When we got home, Mingming and Ruirui were playing with Xiao Shitou in the Zhou family yard. When they saw the jeep stop, Mingming was the first to run out, jumping and looking into the car, shouting "Dad, Mom, and Grandma".
Lin's mother happened to be sitting on the right side. She got off the car right in front of Mingming. She looked at his height first and said with satisfaction, "You've grown taller."
"I've grown a lot taller this year!" Mingming said, gesturing towards Lin's mother, "Next year I'll be as tall as you, grandma!"
Mother Lin looked at the diagonal line that was clearly drawn and laughed: "Okay, grandma is waiting for you to grow this tall."
As they were talking, Ruirui came over and called out, "Grandma."
Mother Lin responded with a smile and said to her daughter, "Rui Rui looks calmer than before."
Before Lin Wei could say anything, Mingming asked in surprise, "Grandma, can you tell us apart?"
Although in the eyes of Lin Wei and Zong Shao, Ruirui and Mingming are very different, they are identical twins after all, and their appearances are very similar. Even their neighbors who often saw them in the family quarters could not necessarily tell who they were accurately. But Lin's mother hadn't seen them for almost a year, but she could still call out their names accurately, which was obviously amazing.
Mother Lin said mysteriously, "Of course, you are my grandchildren. No matter how long we haven't seen each other, I will definitely recognize you."
In fact, what Lin's mother uses to differentiate between the two children is their personalities. Although Mingming and Ruirui look similar, their personalities are completely different: one is silly, and the other is more stable. As soon as they made an expression or opened their mouths to speak, Lin's mother could recognize them.
Mingming didn't know that he looked silly in his grandmother's eyes, and said with admiration: "Grandma is so great."
Mother Lin smiled and greeted Xiao Shitou again.
Little Stone still remembered Lin's mother and walked up to her and called out, "Hello, Grandma."
After the greetings, the whole family went back.
They entered the house from the back door and just as they put their things down, Zhang Lan came in from the front door and skillfully poured tea for them.
Lin Wei had mentioned hiring a nanny in the letter she sent back, so seeing a stranger at home, Lin's mother was not surprised. She took the enamel cup from Zhang Lan with both hands, thanked her, and asked with a smile, "You are Comrade Zhang, right?"
"Yes, my name is Zhang Lan, you can just call me Xiao Zhang." Zhang Lan introduced herself.
Mother Lin said, "Okay, then I will call you Xiao Zhang, and you don't have to say "you" or "your" anymore, it sounds weird."
In the first few years after Zong Shao married Lin Wei, he would always mention "you" to her and her husband when he returned home. She didn't say anything at first, but later she couldn't help but mention it a few times. After that, he became a little better. Now he only mentions the word "you" when she talks about them as a young couple.
Not only Zong Shao is like this, Lin Wei is the same. She didn't have this problem before, and it was probably because she was brought up by Zong Shao after joining the army, and it is difficult to change.
Mother Lin was too lazy to say anything to them now, but she knew that Zhang Lan shouted that because she was reserved, so she mentioned it.
After hearing this, Zhang Lan really did not mention the word "you" when speaking to Lin's mother. She spoke with ease, and Lin's mother felt more comfortable listening to her. After drinking the tea, he opened his luggage and took out the things he brought to Lin Wei and the others one by one.
Because she came alone, she couldn't take too many things, so she didn't bring any food this time. She only took some dried vegetables and pickles. The rest were clothes she prepared for her soon-to-be-born grandson/granddaughter.
When in the car, Lin's mother only said that she had prepared a few sets of clothes, but after opening the box, she brought more than just clothes, including shoes and socks for the child, a hat, and even a quilt.
Lin Wei couldn't help but ask: "Why did you prepare so many things?"
"Since you were due in November, I started preparing a few months ago. I saved up this much by giving you a few injections when I had free time."
Mother Lin picked up one of the light yellow clothes and said, "This was made by your second sister-in-law. Because we didn't know whether it was a boy or a girl, she asked me what color cloth to use before making it. I thought that a newborn baby would need to wear light yellow, light blue, white or red, so she tore off a piece of cloth of this color." The clothes she made herself were basically made in these colors.
Lin Wei held the clothes and said, "Second sister-in-law is so thoughtful."
"Your second sister-in-law is a good one." After saying this, Lin's mother asked Lin Wei if she had prepared the child's old clothes, especially diapers, because she didn't prepare these.
Lin Wei said: "I prepared several, all made from my two children's old clothes."
Mingming, who was lying on the coffee table watching them chatting, exclaimed, "Using our clothes to make diapers?"
Lin Wei asked back: "What's wrong with using your clothes to make diapers? The diapers you use are made from my old clothes."
"When did we start using diapers? I could pee by myself when I was three!" Mingming emphasized that he had always thought that children his age would not wet the bed, but one day when he heard other children in the family area talking about it, he realized that some children wet the bed when they were four or five years old.
While Mingming was broadening his horizons, he was also quite proud of himself. He felt that he was so awesome!
Oh, my younger brother is also very good. As for Little Stone, he just stopped wetting the bed this year, so... he’s just average.
Lin's mother laughed: "You can pee by yourself when you are three years old, but what about before that? Especially when you are a few months old, you must use diapers."
Mingming certainly wouldn't remember something that happened when he was just a few months old. He said with a troubled look on his face, "But it always feels weird to use our clothes as diapers."
Lin Wei said, "What's so strange about that? They are old clothes that have grown too small. You won't wear them anymore. If you cut them into diapers, you won't be able to wear them. I didn't ask you to wear clothes that your brothers and sisters have peed on."
"It seems so." Mingming was convinced, rubbed his face and said, "Then you can use it."
Only after Mingming had no objection did Lin Wei go upstairs to get the prepared diapers, because Ruirui only had two or three pieces of clothing every season, and some of the clothes were made of hard materials and were not suitable for making diapers, so the fabrics she could use were very limited. In addition, diapers cannot be too thin and often require several layers of cloth to be stacked, so Lin Wei only made seven or eight diapers in total.
Mother Lin took one look and said, "This is not enough. We'd better prepare more."
Although diapers can be reused, children need three or four diapers a day, or even more. If it is a rainy day and the diapers are difficult to dry after washing, seven or eight diapers are necessary.
In addition, diapers tend to become hard and damaged due to frequent washing, and a batch of diapers need to be changed every month. There will definitely be a lot of things to do after the child is born, and you may not have time to make diapers by then, so you have to prepare as many diapers as possible before the child is born.
Only seven or eight, how can that be enough?
Lin Wei was of course aware of this, but: "We don't have that many old clothes at home at the moment."
When Mother Lin heard this, she opened another bag and said, "Before I came here, I guessed that you might not have enough old clothes, so I brought some Mingming and Ruirui, as well as your old clothes."
Lin Wei came to join the army, so of course it was impossible for her to bring everything from home with her, so she sold almost everything that could be sold, and took the remaining clothes and bedding that were no longer worn back to her parents' home. Her parents can use the bedding, and as for the clothes, they won’t take up much space if they are put in a box under the bed, so just keep them.
Lin Wei didn't expect her mother to be so far-sighted and bring so many old clothes. She was immediately surprised and asked, "Mom, how are you so smart? You predicted everything?"
"I've eaten more salt than you've eaten rice, so of course I could have predicted this." Mother Lin said proudly, "But I thought of this too late, otherwise I would have found time to cut all the clothes at home."
Lin Wei immediately said, "It's not too late, not at all. There's still some time before the baby is born, so just take your time."
Mother Lin nodded: "We can only rush to finish the work during this period of time."
…
Because Lin's mother came, the Zong family had an especially sumptuous meal that night.
In the later stages of pregnancy, Lin Wei no longer had any food taboos. The only thing she had to say was egg custard, which made her want to vomit after drinking it during her pregnancy.
Lin's mother's reaction to this was: "I think you just have too good a life, you are being pretentious. The pregnant wives in our brigade who can have a bowl of egg custard every day are so happy. But you, you have something to drink but you still despise it!"
Lin Wei said, with her belly sticking out, "Don't yell at me, yell at it. It's not me who's picky, it's it. Don't worry, Mom. When it's born, I will definitely teach it a lesson. How could it be so disobedient? Egg custard is such a rare thing, and you still despise it. You can tell at a glance that it has never suffered!"
Hearing Lin Wei's helpless words, Lin's mother was speechless for a long time, but didn't say anything else.
Although she can't drink egg custard, Lin Wei can eat scrambled eggs and boiled eggs, especially scrambled eggs with green peppers. She likes spicy food recently and can eat two bowls of rice with this dish.
Knowing that her daughter likes spicy food, Lin's mother started to grumble at night before going to bed: "Sour boy, spicy girl, is the baby in your belly a girl?"
"I also hope it's a daughter," said Lin Wei.
"It's good to have a daughter, as it can make a good name." Mother Lin said while lying on the bed, looking at the snow-white ceiling, "I just don't know when your second brother will have a son."
Lin Wei knew that favoring boys over girls was a common problem among most people in this era. Her parents were very good to her and never favored anyone over others when it came to studying. They even gave her a dowry when she got married, and she was allowed to take the gift from Zong Shao back home intact.
But this did not change their idea that only sons could carry on the family line, so her parents were worried when her second brother and sister-in-law had no children. Even when they had daughters, her parents were still worried.
Lin Wei couldn't blame her parents too much, so she could only advise them, "Second sister-in-law just gave birth to Niuniu at the beginning of the year. Even if she gets pregnant again, she'll have to wait for a year or two until she recovers. You can say this in front of me, but don't mention it in front of my brother and sister-in-law, otherwise they will be under a lot of pressure."
"I know. I never mentioned it in front of them. Well, although Niu Niu is not even one year old yet, they have been married for many years..." Mother Lin said, and couldn't help but sigh.
"What is supposed to come will come. If it doesn't come, it's my second brother's fault."
Mother Lin turned her head and asked, "What's your second brother's problem?"
Lin Wei explained: "I heard someone say before that whether to have a boy or a girl is not determined by the woman, but by the man's genes."
Mother Lin didn't understand what genes were, but she didn't agree with what Lin Wei said, so she said, "Nonsense, Lin Erjiang from our brigade had three daughters with his previous wife, but his wife died during childbirth, and the next year his new wife gave birth to a big fat boy. Besides, in our family, your father and your eldest brother both have sons, so how is it possible that your second brother can't have a son?"
"Then there's someone in the brigade next door who gave birth to several daughters with her ex-husband. Others say she can't give birth to a son, so she married and her husband died and then found someone who could give birth to a son! As for the situation where all the brothers have sons but one doesn't, it's not uncommon in our hometown, but most people put the blame on the women. But think about it carefully, don't the brothers and sisters of those women have sons?"
After Lin Wei asked, she said without waiting for her mother to answer: "No, it's just that they are used to putting the blame on women. Mom, you are the most open-minded person in our family. You can't do such a thing as blaming everything on a woman when it's obviously a woman."
"Okay, stop flattering me." As a mother and daughter, how could Lin's mother not see what Lin Wei was thinking? She couldn't help but mutter, "When did your second sister-in-law bribe you to speak for her like this?"
Lin Wei said: "I am not speaking for my second sister-in-law, I am speaking for us women."
Mother Lin asked angrily, "According to what you said, if I urge them, I will not stand on the side of women?"
"You are distorting my meaning. What I meant is that if my second brother and his wife are pregnant with a daughter again, then the reason must be my second brother. If you want to blame someone, you should blame him."
No matter whether her second brother and sister-in-law will have children in the future, whether they have sons or not, and whether their relationship will be good or bad if they don't have sons, she doesn't want her mother to be the bad person.
"Besides, this is a new society, where equality between men and women is important. It's different from before. Even if you give birth to a daughter, it won't necessarily be worse than giving birth to a son. Anyway, I'm willing to take care of you in your old age."
Mother Lin was frowning at first, but she felt relieved when she heard the last sentence. She still said, "No matter what happens outside, in our hometown, our sons still take care of us in our old age. Your father and I have two sons, so why do we need you to take care of us in our old age? As for your second brother and his wife, I don't care about them, okay?"
"I'm just trying to persuade you. As the old saying goes, children and grandchildren have their own blessings. It may not be good for you to interfere too much in their affairs. Anyway, as long as we are filial, you and my father can live a happy old age. Why do you worry so much?"
Lin's mother discovered that her daughter's ideological level had been rising rapidly since she joined the army, and she could hardly keep up.
Although she had reservations about other things, she believed what Lin Wei said: children and grandchildren have their own blessings, and it might not be good for elders to interfere too much. So she sighed and said, "Okay, let them be."
Having said that, after a while, Lin's mother couldn't help but open her eyes and asked, "What did you say? Whether you give birth to a son or a daughter is determined by what the man does. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true. I heard it from the doctor." Lin Wei said firmly. In fact, she read about this from the original book.
But Lin's mother didn't know the source, so when she heard Lin Wei say that it was the doctor who told her, she basically believed it. She sighed frequently and stopped talking.
…
The day after Lin's mother arrived on the island, she, Lin Wei and Zhang Lan started making diapers. Although the work was tedious, it was still quick with division of labor.
Although Lin Wei had to work and her belly was so big that she had to get up and walk around after sitting for a while, she didn't do much, but Lin's mother and Zhang Lan worked quickly and made more than fifty diapers in ten days.
Together with the seven or eight diapers that Lin Wei had made before, these diapers could be used for at least half a year. Lin's mother thought that was enough, so she put the matter aside and focused on her daughter's delivery.
Because Lin Wei gave birth to Mingming Ruirui several days earlier than expected, Lin's mother became nervous several days in advance. As a result, several days after the due date, there was no movement in Lin Wei's stomach. Old shígG Dujia
The child didn't make any sound, and Lin's mother and Zong Shao couldn't let go of their worries at all. Lin Wei was nervous and worried. She was admitted to the hospital the day before her due date, but after staying in the hospital for several days, there was no sign of birth. For a moment, she didn't know whether she should continue to stay there or go home to wait for the birth.
Lin's mother could not give Lin Wei any advice on this matter. She herself was very conflicted. On the one hand, she felt that the hospitalization fee was expensive, and on the other hand, she was worried that Lin Wei would have a wart when she returned.
In the end, Zong Shao made the final decision and said that they should continue to live there as he did not want to take any risks.
Mother Lin was very satisfied with his answer. Although she felt sorry for the money, she would still be angry if Zong Shao wanted to save money on the important event of her daughter's childbirth.
Zong Shao knew that she loved her daughter, which was good.
Of course, it would be better if the baby in her daughter's belly wasn't so slow and refused to come out.
As a result, the devil appeared as soon as the cat was mentioned. Lin's mother had just finished whispering this to her daughter in the afternoon, and Lin Wei took action in the evening.
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