Cheng Yajun's affair ended up being particularly ugly. The brigade leader of Daxuzhuang stayed at the village chief's house for half a morning, and when he finally left, he was still sighing deeply.
After all, breaking off an engagement is different from other things. How can you go on blind dates with the next one if you don't deal with the previous fiancé properly?
Besides, with Cheng Yajun's reckless and arrogant attitude, who would dare to go on a blind date with Jiang Moli?
Of course, all of this has nothing to do with Fang Qiao anymore.
Because Cheng Baidong drove her to the county for a medical check-up.
Since yesterday, Fang Qiao's stomach has been frequently bloated and hardened, something that has never happened before. She was a little panicked, so Cheng Baidong simply took her to the hospital to prevent her from overthinking due to anxiety.
The county hospital is small, consisting of only two two-story buildings: one for outpatient services and the other for inpatient services.
The obstetrics and gynecology department is located on the east side of the first floor of the outpatient building. You don't need to register to see a doctor, but you will need to pay a separate consultation fee for another doctor when you pay at the end.
In those days, there was no ultrasound, and gynecological examinations relied entirely on the doctor's experience.
There was only one gynecologist, a middle-aged woman, who was seeing the previous pregnant woman when Fang Qiao arrived.
Fang Qiao and Cheng Baidong waited outside for a while. Cheng Baidong took out his thermos and poured some water for her to warm up.
Not long after, it was Fang Qiao's turn in line.
"Next."
The pregnant woman in front came out, and Fang Qiao and Cheng Baidong went in together.
The doctor looked up at Cheng Baidong and said, "Please wait outside for a moment, sir."
"Okay." Cheng Baidong nodded and patted Fang Qiao on the shoulder: "I'll wait outside. Call me if you need anything."
Fang Qiao hummed in agreement.
The doctor asked, "Where does it hurt?"
Fang Qiao answered truthfully, "Doctor, for the past two days I've felt my stomach is bloated and hard, and when I walk I feel like the baby is falling down."
How many months pregnant are you?
"Seven months."
"It's normal, it's probably just contractions." The female doctor spoke softly and gently. She stood up and helped Fang Qiao lie down on the small, narrow bed in the clinic: "Come on, lie down, let me listen to the fetal heartbeat, slowly, okay? No need to rush."
The doctor's gentle words soothed Fang Qiao's anxiety. She struggled to climb onto the narrow bed and lay down. Under the doctor's guidance, she lifted the hem of her cotton-padded coat, revealing her prominently pregnant belly.
The doctor gently placed one end of the stethoscope with a leather cover on Fang Qiao's stomach and the other end on her own ear. Then, holding the handle of the stethoscope, he pressed it down on Fang Qiao's stomach, moving it left and right.
Fang Qiao felt a little pain, her brows furrowed subconsciously, and her stomach tightened up again.
The doctor gently patted her stomach: "Don't be afraid, relax."
Fang Qiao said somewhat uneasily, "Doctor, it hurts a little when you press. I can't relax."
"I'm trying to hear the baby's heartbeat, but I can't hear it unless I'm very close to the baby," the doctor explained patiently.
Fang Qiao then relaxed a little.
The doctor's stethoscope finally stopped on the lower right abdomen, and after listening for quite a while, he removed the stethoscope: "The fetal heartbeat is normal."
After listening to the fetal heartbeat, the doctor began to examine Fang Qiao's belly with both hands again, and the final examination results showed that everything was normal.
"Get up, everything is normal. The baby is head down and has already partially engaged in the pelvis. If you feel your belly dropping, that means the baby is engaging."
The doctor wrote out the medical record and handed it to Fang Qiao, saying, "The bloating and hardening of your abdomen is Braxton Hicks contractions, which is normal in late pregnancy. Don't worry too much. Pay close attention to the movements in your belly at home. If it suddenly moves more or less, come to the hospital to have the fetal heartbeat checked."
"Okay, thank you, doctor."
After the check-up, everything was normal, and Fang Qiao was finally able to relax.
After leaving the hospital, Cheng Baidong wrapped a scarf around Fang Qiao's neck, glanced at the position of the sun overhead, and asked Fang Qiao, "Honey, are you hungry? Shall I take you to a state-run restaurant to get something to eat?"
"I ate late this morning, so I'm not hungry yet." Fang Qiao glanced at the sun, estimating it was no more than 10:30. It was too early for lunch, so she suggested, "Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative. I'll see if they have any clean cotton cloth. We can buy a few yards to make diapers for our daughter. The diapers Grandma prepared are all old cloth that's been stored for who knows how many years, and some are even from when she was little. Babies have delicate skin, and I don't think it's hygienic to use that kind of cloth. It's better to buy new ones, don't you think?"
"Of course we'll buy new ones. Our daughter doesn't need torn ones." Cheng Baidong had finally come back and wanted to give his wife and child the best. Diapers were a no-brainer; he'd buy them!
The supply and marketing cooperative is not far from the county hospital, just across the street.
The three-story supply and marketing cooperative building was almost the most impressive building in the entire county.
The fabric counter is on the first floor, and there are many kinds of fabrics, at least twice as many as the supply and marketing cooperative in town.
Fang Qiao asked about the price and found that the price of the fabric was not much different from that of the supply and marketing cooperative in town, but the quality of the cotton fabric was obviously much better than that in town, and it felt much softer to the touch.
Cotton cloth cost 1.4 cents per foot. Fang Qiao counted the cloth coupons in her hand and bought a total of ten feet.
It sounds like a lot, but one meter of cloth is three feet, so ten feet of cloth only amount to a little over three meters.
Newborn babies go through a lot of diapers, requiring more than a dozen changes a day. I don't know if we'll have enough cloths to last them all.
After buying the fabric, Fang Qiao went upstairs to buy face cream.
In winter, the weather is dry, and the wind feels like it's cutting your face with a knife. If you don't apply face cream, your face will become chapped in less than three days.
Fang Qiao bought three bottles: one for herself, one for the old lady, and the last one for Wang Yun.
Fang Qiao originally wanted to prepare some milk powder for her child, but she couldn't find any after asking around at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Milk powder was a rare commodity; the supply and marketing cooperative could only get a dozen or so cans a month, and most of them couldn't even be displayed on the shelves, as they were all consumed by internal staff.
Seeing Fang Qiao's worry, Cheng Baidong offered, "I have a comrade who transferred back from the military last year and now works in the county's industry and commerce department. I'll ask him to inquire and see if he can find some connections to buy a barrel."
Fang Qiao nodded: "That's the only way. Don't go empty-handed when you ask for help."
"Know."
Cheng Baidong parked the car in front of the state-run restaurant, got out of the car and went around to the passenger side to open the car door for Fang Qiao. He also carefully held the car frame with his hand to prevent the top from hitting her head.
Cheng Baidong received a high allowance and had accumulated a lot of national grain coupons. With enough grain coupons, he felt confident in ordering food.
He remembered that Fang Qiao loved pork ribs, so he ordered a sweet and sour pork ribs dish, a bowl of braised pork, and a fish ball soup with two bowls of white rice.
For two people, two dishes and a soup are enough.
Don't ask him why he didn't order vegetables. Who eats vegetables when they go out to eat these days?
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