When Huo Qingfeng returned home that evening, Ling Ruoke brought up the matter with him. "Did Dad find out first and then tell Mom? Otherwise, she wouldn't be so unsurprised."
Huo Qingfeng narrowed his eyes slightly and shook his head. "That's unlikely."
Huo Qingfeng didn't explain to her in detail why it wasn't a big deal. He did have a question in his mind, so he called his mother and took the opportunity to ask. Yang Ziyun's answer left Huo Qingfeng feeling somewhat moved.
From his mother's words, Huo Qingfeng realized that she had known about the Gu family's current predicament for a long time. He suddenly recalled his mother's foolish behavior with Rong Xiumei, and how her relationship with the Gu family had gradually cooled. This was not an accident at all! In other words, his mother knew about some of the Gu family's movements and deliberately created trouble to make everything seem natural! The conflict between him, Ruo Ke, and the Gu sisters was conveniently exploited by his mother!
At this moment, Huo Qingfeng finally understood how extraordinary his mother was!
Huo Qingfeng didn't dare tell his wife about this, afraid of frightening her. Having a mother-in-law who was like a cunning old fox would probably make her more cautious.
Ling Ruoke merely lamented the changes in the Gu family, without giving it much thought. Every effect has a cause; the Gu family's current situation was likely the result of sowing seeds they shouldn't have sown, so there was nothing more to say. Wrongdoings always come at a price!
What worried Ling Ruoke even more was that several months had passed, and Zhuang Yicheng was still in a deep sleep. Although he was still alive, he was in a deep coma and could only be kept alive by intravenous nutrition. If he couldn't wake up, it would be like waiting for his life to end. Every time she thought about this, she felt suffocated.
Zhuang Yuqi would call her whenever he had the chance. Although he didn't cry, he was no longer the lively and active child he used to be; you could tell just by listening to him on the phone. Ling Ruoke felt extremely sorry for him, but she was powerless to help. She hated this feeling.
Huo Qingfeng was also troubled by this. He knew that Zhuang Yuqi was very important to Ruoke, and he couldn't stop Ruoke from answering the phone. But every time they finished talking on the phone, Ruoke was in a bad mood, which made him both heartbroken and annoyed.
In the blink of an eye, another period of time has passed.
That day, Ling Ruoke was typing on her keyboard. Because her belly was growing larger and she couldn't sit for long periods, she was writing less and less. However, she had announced her pregnancy, and her readers didn't blame her; instead, they frequently inquired about the baby's condition.
Ling Ruoke closed her laptop and noticed that Li Jun seemed a little shy and hesitant to speak, which struck her as odd. "What's wrong? Did you have a fight with He Jingwen?"
"No, no, we didn't quarrel!" Li Jun hurriedly shook her head in denial. Her relationship with He Jingwen was going very well, and their days together were sweet.
Ling Ruoke knew this too, so she was just asking casually and wasn't really worried about the couple. "What's wrong?" Her expression seemed rather contradictory and strange.
Li Jun avoided her gaze, clutching his sleeve. "Sister Ruo, could you come with me to the hospital?"
Ling Ruo, being an experienced woman, immediately understood. She took her hand and smiled happily. "You're pregnant!"
Li Jun smiled, a little embarrassed. "I'm not sure either, so I'd like you to come with me to the hospital to get checked out."
To be honest, Li Jun was a pure and innocent girl. On their wedding night, the sight of her virginity overjoyed He Jingwen. His ex-wife, Wang Shumei, wasn't a virgin and had later betrayed him. This planted a seed of suspicion in his heart, making him ecstatic about Li Jun's virginity and giving him a sense of security. When a man is in a good mood, his interest in intimacy naturally increases. The couple seized every opportunity for passionate lovemaking; it would be strange if they didn't conceive.
Ling Ruoke was genuinely happy for her. She felt quite sympathetic towards He Jingwen's past experiences. Now that she had married Li Jun, and the two were happily married with a child, their life was complete. "You sit down first, I'll go change my clothes and go with you."
Li Jun sat down on the sofa, moving very carefully. Being pregnant, she subconsciously had to be gentle in many of her movements; it was an instinct, and also an expression of maternal love.
Ling Ruoke changed her clothes and wrapped herself up warmly, looking like an adorable, clumsy penguin. She was wearing a bright-colored down jacket, which made her look particularly youthful.
The two women went to the hospital. There were few women in the military, so the line for the obstetrics and gynecology department wasn't long.
The test results confirmed that Li Jun was pregnant.
Ling Ruoke looked at the girl in front of her, who, just like herself back then, couldn't even speak properly. Her face flushed red, and she couldn't utter a single word to express her feelings, only managing a silly smile. In her heart, she must have been eager to tell He Jingwen the good news immediately.
"Sister Ruo, I'm so excited." After holding it in for a long time, she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence.
Ling Ruoke chuckled and reached out to brush the wind-blown strands of hair from her face. "Li Jun, congratulations! Congratulations on becoming parents with He Jingwen!"
Li Jun chuckled foolishly, imagining his son's reaction upon learning the news. The more he thought about it, the more excited he became, wishing he could sprout wings and fly to him to announce the good news.
Although the test results have been confirmed, there are still some things to explain to the doctor.
Ling Ruoke had never liked the taste of the soda water in the hospital. Li Jun went inside to talk to the doctor, while she waited for her under a tree on the side of the hospital. Although spring was approaching, the wind was still terribly cold. However, being warmly dressed and feeling the cool breeze on her face was actually quite comfortable.
She gently placed her hand on her swollen belly, recalling last spring when the little one inside her could already crawl and jump. If he were even more capable, he might even be able to sit up.
She raised her head slightly, facing the bleak cold wind, and smiled as warmly as a spring breeze.
Hearing footsteps, Ling Ruoke paused slightly. She had assumed it was a patient taking a walk, but turning around, she found it wasn't a patient, but a doctor in a white coat. The face wasn't familiar, but it was unforgettable. She thought helplessly, "Is this going to be like that melodramatic soap opera again?"
Ling Ruoke looked at her calmly without saying a word.
The two women stood a few steps apart, silently sizing each other up. Ling Ruoke remained calm, while the other woman exuded hostility.
“You’re not good enough for him,” she finally blurted out, her words dripping with sarcasm.
Hearing such a melodramatic dialogue, Ling Ruoke finally couldn't help but laugh. "What you're saying is meaningless. I'm not good enough for him. Some people are well-matched, both in terms of social standing and looks, but their love or marriage ultimately falls apart. I'm not good enough for him, but we're very happy."
Ling Ruo used to care about whether they were a good match, but now she didn't care at all. After all, even the Huo family had genuinely accepted her, so why bother caring about what others thought? Even if Yang Ziyun and the others refused to accept her, she would never give up on Huo Qingfeng because of such a foolish question. How far a love affair or marriage can go may be influenced by these external factors, but they are certainly not the only absolute determinant.
The girl was clearly taken aback by Ling Ruoke's answer and froze. Then, a mocking glint appeared in her eyes, as if she found Ling Ruoke's words laughable. "You don't love him at all, otherwise you wouldn't be so selfish as to think that!"
"Whether I'm selfish or not is not for you to judge. Besides, even if I am selfish, as long as Huo Qingfeng doesn't mind, what right do others have to say anything?" Ling Ruoke smiled faintly, nodded to her, and walked past her toward the hospital.
Not long after, Li Jun emerged from the hospital with a happy expression. He walked very carefully, which looked somewhat comical.
The two pregnant women walked home hand in hand, went to the market together, and decided to cook a delicious meal to celebrate.
That evening, when He Jingwen returned home and couldn't find his wife, he immediately went to Ling Ruoke's house. He had developed a habit of looking for Li Jun whenever he didn't see her at home; he wouldn't even glance at anywhere else.
Seeing the table laden with delicious food, both men were practically drooling.
As soon as Ling Ruoke served the last dish, Huo Qingfeng pressed her down to sit. She then stood up with her juice, smiling, and said, "Come on, let's celebrate first."
Huo Qingfeng and He Jingwen were both baffled. What were they celebrating?
Only Li Jun lowered her head slightly, her face flushed deeply. She gripped the cup tightly with both hands; if the material were any more fragile, she would have crushed it.
Ling Ruoke reached out and put her arm around Li Jun's shoulder, announcing with a smile, "Our classmate Li Jun is pregnant! He Jingwen is going to be a father!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she was pleased to see He Jingwen completely dumbfounded. He just stared blankly at Li Jun's face, and then slowly, his gaze moved towards her abdomen. Finally, it was as if her abdomen was a magnet, fixing his gaze completely there, unable to move.
Ling Ruoke looked at Huo Qingfeng, blinked, and said, "See? Just as silly as you."
Huo Qingfeng reached out and gently pinched his wife's waist.
Li Jun waited in vain for He Jingwen's response. She looked up and saw him staring intently at her stomach, his eyes wide and his face filled with astonishment. Just as she was about to say something, she suddenly saw him reach out and pick her up, take two steps off the table, and start spinning her around.
That day, laughter lingered for a long time. The food on the table was more delicious than ever.
When Ling Ruoke and Li Jun, both pregnant women, are together, they have even more to talk about. They share their feelings about pregnancy every day, as well as parenting tips they've heard from others, and they can talk for hours on end without getting bored at all.
Taking advantage of He Jingwen's free time, Li Jun planned to treat everyone from the company to a meal. After all, she was well taken care of by everyone at the company, and she wanted to let them know she was getting married. She had told them when she resigned that she was marrying a soldier and would be accompanying him to his military post, and she had promised to treat them to a meal.
Since it's a company dinner, Ling Ruoke, the boss and matchmaker, definitely has to be there.
Although Huo Qingfeng was worried, he knew he couldn't let her hide in the deep mountains forever; she needed to go out occasionally. So he dropped her off at the roadside, and He Jingwen took the two women to the city.
To avoid disturbing everyone's weekend rest, the boss, Ling Ruoke, specially approved the wedding banquet to be held during lunchtime, which was during working hours. Everyone thought the boss was really kind and cheered.
Li Jun and Ling Ruoke were both very popular, and since they hadn't seen each other for a while, they naturally had a lot of fun. Luckily, they remembered that the two pregnant women were there, so they didn't dare to go too crazy.
He Jingwen and Li Jun seemed very happy together, and several single girls were clamoring for Ling Ruoke to introduce them to someone. Meanwhile, the married women were all crying out in regret, saying they wanted to find someone else. The table was buzzing with chatter, it was incredibly lively. Luckily they were in a private room, otherwise they definitely would have gotten complaints.
Ling Ruoke noticed that among all the people, Mei Yanting was the least active. Although she was smiling, her smile seemed forced, and she appeared to have something on her mind. Ling Ruoke secretly thought that she would ask Huo Qingfeng when she got back that night if Chen Shan and Mei Yanting were not doing well.
The meal lasted for more than three hours before the office workers, still having a bit of fun, returned to the company to continue their unfinished work.
Ling Ruoke then secretly pulled Mei Yanting aside and dragged her to a quiet place. "Yanting, are you alright? You seem unhappy. Did you have a fight with Chen Shan?"
Mei Yanting smiled and shook her head. "Sister Ximeng, you're overthinking it. I'm fine. It's just that seeing you have a baby and Li Jun has a baby makes me a little envious and disappointed."
Mei Yanting was indeed envious of them, even jealous. Ling Ruoke was one thing, but the key was that Li Jun had also married a major and could accompany him to his post. Chen Shan, however, didn't meet these criteria; she still had to live alone in a rented apartment. She had thought that although the two of them didn't have much money, they could manage, but she hadn't expected his family to ask for more. As a result, they had very little money left.
Ling Ruoke thought about it, and realized that was a possibility, but she still felt that she wasn't telling the truth. She smiled and patted her shoulder. "Don't worry, if we didn't use protection, you'll probably be pregnant soon too."
"We don't have the means; even if she got pregnant, we couldn't afford to raise her," Mei Yanting said with a forced smile.
Ling Ruoke paused for a moment, then frowned slightly. "As the saying goes, the poor raise their children frugally, and the rich raise them lavishly. As long as you are born, we can naturally raise you, so what's there to be afraid of!"
“Sister Ximeng, we’re different from you now. Let’s not talk about this. Are you going back to the company?” Mei Yanting was never one to talk about her troubles in front of others. If she hadn’t been desperate before, she wouldn’t have come to Z City to seek refuge with Ling Ruoke.
Ling Ruo knew that once a person had made up their mind about something, it was very difficult to change it, so she didn't try to persuade her. She just said, "Money isn't that important. If you value money too much, you'll easily become unhappy."
"Sister Ximeng, I know. Thank you!"
Ling Ruoke didn't speak. She had a good temper, but she wasn't completely without one. What she hated most were people who wouldn't listen to anything you said, no matter how much you talked, and who wouldn't even listen to trivial matters. Mei Yanting's behavior made her a little unhappy, but she didn't show it.
After the dinner party, He Jingwen and Li Jun went to sell cross-stitch kits and pick up new materials. Ling Ruoke naturally didn't want to disturb the couple's rare sweet time.
Now that she was out, she naturally wanted to visit Tan Peishi and her mother. She'd heard that little Lele was even more mischievous now. She stayed at their house until He Jingwen came to pick her up before Ling Ruoke reluctantly left.
It was already evening when I got back to the unit.
The moment Huo Qingfeng saw her appear, it was like a big dog seeing a bone. He called out "Wife!" and rushed over. If he had a tail, he would be wagging it happily right now.
When Ling Ruoke saw him, she couldn't help but smile. This silly man always made her feel that there was no woman in the world happier than herself.
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