Xu Dingwen stared straight at Xu Mingwan and asked, "Auntie, who did you just say had a big belly? And was it my mother who took the train?"
Although the child is young, he has seen his third aunt when she was pregnant with her little sister Linlin, and he knows what a big belly means.
Xu Mingwan and the other two fell silent. Finally, Zhang Xuemei spoke up and asked, "Xiaowen, what did you just hear?"
"I heard my aunt talking about her belly getting bigger and taking the train, and I know that my sister-in-law is my mother. So, Auntie, is my mother going to give birth to my little sister?"
"Weren't you asleep? Why are you eavesdropping?"
Xu Minghan stepped forward, picked him up, and put him on the sofa. He then casually put a coat on him to prevent his son from catching a cold right after his older brother left.
Xu Dingwen whispered, "I can't sleep without my mom. I was lying to you before. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was just thirsty and wanted to drink water."
"Alright, Xiaowen definitely didn't mean it, but if your aunt tells you where your mom and dad went, can you keep this secret?" Zhang Xuemei gently stroked the child's head and asked.
"Yes, I can. I won't tell anyone, not even Xiao Kai." Xu Dingwen nodded firmly.
"Okay, your third aunt believes you. Your mother is pregnant with a baby, but I don't know if it's a little sister. We'll have to wait until the baby is born to find out."
Now your dad is going with your mom to a secret place to give birth. This must not be known to anyone else, otherwise the baby will be taken back. So you must keep this a secret, understand?
"So, I'm really going to be a big brother?" Xu Dingwen smiled happily, then asked with a hint of sadness, "When will Mom and Dad be back? Will it be a long time?"
"Well, your dad will be back in about ten days. As for your mom, it might take a little longer. But before your mom comes back, you can stay at your third uncle and aunt's house. Grandma will also be back with your two younger sisters. They can play with you. If you need anything, just tell your third aunt and uncle, or your aunt and grandma."
Xu Dingwen nodded obediently and said, "Third Aunt, I know. There's a classmate in my class whose mother just gave birth to a younger brother. She also said she hasn't seen her mother in a long time. I won't tell anyone else."
"Xiaowen is such a good girl. If you miss your mom, come home. We'll install a phone at home then, so you can call your mom, okay?"
Xu Minghan gently comforted his nephew by patting his head. "The renovations at Mingzhu Garden are finally finished. I was thinking of installing a telephone there. That way, we won't have to go to the convenience store to make calls. It's so inconvenient to have to sneak around and talk to each other."
"Yes, if you miss your mom, just call her. She can hear you from over there."
"Okay, thank you, Uncle and Aunt, and Auntie. I'm going to sleep now; I have school tomorrow." Xu Dingwen said, her eyes red, and then ran back to her room.
"Sigh..." Xu Minghan was about to catch up and say a few more words of comfort when Zhang Xuemei stopped him.
"Never mind him, let him cry for a while. You go in later, young boys have their pride too."
"That's right. Xiaowen has always been raised by my eldest sister-in-law and is usually very attached to her. It's understandable that he's a little scared that his parents aren't around all of a sudden. Why don't we have my second sister-in-law and Mom come back tomorrow? Xiaowen is closer to Mom and will feel more at ease then."
Xu Mingwan thought that Xiaowen was raised by her mother when she was little. After all, her mother was her own grandmother, so she was closer to her than they were.
Zhang Xuemei nodded in agreement, "I called at noon to say that my parents and second sister-in-law are coming back together and will arrive around noon."
"Why did Dad come? Didn't he say he was going to stay home and build a house?"
"Mom can't take care of two children by herself, and there's also a lot of cured meat that my second sister-in-law can't handle. I'll have to trouble Dad to do it."
Speaking of this, Zhang Xuemei felt both angry and amused. She only found out after the New Year that her husband had ordered a whole pig's worth of cured meat from her second sister-in-law's family. It just so happened that her second sister-in-law had gone back to her parents' home to pay New Year's visits and didn't return until the cured meat was ready.
"Alright, let's go to sleep. Who will take Xiaowen to school tomorrow?" Xiaowen usually goes to school by herself, but now that she lives far away, she needs an adult to pick her up and drop her off.
"I'll do it," Xu Mingwan volunteered. She couldn't help with anything else, but she could manage to pick up and drop off the kids.
...
The next day, as soon as Granny Liu got home, she hurriedly grabbed Zhang Xuemei and asked, "You didn't explain it clearly on the phone, so how did Nianmei go to the border province?"
The incident happened so suddenly that I didn't dare say too much on the phone, so the old lady was completely confused.
"Mom, don't rush, sit down and listen to me. My sister-in-law got pregnant unexpectedly, and it was only found out at the hospital. They wanted to keep the baby, but they were afraid of being reported, so they went to her uncle's house in a border province, saying that the regulations there are not strict."
Fearing that her mother-in-law would get anxious and upset, Zhang Xuemei quickly recounted what had happened and then comforted her, saying, "My brother and sister-in-law and I agreed that Xiaowen would stay at home before my sister-in-law came back. It's just that it will be hard on you, Mom."
"What? She's pregnant? This is really true. She said she would never have children, and now... sigh, it's really worrying." Granny Liu couldn't understand it. Didn't she say she had an IUD? How could she still be pregnant?
"This is a good thing, old woman, what are you worried about? I feel that Xiaowen is not enough for our eldest son, so having another child will give him a companion."
Old Xu thought his wife was worrying unnecessarily. As the old saying goes, many children bring many blessings. Wouldn't it be even better if they had another son?
Zhang Xuemei chuckled and said, "Sister-in-law didn't originally intend to have a child. Look, she even took the initiative to get an IUD. But this child is lucky, and is destined to be with my brother and sister-in-law. My sister-in-law couldn't bear to part with the child, and it's good for Xiaowen to have a younger brother or sister to keep him company."
Granny Liu glared at Old Man Xu and said, "What do you think I'm worried about? When Nianmei gave birth to Xiaowen a few years ago, she had a difficult labor and had to be rushed to the hospital overnight to deliver the baby. How could I not be worried?"
As she spoke, Granny Liu's eyes reddened. "If the person were here, they could take care of them and get them to the hospital immediately if anything happened. But now they're so far away in the border province, they can't even reach them if they want to. What if something unexpected happens?"
When Zhang Xuemei and her husband got married, Xiaowen was already several years old, so she really didn't know anything about what happened before. However, seeing her mother-in-law's worried look, she still smiled and comforted her, "Mom, things are different now. I've also told my older brother that if there's any problem, he should go straight to the hospital and not worry about the cost. But what was the reason for your sister-in-law's difficult childbirth back then?"
Granny Liu glanced at her and whispered, "Didn't you notice that Xiaowen's head is very big? The doctor said it was because the child's head was too big and was stuck."
Zhang Xuemei: "..." I really didn't pay much attention to Xiaowen's head.
"Then you don't need to worry at all, Mom. As long as my sister-in-law goes to the hospital to give birth, that's fine. If you're really worried, you can have my brother go and accompany her when she's about to give birth." As soon as Zhang Xuemei said this, she felt that her idea was good.
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