Chapter 349 Idle Talk

Zhang Jianshe had a fever of 39.3 degrees Celsius. After receiving an injection in his buttocks, the fever subsided in less than two hours.

The fever has subsided temporarily, which doesn't mean the illness is cured. We need to take precautions to prevent the fever from flaring up again. Song Lubai insisted that Zhang Jianshe stay at the health center for a day for observation.

At noon, Song Lubai made a pot of white noodle soup, added an egg, packed some cornbread, and she and her mother took it to the health center.

When I arrived at the entrance of the health center, I ran into Zhao Dongmei carrying her child as she came out.

The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes was crying loudly. Song Lubai glanced at the child's face and thought the child was not cute at all.

Newborn babies are all red and wrinkled. Song Lubai remembered that her two younger brothers were also ugly when they were born, but the redness would gradually fade and they would become more attractive. Zhao Dongmei's baby was still red and wrinkled even after several months, looking like a little old man.

Zhao Dongmei was stunned when she saw Zhang Cui.

"Auntie, Auntie."

Zhao Dongmei called out uncertainly.

Zhang Cui felt uncomfortable, but said coldly, "Lin Dahai and I divorced a long time ago, and you are no longer Lu Jianxi's wife, so you don't need to call me aunt."

Even without that relationship, based on age, Zhao Dongmei should still call Zhang Cui "auntie".

Zhao Dongmei was surprised that it really was her, and she tightened her grip on the child.

Song Lubai and her daughter clearly didn't want to talk to her, so Zhao Dongmei didn't say anything more and just watched the two of them go into the health center.

Zhao Dongmei carried her still-crying child back to her front door, but she didn't dare go inside.

The child cries day and night, and Feng Xiaolong has been getting angry about it lately.

Hearing the crying outside, Bai Lixia from next door opened her door and invited, "Come in and sit for a while."

Bai Lixia knew that the neighbors had been arguing a lot lately, and she only let Zhao Dongmei into the house out of sympathy.

"What did the doctor say?"

Zhao Dongmei patted the child and said, "The doctor said it might be because he's hungry; he's growing slower than other children."

Zhao Dongmei didn't have enough breast milk, and there were no other nutritional supplements at home to feed the baby. The baby cried every day, and she couldn't do anything about it.

Bai Lixia grabbed a small bowl of noodles from her cupboard and said, "Take this back and cook it for him, then add some brown sugar."

Bai Lixia also felt sorry for the half bowl of noodles, but Zhao Dongmei's child looked too young, and crying day and night was indeed a headache.

Zhao Dongmei said with difficulty, "Could we...could we cook it at your house? I'm afraid if I take it back, he won't be able to drink much of it."

Whenever there was something good to eat at home, Feng Xiaolong would always give it to Feng Yaozu, leaving her and the children with very little to eat.

Bai Lixia fell silent because of her words.

Feng Xiaolong is a real scoundrel.

He went to the villagers' homes three times to get goat milk, and each time he came back, he wanted all the neighbors to know.

In fact, most of the goat milk ended up in his own son's stomach.

"Okay, I'll cook it here. I'll start cooking it for you now, and you can go back after the child has eaten."

Zhao Dongmei said with shame, "I will pay you back later."

For Zhao Dongmei to be so grateful that Bai Lixia was willing to lend her flour, given how precious it was, was already a great favor.

Not long after, Zhao Dongmei saw Song Lubai and Zhang Cui pass by through the window.

"Are relatives visiting the regimental commander?"

Bai Lixia glanced outside and said, "The regimental commander's wife's mother and younger brother came yesterday. My husband, Lao Wang, led them to the regimental commander's house."

Zhao Dongmei's expression betrayed her astonishment.

Because Song Lubai's surname is Song, she hadn't even considered that Song Lubai was Zhang Cui's daughter when she was at the entrance of the health center.

She had only heard that Zhang Cui had a daughter who had signed up to come to Xinjiang Province, but she didn't know that Song Lubai was not Lin Dahai and Zhang Cui's biological daughter.

"Sister Lixia, the regimental commander's wife's mother is my ex-husband's uncle's ex-wife. My ex-husband's uncle's surname is Lin, and Song Lubai's surname is Song. What do you think is going on?"

Bai Lixia never expected that Zhao Dongmei and the regimental commander's wife had this kind of relationship.

"What else could it be? I reckon the commander's wife's mother remarried the uncle of the man you married before."

"Why haven't I heard you mention this before?"

With this connection, why not try to get closer to the regimental commander's wife? Look how powerful Zhao Hongying is now, she's even become a minor leader.

Zhao Dongmei shook her head and said, "I've never met the regimental commander's wife in my hometown before. My ex-husband is a scoundrel who offended the regimental commander's wife's family."

Bai Lixia was quite interested in Song Lubai's family affairs and couldn't help but ask a few more questions.

"What? You mean the regimental commander's wife's mother divorced your ex-husband's uncle? Does that mean she's been divorced twice?"

Zhao Dongmei shook her head and said, "I don't know much about Aunt Zhang's past. I only found out today that Song Lubai and she are mother and daughter. But anyway, Aunt Zhang divorced the uncle of my ex-husband."

A woman who has been divorced once is enough for people to talk about behind her back for a long time, let alone one who has been divorced twice.

Bai Lixia asked, "Why did she get a divorce?"

Zhao Dongmei didn't want to admit that she was jealous of Song Lubai.

Song Lubai's attitude towards her always stung her.

Jealousy drove her to lie: "Uncle Lin felt sorry for his nephew who had no parents since childhood, so he took extra care of him. Aunt Zhang was unhappy about that and insisted on getting a divorce."

Bai Lixia chose to stand on Zhang Cui's side: "They weren't her biological children to begin with, so why should she raise someone else's child? If she gives them money once, she'll do it countless times. How will she manage to live her own life?"

Zhao Dongmei: "Uncle Lin didn't help us much. He only gave us less than ten yuan in total. Aunt Zhang was unhappy about that. She got her family to break her husband's legs. If Uncle Lin hadn't been afraid that Aunt Zhang would kill him, he wouldn't have even thought about getting a divorce. My ex-husband tried to stand up for Uncle Lin, but he was also beaten up by her."

Bai Lixia was utterly shocked. "The regimental commander's wife's mother is that amazing?"

That's really heartless.

However, Bai Lixia felt that something was wrong.

Ten yuan is a lot of money. She probably had something else happen, otherwise the commander's wife and her mother wouldn't have been so ruthless.

“I met the regimental commander’s wife’s mother yesterday, and I don’t think she’s that kind of person.”

Zhao Dongmei said softly, "You can't tell a person's character from their face."

"And what about the man in front of you?"

Zhao Dongmei said without batting an eye, "He died of illness. My family wanted to find me another family to marry into, but the man was lame. I didn't want to, so I came here."

Zhao Dongmei discovered that whenever she told others about her suffering, they would feel sympathy for her.

Out of sympathy, she will be given some preferential treatment.

Bai Lixia sighed and said, "After we women get married, we no longer have a family home. Our families always dote on their sons, so we can only endure life in other people's homes."

Zhao Dongmei said, "Sister Lixia, I see you're doing quite well."

Bai Lixia waved her hand and said, "You don't know what kind of life Lao Wang and I lived in our hometown. We were poor, and we had to put up with bad tempers every day. It was only after we came here and there was no in-laws in our family that my life started to get better. Being poor is nothing, it's not a big deal."