Chapter 49 Wen Xiaoxiao is pregnant
On a chilly early spring morning, the air was still crisp, but the sunlight already had a noticeable warmth.
Zhao Qingda started the somewhat old long-distance bus, and the engine emitted a dull roar.
Wang Juan, wrapped in a bright red down jacket, sat in the passenger seat, holding a ticket holder in her hand. She had applied a thin layer of powder to her face, trying to conceal the paleness after her miscarriage and the dark circles under her eyes.
The car drove out of the city and onto the provincial highway.
Looking at the bare trees rushing past the window, Wang Juan's mind started to wander again.
She turned her head, her tone carrying the usual, unquestionable urging: "Qingda, when are you going to get the divorce done? It's already past the first month of the lunar calendar, we can't delay any longer."
Zhao Qingda tightened his grip on the steering wheel, the hideous scar on his face becoming even more conspicuous in the morning light.
He frowned, his tone impatient: "Why are you bringing this up again? Didn't we agree to wait until the child is a week old before divorcing? Otherwise, you can give her the money..."
"Give her money?!" Wang Juan's voice suddenly rose, laced with sharp sarcasm. "She didn't give you a son, yet you still give her money?! She's just taking up space without doing anything! Zhao Qingda, are you going to back out? Or do you still have feelings for that old hag? Can't bear to part with her?!"
She got angrier and angrier as she spoke, and reached out to pinch Zhao Qingda's arm hard.
Zhao Qingda winced in pain, hissed, and irritably shook off her hand: "What nonsense are you talking about! What feelings do I have for her? I'm already fed up with her! Stop making trouble for me!"
"I'm being unreasonable?" Wang Juan's eyes reddened, and grievances and anger surged up together. "I followed you, had a child, and lost face for you. Now I've lost the baby in my belly... Is this how you treat me? Asking you to get a divorce is like taking your life! Zhao Qingda, if you don't give me a definite answer today, I... I won't live anymore!" As she spoke, she made a move to grab the steering wheel.
Startled, Zhao Qingda quickly steadied the car and growled, "Are you crazy?! We're driving! Okay, okay, I know! I'll figure something out! Alright?!"
Wang Juan finally quieted down a bit, but she continued to mutter and insist, forcing him to swear an oath.
Zhao Qingda stared at the winding road ahead with a gloomy face.
Inside the courtyard, however, a different, seemingly peaceful scene unfolded.
Sunlight streamed into the main room through the clean glass windows, making it warm and cozy.
Yizhen and Yibao sat on the floor covered with a thick blanket, surrounded by pillows, trying hard to grab the brightly colored cloth ball in front of them, making excited "ah ah" sounds.
Zhou Lanying sat on a small stool, watching the child while picking chives for lunch.
Wen Xiaoxiao felt something was wrong with her lower back.
I've had aches and pains since I woke up this morning, and it feels heavy and uncomfortable.
She thought it was because she was tired from taking care of the children recently, or because she had been sitting for too long while sewing, so she didn't pay much attention to it.
However, the persistent soreness made her somewhat uneasy.
She suddenly remembered something, and her heart skipped a beat—it had been more than seven months since she gave birth, and she hadn't had her period even once.
I was so busy taking care of my premature baby, and then so many other things happened that I was exhausted both physically and mentally, and I completely neglected this problem.
At noon, Zhao Fei returned from the pig farm, carrying a piece of dark reddish-brown pig's head meat wrapped in oil paper, still steaming and emitting a fragrant aroma.
"Wenbin said the quarantine officers came today, and he passed through smoothly. He was happy and asked for some good meat to have as a snack." As he spoke, he placed the meat on the table in the main room, ready to cut it.
The braised pig's head was tender and juicy, with a perfect balance of lean and fat. The rich aroma of the sauce and the savory, oily scent of the meat instantly filled the entire room.
Normally, this would be an absolute delicacy.
But as soon as Wen Xiaoxiao smelled this odor, her stomach churned violently! A strong feeling of nausea rushed straight to her throat without warning!
"Uh..." Her face changed, she suddenly covered her mouth, turned around and rushed out of the main room, ran to the yard, leaned against the jujube tree, bent over and began to gag violently.
I vomited up all the thin porridge I ate in the morning. I vomited so much that I felt dizzy and my eyes were watering.
"Xiaoxiao! What's wrong?" Zhou Lanying was startled and quickly put down the chives in her hand to come out and gently pat her back.
Zhao Fei also put down his knife and chased after him, looking anxious: "Are you feeling unwell? Did you catch a cold?"
Wen Xiaoxiao was so weak from vomiting that she could barely stand. Zhou Lanying and Zhao Fei helped her back to the main room to sit down.
Zhao Fei poured her a glass of warm water and handed it to her. She took it, but her hands were trembling violently.
Looking at Wen Xiaoxiao's pale face and pained expression, and recalling her earlier mention of back pain and the fact that she hadn't had her period in so long... a thought flashed through Zhou Lanying's mind like lightning.
The old lady's expression turned serious. She leaned closer, lowered her voice, and asked cautiously, "Xiaoxiao...you look like this...could it be...that you're pregnant again?"
"Got it?" Wen Xiaoxiao didn't react for a moment and looked up blankly.
"It's... she's pregnant." Zhou Lanying said more bluntly, her gaze falling on her lower abdomen.
Wen Xiaoxiao was struck dumb, frozen in place.
Pregnant?
This might be like a huge block of ice, crashing into her heart, which had just begun to warm up, stirring up huge waves and bringing a bone-chilling cold.
She hasn't had her period since giving birth.
She and Zhao Fei had only met a few times, and... Zhao Fei was always extremely careful.
So, if she really is pregnant, could it be...?
That cold, desperate night, the brutality Zhao Qingda forcibly inflicted on her...
This realization made Wen Xiaoxiao feel as if her blood was flowing backwards.
She shoved Zhou Lanying's hand away and rushed out the door again, where she leaned against the wall and vomited violently, this time almost bringing up bile.
It's not just a physiological reaction, but also an extreme sense of disgust and fear!
Zhao Fei chased after her and saw that she was almost too weak to continue vomiting. He immediately understood what was going on.
He went over, supported the swaying Wen Xiaoxiao, and wiped away the tears and stains on her face with his sleeve.
His movements were light, but his voice carried a resolute firmness: "Xiaoxiao."
He looked into her eyes and said, each word clear and distinct, "If you are pregnant, then give birth to the child."
Wen Xiaoxiao shook her head violently, tears welling up in her eyes: "No... I don't want to... What if it's his... I feel disgusted..."
“I don’t care whose it is.” Zhao Fei interrupted her, his gaze deep as the sea, surging with an almost obsessive commitment. “As long as it’s your child, it’s mine. I, Zhao Fei, acknowledge it. Yi Zhen and Yi Bao are, and so is this one. You don’t need to worry, I’ll take care of everything.”
His words were like a boulder thrown into Wen Xiaoxiao's heart, which was on the verge of collapse, temporarily calming the raging waves and chilling cold.
Zhou Lanying stood at the entrance of the main room, still holding a few leeks that she hadn't finished picking, taking in the whole scene in the courtyard.
She recalled Zhao Fei's loneliness after her daughter Li Rui's early death, and also remembered her own difficult situation as a widow, so she was able to empathize with Zhao Fei's situation.
Thinking of Wen Xiaoxiao's tragic experience with Zhao Qingda and Li Yugu, and how these two young people pieced together a little bit of warmth for a home in this cold courtyard.
Rules are rigid, but people's hearts are flexible.
If we insist on following those old rules and forcibly separate these two people who are already inseparable, that would be a real sin, driving them to their doom.
Zhou Lanying's gaze fell on Wen Xiaoxiao's pale and desperate face, then shifted to Zhao Fei's solid and mountain-like back.
The shock and awkwardness in her heart, like the thin ice on a river in early spring, began to melt away at a speed she herself had not anticipated, under the warm current of reality and reason.
That's enough.
She let out a long, silent sigh in her heart.
This world is already harsh enough on sincere people.
One of them is loyal and righteous, the other is resilient and kind. Now that they've come this far and are bound together, let's just let things take their course.
It's better than letting Xiaoxiao continue to suffer in Zhao Qingda's hellhole, or letting Zhao Fei spend his whole life alone, guarding the shadow of his deceased wife.
However, this path is destined to be a hundred or a thousand times more difficult than that of ordinary people.
Perhaps all she can do is, while her old bones are still able to move, shield them from the storms of life and look after the children a little longer, making their thorny path a little easier.
The spring breeze still carried a chill, gently brushing across the courtyard.
The unknown pregnancy, like a dark cloud suddenly looming over, cast an uncertain shadow over this home that had just seen a glimmer of dawn.
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