After returning to the small fishing village, Zhou Chenglei and Jiang Xia had no time to rest.

It’s autumn harvest time, and the rice in the fields, the sweet potatoes, peanuts, sesame seeds and beans in the land all need to be harvested.

First the rice is harvested, then the sesame and beans, and finally the sweet potatoes and peanuts.

After a busy week, the family is now harvesting peanuts, and everything else has been harvested.

Father Zhou stood with his hands on his hips, looking at the lush green peanut field: "This year, the fields in our village are being expropriated. Next year, we won't be able to farm even if we want to."

That's why Zhou's father didn't ask for help this time. He did it with his own family and children.

Starting at the age of five, all the children in the Zhou family had to go to the fields during the busy farming season and learn to do farm work.

Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang also went home to help on Saturdays and Sundays.

In addition to Zhou Chengxin who went out to sea, even the triplets were born.

Jiang Xia is picking peanuts: "There should still be time to plant another crop next year."

They have two crops a year, so even if the land is expropriated, there is still a process for land construction.

"Expropriation is a process. There are too many people and things to coordinate. Even if the expropriation is completed, before construction begins, we can still plant some fast-growing vegetables and tender corn to eat. Planting rice is risky. We are afraid that construction will start before the rice is mature." Zhou Chengsen was pulling peanuts. After pulling a few plants, he turned around and glanced at Ruan Tang.

She sat there picking peanuts, her belly already slightly showing.

Ruan Tang only recently showed her pregnancy, and her morning sickness has finally disappeared. Before, the morning sickness reaction was very strong. She would vomit at the slightest thing that was wrong. She could eat something yesterday, but she would vomit at the mere smell of it today. The key is that you have no idea what you can eat today and what you can eat without vomiting.

Even Zhou Chengsen, who is so smart and perceptive, couldn't figure out Ruan Tang's eating habits, so he could only cook different kinds of food for her in different ways.

He would prepare several dishes every day and bring out one dish first. If Ruan Tang smelled something wrong, he would immediately retreat to the kitchen and bring out another dish.

After finally getting through the early stages of pregnancy, both husband and wife lost a lot of weight.

After entering November, all the symptoms of morning sickness miraculously disappeared, just like when Ruan Tang was not pregnant.

In just one week, Ruan Tang gained weight under Zhou Chengsen's care and started to look pregnant.

Zhou Chengsen finally breathed a sigh of relief!

Mother Zhou pulled out a peanut plant and stood up straight: "I didn't like farming before. I wanted to eat grain like the people in the city. Now that I have the opportunity to stop farming, I really feel reluctant."

Tian Caihua harvested peanuts at a brisk pace, pulling out one peanut after another with her left and right hands. "You still like farming?! I've had enough! Isn't it good for city people to have jobs and earn money instead of farming?"

Anyway, she was very happy to complete the collection so that she could get shares in the future.

Zhou Chenglei also picked peanuts with both hands: "From now on, we will become city dwellers."

If the villagers wash their feet and go to the fields, the village will become a joint-stock company. They will not have to farm and there will be no food, but they will receive dividends every year.

Zhou's mother laughed and said, "This person is such a jerk. He doesn't cherish what he has, but becomes sentimental and nostalgic when he loses it."

Ruan Tang smiled and said, "Everyone is like this. But farming is also quite fun."

Jiang Xia also said: "I think so too."

Tian Caihua was sweating all over. She had lost a lot of weight. She said in a bad mood, "How many times have you two been to the fields? Of course you think it's fun! Planting every day, and you have no money. I wonder if you still think it's fun!"

Ruan Tang and Jiang Xia laughed: "That's right."

Ruan Tang couldn't do heavy work, Jiang Xia wasn't good at it either, and Zhou Chenglei didn't want her to do it, so she and Ruan Tang sat on small stools with a few other children to pick peanuts.

It doesn’t matter how much the children work or how well they work; what matters is that they learn to work and understand that every meal is hard-earned.

The triplets were also "picking" peanuts in the field. They didn't have enough strength, but when they saw their older brothers and sisters picking peanuts, they learned to pick them too.

Erbao and Sanbao were mostly playing, but Dabao was picking peanuts very seriously, getting mud all over his body. His chubby little hands used all his strength to pick peanuts one by one, and then put them into the small basket prepared for him by Jiang Xia.

There were already more than a dozen peanuts in the small basket, which my brother had picked with great effort after sitting there for an hour.

Ruan Tang couldn't help but say to Jiang Xia, "Dabao is going to do great things in the future. He has such great determination!"

Jiang Xia laughed: "You have said this many times."

Ruan Tang also laughed, "I'm telling the truth."

The other brothers and sisters had already lost their patience and started playing in the fields.

Sometimes he would dig out rat holes, sometimes he would go to help in other people's fields, and sometimes he would make a fire to roast sweet potatoes. Anyway, he couldn't sit still anymore.

Erbao and Xiaobao followed their older brothers and sisters happily.

Ruan Tang really likes the personalities of the triplets. The three siblings have different personalities, but each is cute in their own way.

I wish her and Zhou Chengsen’s child would be as cute as this.

At night, while lying in bed and feeling the baby's movements, Ruan Tang said to Zhou Chengsen, "I wonder what our child's personality will be like?"

Zhou Chengsen placed his large palm on Ruan Tang's abdomen, feeling the fetal movement: "It would be best if her personality is like yours. I like your personality."

Ruan Tang smiled, feeling particularly satisfied: "It would be better if the child resembles you. I like your personality more."

Zhou Chengsen turned sideways to look at the smile on his wife's lips, then bent down to kiss her.

Ruan Tang responded enthusiastically.

After a long while, Zhou Chengsen reluctantly let her go and went to the bathroom.

Ruan Tang held him back, blushing and saying, "It's okay now. Just be careful, don't use so much force."

Zhou Chengsen lay down again and kissed her gently.

I didn't ask her directly, but I satisfied her.

In the end, he took a cold shower by himself.

He never does anything he can't afford to risk.

He couldn't bear any mishap with her or the child.

*

After the autumn harvest, winter is approaching and the days are spent commuting to and from get off work.

Before we knew it, the New Year had passed, Qingming Festival had also passed, and the newly planted rice in the fields had begun to sprout leaves.

Ruan Tang's expectations were met, but the child was not born yet.

Zhou Chengsen was so anxious and worried that he couldn't sleep at night. In just a few days, his mouth was covered with blisters.

There weren't many things in his life that could make him anxious. He had always been able to handle everything well, so he could adjust his emotions in time. This was the first time he was so anxious that he got angry.

Although he was worried, he didn't dare show it for fear of affecting Ruan Tang.

Every day he took care of Ruan Tang's diet, washed her hair and bathed her, took her to and from get off work, and made her happy as usual.

But sometimes I can't help but let out the worry.

Tonight, after dinner, Zhou Chengsen took Ruan Tang for a walk in the neighborhood and asked, "Why don't you stay home and rest while you wait for the birth? Is it because you're too tired from work?"

Some time ago, many children caught colds and fevers. Starting with Zhou Zhou and Zhou Ying, all the children in the family fell ill.

The triplets were also infected. The whole family was overwhelmed with the illness.

With the flu, Ruan Tang is very busy at work.

Zhou Chengsen thought of all the reasons and felt that Ruan Tang was too tired from work, so the baby had not been born even though the due date had arrived.

"No, I'm not busy now, and I'm not tired from work." Apart from the morning sickness at the beginning, Ruan Tang didn't feel any discomfort afterwards, so she insisted on going to work every day. She wanted to have more leave after giving birth.

Ruan Tang could see Zhou Chengsen was worried: "Don't worry, I work in the hospital. When I go into labor, I can just go straight to the delivery room. Isn't it safer and more convenient than waiting at home?"

“…”

That makes so much sense! Zhou Chengsen was speechless!

It just makes people feel uneasy!

But Ruan Tang is a doctor. She would go for an ultrasound every day. The baby was normal, the fetal position was normal, the fetal movement was normal, and the amount of amniotic fluid was normal. When everything was normal, she really didn't think giving birth was a dangerous thing.

She felt that when the time was right, the baby would be born naturally.

A delay of eight days or ten pounds is normal, so there is no need to be overly nervous.

Zhou's mother also came to the city to help take care of Ruan Tang. Both mother and son were secretly worried, but only Ruan Tang was very calm.

It had been postponed for twelve days, which was indeed a bit late. Zhou Chengsen and Ruan Tang discussed whether to have a caesarean section.

Ruan Tang nodded: "If she doesn't give birth on May Day, she'll have a cesarean section."

It’s not good to be too late.

Then, on the last day of April, after sleeping until midnight, Ruan Tang finally started. (End of this chapter)