Back to 1984: Earning Money, Raising Kids, and Keeping the Household Busy

Lin Qin laughed and scolded, "Look at you, so smug! The child is having fun, so don't bother her."

Chen Wenjun put Ya Ya down, and the little girl immediately darted into the yard, not caring about the cold.

At eleven o'clock, the sound of fireworks and firecrackers came from the city, deafeningly loud.

Chen Wenjun also set off two large fireworks, and only after that did he happily take his two children back to the house to sleep.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the whole family originally planned to take a break and sleep in, but their biological clocks were still there, and they couldn't sleep at all.

When Chen Wenjun woke up, he found Lin Qin sleeping soundly. Not daring to disturb her, he tiptoed downstairs and found that Lin Yi had already woken up and was cooking brown sugar noodles.

This year's brown sugar noodles also contain red dates and longan, making them smell fragrant and sweet.

Chen Wenjun ate all the brown sugar noodles that had been used to worship the Kitchen God.

It was still dark when Lin Yi changed the baby's diaper and fed him.

The two sat in the lobby on the first floor, staring at each other, feeling somewhat bored.

So Chen Wenjun suggested we go to the gymnasium to play ball.

Lin Yi had also learned a little bit of table tennis during this period, and the two of them got so engrossed in playing that they didn't come back until Lin Qin got up around 7 a.m.

It was Lin Qin who heard the commotion and went to investigate before the two of them finally finished.

After Lin Qin finished breakfast, the couple took a tin boat to Wanggong Temple.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, the incense here was as burning brightly as ever.

Zhou Shuifang, Chen Yongding, and their two sons all came to offer incense this year.

Zhou Shuifang immediately noticed Lin Qin's large belly and sidled up to ask, "When did you give birth?"

Lin Qin carefully protected her belly and moved to the side. Just as she was about to answer, her expression changed drastically, and she instinctively grabbed Zhou Shuifang's arm tightly. "Auntie, I think I'm going into labor!"

Zhou Shuifang was startled and quickly helped Lin Qin out. She found Chen Wenjun and shouted at the top of her lungs, "Wenjun, your wife is about to give birth!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the people around him made way.

Chen Wenjun asked Zhou Shuifang and an older woman he knew to help him get Lin Qin onto the boat. He still had to drive the boat back to get the tricycle to the other side.

One person definitely can't handle it.

Zhou Shuifang called on her two sons for help, and after a flurry of activity, Lin Qin was finally taken away by Chen Wenjun in a tricycle.

On the other side of Nanyu, Lin Yi was extremely worried.

I quickly woke up Ya Ya and Ping An, fed them breakfast, and then carried the youngest baby on my back.

He dragged three people along, riding bicycles to the city hospital.

The three children, one adult and three children, finally arrived at the city hospital's obstetrics department, only to be stunned to learn that Lin Qin had already given birth.

"How could it be so fast?" Lin Yi felt a little unreal as he entered the ward.

Chen Wenjun stepped forward to help him put the child down from his back, and smiled like a simpleton. "Qin was in so much pain as soon as she arrived at the hospital. The doctor immediately pushed her into the emergency operating room, and the child was out in less than half an hour. It went very smoothly."

"That's good, that's good." Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief before asking about the baby's gender. Lin Qin glanced at the sleeping baby beside her and softly replied, "It's a son."

Lin Yi was even happier now, and he couldn't suppress his smile no matter what he did.

Whether Lin Qin gives birth to a boy or a girl, they will all be his grandchildren, and he will love them equally. But since Lin Qin has already given birth to a girl, it would be better if she could also have a son.

Ping An is not bad, but Ping An has a physical defect, and Lin Yi cannot rely on Ping An to take care of Lin Qin in her old age and see her off in her final days.

Now that he has this child, Lin Yi is completely at ease and has nothing to worry about.

Ping An and Ya Ya, knowing it was her younger brother, curiously surrounded Lin Qin, unable to resist the urge to poke his face.

The whole family spent the first day of the Lunar New Year in the hospital.

Because Lin Qin's delivery went smoothly without any episiotomy or tearing, and she recovered well, and given that it was the Lunar New Year, the doctor discharged them early the next morning after rounds.

The whole family returned to Nanyu in high spirits.

I had barely sat down after getting back when Lin Ying and her family of four arrived.

Upon learning that Lin Qin had given birth to a son on the first day of the Lunar New Year, Lin Ying was overjoyed and rushed upstairs to see Lin Qin and the baby.

The little one was just born. He ate and slept, and slept and ate. He slept most of the time and wasn't bothered by noise.

Lin Ying glanced at her little nephew, happily stuffed a red envelope into the swaddling clothes, then looked at the other sleeping child next to her and asked in a low voice, "Why are you taking care of both children?"

Lin Qin looked at the two children with affection and explained in a low voice, "I just had a baby and have milk now, so I can feed them as much as I want. But this baby has never suckled before and has been fed with a spoon, so he doesn't want to eat. His dad has just put him to sleep, so I brought him up here to keep him from being disturbed by the noise downstairs."

Lin Ying looked closely at the child, subconsciously touching the child's hair, and glanced at Lin Qin. "Your brother-in-law told me that he wants to adopt this child."

"What are you thinking? Can you bring it?" Lin Qin couldn't help but worry about Lin Ying.

Lin Ying, on the other hand, looked carefree and nonchalant. "What can't I bring? I made a good living from my stall last year. I not only paid off my debts, but I also bought some whitewash. He secretly whitewashed the walls on the second floor. It's just that his skills aren't very good, so it doesn't look very nice. But our family is already the first in the village to do so."

The house is pretty much done now. We can't go any further or it will attract jealousy. This year, Dahai plans to continue selling clothes at his stall. We've decided that the two of us will set up the stall together in the morning. Business is not as good in the afternoon as in the morning. I'll watch the stall while he goes back to farming. If we raise this child, we can take him to the stall. It's not a big deal.

In the afternoon, Dahai said he would take the children to the fields, and Ajian and Akang could play with them when they came home from school.

Back when we lived in the old house, my in-laws weren't willing to help at all. I did everything myself—raising the children and doing all the housework—and I still managed to raise my two sons."

Lin Qin nodded knowingly. That's how children are raised in the village. Since Lin Ying didn't find it troublesome and seemed genuinely interested in adopting the child, Lin Qin told Lin Ying everything about the negotiations she had with Zhu Fugen.

Lin Ying had no more worries now and excitedly said, "That's settled then. When we get back, we'll take the child with us. She'll be ours from now on!"

Lin Qin immediately took out five hundred yuan and gave it to her, saying, "Take her back. You'll definitely have to pay the fine for having too many children to register her household. Here you go."

Lin Ying immediately became unhappy. "If we were going to adopt this child, we must have thought it through long ago. What's the point of spending your money! Don't try to embarrass me!"

Lin Qin smiled helplessly but didn't insist. She then asked Chen Wenjun to pack all of the child's things.

Lin Yi was worried that the child wouldn't have enough milk, so he kept asking Lin Ying if anyone in Xujia Village raised sheep.

Lin Ying was so worried that she had to take it seriously.

"Dad, don't worry. Our village may not have much else, but there are definitely plenty of people raising cattle and sheep. If all else fails, we can raise a few sheep ourselves. Surely the children won't go hungry?" (End of Chapter)