Chapter 50 Chapter 50 Something Happened

As Shi Xiangming had said, the snow only lasted for two or three days. On the afternoon of the fourth day, the sun broke through the clouds and appeared in the sky again.

Quack quack——

Coo coo coo——

The chickens and ducks had not been out of the pen for several days. As soon as they saw someone appear, they immediately started calling out impatiently.

"Mom, is the door open?"

"Let it go."

Wang Nian was holding a bamboo pole with a piece of rag tied to the top. The moment Shi Shuwen opened the door, he immediately called out to the chickens, ducks and geese to go out the back door.

Occasionally, a chicken would try to rush into the vegetable patch, but would be immediately driven back into the group.

The stream outside the door was not deep to begin with, and a thin layer of ice formed as soon as it snowed. Wang Nian used a bamboo pole to break the ice, and successfully let several ducks and geese get into the water.

"Liye, is the fence still there?"

"It didn't collapse!"

In order to prevent ducks from rushing into the underground river ditch downstream, Wang Nian specially asked Carpenter Wang to build a fence to surround it.

The ducks jumped into the water one by one, and the chickens went in pairs to the weeds and insects nearby.

Soon, Shi Shuwen discovered that the chickens seemed to be rushing in the same direction, and finally stopped at the corner of the wall and pecked at a weed vigorously.

Shi Shuwen was standing nearby. He immediately ran over, pushed aside the chickens, pulled up the weed that had been pecked to only a few leaves, and showed it to Wang Nian.

"Chickens eat this kind of grass, Mom, can you tell what this vegetable is?"

Wang Nian took it. It was actually a water celery. It looked nothing special, but the fragrance was really strange...

It doesn't have the special scent of celery, but instead has a fruity scent, like orange or grapefruit.

"It's just a water celery. It's not in season yet." Wang Nian smiled and threw the water celery on the ground. "Next spring, you'll find it everywhere along the ditches."

After feeding the chickens and ducks, most of the housework for the morning has been done.

After sending the children out to play, Wang Nian slowly opened the back door and came to the place where the chickens had been fighting for food.

After searching carefully in the bushes for a long time, I finally found the problem.

There was a stain of oil at the corner of the wall that had seeped into the wall, and chicken and pig bones were faintly visible under the soil.

"Xiao Hei..."

This should be where the dog hides his bones. There are quite a lot of them.

Wang Nian ignored the bones, drove the chickens away, and looked around the bones for any strange plants.

The chickens had pecked the ground bare, leaving not even a blade of grass.

Wang Nian now had difficulty bending over, so he could only go back and pick up a long branch, pull open the bone and look behind it.

Finally, I saw water celery with roots and leaves so pale that they looked white at the base of the wall.

With great effort, he pulled it up and in a flash of thought he entered the space directly.

A six-layer spice rack was suspended in the air, emitting a faint light. Wang Nian put the spice rack into the fourth layer to see what this mutated water celery was called.

Suddenly, a bell rang in my mind. Not only did the message about the mutated water celery pop up, but the spice rack also began to vibrate.

Wang Nian quickly took two steps back.

The spice rack will vibrate like this before each upgrade, emitting a dazzling light.

The next moment after covering my eyes, the blinding light arrived as expected, and I could even feel the strong light through my fingertips.

"Feed? Seeds?"

The bright light faded, and the seventh shelf was filled with all kinds of seeds, with feed occupying the box on the far right.

The mutant celery grown from the chicken and duck bones fed with pig bone paste soup and evolved water serves as the trigger condition for the seventh grid.

The top few layers are all ready-made seasonings that can be used directly, but this layer has to start with sowing and growing.

“Is there anything special about the things grown?”

I casually picked up a piece of green beans from the shelf and rubbed it hard, and a detailed introduction to the beans immediately popped up in my mind.

It looks no different from ordinary green beans, but contains ten times more nutrients than ordinary beans.

If you add space seasoning to cook, the taste will be doubly delicious.

There is only one kind of feed, which can be used for all poultry and livestock. Even crabs can be fed with the feed and purified water overnight to change the taste and nutrition of the crabs.

The first few levels focus more on taste, while those grown by hand have both nutrition and taste.

Unfortunately, her belly is already big now, so even if she wants to try it herself, she is unable to do so.

***

The quieter life is, the faster the days seem to pass.

After the Spring Festival, Shi Xiangming started to go back to work and the children went to school one after another. Only Shi Wan was left at home to accompany Wang Nian in and out.

Although she did not look like a pregnant woman, Shi Xiangming still did not let Wang Nian do the work in the fields anymore.

Shi Xiangming brought back breakfast and dinner from the canteen, and let the mother and daughter go to the canteen to eat lunch.

Wang Nian was bored, so he started preparing clothes and diapers for the baby.

Actually... most of them are already available.

My eldest sister-in-law Zhang Lan just gave birth to a big fat boy in June, and the relatives on my aunt's side gave her a lot of handmade small clothes.

Babies who are a few months old grow up quickly and many of the clothes they wear don’t fit them well enough.

All of those were sent to Wang Nian, and together with the diapers and quilts that the aunt made herself, there was actually no need to prepare much.

Zhou Yuying asked someone to bring a few cans of milk powder and bottles from Anhuai, and if there was really no milk, she would feed the baby with milk powder.

Wang Nian’s daily task now is to have breakfast and rest for half an hour, then go out for an hour’s walk, come back to rest for a while and then go to school to call the children to eat in the cafeteria. He takes a nap in the afternoon and waits for a ready-made dinner when he wakes up.

This continued until the due date arrived.

"Shi Wan, go next door and call Aunt Liu and tell her that mom is about to give birth."

After waking up from a nap, Wang Nian pushed open the door and calmly announced to Shi Wan, who was reading a book at the desk, that she was about to give birth.

She didn't know what it was like for others to give birth, but the frequent contractions and wetness in her lower body seemed to indicate that her water had broken.

Shi Wan jumped off the chair in fright and rushed to the next room.

Wang Nian went back to the room and picked up the bag that had been prepared long ago, then slowly moved to the door and waited for Liu Chaoxian from next door to come out.

"Zhang Guiqiang! Go to the factory and find Shi Xiangming. I'm going to borrow a cart..."

The people next door seemed even more panicked than Wang Nian. Liu Chaoxian rushed out of the door shouting, glanced at Wang Nian, and ran out again without saying a word.

Zhang Guiqiang walked out while putting on his clothes, told Wang Nian to wait at home, and then he pushed the bike and went out.

"Lock the door and we'll wait on the roadside."

Wang Nian instructed Shi Wan to bring Zhang Hong, who had now changed her name, and then locked the doors of both houses.

She walked in front with one hand on her waist and the other holding a handbag. When she passed by Zhong Manli's house, she looked inside leisurely.

Zhong Manli is now extremely low-key. She rarely goes out except for cooking, and she is no longer weird when she meets Wang Nian.

There was no one at the Xiao family. Luo Shunli and his wife and Duan Hehua's family were all at work. The only people at home on the first floor were Liu Chaoxian and his wife, who had taken a leave of absence today to go to Changshengpo to get an adoption certificate.

Thanks to them, otherwise Wang Nian would have to go to the hospital alone today.

"Hurry up and get on, hurry up and get on!" Liu Chaoxian came running over pushing a cart, and before he even stopped, he urged: "I borrowed a big one specially, you and the two children can get on."

In the factory, news of a marriage can spread around in just a short time, and even the birth of a baby can become known to everyone before it is born.

Along the way, they met some kind-hearted people who helped them. They all worked together to push the cart and sent Wang Nian to the entrance of the health center.

Wang Nian was helped out of the car, and suddenly felt a hot current flowing from his lower abdomen to between his legs, and severe pain and a feeling of falling came at the same time.

"My water broke! The baby is about to be born, hurry up and send her to the delivery room..."

The lights in the delivery room came on. Shi Wan sat in the corridor holding her bag. She looked at the stairs to see if her father was there, then quickly turned around to look at the red light on the wall.

Aunt Zhou told her that as long as she turned off the lights, Wang Nian would come out.

She felt that time was passing so slowly. Aunt Liu and Aunt Zhou were walking back and forth at the door, with anxious looks on their faces.

Shi Wan also became worried, so she jumped off the bench and ran to the door with her bag, trying to see what was going on inside through the crack.

Boom boom boom——

Hearing the sound of heavy footsteps coming from the stairs, Shi Wan immediately turned around happily, and saw her father running towards her.

"How is it?"

"It's only been ten minutes since I went in, how could it be so fast..." Zhou Yuying replied unhappily, taking out her hands from the pockets of her white coat and pointing: "Didn't I tell you to be more careful and come to the hospital if something is wrong? How could you wait until your water broke before coming here?"

"The stomach hurt for a long time before the water broke, but Wang Nian was really patient and didn't cry out in pain at all."

Liu Chaoxian was in pain for a whole day when she gave birth, and she screamed loudly when the pain shook the earth. Unlike Wang Nian, she climbed onto the delivery bed by herself and didn't say a word.

"As a husband, you didn't notice it at all!" Zhou Yuying criticized sternly.

Shi Xiangming listened obediently with his head down. At this moment he really had no right to retort.

Although Wang Nian had no signs of pregnancy before going to work this morning, she even went to the backyard to feed the chickens and ducks, saying that she needed to move more to help with production.

Gada——

“You definitely don’t want to…” Before you could even say anything about how your work would be affected, the door to the delivery room opened as the lights went out.

"Is there something wrong... Wang Nian!"

The panic stopped when she saw Wang Nian. Wang Nian walked out with the help of a nurse, holding a baby in her arms.

“…”

Director Yu from the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department lagged behind by two steps. After taking off her mask, the expression on her face was even more interesting than the people waiting at the door.

"Comrade Wang Nian is the fastest and most...stable person I have ever delivered among the hundreds of babies I have delivered."

Director Yu didn't know how to describe how quickly Wang Nian gave birth. It seemed that just after she finished the disinfection work, the midwife said that the baby was already out.

The production time does not exceed five minutes, and the remaining ten minutes are for cleanup work.

After washing the baby, Wang Nian was able to get out of bed smoothly. What surprised the doctors and nurses the most was that... her belly and condition did not look like she had just given birth.

So fifteen minutes later, Wang Nian personally walked out of the delivery room carrying the baby.

Shi Xiangming stood at the door at a loss, not knowing what to do for a moment.

"Go back to the delivery room...the child still needs to be observed overnight." Director Yu reminded with a smile.

"How come giving birth to a child seems easier than taking a shit!" Zhou Yuying was so shocked that she even swore.

The more she learned after studying medicine, the more she feared childbirth. She could imagine how painful childbirth would be just from reading the words in the books.

But now Wang Nian... is basically a person with nothing to do.

"How did you come out while walking?" Shi Xiangming finally came to his senses, took two steps forward to support him, and first looked at Wang Nian's face: "Are you feeling uncomfortable somewhere?"

Wang Nian shook his head, then leaned over to Shi Xiangming and whispered, "Please go home and get me a pair of pants. I forgot to bring my own clothes to change into."

Wang Nian's relief was certainly not normal. She had secretly consumed a lot of medicinal soup before giving birth, and the effects were only evident today.

Shi Xiangming nodded and then looked at the swaddling clothes.

"Son or girl?"

"Son!" Wang Nian felt a little regretful, but after a moment he became happy again and pressed his face against the swaddling clothes: "A son is not bad. I don't have to worry about hurting him in the future."

Before I got pregnant, I hoped to be a girl so that I could double compensate my previous life for the love and affection I didn’t get.

But hope is just hope after all. No matter whether it is a boy or a girl, this is the flesh and blood she gave birth to after ten months of pregnancy. How can love be divided by gender?

"The child looks like you." Liu Chaoxian came over to take a look and said immediately.

The child's face was wrinkled and there were still some bruises on it. Wang Nian didn't know how he could tell that he looked like him.

"Mom, I want to see my brother too." Shi Wan was a little girl, dragging her bag and chasing after several adults, and could only yell anxiously.

"Why don't you go and get Xiaowan's bag." Wang Nian smiled and glanced at Shi Xiangming.

After returning to the delivery room, tidied up and laid down, the child finally burst into tears for the first time, shocking the adults.

Everyone was so busy admiring the mother's vigor that they forgot about the swaddling clothes that had been quietly lying there.

It turns out that the mother is extraordinary, and the child she gave birth to is also extraordinary.

The cry was loud and echoed throughout the room.

***

Midsummer came early this year, only in mid-June, but the heat and humidity came all at once, and the air had a sticky feeling as if a heavy rain was about to come.

As soon as the door of the Shi family next door opened, several children rushed to the dam happily like puppies let out of a cage.

Wang Nian walked at the end, holding firewood in his arms.

Liu Chaoxian stopped combing his hair and asked, "Wang Nian, did the R&D team get a salary increase this month?" He touched his face unconsciously and sighed, "You've been in Changshenggou for seven years, right? How could you not have changed at all?"

I first met Wang Nian in a hotel in the factory area seven years ago. Her braids were thick and black, and her eyes were watery as if they were filled with water when she wasn't talking.

During these seven years, she raised almost five children, but her figure is still so slim, and even more gentle than when she was a girl.

"My mom is the most beautiful mom in the world!"

The boy who was talking looked to be about five or six years old, with a pair of big, shiny black eyes beneath his eyebrows that curved when he smiled. Not only did he look very much like Wang Nian when he smiled, but his skin, which looked especially fair when he stood next to his brothers and sisters, was also inherited from his mother.

"Shi Feiying, come back and put on your shoes."

In order to go out and play with his brothers and sisters, the boy didn't even wear shoes and jumped barefoot on the yard.

"Feiying, why are you not wearing shoes?" Shi Shuwen, who had grown into a teenager, looked down and saw that his brother was barefoot. He quickly bent down, picked him up and walked back: "We will go to the stadium after breakfast. I will definitely take you there then."

Shi Feiying looks like Wang Nian, and Shi Shuwen is like a smaller version of Shi Xiangming, with a slender figure and a straight back, and is particularly famous among the young girls in Factory 431.

At the age of fourteen, his height has already reached Wang Nian's shoulders. He will definitely be a tall man when he grows up.

"We will definitely take you." Hulutou also hurriedly guaranteed.

Hulutou is one year older than Shi Shuwen. After catching up with the nutrition, Hulutou's head became rounder and he looked unexpectedly handsome.

The two's words were not convincing. Shi Feiying was not a fool. She pointed her fat hand at the basketball in Hulutou's arm and said, "You are lying. You must be going to play basketball before coming back for breakfast."

"You want to trick Feiying?" Shi Wan laughed at him and stopped drawing the grids: "No way!"

Wu Zhenzhen smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Why didn't you call me to play basketball?"

"You little brats!" Liu Chaoxian, who staggered from the collision, didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He pointed at the kids on the embankment with his comb and then pointed at the house: "None of you can go out to play today. Don't forget to bring shrimp oil to your Aunt Zhou later!"

Ever since Shi Xiangming brought a basketball to a few people when he returned from a business trip in the provincial capital, the boys went out to play basketball every day and did not go home for dinner until dark.

Wang Nian also laughed: "Have you fed the chickens and ducks? Have you picked the eggs? And there is also the vegetable garden..."

"Let's go now!" Shi Shuwen pursed her lips.

I just thought I'd play for a while because I knew there were a lot of things to do at home. Now I can't run away even if I want to.

In fact, they were not lazy in doing housework, but because today... Shi Xiangming was resting at home.

"dad!"

As soon as Shi Shuwen walked into the room holding Shi Feiying, he saw Shi Xiangming sitting at the desk. Including Zhang Liye, everyone had a bitter look on their faces.

"The final exam is in a few days. How are you preparing?"

The figure seemed to be reading a book seriously, but as soon as a few people walked in, a cold voice was heard.

This "you" does not refer to one person, but to all of you.

"If you want to take the high school entrance exam, your score should be at least... the mock test paper I bought in the county yesterday..."

There was no sound in the room except Shi Xiangming's voice. Wang Nian could only hear laughter.

"Three... two... one."

As soon as the word fell, Shi Feiying rushed out of the door, holding her unworn sandals in her hands, and bumped into Wang Nian's arms.

"Mom, let me light the fire for you."

"You will also be in the first grade of elementary school next year. Let's see how you can continue to be lazy." Wang Nian caught his little son and put shoes on him while smiling.

The baby who was like a little monkey five years ago has now grown into a child who can’t read a few words and only knows how to “skip school”.

Five years seemed to pass in the blink of an eye.

The college entrance examination was reinstated, reform and opening up were implemented, special economic zones were established, and the communal system in rural areas was officially ended and replaced by the household contract responsibility system.

As the outside world changed dramatically, many changes also took place subtly inside Factory 431.

The factory gradually reduced the scope of rationing of consumer goods. As of this year, the factory only issued grain coupons and oil coupons, and everything else could be purchased with money.

Some of the braver ones even contracted restaurants and small shops within the factories. Nowadays, privately-owned shops can be seen everywhere in the factory living areas.

Now people have more freedom in what they eat and wear, and as wages increase year by year, the living standards of employees have also improved a lot.

"Tomorrow we will go to Changshengpo to gather. I want to buy some beef."

Liu Chaoxian heard of this health secret recipe from somewhere, which is to comb your hair with a wooden comb for 20 minutes every morning, claiming that it can reduce hair loss.

Wang Nian, who had no worries, saw her standing at the door with her head tilted and combing her hair vigorously every day.

"Why are you so generous all of a sudden?"

Wang Nian patted Shi Feiying's butt to drive the monkey away, then lit the straw with a match and stuffed it into the stove hole.

"My Xiaohong is more than a year older than Feiying, but look at her height...she is half a head shorter."

"Where's Xiaohong?"

"Still asleep! I slept late last night." Liu Chaoxian replied.

"It's better for you to let your child go to bed early and get up early. This is the time when he is growing up. How can you let him go to bed so late?" Wang Nian said it incisively.

Because Zhang Hong wanted to watch cartoons, the couple bought a TV. Wang Nian could still hear the TV sound at 11 o'clock in the evening.

I sleep until ten or eleven in the morning. How can I grow taller with this schedule?

"Mom, I want to eat noodles."

Shi Feiying was quite attached to Wang Nian. As soon as she saw that Wang Nian had nothing to do, she immediately snuggled into her arms coquettishly.

"I asked Lao Zhang to speak, but he was reluctant to do so." Liu Chaoxian never mentioned that he doted on his son even more, but just blamed it on Zhang Guiqiang.

"Zhang Hong is going to the first grade this year. If the child says she doesn't want to go, will you two really not let her go?" Wang Nian said again.

Shi Feiying blinked and shook her head very seriously: "If you don't study, you have no culture. If you have no culture, you can only be treated as a fool and be bullied."

"Tell your brother to go to the backyard and pick some water spinach to cook noodles."

Guessing that Shi Xiangming's education was almost over, Wang Nian immediately sent Shi Feiying to rescue his brother and sister.

"dad!"

As soon as the little rascal Shi Feiying entered the room, she ran to hug Shi Xiangming's arm and said coquettishly: "Can I eat noodles first and then do my homework? I'm so hungry!"

"Dad, come and see how hungry Feiying is..."

Shi Xiangming's expression changed and he held Shi Feiying in his arms with a smile.

Among the several children, only Shi Feiying likes to stick to her father the most. She would say "Dad, I love you" or "Dad is so great" one moment, and this would make Shi Xiangming smile the whole day long.

"Brother, mom asked you to pick water spinach to cook noodles." The coquettish girl hugged Shi Xiangming's neck and blinked at Shi Shuwen with wet eyes.

Everyone immediately spread out tacitly, some helping to light the fire, and some going to the back to pick vegetables.

The only sounds in the room were the father and son's moaning.

After breakfast, the children received Wang Nian's order and went to deliver shrimp oil to Zhou Yuying with basketball in their arms.

As for the mock exam papers that Shi Xiangming mentioned...we'll talk about it when the time comes.

"You must do the test paper tomorrow."

After the children ran away, Shi Xiangming sighed with a smile, obviously realizing that Wang Nian had deliberately let the children go out to play.

"I know!" Wang Nian smiled.

Today is a rare day without a strong sun, so letting the kids go out and play basketball is a way to relax.

The couple looked at each other and smiled.

Wang Nian stood up to clean up the dishes, but Shi Xiangming suddenly held the back of his hand.

"I have something to tell you. I'll wash the dishes later."

After the R&D team was established, Shi Xiangming's workload increased exponentially, and the couple had not had a private chat for a long time.

Wang Nian followed the force and was led by Shi Xiangming to the backyard.

The two wooden chairs under the window have become mottled and creaky due to the erosion of wind and rain.

The two of them sat down facing the lively yard and at the same time looked at the watermelon in front of them which was as big as an adult's head.

“The watermelons are ripe.”

"We might have to go back to An Huai."

Two voices sounded at the same time. Wang Nian put away his smile and looked at Shi Xiangming in surprise.

"The Municipal Academy of Engineering has approved my reinstatement as a researcher and promoted me to a professor-level engineer." Shi Xiangming held Wang Nian's hand and glanced across the courtyard: "I can choose to go to Anhuai University to serve as the dean of the School of Mechanical Engineering, or go to the National Design Institute to continue to participate in mechanical engineering research and development."

No matter which job he chooses, it means that Shi Xiangming's career has reached a new level.

"Then why are you unhappy?" Wang Nianhui held Shi Xiangming's hand: "Are you worried that I won't let you go?"

Shi Xiangming nodded.

It is definitely a good thing to be with him, but for Wang Nian, who was born and raised in Changshenggou, it is to go to Anhuai rather than return to Anhuai.

For her, that place was... a departure from home.

"Wherever you and the children are, I will be there."

No matter how well decorated a house is, without family members, it is just a room.

"Maybe many years later..."

"Mom! Something happened to Aunt Zhou!"

Suddenly, a cry that sounded almost like a roar broke through the sky from outside the door!