at stake.
Elder Liang observed their expressions silently. Truthfully, he’d been just as shocked when he saw the test results.
He’d agonized over whether to tell them.
As the old saying went, it was better to tear down ten temples than ruin a marriage.
If anyone understood Huo Tingzhou’s feelings, it was him.
The young man had waited eagerly, counting the days until his fiancée arrived.
If their engagement fell apart because of this, Huo Tingzhou might never recover.
But keeping silent would betray the principles he’d upheld for decades.
Lost in their own thoughts, the three returned to the living room.
Jiang Si brewed tea for Elder Liang before sitting beside Huo Tingzhou.
Seeing Elder Liang hesitate, Huo Tingzhou cut straight to the chase.
"Elder Liang, is there a problem with my premarital check-up results?"
As he asked, Huo Tingzhou had already braced himself for two possibilities.
If he was lucky and it was just an infection, they could treat it.
But if it had progressed to something incurable, their engagement would have to end.
She was still young, her life just beginning. There was no reason for her to waste it on him.
Huo Tingzhou would make arrangements for her future.
With his military merits and his parents’ influence in Capital City, he could ensure she’d want for nothing.
And if, in time, she… found someone else…
The mere thought felt like an invisible hand crushing his heart, leaving him breathless with pain.
Elder Liang sighed, then pulled the test report from his pocket.
"All your physical indicators are actually excellent. It’s just… your sperm motility is slightly low."
"It won’t affect anything else, but you may have difficulty conceiving."
Since he’d decided to speak, Elder Liang laid out the facts plainly.
Better they face reality now than cling to false hope.
"You should prepare yourselves mentally. Even if you do conceive, the pregnancy may end in miscarriage later on."
Silence fell over the room.
Huo Tingzhou had imagined many scenarios, but never this one.
Yet this outcome was no better than if he’d been exposed to nuclear radiation.
The only difference was whether they parted in life or death.
He could accept not having children, but he couldn’t deny her the chance to be a mother.
His gaze shifted to Jiang Si.
All he wanted was to be with her. Why was it so hard?
Jiang Si, however, was lost in thought, oblivious to his gaze.
Truthfully, she was just as surprised by the results—but for entirely different reasons.
The thing was, Jiang Si already knew about Huo Tingzhou’s infertility.
She hadn’t considered it earlier because the accident that caused it hadn’t happened yet.
Thinking about it now, she couldn’t help but feel exasperated.
Just how much had the original female lead, Shen Qingqing, hated her?
Not only had Shen Qingqing written her a gruesome death, but she’d also doomed Huo Tingzhou—who’d secretly loved her for years—to a life of solitude, unmarried and childless.
But Jiang Si remembered clearly: in the original story, Huo Tingzhou would lead a flight squadron on a secret mission to collect samples during a nuclear test in late November—next month.
At this time, the country didn’t yet have unmanned aircraft. To obtain test data, they had to rely on pilots’ skills.
Huo Tingzhou and his team would need to fly through the radioactive mushroom cloud at varying altitudes and angles.
Throughout the flight, they’d face turbulent heat currents while manually lowering the protective shield and activating the sampling equipment.
Only once the samples reached the required levels could they exit the cloud.
It was this mission that exposed Huo Tingzhou and eleven others to varying degrees of nuclear radiation.
Though, in truth, his body might have already been mildly affected.
After all, he’d participated in flight tests in the same region last month.
With the spiritual spring water, Jiang Si could restore Huo Tingzhou’s health eventually.
What intrigued her now was: Who had tampered with the results in Elder Liang’s report?
