Country Love: Xie Dajiao, 37, is pregnant!

"Come inside quickly, it's cold outside."

Xie Dajiao came out to greet them, wiped her hands, and said:

Wang Xiaomeng glanced around the living room, didn't see Lin Chen, and asked with a smile:

"Where's Chen-ge? He's not up yet? That's not like him."

Just as Xie Xiaomei was about to speak, a gasp came from the second floor. It wasn't loud, but the people standing at the top of the stairs heard it clearly.

The group looked at each other, unsure of what was going on, except for Xie Xiaomei, who pursed her lips and chuckled to herself.

Upstairs in the bedroom, Lin Chen was still feeling the effects of the alcohol. His head was heavy, and he closed his eyes and hugged the soft body closer to him. It had a unique fragrance, not Xiao Mei's.

He had a vague feeling that something was wrong, and the size was wrong too. He suddenly opened his eyes.

Li Qiuge was propping herself up on her arm and looking at him. When she smiled, her lips were thin and her face looked like she had just woken up. She covered herself with the blanket, revealing her rounded shoulders, which made her look quite pretty.

Lin Chen sat up with a cry of "Oh my god!" and frantically pulled back the covers. He first looked at himself and realized he was doomed. Then he pulled back Li Qiuge's covers and realized he was completely doomed!

He was immediately confused. He scanned the room, saw the wedding photos on the wall, and checked the furnishings. It was his bedroom; he hadn't gone to the wrong room.

He scratched his head in frustration, his mouth tumbling out:

"No...you...I...Oh my god! What do we do now?"

Li Qiuge pouted and moved closer to him:

"Brother Chen, what's wrong? You seem dissatisfied with me? I thought you were quite happy."

"Satisfied with what?!"

Lin Chen scratched his hair:

"How am I going to explain this to your mom? You really gave me a surprise on the first day of the Lunar New Year!"

"My mom, why don't you tell her yet?"

Li Qiuge waved her hand dismissively:

"When the time is right, I'll tell her myself, and I guarantee everything will be fine."

Lin Chen didn't respond to her words, and quickly put on his new clothes:

"Hurry back to your room and change your clothes, then come downstairs with me to see Xiaomei."

The smile on Li Qiuge's face vanished instantly, and she said somewhat flusteredly:

"Huh? We're going down now?"

"What the hell!"

Lin Chen pointed to the stool:

"The clothes are all laid out here. Xiaomei brought them up early this morning, so she must have seen them already. You can't hide forever. Let's go."

Li Qiuge followed behind Lin Chen with her head down, walking slowly and nervously, after all, she hadn't handled things properly.

A row of people sat in the living room, including Xie Dajiao, Xie Xiaomei, Wang Xiaomeng, and Chen Yannan. They stopped eating sunflower seeds and all looked up at them.

The expressions in their eyes were varied: some were teasing, some were knowing, and some were as if they had just predicted it.

Lin Chen stood there and chuckled twice:

"Oh, they're all here! Hehe... Pretty complete, so early."

Xie Xiaomei held up her water glass and blew on it with a half-smile:

"Brother Chen, aren't you going to explain this? It's not really appropriate for someone to come out of your house on the first day of the Lunar New Year, is it?"

Just as Lin Chen was about to speak, Li Qiuge took a step forward, her head bowed low, clutching the hem of her clothes. Her eyes instantly reddened; women are made of water, and tears streamed down her face.

"Sister Xiaomei, I was wrong. I just like Brother Chen too much. Last night, I sneaked into his bedroom while he was drunk. It had nothing to do with him. If... if you don't like me here, I'll leave right away and won't bother you."

She spoke quickly and urgently, tears streaming down her cheeks, looking both aggrieved and pitiful.

Xie Xiaomei quickly put down her teacup and stood up, afraid of frightening her. She took her hand, took out a tissue to wipe her face, and her tone showed no sign of anger.

"Silly sister, why are you crying? It's the first day of the Lunar New Year. It's bad luck to shed tears. I didn't say I was blaming you, and I certainly didn't say I was going to kick you out."

She pulled Li Qiuge to sit down on the sofa:

"We're all family now, why say such formal things? Your brother Chen may not say it, but he's probably secretly thrilled."

"Yeah, why are you crying?"

Wang Xiaomeng also came over and patted the back of her hand:

"I thought it was no big deal. You seem so confident, but it turns out you can be a coward sometimes."

Li Qiuge was stunned for a moment, then looked at Wang Xiaomeng, then at Xie Xiaomei, tears still clinging to her face.

"Xiao Meng, aren't you angry? I knew before that you and Brother Chen were together."

Wang Xiaomeng laughed and tapped her forehead:

"Oh, so you knew all along? I've been pretending for so long."

Chen Yannan smiled and nodded, saying:

"We're all family here, so just stay put."

Xie Dajiao, who was standing nearby, saw this scene and chuckled.

"I thought it was something serious. It's just a matter of having an extra pair of chopsticks. The Lin family is thriving again, that's great! Alright, alright, stop joking around, let's go cook dumplings! It's the first day of the Lunar New Year, you can't truly celebrate the New Year without eating dumplings."

Everyone in the room laughed, except for Lin Chen, who sat on the side, frowning and smoking, looking vexed and preoccupied.

Xie Xiaomei sat down next to him, gently nudged his arm, and whispered:

"Don't look so gloomy. I know what you're thinking. You just don't know how to explain it to Sister Xiaoyan."

Upon hearing this, Li Qiuge quickly said:

"Hey, I thought it was something serious. Don't worry about my mom, she's very open-minded and wouldn't interfere with these things."

Wang Xiaomeng tilted her head curiously:

"Really? You only have one daughter, do you think she'd be happy about that?"

"real."

Li Qiuge put it very tactfully:

"Actually, my mom... has always had someone on her mind for many years. She often sits alone in the living room at night, pours herself a glass of red wine, and stares blankly, talking about a young man who helped her in the past. She hasn't looked for him again in all these years. Her mind is not on him at all. She is like that herself, so why would she say anything about me?"

There was a two-second silence in the living room after he finished speaking.

Xie Dajiao, Wang Xiaomeng, and Chen Yannan exchanged glances and instantly realized what was happening, their eyes immediately darting towards Lin Chen.

Lin Chen quickly stubbed out his cigarette and headed to the kitchen:

"Hey, stop talking nonsense! What are you doing? Hurry up and cook some dumplings, I'm starving!"

He left in a hurry, as if he were fleeing, and none of the people said anything about it.

While Xie Dajiao went to cook dumplings and Wang Xiaomeng and Chen Yannan went to get bowls and chopsticks, Li Qiuge sidled up to Xie Xiaomei and whispered:

"Sister Xiaomei... um, the sheets in the upstairs bedroom need to be changed later."

Xie Xiaomei was stunned for a moment, then realized what she meant and looked at her with some surprise:

"So you... I thought..."

Li Qiuge blushed instantly and gently shook her arm:

"What are you thinking! Of course I am."

Seeing her blushing face, Xie Xiaomei couldn't help but smile and nodded gently.

"Okay, I got it. I'll change in a bit. I didn't realize you were so open-minded, but you're actually quite conservative."

"Of course, I really like Brother Chen, otherwise I wouldn't..." Li Qiuge pouted.

Just then, Xie Dajiao's loud voice came from the kitchen:

"The water's boiling! Time to cook the dumplings!"

The water in the pot was bubbling and boiling, and dumplings slipped in one by one, splashing up tiny droplets of water and billowing white steam.

The whole family gathered around the table, chatting and laughing, and the slight embarrassment from before melted away in the festive atmosphere of the first day of the Lunar New Year.

……

The second day of the Lunar New Year is traditionally the day when wives return to their parents' home. Zhao Si and his family of three were busy early in the morning preparing gifts for Liu Ying to take back to Liu Neng's home.

Two chickens were tied to the ground outside the room. Knowing that Liu Ying was going back to her parents' home, Yu Tian had caught them the night before and told Liu Neng to take them. He could eat them if he wanted, or keep them to lay eggs if he didn't.

There were two bottles of fine wine on the side, which Lin Chen had given to Zhao Si for the New Year. Zhao Si was reluctant to open them, afraid that he would get used to the taste. This time, he brought them back for Liu Ying to make a good impression.

Liu Ying stood to the side, watching the family bustling around, feeling a tightness in her chest.

She knows Zhao Si's temper best; he even has to calculate the day before eating a piece of tofu. Now, in order for her to have face when she goes back to her parents' home, he's taking out all his most treasured possessions.

While she was lost in thought, Zhao Si came over with his hands behind his back and, taking advantage of Yutian's mother's inattention, secretly stuffed a thick paper package into her cotton-padded jacket pocket. It was hard and heavy.

"Father? What's this?"

Liu Ying paused, feeling something was off as she held the paper package. It looked like money, but it felt much thicker.