Early in the morning, Lu Fangfang put on her clothes and went to the yard to use the toilet.

While washing her hands, she noticed a layer of ice in the basin.

She took it out and looked at it, and found that it was quite thick.

It's only October, not even September in the lunar calendar, and the water's already frozen. It's getting cold really fast. She doesn't even want to think about how low the temperature will drop next month.

Turning my head to look south, I saw the little wild donkey lying on the haystack, its head bobbing up and down as if it were still dozing off. This fellow is not afraid of the cold.

Back in the inner room, she quickly crawled into bed.

She had only been outside for a short while when she felt like she was freezing.

Her husband was like a furnace; she hugged him for a while to warm herself before she felt comfortable.

Zhuang Mingcheng was woken up by the cold. He looked at his wife, then reached out and pulled her into his arms. "It's still early, let's sleep a little longer."

The two dozed off for a while before getting up.

After finishing his meal, Zhuang Mingcheng, carrying the drawings wrapped in kraft paper and two letters, went to the troupe.

Lu Fangfang fed the quail, chickens and ducks at home, and then took the little ones to the farm.

It was still terribly cold early in the morning.

However, none of the little ones in the family are afraid of the cold, and Xiao Hua is the most lively among them.

When they arrived at the front of the farm, Lu Fangfang looked at the three of them, then waved her hand, letting them go play on the pasture.

Once inside the farm's yard, she didn't linger and quickly went into the incubation room.

The stove in the incubator was still burning, making it very warm inside. She checked on the baby quails in the brooder boxes one by one before going to the breeding shed.

"Hey girl, is it cold outside?"

Wang Shufen was sitting in the storage room, tending a fire.

The earthen walls in the breeding sheds are all designed with chimneys in the middle, so the whole room gets warm when a fire is lit.

"It's so cold, Sister Shufen. When I got up this morning, I found that the water basin was all frozen."

Lu Fangfang took a stool and sat down next to Sister Shufen.

She warmed her hands by the fire, then glanced at the thermometer on the wall. The room temperature was now 21 degrees Celsius, perfect for quails to lay eggs.

"It gets cold early here. If this were my hometown, it would still be harvest season now."

As Wang Shufen spoke, she got up and poured a glass of water for her sister.

"By the way, sister, I see it's gotten colder these past few days. We need to bring the cabbages and radishes from the field home as soon as possible. I'd like to borrow your little donkey later."

"become."

Lu Fangfang nodded and agreed.

It's getting cold now, and she plans to harvest the cabbages and radishes in the field in the next couple of days.

I got up and took a walk around the shed inside. The quails were eating, and there were more than a dozen quail eggs on the egg collector in front of the cages in the second row.

She picked it up and looked at it, then nodded in satisfaction.

These are the second batch of quails hatched at the farm, and they've already started laying eggs; the yield is quite good.

After checking the cages, Lu Fangfang felt relieved. The temperature inside the shed was a bit lower than in the storage room, but it wouldn't affect the quails' egg production for the time being.

In a few more days, when it gets colder, the fire wall in this shed will have to be lit.

After watching for a while, she went to the storage room and chatted with Sister Shufen.

Her belly is getting bigger and bigger, and she's becoming a bit paranoid, worried that something might be wrong with her. She thought it would be a good time to ask Sister Shufen.

Soon, Zhao Lanying arrived as well.

Both of them had given birth twice, and seeing Lu Fangfang's anxious expression, they offered words of comfort.

"Xiao Lu, how many months pregnant are you now?"

"Less than four months, I guess."

Lu Fangfang was also a little unsure about the date.

When she went to the hospital for a check-up last time, the doctor only asked a few questions and didn't do any other tests. There's nothing we can do these days; we can only let nature take its course.

Thinking about this made her even more uneasy.

"Sister-in-law Lanying, what's wrong?"

Zhao Lanying touched her belly, then asked with some doubt, "When I was pregnant with my first and second children, my belly wasn't this big. Could it be gas?"

"Gas?"

Wang Shufen leaned closer to the girl, examined her carefully, and then shook her head. "I don't think it's gas."

She looked up and sized up Lu Fangfang. Looking at the girl's appearance, she realized that she wasn't fat.

"Sister Shufen, Sister Lanying, is my belly bigger now than it was back then?"

Lu Fangfang became even more nervous under their gazes.

"Yes, it needs to be bigger."

Wang Shufen nodded. If she remembered correctly, her belly wasn't this big when she was pregnant with Tiedan and Daya.

"By the way, girl, are you pregnant with twins?"

"twin?"

Lu Fangfang stood there, stunned.

“Sister-in-law Shufen is right, Xiao Lu. You can’t really say for sure. I’ve seen many women in our compound, and none of them had a belly as big as yours when they were in their fourth month.”

Seeing that Sister-in-law Lan Ying said the same thing, she lowered her head and touched her belly, and instantly felt something too.

Twins are good, preferably a boy and a girl, so she can give birth to two at once, having both a son and a daughter, leaving no regrets.

Lu Fangfang secretly chuckled to herself.

A single sentence from Sister Shufen and Sister-in-law Lanying put her mind at ease.

When she got home that evening, she looked at her husband and couldn't help but laugh, which left Zhuang Mingcheng completely bewildered.

"Wife, I've already had the package and letter mailed."

"Uh-huh."

"I went to the logistics department today to urge them to send the oil residue cake to the farm."

"Yes, I saw it at noon."

Lu Fangfang nodded, still grinning foolishly.

Across from him, Zhuang Mingcheng scratched his head and couldn't help but ask, "Wife, what are you laughing at? Did something good happen again?"

"No...no, don't overthink it."

While going to bed, Lu Fangfang couldn't hold back any longer and whispered to her husband about the twins.

These are all guesses, and they may not be accurate. She was afraid that if she said them, Zhuang Mingcheng would be disappointed, but now she really couldn't hold back anymore.

Zhuang Mingcheng, who was lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), suddenly sat up.

"Twins? Really?"

"Oh dear, don't get excited. These are just guesses from Sister Shufen and Sister-in-law Lanying. They might not be accurate."

Seeing his excited expression, Lu Fangfang regretted telling him.

"Yes, Sister Shufen and Sister-in-law Lanying are definitely right! They must be twins."

Zhuang Mingcheng blushed slightly, then leaned close to his wife's belly and gently kissed it.

"Honey, I'll take you to the city for a check-up tomorrow."

"No, the weather is bad right now. Let's wait a few days. It's still early in the pregnancy, and we might not be able to detect it then."

Lu Fangfang pulled him into the quilt.

Hospitals in those days were very rudimentary, let alone the small hospitals in their city. They didn't even have reliable equipment, so going there would be a waste of time.

"Let's wait until the end of the month. I won't feel at ease if I don't get it checked out."

Zhuang Mingcheng put his arm around his wife, and now it was his turn to grin foolishly.

Twins! What a blessing that must be to have! He hugged his wife and gave her a big kiss.

"Hey, stop fooling around, go to sleep."