Chapter 10: Two Lines

Lu Chen stood behind Su Ye's chair at the February board meeting, holding the black briefcase, when his husband stopped talking mid-sentence.

He knew the signs of an approaching emergency.

He had spent twelve years in an orphanage, where every emergency started quietly.

"Su Ye," he said under his breath.

"I'm fine." Su Ye's lips barely moved. "It's the egg tarts."

"You haven't eaten an egg tart in two weeks."

"Then it's the memory of them."

Nine directors were looking at a slide about freight costs, because the Chamber's list had come out that week.

Su Group was a nominee for Enterprise of the Year, and so was Fen Group, for a project called Dawn.

Nobody had said the name aloud since, and the room was working hard at not hearing it.

Su Ye stood up, said "Excuse me," in a voice of tremendous dignity, and was sick into the wastepaper basket beside the Chairman's seat.

The room went silent.

Chairman Su lowered his reading glasses.

"Point one," he said. "Somebody get a doctor."

"Point two," said a director, helpfully, "was it the shrimp?"

Lu Chen was already moving.

He caught Su Ye by the elbow, handed his briefcase to the nearest director without looking, and walked his husband to the corridor.

They had been married for two months.

For two months Su Ye had been tired, and hungry at odd hours, and unusually fond of pickles.

For two months Lu Chen had told himself it was the internship.

The doctor came to the vice president's office and examined Su Ye on the sofa with the blinds drawn.

She took blood.

She waited with her hands folded, while Lu Chen stood against the wall and counted the ceiling tiles.

There were forty-eight.

Then she smiled.

"Congratulations, Mr. Su," she said. "You're pregnant. About eight weeks."

Su Ye sat up so fast the blanket fell off.

"I'm what?"

"Pregnant."

"I can't be. I just got over my heat. I'm twenty-three. I don't even own a mug I haven't broken."

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