127. 127 Ligation
"cough."
Su Yu turned to look at the man who was still walking back and forth with a troubled expression. Seeing that he didn't seem to want to say anything, she turned back to her book, but her mind was already preoccupied with the sound of footsteps pacing back and forth in the room. She wondered what he was having trouble saying.
"Oh dear, um..." Ning Jin looked up and suddenly met bright black eyes, startled and burped, "Weren't you reading a book?"
"I can't stand you bothering me anymore. Okay, what is it?"
"Hey, I just got back from the south a couple of days ago. I made a little money helping people get to the hospital. Guess what that carload of people were going to the hospital for?"
It seemed to have nothing to do with the children, so Su Yu went along with him and asked, "What are you doing? Are you going to the hospital for emergency treatment or taking a pregnant woman to give birth?"
"They're going to get sterilized! Women from two villages in the countryside are being forced by the family planning station to go to the hospital for sterilization." The words had already left his mouth when Ning Jin's initial hesitation was replaced by longing. Seeing Su Yu's tense face, he tugged at the corners of her mouth and said, "Why the long face? Don't try to scare me. I didn't mean for you to get sterilized too. I asked around; women who get sterilized have an iron ring implanted in their abdomen."
He cleared his throat, as if afraid of being overheard even in the bedroom, and whispered, "There are men who get vasectomies, and I want to get one."
Su Yu was extremely surprised and grabbed his hand, asking, "Why do you want to get a tubal ligation? We've never had any accidents using condoms." She wondered why he would have this idea.
"I want to go in without a condom, I don't want to use a condom anymore. I've been trapped for sixteen years, I want to be free." Just talking about going in without a condom makes him feel a little restless. Through the rubber, he can only feel about half of the intense heat and moisture. He wants to truly touch her.
“Now that my two sons are grown up and will soon be getting married and having children, it doesn’t matter whether I can have more children or not. Besides, not using condoms after tubal ligation is also saving resources for the country, don’t you think?” He chuckled to himself.
“You’re right. So when are you planning to go? I’ll go with you. I’m free recently.” She couldn’t wait either. When she had no ideas, everything was calm. But once she had that fantasy, even the sandstorm outside became restless.
“Let’s go tomorrow. I don’t want anyone to know about this. Let’s go to a big hospital, get admitted, and stay for ten days or half a month before I come back. Can you help me come up with an excuse for my hospitalization?”
"Appendicitis, remove the appendix."
The couple tacitly agreed that the next day, Engineer Lü would deliver the item. When he returned in the afternoon, only Su Yu was there. She packed her clothes and toiletries, then left again looking anxious. She told Engineer Lü that Ning Jin had been experiencing right abdominal pain for the past few days, and today's examination revealed appendicitis. She was currently hospitalized and receiving injections; if it worsened, she would need surgery.
Two weeks later, Ning Jin returned to the desert with ease. Like Su Yu, the two chatted and laughed, leaving their colleagues who came to visit with eggs speechless. They wondered if Ning Jin had gone on a trip instead of being hospitalized.
"Su Yu, this is a letter your son sent you. It arrived a week ago." Peng Li handed over two letters and then took out a red envelope, saying, "This is everyone's heartfelt gift. It's not much money, but it's a token of our appreciation. Let Ning Jin take good care of himself. The doctor wants him to stay in the hospital for half a month, which means it's not a minor surgery. He needs to rest well."
Su Yu thanked everyone for their kindness and shamelessly accepted all the eggs. Ning Jin requested that Su Yu stay in the hospital for half a month. He would only feel at ease if a doctor checked his wound every day to see if it was gradually healing, and he would only be discharged when it no longer affected his ability to walk.
For the next week, Su Yu treated the man who had voluntarily undergone tubal ligation like a new mother, feeding him eggs and chicken soup in rotation until his wound was only red and raw. Only then did she set off for the Loess Plateau to help Xiao Yuan.
"Take a little longer to recover, and wait for me to come back at home." Before leaving, Su Yu pushed the man against the wall, stood on tiptoe, pulled his head down, and kissed him on the lips. She only came to her senses when she was pressed against the wall. She pressed down on the hand that was inside her clothes, wiped her mouth, and said, "Calm down, calm down. It hasn't been a month yet, so we can't take the ferry."
"When are you coming back?" The man buried his face in her neck, his lips gently caressing her warm skin.
"At most half a month," she promised.
However, the climate and terrain around Xiaoyuan were complicated, and it took her more than twenty days to figure out the plans. Just as she was about to go back, she received a telegram from Ningjin. She changed her route and headed northeast. Ping An's marriage was about to be finalized, and she and Ningjin were going back to meet Xiaoqi's parents to discuss the wedding date.
Xiao Yuan's work is still in its early stages, and he can't leave to oversee it, so he bought some things and asked his mother to take them back to help him explain, so that Ping An's parents-in-law wouldn't suspect that he and Ping An are not on good terms.
"Son, Ping An is getting married. Do you have any thoughts on it? Are you in a hurry?" Su Yu asked Xiao Yuan on the way to the train station.
“I’m not in a hurry. I don’t think I’m old enough to get married yet. I don’t know why Ping An is in such a rush. The thought of having a family after marriage makes my scalp tingle.” He shrugged with disgust. “I’m not capable of taking on the responsibility of a family yet.”
Moreover, he is currently on assignment to this place where the environment is poor, the standard of living is low, and even the salary is average. He doesn't know if he can be transferred back in three to five years. He also doesn't want to burden a girl who has come here to suffer with him after he gets married.
"Mom, don't rush me. If you want to have a grandson, then rush Ping An. I still have a few years to go. You can tell from my work environment that my female colleagues are all older women. I'll think about it again after I'm transferred back to the city."
“I’m not pressuring you, I’m just worried you’ll get anxious. It’s good that you think this way. Marriage can’t be forced or settled. If you meet someone you’re attracted to, go for it. If you don’t meet someone you’re attracted to, keep waiting. I won’t pressure you, and I won’t bring it up again. I have no requirements for my daughter-in-law. Whether she’s tall or short, fat or thin, rich or poor, as long as you like her, I’ll accept her. If you take her home, I’ll prepare a wedding for you.”
"Mom, you're so open-minded."
"Take away the 'old' part, your mother is still young." Su Yu slapped his hand away. "Alright, I'm going into the station now, you should go back too. Work hard and live well too. No matter how busy you are, you can't miss three meals a day."
Xiao Yuan handed her the luggage, and when she entered the station, he turned around and waved. Only after she was out of sight did he put his hands in his pockets and turn back.
Perhaps because the young couple did not live with their parents after marriage and had their own separate marital home, she, as the stepmother-in-law, felt that Cui Qizi's mother was polite to her to the point of indifference when she met with her in-laws. She did not try to be friendly to her, and was like a tool, agreeing to everything and listening to Ning Jin in everything.
Ning Jin came with great enthusiasm, but was dampened by his in-laws' attitude. He barely made it through the banquet, and his smile faded. He also gave Ping An a cold look.
“Your mother-in-law… never mind, we won’t live together anyway, so do whatever you want. As for the house, will the wedding be held in our current house or will we buy another one? You two should discuss it in the next three or four months, so you don’t have to make demands when it’s time to get married.” Ning Jin asked Ping An.
Ping An felt a little aggrieved. "Dad, could you apologize to Mom for me and tell her not to take it to heart? As for the house, I want the one I live in now; I don't need to buy a new one."
"Your mother-in-law doesn't have any objections?"
"No, I've already submitted my application. I expect to get a house by the end of the year, and then she and I will move into the research institute."
"As long as you have an idea, that's fine. I'll bring you a refrigerator in a while and leave you some money. If you need anything, you two can buy it yourselves, buy what you like." Ning Jin felt he had nothing more to add after saying that, so he turned and went inside.
Hearing the door open, Su Yu stretched out her smooth, fair arm from under the covers and urged him, "Hurry up and take a shower. I don't know what you've been muttering about. You've been taking so long, and I'm sweating from waiting." She didn't want to talk about what happened during the day; it was pointless, and she didn't care. She wouldn't let Cui Qizi's mother's attitude change her attitude towards the young couple.
"Coming, coming." Ning Jin happily closed the door and went out again, calling his son, who was standing dumbfounded in the yard, to quickly take a shower and go to bed so as not to affect his performance later.
"How does it feel?" As she spoke, her tongue lightly touched the man's throat twice, and it seemed as if the very marrow of his spine was mixed with an itch. The sheets on the kang were crumpled into two folds. He wanted to stop her from kissing and pecking him, but he couldn't bear to give up the touch that made him addicted.
"Are you thirsty? Why do you keep swallowing?" His shoulders were the most sensitive part, especially his throat. Once he felt the heat from her breath and took a light, gentle inhale, he wished he could be embedded into her body.
"I'm not thirsty, you have plenty of water."
"It's all thanks to you. Without you, I wouldn't be able to get out of the water." She continued to tease him, and without the rubber barrier, she could clearly feel its shape.
"You...you might as well pinch me." The scratching of her fingernails on his back made him want to laugh, but he would rather she scratch his back until it bled.
"Didn't you notice? I'm drawing its appearance. This is the first time in sixteen years that it's come to greet us without wearing an outer garment."
After that, there was no sound of anyone talking in the room, only the sound of water sizzling, stopping and starting again.
Ping An got up early to make breakfast, but no one got up after the food was ready. He waited for a while and watched as the sun slowly climbed over the door and the flames in the stove were gradually covered by the ashes.
"Mom and Dad, get up and eat! I've cooked millet porridge and made egg pancakes," he called out from the middle of the yard.
Ning Jin came out first, saw her son, and explained, "I'm not used to sleeping in the same bed, so I didn't sleep well last night and woke up late."
Ping An nodded to indicate that he knew, but didn't expose that he had been there for several days, and that his mother had already stayed overnight for the second time last night.
After Ping An left after lunch, Ning Jin took out the bed sheets to wash, scrubbed them clean, threw them in the washing machine to spin dry, and then put them back in before Ping An returned at noon.
"Let's go back. Our son is all grown up, and it's not convenient for him to live here," Ning Jin suggested. "We can do whatever we want back home."
Su Yu agreed; she also needed to hurry back to work, and Ning Jin couldn't be away for too long either.
"Leaving already? You came in such a hurry, and you're leaving again after only a few days. When will you come back?" Ping An asked.
“We’ll take a long leave of absence before your wedding. If you need anything, just write to us,” Ning Jin said.
"That's all we can do. It feels like our family is all busy with our own things, and we don't get together except for Chinese New Year." It was better when I was a child. I had a stable home, with my mom and younger brother, and my dad would come back for a few days every ten days or so. There was something to look forward to.
“Once your dad and I retire, we’ll move back.” Su Yu saw that it was almost time and was about to enter the station. “Be good to Xiao Qi. If you have any conflicts, talk them out. Don’t worry about the wedding. Your dad and I have a plan. We’ll come back to make arrangements in early July. Just focus on your work and don’t get distracted.”
Ping An nodded, and said somewhat apologetically, "Mom, Xiao Qi has no problem with you. Her mother is her mother, and she is herself."
"I trust your judgment." It's normal for a mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to have disagreements, not just mother and daughter. Even mothers and daughters sometimes argue. Fortunately, they live far apart, so she can't hear their disagreements.
Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye. Su Yu's workplace is about to be moved, and the sandy land where trees and grass can be planted has already grown a layer of stubble. Ping An's wedding is also just around the corner.
Ning Jin went first, and Su Yu followed the group to a different location before heading back. Xiao Yuan was the last to arrive. Er Ya, Daya, and Xiao Hu also came to help. They didn't plan to invite relatives from their hometown, but fortunately, they had many classmates and friends, so the wedding wasn't too quiet.
"I'm getting married too." Amidst the sound of gongs and drums, Er Ya said, "It's in the winter month, Auntie, remember to come back early then."
"Is it Cai Zhiran?"
“It was him. I broke up with him a while ago, but he disagreed. After I went back, I discussed it with his parents, and the result was that we would live separately. His mother meant that out of sight, out of mind.” It’s not bad. If she lived with her in-laws, she would feel very constrained.
"Congratulations on having your own little home," Su Yu said with a smile.
As the children grow up, one happy event after another occurs.
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