Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

"Yes, doctor, please take a good look at it again."

Liu Ying nodded quickly, her voice trembling, and her eyes welled up with tears again; the tears came so easily.

"I haven't had my period for quite a while, and I even have acid reflux when I wake up in the morning."

"Didn't you get your period? But you did this time, didn't you?"

The doctor pushed the form back and tapped it with his finger:

"You said you found out you were pregnant in your last checkup, did you have an ultrasound last time?"

Liu Ying shook her head, her voice barely audible:

"No...no, I figured I was pregnant so I didn't do anything."

"That's right."

The doctor leaned back and explained the science to them:

"You're just too stressed and want a child too much, causing your body to have false pregnancy symptoms. You're not actually pregnant, and your missed period is just due to your emotions. Just go back and adjust your routine."

Liu Neng wanted to say something more, but the doctor lost patience and kept nagging him:

"What's going on with you all? There are so many people behind us. I'm telling you one last time, the young lady's vital signs are all normal; she's not pregnant!"

Liu Neng and his family of three didn't even know how they got out of the clinic. They slumped on the bench in the corridor and didn't utter a sound for a long time.

People walked back and forth nearby, their footsteps clicking, but no one paid any attention.

Liu Ying leaned on her mother's shoulder, tears streaming down her face.

"Mother, I'm scared..."

"What's there to be afraid of?"

Liu Yingniang patted her hand, her rough palm rubbing against the back of her hand:

"We didn't mean to cheat the Zhao family. We can ask for it later. What are you going to do about it?"

Liu Ying cried and said:

"I'm afraid they'll treat me the way I treated them. I used to take advantage of my pregnancy to cause them a lot of trouble."

Liu Ying's mother was almost driven to despair:

"Sigh, you won't listen to anything I say. When we get back, I'll go with you to Old Zhao's house and have a good talk with him. Yutian isn't like that; he can't be like you."

Liu Neng pulled his hat down further, covering half his face. A surge of anger welled up inside him; his teeth ached, and his cheeks twitched as he did so.

"You make it sound so easy. When Yingzi was pregnant a while ago, she caused the Zhao family a lot of trouble, asking for this and that. I even pocketed ten thousand yuan. Now suddenly everything's fine. What am I supposed to tell them? What am I supposed to say to them?"

"Liu Neng, are you scared now?" Liu Yingniang glanced at him, her tone slightly reproachful.

"What am I afraid of!"

Liu Neng initially appeared quite tough, but then deflated, revealing a complete lack of confidence.

"I'm not thinking about... I'm thinking about how to get through this."

"Take your time to think it over. My daughter and I are heading back now."

"Hey, wait a minute!"

……

In the courtyard of the soybean product company's factory, several vans were parked with their doors open.

Wang Xiaomeng stood on the steps, holding a delivery note in her hand, directing the workers to load the truck. Goods from Fushun, Changchun, and Huludao were neatly stacked. Her voice was clear and loud, and she spoke each sentence clearly, showing the demeanor of a boss.

After finishing the last batch of work, she clapped her hands and turned around to see Li Qiuge leaning against the warehouse door frame, looking down at her phone, her lips were upturned, her eyes were smiling, and her fingers were tapping rapidly.

Wang Xiaomeng leaned over, nudged her arm with her elbow, and teased her with a smile:

"Hey, Qiuge, are you in love? You're smiling so sweetly."

"Yes, you're in a relationship."

Li Qiuge put her phone back in her pocket, neither denying it nor hiding anything, and smiled mysteriously as she hugged Wang Xiaomeng's arm.

"With whom? I've never heard you mention it before," Wang Xiaomeng asked, even more curious.

"It's not settled yet, it's not even close to happening. I pursued her, but she didn't agree."

Li Qiuge shook her head and walked out:

"Everything's alright here. I'm going out for a bit. Don't wait for me for dinner. Call me if you need anything."

After saying that, she left. Bai Qingming came out of the storeroom next door, holding an account book in his hand. He shook his head as he watched her go, and smiled at Wang Xiaomeng, saying:

"Qiuge has been acting a bit strange lately, always acting mysterious and laughing while holding her phone."

"They're probably dating, that's normal. But he looks like he's from our village. Who's the young man?"

……

Liu Neng and his two companions had just returned from the hospital when they lifted the cotton curtain, bringing in a blast of cold air.

The three of them sat on the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), which was so hot it was burning their bottoms, but their hearts were ice-cold. The atmosphere was a bit somber, and no one spoke first.

Liu Neng smoked for a long time, inhaling quite heavily, until he was almost dizzy.

Finally, he stomped on the cigarette butt hard, looked at the mother and daughter, and said with a stern face:

"Let's make this clear today: we absolutely cannot tell anyone that Yingzi isn't pregnant. We can't let it slip to anyone. It's all a secret."

"How can you possibly hide it?"

Liu Yingniang's brows furrowed into a knot:

"If her belly is still so flat in two months, how can the Zhao family not be suspicious? The truth will come out eventually, it's only a matter of time."

"We'll just keep it a secret for as long as possible, take it one step at a time, and figure out a solution gradually. We can't just go and tell them right now, can we?"

He paused, then stood up and continued:

"Also, Yingzi, don't go back yet. Stay at our house and tell them I've been deceived and I'm quite upset. You'll have to take care of me for a while."

"Wouldn't Zhao Si and Yu Tian come to pick them up?"

Liu Yingniang asked again:

"It's perfectly normal for people to bring their wives along. If we keep refusing to let them come, wouldn't that just make people more suspicious?"

"Let's drag this out for as long as we can."

Liu Neng squatted on the ground, rubbing his temples:

"Just tell them the doctor advised that the pregnancy is unstable and you need to stay in bed. Your mother and I have been taking good care of you at your parents' house. Do you think they can take on the responsibility? If the pregnancy is seriously affected, can they bear the consequences?"

Liu Ying sat to the side, picking at the splinters on her hands, tears streaming down her face.

"Then... what should we do in the future? The General Assembly isn't going to be a problem either; it'll be exposed sooner or later."

"We'll talk about the future later!"

Liu Neng waved his hand, adopting the posture of the head of the household:

"Let's get through this first. If we're exposed now, where will we, the Liu family, put our faces? I'll never be able to hold my head up in front of Zhao Si again."

"Dad, why don't you give me that ten thousand yuan? I'll take it back to Yutian and the others. There's money they borrowed in it."

"You...you child, why didn't you say so sooner? How could you let someone lend you money!"

Liu Ying, with her mouth wide open, cried and wailed:

"I just wanted to pretend for a little while..."

"It's over, I can't even imagine how much resentment the Zhao family is holding now..." Liu Yingniang felt dizzy and lay down on the pillow.

Liu Neng sat down on the child's clothes in a daze, then immediately let out a scream and sprang into action.

"Ouch, oh dear, why aren't you putting the needle away properly?! You've pricked me!"

……

The midday sun was shining brightly. Lin Chen was sitting behind his desk, happily eating his lunch, when the door was pushed open and Li Qiuge walked straight in, bustling about.

Lin Chen looked up and saw her, her chopsticks hanging in mid-air:

"Hey? What brings you here? Have you eaten yet?"

"No."

Li Qiuge smiled and walked to the opposite side of the table, leaned back in her chair, and swung her legs around.

"I sent you several text messages and you didn't reply, so I just came online. I don't want you to pretend you didn't see them."

Lin Chenchong shouted from the outer room:

"Xiao Li, bring me a set of bowls and chopsticks!"

Less than half a minute later, Secretary Li came in with a bowl and chopsticks, her eyes scanning Li Qiuge from head to toe, looking her up and down as if she were on guard against something.

"Put it here, and close the door behind you when you leave." Lin Chen waved his hand.

Xiao Li dawdled as he went out, deliberately leaving a crack in the door so he could eavesdrop.

"Close it tightly!"

"Snap..." This time it was shut off completely.

Lin Chen picked up his chopsticks and placed a piece of braised pork on Li Qiuge's plate. He spoke directly and frankly, without beating around the bush at all:

"Qiuge, let's get this straight today. Don't do anything useless in the future. Because of your mother's relationship, I'll treat you like my niece. I'll make sure you have everything arranged for your work and life here."

"But let's not talk about that kind of thing between men and women, okay? I saw the text message you sent this morning, what was that? Xiaomei has never sent me anything so explicit."

Li Qiuge kept her head down, shoveling rice into her mouth without looking up, but her tone was quite stubborn:

"Then you have to give me a chance, right? I'm not fighting for status or competing with anyone else, I just want to be with you, isn't that enough?"