Chapter 153 Waiting for Childbirth

Xia Juanjuan could hear Lin Yuru's worry. She thought for a moment and smiled, "Mom, if you calculate the time, I'm less than eight months old. Originally, because of Dad's matter, I came to the county town in advance. Now that my dad has been released, I thought... I should go back to the village first, and wait for half a month. When the autumn harvest and winter planting are done at home, our family can come back and bring the three kids with us. We can live in the county town peacefully and wait for me to give birth. Otherwise, not only will you worry about both ends, but you will also have to trouble my dad or my third brother to take time to send us food and vegetables..."

Lin Yuru's first reaction was to shake her head: "How can that be possible? Didn't the doctor tell you that you are carrying multiple babies and might have a premature birth? It's okay to spend the money in the city, but it's better to live closer to the hospital and have insurance..."

Xia Juanjuan talked for a long time, saying that she was really fine and asked her not to worry about it, but Lin Yuru was unusually persistent on this matter. She would rather spend money in the county town than go back.

"No! No matter how important it is to earn work points and food at home, it is not as important as you giving birth to a child! Your father is so old, how can he still starve himself?"

Seeing this, Xia Juanjuan no longer insisted.

In fact, she really wanted to go back and stay for another half a month, and it wasn't just for Xia Shuangshan or Lin Yuru.

When I was in the village, I was either sewing clothes and weaving towels, or making tofu, sprouting bean sprouts, pickling sauerkraut, etc. My hands were always busy, and I thought the three little kids were too noisy, so I just wanted to have a few days of peace and quiet.

As a result, after living here for a few days, it was just her and Lin Yuru. It was quiet, but too quiet. She even missed the bustling days in the village.

However, there are enough houses here. After the autumn harvest, I will let Xia Shuangshan and his three children come to live with us. We can just endure this half month.

The discussion of this matter came to an end, and Lin Yuru asked Xia Juanjuan to go back to the house to rest: "You haven't slept well these few days because of your father's matter. You have been running around outside. Go and get some sleep."

Xia Juanjuan was also a little tired, so she nodded and said with a smile: "Okay. I'll go to sleep for a while."

Lin Yuru waited until Xia Juanjuan fell asleep and then started to get busy.

She had been absent-minded for so many days and had not done any housework. Now she cleaned the house inside and out, drew water from the well in the yard, and washed all the clothes. She also took some pickled beans from the pickle pot, went to the county butcher shop to buy a pound of meat, chopped it into meat stuffing, and planned to make dumplings for Xia Juanjuan.

Xia Shuangshan and she had originally planned to save the twenty-odd yuan to help Xia Juanjuan build a house, but Xia Juanjuan didn't have it.

This time when she came to the county town, Lin Yuru brought everything with her. She used the money she brought with her to buy half a pound of meat.

This is all for Xia Juanjuan. If it were her, she would definitely save as much as possible and would rather eat coarse food than spend this money in vain.

Xia Juanjuan slept for the whole afternoon and felt she had enough sleep. When she woke up, she saw that the house had obviously been cleaned. Clothes were drying on the clothesline in the yard, and Lin Yuru was making dumplings.

Seeing her wake up, Lin Yuru smiled and said, "Awake? Are you hungry? Mom will make you some dumplings now!"

Then she stood up, wiped her hands on her apron, and went to the kitchen to busy herself.

Xia Juanjuan followed over to help light the fire, but was also driven out by Lin Yuru.

Now, she was getting heavier and heavier. Lin Yuru not only forbade her to work in the kitchen, but also forbade her to do other work such as sewing. She just let her wait for the birth of her baby, which made Xia Juanjuan feel even more bored...

But at the same time, my heart was warm and I was very grateful.

Ever since she became pregnant, had it not been for the help of Lin Yuru and Xia Shuangshan, she would have collapsed from exhaustion.

While eating the hot sour beans and meat dumplings, Xia Juanjuan suddenly remembered something and asked, "Mom, there shouldn't be any pork at home, right? Did you buy it at the market?"

Lin Yuru nodded and said, "The price of meat here is the same as in town, 90 cents per pound."

Xia Juanjuan listened but didn't say anything. After dinner, she took out two big reunion tickets and gave them to Lin Yuru.

"Mom, take these twenty yuan first. I neglected it. We live in the county town. If there is anything we need at home, we have to spend money to buy it. I also forgot to give you the money..."

Lin Yuru refused: "Mom has money! What's wrong? The meat bought with your mom's money doesn't taste good or what? Why are you so awkward?"

After hearing this, Xia Juanjuan stopped insisting and said with a smile, "Okay. Then I will spend my mother's money with peace of mind. However, if you don't have enough money, you must tell me. Li Zhan gets so much allowance every month, it's much easier for him to save money than for you guys, so don't be frugal for us!"

There is no need to rush to separate too clearly at this moment, as this will only hurt the relationship and create estrangement.

We will supply them later.

Moreover, there is the matter of her brother who might still be alive. From what she heard from Xia Shuangshan that day, she guessed that Xia Shuangshan might be planning to go to the south to look for her brother. The money needed by then would be no small amount, and it would be the same if she returned it to them then.

The next day, Xia Juanjuan, accompanied by Lin Yuru, went to the hospital and had the doctor check her again. The doctor confirmed that everything was fine and there were no major problems, so they could go back and wait for the birth of the baby.

The mother and daughter settled down temporarily in the county town, waiting for the birth of their child.

Xia Shuangshan or Li Jie would send some fresh fruits, vegetables and the like every two or three days, and Xia Juanjuan would secretly take them out from the space from time to time to replenish them.

In addition, I bought some candies, cakes and peaches from the yard in the county town and asked them to take them back and pack them for the kids.

Although the days were a bit boring, a month passed in a flash.

On the other hand, after Yan Haotian sent a telegram requesting an extension of his vacation, he received a reply the next day, which ruthlessly rejected him.

His superior, who was also his old leader, scolded him harshly in the telegram.

"Are you itchy or something? You applied for an extension of your home leave for two months? Do you think the army is your family's? Get lost! Don't try to fool me with your not-recognizing-your-biological-parents trick! If you've found your biological parents, just recognize them as soon as possible. Aren't you ashamed of being a grown man? If you're too scared to recognize them, get back home! And your sister is going to give birth in two months. Are you going to wait there for two months without doing any work? What is the country supporting you for?..."

Yan Haotian couldn't help but twitching his lips as he looked at the telegram which was longer than the letter.

However, I had no choice but to buy a train ticket and head back south that night.

The autumn harvest and winter planting in the village finally came to an end, and the commune began to distribute food according to work points.

After the summer harvest, the wheat harvested was divided once, except for the portion that was paid as public grain. However, the bulk of the wheat harvest came after the autumn harvest, and there were many types of wheat to be divided, including corn, sweet potatoes, cotton, peanuts, soybeans, mung beans, etc.

Secretary Zhao and the village cadres calculated work points overnight, weighed and classified the grain, and after a few days, they still kept the portion to be paid before distributing it to each household.

In addition, the two little wild boars that Xia Juanjuan caught last winter, as well as a few other piglets that were purchased, have been raised for a year and each weighs about 100 to 200 kilograms.

Secretary Zhao solicited opinions from the villagers and decided that each village should kill one first, and then kill another one near the end of the year.

Therefore, everyone was quite happy about the food distribution this time.

Because Xia Juanjuan was pregnant, even though she had powerful comrades in arms, as well as Xia Shuangshan, Li Jie and others helping with farm work, she did not get much food. As for the pork, since she had caught the wild boars in the first place, she saved a lot of money by buying the piglets, so she got the same pork as everyone else.

Xia Shuangshan took his and Lin Yuru's share, then borrowed an ox cart, took his three children, put all the food, pork, and various vegetables harvested from the vegetable garden on the ox cart, and went to the county town.

Having not seen each other for more than a month, the three little guys started crying loudly when they saw Xia Juanjuan, causing Xia Juanjuan to also cry.

Lin Yuru also wiped her tears and said, "Don't make your mother cry. What if the little brother and sister can't wait and want to come out early? Go! There are cakes in the room. Go and eat some."

When the three kids heard this, they stopped crying and ran to eat egg cakes, which made Xia Juanjuan very angry.

What a bunch of heartless little guys! They made her cry, but they went to eat happily!

Xia Shuangshan took advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention and secretly asked Lin Yuru: "Juan'er's mother, we saved more than 20 yuan, how much do you have left?"

He also knew that his wife and his daughter-in-law lived in the county town and would definitely spend money. The twenty yuan was originally saved for the daughter-in-law, so it was impossible that not a penny was spent.

Lin Yuru replied: "There are still fifteen or sixteen pieces left. What's the matter?"

Although she did not have the money that Xia Juanjuan gave her, Xia Juanjuan always tried her best to go shopping with her afterwards, under the pretext of exercising more so as to avoid a difficult birth due to the fetus being too big. When it came time to pay, naturally, it was all Xia Juanjuan's money.

Therefore, the money in her hands was not actually spent much.

Xia Shuangshan hesitated to speak, but finally said: "You keep five or six yuan and give me ten yuan. After Juan'er is born, I will go on a long journey and need money..."

In the 1970s, a sleeper berth ticket from Beijing to Guangzhou was 20.5 yuan, and a lower berth ticket was more expensive. A hard seat ticket was half the price, but still cost 10 yuan.

Xia Shuangshan wanted ten yuan, but he had no idea about the money for the trip, the hotel, and the return ticket. Moreover, he knew that his son might be serving in the army in the south, but was he really in Guangzhou? Where was the army located? He had no idea.

If Li Zhan was at home, he could ask about it. Now, distant water cannot quench immediate thirst...

But even if the road ahead is bleak, he must go on this trip!

Lin Yuru was stunned for a moment: "What's the matter? Going away? Where are you going? How far? How long will it take?"

Xia Shuangshan scolded vaguely: "Why does a woman ask so many questions? I have already mentioned it to Secretary Zhao, and the letter of introduction has been prepared. I will leave after Juan'er gives birth..."

Lin Yuru was used to listening to the men in her family. After being scolded, she did not dare to ask any more questions. After thinking about it, she kept one dollar of the sixteen yuan and gave the remaining fifteen yuan to Xia Shuangshan.

"Here, Poor Family Rich Road, take more. Juan'er won't compete with ours..."

When Xia Shuangshan saw this, his eyes became hot. He quickly took the money and put it away while trying to conceal it.

The fifteen dollars weighed heavily on him, and they were his only hope of finding his son...