Ji Ling has been pregnant for nearly five months. When she was more than three months pregnant, her belly was not visible. But after four months, it felt like her belly was inflated, and it was visibly bigger.

She was a little uncomfortable at first, but now, even with a big belly, she can walk very fast.

There were taxis on the road near the hospital entrance even in the middle of the night. Ji Ling hailed one and went directly to the compound where the Xu family lived.

The security guard was already asleep and was woken up by someone knocking on the window. He got up to confirm the identity and it took him a while to recognize it was Ji Ling.

"Oh, it's been almost a year since we last met. Are you married?"

Ji Ling greeted her politely. The guard, noticing another person coming in with a big belly so late at night, hurried out to open the door.

"It's cold, you should wear something warmer." The guard said with concern and watched Ji Ling go in before locking the door again.

Ji Ling arrived at Xu's house on the first floor. She was afraid of disturbing the neighbors on both sides, so she knocked on the door quietly.

So when Xu's father heard the noise and got up to open the door, Ji Ling had been standing outside the door for more than ten minutes. She didn't dare to keep knocking on the door, so she could only knock a few times to listen to the movement inside, and knock again if there was no movement.

"Xiaoling?" Father Xu recognized her and turned on the light in the living room. He stepped aside and called her in, "Come in quickly."

He had just gotten up and glanced at the clock in the living room. It was a little after two in the morning, and it was winter. His granddaughter from the capital came back with a big belly, and Father Xu also became energetic.

Ji Ling called out "Grandpa" and went into the house to put on her slippers. When she sat down on the sofa, Xu's father closed the door and went to call Xu's mother.

Xu's mother's puzzled voice could be heard faintly from the living room, "You said Xiaoling is back?"

"Yes, the child is alone, come out first." Father Xu said, and went back to the living room, "Xiaoling, why are you alone? Did you just come back?"

Ji Ling noticed something was wrong as soon as she came in, "Grandpa, aren't my parents here?"

"Your parents? You came from the county?" Father Xu was more and more surprised. "Your parents told you that they came to my place?"

At this time, Xu's mother also came out of the bedroom wearing a cotton coat, "Xiaoling, what happened?"

Old people are like this. When they see a child coming over late at night, their first thought is that something has happened.

Seeing the two old people's expressions, Ji Ling had a guess in her mind, "Grandpa, grandma, don't you know that my eldest brother is in the hospital?"

"Your eldest brother is in the hospital?" Xu's mother exclaimed as soon as she sat down, "What happened? We didn't hear about it? Oh, did your parents hide it from us because they were afraid that we would get angry?"

Ji Ling said, "That should be the case."

Then she explained how she rushed back home after receiving a phone call a few days ago and learning that her eldest brother was critically ill. "I just came out of the hospital. My eldest brother's condition has stabilized and he's fine. My parents are not in the hospital. I thought they were at your house, so I came to see them. Please don't get mad. My eldest brother is fine now."

"If you run a big business, you will always attract envy." Xu's mother sighed, "Your eldest brother is lucky to have a chance to live. Your parents came over after the New Year, and I saw that he was fine. How could so many things happen in just a few days? I'm afraid that your eldest brother must have been in trouble by then. Your mother asked me privately to get some money from me. Your eldest uncle had something to do before the New Year, and he took all the money."

At this point, Xu's mother hurriedly said, "Your eldest brother spent a lot of money this time. I don't know if your parents borrowed it. They didn't tell the truth. Otherwise, if they don't have any money, I will go out and give it to them."

"Don't worry about that. When I arrived at the hospital, the nurse came over to ask for payment. I brought the money and paid it all." Ji Ling tried her best to comfort the two elderly people. "I didn't know you didn't know about this. If I had known, I would have been waiting in the hospital."

"What nonsense are you talking about, kid? You shouldn't have kept this a secret from your parents. I'll tell them about it when I see them." Mother Xu said, "We are old, but we are not old enough to be unable to withstand the consequences."

"Let Xiaoling rest first. We'll go to the hospital tomorrow morning. We don't know where they live right now." Father Xu hadn't said anything until now. Now that he knew what was going on, he felt relieved. "You're pregnant now. You need to put yourself first."

Afraid that I'd let it slip again.

"Are you going to live in the guest room or the room where Xiaoke lived?" asked Xu's mother.

Ji Ling smiled and said, "I'll stay in the guest room."

She didn't want to compete with Ji Ke.

Xu's mother smiled and said, "The bedding in the guest room was also newly replaced during the Chinese New Year. No one has used it."

She also knew that the two sisters were not very close, so she asked this question.

In addition to the last wedding and the things her granddaughter did, Xu's mother has always felt guilty. Now that she sees her granddaughter coming to her house on her own initiative, she is happy.

After closing the bedroom door, Ji Ling lay down in her clothes. Just now, grandma said that only the two of them came to pay New Year's greetings after the New Year, and she hasn't asked her about her coming back for the New Year. It is obvious that she didn't know that she had been back, so she kept the accident at home from them.

Ji Ling didn't care about these things. Even if her grandfather and others knew about it, it wouldn't change anything.

But she didn't understand why her eldest brother had no money for the hospitalization, and her parents refused to tell the truth to her grandfather and others.

With a lot of things on her mind and after three days of traveling, Ji Ling's teeth started to hurt. She knew it was toothache and was worried that Ji Jianhua had gotten angry.

Now I see that the person is fine, but I'm already furious and I won't calm down for a while. I'm pregnant and I can't take painkillers, so I can only endure it.

As a result, when I woke up the next morning, half of my face was swollen.

Father Xu went outside to buy porridge and buns and came back. The two of them were trying to be quiet so as not to disturb Ji Ling, but they found that she was already up.

"Why didn't you sleep a little longer?" Xu's mother asked, and then she realized something was wrong, "Why is your face swollen?"

"I have a little toothache." Ji Ling said something against her will, fearing that they would worry, "It doesn't hurt anymore. It's okay."

"You can't take medicine. I'll get you some peppercorns to chew on. That will help."

"Thank you, grandma."

"Kid, what are you thanking me for? You always make yourself so polite. Hurry up and wash your face and eat. I'll go find some peppercorns for you." Mother Xu turned and went to the kitchen, and Ji Ling also went to wash her face.

When she came back, Xu's mother also came back, and there was a handful of peppercorns on the table. "Eat first, then chew them after dinner. Just chew them all the way, and then spit them out when you get to the hospital."

Ji Ling said she understood, and the three of them had breakfast. They talked while eating, and Xu's mother also asked about her New Year's celebrations at her mother-in-law's house.

"You went to spend the New Year with Wei Zhu, right? I heard from your eldest brother that he went to the southwest. When did he come back? You looked much thinner."

Ji Ling thought that what she feared would come true. She vaguely talked about the weather over there, but did not mention that she would come back to celebrate the New Year. "The weather was very hot and I couldn't eat. The food over there didn't suit our taste, so I lost some weight. But my mother-in-law made it up for me."

(End of this chapter)