Chapter 144 Dowry

She changed the subject and began planning with great interest: "We must prepare this dowry properly! It must be lavish, so that the Meng family won't look down on us!"

Mom had already saved up some nice things for you before, a Swiss Titoni watch, pure gold jewelry... It seems like we need to get some more... and try to find some more sought-after items..."

Zhou Anping frowned even more: "Mom! What are you saying! It's not even a done deal yet, how come you're already talking about dowry? Isn't that too early!"

"What do you mean 'early'?" Song Lanxin said dismissively. "You said you're dating someone, so doesn't that mean it's almost a done deal? Besides, you're not young anymore. Look at Nan Zhiyi, she's almost due, and you don't even have a definite answer yet. How can I not be anxious?"

She accidentally let it slip again.

Zhou Anping said helplessly, "Mom! Why are we bringing up Zhiyi again!"

"Oh dear, my slip of the tongue!" Song Lanxin quickly waved her hand, but still smiled. "Let's not talk about it! But we have to listen to Mom about the dowry. It must be prepared in advance, just in case!"

Zhou Anping had some doubts: "Mom, what you're saying... must cost a lot of money and tickets, right? Does our family... have that much?"

She knew that although her father held a high position, the family's expenses were also high, and her mother also subsidized her brother quite a bit.

Song Lanxin, however, was confident: "Don't worry about that, Mom has a plan. You just need to focus on your work and maintain a good relationship with Meng Qingshan!"

The mother and daughter chatted for a while longer. Seeing that it was getting late, Song Lanxin got up and told her daughter to wash up and rest early, as she had to go to work the next day.

Before leaving, she turned back and said, "I'll inquire about hiring a maid tomorrow. Don't worry about it, just take care of yourself."

Zhou Anping nodded: "Okay, Mom, you should get some rest too."

The next morning, Zhou Anping went to work and saw Wu Ma watering the flowers and plants in the corner.

Zhou Anping walked over and whispered to Aunt Wu, "Aunt Wu, could you please tell Zhiyi that if she's going for a prenatal checkup in a couple of days, please let me know the exact time a day in advance so I can take time off to go with her?"

Aunt Wu smiled and agreed, "Okay, Comrade Anping, don't worry, I'll definitely deliver it."

After watering the flowers, Aunt Wu returned to the house and saw Nan Zhiyi slowly walking down the stairs. She quickly went over to support her, saying, "Slow down! Your belly is so big, you have to be very careful!"

Nan Zhiyi smiled and said, "It's alright, Aunt Wu. I'm holding you up. You're very steady."

Wu Ma served Nan Zhiyi's breakfast and relayed Zhou Anping's message.

Nan Zhiyi felt a warmth in her heart and nodded, saying, "Okay, I'll tell her when I've confirmed the time in a couple of days."

She handed the envelope to Aunt Wu: "Aunt Wu, could you please drop this letter into the mailbox for me when you go grocery shopping today? It's for a submission."

"Okay, leave it to me." Aunt Wu took the letter and carefully put it away.

In the afternoon, Aunt Wu returned from grocery shopping, carrying several letters in her hand. Smiling, she said to Nan Zhiyi, who was slowly strolling in the yard to digest her food, "Zhiyi, I ran into the postman for our area at the post office. He said he had several letters for you, so I brought them back. Take a look."

Nan Zhiyi took the letter, glanced at the sender, and her eyes lit up.

Two of the letters were from the People's Literature magazine. One was sent by Zhao Yaqin from the army, and the other was from Aunt Feng Xuemei.

Nan Zhiyi first opened the two letters from the People's Literature magazine. One was a notification of manuscript acceptance and a letter from the editor, just like last time.

The payment for the article has increased; this time it's 28 yuan.

The other one was a sample copy of the April issue of People's Literature Publishing House.

Nan Zhiyi quickly flipped to her page in the table of contents, looking at it again and again. Her work had been published in a national-level publication, black ink on white paper, still smelling of ink…

After a while, she calmed her excited emotions and picked up Zhao Yaqin's letter.

The envelope was bulging; when opened, it contained several sheets of paper with messy handwriting.

In her letter, Zhao Yaqin first inquired about her recent situation and expressed concern for her health and children.

Then, her tone shifted abruptly, and she became noticeably downcast. She confirmed that the news of Li Weidong's marriage on May Day was true. She wrote, "I knew this day would come eventually, but now that it's here, my heart still feels like it's being torn apart... My mother is very protective of me, and I don't even have a chance to ask him why... Maybe this is just our fate."

At the end of the letter, she forced herself to be cheerful and said that work was going well and she had some free time. Finally, she told Nan Zhiyi to take good care of herself.

As Nan Zhiyi read the letter, her heart grew heavy. She sighed softly, folded the letter, and decided to write a proper reply to comfort her.

Aunt Feng's letter was written by Zhang Yueran on her behalf, and it was very long. She inquired in detail about Nan Zhiyi's daily life in the Gu family, whether Gu Xiao treated her well, and wrote down countless precautions for her pregnancy, from diet to rest, leaving no detail unattended.

Yueyue chimed in, saying she missed her sister and would come to visit her when she had saved up some time off.

The letter ended in a tone clearly that of Aunt Feng, reminding her that things seemed to be getting tense again and that Nan Zhiyi should try to stay home as much as possible and take good care of herself and the baby in her belly.

After reading the letter, Nan Zhiyi picked up the sample copy and carefully read the stories of other authors from the same period, paying attention to their narrative techniques, language styles, and topic selection angles, and silently learning from their strengths.

As dusk fell, she carefully closed the magazine and put it in her desk drawer, thinking to herself that she would definitely show it to Gu Xiao when he came home next time.

A few days later, it was time to schedule my prenatal checkup.

Zhou Anping took a special leave of absence and came to see Nan Zhiyi early in the morning.

The military hospital was some distance from the compound, so the two of them took a bus.

Zhou Anping held Nan Zhiyi's arm tightly the whole time, his eyes scanning the surroundings, as if afraid that someone might accidentally bump into Nan Zhiyi's stomach.

Everything went smoothly at the hospital.

After examining her, Director Zhang said that the fetus was developing very well and that Nan Zhiyi herself had no major problems. He just advised her to pay more attention to rest and nutrition in the later stages, and to exercise appropriately but not to overexert herself.

"I'm 32 weeks pregnant now, and my next prenatal checkup is scheduled for two weeks from now. I need to have more frequent checkups later on, and if I feel uncomfortable, I should come to the hospital immediately. Don't try to bear it."

Director Zhang gave instructions.

After hearing the doctor's words, the two of them breathed a sigh of relief.

After leaving the hospital, it was already noon. Nan Zhiyi dragged Zhou Anping to a nearby state-run restaurant for lunch, saying she wanted to treat herself.

Zhou Anping: "Aunt Wu is still waiting at home."

“I already told Aunt Wu last night that I wouldn’t be coming home for lunch today.”

Nan Zhiyi smiled and pulled Zhou Anping toward another intersection.

When we arrived at the restaurant, we looked at the menu written in chalk on the wall. The main dish for lunch was large wontons.

Zhou Anping didn't want Nan Zhiyi to spend too much money, so he only asked for a bowl of wonton noodles.