After happily finishing Duoxi's cream popsicle, Duolu set his sights on Duofu's old popsicle: "Big brother, let me take a bite."

Duofu generously took a big bite for him. Seeing Duoxi's aggrieved expression, Duoxi glanced at his popsicle and his own half-eaten popsicle and instantly understood what was going on.

Dorjee has never been very lenient when it comes to food that suits his taste.

Duofu handed the popsicle to Duoshou: "Duoshou, take a bite and leave some for Duoxi."

Duo Shou took a bite of his popsicle. Feeling the movement in his hand holding the popsicle, he turned around and saw that, good heavens, the popsicle he had only taken a bite of was now only half left.

Doro was chuckling to himself; he had eaten the most popsicles.

Dorje held the popsicle and was startled by the coldness when he first put it in his mouth. He quickly recovered, stuck out his little tongue and licked it. The icy water mixed with sweetness went down his tongue and into his stomach. The little guy squinted his eyes in comfort.

Noticing the various expressions on the little ones' faces, Yu Rujia thought of the increasing number of eggs in the house.

Yu Rujia: "Guojing, I'm taking Duofu and the others to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. You go to the milk station and buy a big bottle of milk and come find us. When we get home, we'll make our own ice cream."

There are only a few types of popsicles available now, in addition to ice cream and popsicles. Although they taste good, they are very monotonous. She could easily make ice cream that tastes even better than these.

Gao Guojing: "Sister Rujia can even make ice cream! We've missed out! We should have asked Sister Rujia sooner. If we had, we would have been eating it already. I'm going to buy some milk now."

Needless to say, everyone knows that Yu Rujia's ice cream is definitely better than what you buy outside.

Including his previous holidays, he has been with the Shangfen Brigade for several years now, and only now does he realize that Yu Rujia can even make summer treats like ice cream. It's such a pity that they've missed out on this opportunity for so many years.

Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, the children, familiar with the place, ran to the fabric counter and greeted Guo Xiaojie.

They would come to town several times a year, and each time Yu Rujia brought them, they would go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things. That's how the little ones became familiar with Guo Xiaojie.

Guo Xiaojie looked up and saw Yu Rujia with a group of children. She stood up with a smile and said, "Hello, kids. Come on, let Auntie see if you've lost weight?"

Doroo skipped over and spun around, showing off his chubby little body: "I've eaten more food, but I haven't lost weight."

Guo Xiaojie rubbed his still chubby little face and praised, "Duolu is the most worry-free kid."

He interacted with each child individually, even greeting little Dorje, who stumbles over his words, before turning to Yu Rujia.

Guo Xiaojie: "In this sweltering heat, why did Rujia bring Duofu and the others to town? And why are they carrying so much stuff? Aren't you worried about my nephews getting too hot?"

Duofu and Duolu were carrying baskets on their backs, filled with books they had bought at the bookstore.

The two were small in stature but strong. The books were packed into two baskets, each weighing no more than ten pounds, which was a piece of cake for the two little guys.

Yu Rujia: "Shujing brought them some comic books a while ago. After they finished reading them, they wanted new ones. We told them to wait at home, but they were not at ease and insisted on coming to find them themselves, so we let them come."

"Let's not talk about them. Even though you're three months pregnant, you still need to be careful in your daily life."

Guo Xiaojie found out she was pregnant and is now three months along.

Guo Xiaojie's expression turned somewhat unpleasant when this matter was mentioned.

Guo Xiaojie: "My health is fine. It's just that at home, I just found out I was pregnant, and my mother-in-law told me to have my sister-in-law come back and cover for me."

"If I really let her cover my shift, will I ever get my job back? They're really treating me like a fool."

Yu Rujia: "Didn't she only go to the countryside for two or three months? Going to the countryside is not a game, she just went there and then came back?"

Guo Xiaojie: "Normally, it's not possible to travel back and forth in such a short time. If there's something going on at home, that's a different story. They mean I should report that I have a health problem and ask her to come back."

Yu Rujia: "What do you plan to do?"

In recent years, whenever the supply and marketing cooperative sent her household necessities, Guo Xiaojie would always save a portion for Yu Rujia, which saved her a lot of trouble. Now that she is in trouble, as long as it's not excessive, she will definitely lend a hand.

Guo Xiaojie firmly stated, "I definitely won't let her take over the shift."

Even if she sold her job, she wouldn't replace her.

Selling the job would get you money, but giving it to her to cover your shift is like giving the job away for free.

Yu Rujia: "When you give birth, you always need to hire a substitute. If you hire someone with a soft temper, and your family members are upset and come looking for them, the person might be driven away by them."

Guo Xiaojie mentioned her mother-in-law and sister-in-law several times, giving Yu Rujia a preliminary impression of them.

Neither of them are good people; they're definitely capable of causing trouble at the supply and marketing cooperative.

Guo Xiaojie naturally thought of the same thing Yu Rujia could think of: "So I wanted to ask if you could come and cover my shift then?"

Yu Rujia is a lazy bum; she doesn't even want to do housework, let alone come and cover for someone else.

If it were just one day, she could squeeze in, but childbirth would require her to cover at least several months of shifts. Even if Guo Xiaojie was her friend, she couldn't possibly lower herself to help her.

Yu Rujia said without changing her expression, "You've seen my family situation. I have a bunch of children, the oldest of whom is only seven or eight years old. I really can't get away from them."

Guo Xiaojie had no expectations to begin with. Yu Rujia had a skill and could easily get a job if she wanted to, so why would she care about this job?

Guo Xiaojie took a step back and continued to ask, "Do you know anyone in the Shangfen Brigade who is reliable yet has a fiery temper? If so, I'd like to ask her to come and help cover shifts."

Huang Guihua's figure flashed past Yu Rujia's eyes. She was upright and had a fiery temper, so she should be able to take on this substitute job.

He only gets paid temporary wages for filling in for others, but there are many people in the city who are vying for such a job. If Huang Guihua knew about this, she would definitely be willing to come.

Yu Rujia: "I have some friends in the countryside, but none of them have received much education. I don't know if they are capable of doing this job."

The most literate adult woman in the Shangfen Brigade who followed her was Zhang Zhaodi; the rest, such as Huang Guihua and Zhou Yanhong, had never been to school.

Guo Xiaojie: "Has she attended a literacy class? Can she do basic arithmetic? If she can, I'll ask a colleague to help look after her. There shouldn't be any major problems. She just needs to hold on for two or three months."