Chapter 111

The compound was bustling with activity. Xiang Wencheng, Zhang Haohao, and a group of young boys were running wildly through the alleys, while Qi Yalan and Tian Xiuxiu were playing hide-and-seek with the others, following Tong Mei. The children were boisterous, and the adults were no less engrossed. The men, cigarettes in hand, gathered in a group, boasting, while the women kept their mouths shut, cracking sunflower seeds.

As soon as Bi Chunliu entered the alley, she was bumped into by a little fat boy. She grabbed the little fat boy who was about to be thrown away. Oh, this little fat boy, his flesh is so elastic!

"Fat Qiu, are you okay?" Bi Qiuguo patted the fat boy's head, then wiped his sweat-stained hands on Qiu Yunshan's clothes. Tsk, the fat boy's forehead was covered in sweat. "Why are you running so fast? Be careful you catch a cold, or your grandma will make you take bitter medicine again."

Qiu Yunshan is the grandson of Aunt Qiu, one of the "Four Little Smarts". In this era when everyone is tall and thin, Qiu Yunshan is a rare little fat boy.

"I won't catch a cold!" Qiu Yunshan retorted before he even saw who it was. He quickly put on the hat he was holding and continued with his belly protruding: "Sister Qiuguo, is that you?! Happy New Year to everyone! Sister Qiuguo, I still have to go play with Brother Haohao. Let's talk about it later. Next time we see each other, I'll bring you some candy my dad bought for me."

Bi Chunliu and the others were amused by Qiu Yunshan's adult-like answer.

Bi Chunliu thought to himself, the little fat boy didn't learn anything else from his father, but he was quite proficient in the ways of society.

Bi Qiuguo: "Run slower..."

"I know—"

The compound was very lively during the Chinese New Year this year.

There were fourteen households in the compound, and there were five pregnant women alone, though three of them were clustered around the Nie family. The last time Bi Chunliu went home, she heard some women from other compounds discussing whether their compound had secretly invited the Goddess of Childbirth, or else why there were so many pregnant young wives.

In this regard, Bi Chunliu could only say: ...

"Aunt Liu, Sister Xiaoyue, Brother An, Happy New Year!" Bi Chunliu arrived at the courtyard and passed by Uncle Qi, the gatekeeper, and greeted Aunt Liu and her family first. Xing Fei and the other three followed her to greet them.

Aunt Liu smiled and gave them peanuts, melon seeds, and candy, saying, "Happy New Year! Happy New Year! Chunliu, Xiaoxing, you two take a seat. And Weiguo, you three siblings, take a seat too."

Liu He was feeling bored staying at home, "Bi Qiuguo, do you want to go out and play?" Liu Jiang also looked at Bi Weiguo and raised his eyebrows at him, the meaning was very clear, let's go?

"Okay!" Bi Qiuguo turned to look at his elder sister before his butt even touched the stool. "Sister, shall we go out and play?"

Bi Chunliu did not stop her. He just reminded them to remember to wish others a happy new year when they met them, and not to buy firecrackers so as not to get cold, and then let Bi Qiuguo and the others go out to play.

"Xia He, aren't you going?" Liu Xiaoyue asked.

"Sister Xiaoyue, I won't go. It's cold outside. I like listening to you talk."

Bi Xiahe could guess what Qiuguo and the others would play, such as competing with the group of kids in running, and then secretly buying firecrackers to see who could throw the farthest. She didn't like that.

The four people who couldn't sit still ran away. Liu Xiaoyue said with emotion: "Weiguo seems to have grown a lot and taller. I think he is half a head taller than my son Shuanzi."

Bi Chunliu nodded. He had indeed grown taller. When she was reborn, Weiguo was about the same height as herself. Now, in the past six months, he has grown half a foot taller. "He eats more, so it may be time for him to grow taller. Shuanzi, don't worry. He is not short now. Besides, you and An Ge are both tall. In the future, Shuanzi and Zhuzi will definitely be tall. Sister Xiaoyue, if you are worried, just let Shuanzi exercise more. Weiguo's master asked him to do 100 push-ups every day. Shuanzi can take it slowly and try doing 20 every day. After all, Weiguo is a chef, and he needs strong hands to stir the wok."

As for Weiguo's trembling wings when he first started doing push-ups, there was no need to mention it to outsiders. After all, Bi Chunliu's eyes curled up just thinking about Qiuguo's mocking remarks about Weiguo. Weiguo's arms were shaking so much that his face flushed with fatigue. Qiuguo asked Xia He curiously, "Third sister, is Second Brother trying to use his arms to fan us into the air?"

"That's right. He doesn't have much to do at home now except read. It won't hurt to practice more. I'll talk to him when he gets home." Liu Xiaoyue turned around and saw her husband talking to Xing Fei. "I didn't expect Anqing to get along so well with your Xing Fei. I've never seen him talk so much with anyone else in the courtyard."

Bi Chunliu: "Sister Xiaoyue, we get along better."

Liu Xiaoyue laughed out loud, "That's right."

After all, orphaned children are always sad. Ever since the two elders of the Bi family passed away, Chunliu has changed from when she was in school. She has matured a lot. At first, it seemed quite difficult for her to raise three siblings on her own. Back then, her face was filled with worry, but now she seems more relaxed. Also, not only did she marry into a good family, but Weiguo also got a job. I think the Bi family's life will get better and better.

Aunt Liu: "Chunliu, did you know that Old Wang's son is getting married soon? Your Aunt Wang said that Li Musheng's father-in-law's family is very well-off, the girl treats him well, and her parents are also very happy with him. Old Wang was complaining to us a while ago that Musheng didn't go on blind dates, but it turns out he found a wife on his own. This guy is really amazing."

Bi Chunliu: "Really? That's a really happy event, Aunt Liu, please let me know when Brother Li gets married."

"OK."

Bi Chunliu chatted at the Liu family for a while and got a wave of news from around the compound. For example, Liu Qingqing and Liu Juan saw that Lou Cuicui was well taken care of by Nie Xiangxi, and they also ordered Nie Xiangdong and Nie Xiangbei to work and serve them, but the two brothers were slacking off and were scolded by the two pregnant women. Another example was that Xue Zhengchu and his wife had a quarrel over going back to their hometown, etc.

After leaving Liu's house, Bi Chunliu went to other people's houses to pay New Year's greetings, but just said a few words at the door. Finally, she took Xing Fei to pay New Year's greetings to Grandma Zhang. She sat at Grandma Zhang's house for a while, and finally returned to Liu's house to wait for her brother and sister-in-law who had been playing wildly to come home.

"Grandma, Mom, Dad, look what we brought back!" Liu He rushed in from outside, bringing with him a gust of cool air. He didn't care about his red, frozen fingers, but excitedly held up the rope in his hand, which had four small fish tied to it.

"Ugh~" Liu Xiaoyue was sitting not far from the door and was irritated by the sudden fishy smell.

Bi Chunliu not only saw the fish in Liu He's hand, but also saw Wei Guo holding three fish. Then, she was affected by the sound of Liu Xiaoyue vomiting. Listening to Sister Xiaoyue's vomiting, Bi Chunliu felt as if there was acid rolling up in her stomach and throat, and she felt a little nauseous.

Anqing frowned and ordered his son to take the fish away. He anxiously poured water for his wife and then patted her back gently.

Aunt Liu handed her daughter a candy and said, "What's wrong? Come on, eat some candy and see if it can help push it down."

Liu Xiaoyue put the candy in her mouth and soon she was fine. "Mom, I'm fine. I just felt unwell this morning. Maybe I ate too much yesterday."

Liu He, who almost vomited his mother, didn't dare to enter the house. He peeked out the window. Bi Chunliu saw him, suppressed the sourness in her mouth, and said, "Aunt Liu, Sister Xiaoyue is not feeling well. Weiguo and the others are back, so we'll go home first."

They all lived in the same compound, so Aunt Liu didn't say anything polite. "Okay, Chunliu, I won't keep you here anymore. Qingzi, go see Chunliu and Xiaoxing off."

"good."

On her way out, Bi Chunliu happened to run into Deng Hong, who was bulging with pregnancy. After saying hello, she remembered how Deng Hong had been sick during her morning sickness. She felt that Xiaoyue looked a lot like Deng Hong. But it was Chinese New Year, so she couldn't just remind someone to go to the hospital. Especially since it was the first day of the Lunar New Year, wouldn't that be like cursing someone?

Bi Chunliu hesitated for a long time before saying with a smile: "Sister Deng Hong is radiant now. I didn't expect that she had such severe morning sickness at that time. I see that Brother Qi Chao has lost a lot of weight. It seems that he has done a lot of things." He emphasized the word morning sickness.

An Qing was stunned, and understood Bi Chunliu's hint. This wife... shouldn't be possible? Then he thought about it and realized that since they were both young, this was also possible. His mood suddenly became hot.

"Angel, let's go."

"Okay, Chunliu, Xiaoxing, I'll go home first." Anqing responded and immediately turned around and went home.

As soon as they came out of the alley, Xing Fei asked, "Wife, are you saying that Sister Xiaoyue might be pregnant?"

Bi Chunliu: "I'm not sure either, but it feels a bit similar. I guess Aunt Liu will ask Brother An to take Sister Xiaoyue to the hospital tomorrow. We'll know then."

"Wow~ Liu Zhuzi will have brothers and sisters to play with?" Bi Qiuguo took Bi Chunliu's arm and said, "Big sister, when can I become an aunt?"

Bi Chunliu: "..." He reached out and pinched his sister's nose, "Can you tolerate a crying child now?"

Zhang Haohao and his children were all about the same age, and when they were little, if one started crying, the others would follow suit. The adults could tolerate it, but the two youngest, Qiu Guo and Liu He, were constantly scowling from annoyance, and the two children who didn't want to go to elementary school were now looking forward to it.

Bi Qiuguo: "How could I be annoyed with my own children! Besides, all four of them were big-mouthed. My nephew or niece is a child. Big sister, it would be even better if you could give birth to twins, a boy and a girl. I have a classmate whose mother gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl, and he said it was very interesting."

"..." Bi Chunliu was speechless. It was fine if he was greedy for food, but why was he greedy for other people's twin brother and sister? "You're dreaming. There's no precedent for twins in our family."

Bi Qiuguo: "Hey, big sister, can't I just think about it?"

"I think you should think about your studies."

Bi Qiuguo wilted, "..." She looked at her elder sister cautiously, then again, comforting herself that her elder sister probably didn't know that she hadn't done much with her homework... She didn't dare to continue pestering her elder sister to have a baby, so she closed her mouth and walked quietly.

When it came to having children, Bi Chunliu had actually thought about it. She actually thought the next two years would be a good time to have a child. She had previously thought that after the reform and opening-up policy, she would definitely do something else. The textile factory wouldn't be her lifelong iron rice bowl. Furthermore, their textile factory wasn't a large factory like a steel mill or a machinery factory. Once the reform and opening-up policy came, light industrial factories like these would inevitably be impacted. Layoffs would be too passive if the textile factory collapsed.

If she had a child in the past two years, it would have been six or seven by 1978, giving her the freedom to work hard. Xing Fei's job was stable, with little chance of being laid off, but being in the system also meant they wouldn't become wealthy. Although she had no children in her previous life, she had seen how many people raised them well. If she had a child now, she didn't want to raise it in a muddled way.

Bi Chunliu felt she wouldn't accomplish anything earth-shattering in her next life, but she also didn't want to just drift with the tide, waiting to be eliminated and then have her children provide for her in her old age. She thought it was time to discuss having a child with Xing Fei.