Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

Zhao Si stood on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), looking at the packet of money, then at Liu Ying, smacked his lips, and after a long pause, finally said:

"Yingzi, from now on you're in charge of this household. You can manage the money. Yutian..."

He turned and glared at his son:

"From now on, your wife will manage all the money in our household, understand? You used to be too strict; how could you not give Yingzi any pocket money at all?"

Zhao Yutian chuckled foolishly.

"Sure, I think it's a good idea."

Ever since Liu Ying became pregnant, the atmosphere at Zhao Si's house hadn't been this good. Before long, the aroma of stewed chicken wafted from the outer room...

……

Two days later—

The village primary school playground was uneven and white, and it creaked when you stepped on it.

Lin Chen sat in a small blue truck, loaded with new desks, the smell of paint still lingering in the truck bed, and parked in front of a row of classrooms.

Pi Changshan had already led a group of teachers to wait here. When they saw people arrive, they quickly came up to greet them and told the teachers to move desks into the classroom.

After the move was complete, the two of them went around to each classroom. The students were all on holiday, and with the new desks in place, the rooms seemed much brighter.

After their walk, the two returned to Pi Changshan's office. Pi Changshan poured Lin Chen a glass of hot water and offered him a cigarette, his smile particularly obsequious.

"You're so thoughtful, brother. Now that we've replaced the table, the kids can write steadily without it wobbling and creaking anymore."

"It's only right. They're all children from the village. Besides, it was my uncle's idea, and he paid for it. He said that no matter how hard life is, we can't let the children suffer."

Lin Chen lit a cigarette, took a puff, and the smoke rings slowly floated upwards.

"By the way, the other day there was an education meeting in town, and they said that Tieling is going to have an education year this year, and the policies are really big."

Pi Changshan flicked his cigarette ash and started chatting with Lin Chen:

"We need to build 11 new rural nine-year compulsory education schools this year, and renovate more than 50,000 square meters of dilapidated buildings. Our school's old classroom with the leaky back wall might be torn down and rebuilt in the spring."

Lin Chen nodded:

"That's a good thing. With improved school facilities, the children will suffer less."

"That's right. There's also the 'two exemptions and one subsidy.' The money is directly deposited into the school's account. Tuition and miscellaneous fees are all waived, textbooks are given away for free, and students in financial difficulty even receive a living allowance. The teachers at the school are all talking about this, saying that it won't cost much for the children to go to school in the future. It's a hundred times better than when I had to travel over mountains to bring back flatbread to eat."

"That's right, the country's policies are getting better and better."

Lin Chen casually asked:

"Where's my sister? How are you two doing lately? I haven't seen her in a long time."

"They went to the town hospital."

Pi Changshan waved his hand, seemingly not taking it to heart:

"She's been saying lately that she feels weak all over and uncomfortable everywhere. I told her to get checked out, but she wouldn't. Today, I guess she got scared and took a bus to town early this morning. I reckon she caught a chill in the winter. The temperature has dropped so drastically lately. She's been there all morning, she should be back by now."

After exchanging a few more words, Lin Chen got up to say goodbye, explaining that he would go to the market early the next morning to buy some New Year's goods.

Not long after Lin Chen left, the office door was pushed open, and Xie Lan, wrapped in a coat, came in. As soon as she saw Pi Changshan, her lips trembled, and tears streamed down her face. She stood at the door, sobbing.

Startled, Pi Changshan sprang to his feet and rushed forward, dropping his cigarette to the ground.

"What's wrong, honey? Why are you crying? Did they find out you have some serious illness? Is it curable? Is it life-threatening? How long can you live? Say something!"

Xie Lan smacked his arm twice, making Pi Changshan wince and cry as he said:

"Can't you wish me something good for once! You never say a single auspicious word all day long!"

"Then why are you crying? What happened that made you cry like this?" Pi Changshan kept rubbing his arm.

"I am pregnant!"

Xie Lan wiped away her tears, feeling heartbroken, but at least she was pregnant.

Pi Changshan was stunned for a moment, thinking he had misheard. His eyes widened in surprise, and his voice cracked:

"What?! Pregnant?! Oh my god! That's wonderful news! How long have you been pregnant?"

"It's been almost three months."

"Has it been that long?"

"Who would have thought that I'd never gotten pregnant after all these years of marriage? Nobody would have considered that possibility. I always thought it was just a stomach problem, and I even took digestive pills for several days."

"I was wondering why you've been feeling nauseous lately and not wanting to eat."

Pi Changshan was overjoyed. He couldn't even remember what he ate for lunch three days ago, let alone whether he had done anything three months ago.

He quickly helped her sit down, turned around and rummaged through the office cabinets, but found nothing. He immediately grabbed his coat and pulled Xie Lan home.

"Come on, honey, let's go home. It's cold, don't catch a cold. From now on, just watch how I treat you. You don't have to do any chores, and we'll buy you whatever you want to eat!"

Xie Lan looked at Pi Changshan, nodded, and had an idea in mind.

……

The next morning, Lin Chen drove Chen Yannan and Li Qiuge to the December market.

Xie Dajiao had just finished stocking up and was extremely busy at the supermarket. Xie Xiaomei couldn't come out, and Wang Xiaomeng was even busier. Lin Chen could only take the two of them out for a stroll.

Half a mile from the market entrance, one could hear a cacophony of voices, shouts, bargaining, and children crying.

A huge crowd of people thronged the area, with tricycles, donkey carts, and bicycles packed together. The air was filled with the aromas of sugar, meat, and the gunpowder of firecrackers, the festive spirit of the New Year practically seeping into your nose and back.

"My goodness, so many people!"

Li Qiuge stared wide-eyed out the car window:

"Even the City God Temple isn't this lively! This is way more like Chinese New Year!"

Chen Yannan also pressed her face against the glass to look:

"Such a big setup! Look at those fish, all laid out on the ground to sell, frozen solid. Aren't you afraid they'll spoil?"

"The twelfth lunar month in Northeast China is like a giant natural refrigerator; everything can freeze."

Lin Chen found an empty spot to park his car; the wind almost blew the car door shut.

"Come on, let me show you around. Just tell me what you want to buy."

The three of them squeezed in with the flow of people. The stalls on both sides of the aisle stretched as far as the eye could see, selling all sorts of things.

The entrance was lined with stalls selling Spring Festival couplets, with bright red paper and gold lettering, as well as New Year pictures of chubby babies holding carp, bright red velvet lanterns, and lifelike paper-cut window decorations, all arranged like a small red wall.

The stall owner shouted at the top of his lungs:

"Spring Festival couplets, 'Fu' characters, and money are here! Pasting red couplets for the New Year brings a smooth and prosperous year!"

Further inside is the frozen goods section, where frozen pears and frozen persimmons are piled up like small mountains, with straw underneath.

Frozen ribbonfish and frozen yellow croaker were stacked upright, and the vendor picked up the fish and banged them loudly.

"Frozen large ribbonfish! Wide and flat, it'll taste delicious no matter how you eat it during the Chinese New Year!"

Further on, the air is filled with the steaming heat of the pan where you're frying dough sticks, and the vendors are flipping dough to make sugar pancakes.

The old man popped the popcorn with his foot, and with a loud "bang," white smoke billowed up. The children covered their ears and jumped and shouted, and the aroma wafted down half the street.

The market entrance was the most crowded. Someone pushing a cart almost bumped into Li Qiuge, but she immediately grabbed Lin Chen's sleeve, hid behind him, and looked up at him, saying:

"Brother Chen, slow down, there are too many people, don't push me and lose me."

Chen Yannan was walking ahead and her eyes were too busy to see anything, so she didn't notice anything at all.

Lin Chen tried to shake her off twice but couldn't, so he simply held her hand like he was leading a child, to prevent her from being pushed away.

The three of them walked to the candied hawthorn stall. She bought a few and, standing on tiptoe, held them to Lin Chen's lips.

"Try it, this candied hawthorn looks delicious, it's my favorite."

Lin Chen lowered his head and took a bite. It was crisp, sweet, and sticky, with a bit of stringiness. He smiled and said:

"It's alright, but it's too sticky to my teeth."

Take a couple of steps forward and you'll see a stall selling velvet flowers, red, pink, and wine red, each one fluffy and delicate.

Li Qiuge picked up a wine-red flower, pinned it to the buttonhole of Lin Chen's cotton-padded jacket, and smiled with her face upturned:

"Brother Chen, look, isn't it nice? Wearing this for the New Year is festive, and it matches your black cotton-padded coat perfectly."

Lin Chen looked down, both amused and exasperated, and reached out to pick it:

"Stop messing around, don't argue with your uncle!"

"Don't pick it, don't pick it."

Li Qiuge held his hand, shook her arm, and acted coquettishly:

"It's fun to wear, so I'll wear it for a while."

(I was planning to ask for leave, but I never expected that when I woke up, the sky would fall. The rules for the Tomato attendance bonus changed yesterday. I'll just have to write. There are still two chapters left. Sigh.)