Chapter 158

Xu Wen warned him: "The journey is long and the child is indeed very important! I also hope that you can accompany us mother and child. However, I don't want you to become a 'deserter' because of this."

For example, when participating in a selection, he deliberately failed to win.

"Besides, the specific time for the competition has not been determined yet. Maybe you can accompany me to finish my confinement?"

Lu Yuanzheng was not so optimistic. "It's just that we haven't determined the exact date to leave, not the time of the competition. Before we go abroad, we still have to have intensive training. The training will definitely be closed, so we still won't be able to see each other."

As a result, the next day, Lu Yuanzheng received a training notice.

Xu asked: "..."

"Lu Yuanzheng, your mouth is blessed, right?!"

Lu Yuanzheng: "..."

Lu Yuanzheng didn't even have time to comfort Xu Wen.

The job he had just accepted had to be handed over to others temporarily. Then he led the selected young warriors to gather at the central island, and then took them to other places for secret training.

Since it is a secret training, where we go and how long we will be back will be kept secret.

"I'm sorry!" Lu Yuanzheng felt very guilty, "I left you on the wedding day. I'm afraid I won't be by your side when you give birth."

Xu Wen was also a little sad, but she didn't dare to show it, otherwise Lu Yuanzheng would feel even more guilty.

She could only comfort Lu Yuanzheng as if nothing had happened: "It's okay! Mom will come to the island to accompany me in two days! Anyway, you have no experience in taking care of confinement."

Lu Yuanzheng let out a long sigh, obviously not feeling comforted.

Xu Wen tried to persuade him again, "Look, we are not the worst off. The guy from the third company, what's his name? He has already set a wedding date, notified his family of his guests, and has his leave application approved. But if it weren't for the competition, he wouldn't be able to take leave and wouldn't be able to get married. We are all the same."

Lu Yuanzheng didn't want to talk anymore.

The scene Xu Wen described looked particularly familiar.

After a while, Lu Yuanzheng spoke up: "I suddenly feel that our profession is prone to producing 'scumbags'."

Xu Wen thought about it and nodded in agreement: "Indeed, they are a bit like that. They are all like marriage scammers. They don't care about anything after they succeed in cheating. They even don't care about anything if they don't succeed in cheating. They even let the bride be a pigeon at the wedding. They live like widows in normal times and raise children like single parents after they have them."

She put her hand on Lu Yuanzheng's waist and said, "But, it is because of this that I feel you are even more great! Since you are destined to sacrifice your small family, then protect the 'big family' well. You are going out to represent our country, so try to win first place and bring it back as a gift for our children!"

What else can Lu Yuanzheng say? It would be redundant to say anything.

On the day Lu Yuanzheng set out, Xu Wen did not go to see him off.

She is afraid of crying.

I was even more afraid that Lu Yuanzheng would feel sad when he saw her crying.

Of course, Lu Yuanzheng didn't give her a chance to see her off.

Before daybreak, he quietly led his warriors away.

Xu Wen felt a little empty inside.

In fact, although they were together normally, Xu Wen was often not seen because of his busy schedule.

Two people living under the same roof often go a whole day without saying a word to each other.

They had just separated so it shouldn't have been like this, but Xu Wen just felt inexplicably sad.

Perhaps because of the bond between mother and child, the baby in her belly moved more frequently than usual.

She's due to give birth in less than two months.

Xu Wen tried hard to adjust his mood so that he would not think about the long journey.

She tutored the girls with their homework during the day, and in the evening, after helping Xu Qie finish his homework, she took the two of them to the beach to play.

Maybe it was the rocking of the houseboat, or maybe it was the surf.

Xu Wen definitely can't do surfing, but Dongsheng can teach Xu Qie.

She usually just sat on the recliner, eating fruit and watching them, as long as nothing dangerous happened.

Whenever this happens, my longing for you will overflow.

The baby in the belly will also move around, and occasionally you can see a more obvious bulge on one side of the belly.

"You miss your dad too, right?" Xu Wen patted his belly gently, "I miss him too."

But since he couldn't solve any problems, Xu Wen had to force himself to be busier.

What can a pregnant mother who is more than seven months pregnant do?

Many pregnant women find it difficult to take care of themselves after more than seven months of pregnancy.

For Xu Wen, sleeping is the first big problem.

My stomach is already quite heavy, and I feel noticeably heavy when I walk. I get tired easily, and sleeping is even harder.

The option of sleeping on one's stomach had long been eliminated from Xu Wen's sleeping style.

Even lying on my back became uncomfortable, so I could only lie on my side.

But lying on my side is different from before pregnancy. My stomach tends to fall onto the bed, which makes my back and waist tired easily.

I tossed back and forth, feeling more and more tired the more I lay down.

Xu Wen finally felt the same feeling that a sister-in-law had described at a pajama party.

I can't eat much. I feel full as soon as I eat and my stomach feels uncomfortable.

I couldn't sleep and was still wide awake in the early morning.

This is torture.

Xu Wen often sat alone on the swing in the yard, looking at the big moon or the starry sky and thinking about his long journey.

Sometimes I feel so wronged that I secretly shed tears alone.

Fortunately, the other sisters-in-law took good care of Xu Wen.

Doudou's mother and Song Baoying and other sisters-in-law who have children know that Xu Wen is not feeling well, so they try their best to find time to talk to her.

Doudou's mother also made two cylindrical pillows, one long and one short, for Xu Wen to sleep on.

"I learned this when my mom did it to me because I couldn't sleep during pregnancy. Put the long one behind you and the short one under your belly. It will be much more comfortable."

Xu Wen thanked them, took them home, and found that the two pillows indeed made her much more comfortable.

Xu Wen suddenly had an idea and asked Dou Dou's mother to make more of this and take it to Pengcheng to sell.

"How many people will buy this thing?" Doudou's mother smiled and shook her head, "It's very simple and doesn't require much effort." It's not even as technically demanding as tiger-head shoes.

"Believe me. For rural people, this thing is common and easy to make, but for city people, it is still very rare."

Doudou's mother believed Xu Wen, and agreed without hesitation, "Then I'll listen to you!"

Believe Xu and ask, and you will make money.

Now there is a new group of sisters-in-law on the island. Some of them retired from the army last winter, and some of them have arrived on the island this year, and some have been transferred from outlying islands.

Some of them were people I had seen the year before, and some were new faces, so it was inevitably a familiar process.

When the new sister-in-law comes to the island, she will hold a pajama party as usual, but Xu Wen was not feeling well and did not attend, so it was Song Baoying and other old sisters-in-law who arranged it."

After the new sisters-in-law found out, they also came to follow Xu Wen to do business, and each of them paid the stall fee.

The unsold goods of the sisters-in-law who had already left the island were still sold by my second uncle, who would then transfer the money to them.

The military wife's grocery store is doing very well.

First of all, the quality is good.

Secondly, Xu Wen also often helps plan some marketing activities.

Third, many products are sold in limited time and quantity.

Although it was not intentional, it can be considered hunger marketing to some extent.

In particular, many buyers initially thought the product was expensive and planned to come back to buy it later, but when they came back, it was out of stock.

Of course, the buyer would ask Uncle Er to restock the goods.

The second uncle spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "My shop is full of things made by military wives. They all followed their husbands to make a living on the island. When the men retired and returned to their hometowns, they would naturally follow. Even if they did not retire and were transferred to another unit, they would still follow. Where can I get supplies now that they have left?"

So from then on, many people knew that my second uncle’s store would not restock many things if they were out of stock, so they became more generous in buying from him.

Xu Wen suggested to his second uncle that if there were any sisters-in-law who had left the island, he should put a notice on the display cabinet.

In fact, it is just writing the last few items left on a big red paper.

Gradually, old customers began to understand.

The business of Ershu's shop is not as hot as Xu Wen's restaurant, but the stickiness of buyers is higher, and the proportion of returning customers is higher. The income is also getting more and more considerable.

Most of my sisters-in-law who follow me into business have monthly incomes that are no less than those of ordinary workers.

Xu Wang and his wife are now doing the same business that Xu Wen used to do, selling popcorn and clothes.

It was not the labor protection products that Xu Wen sold back then, but the clothes that Xu Wang and his wife sold were for women.

It is much easier to purchase goods now than last year.

Last year, Xu Wen went out to purchase goods secretly and was checked every now and then.

Now that five special economic zones are about to be opened, the policies regarding individual businesses have become much clearer.

Besides, provincial capitals like Guangzhou are becoming increasingly lax in their regulation of doing business.

It is not as difficult to purchase goods as it was last year.

Now in Pengcheng, the significance of various grain, oil and rice coupons is becoming less and less, because there are more and more individual vendors.

Individual business owners only want money, not tickets.

Xu Wen provided the address to Xu Wen, and Xie Dechun accompanied Xu Wang to purchase the goods.

Xu Wang has always had a good sense of fashion. When she was in the production team, the clothes she bought were all fashionable and stylish.

The goods she imported were very popular among the young female comrades who came to work there, and they sold out very quickly.

When it comes to women's clothing, the stall owner's vision has a lot to do with the business.

Xu Wen's store business is getting better and better.

Xu Wen taught Xu Wen how to use ice packs to preserve dumplings for takeout.

He was in charge of running around the factory area, and Xu Qiushi helped him wait on the table.

Every evening after get off work, Xu Wen would ride his newly bought pedal tricycle to the factory area and shout at each factory with a loudspeaker.

If you need to order food, just give your menu and he will deliver it the next day at noon.

There are dumplings and noodles as well as various stir-fried dishes to choose from.

After collecting the orders, Sang Xiaoqing cooked with Zhu Meizhen the next day.

Before the guests arrived, Xu Wen and Xu Qiushi looked after the child, and after the guests arrived, Yuanbao looked after Chunsheng.

Children of ordinary people are hardy and they don’t care much as long as their lives and health are not threatened.

Zhu Meizhen's cooking skills are better than Sang Xiaoqing's, especially when it comes to making dumplings, which always have big bellies, thin skin and lots of fillings.

Once it gets busy, Zhu Meizhen is responsible for dine-in food, while Sang Xiaoqing is responsible for take-out.

After finishing the products, Xu Wen would ride a tricycle to deliver them to each household in the factory.

In the beginning, there were only a few orders every day, but now there are more and more orders, and there are dozens of meals to be delivered every day at noon.

If the order is small, ice packs are fine. But if the order is large, the food will still clump before it is delivered because there are not enough ice packs.

Xu Wen thought about it, drew a few pictures, and asked Xu Wen to find a factory that could produce plastics to order a batch of "take-out boxes".

Decades later, the common styles of takeout ordering are either round deep bowls or rectangular shallow boxes, as well as disposable dumpling grids and small condiment boxes.

In 1980, foam lunch boxes were already available, but they were not widely used, so it was not cost-effective to buy them in small quantities.

In a few decades, there will be no such environmentally friendly lunch boxes.

You have to find a factory to make it.

Especially the dumpling box, which is made of soft plastic. A portion is 20 pieces, and a half portion is 12 pieces.

Put one dumpling in each grid so that you don't have to worry about it getting squeezed out over time.

Finding a factory was an easy task. Xu Wen was now very familiar with the factories in Pengcheng. With a few nice words and a few cigarettes, he could get a job for a workshop manager he knew.

Because the items he wanted only amounted to a few thousand, which was not a big order for him.

The workshop manager got it done with just one word.

Seeing the Xu family members busy with their own things and their lives getting better day by day, Xu Wen felt a lot more at ease.

Time passed day by day, and Xu Wen's belly grew bigger and bigger.

By April, Xu's family no longer allowed her to go back and forth to pick up goods, for fear that she would die on the road again one day.

Doudou's mother volunteered to come and hold the boat down, but Shi Lei was worried, so he arranged for her husband to go along.

Xu Wen still travels with Rainbow frequently, and she goes to Pengcheng Hospital for regular physical examinations.

It used to happen once a month, but now it happens roughly once every half a month.

In addition to teaching female students on a daily basis, I am also waiting for the birth of my baby and taking care of the baby.

For daily meals, we either eat in the cafeteria or have Xu Qie cook for us.

In the production team, children usually know how to cook when they are seven or eight years old.

During the first half month after Lu Yuanzheng left, Xu Wen felt very uncomfortable because he missed him and was heartbroken.

Burning heart is the local dialect of Wei Zhuang, which roughly means burning stomach due to stomach acid reflux.

According to the experience of other people who have gone through this, they all said that this is because the baby in the belly is growing hair.

Later, Xu Wen slowly got used to it, and with the help of Dou Dou’s mother’s pregnancy pillow, she was able to sleep for a while.

I gradually got used to the long journey and it was no longer so unbearable.

In fact, she once had a chance to go abroad with Lu Yuanzheng.

They were in need of a translator like Xu Wen, so Lu Yuanzhenglin sent a telegram to seek Xu Wen's opinion before leaving the country.

Xu Wen hesitated for a day and finally refused.

The competition will be held next month.

She is due next month.

If by chance I happen to do both things on the same day.

She was afraid that it would delay his work and affect his expedition, and she was afraid that he would be distracted.

Although theoretically, the tournament should have ended before she gave birth.

However, the due date is not the exact date of the child's birth. It is normal for it to be advanced or postponed by half a month.

She didn't dare to gamble, even though the chances of catching it in one day were actually slim.

Sometimes Xu Wen was also glad that he did not follow Lu Yuanzheng.

She is a little swollen now and looks like a dough.

Especially on the legs, a dent would appear if pressed and it would take a long time to recover.

She looked in the mirror and felt that she was quite ugly.

Although Dongsheng and Xu Qi both praised her for being beautiful.

Women all love beauty and want to remain perfect in front of their lovers.

She especially didn't want Lu Yuanzheng to see her current appearance.

Fortunately, Xu Wen did not develop stretch marks.

In other words, stretch marks don't appear on the belly.

Her belly was clean, but due to the late stage of pregnancy, it was getting thinner and thinner, and thin dark blue blood vessels could be seen on it.

But, there are stretch marks on the buttocks, like red earthworms, which is really scary.

Fortunately, that location is invisible to most people, including herself.

As for the long journey...

Xu Wen didn't want Lu Yuanzheng to see all this.

At the end of the month, Zhu Meizhen also brought Chunsheng to Rainbow Island to take care of Xu Wen's daily life.

Apart from the physical discomfort, Xu Wen actually had more free time.

When people are idle, they tend to have wild thoughts. Although Xu Wen doesn't have wild thoughts, he doesn't want to be idle either.

She asked Zhu Meizhen to bring her some hen eggs from Pengcheng.

This hen's egg is not that hen's egg.

Because it is hens that lay eggs, but not all eggs laid by hens can hatch into chicks.

All eggs that can hatch chicks are “hen eggs”.

Xu Wen doesn’t know how to tell the difference, but Zhu Meizhen does.

Xu Wen had seen it before when he was at home.

Every time, Zhu Meizhen would hold the eggs under the sun to see which egg would hatch a chick.

After getting the eggs, Xu Wen found a wooden box with cracks, put a light bulb inside, covered it with cotton wool, and put the eggs in, intending to incubate them artificially.

Of course, she only provided the method. The three children were responsible for the actual implementation.

Xu Qie is the main method, and Dong Sheng is the auxiliary method.

Xiao Chunsheng only needs to be responsible for following and watching.

The first thing the three children do when they wake up every day is to check whether the eggs have hatched chicks.

This also kills two birds with one stone for Xu Wen.

You can take care of the children and harvest a batch of chickens at the same time.

Why not?

Zhu Meizhen, on the other hand, is extremely busy.

I am busy preparing various swaddling clothes, small clothes, small shoes, diapers, etc. for the unborn baby, and I am never idle for a moment.

Even though other sisters-in-law on the island had already sent a lot of baby supplies.

The sister-in-law who was good at carpentry also made a baby carriage for Xu Wen. It was a baby carriage that could be used both lying down and sitting.

It also couldn't resist Zhu Meizhen's mentality of "nothing is enough" and "it's better to prepare more just in case."

After Labor Day, Xu Wen went to the hospital more frequently.

The contractions became more frequent and I could clearly feel them many times a day.

A week after the due date, the baby still hadn't moved.

Everyone in the Xu family, young and old, was extremely anxious.

Xu Wen was also anxious because he heard that if the baby was not born after the due date, it would be dangerous.

For example, if the amniotic fluid becomes turbid, it can cause suffocation.

But in this matter, no matter who is anxious, it is useless.

Before going to bed at night, Xu Wen would lie on the bed as usual, put her hands on her belly, and talk to the baby in her belly for a while.

"Why don't you come out yet? Do you know that I will be very anxious if I can't see you?"

"Are you not coming out because you are waiting for your father? But I don't know when your father will come back. I don't even know where he is now."

Although there was some news about the international martial arts competition in the newspapers, the news from the newspapers was relatively lagging and did not represent Lu Yuanzheng's current whereabouts.

However, the newspaper said that the competition was over and our country won several championships in the international military competition.

Lu Yuanzheng's name was even mentioned in newspapers.

This was the first time she was a mother in two lives, so she was inevitably cautious and went to the hospital every day.

From the initial embarrassment and awkwardness when being interrogated to becoming accustomed to it.

After the examination that day, the doctor looked at his fingers with an indescribable expression.