147 Startled (Edited)
Guan Yuehe frowned and pondered for a while, then picked up the aluminum lunchbox, smelled it, and her brows furrowed even more.
"The fish smells a bit fishy today." After smelling it for a couple of seconds, she felt nauseous again and quickly moved the lunchbox away.
"Really? It's always like this." Li Xuelian took a sniff and even picked up a piece of fish to eat, but couldn't detect any fishy smell.
Zhu Huacai, who was next to Li Xuelian, also shook her head, saying that she couldn't taste any fishy smell.
She knew she hadn't done anything wrong, and neither had her colleagues. Guan Yuehe immediately looked down at her still flat stomach.
These past few days' subtle anomalies have all become reasonably explained: for example, she's eating a little more than usual; she keeps feeling hot while Lin Yiku, who's also quite hot, hasn't complained; and just now, she felt the fish had a fishy smell that made her want to vomit...
Having grown up in a hutong (traditional alleyway), she had witnessed many of her neighbors' reactions during pregnancy. Although she hadn't eaten pork herself, she'd seen pigs run!
And most importantly, her period didn't come on time this month!
Menstrual tickets are not as hard to get as they were ten years ago. After graduating from the Workers-Peasants-Soldiers University, she returned to work at the Zhuoyue Garment Factory and received a menstrual ticket every month, no longer needing to ask someone to help her exchange it.
She's been so busy lately that she didn't even realize her usually punctual period was a week late.
Guan Yuehe couldn't help but laugh. She was going to give Lin Yiku a real scare when she got home today!
Li Xuelian and the others didn't quite understand; what was so funny about this?
Before they even started eating, Guan Yuehe divided the fish from her lunchbox among Li Xuelian and Zhu Huacai.
By the way, let me promote Grandpa Ming's place: "That little restaurant is run by my dad's old friend. Grandpa Ming's cooking skills are top-notch. The Five Star Automobile Factory always asks Grandpa Ming to cook for their VIP guests. The food in the restaurant isn't expensive, but it's just too crowded. The workers from the automobile factory alone are enough to stretch out onto the street. If you want to go, be sure to leave early."
"After hearing what you said, I'm thinking of going out for dinner tonight."
"Tonight won't work, we have a meeting tonight," Guan Yuehe reminded her.
China needs to import a bottling production line from Germany. The import and export of equipment is handled by Li Xuelian's office. Guan Yuehe, who speaks German, was seconded to help with contract negotiations.
Li Xuelian shrugged, "Then we'll just have to wait two more days and go on Sunday."
“By the way, our director said in a meeting that he encouraged everyone to learn from Comrade Guan Yuehe and learn a language so that we can use it in our work in the future.” Li Xuelian was struggling with her decision. “Do you think I should learn English or Japanese? Xiao Yu, the new guy in our office, said that Japanese is easy to learn, and it’s like our Chinese, with pinyin.”
"Really?" Guan Yuehe became interested. "Could you ask Comrade Xiao Yu if he has any recommended books? I'd like to learn from them too."
Li Xuelian was shocked. "You want to learn too?"
"Try it first, if it's too difficult, then forget it."
Guan Yuehe's decision wasn't a spur-of-the-moment one. Now that she's proficient at her job, her German language skills are no longer at the beginner level like they were a few years ago. After starting work, she dedicated half of her evening study time to it, thoroughly understanding various policy documents and foreign trade knowledge. After a year of working, combining theoretical learning with practical experience, she quickly became proficient.
During this time, she cut half an hour of her study time to try for a baby. Now that she's pregnant, she needs to fill that half hour with some study time.
Upon hearing Li Xuelian say that Japanese was easy to learn, and since she hadn't planned to use that half hour to learn anything, she decided to try learning another new language.
Seeing that Guan Yuehe was not joking, Li Xuelian said admiringly, "You have so much energy!"
At this point, Guan Yuehe couldn't help but complain: "The power supply in our area used to last until after 10 p.m., but now it sometimes goes out at 9 p.m.!"
With the power cut off early and nothing else to do at home, I had to find something to kill time.
Gao Zhiyuan, who was standing next to him, chuckled and interjected, "The power supply in our ministry's residential compound is quite stable."
Guan Yuehe and Li Xuelian exchanged a glance and sighed silently. Given their situation, they definitely wouldn't be able to get housing from their work unit; they could only pray that the power supply in the Changhu Street area would be more stable at night.
—
Li Xuelian felt that Guan Yuehe was acting strangely today; she wasn't urging her to ride faster at all!
Just as she thought Guan Yuehe was pondering the content of the evening meeting, she heard Guan Yuehe humming "The New Generation of the 1980s." Clearly, Guan Yuehe was in a particularly good mood.
However, she got used to it; Comrade Guan Yuehe was never downcast or sullen for a single day.
"See you tomorrow, Snow Lotus!"
Guan Yuehe returned to Ginkgo Hutong in a good mood. The entrance to the hutong was bustling at this time, with people playing ping-pong, watching TV, and chatting while enjoying the cool air.
"What a joyous occasion, Yuehe!"
Guan Yuehe was surprised. Had Aunt Bai really developed such skills after years of superstition that she could predict the future?
Otherwise, how would Aunt Bai know that she had a happy occasion?
Aunt Bai, unaware of what she was thinking, grabbed a handful of roasted melon seeds from her pocket and said with a smile, "It's my turn to hold a wedding banquet the Sunday after next, in courtyard number two. You and Yiku should both come for dinner."
In recent years, I've been giving gifts to other people, especially in the last two years, there's been no shortage of weddings and celebrations. Finally, Aunt Bai has found an opportunity to receive gifts!
Guan Yuehe breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out that Aunt Bai's family also had a happy occasion.
"Is Yuejin getting married?" Last Sunday, the matchmaker brought a woman to Aunt Bai's house, and it was settled so quickly!
"Oh my, isn't that him?!" Aunt Bai was overjoyed all day, and she still laughs whenever she talks about it.
Guan Yuehe still remembers that ten years ago, Bai Yuejin failed the recruitment exam for the car factory, so Aunt Bai decided to send him to the countryside and leave the job to Bai Xianghong, who was a year younger. At that time, Bai Yuejin ran outside and cried for a long time, and the people in the whole alley searched almost half of Beijing for him.
Oh, she also overheard Aunt Bai and Bai Xianghong whispering behind the old public toilet.
Guan Yuehe sincerely congratulated her: "Congratulations, Aunt Bai!"
"Congratulations to you too!" Aunt Bai was so happy that her eyes were practically closed with her smile, which made Guan Yuehe laugh as well.
She really suspected that Aunt Bai could now predict the future!
She wanted to chat with the aunties at the alley entrance a little longer, but the second auntie gave her a wink, gesturing for her to look at the gate of No. 1 Courtyard, and teased, "Oh dear, Yiku has been standing there for quite a while."
They've been married for several years, but this couple still sticks together whenever they get the chance. They really don't get tired of each other.
However, considering that they don't have children yet, it doesn't seem strange.
Guan Yuehe immediately didn't want to stay and chat anymore. She pushed the cart forward in a few big strides and excitedly called Lin Yiku home.
Their family also has a great occasion to celebrate!
—
Lin Yiku rarely found herself so stunned that she didn't know how to react. At this moment, she looked at Guan Yuehe's smiling face and then at her unchanged belly.
Just now, when she mentioned that their efforts over the past two months had yielded results, Lin Yiku subconsciously asked, "What results?" Then she replied, "Little monkey." Lin Yiku immediately stood up.
She said it would definitely give him a shock!
"I've already asked around at work, and they say I can get reimbursed at any hospital, so I won't bother with any more complicated procedures. The auto factory workers' hospital is the closest and most convenient, so I'll go there."
Before leaving get off work, she specifically asked which hospital was the designated medical facility for her workplace.
That's when I realized that government agencies and state-owned enterprises are different; there are no restrictions on cooperative medical points, and you can get reimbursed anywhere.
The cooperative medical points for each state-owned factory are different.
"By the way, don't tell Mom and Dad yet, wait until it's confirmed before you tell them."
Lin Yiku sighed helplessly, "Judging from your tone just now, I thought you had confirmed it at the company's medical clinic."
"Our company's clinic can only prescribe medicine for colds and fevers; you have to go to the hospital for tests." Similar to the clinic at Zhuoyue Garment Factory, to check if you're pregnant, you rely on the doctor's pulse diagnosis skills. However, the doctors at the clinic vary in skill level, so going to the hospital for a checkup is the most reliable option.
"I'll take a day off and go to the hospital with you on Sunday for a check-up."
"OK!"
One of them sat on the sofa looking up, while the other stood in front of the sofa looking down. They looked at each other for a few seconds and then laughed together.
Just as the atmosphere was getting right, Guan Yuehe suddenly spoke up: "Isn't our efficiency pretty high?"
Lin Yiku: "..."
"That's amazing." Guan Yuehe looked down at her belly again, touched it, and didn't feel anything different.
Lin Yiku finally snapped out of her surprise and her mind cleared. Then she remembered a crucial question: "How did you know you were pregnant without getting a checkup?"
Guan Yuehe then listed all the recent unusual occurrences and pointed to the kitchen, saying, "There are two cans of fish in the cupboard. Take them to work for a snack. Or you can send them to your parents."
She didn't bring back many canned fish from Guangzhou; the ones left in the cupboard were bought from a department store.
That's right, this canned fish has been sold from Guangzhou to Beijing, so she no longer needs to worry about going to Guangzhou to buy canned fish.
"Hey, wait a minute." Guan Yuehe changed her mind again. "Go open a jar and let me smell it. Maybe I can eat it."
Lin Yi listened intently as she opened a jar. Seeing her pick up a small piece, eat it, smack her lips, and then her eyes suddenly lit up, and she picked up a large piece with her chopsticks.
"tasty!"
Lin Yiku continued to observe for two more days. No wonder they didn't notice anything wrong with her. Apart from not being able to eat the fish and meat in the company cafeteria, she was the same as usual and ate everything with gusto.
Jiang Guiying made a big pot of sauerkraut fish at home. She had already eaten at work, and when she got home she could still eat two more bowls of rice. She didn't feel that the fish had a fishy smell at all.
She ate and slept well, completely unaffected by the arrival of the little rascal. Only he dared not restrain her hands and feet at night, enduring several attacks in the process.
"Ride your bike slowly to work," Lin Yiku reminded him before leaving home in the morning.
The person on the kang responded, turned over, and went back to sleep. They probably didn't even hear what he said clearly, only responding instinctively.
But when I went out to work, I didn't forget that I most likely had a child with me, so instead of rushing out like a gust of wind as usual, I slowly pedaled my bike.
Wu Jiawang, who went out to collect recyclables, had been following her for a few minutes, staring at the back of her head and wondering: Sister Yuehe is acting strangely today.
Should he go over?
But should we tell them before we pass?
Author's Note: [Laughs out loud]
See you again at 10 PM tonight
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