"Okay!" Jiang Yue readily agreed. Spring planting was over, and now they only needed to plant watermelons. There were many people planting watermelons, so taking a day off wouldn't be a problem.
Most importantly, since the person in charge is Wen Xi, she can naturally ask for leave whenever she wants.
Wenxi herself didn't really want to go to work, but as long as the watermelon seedlings were safe, she would naturally try to get as many benefits as possible for everyone.
After Yan Zheng spoke to Jiang Yue, he moved further away from her, giving the impression that the two had no connection whatsoever. Otherwise, if the village aunties saw this and went back to the village to spread rumors, it wouldn't be a good thing for Jiang Yue.
Yan Zheng watched Jiang Yue sit on the oxcart, then turned and left. Having an acquaintance by his side would greatly increase his safety.
In the afternoon, Wenxi went to the riverbank and picked a basket of fresh water celery. Ever since everyone ate the water celery Wenxi made last year and learned that water celery is quite delicious, many people have come to pick and eat water celery.
Wenxi also went to the edge of the field to pick some wild purslane. There weren't many vegetables to eat this season because they had just been planted and weren't ready to eat yet, so they could only eat wild vegetables.
Wenxi had a lot of vegetables, but she didn't want to take them to the educated youth settlement. Otherwise, how would she explain when people asked her where the vegetables came from?
If she dared to say that the vegetables were bought from the black market, Chang Hua would probably report her in the next second, since Chang Hua wants to move into her house right now.
After Wenxi picked the wild vegetables, the two of them cleaned and prepared them, then stir-fried them. After cooking, they kept the vegetables warm in the pot, ready to be taken to the educated youth settlement at the appointed time.
When Jiang Yue returned, they let her rest for a while, and then the three of them set off with food and wild vegetables. On the way, they met seven people who lived near Dong Hua's house.
Tian Shengnan and her two companions walked behind, while Gu Huai'an and his group of four walked in front. Xu Mengying clung to Gu Huai'an's arm in a very 'delicate' manner. After all, she was pregnant, and since she and Gu Huai'an had physical contact in public, others couldn't stand on moral high ground to criticize them.
As the weather gets hotter, people are wearing less and less clothing, and Xu Mengying's protruding belly is already visible.
"Xu Mengying, your belly is so big! How many months pregnant are you?" An auntie passing by noticed Xu Mengying's belly and asked enviously.
Xu Mengying reached out and touched her belly, saying with a smile, "Auntie, I'm already more than four months along, almost five months."
The aunt asked suspiciously, "Really? I seem to remember that you got married before school holidays. Come to think of it, you haven't been married for that long, have you?"
"Auntie, Xu Mengying is mistaken. They say pregnancy makes you stupid for three years, and her memory isn't as good as it used to be," Gu Huai'an said hurriedly.
If he doesn't say a word, who knows what people will say about them in their hearts later!
Xu Mengying also remembered this, and then her expression changed. The months didn't match up; wasn't this implying to everyone that she and Gu Huai'an were first...?
So Xu Mengying smiled sheepishly, "I'm so confused, I don't even know what month it is now, Brother Huai'an, what month is it now?"
"It's almost May already," Gu Huai'an said casually.
"Brother Huai'an, I'm so scared thinking about giving birth in a few months. You have to stay by my side every step of the way!"
The thought that she might give birth at the end of August or the beginning of September made Xu Mengying feel inexplicably panicked. Without any elders around, she was really worried.
“You city folks have good conditions. If you’re really scared, go to the hospital to give birth. There are doctors and nurses there. What’s there to worry about?” the aunt said.
"Okay, we understand. Thank you for reminding us, Auntie. We have some things to take care of, so we'll be going now." Afraid of wasting time by continuing the conversation, Gu Huai'an said quickly.
The aunt waved her hand, "Okay, then you can go. If you don't understand anything, you can come and ask me, and I can explain it to you."
"Thank you, Auntie," Xu Mengying said with a smile. She did indeed have many questions and didn't know what to prepare, so she really needed to ask her auntie for advice.
Gradually, Wenxi and her two friends fell behind. Wenxi whispered, "You all heard what they said, right? Xu Mengying got pregnant before the wedding. Gu Huai'an is alright; he's willing to take responsibility for her. But not everyone can meet a man who's willing to take responsibility. So, in the future, when we're dating or before we get married, we should never spend the night with anyone, even if they say they're going to get their marriage certificate tomorrow or have their wedding banquet tomorrow. Don't believe them, because they might disappear by daybreak. How can you expect them to take responsibility then?"
Times have changed, and some things are no longer permissible.
In this day and age, a woman who becomes pregnant out of wedlock is practically doomed. No matter how much she likes a man, she can't trust what he says or make such a mistake.
But men are different; they can turn around and marry someone else.
It leaves an indelible scar on women.
Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue both nodded repeatedly. They were people from this era and naturally knew how important reputation was. If a woman's reputation was ruined, it felt like the whole world could stand up and criticize her.
Wen Xi couldn't deny that He Chen'an really did a good job in this regard. When they were dating, they didn't do things that could only be done after marriage. During their relationship, they went on so many dates, but He Chen'an never had any improper thoughts. They even hugged each other very few times.
Of course, it's also possible that there's always been someone else around him, and he's just using her for amusement!
However, she was still grateful that he had no ill intentions and always respected her. This was also the reason why Wenxi did not hate He Chen'an. He Chen'an had never really hurt her. On the contrary, he had helped her a lot and sacrificed his rest time every night to personally brew medicine for her.
Many husbands fail to do this; they won't even help with a single household chore, not even the smallest one.
From this perspective, He Chen'an is really good. Maybe they weren't destined to be together, so no matter how good they were to each other, they were destined to miss each other.
Everyone quickly arrived at the educated youth settlement, handed over their rations to the two people who were responsible for cooking that day, and then brought out the dishes and placed them on the dining table.
When Wenxi and the others arrived, there were still a few people who hadn't come yet. It wasn't until almost time for the agreed dinner that everyone came. Except for the educated youth who had left, all the educated youth who were still in the Fengshou Brigade gathered together.
Liang Zhaodi, Chu Wan'er, Xu Huaying, and Li Wei, these former educated youth who married into the village or married villagers, also came.
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