Chapter 123: The baby is coming
Outside, Lu Dongping didn't sleep either. He and Wen Wan washed up and sat side by side on a bench, looking at the stars and fireflies and feeding mosquitoes.
The mosquitoes in this season are so poisonous that even wearing long sleeves and long pants can't keep them away.
Lu Dongping leaned on the pillar, Wen Wan leaned on him and told him about Xu Qingming sending the sewing plane ticket.
"If we want to buy something this big, we'll have to take a tractor. Tomorrow I'll ask if the commune's tractor is going to the county town soon. We don't have to wait until Sunday to go. If the tractor goes to the county, we'll go with it and make up the work on Sunday."
"I also wrote letters to my dad and grandpa and grandma, and planned to send them back together. I sent the letters at the beginning of the year, and my dad even replied! But there's been no news from my uncles. Last time I caught my seventh brother and asked him, he couldn't get anything out of me. Grandpa and grandma are both old, and I don't know if they are in good health."
"Lu Dongping!"
"Um?"
Lu Dongping reached out and lifted her up, then she said, "I'm so far away from home. After marrying you, I don't know if I can go back."
"I can go back, no matter how far away it is. If you want to go back, I will go with you."
"There aren't so many mosquitoes at home. We have electricity, so the house is bright at night. We live upstairs in a two-story building. I have two rooms to myself. One has a bed and a wardrobe, and the other is a study, where I do homework, practice calligraphy, and play the piano. My mother is not in good health, so she never does any housework. It's usually done by my aunt who takes care of me, and sometimes by my father."
——
Since they were getting married, Wen Wan didn't mind telling Lu Dongping some simple things about her family situation.
Lu Dongping listened carefully, and a rough outline emerged in his mind.
"You haven't come to us too early. A few years ago, we just experienced a great famine. Life was hard. There wasn't much grass or leaves on the mountains. Many elderly people and children didn't make it. Those who didn't make it are now dead, and those who did are slowly getting better. The weather has been good these past two years. Besides paying the public grain tax, if you work harder, the rations you get in exchange for work points won't be enough to feed everyone, but at least no one will starve to death anymore."
"Look, as long as you work hard, your life will get better little by little. We don't have upstairs and downstairs now, but I can give you two rooms, right? Wait until next spring, I will go to the mountains to dig some flowers and plant them at the door. You will definitely like them. Things will get better and better." People are always selfish, and he is no exception.
He knew that the little girl missed home, but he couldn't say anything like "I'll find a way to send you back."
They got married and are now husband and wife, bound together for life. He will do his best to treat her well.
The two of them chattered in the night breeze. Lu Dongping was reluctant to go back to the house, so Wen Wan fell asleep in his arms.
Lu Dongping picked up the person and went straight to the new house. He didn't send Wen Wan back to the room, nor did he go back to the room himself. They just slept together in their arms all night.
The next day, Lu Donglin got up and asked him, "Brother, you talked to Sister Wen Wan so late last night, why did you get up so early this morning? I don't even know what time you went to bed or what time you got up."
Lu Dongping snorted, "You're so sleepy! I'd throw you into the riverbank if you fell asleep, and you wouldn't even know it." The wedding banquet hadn't even started yet, so he couldn't let word get out that they slept together. Although he'd gotten the marriage certificate a long time ago, he hadn't told anyone. Those gossipy women on the team could say anything.
Zhang Hongying called him over there: "Dongping, come here, I want to tell you something."
Lu Dongping walked to the kitchen and asked, "What's going on?"
Zhang Hongjuan gave him a roll of banknotes.
Lu Dongping was stunned for a moment: "Why are you giving me money?"
"Isn't this..." Zhang Hongying glanced around but didn't see Wen Wan, so she must have been still asleep. "I heard her yesterday that she wanted to buy a sewing machine and a radio. I heard those two things are very expensive. The money we spend on house renovations and furniture making isn't even enough to cover the cost of one of them. I've discussed it with your father and he's decided to give her some extra money."
Lu Dongping didn't answer. "Don't worry about it. Keep the money. Chun'e will be in high school next year, and that brat Lu Donglin is getting older. There are many places to spend money. You just need to worry about them. Don't worry about us. She wants to buy a dowry, but she won't want it even if you give her money. If you give her money, you might as well be more tolerant in the future. After all, her family is far away."
"Hey, you bastard, you keep saying nonsense. When have I ever been intolerant? Am I the kind of person who would make things difficult for others?"
Lu Dongping: "I just said that. I know you are a good person. You are different from those mothers-in-law in the team who like to show off in front of their daughters-in-law. I just think you can be better. After all, you are different from those people in the team. Can you find another daughter-in-law like you in the team? Those people in the team may be jealous of you now. You have to be steady. The more jealous they are, the more stable we have to be. Live in harmony and make them jealous and jealous to death. You can't go back and hear people saying this and that. You have to know the situation in your heart." The news that Wen Wan bought shoes for several people in the family spread throughout the team. After a little inquiry, he found out that his mother and aunt told it in the wheat field after the voting meeting.
If you don't tell others about your family affairs, how can others know about them?
He knew his mother's character better than anyone else. She was not a bad person, but she had a lot of ideas, and when she had a lot of ideas, there were a lot of problems.
He can handle anything his mother does, but not Wen Wan. He never thought of asking Wen Wan to accommodate anyone.
Zhang Hongying opened her mouth, but it took a long time to come out: "Any idea? What kind of idea? Let me ask you, the date is set, when are you going to take her to get the marriage certificate?"
Lu Dongping scratched his head and said, "I'll go there soon. I'm sure there will be something there on the day of the wedding banquet."
"Don't be so idle all day long. You should have a plan for what you do. Even though you're married, you should still have a plan for what you do. Wen Wan is young, so if you don't want me to tell you, just teach her yourself. It's not like you can't let her spend the money you have. You should have a plan. If you have a child, life will be hard without money."
child?
How can this be possible? Why is the child involved?
He hasn't had enough of Wen Wan yet, and has no intention of having children for the time being.
But it’s enough for you to know this. If you tell it out loud, you will definitely not be at peace.
Zhang Hongying spent a lot of time and effort but didn't spend the money. She was also secretly scolded by her son. She felt so uncomfortable. But no matter how uncomfortable she was, Wen Wan didn't know about it, and even if she knew, she wouldn't care.
After Lu Dongping contacted the tractor, he went to the county town. This time he really wanted to buy everything he needed.
The radio and other things were put in a sack, and Xu Qingming helped deliver it to Lu's house. No one saw it, but the sewing machine was tied with a rope halfway and carried all the way back. It was inevitable to meet people on the road during such a slow time. If one person saw it, the whole production team would soon know that Lu Mingjiang's family had bought a sewing machine.
This is a big deal.
Lu Dongping didn't care what others said. When someone asked him, he would tell the truth: Wen Wan bought it herself.
Those families who had married or were planning to marry were all jealous. What kind of luck did Lu Mingjiang's family have? How could they have such a generous and wealthy daughter-in-law? A sewing machine is something that even workers in the county may not be able to afford, but Wen Wan bought it just because she said so.
Jian Zhaodi was the most excited. She had always thought that Chen Xiuping's nose was not a nose and her eyes were not eyes. As a result, she also didn't like Lu Daya, the daughter born to Chen Xiuping. She thought that girls were raised for others and were born to lose money. All day long, she would start making a fuss as soon as she saw Chen Xiuping taking a breath.
When she heard that Wen Wan bought new shoes for everyone in Lu Mingjiang's family, she was so angry that she was burning with anger.
They all came from the city and were educated youth. How could they pick up a lump of gold, but she was so unlucky as to encounter a lump of stone?
I heard that Wen Wan also brought a sewing machine as a dowry, which was even more outrageous. As soon as I opened my eyes, I heard her cursing at the top of her lungs, and all the unpleasant words came out of her mouth.
Lu Daya is almost three years old, and there is no movement in Chen Xiuping's belly, so she becomes even more upset, saying that Chen Xiuping is a chicken that can't lay eggs.
Ever since Chen Xiuping got into trouble at home and got hastily married here, she doesn't like to talk much. She doesn't like to talk because she thinks it's better to have less trouble than more, which doesn't mean that she is deaf or stupid.
The reason she hadn't gotten pregnant in the past two years wasn't because she couldn't, but because she didn't want to. She regretted it after giving birth to Daya. Why was she so timid? Even if she had to live in a cowshed and be pampered, it would be better than having to live under the watchful eyes of this family!
This is not a human being, this is clearly a wolf that eats people without leaving any bones.
They said her family background was not good, but Daya was, after all, a descendant of their Lu family. However, no one in the family, including her husband, treated the child as a human being.
She was incompetent. She couldn't even protect and raise this one child, so why would she have another? For a man like that, why would she need to give birth to another child for him?
Jian Zhaodi started chanting again: "They're all from the city, they're all intellectuals, they can become substitute teachers, but what about you? You're like a fool, you can't even get a fart out of anything, you look so unlucky—"
Chen Xiuping took out the dirty clothes piled at the foot of the bed and put them in the basket. She picked up Daya, held the child in one hand and the basket in the other, and walked out without saying a word.
Seeing this, Jian Zhaodi followed behind and shouted, "Where are you going, you damned bitch? Are you dumb or something? You don't even make a sound when you're washing clothes? You only care about yourself and not others? Why did I marry such a jinx like you?"
Chen Xiuping held the child's hand tightly, and rarely looked back. She walked out of the house in one breath and went to the small ditch below.
They found a big rock in the ditch and put Daya down. They then got some water and washed her dirty hands and face.
Daya was almost three, but aside from a few simple, common words like "mom" and "eat," she couldn't say anything else. Because Jian Zhaodi was always yelling and scolding, the little girl was timid, her eyes squinting when she looked at people. Because she had never had much to eat, and Chen Xiuping had to save her own food to feed her, she grew incredibly thin.
The arms and legs are thin, only the belly looks round, and the head looks particularly big and prominent.
Now that Jian Zhaodi was no longer around, the little girl became a little bolder. She stood trembling beside Chen Xiuping, staring at her eagerly, her fingers stuck in her mouth, drooling, and mumbling incoherently, "Mom, mom, eat."
This is not full and hungry.
It was still early for lunch, so where could Chen Xiuping get her food? She couldn't even decide what to eat from the family's private plot.
She reached out and hugged Daya, patted her, and subconsciously looked into the distance. Not far above, two people were hurriedly crossing the ditch. It seemed that they were going to Liu Zhaoxing's house. She didn't know what they were doing.
She suddenly remembered that Hu Xiujuan seemed to have given birth during this period. She hadn't heard anything since then and didn't know the exact date. She didn't know if it would be a boy or a girl, and if it was a girl, would she look like herself now?
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