Before they knew it, it was 1972. Yu Mian's wedding was set for the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, but Liu Yun didn't think about it anymore after sending the gifts.
What makes her happiest now is that she asked Li Juan to find ginseng and ginseng seeds for her. Although she only bought two ginseng roots, she had quite a few ginseng seeds. She tried planting them in her space and was surprised that they actually sprouted. This space is really magical. Although it can't shorten the planting cycle, there's no cultivation, and no one-click harvesting, it seems like anything can survive in the space all year round. Anyway, she hasn't killed anything she's planted in the space so far. You know, she just digs a hole and plants it in the space, and then doesn't manage it much after planting.
Discovering such great news at the very beginning of the new year kept Liu Yun smiling for a long time. She even smiled at Zhang Meng, the girl in the office with whom she didn't get along.
You know, ever since Zhang Meng was diagnosed with her pregnancy last December, she's become increasingly at odds with her. She used to be able to argue with her, but now it's not appropriate to fight with a pregnant woman! Besides, she's only making sarcastic remarks.
Zhang Meng had always considered Liu Yun her number one rival in the office. Zhang Meng was a college graduate accountant with a higher position than Liu Yun, yet she couldn't surpass Liu Yun in any way. Zhang Meng came from a cadre family, while Liu Yun was just from a county town—her background and position were inferior, but she was prettier and married better. How could Zhang Meng accept that?
Both Liu Yun and her husband married into cadre families and moved out together, but Liu Yun's mother-in-law not only didn't complain at all, but also went out of her way to take care of her child. Her husband also frequently picked her up and dropped her off from get off work. Now, it's the man who picks up the child. Liu Yun doesn't care about anything, she just spends money, and she always has snacks in her hand.
Her mother-in-law blamed her for moving out with her husband, saying she had instigated it. She was accused of being wasteful if she made a few extra clothes or bought extra snacks. She still had to cook and clean when she got home, which had always been the case, and she hadn't thought much of it; everyone did it. But ever since she heard that Liu Yun's husband usually did the housework, she felt resentful. Why should they do this? They're all women.
Liu Yun understood this as well. Whether it was the present era or the era in which Liu Yun lived a hundred years from now, women always contributed more to family life than men. Moreover, both society and the people around her took the sacrifices women made for their families for granted.
But Liu Yun didn't want it to be like this. She didn't plan to live such a tiring life, so she always trained Yu Qianhe to do housework. In the beginning, Yu Qianhe didn't do everything like he does now. You know, in the Yu family, Yu Qianhe is the youngest. Even though his parents trained him to do housework, he had three older brothers who were much older than him to take care of things. He could only sweep the floor, wash the dishes, and help out.
Everything she does now is thanks to Liu Yun's training. In later years, a saying circulated online: "To coax a man, a book on child psychology is enough; it's actually quite similar to coaxing a child." Coincidentally, Liu Yun studied early childhood education, and child psychology was a required course in her major. She tried the same coaxing techniques on Yu Qianhe, and to her surprise, it really worked, and worked exceptionally well. From then on, she became even more adept at manipulating Yu Qianhe.
In May of 1972, as the weather gradually warmed up, Liu Yun felt unwell in her stomach for the past couple of days. She also realized her period was late and suspected she was pregnant. She went to the hospital for a checkup and, sure enough, was almost two months along. During this time, Yu Qian was away on a business trip, and she had been engrossed in her online activities, so she hadn't noticed her period was late.
She hadn't planned to have any, and had even used contraception, but it still happened. This must be the twins her mother had mentioned! Although it wasn't in Liu Yun's plans, and the pregnancy was very difficult, what could she do? It was already here, so Liu Yun had to accept it. Mainly because she already knew there were two lives involved, and also because with the current technology and conditions, aborting the two children might be more damaging to her body than giving birth. But when she thought about the inconvenience of pregnancy, especially the period of lochia after childbirth, Liu Yun felt hopeless and frustrated.
Liu Yun used to cook occasionally at home, but now she doesn't even need to cook anymore. Yu's parents have moved in to help with cooking and taking care of the triplets. Yu Qianhe, on the other hand, is in a state of anxiety again. He doesn't understand why she's pregnant even though they've taken contraceptive measures. He still vividly remembers Liu Yun's appearance when she was pregnant with the triplets. He's thinking about whether he should get a tubal ligation.
But Liu Yun rejected this idea as soon as she mentioned it, mainly because she didn't believe in the current technology. However, she was still a little touched that he could do this much.
Liu Yun took advantage of Sunday to rest at home and washed all the clothes and diapers that the triplets had used before. She soaked them in boiling water to disinfect and sterilize them, since they were worn close to the skin. Then she dried them and put them away.
Watching his daughter-in-law bustling around, Mr. Yu was amazed. He had never seen anyone wash diapers like this before; only his daughter-in-law was so particular.
This used to be the method hospitals used to wash gauze! Now they use it to wash diapers, tsk tsk tsk.
It's important to understand that during wartime, medical equipment and medicines were extremely scarce. At that time, military hospitals even used gauze and sterilized cotton balls that were washed, disinfected, and reused repeatedly.
Back then, there was a severe shortage of professional surgical instruments, anesthetics, painkillers, and other medications. In some cases, even carpenters' saws or kitchen knives had to be used for amputation surgeries. This led to many soldiers developing bacterial infections after being wounded. There was nothing that could be done when the country was in trouble, conditions were harsh, and the lack of supplies was unbearable.
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