Jiang Jie picked up her vegetable basket and made plans to go grocery shopping with A-Xiang from next door.
“Nan-Nan, hurry up. Auntie A-Xiang is waiting.”
“Mom, is Sister Keke there?”
Looking at her son’s obvious little scheme, Jiang Jie burst out laughing.
“She is”
The moment she finished speaking, Lin Xiaonan dashed outside.
By the time Jiang Jie locked the door and caught up with the three of them, her son had already taken Sister Keke by the hand.
“Going grocery shopping? Count me in!”
Auntie Mei had just finished taking out the trash and was returning home. When she saw them about to leave, she hurried home to grab her own vegetable basket.
Halfway there, Auntie Mei suddenly remembered something. She quietly asked Jiang Jie, “Jiang Jie, is your sister-in-law pregnant?”
Jiang Jie and Zhao A-Xiang simultaneously turned to look at her.
“What makes you say that?”
“You know… pregnant.”
Seeing their blank expressions, Auntie Mei added, “Her belly!”
Jiang Jie knew the situation. When Lin Shu and Shen Huai had first gotten married, they had slept separately, with one of them sleeping on the bed and the other on the floor. Things had only improved recently, so there was no way Lin Shu could already be pregnant.
If she really were, Jiang Jie would definitely be the first to notice.
“No way. Even I don’t know about it. How did you figure it out?”
“You young people may know more about these things, but experience counts. Go home and observe her carefully. I’m sure she’s pregnant. A few days ago, when your father fainted, she said she felt sick just from seeing blood in the courtyard.”
“She’s eaten so much meat in her life. How could she feel sick just from seeing a little blood? It was exactly like that when I was pregnant with my second child. I couldn’t stand the sight of anything bloody.”
Auntie Mei’s words suddenly made everything clear to Jiang Jie.
It was probably because it had been dog blood. The little dogs were members of the family, so her sister-in-law’s reaction was completely normal.
She said firmly, “Auntie Mei, there really isn’t anything like that. You can tell the two of us, but don’t mention it to anyone else.”
Auntie Mei nodded. She knew that a pregnancy shouldn’t be announced before three months because the baby could easily be lost.
She had only mentioned it to Jiang Jie, and no one else knew.
“I know. I haven’t gone around telling people. I only mentioned it to the two of you.”
Lin Xiaonan had heard the entire conversation.
His little mind immediately began working.
As the two walked beside the adults, he quietly whispered to Zheng Keke, “Sister Keke, I’m going to have a little sister!”
Zheng Keke looked at Lin Xiaonan enviously.
“I want one too. When the time comes, give me one.”
Lin Xiaonan patted his chest confidently.
“Don’t worry, Sister Keke. My aunt is very generous. She can even give you two when the time comes.”
One in the afternoon.
The father and daughter arrived at the entrance of the cadre school.
With the current political climate being so strict, they weren’t even sure whether they would be allowed inside to visit.
Lin Tianlun waited anxiously for a long time, until the person who had gone inside to report came hurrying back out.
“Come with me.”
The older couple were in the middle of an ideological education class when someone came to call them.
Ten minutes later.
The dormitory door opened, and someone appeared in the doorway.
Compared with the Uncle Cheng in her memories, the aged face before her gave Lin Shu a harsh lesson in reality.
“Uncle Cheng, where are my brothers now?”
“I’m not exactly sure where they are either. I only know they were sent to Dongfanghong Farm in Xinan Mountain District.”
Looking at the circumstances her elder had been reduced to, Lin Shu felt deeply upset.
If things were really like this, then she had to work even harder. After all, the environment in the Great Northwest was far worse than in Yuncheng.
The state Uncle Cheng was in now showed that both his mind and body had been subjected to a severe “test.”
“Old Cheng, hang in there a little longer. Work hard on your reform. You’ll be able to leave eventually.”
“Alright, we won’t talk much longer. We won’t disturb the two of you.”
“Uncle, Auntie, don’t worry. I’ll ask around and find out where my brothers are. If possible, I’ll send them some daily necessities.”
Hearing this, Lu Mingjuan, who had remained silent for a long time, wiped away her tears.
“Alright, hurry back to class.”
“Okay, I’ll go.”
After leaving the dormitory, Lu Mingjuan quietly said, “The Lin family really is doing better and better.”
“Yeah. Who would have thought Lin Shu would marry a military officer? It seems their family won’t have to worry about the future, at least.”
At the thought of this, an unreadable expression appeared on Lu Mingjuan’s face.
…
After Shen Huai and the father and daughter parted ways, he had nothing to do, so he went to the school to find Meng Fan.
He brought up the matter of moving back home in the middle of the month.
“Oh, my wife’s family has already been living there year-round anyway. I just mentioned it, and she’s already packed everything. Don’t tell me you’re planning to take your frustrations out on me just because things aren’t going your way.”
Shen Huai was rendered speechless by him.
“No. Your sister-in-law is going. But I’m worried she won’t get along well with the other officers’ wives, so have your wife look after her and help her settle in.”
Meng Fan had been leaning against a tree trunk, but the moment he heard that Lin Shu was actually going, he straightened up.
“Did my sister-in-law take some kind of medicine? Or does she need something from you again?”
“No. Lin Shu isn’t the same person she used to be. We’ve already agreed that we’re going to live our lives properly. Stop looking at her through your old impressions of her.”
Meng Fan still didn’t believe that Lin Shu had really changed.
But for the sake of his good friend, he reluctantly agreed.
“However, I’m going to say this first. You know how fierce those two old women in the Qinghe family compound are. Even though our family never gets involved in anything and usually avoids them, we still can’t escape being bad-mouthed by them. Can your sister-in-law put up with that?”
Thinking about how Lin Shu had treated him when she and Shen Huai had first gotten married, he honestly shook his head.
Meng Fan burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as he crouched down.
Just moments ago, he had been rather unwilling to agree.
But once he imagined Lin Shu going there and fighting with those two old women, he immediately found the thought hilarious.
“Fine, then. I’ll make sure to explain everything properly to Qin Xiao.”
Meng Fan walked him to the entrance.
“You’d better hurry home. You finally got some leave, but if those guys see you, they won’t let you leave.”
Shen Huai was practically driven away by Meng Fan.
He glanced at the time and thought that his father-in-law probably wouldn’t be back anytime soon after visiting his old friend.
So he changed direction and went to the bookstore.
With graduation approaching, Shen Huai had been reading more frequently lately. Lin Shu had teased him about it several times.
He did not stay at the cadre school for very long before heading back.
The father and daughter arrived in the city before dinner.
“Dad, I’m never going anywhere with you again~”
Lin Shu was carsick. She had just spent more than an hour in a small, stuffy, overheated vehicle, and it had successfully made her nauseous.
Lin Tianlun had completely forgotten about that.
“I’m sorry, sweetheart. Dad forgot. If I’d remembered, I would have brought you an orange to carry with you. Come on, we’re home. I’ll get you some medicine to make you feel better.”
Lin Shu nodded, looking pale as she kept one hand pressed against her chest.
Auntie Mei lived directly across from the Lin family. Seeing the father and daughter return together, which was unusual, she greeted them.
“Oh my, what happened to Lin Shu?”
Lin Tianlun didn’t think much of it.
“She feels like throwing up and is nauseous. I’m taking her home to rest.”
Auntie Mei stood up and said anxiously, “Drink plenty of warm water. Don’t eat anything greasy!”
“Alright, Auntie Mei. You carry on.”
Watching the father and daughter enter the courtyard, Auntie Mei sat back down on her little stool.
“Could this girl have eaten something she’s allergic to again? She was such a delicate child when she was little. When her mother was still alive, she often took her to our hospital.”
Auntie Mei remembered what Jiang Jie had said that morning.
When the neighbor raised the same suspicion, Auntie Mei didn’t respond. She lowered her head and continued peeling beans.
But the sharp-eyed Auntie Shiliu noticed the faint smile at the corners of her mouth.
Knowing Auntie Mei’s personality well, Auntie Shiliu immediately realized there had to be something going on.
“You know something, don’t you?”
Seeing that no one else was around, Auntie Mei quietly moved closer and whispered a few words into her ear.
Auntie Shiliu slapped her thigh.
“Really? How long has it been since there was a child on our street? This is wonderful news!”
Auntie Mei quickly covered her mouth.
“Don’t go spreading it around. Jiang Jie only told me about it this morning.”
While the two women were talking, it grew dark.
Just as they were getting ready to go home, they saw Shen Huai.
Auntie Shiliu was straightforward and couldn’t keep her thoughts to herself. She quietly muttered,
“His wife is pregnant, and he still isn’t coming home… Tsk!”