Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

After listening, Zhao Si slammed his hand on the table, making everything on it jump. In an instant, he suddenly understood—no, he suddenly had a sudden realization.

"No wonder Liu Neng wouldn't let anyone come back; he's been holding back a big move! Yutian, I bet your mother guessed right!"

He paced anxiously back and forth on the ground, muttering that he absolutely could not let Liu Neng succeed, that he needed to think of a way quickly, and that he had to go pick her up tomorrow, no matter what, he had to bring Liu Ying back.

Early the next morning, a few snowflakes were still falling outside the window.

Lin Chen got up early and bought millet porridge and boiled eggs, which he then brought back to the ward in an insulated lunchbox.

Xie Xiaomei had just woken up when Lin Chen wrung out a hot towel to wipe her face and hands, then fed her porridge.

"Drink slowly. The doctor said to drink thin soup first, and then make soup for you after you pass gas. Just bear with it for the next couple of days."

Xie Xiaomei tried to sit up, but felt dizzy. Wang Xiaomeng quickly reached out to support her and placed two pillows behind her back.

"Slow down, don't rush, your body is weak right now."

While I was eating, the nurse came in:

"Xie Xiaomei's family, the child needs to receive the first hepatitis B vaccination and the BCG vaccine. Please bring the child and come with me."

Su Guifen and her husband didn't go to work today. She picked up the child:

"Xiao Chen, I'll go. You go get the birth certificate. It's eight o'clock already, so let's not rush during peak hours."

"Go on, go on, make sure you have everything you need, don't forget anything." Xie Baochang and Su Guifen went out together.

Lin Chen gathered all his belongings and headed straight for the window at the far end of the corridor.

The staff member at the window took the documents, looked up, and asked:

Have you decided on a name for the baby?

"It's settled, the name is Lin Jingyang, Lin as in forest, Jing as in scenery, and Yang as in sun."

The staff checked the information, typed away rapidly on the keyboard, and printed out a birth certificate in less than two minutes. They stamped it with the official seal, handed it over, and specifically instructed:

"Here you go. Keep the main page for yourself, but the supplementary page is for registering your household registration. Don't tear it off yourself; just verify the information."

"Okay, no problem, thanks."

On his way back, Lin Chen ran into the attending physician and quickly went to greet him.

"Doctor, when can we expect to be discharged?"

"If you recover well, you can be discharged after passing gas."

The doctor smiled and said:

"Xie Xiaomei seems to be doing well. Just take normal care of her and don't let her go to the fields too early."

"Okay, thank you, doctor." Lin Chen breathed a sigh of relief.

Back in the ward, he passed the birth certificate around for everyone to see.

"Look at this, the more I look at it, the better it gets, so proper and dignified." Xie Baochang took out his reading glasses, put them on, and held them up to examine them for a long time.

Everyone in the room laughed. Lin Chen said he was going out to buy something, and Wang Xiaomeng, knowing he was going out to buy a gift for Xie Xiaomei, volunteered to go with him.

Meanwhile, in the village, Liu Neng walked towards Wang Laoqi's house with his hands in his pockets and his neck hunched, thinking of buying two pieces of tofu. Ever since his business grew, Wang Laoqi no longer sold tofu from his cart.

Only Liu Ying and her mother were left at home, so they tidied up the house.

The courtyard gate was pushed open, and Zhao Yutian, wearing a thick down jacket, came in. A blast of cold air followed as he pushed the door open, and he called out to Yingzi.

Liu Ying was folding quilts in the inner room when she heard the sound and peeked out. Her heart skipped a beat, and she stopped folding.

"Yingzi, why are you making the bed yourself? I never make you do this at home. Put it down right now!"

Faced with Zhao Yutian's words, Liu Ying felt awkward and didn't know how to respond, so she simply changed the subject:

"Yutian, why are you here so early? What's up?"

Zhao Yutian then realized that he had come with a mission:

"Oh, well, Mom suddenly felt unwell in the middle of the night, vomiting and having diarrhea, lying there groaning. She was worried about you, so I thought I'd send you back to check on her as soon as possible."

Liu Ying felt flustered and stammered:

"Let's wait until my dad gets back, let's wait a little longer."

Zhao Yutian immediately became furious and shouted:

"My mother is so sick, what are you waiting for your father for? Are you even my wife? My mother is sick and you're still waiting here, what do you mean by that?"

Liu Ying blushed at his question and quickly waved her hand, saying that wasn't what she meant. After hesitating for a while, she finally gritted her teeth and said:

"Then I'll go back with you..."

Liu Ying's mother sighed beside her, said nothing, turned around to pack Liu Ying's bundle, stuffed all the clothes she had brought back into it, and secretly slipped some money into the pocket of her cotton-padded jacket, then gently patted it.

A little while later, Liu Neng returned with his hands behind his back, carrying two pieces of tofu. Upon entering the house and not seeing Liu Ying, he asked Liu Ying's mother:

"Huh? Where's Yingzi?"

"Yutian just arrived and said his mother was sick, so he took Yingzi back with him."

Liu Neng stomped his foot, his small eyes blinking rapidly:

"Damn it! We've fallen for their trap! It must have been that old bastard Zhao Si's dirty trick—faking illness to lure Yingzi back!"

He quickly picked up the landline and called Liu Ying, pressing the button twice before finally getting the correct number.

By this time, Liu Ying was almost at her doorstep, her face buried in her scarf, with only her eyes showing.

Her phone rang. She took it out and saw it was her dad. She quickly answered and whispered:

Liu Neng lowered his voice and hurriedly said on the other end:

"Yingzi, I have something to tell you, and you absolutely must remember it: when you get to Old Zhao's house, you absolutely must not tell him you're not pregnant, understand?"

"What am I going to do now? If I keep pretending I'm pregnant, won't I eventually be found out? I might as well just tell them now."

"You can't say! Just keep pretending, that's what you're best at. Keep pretending for as long as you can, take it one step at a time, and stay calm for now."

He gave a few more instructions to avoid giving anything away, then quickly hung up, afraid that Zhao Yutian might overhear.

Liu Ying entered the courtyard with her phone in her hand, and as soon as she entered the house, she went up to Yutian's mother.

"Mom, what's wrong? Why did you suddenly get sick? Are you feeling unwell?"

When Yutian's mother saw her come in, she immediately took her hand and smiled:

"Yingzi, it's nothing serious, I just missed you so much. As soon as you came back, my illness immediately felt much better."

Looking at her cheerful face, Liu Ying felt a tightness in her chest, as if a ball of cotton was stuffed inside, but she couldn't say anything and could only smile along.

Afterwards, she went back to her room, opened her bundle, folded her clothes and put them in the closet. She sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) in a daze, gently touching her flat stomach, wondering when this ordeal would end.

……

A few days later, the doctor checked and said that Xie Xiaomei was recovering well and could be discharged from the hospital. Lin Chen was overjoyed. He had been in the hospital for so long that he was practically growing mold and smelled of disinfectant.

The cold in December is horribly cold; even spitting outside can freeze into solids.

On the day of his discharge, Lin Chen first went to the cashier on the first floor to settle the bill. He queued for a long time before he finished. With the receipt and prescription, he went to the nurses' station to get his medication.

The nurse told him for a long time that when he got home, he should not touch cold water, not do heavy work, and walk around every day. If his stomach hurt badly, he should come to the hospital immediately.

If it's hot at home, don't bundle your child up too much. Keep an eye on their face to see if it turns yellow. Both adults and children should come for a check-up at 42 days.

Lin Chen asked twice more before leaving, afraid of leaving anything behind.

When Xie Xiaomei returned to the ward, she was already dressed, wearing a thick cotton-padded coat, a woolen hat, and a thick scarf, wrapped up tightly except for her eyes, and was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting.

Wang Xiaomeng and Chen Yannan were packing their things, filling two large bags to the brim.

Lin Chen picked up the child and wrapped him tightly in a small cotton quilt that he had prepared in advance, so that he wouldn't catch a cold when he went out.

He carried the child, with others supporting Xie Xiaomei, and slowly walked out, his face beaming with joy, finally able to go home.

The car was already parked downstairs, and Lin Chen had kept the engine running, making the car warm and cozy.

Lin Chen opened the car door first and handed the child to Wang Xiaomeng in the back seat, telling her to support her head and not hunch her neck.

He then turned around and helped Xie Xiaomei sit down, tucking her collar in.

The car was driven very steadily, slowing down in advance when encountering potholes or uneven surfaces, for fear of jolting the adults and children.

Xie Xiaomei leaned back in her seat, her face pressed against the child's blanket. Watching the child close his eyes and smack his lips, her heart melted, and she didn't look away for the rest of the way.

Outside the window, the roadside was covered with thick snow, and the tree branches were covered with frost, all white. The wind howled and rattled the car windows, but inside the car it was warm and cozy, and the child's even breathing was as soft as a kitten's.