Yu Jiu shook his index finger, looking rather smug.
The baby will be conceived for about nine more months, and the postpartum period will last at least a month, so it will take at least ten months in total. Then, they will be so busy taking care of the baby that they probably won't have time to do "that" with him, and they'll have to get up in the middle of the night to breastfeed the baby.
······
As Yu Jiu spoke, Xu Zijiang became more and more determined to send away the unborn child.
“I was too hasty. We won’t have any more children after this one. It’s too much of a delay for his father to enjoy his happy life.”
Xu Zijiang held the remaining wine and complained regretfully.
"Alright, stop talking nonsense. Don't I know you? You actually want children too."
Yu Jiu smiled and stroked Xu Zijiang's dog head, her expression both coquettish and reproachful.
Xu Zijiang is now an orphan, while Yu Jiu is not an orphan but is almost one, so they both really want a child of their own, to have another relative, and to make things more lively in the future.
"I do want children, but you will always be my number one priority."
Xu Zi kissed Yu Jiu's face, held her as they lay down, and said tenderly.
"I know, go to sleep. I heard they're organizing road repairs recently, is that right?"
Since the double harvest season was over, there wasn't much farm work left, and everyone was idle. Yu Jiu heard that another road in the commune had collapsed for some reason. It was probably flooded before, and then recently, when everyone went to the commune to collect grain, tractors carrying the grain passed through that main road, which damaged and collapsed the road. So, the higher-ups wanted to organize everyone to repair the road during the off-season.
"Yes, the captain of each team must go, and bring four or five team members. Anyone who volunteers can participate, but the captain must be present."
"It might take about half a month to repair. The person who goes there will get 10 work points per day. People who want to earn work points are quite eager to sign up. This job can be heavy or easy. It will depend on luck."
After all, the level of fatigue varies depending on the job assigned, but the work points are the same.
Xu Zi gently patted Yu Jiu's back to lull her to sleep while quietly explaining his upcoming work to her.
"Hmm, will your work be very tiring? Otherwise, I'll bring you food, so you won't have to make so many trips back and forth."
Yu Jiu was already sleepy. She yawned softly, nestled in Xu Zijiang's arms, and asked drowsily, her eyelashes wet with tears.
"No, I'm the team leader. My job is mostly to direct people. Nobody tells me how to work. I'll just be there for a little while. I might not have time to go back and cook. Should I ask the aunt next door to cook for us for a while?"
Speaking of this, Xu Zijiang felt a little sorry for Yu Jiu. She was pregnant at the time, but he couldn't find the time to come back and cook for her. He couldn't let Yu Jiu cook for him while she was pregnant; that would be too hard for her.
"No need. Aunt Mi's cooking isn't very good, and it doesn't seem very clean. I'll cook for myself. If I don't have time, I'll buy food from the state-run restaurant and bring it to you. You don't need to worry about cooking."
Aunt Mi was their neighbor. She was rather careless when washing vegetables; sometimes, after cooking, you could even find a couple of small pebbles in the vegetables. Moreover, she was reluctant to use oil and salt when cooking, so Yu Jiu didn't like her much.
Yu Jiu's voice grew softer and softer. She rubbed her face against Xu Zijiang's collarbone and then fell completely asleep. One of her greatest advantages since becoming pregnant was that she could fall asleep instantly, taking no more than five minutes to prepare, and she no longer had to worry about insomnia.
Moreover, she wasn't particularly sleepy; she just fell asleep quickly and was quite energetic during the day, not affecting her work at all. This baby was so well-behaved.
"Okay, goodnight, my wife."
Xu Zi hugged Yu Jiu tightly, placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, and then closed his eyes, beginning to drift off to sleep. His desire gradually subsided during their peaceful conversation. He felt a primal urge towards Yu Jiu, but even more so, he felt love—pure love.
The next day, Xu Zi delivered the wine to work as usual. After returning, he gathered everyone to explain the road repair project. In the past, they were stingy with work points. Road repairs usually only gave four or five work points a day, and only very heavy work would be counted as ten work points, so many people were unwilling to do it.
This time, no matter what kind of work it is, it will be counted as ten work points. But when you get there, you will definitely have to wait for someone to assign you a job. You can't choose what kind of work you want to do, so it's all about luck. But even if it's about luck, everyone wants to go. What if you get assigned an easy job? Wouldn't you get those ten work points for free?
So as soon as Xu Zi finished speaking, many young men raised their hands to sign up. Some strong and hardworking aunties also raised their hands high, indicating that they wanted to go and repair the road. Gouzi hesitated for a moment, but decided to follow his beloved captain and bravely raised his hand as well.
“We don’t need that many people, just five. Since you all want to go, let’s decide by drawing lots.”
Xu Zijiang was very fair. He wrote 18 slips of paper, numbered from 1 to 18. The people who drew the numbers 1, 5, 8, 13, and 18 went with him to repair the road.
No one objected, and they obediently lined up to draw slips of paper. When the slips were finally opened, the dog jumped for joy.
"I'm number 8, team leader, I've been chosen!"
His excitement was so loud that it made you want to punch him.
"Alright, I got it. Now, where are the other four people with those numbers? Those who drew them, please step forward so I can see them."
Xu Zi waved his hand, letting Gouzi go show off elsewhere, and then he looked at the other four people who had drawn the slips of paper. A 19-year-old young man, a man in his 30s, a burly woman in her 40s, and a 15-year-old girl.
Hmm? A little girl?
"Lin Si, we're going to repair the road. What are you doing here? Put the slip of paper back and let everyone draw a new one."
Xu Zi frowned and spoke seriously to the tall, thin girl.
"Captain, I want to earn more work points, please let me go. I promise I will work hard, I will do anything you ask, I will never hold the team back, Captain, I beg you."
Lin Si looked at Xu Zijiang pleadingly; she was also a person with a tragic fate. Her father used to be a lazy, good-for-nothing hoodlum. When he was young, he was somewhat handsome. He tricked Lin Si's mother into coming back to marry him and have children, but he remained idle and did not work properly. Lin Si's mother could not stand it, so she abandoned her two children and ran back to her parents' home to remarry.
Two years ago, Lin Si's father drowned in the river after getting drunk. Now, only she, her younger sister, and her grandmother are left in the family. Her grandmother is old and can't earn many work points a day, and her younger sister is still young, only eleven years old this year, so she can't earn many work points either.
Although she can earn a little money, she is already 15 years old, and her grandmother is looking for a good family to marry her off so that she won't have to suffer at home.
Lin wanted to earn as many work points and save as much food as possible for her family before she got married, so that her grandmother and younger sister wouldn't go hungry after she left. Therefore, she was always busy. She was even happy when she learned that the road was going to be repaired this year, thinking she wouldn't have to rest for so long.
“But road repair is not like working in the fields. Sometimes you have to carry stones, which is really tiring. And it’s usually men who go to repair roads. Although some women go, they are older and married, so it doesn’t really matter. You are a young girl, so it’s not appropriate for you to go.”
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