Chapter 98 Retching
Seeing the things that Lin Qingqing and her husband brought, Commander Ding's wife said, "Old Ding just wanted to take advantage of his birthday to invite everyone to his house for a meal, to make it more lively. It's enough that you come, why go to all this expense!"
Commander Ding also said, "You two are being too polite."
Lin Qingqing explained, "I only heard Xie Wei mention wanting to eat at your house when I got back. I bought these ribs at noon, and since it's still hot, they might spoil if left out until tomorrow. As for the apples and navel oranges, they didn't cost any money; they were holiday gifts from our supply and marketing cooperative. They weighed almost ten pounds in total. Xie Wei is rarely home, and I can't finish them all by myself, so I brought some over."
"Your supply and marketing cooperative is distributing so much fruit for the holiday?" Chen Lirong asked in surprise.
Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife also asked, "Are these fruits all from out of town?"
“This is the Mid-Autumn Festival, and we give out more things than on other holidays,” Lin Qingqing answered one by one. “The fruit is imported from other places. Our supply and marketing cooperative has a special fruit counter, and the purchase price is not expensive.”
Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife asked, "It's not expensive, how much is it? Can you get a discount if your employees buy it?"
Lin Qingqing was taken aback when she heard this, and after a while she said, "I still have some at home, I can get you some later if you want." She didn't pick up on the topic of cheapness.
Hearing that the fruit was being given away for free, Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife looked at Lin Qingqing with a warmer gaze: "I heard that navel oranges are delicious, could you give me a few more?"
Upon hearing what Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife said, Regiment Commander Ding's wife and Chen Lirong both looked somewhat surprised. Lin Qingqing was also a little astonished. She hadn't had much contact with Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife and hadn't expected her to be so...so impolite.
However, since she had already agreed, Lin Qingqing didn't object and nodded in agreement: "Okay, I'll get it for you after we finish eating."
As they were talking, Deputy Political Commissar Liang came out of the bathroom. Seeing Lin Qingqing in the living room, he smiled and asked, "Sister-in-law is here? Where's Lao Xie? We've been waiting for him."
"He's in the living room talking to Lao Ding and Lao Wang," said Ding's wife.
Upon hearing this, Deputy Political Commissar Liang went to the living room, and Regiment Commander Ding's wife said, "Everyone, come in and sit down, don't stand here." She then led everyone in, letting Regiment Commander Ding entertain them, while she took the things Lin Qingqing had brought and went to the kitchen to get busy.
Seeing that she was alone, Lin Qingqing got up and followed her into the kitchen after sitting down for a short while.
Commander Ding's wife was chopping ribs when she saw her come in and asked, "Why are you here? Go talk to them."
"Let me help you." Lin Qingqing rolled up her sleeves and walked into the kitchen, picked up a clean potato and asked, "Are you going to stir-fry potato slices or potato shreds?" As she spoke, she picked up a knife and started peeling the potato.
Seeing her like this, Commander Ding's wife didn't urge her to leave. She said, "I was originally going to stir-fry shredded potatoes, but since you brought ribs, how about I make braised ribs with potatoes?"
Lin Qingqing thought for a moment and said, "Okay, then let's cut the potatoes into chunks?"
"Okay." Commander Ding's wife nodded, then mentioned Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife, saying, "She immediately asked for more navel oranges; she really doesn't hold back."
"I'm just straightforward," Lin Qingqing said.
"What kind of straightforwardness is this?" Commander Ding's wife snorted, thinking that it was more like being greedy for small advantages, but she didn't say it out loud because of the gossip. She only said to Lin Qingqing, "Don't agree to everything she says, or people will think you're easy to bully."
Lin Qingqing laughed: "I'm not that easy to bully, am I?"
Commander Ding's wife said, "You have a good temper." In the situation just now, she would definitely have said that there weren't that many navel oranges at home.
"No matter what, Deputy Political Commissar Liang is Xie Wei's friend." Lin Qingqing wasn't good-tempered, but she didn't want to cause a scene and affect the relationship between Xie Wei and Deputy Political Commissar Liang.
"That's true," said Commander Ding's wife, glossing over this point.
...
Although it wasn't a full birthday celebration, because there were many guests, Commander Ding's wife prepared a lot of dishes, including chicken and duck, two fish, and ribs brought by Lin Qingqing, filling the table to the brim and making it look very sumptuous.
Because the men were to drink, the men sat on one side and the women on the other.
As they sat down, Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife looked around and asked Jiang Feng, "Battalion Commander Jiang, why didn't Teacher Shen come today?"
Jiang Feng replied, "She's been getting increasingly sleepy lately. She gets tired as soon as she gets home from get off work, goes to the cafeteria for food, eats, and then falls asleep."
"Oh right, your wife is pregnant." Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife seemed to just remember. "How many months pregnant are she? How's she looking? Have she gone for a checkup? Did the doctor say whether it's a boy or a girl?"
"She's six months along. Everything else is fine, but she loves to sleep. She's a teacher, so she has to get up at five or six every morning to go to school, and she never gets enough sleep." Jiang Feng hadn't asked his wife to come over because he figured the meal would probably take until eight or nine. "As for whether it's a boy or a girl, we both think it's fine, so we didn't ask the doctor."
Chen Lirong smiled and said, "You have a son, it would be nice to have a daughter too, that would make a perfect couple."
Jiang Feng nodded: "That's what we think too."
"That's true, but if we know the gender in advance, we can prepare clothes and shoes in advance, so that we won't be caught off guard after the baby is born."
"That's what Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife said."
While there was some truth to that, Jiang Feng just smiled and said, "Actually, asking a doctor isn't always accurate. When my wife was pregnant with Pengpeng, the doctors all said it was a girl, and we even prepared a lot of clothes for girls. But it turned out to be a son. Luckily, newborns don't care about the color of their clothes, otherwise it would have been a real problem."
Speaking of this, Commander Ding also had something to say: "That's right, doctors aren't always accurate. When we had our daughter, the doctor said it would be a boy."
Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife thought she meant well and let it go when they didn't appreciate it. But while eating, her gaze fell on Lin Qingqing again. She happened to be sitting next to Xie Wei and remembered to ask, "Commander Xie and Comrade Lin have been married for over a year, haven't they?"
“Yes, it’s been over a year,” Lin Qingqing said.
"Why don't you want children yet?" asked Liang's wife.
These words immediately created a subtle atmosphere at the dinner table.
People at this time valued offspring, so although Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei always appeared very open-minded and not in a hurry to have children, everyone would intentionally or unintentionally avoid the topic in front of them, and no one would directly ask them why they didn't want children.
Even Deputy Political Commissar Liang's face fell when he heard his wife's words: "Even eating can't shut you up!"
Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife felt extremely wronged: "I was just concerned about them, wasn't I?"
Seeing that Deputy Political Commissar Liang and his wife were about to start arguing, Lin Qingqing smoothed things over by saying, "We didn't intentionally not want children; it's just that our time hasn't come yet."
"Having a child really depends on fate. In my hometown, there was a couple who had been married for several years without having children, and everyone thought they were infertile. But then one day they suddenly got pregnant," said Commander Ding's wife.
Chen Lirong also said, "You really can't rush this when it comes to having a child. The more anxious you are, the harder it is to conceive. On the contrary, if you relax, you'll get pregnant."
Jiang Feng chuckled and said, "That's right, we can't rush this. It will come when it's meant to."
Xie Wei held Lin Qingqing's hand under the table and said, "My husband and I think so too."
That being said, they've been married for over a year. Although he spends a lot of time in the military and doesn't have many opportunities to be intimate, twice a week isn't a small number. Now, Jiang Feng and his wife are both pregnant with their second child, but his wife's belly hasn't shown any signs of pregnancy. He can't help but wonder if there's something wrong with him.
The main reason he thought this way was because he had discussed this issue with Lin Qingqing, who had stated unequivocally that his failure to conceive was his fault. Although he didn't know why his wife was so certain, Xie Wei was still thinking about himself when the topic came up, considering whether he should take some time to go to the hospital for a checkup.
But if he were to go to the hospital, he would definitely have to discuss it with his wife, so Xie Wei didn't reveal his true thoughts at this moment.
Despite the efforts of many people to smooth things over, the atmosphere remained somewhat awkward. Ding's wife, fearing that Liang's wife might say something inappropriate again, quickly stood up and said, "Come on, everyone, let's eat. This braised pork ribs with potatoes was made by my sister-in-law. Commander Xie, you should eat more."
Hearing that his wife had cooked the dishes, Xie Wei quickly picked up a piece of pork rib and a piece of potato.
Not only Xie Wei, but Jiang Feng also quickly picked up a piece of pork rib, as Lin Qingqing's cooking always suited his taste.
As the two of them started eating, the others followed suit. Commander Ding even opened a bottle of baijiu (Chinese liquor), poured half a glass for each person, and asked the women if they wanted to drink.
Since it was her husband's birthday, as the hostess, Commander Ding's wife had half a glass of baijiu poured for her. Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife, being a good drinker, also picked up her glass. Chen Lirong and Lin Qingqing, however, were not heavy drinkers and each poured themselves a cup of tea. Commander Ding's two children, because there wasn't enough space at the table, didn't sit down and took their food to the living room to eat.
Seeing that everyone's cups were filled with drinks, Jiang Feng suggested that everyone toast Commander Ding together.
When toasting, everyone said in unison, "Happy Birthday."
Commander Ding thanked him and then downed the glass of baijiu in one gulp.
After the toasts, the men started drinking and clinking glasses, and Commander Ding's wife stopped paying attention to them, only urging Lin Qingqing and the others to eat. During the meal, Commander Ding noticed that Lin Qingqing only ate the dishes in front of her, not touching the beer-braised duck and braised fish that were far away. So he said, "Sister-in-law, don't just eat the dishes in front of you." As he spoke, he got up, picked up the plate of beer-braised duck, and brought it to Lin Qingqing.
"I can take it myself," Lin Qingqing said somewhat embarrassedly.
"Don't be shy, put some in your bowl," said Commander Ding's wife. She was getting impatient watching Lin Qingqing eat so politely.
Helpless, Lin Qingqing could only pick up a few pieces of duck meat and put them in her bowl.
But that wasn't all. Seeing Lin Qingqing pick up some duck meat, Commander Ding's wife picked up the plate of braised fish. Braised fish was Commander Ding's wife's specialty. The fish was reddish-brown, drizzled with broth, and sprinkled with scallions, making it look incredibly appetizing.
However, Lin Qingqing had recently become particularly sensitive to the smell of fish. She hadn't eaten fish for a long time, and the smell in the kitchen earlier had already made her feel a little uncomfortable. Now, instead of finding it tempting, she felt a bit nauseous. But Commander Ding's wife thought she was just being polite, so she directly used her chopsticks to put a piece of the fish belly into Lin Qingqing's bowl, telling her not to be shy.
Since Commander Ding's wife had said so, Lin Qingqing couldn't refuse any longer, so she picked up a piece of fish with her chopsticks and put it in her mouth.
Although it smelled a bit fishy, the fish was still very tender, with a slightly sweet and sour taste; it was actually quite delicious. Lin Qingqing chewed it carefully, nodded, and said, "This braised fish is perfect."
Chen Lirong and Liang's wife, the deputy political commissar, both picked up a piece of fish with their chopsticks and nodded after tasting it, saying, "Delicious."
Commander Ding's wife was pleased to receive praise for her specialty dish. When Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife inquired about the recipe, she generously shared, "Fried fish..."
As they spoke, Lin Qingqing chewed more and more slowly, her brows furrowing slightly.
After Xie Wei toasted Commander Ding alone, he sat down and noticed that her expression was a little off. He lowered his voice and asked, "What's wrong?"
"No..." Lin Qingqing didn't finish her sentence before covering her mouth, getting up, and running outside.
Everyone was stunned by her appearance and asked, "What's wrong, sister-in-law?"
Are you feeling unwell?
"I'm going out to take a look." Xie Wei said seriously and walked out.
After leaving the dining room, Lin Qingqing went straight outside. When he came out, he saw her squatting in the corner, leaning against the wall and dry heaving. He walked over, squatted down, and gently patted her back, asking, "Did you eat something bad?"
After vomiting, Lin Qingqing felt a little weak. She leaned against Xie Wei, covered her mouth, and said, "I just felt the fish was a bit fishy, and my stomach wasn't feeling too good." Then she looked up, smiled, and said, "I'm fine now."
She had barely finished speaking when she looked down and started vomiting again.
Ding's wife came out of the house and saw that Lin Qingqing was vomiting badly. She asked, "What's wrong, sister-in-law?"
"She said she felt a bit unwell in her stomach. Sister-in-law, could you peel an orange for her?" Considering that the fish was cooked by Commander Ding's wife, Xie Wei didn't mention that it was a problem with the fish. He also thought that since Lin Qingqing was gagging because of the fishy smell, he wanted to use the taste of oranges to suppress it.
"I'll go get it now." Commander Ding's wife said as she went back into the house, took an orange to the kitchen, cut it open with a knife, and handed a segment to Xie Wei.
Xie Wei handed the orange to Lin Qingqing and said in a low voice, "Come on, open your mouth."
Lin Qingqing opened her mouth, took a bite of the orange, and the sweet orange juice flowed down her tongue and throat, making the fishy taste less fishy and reducing her gagging. Seeing that it worked, Xie Wei quickly fed Lin Qingqing a few more orange segments until she had completely recovered before stopping and helping her into the house to sit down.
While Lin Qingqing was retching outside, the people in the dining room stopped eating and asked when she came in, "How are you? Are you feeling better? Do you want to go back and rest?"
Today is Commander Ding's birthday. Lin Qingqing didn't want things to end abruptly because of her, so she shook her head and said, "It's okay. I just haven't been feeling well in my stomach lately, and I can't stand the smell of fish."
Deputy Political Commissar Liang's wife asked in confusion, "Fishy smell? This fish doesn't smell fishy."
"Maybe I've just become more sensitive to the smell of fish lately," Lin Qingqing explained.
Chen Lirong, being perceptive, asked, "Have you always been unable to stand the smell of fish, or is it just that you can't stand the smell of fish lately?"
"What's been going on in the last month or two?" Lin Qingqing asked.
Chen Lirong did not answer, but only asked, "Does the smell make you feel nauseous and gag?"
"The smell is okay, but it's a bit unpleasant. It's not enough to make me gag, but I can't eat it. The fishy smell is really strong," Lin Qingqing said honestly.
Although Xie Wei noticed that they hadn't eaten fish at home for a long time, he had always assumed that Lin Qingqing's tastes had changed. He didn't expect it to be this serious. He frowned and said, "Why didn't you tell me?"
Lin Qingqing explained, "I only felt unwell after smelling the fish and eating it. I thought it was nothing and would get better after a while, so I didn't say anything."
Chen Lirong then asked, "Sister-in-law, have you had any other symptoms lately? For example, do you always feel like you can't get enough sleep?"
“It’s because I haven’t been getting enough sleep,” Lin Qingqing said, but then realized something was off. She remembered that Chen Lirong wasn’t a doctor, so how could she describe her symptoms so accurately? She asked in confusion, “How did you know I haven’t been getting enough sleep lately?”
Hearing that Lin Qingqing had become increasingly sleepy recently, Xie Wei's first thought was that she was too busy with work and not getting enough sleep. Then, remembering that she couldn't stand the smell of fish, he became even more worried and said anxiously, "Come with me to the hospital tomorrow for a checkup to see what the problem is."
Lin Qingqing, however, felt that she was not seriously ill and muttered, "No need, maybe it will get better in a while."
Xie Wei's expression was serious: "It's been a month or two already, and you still think there's no problem?"
After hearing Chen Lirong ask several questions in a row, Ding's wife realized what was wrong with Lin Qingqing and said with a smile, "She should go to the hospital for a check-up, but she should go to the obstetrics and gynecology department."
"What?" Xie Wei and Lin Qingqing were both dumbfounded.
Seeing that they hadn't reacted yet, everyone else at the table laughed: "You/your wife is probably pregnant!"
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