Chapter 68
Chen Qing was both happy and worried: "He's been blacksmithing all this time, won't that have any impact on the child?"
The doctor glanced at Li Xin and said, "Wow, you can even forge iron?"
Li Xin straightened her back: "So what?"
"Very good, very good. Her pulse is strong and steady, there's nothing to worry about." The doctor was surprised by Li Xin's good constitution.
"Do I need to take any medication to prevent miscarriage or to help with conception?" Chen Qing asked again, as if he were the child's other father.
"Every medicine has some side effects." The doctor stroked his beard. "He's in very good health, and the baby is doing very well. Don't worry too much."
Chen Qing breathed a sigh of relief, and Li Xin then asked, "Can I still forge iron?"
The doctor paused for a moment, then said, "It depends on you. Pregnancy isn't some monster; do whatever makes you comfortable."
He assumed that Aunt Sun was his mother-in-law, and judging from their clothes, they didn't seem to be from a poor family. So he added, "Don't take too much supplements during pregnancy, especially since he's carrying twins. Too much supplementation could be dangerous during childbirth."
The three listened to the doctor's instructions for a long time, and only after paying the consultation fee did they realize that it was already dark. Aunt Sun said that it was taboo for Li Xin to walk at night while she was pregnant, so they decided to stay in town for the night before continuing their journey.
Upon arriving at the inn, Li Xin was somewhat bewildered. Grandma Sun had never stayed in an inn before, and Chen Qing was the only one who had ever stayed in an inn and was still clear-headed. As he walked into the inn, Chen Qing mentally prepared himself countless times and praised himself in his heart, saying that he could do a good job.
"I need a triple room."
The innkeeper nodded: "Room number '人' is at the end of the second floor. If you want to feed the cows and horses, pay an extra five coins. The total is one hundred and fifty-five coins. Hot water is unlimited. Meals are extra."
Chen Qing took out 155 coins from his purse, then remembered that they hadn't eaten anything yet. He and Aunt Sun could go without food, but Li Xin couldn't. He had been getting hungry easily recently, so it was even more unacceptable for him not to eat now.
Grandma Sun accompanied Li Xin upstairs to rest, while Chen Qing went out to buy him some food.
It was dark by then, and there wasn't much food left to sell. Chen Qing ran to the meat bun shop and, just like Zhou Yuan had been last time, managed to buy the last basket of meat buns.
The meat buns in town have thin skins and generous fillings, and they're filled with bamboo shoots. Chen Qing and Aunt Sun each ate one, and Li Xin ate the rest.
After eating, he started to feel sleepy. Seeing that it was getting late, he turned off the lights and went to rest.
When the room was completely dark, Chen Qing turned to look at Li Xin on the other bed. She seemed completely unaffected by the pregnancy and was even snoring softly.
Chen Qing couldn't imagine what it would be like for Li Xin to take care of the children in the future. He felt that Li Xin was still childlike, and with two children at once, he didn't know how chaotic things would be.
Lost in thought, Chen Qing fell asleep.
On the other side, Zhou Yuan, who had been away from home for almost three months, finally arrived home before midnight under the moonlight.
There were no lights in the room. Zhou Yuan smiled. Chen Qing should be asleep by now. He tiptoed into the room, but found the bed empty when he got closer.
Zhou Yuan's mind was a little blank for a moment, but then he thought that Chen Qing might be sleeping at Aunt Sun's place. He put down his luggage, intending to wash up and go to sleep, but he missed Chen Qing so much that he got up and went to the side.
After he climbed over the wall, he saw that the door was not locked from the inside. He then realized something was wrong and went into the room. Sure enough, there was no one on the bed.
He then turned and knocked on Grandma Sun's door. When no one answered, he pushed the door open, but Grandma Sun was not home.
He ran home and found that his cows and cart were gone. He thought they might have gone out, but he was still a little uneasy. It must be something serious for them to go out so late at night.
Zhou Yuan paced back and forth in the courtyard. He, who was usually so shrewd and resourceful, was unusually at a loss. He stayed up all night, waiting from midnight until dawn.
After daybreak, Zhou Yuan walked to the village entrance. The villagers there had just gotten up and were washing up in their courtyards.
Zhou Yuan asked a question, and the woman replied, "They hitched up an oxcart to go to town yesterday afternoon, and Li Xin was with them. I didn't notice anything wrong, but something must have happened."
After listening to her words, Zhou Yuan still chose to head towards the town, taking the main road so as not to miss them.
After spending the night in town, they decided to go to the academy together to pick up Qi Shuning so they could tell him the good news.
It wasn't time for the academy to close yet, so the three of them took a break and strolled around the town. When they reached the cloth shop, Chen Qing looked at Li Xin and said, "Are you going to learn needlework now? So you can make clothes for your child later. You'll need to make two sets."
Li Xin glanced at her hands: "Look at my hands, they can only hold a hammer, not a needle. Let Qi Shuning learn."
Grandma Sun laughed at him, but in the end Li Xin still bought a lot of soft cotton cloth. By the time he learned needlework, the baby would probably be born.
Seeing that it was almost time, they went to the academy gate together. Some students were already walking out, and their oxcart was parked on the side. After a while, Qi Shuning came to them.
"Xin Xin!" He saw Aunt Sun and Chen Qing beside him and paused, "Wh-what's wrong?"
Why are so many people suddenly here to pick him up?
Then, turning her gaze back to Li Xin, Qi Shuning choked up. It had only been a month since she last saw him, but Li Xin seemed to have gotten so much stronger.
Chen Qing and Aunt Sun couldn't speak about what happened between the two of them; Li Xin had to tell Qi Shuning herself.
Chen Qing was still driving the carriage, while Li Xin and Qi Shuning sat in the back.
Chen Qing kept turning his head back, wondering why Li Xin hadn't said anything yet. Aunt Sun found him amusing and gently patted his hand.
Li Xin then slowly said, "We just went to see the doctor, and the doctor said I have two growths in my stomach."
Qi Shuning was so frightened that he stood up from the oxcart. Just then, the wheel ran over a stone, and Qi Shuning wobbled. He almost fell off the cart, but Li Xin quickly caught him. Chen Qing was startled and worried that Qi Shuning might run over Li Xin, so he pulled Qi Shuning's legs and pulled him back. Finally, Qi Shuning managed to hold on to the cart by himself and sit down.
"Can you be a little more composed? You're scaring me half to death," Li Xin said with some disdain. "Sit down and listen to me."
Qi Shuning looked very anxious: "What's wrong? Is it serious? Why don't we go see Dr. Yu? He can definitely cure you."
Qi Shuning clenched his hands; he knew that Li Xin's sudden weight gain must be suspicious.
Li Xin took his hand and placed it on her lower abdomen: "The doctor checked, and I'm pregnant with twins."
Qi Shuning's eyes widened: "What?"
“It’s because you’re going to be a dad, so be more mature.” Li Xin rolled her eyes at him.
Qi Shuning held Li Xin's hand for a moment, then tried to touch his stomach. He looked at Li Xin, still uncertain, and asked, "What... what should I do?"
Seeing his confusion, Aunt Sun gave him some advice: "Write a letter and ask your parents to come back."
Qi Shuning quickly nodded: "Okay, I'll write it when I get back."
"If you don't go to school anymore, take good care of him, but don't be too restrictive."
Qi Shuning was almost ready to write it down, but he was still afraid that he hadn't done enough. Li Xin quickly pulled him back: "Stop, stop. The doctor said that everything is normal now. Don't do anything silly."
On the way back, Qi Shuning propped himself up on his arms and looked at Li Xin, hugging her whenever there was a slight bump in the road.
Halfway there, Chen Qing suddenly tightened the reins because he saw a familiar figure in the distance.
"Zhou Yuan?"
Zhou Yuan also saw them and quickly ran over, ignoring their stares, and lifted Chen Qing off the oxcart: "Where did you go last night? You weren't there when I got home."
Chen Qing was also very happy. He hugged Zhou Yuan's neck tightly and said, "I had some business to attend to in town, and it got too late, so I stayed in town for the night. When did you get back? Are you here to see us?"
"yes."
Considering they were still on the main road, Chen Qing pushed Zhou Yuan's shoulder, urging him to let go of him: "Let's go back first."
Zhou Yuan greeted Aunt Sun and Li Xin at this moment. He was stunned when he saw Li Xin, not expecting her to be so fat.
Zhou Yuan took Chen Qing's seat to catch the bus, and was also a little worried. He asked Li Xin, "Is everything alright? What were you doing in town yesterday?"
Before Li Xin could speak, Qi Shuning blurted out, "Big brother! Xin Xin is pregnant, and with twins!"
Zhou Yuan was also stunned, but not for long. He then smiled and punched Qi Shuning on the shoulder: "Then you'll have to shoulder the responsibility of being a father again."
“I know, brother.”
They first took Li Xin and Qi Shuning home. Qi Shuning couldn't wait to write a letter to Li the blacksmith and Zhang Yin. Zhou Yuan told him to take the letter to the Zhenwei branch office in town, and someone would deliver it.
Back home, they couldn't rest. The wheat in the field hadn't been harvested yet, so they tidied up and went to the field. While Chen Qing was changing his clothes, he said to Zhou Yuan, "You should rest at home. You definitely didn't sleep last night."
"I'll go to work with you." Zhou Yuan hugged him from behind, pulling him into a tight embrace.
"You should rest well. There's not much left. Why don't you cook for us? And boil some water too." Chen Qing turned around and kissed his cheek. "I have something to tell you when I get back."
Zhou Yuan had no choice but to give up and watch Chen Qing carry a sickle and go to the field with Granny Sun.
Chen Qing walked to the door and waved to Zhou Yuan. Actually, the biggest reason he didn't want Zhou Yuan to go was that Zhou Yuan didn't know how to do farm work, and he was afraid that Zhou Yuan would cut his own hand.
This is the last piece of land they have left. After harvesting, all that's left is to dry it. Once it's dry, they'll crush it with a stone mill to get the wheat.
The sun has been shining brightly these past few days, so it should be dry in three or four days.
After Chen Qing and his group finished harvesting the last batch of wheat, they saw Village Chief Jiang leading people to look around the fields near the Luo River, presumably planning a route to bring water into the fields.
Chen Qing couldn't help but worry again. If Zhou Yuan's fields were all turned into paddy fields, and paddy fields couldn't grow rice, it would take a long time for the fields to recover. What would Zhang Xu's family do then?
"Don't worry about Aqing." Aunt Sun knew Chen Qing was soft-hearted. "I always felt it wouldn't be that difficult."
When he got home, Zhou Yuan had already boiled hot water for him and put it in the bathtub. Chen Qing didn't think much of it, took off his clothes and went to the bathtub to take a bath. Farm work is difficult in its own way. Corn leaves prick your hands and face. Harvesting wheat is dirty. Your mouth and nose are dirty. There is black dust in your saliva and snot.
Chen Qing took a very long bath, and by the end he was a little dizzy. Zhou Yuan waited for him for a long time but he didn't come out, so he went to check on him and found that Chen Qing was almost asleep.
So they picked him up, dried him off, put him on the bed, and then slowly dried his hair.
Chen Qing leaned against Zhou Yuan and slept soundly.
When he woke up, it was already afternoon. The food on the table was still warm. Chen Qing didn't care about anything else and wolfed it down.
Zhou Yuan returned from outside and sat down next to him: "I know everything that's going on in the village. Village Chief Jiang is capable of getting things done."
Chen Qing swallowed the cornbread in his mouth: "Do you think this is a good thing?"
Zhou Yuan nodded: "I was wondering why Luohe Village, which is right next to the Luo River, doesn't grow rice. Firstly, no one is in charge, and secondly, they lack experience. Those two old foremen are obviously experts, so don't worry."
Chen Qing was relieved; he always trusted Zhou Yuan.
Seeing that he had finished eating, Zhou Yuan picked him up and placed him on his lap, burying his head in his shoulder: "Aqing."
"What's wrong?"
He reached out and touched Chen Qing's lower abdomen: "Looks like I need to work a little harder."
Chen Qing sensed danger and said, "Didn't you say to let nature take its course?"
"Okay." Zhou Yuan kissed Chen Qing on the cheek. "Once the rice is planted, I'll take you back to our hometown."
Chen Qing raised his eyes: "Okay."
“Perhaps it’s because we haven’t finished dealing with our own issues yet, so our child feels it’s not the right time.” Zhou Yuan held his hand.
They need to go to the place where Chen Qing was born, find those who had bullied him, and bring back his loved ones.
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