Stocking Up

"But how did you know?" asked Liang Chen as she sat down. The hot soup warmed her hands, but she had no intention of drinking it; not after the odd taste of the previous bowl. She was afraid that the taste would linger at her tongue for the rest of her life if she had another bowl.

"I can tell from the color of your face and lips. You need to nourish your body properly, or you'll have problems getting pregnant in the future."

Liang Chen paused, and placed her hand on her tummy. It wasn't the first time someone had said this to her, telling her that the coldness had settled in her ovaries and made pregnancy difficult. But she was almost 36. Soon, she wouldn't even be able to give birth to a child. At this rate, she would have to go for a test-tube baby.

But she didn't want her child to come that way. A child born through such a cold method wouldn't even feel like her own.