However, they ultimately didn't make it to the hospital. They had just gotten home and were about to change their clothes when their eldest brother, Xu Mingri, arrived.
"Xuemei and Minghan, thank you for your trouble. I'll take the children back with me now." Xu Mingri said with a worried expression, and then prepared to take the two children home.
Xu Minghan quickly stopped him and asked worriedly, "Brother, is something wrong with your sister-in-law? Tell us, don't keep it to yourself. We can help with money too."
"Yes, brother, tell me quickly, what's wrong with sister-in-law? Didn't she say she had diarrhea?"
Zhang Xuemei's heart skipped a beat. In her previous life, her sister-in-law was very healthy and she had never heard of her suffering from any serious illness.
Xu Mingri then realized that he might have misled his third brother and sister-in-law, so he quickly explained, "It's nothing serious, it's just... never mind, Xiao Wen and Xiao Kai, you two watch TV here. Third brother Xue Mei, come with me."
Zhang Xuemei and Xu Minghan followed Xu Mingri into the kitchen and asked nervously, "Brother, just tell us what's wrong. You're being so mysterious, it's making us scared too."
Xu Mingri scratched his head, looking embarrassed, and said softly, "It's nothing serious, it's just that your sister-in-law is pregnant."
"I'm pregnant!" Zhang Xuemei exclaimed suddenly, then immediately lowered her voice, "Is it confirmed?"
"We went to the hospital. She hadn't had her period and hadn't noticed. Today she had abdominal pain and some bleeding, so she got scared and went to the hospital." Xu Mingri wasn't worried about anything else, but he didn't know what to do about this unexpected child.
“Well,” Zhang Xuemei and Xu Minghan looked at each other, wanting to ask something but not knowing how to ask it.
"What's with those expressions? Your sister-in-law and I discussed it, and we don't know what to do with this child. You know, the family planning policy is so strict now, if we want to have her, we have to hide everywhere. I can't stay with her, and someone in the family has to earn money..."
Zhang Xuemei looked at her brother-in-law, who looked troubled, and said softly, "No matter what you decide to do in the end, you should make a decision as soon as possible. Just call us if you need any help."
Xu Mingri touched his face and agreed with a smile.
After everyone left, Zhang Xuemei nudged her husband and asked curiously, "What do you think my brother and sister-in-law will do? Keep the child?"
Xu Minghan shook his head, "I don't know. In our past life, my older brother and the others only had Xiaowen as a child. Now there's another one, so I don't know..."
“Sigh, you know, the family planning policy didn’t allow us to have children, but then they let us have more. It would be great if there were a balance.” Zhang Xuemei knew that her sister-in-law wanted to have another daughter, and she guessed that in the end she would still want to keep this child.
"Fines are fine, but finding a hiding place is difficult."
Xu Minghan was no stranger to such things; when his wife was pregnant with Linlin, they had to hide and run away from each other. They knew the hardships involved.
"Alright, there's no use thinking about it so much. I'll go see my sister-in-law tomorrow and see if there's anything I can do to help." Zhang Xuemei knew that once she decided to give birth to this child, the next ten months would be tough, and she had to prepare for everything in advance.
The next day, Zhang Xuemei arrived at her brother-in-law's rented house with a box of milk, and her sister-in-law Zhou Nianmei opened the door.
"Sister-in-law, how are you? It was too late yesterday, so we didn't come to see you." Zhang Xuemei put down the milk she was holding and looked at her pale-faced sister-in-law with concern.
“Sit down. What could be wrong? This child came suddenly. I wanted to keep it, but your older brother is worried about how we’ll get through these ten months.” Zhou Nianmei touched her belly with a worried expression. She definitely couldn’t go back to the village. With Chen Chunfeng, that big mouth, if she went back today, the family planning office would find out tomorrow.
What about your family home?
"It's the same situation. I can stay, but not for long. I called my hometown village early this morning. It just so happens that the small shop is run by my uncle, so I didn't hide it and told my mom about it. She won't let me go back to my hometown either."
"Then what should we do? Just stay in Tianshui City? If you just stay at home and don't go out, that should be fine, right?" Zhang Xuemei felt that the city was different from the village, and people there wouldn't care so much. This method might actually work.
Zhou Nianmei looked helpless. "No, you forgot? I went to the hospital yesterday. I was afraid that the family planning officials would come to our door at any time. Luckily, we didn't leave an address. As soon as the doctor said I was pregnant, we ran away."
Speaking of this, Zhou Nianmei thought the couple was quite clever; otherwise, if the doctor hadn't reported them, the child might not have been saved.
"Ah, this..." Zhang Xuemei had no good ideas.
"But my mom did come up with an idea, Xuemei, could you take a look and see if it works? My eldest uncle went to a border province to do business, and his whole family is there now. My mom said to call them first to ask what the situation is, and if it's not too tense there, she'll let me go there to give birth."
"A border province? So far away, is it safe?" Zhang Xuemei had never been to such a far place in her life, including her previous life. For a moment, she felt that this was no different from going abroad.
"Safety is not a problem. My uncle's whole family has been there for over ten years and it's fine. It's just far away."
"Then you and your brother can discuss it. Don't worry about the child's schooling. We'll move to Mingzhu Garden. Mom can pick the child up on the way, and we'll help take care of him."
Zhou Nianmei smiled and nodded, "Xuemei, thank you so much. I'll definitely need your help then. I'm still worried about your older brother taking care of the child, so I'll have to trouble you for a while."
“Look at what you’re saying, sister-in-law. Xiaowen is also my nephew, so how can I not keep an eye on him? It’s perfect, there are extra rooms in the new house, so he can just stay at my house. It’ll just be a bit hard on Mom.”
"I won't say anything else, thank you so much, sister-in-law." Zhou Nianmei knew that if she really went to the border province, it would be at least a year and a half before she could come back. The journey was long, and with several days of train travel, she wouldn't be able to return until her child was at least six months old.
"Alright, sister-in-law, we're all family, no need for formalities. The most important thing now is for you to discuss it with your brother. If you really want to go, you should set off as soon as possible." It would be troublesome if the family planning office came knocking on our door.
"Yes, your older brother will be back at noon. I'm also waiting for my mom's reply." She was anxious too, but since her uncle hadn't responded yet, she could only worry helplessly.
Zhang Xuemei realized that she couldn't be of much help if she stayed, so she said a few more words and went back to the shop.
As soon as Xu Mingwan saw her return, she immediately came over and asked in a low voice, "Third sister-in-law, how is eldest sister-in-law? Is her belly feeling any better?"
Zhang Xuemei mumbled, "Much better, just an upset stomach."
"That's good. I'll go see her after get off work."
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