◎Second update◎

When Lu Yuan got home from get off work, he heard the ladies in the hospital congratulating him. It was not until he met Cheng Caili and read the hospital's report that he was sure that his wife was really pregnant!

The couple had been praying for a child for many years, and finally it came true. Lu Yuan's hands were shaking when he looked at the medical report.

"Cai Li!" Lu Yuan's eyes were red as he looked at his wife sitting on the chair with excitement. He stuttered a little when he spoke, "Are you really pregnant?"

I have to hear the answer from my wife herself!

"Really." Cheng Caili grinned, looking at Lu Yuan and thinking of the ups and downs they had experienced over the years, she was a little moved. Not to mention anything else, just how much suffering he had gone through because of this matter.

Lu Yuan took a step forward and excitedly wanted to hug his wife, "Cai Li, it's actually true! Hahahaha, I'm going to be a father!"

"Hey, stay away from me." Cheng Caili swiftly moved to the side, a little further away from Lu Yuan, "Don't hurt the child."

Cheng Caili was very cautious. This child was not easy to come by. Lu Yuan was so excited that she had to be careful not to get hurt. Especially in the first three months, problems could easily occur.

"Okay, okay, please sit down." Lu Yuan rubbed his hands and felt relieved when he saw Caili sitting on the sofa. What should he do?

This is his first time being a father and he has no experience!

Cheng Caili watched her husband busying around the house. Sometimes he was pouring water for her, and sometimes he was thinking about going to the hospital to ask the doctor for a certificate to buy milk. He was like a busy bee, buzzing around her.

Because Cheng Caili went to the hospital for a check-up after being reminded by someone in the hospital, she did not hide her pregnancy from everyone. In one night, the whole hospital knew that she was pregnant and was going to be a mother.

There was another happy event in the compound. Wei Jinrong was so happy that he almost wanted to call a group meeting again. It was only after everyone talked and persuaded him that he stopped the idea.

Liang Baozhen was also surprised when she saw Cheng Caili coming to her house. Did what she just said casually yesterday really work?

"Baozhen, you are truly amazing!" Cheng Caili now feels that Liang Baozhen is even more powerful than the Goddess of Childbirth. She had prayed for a child for years and she said it would come tomorrow, and it came tomorrow. "You don't know how excited Lu Yuan was when he heard about this when he came back."

Cheng Caili is pretty, and she used to look adorable with her short hair. But now when she talks about her children, her eyes light up, and she can't hide the happiness on her face, and her smile is full of tenderness.

"Brother Lu must be very happy. He likes children. I saw him always playing with our little Wei and Xiao Ya."

"I wish my child could be as pretty and cute as Xiaoya." Cheng Caili likes concubines and hopes to give birth to one. However, her mother-in-law probably won't be happy about it, so she hopes to have a grandson.

Zhou Yun also heard about the happy event, so he went to the yard to congratulate Xiao Cheng. Hearing what she said, he joked that he wanted her to have two babies, a boy and a girl.

But Cheng Caili shook her head and said, "No, Lu Yuan and his steel mill said they would respond to the country's call and only have one child. Our supply and marketing cooperative also held a thought meeting and we have to implement family planning."

"Is it so strict?" Zhou Yun hadn't been to the factory for a long time. He had no idea it was so formal now.

"It's not particularly strict, but I heard from the director that it's best to follow the policy, otherwise it will be difficult to get promoted in the future. Everyone is similar. Others only have one child, and they marry late and have children late, so they have fewer and better children. But you are the only one who has a bunch of children, so you have to give the opportunity for promotion to others." Cheng Caili had already discussed with Lu Yuan today that they would only have this one child.

"Then you are the mother, you gave birth to your own child, or it would be better to give birth to a girl you like." Liang Baozhen thought of Cheng Caili's girl in her dream, who was smart and cute, and she felt relieved. "Maybe she really is a girl."

"Hahaha, I believe you! It's comfortable to hear what you say." Cheng Caili wanted to be a concubine, she didn't like naughty boys, plus Liang Baozhen had predicted that she was pregnant yesterday, so now she didn't care and was willing to believe what Liang Baozhen said.

Liang Baozhen: "...accidentally prophesying everywhere."

——

Because Cheng Caili was pregnant, the nervous Lu Yuan didn't even let Cheng Caili interfere with the matter of special supplies for the festival.

Liang Baozhen watched as people in the courtyard rushed to read a newspaper that listed the special supplementary foods for this year's New Year.

"What's that?" With her heads squeezed together, she could only see a few words.

"There's a fish, a chicken, some sugar, flour and soybeans..." Liu Nianhua also cares about this, after all, only special supplies can help everyone have a good New Year.

"Baozhen, come over here and take a look. I'm watching." Qian Jingjing called out and made room for her.

Liang Baozhen leaned over and saw in the newspaper that there were nearly twenty kinds of non-staple foods to be rationed for the Spring Festival this year. The first was fish, the most important food for the Spring Festival, which was rationed at one kilogram per person and only available for seven days. Then there were chickens, one per household and only available for six days. There were also three kilograms of eggs per household, three kilograms of sugar, one kilogram of cooking oil, and three kilograms of flour per person. In addition, there were candies, peanuts, melon seeds, cigarettes, and alcohol...

Only fish and chicken are in short supply. If you miss those seven days, you won’t be able to buy them even if you want to.

"Go home and get some paper and pen to make a note of it," Aunt Li told everyone. Don't forget to buy fish at the time. Someone had made a mistake in remembering the time before, and ended up not buying any fish during the Chinese New Year.

"Baozhen, come here, I brought some extra paper and pen." Liu Nianhua has elementary school students at home, so he has all the necessary paper and pens.

"Sister Hua, please use it. I'll remember it."

"You remembered it all?" Liu Nianhua had just seen Liang Baozhen for a while, and she remembered it all? Impossible, "Really? Then let me test you."

"Okay." Liang Baozhen has a good memory and is confident about this.

"How much fish can I buy and when can I buy it?"

"One pound per person, available from February 7 to February 14."

Liu Nianhua nodded, and then asked a few random questions about the purchase quantity and time of supplementary food. Liang Baozhen answered all of them. This time she really believed it, "You have a really good memory."

Thinking back to when I first learned bus routes and toll booths, it was so tiring.

Starting today, we can buy the rationed non-staple food for the Spring Festival. Liang Baozhen and her grandmother took Xu Shengwei and Xu Shengya with them. Xu Shengjie was still in the factory. There was a problem with the equipment at the National Cotton Mill again, so he helped to repair it.

Liang Baozhen took out the family's food and oil book and bought the Spring Festival special supplementary food according to the standard of a family of five: 2.5 catties of peanuts, 5 catties of broad beans, 2.5 catties of sunflower seeds, 1 catty of soybeans, 2.5 catties of rapeseed oil, 2 catties of peanut oil, 0.5 catty of sesame oil, a bottle of Tongzhou Laojiao, 2 catties of green onions, 65 pieces of tofu, 3 catties of eggs...

Each household was given a pack of ten cigarettes, but they didn't care. They planned to buy cigarettes themselves when Xu Shengjie was free, but they must not buy the wrong ones.

Finally, there are fish and chicken, which will be available ten days before the Chinese New Year. You have to come early to queue up, otherwise you will worry about not being able to buy them or not being able to pick good ones.

Before the Spring Festival, every household is busy cleaning the house in their free time during the day, sweeping away the bad luck in the house with a broom. Tables, chairs, benches, closets and wardrobes must also be wiped clean.

Xu Shengjie is very busy in the factory these days, because he proposed the "revolutionary Spring Festival" ten years ago, which means there will be no holiday during the Spring Festival, and people have to actively participate in labor on New Year's Eve, so the National Cotton Mill will naturally not stop production.

However, the machines and equipment had problems in large numbers at this time, and Xu Shengjie, who was able to repair the equipment, was also forced to work overtime.

It was already the third day that Xu Shengjie had not come back for dinner, and the Xu family discussed the preparations for the Spring Festival at the dinner table.

"Grandma, can we set off firecrackers this year?" Xu Shengwei likes setting off firecrackers the most, but a few years ago, when the four olds had to be destroyed, customs such as setting off firecrackers, kowtowing, and dragon and lion dances were all banned.

"See if other people will relax their restrictions?" Zhou Yun couldn't figure it out. Last year's big campaign ended, and now the Chinese New Year is almost here. The street office hasn't been going door to door to publicize the prohibitions during the Chinese New Year. Maybe things have really been relaxed?

Liang Baozhen, picking up the boiled cabbage in the pot, also felt that it was very likely. In the past, the management in the village was not so strict, but Xiaowei said that there had been no firecrackers in the city for several years, and there were always people checking. But this year was different.

"If everyone wants to buy it, we will buy it too." Liang Baozhen plans to ask Liu Nianhua, Dong Xiufen, Qian Jingjing and others tomorrow, especially Dong Xiufen's family, as Master Wei must have first-hand information.

"Sister-in-law, I want one too." Xu Shengya also likes to set off firecrackers. The crackling sound is so lively!

"Okay, as long as it can be put in, we'll buy it."

Before Liang Baozhen could finish her words, the door of her house was suddenly pushed open, followed by the voice of Xu Shengjie.

"What do you want to buy?"

It was already dark, but it was only a little after six o'clock. It always gets dark early in winter. Xu Shengjie walked into the house shivering with cold. Xu Shengya was so cold that she curled up into a ball and yelled at her brother to close the door quickly.

Liang Baozhen got up to get the dishes and chopsticks from the cabinet nearby, and replied, "We are talking about buying firecrackers. I wonder if we can set them off this year?"

"I guess so. The policy is a bit loose this year, as long as it's not too excessive." Xu Shengjie was very hungry. He had been busy all day tinkering with the equipment. Now he picked up the bowl and chopsticks and started to eat.

"Slow down." Zhou Yun still thought his grandson was a child and was worried that he might choke.

After Xu Shengjie had almost finished his meal, Liang Baozhen asked about the factory's problems, "Why have so many equipment broken down recently?"

"There's a revolution going on." Xu Shengjie ate up all the remaining food and finally filled his stomach.

Most of the equipment at the National Cotton Mill is old equipment that has been used for decades. Normally, it is fine. However, this time, because Chen Yong took on too many orders and the load was heavy, they could not cope with it for a while and they all "revolted". They had to be repaired before they could continue to be used.

Liang Baozhen was actually thinking about one thing. She wondered if it had anything to do with the inferior cotton that Chen Siming later bought in exchange for bribes. The cotton contained a lot of impurities and was quite rough, which was a heavy burden on the old cotton cleaning equipment of the state-owned cotton mill.

However, there is no evidence at present, or the problem is not serious enough, so we have to wait and see.

There is good news for the New Year this year. The policy has been relaxed. Not only can we set off firecrackers, but the National Cotton Mill also gives everyone two days off, with shifts taking turns to take the day off.

Although this holiday is not as long as previous Spring Festival holidays, it is better than having no day off at all in previous years.

On New Year's Eve, the family got up early to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner. Xu Shengjie bought a Daqianmen fish, which he used for gifts and favors. Liang Baozhen followed her grandmother to buy two of the most expensive premium hairtail fish, which cost 38 cents per pound. They were wide and had thick meat, weighing a total of five pounds. One was eaten on New Year's Eve and the other on the first day of the new year.

I also bought an old hen, half of which I used to make soup and the other half of which I used to eat cold.

In the large courtyard, the Xu family's table was laid out with a laden New Year's Eve dinner, including stewed chicken soup, braised pork, braised pork with brown sauce, bacon, stewed hairtail, cold chicken, four-happiness meatballs, pork and cabbage dumplings, mustard dumplings, large white steamed buns made with flour, fried cabbage, cucumber slices, and stir-fried meat with black fungus.

The family sat down and got ready to eat!

The author has something to say:

Thanks to the cutie who irrigated the nutrient solution: I won 10 bottles while slacking off at work;