The arrival of Chen Ruiqing and his son delighted the Sheng family, especially Sheng Xitai, who was overjoyed.
Sheng Xinhua is the same; he keeps calling his brother "brother" and insists on sitting next to him while eating. He used to be able to eat by himself, but now his brother has to feed him.
Chen Feng was very patient, picking out all the thorns from the willow root bit by bit, and feeding the meat to his younger brother.
Sheng Xinhua was like a fledgling in a nest, waiting with its beak open for the parent bird to feed it. It would eat whatever its older brother gave it.
"Xiaofeng, don't spoil Xinhua. This brat is deliberately making things difficult for you. Give him a spoon, he can eat by himself."
When Zhou Qinglan saw this, she could only sigh helplessly. Sheng Xinhua, that rascal, really knew how to make things difficult for people.
“Auntie, it’s alright. I’m happy to feed my little brother. Look how cute he is, eating so heartily.”
When Chen Feng lived in the Sheng family, he always liked to secretly feed his younger brother.
He's finally back, and his younger brother is still very friendly with him, even asking him to feed him. He couldn't be happier.
Zhou Qinglan's attempts to persuade him failed, so she could only glare at her son.
"Sheng Xinhua, eat by yourself. Don't always let your brother feed you. Your brother is still hungry."
Sheng Xinhua was very good at reading people's expressions. As soon as he saw that his mother's face was not good, he immediately grabbed a spoon, scooped up a big clump of rice, and put it in his mouth.
His cheeks were bulging out from being so full, just like a greedy chipmunk.
Zhou Qinglan was speechless and could only let them be. Anyway, Chen Feng had just returned, and everyone was still excited. They would get used to it in a couple of days.
It wasn't appropriate to drink so much alcohol at midday, so Sheng Liancheng and the others each had only two or three cups before starting their meal.
After lunch, Sheng Liancheng lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), while Chen Ruiqing and Sheng Xiping went outside to find a shady spot to chat.
Zhang Shuzhen led her daughter-in-law and daughter to the vegetable garden to pick the remaining bok choy and cut some chives.
Then I chopped the filling, kneaded the dough, and made dumplings in the afternoon.
That evening, Sheng Xiping invited Wang Jiachuan and Zheng Xianyong over, and they drank some more with Chen Ruiqing.
The next morning, Wang Jiachuan arranged a motorcycle from the forest farm for them, and Sheng Xiping went with him to take Chen Ruiqing back to Songjianghe.
Chen Ruiqing left, and Chen Feng stayed at the Sheng family's house. He brought his summer homework with him and did it at a fixed time every day.
Zhou Qinglan even found Sheng Xitai's and his classmates' third-grade textbooks and explained the new lessons to Chen Feng in advance so that he wouldn't fall behind when he got back.
With Chen Feng around, Sheng Xitai was always happy. The uncle and nephew kept each other company and went out to play together all the time.
Fortunately, Zhang Shuzhen repeatedly forbade them to bathe in the river, especially the deep water area near Diaoyutai. As a result, the two naughty kids didn't get into any trouble.
July passed in the blink of an eye. In mid-August, Chen Ruiqing called from the provincial capital, saying that Sheng Xiping should take Chen Feng to Songjianghe, where someone would pick him up.
Chen Feng was reluctant to leave, and lingered for a long time, crying, before finally getting into the car with Sheng Xiping and leaving.
Upon arriving at the Songjianghe Forestry Bureau, Sheng Xiping met with the people from the province. After confirming their identities, he handed Chen Feng over to them.
"Go back and study hard. When you have time, you can come back to live here again."
Remember, the Sheng family's doors are always open for you; you can come back whenever you want.
Before parting, Sheng Xiping hugged Chen Feng and said something to him.
"Yes, Uncle, I'll be back next summer."
Chen Feng sniffed, got into the jeep with the other person, and headed straight for the county, and then from Fusong to the provincial capital.
After Chen Feng left, primary and secondary schools in Qianchuan also started the new semester.
The elementary school graduating class that Zhou Qinglan taught has already moved up to junior high school, so she can no longer teach them. She should be teaching first grade.
However, Zhou Qinglan's current condition makes her completely unsuitable to lead a class.
Finally, the school discussed the matter and decided to have Zhou Qinglan teach art and music to the third and fourth graders, and to replace one of the third-grade teachers with the first-grade teacher.
We'll readjust our work schedules after Zhou Qinglan gives birth next spring.
Music and art classes only have a few sessions a week, which suits Zhou Qinglan's current situation perfectly, so Zhou Qinglan readily agreed.
Not having to be a homeroom teacher and take care of students makes things much easier than usual, and I don't have to worry about it as much.
So, Zhou Qinglan would read and study whenever she had free time, and rest when she was tired.
According to Dr. Qiao's calculation of the due date, Zhou Qinglan should give birth on September 27th.
As a result, on the morning of September 20th, Zhou Qinglan had only been at school for less than an hour when she started to feel a stomachache.
Having already given birth once, Zhou Qinglan had some experience. As soon as she felt a pain in her stomach, she knew that her partner was about to give birth.
So they quickly sent someone to the junior high school to find Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei.
When the two girls saw their sister-in-law's condition, they knew something was wrong and quickly helped her home.
"Mom, hurry up, my sister-in-law has a stomachache, she might be going into labor," Sheng Yunfang called out as she helped her sister-in-law walk into the yard.
Zhang Shuzhen was playing with Sheng Xinhua inside the house when she heard this and hurriedly ran out.
"Girl, how are you feeling right now? Is your stomach hurting badly?"
Zhou Qinglan clutched her stomach with one hand and supported her waist with the other, her face turning pale.
"Mom, my stomach pain isn't too bad right now, but I feel unwell. I wonder if my water broke."
"Quickly, help your sister-in-law to lie down in the west room."
Generally speaking, the labor process for women who have given birth before is much shorter than that for first-time mothers. Zhang Shuzhen did not dare to be careless and quickly helped her daughter-in-law into the west room, helped her lie down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and helped her check.
Upon closer inspection, it wasn't that her water had broken; this time, she was seeing blood.
Seeing that bleeding meant she was close to giving birth, Zhang Shuzhen quickly prepared things, spreading an old mattress on the kang (a heated brick bed) and then adding a thick layer of toilet paper.
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