1977: The beginning of the blind date with the daughter of the king

Chapter 655 She's Pregnant!

Lin Yuan was very efficient. By the time Li Changhe landed his private jet for the second time at a military airport in the suburbs of Beijing, Lin Yuan had already taken care of the car for him.

A black Land Cruiser was already parked there, with even the camera mounted on it.

After taking the keys from the receptionist, Li Changhe got into the car, started the engine, and drove towards the city.

Soon, the car's air conditioning blew in gusts of cool air, driving away the sweltering heat outside. Li Changhe drove while looking outside.

Meanwhile, on the highway outside, a horse-drawn carriage was slowly making its way towards Li Changhe from the opposite direction. Seven or eight simply dressed farmers, men and women, were sitting on the carriage, all wearing straw hats and laughing and talking loudly.

The carriage passed head-on with Li Changhe's Land Cruiser, causing Li Changhe to feel a sense of disorientation, a strange sense of alienation from this era.

For many people in later generations, the 1980s marked the beginning of reform and opening up, a new era for the entire nation, and a misconception that modernization had begun.

But in fact, Li Changhe, living in this era, was once again suddenly struck by the realization that for the vast majority of Chinese people in this era, their lives had not changed much.

Setting aside political ideologies, the pace of life in the suburbs of Beijing in the 1980s was not significantly different from that in the 1920s.

Dirt roads and horse-drawn carts are the norm in this area today.

It turns out that all the changes happened imperceptibly, through small, incremental alterations that gradually transformed the entire society and gave the whole country a fresh new look.

Perhaps this is the meaning of the struggle of this generation during the reform and opening up, and it is also his motivation for being away from home now.

While reflecting on his own experience, Li Changhe drove to his villa and quickly arrived at it. He then took out his keys, opened the villa gate, and drove the car inside.

After parking the car, Li Changhe went into the house, then looked on with some curiosity.

The room is quite cool, which means the air conditioner was on before; otherwise, given the weather outside, it would definitely be stuffy inside.

But that shouldn't be the case. It's the middle of the day, shouldn't my wife be at work?
Li Changhe curiously circled the house, but did not see his wife.

"He's not here, he went out?"

"Hey, why is there another car in this yard?"

Just then, a curious voice came from outside. Li Changhe immediately recognized the source of the voice as Liu Shuwan's.

"Mom, I drove it back."

Li Changhe hurriedly came out and spoke to Liu Shuwan, then looked at Zhu Lin who was standing next to Liu Shuwan.

"You came back without saying a word. Did you buy a new car again?"

Zhu Lin looked at the black SUV and asked Li Changhe curiously.

"Yes, Lin Yuan helped me get it back, so it would be convenient for me to come back from the airport."

"You didn't make the list today, did you go out with Mom?"

Li Changhe asked curiously.

"Yes, I took Linlin to the hospital. You guys were talking about having a baby, and I figured it was about time, so I took Linlin to Peking Union Medical College Hospital for a checkup."

Liu Shuwan then spoke up.

Upon hearing this, Li Changhe immediately looked at Zhu Lin: "Have the results come out? How are they?"

Zhu Lin looked at Li Changhe's expectant expression, then smiled and nodded.

"The timing is just right. She's been pregnant for a month, and even if we don't check, she should start showing signs of pregnancy soon."

"Changhe, you're back just in time. I had something to tell you."

"I'm moving here next month, and Linlin will sleep in the same room as me then!"

“You have to be extra careful with this child for the first three months. You young people living together don’t have much experience, which isn’t good for the baby.”

At this moment, Liu Shuwan spoke to Li Changhe in a tactful manner.

To put it bluntly, she was afraid that if the young couple were in the same room at night and couldn't control themselves, and their actions became a little too vigorous, it wouldn't be good for the baby in her womb.

But this can't be said openly, so we'll just have to be subtle about it.

Li Changhe immediately understood what Liu Shuwan meant and said with a smile, "No problem, Mom, I'll listen to you!"

"Oh dear, that's such a hassle, Mom. If you come over, what will happen to Dad?"

Zhu Lin was a little unhappy. She was already so old, and she was not used to sleeping with her mother.

Besides, she finally had a chance to sleep alone with Li Changhe for a while, and they had a lot of private things to say to each other at night.

"Your dad is a grown man, can't he live at home by himself?"

Liu Shuwan then spoke without any politeness.

"Then you have to cook for him, right?"

“The school has a cafeteria, how could he go hungry? He just needs to go home to sleep at night, he's not a child who needs someone to stay with him.”

Liu Shuwan knew her daughter was unhappy, but she firmly refuted Zhu Lin's reasoning.

"It's okay, I think we should let Dad move in with us. There are plenty of rooms in the house, it's not like we can't fit everyone."

"Besides, we're not far from the school, and not far from the staff quarters either, it's the same."

Li Changhe then tried to smooth things over.

They now live in a villa, which has many rooms and is perfectly adequate for a family of four.

“That’s true. This house looks very big. Your dad could move in with you.”

"Anyway, we'll stay with you for two months. After two months, when things have settled down, we'll see what happens!"

Liu Shuwan said to Zhu Lin in an annoyed tone.

She meant well, but her own daughter still complained. It's only because she's her own child that she's not taken care of her.

"Alright, then go back and tell my dad that I'll have Changhe drive over tonight and help you haul your stuff!"

When the elderly couple comes, they definitely need to bring some clothes and such. It's too hot for two people to ride bicycles, so it's most appropriate for Li Changhe to drive and pick them up.

"Okay, you two can talk at home for a while. I'll go back and pack up first. You two can go back together tonight, have dinner over there, and then come back together."

Liu Shuwan knew that the young couple needed some privacy, so she agreed.

"Mom, let me take you home!"

Li Changhe glanced at the scorching heat outside and hurriedly said...

"No need, you stay home. I'll ride my bike back and stop by the grocery store to buy some cooked food for dinner."

"You two can come over together tonight."

Liu Shuwan waved her hand, then turned and walked out, pushing her bicycle away.

Li Changhe went out and closed the door, then came back and hugged his wife tightly.

"Linlin, are you really pregnant?"

At this moment, Li Changhe asked Zhu Lin with surprise.

Zhu Lin looked at him, then nodded with a smile: "The hospital found out, would they lie to you?"

Li Changhe subconsciously wanted to pick up his wife, but just as he was about to exert force, he remembered that he couldn't make any big movements.

Then he lowered his head and kissed his wife's red lips.

If they can't get anything done, they can at least eat imported candy, right? After some arguing, Zhu Lin finally gave him a hard shove.

"Don't push your luck! You know we can't do that right now, yet you're still trying to seduce me!"

She almost succumbed to passion just now, but thankfully she retained a sliver of reason.

The doctor had warned her that she needed to be careful with her sex life during this period, and she knew very well that Li Changhe was not one to be overly cautious.

"Yeah, I know, I'm just too happy."

"Come on, let's sit on the sofa and talk."

"By the way, if Mom comes to take care of you, what will happen to her job?"

Li Changhe then asked curiously.

If Liu Shuwan comes to take care of Zhu Lin every day, won't she be able to go to work?

"You didn't know? She's stopped going to work."

"Ever since she found out we were planning to have a baby, she has handed over her job."

Zhu Lin then smiled and said to Li Changhe.

Upon hearing this, Li Changhe was somewhat puzzled.

"The handover has been completed? Our mother isn't old enough to retire yet, how can she hand over the responsibilities?"

Seeing Li Changhe's surprised look, Zhu Lin shook her head and then explained to him, "Have you forgotten that the higher-ups are making great efforts to resettle young people returning to the city and encouraging them to take over shifts?"

“For older people like my mom, when one position is handed over, two new people can be recruited. My mom gave one of the positions to my cousin who had just returned to the city, and gave the other position to the company.”

"Anyway, she doesn't need that salary now, and she can respond to the call from above, so now she just stays at home and keeps an eye on me every day."

Zhu Lin said this with a helpless expression.

Seeing this, Li Changhe smiled and said, "Actually, I think it's fine. Mom is doing this because she cares about you."

"To be honest, I'm really touched by what Mom did. After all, I sometimes have to go out and about, and I'm worried about you being home alone. I was even thinking about hiring a nanny for you, but Mom took care of all that first."

"Don't keep arguing with her. She's only doing this for your own good. We really need to be careful for the first three months."

At this moment, Li Changhe advised his wife.

Zhu Lin then jokingly asked Li Changhe, "So, are you regretting sending Xiaoxue back to Shanghai now?"

"If you settle her in the capital, you'll have someone to help you, and you won't get bored."

"Well, that's no use thinking about it now."

Upon hearing his wife's outrageous words, Li Changhe couldn't help but shake his head.

"You shouldn't say things like that in front of our parents."

"Besides, it's only about two months. Just hang in there and it'll pass."

Li Changhe said indifferently.

If he really can't stand it anymore, he can always fly to Hong Kong or Shanghai!

"Alright, when you can't hold it in anymore, go to Shanghai. I'll tell you you're on a business trip and allow you to go out and look for Xiaoxue."

"Just be careful not to let her get pregnant too, otherwise you'll be running between two places, and I'd like to see how you handle that."

Zhu Lin smiled and "reminded" Li Changhe, saying that no matter what, the baby in her belly was the legitimate child.

Well, Xiaoxue's side is considered a secondary lineage!
"By the way, what about your work at the TV station? You can't go to work while you're heavily pregnant, can you?"

Li Changhe then thought of this again and asked Zhu Lin.

Zhu Lin smiled and said, "I had thought about it before and asked the doctor."

"Usually, around four or five months into the pregnancy, the belly isn't very noticeable, so it doesn't affect going to work. The belly only starts to show as the pregnancy progresses."

"I'm currently in my internship period, which will last a full year. During this time, I'm not actually a formal employee of the TV station; I'm working under a mentor. So, the final decision on whether I'll be a full-time employee will be made jointly by my mentor and the station."

"So whether I go to the station or not doesn't really matter. It's up to the teachers. Besides, we don't really care about the positions. We'll just assign them to anyone."

For Zhu Lin, now that she has the Golden Rooster Award as a talisman, she can work in any arts and culture organization without any problem.

Besides, she only did this job sporadically. Her family wasn't short of money, and they didn't care about the salary. She just went to work to relieve boredom.

"Oh, I see. I thought you had to clock in at work every day."

Li Changhe only knew that internships in later generations were more rigorous; he really didn't know much about internships in this era.

After all, he's a recent graduate and hasn't done any internships yet!

The two chatted for a while longer before Zhu Lin started to feel sleepy.

Spring drowsiness, autumn fatigue, and summer lethargy are common, and with her now having a child, it's normal for her to feel tired.

Seeing this, Li Changhe helped her upstairs to her bedroom to catch up on her sleep.

Zhu Lin lay down and quickly fell asleep.

Li Changhe then thought for a moment, left the bedroom, and went to his study.

He still had part of the manuscript to finish, and Li Changhe also planned to take this time to have a good talk with his father-in-law.

We weren't talking about anything else, but rather about my father-in-law's profession, since he's a big shot in chemistry.

In addition, Li Changhe also planned to use his time in Beijing to talk to his father and uncle about the semiconductor industry.

After all, one is a professor in the physics department, and the other is an expert in this field at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. How could Li Changhe possibly give up these resources?

It's now the second half of 81, and we're about to enter 82. Looking at it now, it's not too early or too late to lay out semiconductor projects in China.

Having made up his mind, Li Changhe then threw himself into the process of writing the manuscript.

I wrote until after 3 p.m.

Zhu Lin woke up at this time.

"You're awake. Let me take a shower and change my clothes. We'll go out and buy some groceries first, and then we'll go back."

Li Changhe then spoke to Zhu Lin.

"Okay, let's go buy some braised beef. Tonight, we'll chop some garlic, mix the braised beef with cucumber, and add some of the sauce our older sister makes. It'll be so delicious."

"To be honest, I've tried learning from my older sister several times, but my version just never tastes as good as hers."

Zhu Lin said this with a wistful thought.

"Row!"

"I'll take a shower first, then we'll go shopping!"

Li Changhe then went inside to get some clothes, took a shower, and then pulled Zhu Lin outside.

He figured that Liu Shuwan definitely wouldn't just eat at her house tonight; for such an important occasion, the two families, one upstairs and one downstairs, would probably eat together.

So Li Changhe thought he should buy more vegetables. It didn't matter if he couldn't finish them all; he could just take them home, since he had a refrigerator at home anyway.

(End of this chapter)