With the passage of time and the advancement of technology, although landline telephones still require manual transfer, the speed is much faster than in the 1960s and 70s.
In the 1960s and 70s, it was common to wait one or two hours to make a phone call. The worst part was that sometimes you couldn't even get through, and even after you did, there was a third party listening in. How can I put it? It was just very awkward.
Zhou Yue happened to be there, so the three of them went to Xiao Jiu's office together.
Even so, it took almost forty-five minutes for the call to be connected.
Zhao Lingli answered the phone first. The father-in-law and son-in-law pressed their lips tightly against the receiver, and then Xiaojiu's choked sobs could be heard from inside.
"Mom..." In her anxiety, she forgot to call her mother and just called her "Mom" instead. This is a manifestation of Xiao Jiu's nervousness.
The tearful shouts completely stunned Zhao Lingli, who immediately asked anxiously.
"What's wrong? What happened? Did someone make you feel wronged?"
"Mom... no, no one upset me. I was just a little busy yesterday and suddenly fainted, and then..."
Xiao Jiu sniffed, choking back tears before she could speak, when Zhou Yue snatched the microphone away.
"What happened to you? Why did you suddenly faint? Are you alright? Where are you? I'll come find you."
Xiao Jiu was talking to her mother when she suddenly heard her husband's voice and thought she was hallucinating.
Why aren't you saying anything?
Hearing his anxious shouts, Xiao Jiu snapped out of her daze and asked in a hoarse voice, "You're back? Don't worry, I'm fine."
Then, with a hint of embarrassment, she said, "I fainted because I'm pregnant, more than two months along."
While Zhou Yue stood there dumbfounded, Zhao Lingli had already grabbed the microphone, overjoyed and crying.
"Oh my god, what's wrong with you? You're pregnant and you didn't even know! You've been so busy lately, and you're a doctor!"
After Zhao Lingli launched into a tirade, Xiao Jiu felt even more embarrassed.
"My period has been irregular for the past few months. Sometimes I get so busy that I forget about it. If I hadn't fainted, I probably wouldn't have even noticed."
Plus, I don't eat on time, and I didn't pay much attention to my occasional nausea. "Mom, please don't scold me, I'm already feeling bad enough."
Zhao Lingli took a deep breath, and Zhou Yue, feeling sorry for her, pulled the microphone back to her: "Where are you?"
"I'm going back the day after tomorrow, so don't bother coming back. I'm upset emotionally, not physically, so don't worry."
...
When Zhao Lingli was pulled away by Tao Changyi, she looked unhappy. But when she saw her son-in-law walking out of the office looking dejected, she was surprised.
She also felt that the young couple had a really tough time. They were already separated most of the time, and now that their daughter was pregnant, the son-in-law was still feeling regretful because he wasn't around.
"My daughter is pregnant, and you don't seem very happy!"
Zhou Yue realized that his mother-in-law's words had a hidden meaning, so he quickly explained.
"Mom, you've misunderstood. I just feel heartbroken."
The thought of her saving so many lives on the plane while pregnant fills me with dread and lingering fear.
With that, he went to find the dean. "You wait for me outside. I need to ask her where she is. I'll take the bus this afternoon."
Before he could finish speaking, Tao Changyi stopped him.
“My daughter isn’t that delicate. You just got back, it’s not appropriate for you to take leave again. You’re a leader, and a leader should act like one.”
Under the couple's persuasion, Zhou Yue reluctantly followed them home, then rode Tao Changyi's bicycle back to the military region ahead of them.
"He really misses our daughter. Look, he didn't even recognize the bicycle I brought from my hometown."
On the other side, after hanging up the phone, Xiao Jiu subconsciously looked down at her stomach.
The thought of meeting this little life at the end of the year filled her with a sense of wonder.
Upon returning to the guesthouse, she immediately went into her room to pack her things: formula, diapers, baby clothes, and other supplies...
She liked it more and more the more she looked at it, and she was extremely happy to tidy it up.
Black silk-clad black dogs wagged their tails and circled around her, and she hugged their heads and gave them a hard rub.
"Haha, I'm going to be a mom!"
She had two younger sisters and three older brothers living together, and worried that their inbreeding would produce unsuitable offspring, so she had the three older brothers sterilized years ago.
She brought these five dogs home six or seven years ago. Now, thirteen years later, although their mental state is not as good as when they were young, they live longer than ordinary dogs, rarely get sick, and do not look like normal old dogs, perhaps because they have been living in a spacious environment for a long time and are fed well.
Because they were brought home by her grandmother the year she passed away, Xiao Jiu especially adores these five.
If she had the energy, she wouldn't have deprived them of the opportunity to be parents; in that respect, she can only apologize.
——
At 8 p.m., at the Meng County Party Committee, Geng Yun stood by the window, smoking and looking dejected, lost in thought.
He didn't react at all when a dark figure flashed into his office, pulled out a dagger, and stabbed him in the back of the head.
A sneer followed: "Geng Yun, are you testing our limits?"
Geng Yun took a deep drag of his cigarette, then slowly exhaled, casually stubbed it out of the ashtray in his hand, and turned away indifferently.
"It is you who keep testing my bottom line. I have said that I have done everything I should do. It is you who threaten me again and again."
"Now that I have a brain tumor, an incurable disease, I'll die if I want to. There's nothing to be afraid of. What can you do to me?"
The shadowy figure was not surprised at all upon hearing this. "Yes, you're not afraid anymore. But what about your child? What about your wife?"
"You ruined me, and now you want to ruin my wife and children? If that's the case, I'd rather hand them over to the organization for safety."
Undeterred by their threats, Geng Yun threatened them in return, but instead of being intimidated, he was enraged.
"Is your backbone a recent development? I've never seen you have such a sudden pang of conscience before."
Geng Yun didn't speak, but casually knocked the teacup off the table. The dark figure was stunned at first, then realized something and ran out desperately, only to be blocked by the people who rushed in.
"Geng Yun, you will die a horrible death, you will get your retribution."
His mouth was then covered, and the National Security Bureau quickly took him away. Several men in uniforms then walked in.
Geng Yun murmured, "I've already gotten my comeuppance."
Then, he stretched out his hands.
"My actions have absolutely nothing to do with my wife. Please pass on the divorce agreement to me. Thank you."
The National Security Bureau official looked at him with an extremely complicated expression: "I don't understand why you would go this far."
Geng Yun shrugged self-deprecatingly, "I must have been bewitched. Actually, I don't know why I ended up like this."
"Then why did you turn back from your wrong path?" Lei Zhan, a former comrade-in-arms, couldn't understand the impact of his surrender.
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