Two months have already passed. Today is the 11th day of the eighth lunar month, and the second day of the ninth lunar month. The three siblings, Qingya, started school a few days ago.
The bricks and cement that Xuemei and Han Chen needed to repair the house have all been delivered and are now neatly placed in the Liu family's yard. These bricks and cement alone cost nearly three hundred yuan. Since the bricks were delivered back, Liu's father and mother, together with Qingya and her two siblings, raised the mud around the yard by more than ten centimeters. Now the mud wall is one meter and eighty meters high. Liu's father and Han Chen even specially got some broken tiles and inserted them into the mud wall.
After Qingya and her two siblings went to school, Liu's father and mother locked the yard door every day when they went to work. Every time they were on their way to work, Liu's father and mother had to run back to check, for fear that thieves would come to the house and steal the bricks.
Xuemei's family is hoping for a quick autumn harvest so they can start building their house. A few days ago, they even went to the next village to catch a wolfhound and feed it, fearing there would be no one to watch over the house during the harvest.
As soon as Xuemei got off work that afternoon, she saw Wu Lian, heavily pregnant, arguing with He Ping on the side of the road. Xuemei immediately knew what they were arguing about: He Ping had recently hooked up with that widow again, a fact widely known throughout the supply and marketing cooperative. Everyone said He Ping was being so open about it because he was bullying Wu Lian because her family wasn't around. If it were any other family, if a young wife was being bullied like this by her in-laws, her brothers would have come to the rescue with their fists.
When Xuemei pushed her bicycle past Wu Lian and He Ping, she found that the two were arguing even more fiercely and even started fighting.
Xuemei looked at Wu Lian's big belly and couldn't bear it anymore. She shouted to He Ping, "Comrade He, you can argue, but don't fight. Your wife is still pregnant."
Before Xuemei could finish her words, He Ping and Wu Lian started pushing and shoving each other. Wu Lian lost her balance and fell to the ground. She lay there holding her stomach and crying in pain, while He Ping, who was standing beside her, was terrified.
Xuemei quickly shouted, "He Ping, what are you still doing? Go get someone to push a cart and take Wu Lian to the hospital. Does your wife no longer want the child?"
He Ping finally reacted and ran to the supply and marketing cooperative to call for help. His shoes fell off while he was running.
Xuemei looked at Wu Lian and found that she had started to bleed from under her stomach. Xuemei didn't dare to move Wu Lian and could only shout for help.
After He Ping and others lifted Wu Lian onto a cart and pushed it to the commune hospital, Xuemei wiped the sweat from her head and rode her bike home. However, she didn't expect that something was waiting for her at home.
As soon as they entered the yard, the family's new puppy, Xiao Huang, ran over barking and circled around Xuemei.
Xuemei took a few steps and heard a commotion in the main room. When she put her bicycle away and was about to push the door open, Ruirui and Feifei ran out of the kitchen and pulled Xuemei into the kitchen.
"What's wrong? Why are you cooking here? Parents haven't finished work yet?" Xuemei asked in confusion.
"No, big sister. Just now, my aunt started arguing with Sister Shengnan as soon as she got off work at the tofu shop. My parents heard it and brought my aunt back. My aunt was crying just now, and Shengnan also came over. Now my parents are trying to persuade them!" Feifei explained.
"Why are Auntie and Shengnan arguing?" Xuemei asked worriedly.
Ruirui looked at Ruirui and said, "Sister Shengnan and Zhou Zhiqing's affair was discovered by my aunt. My aunt asked Sister Shengnan to break up with Zhou Zhiqing, but Sister Shengnan refused!"
Xuemei asked anxiously after hearing this: "Except for my aunt, no one else in the village knows about this, right?"
"I probably don't know. It seems that my aunt came home early today and happened to meet Zhou Zhiqing and Sister Shengnan delivering food!" Ruirui replied.
"Sister, how will the matter between Sister Shengnan and Zhou Zhiqing be resolved?" Feifei asked worriedly.
"I don't know. We can't intervene in their affairs even if we want to. Let nature take its course! Let me help you. Have you cooked for Auntie and Sister Shengnan?"
Ruirui and Feifei nodded, and when Xuemei finished cooking the dishes, the arguing in the main room stopped.
After dinner, Xuemei learned the outcome of the matter from Liu's father and mother. Shengnan said that Zhou Bing's attitude had begun to waver recently. He said that he had written a letter to his aunt these days, in which he promised that after marrying Shengnan, as long as they had a child with his surname, it would be fine, regardless of gender.
However, Liu Xiu still disagreed, thinking that Shengnan and Zhou Bing's relationship was unreliable. But Shengnan was too stubborn, and Liu Xiu had no choice but to take back Shengnan's right to manage the money first, so that at least the money was still under his control.
The next day, when Xuemei arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, He Ping threw wedding candy at her and told her that he had given birth to a son.
During lunch, Zhang Aiping whispered, "Xuemei, did you see how happy the deputy director and He Ping were today? They were so happy they couldn't stop smiling."
"How can I not be happy when there is a new baby in the family?" Xuemei answered casually.
"Tsk tsk tsk, the He family is really happy. Yesterday, He Ping's wife gave birth for ten hours, and the baby was born at around four o'clock this morning. I heard that He Ping's son weighs almost seven kilograms. He is really a big fat boy." As Zhang Aiping spoke, he leaned close to Xuemei's ear and whispered.
"I heard this morning that He Ping's wife was injured during childbirth, and it might be harder for her to get pregnant in the future! She's lucky she gave birth to a son as her first child, so she'll have someone to rely on in the future.
You could say she's unlucky! Having a husband like He Ping forced her to give birth prematurely! It's hard to say whether the couple can live in harmony in the future!"
Xuemei said calmly, "This is her own choice. She lives her life by herself. She has to bear the consequences, good or bad!"
"You're right. I heard that the deputy director's family is going to hold a full-moon banquet. I plan to just go there once when the full moon comes. What about you?" Zhang Aiping asked.
"Me too. I'll just give them a red envelope when they hold their child's full-month banquet. Sister Zhang, you can take my red envelope with you. As an unmarried girl, I won't go to the banquet." Xuemei said.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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