Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

When she finished tidying up and came downstairs, Lin Chen was already waiting in the living room with a bulging bag at her feet.

Seeing her come down, I picked up the bag and shook it, the mountain produce inside rustling loudly:

"Sister, I packed some local mountain products with Xie Guangkun. Take them back to Shanghai. They're all local mountain products that you can't buy outside. Don't let Xie Guangkun's cunning fool you, these things are actually quite good."

Yang Xiaoyan walked over with a smile:

"I'm so sorry to have troubled you to spend money."

"It's nothing. Just let me know next time you come, and I'll take you for a walk up the mountain. It's just that it's not the right season for it; it's all bare and there's not much to see."

Yang Xiaoyan said with emotion:

"I still prefer the air in Northeast China, especially in winter. Even breathing it has a certain smell, the smell of my childhood. Maybe I'll come back to settle down someday."

"That's great! By the time you come back next time, the villa next to mine will probably be finished. You can live here then."

Yang Xiaoyan smiled happily:

"It's settled then. You have to reserve a room for me after it's built."

After breakfast, the driver arrived. She put her luggage in the trunk, opened the car door, and before getting in, she glanced back at the two-story building and the large family standing at the door waving to her.

She sighed inwardly. That's enough. After keeping these feelings hidden for so long, I'm content to have this reunion these past two days and to hear him call me "sister."

He has a stable life and a baby on the way. I'm so much older than him, I shouldn't have had any other thoughts in the first place. From now on, we should just treat each other like siblings, that's enough.

The car drove away, and she leaned back in her seat with her eyes closed.

I opened the car window a crack, and the wind that came in carried the chill of the mountains, making my face feel a little cold.

She murmured to herself, a goodbye she hadn't spoken aloud, carried by the wind along the winding mountain path.

……

Meanwhile, at Liu Neng's house, Liu Ying's mother sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed), sewing a small outfit for her unborn grandson with a crooked little tiger embroidered on it.

Liu Ying lay sprawled on the pillow beside her, eating and drinking non-stop.

"Mom, you're really good at this! You sew so beautifully."

"That's right, didn't I make all your clothes when you were little? We didn't have the money to buy them back then."

"Yours looks even better than the ones I bought."

"What's so special about this? Your grandma could even make little tigers, but that skill has been lost by the time of me."

"Yingzi, you've been pregnant for several months now, why isn't your belly showing?"

Liu Yingniang squinted as she threaded the needle, but the thread wouldn't go past the eye of the needle. She asked in bewilderment:

"When I was pregnant with you, I remember showing quite quickly. You're several months along now, how come your belly is still so flat?"

"Why didn't you get up?"

Liu Ying patted her belly, making a loud "slap slap" sound.

"Mom, feel it, it's so big."

Liu Yingniang put down her needlework, reached out and touched her stomach twice, her brows furrowing more and more deeply:

"Something's not right. It's so soft and fluffy, like it's fat. There's no hard lump."

"Oh my god, you've had a baby, how can you be so fat? All the nutrition I ate went to the baby."

Liu Ying pouted and slipped on her cotton slippers before getting out of bed.

"I'm going to the restroom, I'll talk to you when I get back."

Before long, hurried footsteps could be heard from the outer room, and the curtain was suddenly lifted.

Liu Ying stood leaning against the doorframe, her face deathly pale, her lips trembling, her voice trembling with tears:

"Mother... I'm bleeding, I'm afraid I'm going to miscarry."

"What?!"

The needle and thread in Liu Yingniang's hand suddenly fell onto the kang (a heated brick bed):

"Say it again?"

"I...I've lost a lot of blood..."

Liu Ying burst into tears. She could barely stand, even while holding onto the door frame, and her legs were cramping.

"Huh? What were you doing that strained your muscles?"

Liu Yingniang quickly put on her shoes and got off the kang (a heated brick bed), but she put one shoe on the wrong way.

"No, I didn't do anything!"

Liu Ying was sobbing, her shoulders shaking with each sob.

"I didn't have to lift a finger at Old Zhao's house!"

"Alright, alright, stop crying."

Liu Yingniang quickly helped her up, her hands trembling:

"I'll call your dad, let's go to the hospital right away."

At this moment, Liu Neng was at the Big Foot Supermarket, chatting with a few old men with his hands behind his back. He was slapping his thigh and bragging that his daughter was the boss in Old Zhao's family, and that she could get 10,000 yuan just by asking for it, and that Zhao Si and his father didn't dare to say a word against it.

Just as we were getting into the conversation, my phone rang in my pocket, and it was really loud.

He took it out and caught it, his smile gradually froze, his mouth closed, and his eyes slowly widened.

"Huh? Wait...wait! I'm coming back right away!"

He hung up the phone, turned around and ran home, almost knocking his hat off.

Xie Dajiao was wiping the counter when she was startled and shouted at his back:

"Hey! Liu Neng! What did you take? Did you pay for it?"

Wang Yun poked his head out from behind the shelf, looked at the doorway, and said:

"He didn't buy anything; he went empty-handed."

"Yeah, so why did he run away?"

Xie Dajiao was puzzled, still holding a rag in her hand:

"That scared me half to death, that old bastard, he was like his butt was on fire."

Liu Neng ran home panting, and as soon as he entered the door, he started pacing in circles, stamping his feet in frustration.

"How could this happen! And in our own home! If this had happened at Old Zhao's house, you'd see how I swindled them! How... how am I going to explain this to Old Zhao's family?!"

"Alright, enough of that useless talk, let's get to the hospital right away!"

Liu Ying's mother was wrapping Liu Ying in a thick scarf, three layers inside and three outside, making her completely covered up.

"Call Yutian and have him drive over, quick."

"No!"

Liu Neng waved his hand, his voice rising several decibels:

"Don't tell him yet! We'll take the bus, right now. If anyone asks, just say it's a routine prenatal checkup. Hurry up, get dressed!"

Liu Ying was sobbing as she was carried out by two people. Her head was drooping, her hands were covering her stomach, her heart was pounding, her legs were weak, and her steps were unsteady.

After a long bus ride, we arrived at the hospital in no time. The corridor was filled with the pungent smell of disinfectant.

The three of them rushed in. Liu Neng was running around with the registration slip, while Liu Ying was being supported by her mother. Her face was deathly pale, whether from pain or fright, it was hard to tell. She kept her head down, her tears still wet on her face.

Liu Ying was notified to go for an ultrasound and blood test at the same time. Liu Neng squatted against the wall, rubbing his head. Liu Ying's mother sat on a bench next to her, rubbing her cotton-padded coat back and forth until it was almost pilling, and kept grumbling:

"Look at you, trying to extort ten thousand yuan from the Zhao family! If Yingzi really loses her child this time, let's see if the Zhao family will still stand up to you! I told you not to take it, but you wouldn't listen, you just had your eye on their money!"

"What's the point of saying that now?"

Liu Neng stood up with a worried look on his face, rubbing his hands together, the soles of his shoes scraping against the tiles with a soft, rustling sound.

"It's really strange. She only stayed at home for one day and didn't do any chores, so how could this happen? Oh well, we're just unlucky!"

As the two were sighing, they saw Liu Ying walking over from the other end of the corridor, holding a medical report and pretending to cover her stomach with her hand.

"After the examination, tell me to take the report to the doctor in the office."

Liu Neng snatched the examination report and said:

"Let me take a look first."

Liu Ying's mother said irritably:

"What can you possibly understand? Go to the office and ask the doctor!"

The three of them quickly squeezed to sit down at the doctor's table. There were two other people waiting in line next to them, and they all glanced over.

Liu Ying pushed the examination form over, her fingers trembling slightly.

The doctor picked up the form, glanced at it, adjusted his glasses, and said:

"Don't worry, it's nothing serious. All the indicators are normal."

"Oh my god, that scared me to death!"

Liu Yingniang slapped her thigh, breathed a sigh of relief, and leaned forward:

"Doctor, so you mean the child is alright? He just needs to go home and rest?"

The doctor paused for a moment, glanced at her, and then looked at the test results:

"Child? What child? She's not pregnant."

Upon hearing this, Liu Neng and the other two froze on the spot, as if they were frozen in place. Liu Neng's mouth remained open for a long time.

"That can't be right, doctor!"

Liu Yingniang moved the stool forward, almost bumping into the edge of the table, and her voice became much louder with anxiety:

"My daughter is indeed pregnant! She's had all the tests done, but she hasn't had her period and has been feeling nauseous and vomiting every day!"