Chapter 132 It seems like I'm going to give birth early.
Chapter 132
As soon as he said that, the room fell silent, followed by a burst of laughter.
Meng Yingying's face turned red with anger. "Liu Mang, you try saying that again!"
While the others were still laughing, Qi Donghan glanced around and asked, "Aren't you going to catch rabbits anymore?"
His cold tone instantly silenced the scene. Sure enough, evil people need evil people to teach them a lesson. Someone like Meng Yingying, a hundred words from her are not as effective as one word from Qi Donghan.
Because they didn't have real power, meaning Meng Yingying posed no direct threat to them, but Qi Donghan did.
The others immediately fell silent.
Liu Mang was a straightforward man. While apologizing, he also thought he was right, "Sister-in-law, when you were squatting there, the rabbit ran out from behind you. It really did look like it."
Meng Yingying also realized that there was no point in arguing with Liu Mang, this straight-as-an-arrow guy. Instead of arguing, she might as well use magic to defeat magic.
She chuckled and joked, "I'm giving birth to rabbits, what about you guys? Are you five midwives?"
As soon as he said that, no one laughed at all; in fact, it was extremely quiet.
Everyone looked a little uncomfortable. What kind of man is a midwife?
However, after this incident, no one dared to tease Meng Yingying anymore, and they hurriedly grabbed the two rabbits.
Then they began to count.
"Seven rabbits, there are seven rabbits in this tree hole."
Xu Wenjun, who was compiling the statistics, couldn't hide her joy. The number of rabbits caught in this tree hole was almost equal to the number they had caught this morning.
“Not only that,” Meng Yingying said. “When I first took the branch to poke the tree hole, I didn’t react immediately, so two rabbits ran away.”
"The remaining seven are all here."
They're all plump and have long ears; they're really heavy to carry.
"How much meat is that?" Many people started drooling.
Qi Donghan noticed something in the middle, "Send ten people out to do nothing else, just like my Yingying, to check each tree hole."
In winter, it's cold and snow blocks the mountains, so not all rabbits can find burrows. Quite a few rabbits choose to spend the winter in tree holes to be lazy.
Therefore, Meng Yingying's method directly provided them with a very good idea.
There's no need to go through the misery of setting a trap anymore.
Xu Wenjun's eyes lit up immediately. "That's indeed a good idea."
"However, if Comrade Meng hadn't reminded us, we really wouldn't have thought of this method."
"Yes, I've never seen so many rabbits come out of a tree hole after poking it with a twig."
Let alone them, it's the same for everyone else.
Although Qi Donghan didn't say anything, he couldn't hide the smug look on his face.
"We'll work in groups of five, with one person digging into the tree hole and the other four standing around it."
This is an attempt to wipe them all out in one fell swoop.
And you know what? This method really works. In one morning, I raided thirteen rabbit burrows. Some of these burrows had as many as eleven rabbits, while others had as few as three or four.
The results of raiding rabbit burrows were better than their hunting success.
They'd already caught over a hundred rabbits, and it seemed they couldn't keep up with the demand. Someone had to take the rabbits back.
Now that they had achieved results, Qi Donghan took it upon himself to allow the female members of the cultural troupe to return with him.
It's alright in the morning, but the temperature drops in the afternoon and it gets even colder in the mountains. The women can't stand the cold weather.
Before leaving, Qi Donghan came over and told Meng Yingying, "When you go back, don't stay outside. Remember to go home, light the charcoal brazier, fill two bottles with hot water and put them in the quilt to warm yourself up."
He couldn't go back anyway, otherwise he would have gone back with Meng Yingying, and these things wouldn't have been Meng Yingying's responsibility.
Meng Yingying hummed in agreement, her voice soft, "And you? When are you coming back?"
"We'll stay a little longer and see if we see any wild boars or anything."
Although rabbit is also meat, pork is obviously more satisfying to eat than large pork.
Meng Yingying nodded. She thought for a moment and said, "Don't just focus on the holes under the trees. Also, check the holes on the trees. You never know, some of them might be hiding pine nuts or hazelnuts."
Qi Donghan seemed to understand something. "Okay, I understand. You can go back now."
Meng Yingying nodded, her cheeks and nose red from the cold, but she seemed reluctant to leave. "Then be careful and come back soon."
Qi Donghan's heart softened, and he raised his hand to touch his head. "Yes, I'll take you down the mountain."
It was actually against the rules, but Qi Donghan didn't care; he just wanted to see Meng Yingying go back.
They all got into the tarpaulin truck, and Qi Donghan was still waving, as was Meng Yingying.
The others inside made a joke.
"Yingying, to me you seem to be like the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, inseparable."
"Exactly, exactly, Commander Qi's eyes are practically glued to you."
“I think if it weren’t so cold today, he wouldn’t want you to leave.”
Meng Yingying's cheeks flushed slightly from the teasing, because even Gu Xiaotang, who usually didn't care, looked over.
She coughed lightly, "What nonsense are you talking about?"
Gu Xiaotang tilted her head, "Senior sister, are you also reluctant to part with Commander Qi?"
She had eyes that seemed innocent and naive, but those eyes had once been lifeless. Now, however, they were clearly different.
Meng Yingying raised her hand to cover Gu Xiaotang's eyes, "Okay, stop talking."
"Could we ask the station for some of these pine nuts and hazelnuts when we get back? We'd like to keep some for ourselves."
If all of this were handed over, I'm afraid no one would even get a handful.
Everyone perked up at this.
"That's true, but I don't know if the higher-ups will agree."
Meng Yingying thought for a moment, "Let's give it a try."
After returning to her post, she suggested to Commander Fang, "Could the cultural troupe keep two bags of pine cones? After cleaning them, we can take them to my house to stir-fry, so everyone can eat them."
To be honest, Commander Fang was also somewhat tempted. In this freezing weather, sometimes he wanted to eat something but there wasn't even anything to eat.
"I'll go and submit a report to my supervisor."
Commander Chen naturally agreed to such a small matter, especially since the female members of the cultural troupe had also contributed this time.
So he agreed very readily.
Once the result was known, the cultural troupe intercepted two bags of pine cones from the quartermaster and placed them outside the troupe's practice room. In less than forty minutes, the two bags of pine cones were completely cleaned up.
This also shows that there is strength in numbers.
Of all the girls in the entire performing arts troupe who got married, only a handful did so. In the end, they all took all of the nearly twenty pounds of pine nuts and hazelnuts to Meng Yingying's house.
It's because Meng Yingying is now married and has a house in the family compound.
That way, you don't have to eat in the cafeteria every day, and you can cook for yourself.
This wasn't Ye Yingtao's first visit to Meng Yingying's home, but each time she came, she had a different feeling.
"You've put the yard away?"
The soil in the yard was gathered into blocks like tofu, which clearly took a lot of effort.
Meng Yingying was busy, but she glanced back and said, "Yes, let's prepare the land first. We plan to sow seeds in the spring so we can harvest vegetables then."
"Cherry, remember to come to my house for dinner."
She was always very generous to her friends, and Ye Yingtao felt a little envious after hearing this, though she didn't know what she was envious of.
She was just thinking about moving out of the dormitory; living in the staff quarters seemed pretty good. There was a yard, a house, a separate kitchen and stove, and she could cook for herself.
These are things that are impossible to do in the dormitory.
Ye Yingtao had to admit that the string in her heart had indeed loosened a bit.
"Cherry, come help me."
Unfortunately, before Ye Yingying could think it over, Meng Yingying ushered her inside.
"Come here and start the fire in the stove."
"Lin Qiu, take Xiao Tang and pick out all the debris in here."
It's not easy to pick out all twenty pounds of roasted nuts and seeds in one go.
The group split up, and Zhao Yueru, who was heavily pregnant, followed along after hearing the commotion.
Clearly, Zhao Yueru, who had been lying in bed for more than ten days, couldn't stay in bed any longer, so she started to wander around outside cautiously, but she didn't dare to wander for too long.
When Zhao Yueru walked in, everyone gasped.
"No, no, no, please slow down." Meng Yingying even ignored the pot and came over to help Zhao Yueru. Zhao Yueru waved her hand, "It's okay, it's okay. I asked the doctor a few days ago, and the doctor said it's okay and I can move around a little."
"So it's okay to go out for a walk once in a while."
"There's snow on the road outside." Meng Yingying's face turned pale with fright. She didn't even dare to think about what would happen if Zhao Yueru, who was eight months pregnant, fell outside.
Zhao Yueru didn't think that much about it. "I'm watching where I'm going."
"She's about to give birth, isn't she?"
Unmarried young women also came to join in the fun. Ye Yingtao touched Zhao Yueru's belly, and Gu Xiaotang also wanted to touch it, but she didn't dare.
Zhao Yueru heard about Gu Xiaotang's past from Meng Yingying, so she became more gentle towards Gu Xiaotang as a result.
"You can touch it, it's okay."
Gu Xiaotang raised his hand to touch it, just as the baby in Zhao Yueru's belly moved, kicking out suddenly.
Gu Xiaotang gasped in shock, stammering, "He...he kicked me!"
Zhao Yueru was also uncomfortable from the kicks. She raised her hand and slapped her stomach, "You brat, you're practicing your punches in my belly every day."
Her stomach felt hard and heavy, and Meng Yingying immediately realized what was happening. She helped her sit down and then breathed a sigh of relief. "You shouldn't run around like that next time. It's better to just stay home and lie down."
Zhao Yueru waved her hand; the baby inside her was still kicking.
It's true, she was wearing a cotton-padded coat. Once the coat was unbuttoned, a sweater was visible underneath, and you could clearly see the movement of the sweater underneath.
Sometimes it's here, sometimes it's there.
These unmarried young girls had never seen anything like this before.
Everyone came over to look, saying, "The child is kicking you."
"Wait a minute, is he throwing a punch or a kick?"
Zhao Yueru touched it, "It seems to be a kick."
Gu Xiaotang asked curiously, "Does it hurt?"
My belly is bulging.
Looking into Gu Xiaotang's clear eyes, Zhao Yueru nodded, "It throbs a little, but it only lasts a few seconds, and it'll be fine after a while."
Gu Xiaotang reached out and touched Zhao Yueru's belly. "Baby, your mother works so hard. Don't keep kicking her, it will hurt her."
She has a pure heart, and so does her voice; perhaps it's because her voice is too gentle.
Zhao Yueru's stomach gradually calmed down.
She was somewhat surprised, "This child actually listens to you."
Gu Xiaotang said shyly, "Perhaps it's just a coincidence."
The pine nuts and hazelnuts in the pot were almost cooked, and a caramelized aroma filled the room.
Meng Yingying tasted a pine nut; it had a strong pine aroma and was indeed delicious.
"Try it."
She poured the contents into an enamel basin, filling it to the brim. It was steaming hot and still a bit hot, but no one minded. Everyone grabbed a handful and started eating.
Freshly roasted pine nuts are indeed very fragrant. They are crisp and crunchy when you bite into them, and they also have a hint of pine resin oil flavor.
Meng Yingying kept about two jin for herself and distributed the rest. Zhao Yueru also received a jin, which she kept as a snack, putting it in her pocket and eating one every now and then when she went out for a stroll.
It's really comfortable.
Even Meng Yingying found herself enjoying life immensely. The gathering mission lasted for three days.
They harvested a total of over four hundred rabbits, fifty-three pheasants, and one wild boar. The wild boar wasn't very big and was rather thin.
And it was carrying piglets inside its belly, so it was a pregnant sow.
Even if the people stationed there were craving meat, they wouldn't possibly slaughter a pregnant sow. That's just...unfortunate.
Although the wild boar was caught, it couldn't be eaten, so it was placed in the logistics department's temporary pigpen to be kept there.
Well, now we've not only failed to get any meat, but we've also gained an ancestor that consumes hay and cabbage.
But despite his dislike for it, he genuinely likes it.
If this sow gives birth to a few more piglets, and they raise them until after the New Year next year, who knows how many pigs they'll get for pork.
Thinking about it this way, it's not a bad idea to just endure it.
Wild boars cannot be killed, but there is no such concern for wild rabbits and pheasants. The day the gathering team returned to their post after the event.
The cooks started getting busy; it wasn't even Chinese New Year yet, and they were already slaughtering rabbits and chickens.
The bags of frozen mushrooms were taken out, and ten chickens were killed in one go.
Three of the chickens were used to make soup, and some wild delicacies were also added to it, namely wild Ganoderma lucidum and wild ginseng that were dug up on the mountain in autumn.
Actually, there aren't many, just a few.
The head cook gritted his teeth, thinking that the soldiers really hadn't been eating well and were all skin and bones.
Only then did he grit his teeth and throw in a wild ginseng root. It wasn't very big, only about the thickness of a finger, but after drinking this bowl of ginseng chicken soup, it was indeed very nourishing.
The three chickens were used to make three large pots of chicken soup, a clear broth specifically for nourishing the body.
The other seven chickens were all killed in one go, and two full bags of frozen mushrooms were collected, with the intention of making chicken stew with mushrooms.
We should try to distribute the chicken to everyone, so that everyone can get a little bit of chicken. If there's not enough, chicken skin will do too.
The kitchen and canteen had a total of five pots and three coal stoves, all of which were in use at the moment.
As for the rabbits, they were even more willing to part with them. Commander Chen had previously declared that the supplies collected this time would not be taken to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange for foreign exchange, but would be kept for their own consumption.
Therefore, they were even more willing to kill rabbits, with Squad Leader Wang, Quartermaster, and Qi Donghan among them counting the numbers.
"Five hundred and thirty-three rabbits, if we eat twenty a day, it will be enough for us to eat for about twenty days."
Qi Donghan is a generous person. "Let's prepare more today, get thirty rabbits ready, and make spicy rabbit meat. Everyone was exhausted from gathering in the mountains a few days ago, and they were also very cold. Let's eat more meat to replenish ourselves."
"Twenty rabbits a day at other times, let's double that on New Year's Day—"
The quartermaster and Squad Leader Wang both noticed, but Qi Donghan remained unfazed. "New Year's Day is the day to prepare the food, and we'll try to make sure everyone gets a bite of meat."
For people in this era, eating meat is just that difficult.
Squad Leader Wang: "Wouldn't that be too much?"
The quartermaster also thought it was too much, saying, "We need to be careful with our spending; we can't let the meat be wasted in just a few days."
Qi Donghan said, "I can go up again before the New Year, but it will take longer. Now that I have the method, I can take a day off after the New Year and go up again."
"Quartermaster, our unit shouldn't be short of meat anymore."
This winter hunting trip has given everyone confidence.
The method that Meng Yingying discovered was particularly effective; once the trap was set, there was no need to worry about it.
Just focus on using the branch to poke the tree hole. This method is not only effective but also saves manpower and yields better results in the end.
With Qi Donghan's words, the quartermaster rolled up his sleeves and got to work. "As Commander Qi said, kill ten chickens and thirty rabbits tonight, and find all the chili peppers we had before."
"They did it all."
Squad Leader Wang immediately exclaimed "Yes!" and turned back to the mess hall to get busy. To be honest, he had never cooked such a good dish in all his years of service.
Meat, all meat.
While cleaning the pheasants, we found a few baby pheasants, only about the size of a fist, that had just separated from their mother hen.
These pheasants are hard to raise. Like wild boars, they need someone to look after them. The cooks are busy and can't spare any manpower to take care of the chicks.
So of the last twenty or so chicks, Qi Donghan got five, Zhou Jingsong got five, and Political Commissar Xiao and Division Commander Chen each got five or six.
Basically, it was handled by insiders.
It wasn't mealtime yet, and the pheasant couldn't withstand the cold. Qi Donghan was worried that if they kept it in the mess hall, it might die.
So they used a basket, covered it with a layer of clothing, and carried the five chicks back home.
Meng Yingying caught a cold a few days ago and started her period, so she was feeling unwell and lay in bed like a silkworm, not wanting to move at all.
Qi Donghan returned at this time. He went inside, but Meng Yingying did not come to greet him as she used to.
He was somewhat surprised, "Yingying?"
He put the basket down in the main room and went to find Meng Yingying. He noticed that her face was a little pale. "What's wrong?"
Meng Yingying's voice was also somewhat unsteady, "I've started my period, and it hurts a bit."
Qi Donghan's face flushed red at first, then he quickly realized what he meant and asked, "Shall I go to the clinic to get you some painkillers?"
Meng Yingying was actually a bit hesitant to take painkillers, but her stomach was really hurting, so she hesitated for a moment and then nodded, "Then I'll try it."
Qi Donghan was quick; he returned in less than ten minutes, carrying a painkiller. "The doctor said to take half a pill."
He cut it in half with a knife, and Meng Yingying drank it with water. In just half an hour, the pain was gone.
She could only marvel at how effective painkillers were these days.
Hearing squeaking noises coming from the main room, she found it strange. When she came out, she saw five chicks shivering in the basket.
Meng Yingying was immediately shocked, "Where did you get this from?"
Qi Donghan said, "Some of the chicks we caught this time were too small to eat, so we divided them among our families."
Meng Yingying stroked the fluffy little chicks. "This won't do. We need to build them a nest. It's been too cold these past few days, so we'll keep them at home for now. We'll also put a charcoal brazier around them."
She even went so far as to lavishly enter the kitchen and tear off a few large outer leaves from the cabbages she had stored at home.
It was fed to the chicks.
The chicks must have hadn't eaten fresh leafy greens in a long time, because they all rushed over to grab them.
"As long as they can eat, that's fine. The next thing is to keep them warm, so they don't freeze to death."
Meng Yingying had Qi Donghan prepare a charcoal brazier and placed it next to the chicken coop, worried that the chicks would escape and be burned to death. She also made sure the chicken coop was built high so that the chicks wouldn't come out.
Then Qi Donghan and he prepared to go to the cafeteria for lunch. Today, the cafeteria had extra meat, so they naturally couldn't miss it.
When she arrived, she also went to the Zhou family's house and called Zhao Yueru, but Zhao Yueru was already asleep again at just past six o'clock. Zhou Jingsong wanted her to eat some meat and get some exercise, so he forcibly dragged her out of bed.
Zhao Yueru didn't want to go at first. It was cold, and she just wanted to stay in bed and not move. But she heard that Meng Yingying was waiting for her outside the door.
That's when I finally got out of bed.
The snow has stopped, and the snow on the road has all melted, so the road is not slippery, which is perfect for Zhao Yueru to go out for a stroll.
Meng Yingying had only not seen Zhao Yueru for a few days, and when she saw her belly, she was quite surprised, "How come it's gotten so big again?"
A few days ago her belly was just round and plump, but today it's bulging out like an inflated balloon.
Zhao Yueru honestly replied, "The doctor said that the child grows faster as time goes on."
The more nutrients they need, the better.
Of course, this is also why Zhou Jingsong wanted Zhao Yueru to eat in the cafeteria: firstly, to get extra food, and secondly, because the weather was finally clear, so they could go out for a walk.
Meng Yingying touched her belly, looking somewhat worried, "What's your due date?"
"It'll probably be after the New Year, around the first month of the lunar calendar."
It's only the 25th of the twelfth lunar month.
There are about 10 or 20 days left.
Meng Yingying thought for a moment, "Zhou Jingsong, Yue Ru could give birth at any time. Either you take leave or I take leave during this period. We need to make sure there is someone at home and someone by Yue Ru's side."
"We can't leave her alone."
The most dangerous situation would be if the engine were to start and no one was home.
Zhou Jingsong nodded and said, "I know."
"I've already asked Lao Qi for leave. At other times, I'll ask the neighbor's wife to come over and keep Yue Ru company."
Seeing how much effort they were making, Zhao Yueru herself felt it was alright.
"It's not that serious—"
"My due date is still two weeks away."
As soon as she finished speaking, her stomach started to cramp, a kind of downward pulling pain, as if the baby was about to come out of her belly.
Zhao Yueru's face turned pale, and she murmured, "I think I'm going to give birth early."
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