As dawn broke, Xu Qingning woke up feeling a tightness in her chest and an urge to vomit.
The moment she opened her eyes, her face flushed crimson. She found herself curled up in Zhao Jingyu’s embrace, his arm wrapped around her waist, and her leg draped over his.
His firm chest muscles were right before her eyes, and she could still feel the warmth radiating from his body. Good heavens, what kind of sleeping posture was this…
Calmly, Xu Qingning sat up from his embrace, moved to the edge of the bed, and pulled the quilt that had fallen onto the floor back up. The habit of kicking off the covers while sleeping really wasn’t a good one.
Last night, she had kicked the quilt off the bed. Perhaps feeling cold in her sleep, she had ended up snuggling into his blanket.
This could easily be misunderstood by him… She certainly hadn’t meant to seduce him.
Feeling the emptiness in his arms, Zhao Jingyu also woke up. Seeing Xu Qingning sitting up, he asked nonchalantly, “Why are you up so early?”
He was a light sleeper and had woken up in the middle of the night to find her in his arms.
He knew she must have kicked off the covers again but didn’t mind. Instead, he simply held her as they slept. Her body was fragrant and soft, and it felt quite nice.
“I…” As soon as Xu Qingning spoke, a wave of nausea surged in her chest. She quickly leaned over the edge of the bed, retching dryly, unable to vomit anything.
“What’s wrong?” Zhao Jingyu hurriedly stepped forward to support her. “Are you feeling unwell somewhere?”
“I just feel like vomiting,” Xu Qingning replied weakly, her face pale as she leaned over the bed.
“Let me get you some water.” Zhao Jingyu immediately got out of bed to pour a glass of water. He helped her sit up, and Xu Qingning took the glass, taking a sip. “Thank you!”
The child’s father wasn’t too bad.
He was quite perceptive.
“I’ll take you to the clinic later to get checked,” Zhao Jingyu said, though he didn’t know much about these things. She looked very unwell, wanting to vomit even before eating, as if she were sick.
“No need, I’ll feel better after resting for a while,” Xu Qingning shook her head, finishing the water in the glass. “Could you pour me another glass?”
Zhao Jingyu poured her another glass of water and brought it to her lips. “What would you like to eat this morning?”
“I don’t feel like eating anything,” Xu Qingning replied after drinking the water, lying back down. She hadn’t expected pregnancy to be so uncomfortable—her body felt weak and all she wanted to do was sleep.
“Then rest well,” Zhao Jingyu said, standing by the bed and looking at her. He didn’t know how to care for a pregnant woman, so he picked up his jacket and headed out. “I’ll ask my mother to come check on you.”
Zhao Futang and Yang Yuelan had already been up for a while.
The two were busy in the yard, lighting the fire to braise the meat. They had prepared the meat dishes for the banquet the day before, waiting only to stir-fry them.
Zhao Futang often helped with wedding banquets in the village, and for his own son’s wedding feast, he was even more meticulous. Early in the morning, he had even gone to the aquatic products department to buy over a dozen carp.
“Qingning started vomiting as soon as she woke up,” Zhao Jingyu said, unable to bring himself to call her “Mom,” so he simply skipped the address. “Could you go check on her? Should we take her to the clinic…”
“Alright, I’ll go take a look,” Yang Yuelan put down what she was doing and turned to go inside. Hearing the conversation between mother and son, Xu Qingning sat up as Yang Yuelan entered. “Mom, don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
“You didn’t eat last night either. Are you hungry now? What would you like to eat?” Yang Yuelan asked, standing by the bed. Xu Qingning thought for a moment. “I don’t really feel like eating anything. Maybe just some plain rice porridge?”
“Alright, I’ll cook it a bit longer, make it softer for you.” Yang Yuelan, having been through this herself, stepped forward and touched her forehead, comforting her, “It’ll pass after this stage. You rest for a while, I’ll go make some congee for you first.”
Xu Qingning sat on the bed and drank half a bowl of plain congee, eating a bit of pickled radish. Although she still felt the urge to vomit, she managed to hold it back.
During the day, her morning sickness was the strongest, while noon and evening were a bit better.
After breakfast, Zhao Jingyu went to the neighboring courtyard. Since Xu Qingning only had some plain congee in the morning and had no appetite, he didn’t want her to go out shopping.
He knocked on the door of a dormitory near the entrance, and a young man peeked out. Seeing it was Zhao Jingyu, he quickly said, “Boss is here, come in! We were just about to go help!”
Inside, five young men were already sitting, dressed neatly in Zhongshan suits. When they saw Zhao Jingyu, they greeted him with broad smiles. “Boss is here so early. Whatever you need, just say the word.”
“Yaqiang, Da Wei, bring some money and come with me.” Zhao Jingyu looked at two of the young men, then instructed the remaining three, “You guys go to my place now and help out. We’ll be back soon.”
“Sure, sure, we’ll go right away.” The young men didn’t go empty-handed either, carrying cloth bags as they walked out cheerfully, with cigarettes, alcohol, and tea inside. Since the boss was getting married, they had to show their appreciation.
There was a reason they followed Zhao Jingyu.
Zhao Jingyu often helped them out, giving them a yuan or two was common, and whenever they ate together, Zhao Jingyu paid.
“Boss, where are we going?” Wang Yaqiang, with a cigarette in his mouth, pulled a wallet from a drawer and stuffed it into his pocket.
“Bring your fabric coupons. We’re going to the department store to buy some daily necessities.” Zhao Jingyu said as he walked out, turning to another young man on the way. “Da Wei, didn’t you say your aunt works at the department store? We’ll go straight to her and ask her to help pick out two sets of clothes and buy a wedding quilt.”
“No problem, leave it to me.” Liu Dawei patted his chest, lit a cigarette, and followed them out.
“I didn’t bring any money. You two can pay, and whatever you spend will count as repaying me.” Zhao Jingyu’s money was all with Xu Qingning, and he hadn’t asked her for it.
It suddenly occurred to him that Wang Yaqiang and Liu Dawei owed him twenty or thirty yuan from last month. He could just ask them to pay it back now and use the money to buy things at the department store.
“Don’t worry, boss, we’ve got it covered.” Wang Yaqiang and Liu Dawei agreed in unison, without hesitation.
After just one night, they felt Zhao Jingyu was different from before. In the past, when they borrowed money from him, he never asked for it back—if he had it, he gave it; if not, he let it go.
This time, Zhao Jingyu remembered clearly and asked them to repay him for the first time.
Ahem, having a wife really makes a difference.
Before ten o’clock, Zhao Jingyu returned, carrying bags of various sizes into the room. Xu Qingning secretly felt pleased but didn’t show it on her face, pretending to be surprised. “Didn’t you say I would go buy them?”
“You didn’t seem well, so I thought it’s better you don’t go out.” Zhao Jingyu said, placing the bags on the writing desk. “If you can tidy up, go ahead. If not, I’ll ask my mom to come help.”
“I can manage this.” Xu Qingning looked at the pile of colorful daily necessities and the large bag of wedding candies, feeling quite pleased—she had saved money again.
But then she thought something wasn’t right. His wallet was with her, so where did he get the money to buy all these things?
Did he have a secret stash?
Men’s words really couldn’t be trusted. She had thought he’d given all his money to her!
The sun rose higher, and more people gathered in the courtyard, laughing, playing, and making a lively commotion.
From time to time, someone would peek through the window to catch a glimpse of the bride, but Xu Qingning paid no mind, calmly and steadily tidying the room.
The bedsheets and quilt covers were of decent quality, though the patterns were rather old-fashioned—red with peony flowers. But this wasn’t Zhao Jingyu’s poor taste; most bedding from this era looked like this.
Once the bed was made, the entire room took on a bright red glow.
She should have washed them before putting them on, but there wasn’t time now. In truth, whether they were washed or not didn’t matter much to her; she didn’t care about such things.
But Zhao Jingyu wanted to make the room look festive, especially since today’s guests included his superiors, colleagues, and friends.
Rushed as it was, he didn’t want the arrangements to seem too shabby, and she could understand that.