Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

Xie Guangkun, carrying the bag of near-expiry medicine, muttered to himself as he walked home:

"I've been freezing for nothing, and I was even thinking of getting a bargain. This medicine is almost expired; is it even safe to take? It shouldn't hurt, right?"

Liu Neng strolled home slowly with his hands behind his back, muttering disdainfully:

"What a terrible rural medical clinic! It's...it's...it's more reliable to just spend two yuan to buy medicine at the clinic. It's just a waste of my time."

Wang Changgui looked at the empty scene alone and sighed deeply again.

The higher-ups want impressive records and data, while the lower levels want tangible benefits. Caught in the middle, grassroots village cadres are destined to be caught in the middle, pleasing neither side.

In the Big Foot Supermarket, Xie Dajiao turned her head to look at Lin Chen beside her and said with a smile:

"Thanks to you for standing up today, it feels so satisfying!"

Xie Xiaomei asked in confusion:

"Brother Chen, do you know any reporters in the city? I've never heard you mention them before."

Lin Chen opened a bottle of beverage and said with a smile:

"I don't know any reporters. If you say you want to talk to their leaders, they might not be afraid, but if you say you want to talk to reporters, that works like crazy. Everyone, from top to bottom, is afraid of having a stain on their record. I was just bragging, and they actually believed me."

"Haha, Brother Chen, you're so naughty! I saw they were all scared out of their wits just now!" Xie Xiaomei burst into laughter.

……

As New Year's Day approaches, the first real snowfall in the area around Xiangyashan quietly fell.

Previously, the snowfall was only a thin layer, which would make the other two provinces laugh if they saw such a small amount of snow. But this time, fine snow particles fell from the sky, not large snowflakes, but they were dense and cold, covering the roadside trees and fields with a layer of white frost.

The road from the county town to Xiangyashan was covered with a layer of snow. The heavy snow started last night, and there was a layer of ice under the road surface, making the road slippery and driving particularly difficult.

Xie Baochang's black Santana is considered a decent private car here.

This car is usually parked in the garage of the government compound, and is only driven to commute to and from get off work or to conduct research at the grassroots level.

Today, the car drove out of the county town and headed towards Xiangyashan Village. The couple was in the car. They had heard about Xie Dajiao's pregnancy from Xie Xiaomei before.

Logically, the older brother and sister-in-law should have visited their younger sister long ago when they learned of her pregnancy, but it was the busiest time of the year for their public sector employees, and the two of them simply couldn't find the time.

Xie Xiaomei's father, Xie Baochang, was working overtime every day to bind ledgers, prepare reports for inspections, and conduct field trials in the countryside. He was busy from morning till night, and even spent his weekends at the office.

Su Guifen was even busier. The Industry and Commerce Bureau was conducting a year-end inspection, and there was a focus on fire safety and hygiene in all the county's farmers' markets, as well as the centralized annual inspection and rectification of individual business licenses. Merchants from all over the county flocked to her for help, and her phone rang from morning till night. The two of them were practically tied to official duties in the county town, and only now have they been able to free up some time.

After finally getting through the year-end assessment and the peak of market inspections, the couple decided to take a trip to the countryside, just in time for the first heavy snowfall.

The back seats were piled high with gifts for Xie Dajiao and Xie Xiaomei: thin-skinned walnuts, Xinjiang dates, and several boxes of premium-quality nutritional supplements for pregnant women, which Su Guifen had asked her colleagues in the provincial capital to bring back for her. These were high-quality items that couldn't be bought in Kaiyuan.

They had two important matters to attend to on this trip. First, they wanted to visit Xie Dajiao, who was pregnant, to see her living conditions and what else she needed. Second, Xie Xiaomei had been talking about Lin Chen constantly since she returned home, praising him to her parents every day as a steady and reliable man. The couple had long been curious about him and wanted to meet the man their daughter admired to help her make the first choice.

Su Guifen, wrapped in a thick cashmere scarf, buried half her face in it, huddled in the passenger seat rubbing her hands. The car's engine hadn't warmed up yet, and turning on the heater was useless. It was below minus ten degrees Celsius outside, and it was snowing, so the car was really cold.

She glanced sideways at Xie Baochang, who was focused on driving, and casually chatted:

"Hey Lao Xie, let's get down to business. Is that Lin Chen our daughter keeps talking about, really reliable?"

She gently nudged Xie Baochang's arm, her tone carrying a mother's caution:

"You know how high-minded Xiaomei is. So many young men from the government and well-off government officials' children are pursuing her in the county, but she doesn't even look at them. I'm not sure if this country boy is the one she's so interested in. Could he be being scammed?"

"Let me tell you in advance, when you meet this person, put away your deputy bureau chief airs and don't interrogate him as soon as you see him, with a stern face and a high-pitched tone, or you'll scare the child into being reserved."

Xie Baochang gripped the steering wheel firmly with both hands, his eyes fixed on the snow-covered road ahead, his foot lightly on the accelerator as he crawled along at a low speed. His speech was calm and composed:

"What's the rush? We'll find out everything once we meet him. Xiaomei told us that the young man used to run his own business. He's all alone in his family, but he's accumulated quite a bit of wealth at such a young age. Look at the car Xiaomei drove back."

"For me, money and wealth are secondary. The first thing I look at is character and integrity, and the second is whether they care about Xiaomei. If someone is not of good character, I will not agree to their relationship no matter how rich they are."

"That's definitely not true!"

Su Guifen immediately nodded in agreement, sighed, and softened her tone:

"Besides, Xiaohong has really had a tough time. Why is her life so hard? What kind of life did she have with Li Fu? After the divorce, she got pregnant. I heard that Xiaomei's boyfriend has been helping her a lot. Otherwise, as a pregnant woman in the countryside, she would have suffered a lot of grievances."

"Sigh, I've said it before, Li Fu was just a construction worker back then, lazy, greedy and cunning. I wouldn't even look at him with my ass. But my little sister just couldn't resist him, and no matter what I said, it was no use. She hasn't contacted me about it since."

Su Guifen said helplessly:

"You should say less. Xiao Hong was too soft-hearted back then and couldn't resist his persistent pleading. You're just being a smart aleck. Otherwise, Xiao Hong wouldn't have ignored you for so many years. We only found out about your divorce and pregnancy from Xiao Mei."

"When we get there, I'll have a chat with Xiaohong behind closed doors, asking her about her daily life, accommodation, and health. You should stay out of it; men don't understand these things about women."

Xie Baochang gave a helpless twitch at the corner of his mouth:

"Okay, okay, I'll listen to you. You've been in charge of everything at home for half my life. The road is too slippery, I'll focus on watching the road and driving, so don't keep nagging me."

The snowflakes fell thicker and thicker, and the wind seeped in through the cracks in the car windows. Fortunately, the water temperature had risen, so it wasn't cold inside the car.

The black Santana glided slowly along the snow-covered country road, its wheels occasionally skidding and the car body slightly swaying. There was no one in sight on this road, making it extremely difficult for the car to move.

The car was swaying and bumping along when, at a long downhill bend, an accident occurred.

The road surface appeared to be covered with only a thin layer of snow, but underneath lay an unseen layer of ice. The wheels slipped instantly when they rolled over it, and the car veered uncontrollably toward the side of the road.

With a muffled thud, the rear wheel got stuck in the shallow drainage ditch by the roadside.

Xie Baochang tentatively pressed the accelerator lightly, the engine roared and the rear wheels spun wildly in place. The more they spun, the more slippery the snow and ice under the wheels became, and the tires were completely stuck in the ditch, unable to move an inch.

Xie Baochang frowned and got out of the car.

The cold wind in the wild, carrying snowflakes, pelted his face, feeling like being pricked by Rong Momo. The cold made him, a person who sits in an office all year round, subconsciously shrink his neck and pull his collar up.

He crouched down and touched the bottom of the tire. The ice was hard and slippery, and the tire was stuck in the ditch, so he couldn't get any leverage.

Su Guifen, the passenger, also hurriedly got out of the car. Her cotton shoes crunched on the snow, which was quite relaxing. As she spoke, a large cloud of white breath came out of her mouth and nose.

"How's it going, Lao Xie? Can you get it done?"

"It looks unlikely."

Xie Baochang stood up, brushed the snow off his hands, and said in a solemn tone:

"The ground underneath is all frozen solid ice, the tires can't grip the ground, and just shoveling snow won't help."

He went around to the trunk, opened the lid, took out a small shovel that came with the car, and squatted behind the tires to slowly scrape away the ice and clear the snow.

"I'll dig a few times, and you give me a push from behind. Let's see if we can get up here."

The two of them, one shaved ice and the other ready to lend a hand, worked on it for a full twenty minutes.

The cold wind chilled them so much that their fingers turned red and numb, and their palms were covered in snow water, which was icy cold.

I worked up a sweat, but it was no use; the tires kept spinning without moving an inch.

This country road is in the middle of nowhere, with only overgrown weeds and wild fields on both sides. There are usually few people on the road at this time of day, and with the heavy snow and drop in temperature, you can't see a single car pass by for half a day.

Su Guifen, with her impatient nature, paced back and forth around the car, her tone full of helplessness:

"What are we going to do? We're in the middle of nowhere, and there's not a single person to lend a hand!"

"We might not be able to get it done even if we freeze here all afternoon. If we dawdle and don't get into the village, we'll both catch a cold. And I have to go back to work for a meeting tomorrow afternoon!"

Xie Baochang planted his shovel in the snow, his face also looking rather grim.

"There's no other way but to wait here and try our luck, see if a tractor or a private car passes by."

Su Guifen proposed:

"Hey? Why don't you call someone at your workplace? They'll definitely be eager to come."

"Come on, what kind of weather is this? If something happens, who's going to be responsible? Just wait patiently. If you're cold, go inside the car."

"Sigh, you're right..."

The snow fell heavier and heavier, blurring the view. The road was completely deserted, not even a car in sight. Both of them knew that they would most likely be stuck in the snow for a long time.

Just as the two were worrying about their stuck car, a deep, heavy SUV engine sound suddenly came from afar in the cold wind...