Business war?

They shouldn't have announced the pregnancy so soon, but Xu Tangmian and her husband were really at a loss, so they couldn't help but share it with Song Weidong and the others. More people, more ideas, right?

Although Song Weidong is a doctor, he is not a professional. In addition, Xu Tangmian is now considered his "sister-in-law," so he couldn't say much. Therefore, he only gave some instructions on dietary restrictions.

These are all old sayings, but for the clueless young couple, they were truly "eager for advice." Whether they were right or wrong, they had to listen to what the other person said.

Li Yutao would also bring some tonics every now and then. Whether at school or in the village, she took great care of Xu Tangmian. If she and Song Weidong weren't still unmarried, she would love to build a house next door to Xu Tangmian.

Xu Tangmian only told these two people about her pregnancy. Yu Chunsheng wanted to hire a nanny, but Xu Tangmian thought that the printing factory hadn't made any money yet, and she wasn't at the point where she couldn't take care of herself, so she decided not to waste the money.

Unexpectedly, just as the first snow fell in Huaifeng Town, a taxi came crunching through the mud.

The car stopped directly in front of the brigade headquarters. Upon seeing the familiar figures getting out of the car, Song Weidong quickly went to greet them.

"Auntie, what brings you here? Where's Uncle?"

Li Youlan directed him to take his luggage out of the trunk, saying, "Your uncle is taking care of the child, so I'm staying here for a while. You take your luggage back to your house, and I'll go check on Alin."

"Wait a minute, I'll go with you." Song Weidong carried his suitcase back to the clinic, greeted a new doctor, rubbed his hands together, and then walked towards Xu Tangmian's house with Li Youlan.

——

Yu Chunsheng went to the printing factory early in the morning, leaving Xu Tangmian alone at home.

In winter, Xu Tangmian became even lazier, and she hardly ever got out of bed except to eat or go to the toilet.

But how can a pregnant woman stay in bed all the time? Now that her belly is getting bigger, Xu Tangmian has to get out of bed and walk around, no matter how unwilling she is.

Seeing the heavy snow falling outside, Xu Tangmian couldn't help but worry about Yu Chunsheng. She wondered how late he would be busy, how slippery the roads were, and if he fell, would anyone see him?

She began to regret letting Yu Chunsheng go into business.

The howling north wind came from all directions, like the crying of a baby. A layer of snow had already piled up on the swing and grape trellis in the yard, and the tin cover on the carport creaked and groaned.

If it keeps snowing like this until night, at least 10 centimeters of snow will accumulate, which the carport simply cannot withstand.

Xu Tangmian picked up a large broom from the window to sweep the snow. The broom itself wasn't too heavy, but it took some effort to swing it onto the roof of the carport and then sweep the snow.

With a burst of energy, she threw the broom up, stood on tiptoe, gripped the broom head, and gave it a hard shake. Sparse snowflakes fell from the edge like pieces of bread.

This area is swept away; now it's time to sweep the other side. Xu Tangmian let go of the broom and moved a little to the right, but unexpectedly slipped and fell on the spot!

"Hey!" Song Weidong shouted and strode over, but just as he passed the gate, he slipped and tumbled down in front of the grape trellis, causing snowflakes to fall.

Li Youlan, who was following behind, was so anxious that her face was contorted. She didn't care that her nephew had fallen headfirst. She took one step at a time, trembling, and tried to help Xu Tangmian up.

Grasping Li Youlan's arm, Xu Tangmian, her face deathly pale, struggled to her feet.

"Are you feeling unwell? Why aren't you sitting inside?" Li Youlan carefully helped Xu Tangmian into the house.

The small stove from the kitchen has been moved to the bedroom, and a pipe runs directly from the window to the outside, so there's no need to worry about poisoning.

The room was warm. Xu Tangmian gestured for Song Weidong to move a stool himself, and then invited Li Youlan to sit down on the chair in front of the writing desk.

She sat on the edge of the bed, her face slowly flushing red, and looked at Li Youlan with a faint smile: "Why did you come, elder sister? Did Chunsheng send you a telegram? I told him not to do this, why did you still have to come?"

"What do you mean by 'causing a disturbance'!" Li Youlan scolded, "If I hadn't come, you'd still be sitting in the snow right now. Where did he go?"

"He" naturally refers to Yu Chunsheng.

Xu Tangmian explained for him, "There was a problem at the printing factory, and he went there without even having breakfast this morning."

Li Youlan blamed herself again, saying, "It's our fault. We should have waited until the factory was running smoothly before leaving."

“This is not your problem; you have your own things to do too.”

The eldest sister did not answer her question, and Xu Tangmian looked at Song Weidong again: "Did you call the eldest sister here?"

Song Weidong nodded. "I didn't call her over. I just told her about your pregnancy, and who knew she would suddenly show up today."

“It’s not sudden.” Li Youlan pulled the chair closer and held Xu Tangmian’s hand, then suddenly exclaimed, “Oh, it’s quite warm.” He continued, “I wanted to come as soon as I received the telegram, but there are many things to arrange in Beiping.”

"I left the baby with Xingyao and quickly bought a ticket to come over." Li Youlan looked at her belly with loving eyes, "How many months pregnant are you?"

"It's been almost three months," Xu Tangmian said with a smile. "I estimate I'll give birth around July or August next year."

"That's wonderful." Li Youlan's eyes reddened again as she smiled and touched Alin's slightly protruding belly, saying with emotion, "This is Alin's child."

“I originally planned to stay at Weidong’s house and come here during the day to cook for you and tidy up the house, but after seeing it today, I’m still not at ease.”

"What's there to worry about?" Song Weidong comforted her. "Auntie, you're just worrying unnecessarily. Chunsheng isn't here during the day, but he'll be back when you come back to my place tonight."

“What good is he?” Li Youlan retorted to her nephew. “He’s just a young lad, how could he possibly take care of a pregnant woman?”

Although Li Youlan was here, which made her feel more at ease than Yu Chunsheng taking care of her, Xu Tangmian felt embarrassed to have her stay here day and night to take care of her.

Give her money, but the older sister definitely won't accept it. Besides, she's much richer than them now. But if you don't even give her money, how can you expect her to be your 24-hour nanny?

She politely declined, saying, "It would be great if you wanted to stay here, but how could I let you serve me like this? Even if I wanted to, Chunsheng wouldn't."

“He can’t control me!” Li Youlan acted immediately. She got up and looked around the room. She saw a bed by the living room window and immediately instructed her nephew, “Go back to your house and bring me a few quilts. I’ll be living here from today.”

Song Weidong remained motionless, looking at Xu Tangmian with pleading eyes.

"Why are you looking at her? Can't you see how badly she fell?" Li Youlan got angry when she heard this: "What good are you? You can't even walk properly without falling flat on your face."

"I was in a hurry and didn't watch my step," Song Weidong explained.

"Alright, alright." Li Youlan was too lazy to listen to his nonsense. "I think I'll have to come and serve you all again when Xiaotao is pregnant. I really owe your family something."

"It's still a long way off." Song Weidong said with a grin. "I haven't met Xiao Tao's parents yet, so whether they'll agree is another matter."

“You’re right,” Li Youlan nodded. “What were you doing when you were young a few years ago? Now that you’re all old, you’re only thinking about finding a partner.”

"..." Song Weidong looked embarrassed: "If I had dated Xiaotao a few years ago, I would have ended up in the police station."

Li Youlan rolled her eyes at him, then turned to Xu Tangmian: "Are you feeling unwell now? I think you fell pretty badly just now. Should we go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

Xu Tangmian shook her head, "It's nothing, it only hurt for a while, but I'm fine now. Big sister, don't bother, let's sit down and talk for a while? You must be exhausted from the journey, and it's so cold."

Seeing that the two were having a pleasant conversation, Song Weidong quietly withdrew and closed the door behind him.

When the conversation turned to Yu Chunsheng, Xu Tangmian kept pestering Li Youlan to tell her more, as if she couldn't get enough of him. It wasn't until it was dark that Li Youlan got up, turned on the light, and said helplessly, "We've been so busy talking that several hours have passed. You must be starving."

As she spoke, she walked toward the kitchen. Just as she stood up, she heard a bell ringing in the yard, followed by the sound of a scaffold being erected.

"Honey, I'm home."

Yu Chunsheng stamped his feet, shook off the snow from his body, and pushed open the door, quite surprised.

"Big sister!" He was so excited he couldn't speak. "You... I didn't, why are you here?"

"You don't welcome me?" Li Youlan teased him deliberately.

"How could that be? I couldn't wait for you to come." Yu Chunsheng entered the room and saw that Xu Tangmian was lying comfortably on the bed before he started talking to Li Youlan again.

"When did you arrive? You didn't tell me in advance so I could have picked you up."

"Why bother picking me up? You'll still have to take a taxi anyway, so I might as well come over myself." Li Youlan pointed to the bed that had been made up in the living room. "I'll move in with you first and ask for permission later. I hope it won't bother you two young couples."

"I won't bother you." Yu Chunsheng said with a smile, "I originally wanted to invite you, but Tangtang wouldn't allow it."

"You're always so polite with me." Li Youlan smiled and scolded Xu Tangmian, "Alin and I are like family. What's wrong with asking your own family to do things for you? Just treat me like his older sister. It's what I should do."

Xu Tangmian scratched her head sheepishly: "That's because he's shameless. How could I possibly order my older sister around like that?"

"My older sister mainly comes to our house to provide technical guidance," Yu Chunsheng said confidently, hands on his hips.

“I’ll still do the housework. When I’m not around, you can keep her company and talk to her. She gets bored after work with no one to keep her company, and when she’s bored, she comes to bother me.”

Xu Tangmian immediately glared at him, "What are you saying!"

Li Youlan said with a smile, "You know, Tangtang fell down while you were away at home during the day."

"Ah?" Yu Chunsheng's expression changed, and he quickly went to the bedside: "Is it serious? Should we go to the hospital to get it checked out?"

"It's nothing." Xu Tangmian explained for a while before changing the subject: "Why did you leave so quickly this morning? How's the printing factory?"

Yu Chunsheng pursed his lips and remained silent for a while before saying, "It's strange. We couldn't get any orders before. We finally managed to get some orders by contacting a former colleague from the supply and marketing cooperative, but yesterday they said they didn't have enough paper."

"Don't the printing plants buy their paper directly from the paper mills in your town? How can there not be enough?" Li Youlan asked.

Yu Chunsheng was also puzzled. "The people at the paper mill said that another newly opened factory also has a lot of orders. They need them urgently, so they've increased the price to order all the goods."

"Was that intentional?" Xu Tangmian sensed something was wrong. "How much does a paper mill produce every day? Even if a newly opened factory has a lot of capital, it can't buy it all at once. Did you offend someone?"

Yu Chunsheng chuckled, “How could that be? I’ve practically worshipped all the suppliers.”

“That doesn’t seem right either.” Xu Tangmian thought it over and over, and then urged Yu Chunsheng: “Go to the paper mill as soon as possible and find someone you can trust to ask around. The business world is like a battlefield. My older sister is here with me, so I’ll be fine.”