Chapter 70

At this moment, Jing Xian really wanted to sew his mouth shut with a needle.

She walked out without looking back, otherwise she really wouldn't be able to control herself and would gesture to him.

Before Jing Xian reached the door, she saw soldiers coming to look for Shang Nanchen.

She turned around and called Shang Nanchen: "Come out, someone is looking for you."

Shang Nanchen came out from inside and saw the warrior standing at the door. He walked out and said a few words to him before coming back.

"What's up?"

Jing Xian saw the warrior leave and asked casually.

"Well, I have to go to the army. You don't have to wait for me for dinner. I don't know when I can be back." Shang Nanchen went into the house and changed his clothes.

Jing Xian chased him in and asked, "Should I save some food for you?"

"No, I should eat in the cafeteria." Shang Nanchen changed his clothes, walked over and hugged her, "No need to wait for me, close the door and go to bed early."

After saying this, he left in a hurry.

Jing Xian walked him to the door and didn't turn back until he was out of sight.

"You're reluctant to leave, right?" Jing Xian just turned around and saw Ma Shufen standing at the door. She didn't know how long she had been looking at her.

"I just came back and I haven't even had a good rest yet I have to go busy. I didn't know before that being in the army is so hard. They have to do drills every morning and sometimes they have to work the night shift and can't come back at all. Sometimes they disappear for ten days or half a month." Jing Xian didn't know many people here. Xu Ning and Song Ning were not here. The only people she could talk to were the sisters-in-law from the neighborhood.

Forget about Zhao Xiuzhi.

Ma Shufen can also be considered as someone who can speak a few words.

"It's always like this. When I first came to follow the army, I thought I could see him every day. Later I realized that I couldn't see him every day. Basically, he left early every morning and didn't eat at home most of the time. He came back for lunch and left, and only came back twice a week at night." Ma Shufen was very calm and was good at comforting herself. "I think this is better than when I was at home. When I was at home, I really didn't see him twice a year. Now it's good."

“It’s not easy.”

"That's right."

Jing Xian chatted outside for a while, then got up and went home to cook.

The children still need to eat when they come back.

The meal for lunch was very simple, just boiled noodles.

Jing Xian didn't stay at home in the afternoon. She went to the private plot on the back hill to check on the peanuts and other vegetables grown at home. There were a lot of vegetables at home now, and even if there were many children and many people, they couldn't finish them all.

There are many crops of pakchoy, and we don’t eat them every day. If we eat them every day, the children will definitely get tired of them.

Jingxian made dough by mixing corn flour and white flour, just in time for steaming buns in the evening.

Boil the bok choy and use it as stuffing.

There was some lard left over from refining the oil a few days ago, so she chopped it up and put it in.

It is easier to prepare ready-made meals in the morning.

Steam two more pots of buns, eat them in the evening, and put the leftovers in the vegetable cellar. They can be kept for two days.

The buns were steamed and the children were eating them at home while Jingxian took them to the next door.

Old Mrs. Wu had just finished cooking at home. When she saw Jingxian coming over with three buns, she hurriedly gave Jingxian a few pork cabbage buns.

"No, just give me one to taste."

"Take it back and let the children try it. It's not that good either."

Mrs. Wu was so enthusiastic that she packed six for Jingxian. Jingxian couldn't take so many, so she just took two and left. Mrs. Wu's legs were not as fast as Jingxian's, so she couldn't catch up. She could only watch Jingxian go back with the bowl and two vegetable buns.

"This child is really..."

Old Mrs. Wu thinks that age is really not a factor in judging a person.

Zhao Xiuzhi is so much older than Jingxian, she must have lived to a ripe old age.

Look at Jing Xian, at such a young age, her interpersonal skills are really impeccable.

Zhao Xiuzhi came back from the backyard and saw the steamed buns on the stove. Her eyes lit up: "Mom, you're still making steamed buns?"

Old Mrs. Wu walked into the house carrying the buns: "Wash your hands, it's time to eat."

Zhao Xiuzhi: “…”

Later she realized that her mother-in-law had inexplicably disliked her again for some unknown reason.

Jingxian sent a few more to Ma Shufen's family. Ma Shufen's family had four children, five people in total, so Jingxian didn't give them more than that. She only gave them three and let them taste them. Otherwise, if she gave each family a few, five or six, the whole pot of steamed buns would have been wasted.

She also brought a basket of Chinese cabbage to Ma Shufen's home.

Ma Shufen saw Jingxian coming over with something in her arms and smiled: "Jingxian, come in quickly!"

"Sister-in-law, I won't go in. The pakchoi at home is ready to be eaten. I made some buns and brought them over for you to try. There is also some pakchoi. You can wash and eat it yourself." Jing Xian handed over the bowl and pakchoi, and Ma Shufen took them with a smile.

"Our meal will be ready soon. Come in and eat something before leaving." Ma Shufen asked Jing Xian to go in.

Jing Xian said hurriedly: "The children are at home, I have to go back."

"Then wait a moment, I'll get the bowl and the basket out for you." Ma Shufen went in cheerfully with the buns and the basket, and when she came out, she brought out a bowl of drunken dates.

"Take it back and let the children taste it. This was sent by my mother from my parents' home." Ma Shufen handed the bowl to Jingxian.

Jing Xian refused, pushed him away a few times, and went back with a bowl of drunken dates.

When she entered the house, several children stared at her bowl.

Jing Xian put the bowl on the counter and said to the children, "Eat. When you go out to play after dinner, take some."

Fusheng asked softly, "Mom, what is this?"

"Drunken Dates, have you never eaten them?" Jing Xian felt a little regretful after asking, because this kid might really have never eaten them.

"no."

Sure enough, Fusheng and his friends had never eaten it before.

Jing Xian asked Da Mao and Xiao Mao: "Have you two eaten it?"

Da Mao shook his head: "I haven't eaten it."

Tiedan asked frankly: "The woman who gave birth to you didn't give you two anything to eat?"

Da Mao's body stiffened, Xiao Mao's expression became gloomy, and Da Mao said, "That's about right."

"What does that mean?" Fusheng looked confused and couldn't figure it out after thinking about it.

Jing Xian wanted to change the subject, but Xiao Mao said coldly with a cool face: "She felt that we were a burden to her life, so she left early. Now we just treat her as dead."

Big Mao wanted to say something but stopped himself, and Little Mao glared at his brother angrily.

Jing Xian took the opportunity to speak: "Okay, eat quickly, and go to bed if you don't go out to play after dinner."

Several children were busy eating buns with their heads down.

They ate steamed buns and didn't cook any dishes. Jing Xian mixed some cucumbers and the children took the initiative to wash the dishes and chopsticks after they finished eating.

The weather is hot.

Jingxian went outside to do something. There was a breeze blowing under the tree, which was very comfortable.

There were quite a few people sitting outside, each with a small stool, chatting together. Seeing Jingxian coming out, Ma Shufen called her over.

Jing Xian took a small stool and walked over, found a place to sit down, and listened to their conversation.

One daughter-in-law didn't say much and seemed quite silent. She had never seen her before. Ma Shufen noticed her curious gaze, looked over, and whispered, "This is Deputy Battalion Commander Li's daughter-in-law Bai Xiulian. She just came from her hometown a few days ago."

"I said, why haven't I seen it before?" Jing Xian understood.

Zhao Xiuzhi was talking to Bai Xiulian: "Why haven't you come back for so long since you left before the New Year?"

Bai Xiulian smiled bitterly and said, "There was an earthquake in our hometown."

"What?"

Everyone looked over in surprise.

Bai Xiulian said embarrassedly: "There was an earthquake in my hometown, and many people died."

"Oh my God! So many people died?" Zhao Xiuzhi asked her hurriedly, "Are your family members all right?"

Bai Xiulian shook her head. "No one was hurt. We were notified that there would be an earthquake and told everyone not to sleep or go back to their houses. Just find an open space to stay. But many people didn't listen and many children died."

"Oh my God! How could this happen?"

Everyone was talking about it, and everyone knew that earthquakes were scary.

Jing Xian sat in the crowd without saying a word, listening to everyone chatting, her eyes occasionally looking into the distance.

Ma Shufen looked in the direction of her gaze, smiled softly and asked, "What's up? Are you missing your business leader?"

"No, I just wanted to see what the kids were doing." Jing Xian would never admit it even if she wanted to.

Ma Shufen said: "You two have such a good relationship, didn't he ask you to give him another child?"

"Don't be in a hurry. I want to wait two years before talking about it." Jing Xian felt a little embarrassed to discuss this topic with others.

Ma Shufen, however, did not treat herself as an outsider and spoke to Jingxian from the bottom of her heart: "Don't wait for two years. The one in your family is almost 30 years old. He is not in a hurry. He has two sons. No matter what happens, there will be someone to take care of him in his old age. Don't think that sister-in-law's words are unpleasant. Sister-in-law is doing this for your own good."

"I know."

Jing Xian felt that Mrs. Ma's enthusiasm was really unbearable.

"You are a stepmother, and you are several years younger than the one in your family. It's fine if he walks behind you, but what will you do if he walks in front of you? You want a child now, and the first child is a girl, so you have to give the girl a brother to support her. No matter how good a half-brother is, he can't be as good as a brother born from the same parents. Don't you agree with this?"

What Ma Shufen said makes sense, but it may not be correct.

The human heart is the most unpredictable.

It’s best not to expect anything.

"You're right." Jing Xian nodded and didn't argue with Ma Shufen.

"Think about it from another angle. What if your first child is a girl, and your second child is also a girl, do you have to have a third child? There is a two-year interval between each birth. Do the math...how many years will it take you to give birth to a son? Don't think you are not in a hurry now because you are young. When the day comes when you are really in a hurry, you will feel that ten years, even twenty years, is not enough." Ma Shufen was not making this up to scare Jingxian. She had seen real people and it happened.

"Then it would be nice to have a girl." Jing Xian felt there was nothing wrong with having a girl.

Seeing that Jing Xian didn't care, Ma Shufen advised her: "Don't think I'm trying to scare you. My mother's elder sister was like this. She married and became a stepmother. The family had three sons, and she gave birth to three daughters in a row. Her daughters were very old, but they couldn't get married. They were like maids in the landlord's house, serving the three sons. They washed diapers, did laundry, and cooked for the children. They earned enough work points, but what was the use? Two of the daughters died before they got married. The youngest daughter finally got married, but she died in childbirth. It's not easy to be a daughter. The brothers in the other room don't even treat them as human beings."

Jingxian knew that such things happened quite often.

She went home and lay on the kang, with Ma Shufen's words in her mind.

Having a baby?

What if the baby is really a girl?

She would definitely not die before Shang Nanchen, but if there was an accident and Shang Nanchen died first, she would be able to take care of herself. Her situation was different from that of Ma Shufen's aunt. She had a job, so she could support not only one daughter, but three daughters.

But the question is, why did she give birth to three daughters?

Jingxian felt that she was influenced by Ma Shufen and now her mind was full of her daughter.

"That's crazy!"

Jing Xian sat up and shook her head. When she looked up, she saw Shang Nanchen standing at the door looking at her.

Jing Xian: “…”