Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

After chatting for a while about Li Qiuge's accommodation and work arrangements, Yang Xiaoyan and Bai Qingming got up to say goodbye.

After they left, the room became quiet.

After holding it in for a long time, Wang Laoqi finally couldn't help but lean over and ask:

"Xiao Meng, who's that guy talking about, the one with your wife? I've never heard of him before."

Feeling guilty, Wang Xiaomeng kept scribbling in her notebook, mumbling as she spoke:

"Dad, don't listen to his nonsense. It's not true. I was just worried about being taken advantage of outside, so I told him I had a man. Hurry up and get ready. I'll take you around this afternoon, and we'll go home tomorrow."

Seeing that his daughter's ears were completely red, Wang Laoqi roughly understood what was going on. How could he not know what his daughter was like? He didn't ask any more questions, shook his head, and went to pack up his small samples of products.

……

The afternoon sun made the flowerbed unusually hot and humid, and the smell of soil mixed with the seedlings filled the air.

Yutian Niang tried to straighten up for a long time, but her back was stiff and she couldn't straighten up. She supported her lower back with her hands and slowly tried to straighten up, clenching her fists and punching them several times. She grimaced in pain, and sweat soaked her temples. Her clothes clung to her body.

Zhao Yutian was turning over the soil with a shovel, his forehead covered in sweat. Seeing his mother's distressed state, he dropped the shovel and went over to her.

"Mom, take a break. Don't push yourself too hard. When you get back, don't cook. Just let Liu Ying cook some noodles for herself. It's too much of a burden to serve her like this every day."

"You're kidding me."

Zhao Si loaded the soil onto the wheelbarrow, stopped, and wiped his sweat.

"Then... will that work? What if she stretches herself? You're talking nonsense. Yingzi is pregnant now, she's delicate, she can't do any work, she has to be well taken care of. She has to go back and cook, and she has to make some hearty dishes, she has to get enough nutrition."

Yutian's mother sighed, pulled off the towel draped around her neck, and wiped her face, her tone full of helplessness:

"Sigh, when I was pregnant with Yutian, I was still cutting wheat in the fields when I was almost due. I've done all kinds of work. Look at Yingzi now, she hardly gets out of bed at all, and she complains that the food is too hot when it's served to her."

"People were more resilient back then, were they the same as they are now?"

Zhao Si, with a pipe in his mouth, stood up and patted the mud off his trousers:

"Hurry up and pack your things and go back. Yingzi will probably call again soon, she'll definitely be hungry."

As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Yutian's phone rang. He took it out and saw that it was Liu Ying.

He took a deep breath and answered the call, trying his best to suppress his temper:

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Yutian, I'm hungry! Why aren't you back yet?"

Liu Ying's voice had a delicate, coquettish quality that could be clearly heard even through the phone:

"I've been waiting for ages, are you just dawdling in the field again?"

"I've been so busy with work these past few days that I'm having trouble keeping up. I'm telling Mom to go home right away. You can have some biscuits or something to tide you over for now. We're heading home now."

"If I can handle it, can I handle the child too?"

Liu Ying immediately raised her voice:

"The child is still growing, are you going to let him handle this?"

Just as Zhao Yutian was about to say something to her, Yutian's mother quickly waved her hand at him and stopped him in a low voice:

"Stop arguing! I'm coming back right now. You two mustn't bicker. Liu Ying can't stand it; what if she gets upset and it affects the baby?"

As she spoke, she quickly gathered the hoe and seedling basket to the side, and, supporting her back, limped home without even daring to rest.

Zhao Yutian angrily slammed the shovel into the ground, his face long and drawn.

"Dad, you know, Xie Xiaomei is pregnant too, but her belly is much bigger than hers, and she's not as pampered as her. She was busy at the farm every day for the first few months. Look at her, she doesn't do any work all day, and she still has to eat on the kang (heated brick bed). This isn't pregnancy, it's like she's being treated like royalty."

"Alright, alright, stop grumbling."

Zhao Si gave him a light kick, his tone softening:

"Everyone's constitution is different. As long as you can deliver the baby safely, that's more important than anything else. It's just a few months, so what if you're tired? Hurry up and go home to check on things. Don't really upset them. I'll push these carts around here myself."

Zhao Yutian pursed his lips, reluctantly picked up the shovel, and walked home with his head drooping.

……

Meanwhile, Lin Chen was writing and drawing on the living room sofa, a cigarette between his fingers, as if he was planning something. A cup of cold tea sat on the coffee table.

He was engrossed in his drawing when his phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw it was Wang Xiaomeng. Afraid something had happened, he answered immediately.

"Hey, what's up, Xiao Meng?"

"Brother Chen, I need to talk to you about something. I'm going back tomorrow."

Wang Xiaomeng's voice was tinged with laughter:

"We have a distinguished guest coming with us. Are you free tomorrow? Could you pick us up from Shenyang Airport? If it were just me and my dad, we could just take the train back. But with other people around, it's inconvenient."

"No problem, it's no big deal."

Lin Chen sat up and flicked his cigarette ash:

"Did Bai Qingming come with you? I'll treat him well when he arrives, have a drink and a chat with him."

"It's not Bai Qingming."

Wang Xiaomeng burst out laughing:

"I applied to the company to have a different woman, named Li Qiuge. She's their quality director, and she came here specifically to provide on-site technical guidance. She's a real beauty."

Lin Chen teased her on purpose:

"What? You went out and brought back a little sister? Well done, Xiao Meng, you even brought me a Shanghai specialty."

"Get lost, you're so unserious."

Wang Xiaomeng also laughed:

"You can't make a move on her. She's an expert I invited back, a real technical talent. Don't scare her away."

"Just kidding, am I that kind of person?"

Lin Chen asked with a smile:

"What time will you arrive in Shenyang tomorrow?"

"Landing at 2 PM."

"Okay, don't worry, I'll pick you up from the airport on time. Be careful on the road tomorrow."

"understood."

Wang Xiaomeng responded, and the two chatted for a couple more minutes before hanging up.

Lin Chen tossed his phone onto the sofa, picked up his herbal tea and took a sip. As for the beautiful woman Wang Xiaomeng mentioned, he didn't pay any attention to her and turned back to look at his drawing.

After looking at it for a while, he nodded in satisfaction and started dialing numbers one by one from his phone's contact list.

The first person I called was Qi Santai, and I spoke to her in a very familiar tone:

"Alright, then I'll book Fu Man Jia in town. See you the day after tomorrow, Lao Qi. Let's have a good drink then."

After hanging up with Qi Santai, Lin Chen called Director Zhang and Deputy Mayor Li respectively, giving similar explanations: he had arranged to meet with Mayor Qi to discuss some minor matters and inquire about them, nothing troublesome.

Upon hearing that Qi Santai was also going, the two readily agreed without much thought.

With the three main ones finalized, Lin Chen pondered for a while, then pulled out Pi Changshan's number and dialed it.

"Brother-in-law, are you free the day after tomorrow? I've made plans to have dinner with the town mayor and the director of the town's education committee. If you're free, come along. It's about that piece of land. It's such a waste of wasteland; I have another use for it."

Pi Changshan stood up abruptly in the village office, so excited that he stomped his knees.

"Oh, brother, you're free! You absolutely have to be free! Thank you so much, brother. I usually can't even get a chance to invite these leaders, and you're thinking of me. I'm truly grateful..."

"Alright, stop with the formalities. It's just a matter of adding a pair of chopsticks. Fu Man Jia will be there at six o'clock the day after tomorrow. Let's go there early."

"Hey! Don't worry, bro, I'll definitely be there early!"

After hanging up the phone, Xie Xiaomei came out of the bathroom, drying her wet hair, and sat down next to him.

"Who were you talking to on the phone for so long? You seemed to be having quite a lively conversation."

"Qi Santai and a few others from the town have arranged to have dinner together the day after tomorrow night."

Xie Xiaomei was a little puzzled and tilted her head to look at him:

"Why did you suddenly decide to treat them to dinner? What are your plans?"

"It's nothing major, just those three acres of land. They've been in my hands for so long and they've been abandoned. I was thinking of using them. I'll make arrangements with the people in town first, and also take care of some personal matters while I'm at it. That way, it'll be easier to start construction later."