After a busy period, the bedroom in the east wing became warm as spring.
The two baskets on the kang were used as fruit plates, filled with bright orange oranges, red apples, and dark purple grapes, faintly exuding the fragrance of fruit.
Little Ping'an, lying on the kang, fell asleep. He opened his mouth slightly, smacked his lips a few times, smiled, and turned over to continue sleeping. In the study room across the wall, Zhou Jiao leaned back in a chair, flipping through some mail.
Zhang Guoqing lifted the cotton curtain, brought in a plate of frozen pears and persimmons, and placed it on the table: "It's enough to satisfy your craving. Eating too much is not good for your health."
Zhou Jiao nodded without giving any comment and shook the letter in her hand towards him: "Don't rush over to read the letter yet."
"Don't worry, gather all the packages together for me, and I'll pick them up all at once before dinner." Zhang Guoqing picked up the aluminum pot and looked at the flame. "Calculate who else hasn't sent it yet, and let's wait a couple of days."
Zhou Jiao glanced at him amusedly: "You talk as if someone owes you something."
"You really owe me." Zhang Guoqing smiled disapprovingly. "We sent a lot of New Year gifts before. There has to be give and take."
Having said that, Zhang Guoqing wiped his hands, hung the towel on the washbasin rack at the door, quickly returned to the desk and sat down, casually reading a stack of letters.
After a moment, he tapped the desk with his right finger, pointing to the parcel list that had been drawn out: "There's a give and take, so from now on, the New Year gifts will be prepared according to these, and forget about the others."
"Why, was it infected by your son?"
Zhang Guoqing shook his head. "Since you're pregnant with your second child, our burden is too heavy, so it's a good time to close the loopholes and set some rules. Even the high-end items that are displayed in public need to be hidden."
Zhou Jiao had no idea about socializing. Originally, she had planned to treat everyone else according to their relationship, except for Hai Shijiang's grandfather and parents-in-law.
But now, listening to the meaning of the words, it seemed that there was something wrong. She remembered that just now, when Yi Jiefang came over, the two of them had been whispering outside the door for a while.
Zhang Guoqing knew that she was sensitive and suspicious, and worried that she would overthink things, so he whispered, "Anyone from the Yi family who is out of town has received a notice from Elder Yi, saying they are not allowed to be transferred back to Beijing, and that they must never join the military or politics if they can."
Zhou Jiao looked up at him in surprise.
Zhang Guoqing glanced at her mysteriously and nodded. Yi Jiefang had just come to greet him. Several of his friends had already gone to the cadre school with their families a month ago.
However, he didn't plan to mention these to Zhou Jiao. Pregnancy was already difficult, so why make her worry and be afraid? Just let her feel that the time has not come yet.
Zhou Jiao frowned, not knowing what she was thinking. She immediately picked out Zuo Lin's letter from the box and took out the letter paper again to read it carefully.
Zhang Guoqing sat silently by the side, watching her and waiting for her to speak.
After a while, Zhou Jiao sighed: "I wonder what my aunt is going to do? My aunt's family is also in danger. It's time to take action."
Zhang Guoqing hadn't read the letter yet, but after hearing this, he took it from her. Zuo Lin's tone in the letter was normal, just like usual, the only difference being that this time he said his family planned to stay in their hometown for a few more years and asked them to look after the old man and his wife.
He stood up and patted Zhou Jiao: "Don't worry, I'm going out for a while to see if anything happened outside since Dad wasn't home this month."
Zhou Jiao shook her head. "It's better to be quiet than to move. Don't go out and ask around. First, find the newspapers from that period and analyze it ourselves. Then, tonight, we'll take our son to Fang Fei's place."
Zhang Guoqing heard this and said with a smile: "It's a good time to go over and see the grandpa."
Zhou Jiao hesitated for a moment. "I'll go to Uncle Wang's house tomorrow to bring some New Year's goods. See if he knows when my dad will be home. He should be home by now."
"Don't worry, Dad will be fine! We have a small family and a small target." Zhang Guoqing's eyes flashed, "I'll announce you're pregnant tomorrow. You're having severe pregnancy reactions and need to rest."
Zhou Jiao then said, "By the way, ask how to contact Dad. We should tell him the good news as soon as possible."
After saying that, the couple looked at each other and smiled.
Zhou Jiao looked at the fruit on the desk, paused, then looked around the study, stood up, opened the side door, and entered the bedroom.
Zhang Guoqing followed closely behind her and saw her continue to look around the room and began to check everything. He immediately understood and looked at his wife with admiration.
"Jiao..."
Zhou Jiao put her finger to her lips, saying "Shush," to signal him not to speak. She glanced at her son lying on the kang, then pulled him out of the bedroom and back to the study.
"you say."
"Do you have any new ideas? You are pregnant now, I hope you can take good care of yourself."
"I know my limits." Zhou Jiao reached out and held his hand. "How about changing to a domestic watch?"
Zhang Guoqing quickly understood what she meant. "Let's put the phonograph in the bedroom to entertain you. We'll also put some essential luxury items in the bedroom. For the time being, no one can come in and out of our room at will."
Zhou Jiao laughed at the words. As expected of her man, he understood immediately. Could it be said that they were in perfect sync? He wanted to act immediately after thinking of her.
She took out two of Chairman Mao's paintings and calligraphy from her collection, and then took out her camera. "Brother, I need you to show your professionalism and help me print three sets of them at a one-to-one scale."
Zhang Guoqing grinned and said, "If you have any other instructions, just ask."
“Back to basics.”
Zhang Guoqing nodded in agreement. It was time to clean up during the Lunar New Year and sort out those eye-catching things to prevent future trouble.
The pregnant woman's constant chatter had exhausted Zhang Guoqing. From the next day, after he had spread the news that his wife was pregnant, he followed Zhou Jiao around without caring about the outside world's reaction.
"Wife, Dad said he can spend New Year's Eve with us. Don't worry about him, he's very good. He's out of town right now and it's hard for him to call home. If you have anything, we can talk when he gets back."
After receiving the crucial news, Zhou Jiao felt relieved and now had some time to relax.
She nodded with a smile on her face: "I know. Brother, let's go to the living room today."
Zhang Guoqing saw her trying to pull him away, and was so frightened that he quickly supported her: "Slow down. Don't be anxious. This is not about you, just give the orders."
Zhou Jiao chuckled at him and followed him into the living room, pointing at the wall with a smile, "I want to hang it here. You can see it as soon as you walk in. Move the table over there and put it below here, and put the old man's white jade sculpture on the table. Do you think my idea is feasible?"
Is it okay? It has to work, even if it's not! Zhang Guoqing asked her to sit for a while while he went back to his room to get his things. He worked until late last night to get three sets of photos, and they're just for this moment.
Aunt Chen looked at her belly worriedly and gently advised, "Sit on the sofa and talk slowly. If there's anything else that needs to be changed, just tell me."
"Auntie, can you help me change the curtain cloth?"
Zhou Jiao pointed at the red curtains on the sofa, then glanced at the green paint on half the wall and said reluctantly, "I like this red. It looks festive at first glance."
Isn't that the curtain fabric the Logistics Department had earlier provided? Aunt Chen's eyelids twitched. How could this woman's temper change so quickly? Who was it that said red against green walls hurts the eyes?
Alas... What can I do? Pregnant women are the most vulnerable.
"Okay, I'll change right away. Jiaojiao, what's not to your liking? I've changed them all today."
Yes! A lot.
But how could Zhou Jiao dare to let the other party take action? The outsider she trusted the most was still an outsider. She could only deal with the rest of the conversation slowly. Fortunately, she had been very careful when she moved in, otherwise she would have been exhausted.
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