Wen Xuan’s mouth turned downward. “I’m not the youngest anymore. Will you and Uncle still like me?”

Wen Jiajia was taken aback. “Of course! And why would being the youngest affect how much we like you? I like you for who you are, not because of your birth order. Just because you are older, does that mean I don’t like you?”

Wen Xuan shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. “But my sister is the oldest.”

Wen Jiajia understood. Wen Xuan was worried about being the middle child, feeling neither the eldest nor the youngest, and feared she might not be as loved.

“No, no!” Wen Jiajia quickly hugged her and then embraced Wen Chun as well. “Don’t worry, Uncle, and I will love you just as much as before.”

Wen Chun was initially happy but, in this situation, felt a bit sad for Wen Xuan. It took Wen Jiajia several minutes to comfort both of them.

Meanwhile, Wei Dai quietly carried water to the bathroom. No one in the family had taken a shower yet. It was almost eight o’clock, and he wasn’t sure if he’d finish washing the clothes before the power went out.

An hour later, after rushing and working quickly, he managed to finish washing the clothes just before the power outage.

By the time they were ready for bed, the excitement had completely settled.

Wei Dai touched Wen Jiajia’s belly and said, “We need to take out the crib we made earlier, wash it, and then dry it in the sun.”

Wen Jiajia laughed. “There’s no need to do it so early.”

If the baby really existed, it would be only the size of a soybean.

Wei Dai sighed. “You don’t understand; time flies when you’re pregnant.”

He often saw pregnant wives in the army. The last time he saw one, the baby was still in her belly, and her belly was only slightly protruding. The next time he saw her, the baby had already been born and was a month old.

Wen Jiajia replied, “Silly boy, time is objective. No matter how fast it seems, nine months is still nine months.”

She was genuinely worried that her child’s intelligence might resemble Wei Dai’s.

It seemed that being the one who got pregnant made her feel like she was the only one in the equation, while Wei Dai seemed to be losing his wits.

But perhaps it was a good thing. Intelligence was valuable, and a sharp mind was even better. Wen Jiajia was determined to protect her smart and agile brain.

_

Ten days later, the couple went to the hospital again, and this time they received an official diagnosis.

Life after the diagnosis continued as usual, except Wei Dai began collecting various types of tickets, especially cloth and meat tickets. He was becoming the type of person that others disliked.

Some people even joked to Wen Jiajia, “Other people’s first question when they meet is ‘Have you eaten?’, but your Wei Dai’s first question is ‘Do you have a ticket?’ I avoid him now.”

Wen Jiajia could only laugh awkwardly.

She went home, grabbed Wei Dai’s ear, and firmly told him, “Don’t go borrowing tickets from others anymore.”

Thanks to Wei Dai, many people already knew she was pregnant.

In his words, “This can’t be hidden. The sisters-in-law in the army have better eyes than Mr. Peng. They might not diagnose other illnesses, but they can definitely tell if a woman is pregnant.”

He had only recently realized this. Such things happened frequently in the army.

Wei Dai also said, “Meat tickets are essential. You need to supplement your nutrition. Cloth tickets are also necessary. Babies born in winter need more clothing and extra diapers.”

What else could be done?

Wen Jiajia suppressed the words on her lips.

If she couldn’t get the meat tickets, how could she not get the cloth tickets?

She planned to buy some cotton and make as many diapers as needed.

This was the advantage of the synthesis system. Two kilograms of cotton could produce five kilograms of cloth, making it extremely efficient.

Due to her pregnancy, Wen Jiajia had to wake up earlier each day to go to work.

She could no longer ride her bike as fast as before; it was no longer as quick as an electric bike.

On this day, her belly was exactly three months along when Lin Yunfei arrived with fresh news.

As soon as Lin Yunfei entered, she asked, “Are you pregnant?”

Wen Jiajia was surprised. “You can tell that too? Wait, you’re not even married. How did you know?”

Lin Yunfei laughed. “My mother saw you when she delivered something to me yesterday, and she told me in the evening that you were pregnant.”

Wen Jiajia sighed. “I don’t understand how you all figured it out. If it were me, I wouldn’t have been able to tell even if I were blind.”

Lin Yunfei sat down and said, “It’s normal for my mother to notice. After all, she is a police officer.”

“By the way, I’m here to discuss something serious,” Lin Yunfei suddenly became serious. “I think… I think what you said last time might be true.”

Wen Jiajia was a bit slow to react and only realized after a moment that Lin Yunfei was referring to Lu Yiyuan.

“What do you mean?” she asked urgently.

Lin Yunfei frowned. “I told my parents about this when I got home. They thought it was ridiculous at first and were reluctant to help me investigate. It took a lot of begging before they finally agreed.”

Wen Jiajia nodded. This was normal; after all, any reasonable person would find such speculation absurd.

“My dad has a friend who works in Hebei Province. The Wanggang I mentioned isn’t in the same city as you, but fortunately, it’s right next door, not too far away, and even closer to Xincheng County.”

Wen Jiajia poured tea to moisten her mouth.

Lin Yunfei was impressed and took a sip. “My father took this seriously and entrusted me with the task. However, Uncle had other commitments, and it’s been over a month since he completed his work.”

Wen Jiajia thought to herself that this was normal. The police had cases and tasks to handle, and it wasn’t unusual for them to be busy for two or three months.

“It was a coincidence. About half a month ago, he encountered a cross-city case and had to go to Wanggang. On his way back, he stopped in Xincheng to rest and checked the company you mentioned.”

“Uncle said that the Li family is quite well-known locally. There are two promising children in the family. One is an officer in the army, and the other works in a factory in the city and is a small leader.”

Wen Jiajia leaned forward, propped her chin on her hand, and listened intently.

“Oh, the Li family has three children. The eldest, the mischievous uncle you mentioned, is said to be serving his parents in his hometown. His reputation is average because he’s considered lazy in the village. Fortunately, the second and third children are both successful and send money home every month… Well, he just lives with his parents, and his life is usually better than that of those who work hard in the fields to earn work points.”

“This uncle has three children: the first two are sons, and the youngest is a daughter. Uncle confirmed that his daughter and Comrade Lu’s son were indeed born on the same day. This is well-known in the village because the two sisters-in-law gave birth at the same time. It was at night, and it was raining heavily. They couldn’t find a doctor, even if they wanted to go to the commune. Fortunately, their mother-in-law was a midwife. After working hard, she delivered the babies.”

Wen Jiajia thought this was quite a coincidence.

“You know, under those circumstances, the two sisters-in-law must have given birth in the same room.”

Wen Jiajia nodded again, realizing that, with only one midwife, it would be impractical for her to move between two rooms.

“So exchanging children would be quite convenient.”

Wen Jiajia frowned. “I have a question. How can we be sure that Comrade Lu gave birth to a girl? Isn’t it possible that the two births—one boy and one girl—were just a coincidence, and their mother-in-law had the idea to switch them?”

“Ah!” Lin Yunfei clapped her hands. “Here’s the key point. According to Uncle’s investigation, Comrade Lu’s health was poor due to her frequent involvement in projects. She participated in the reservoir excavation and had a serious cold. The hospital has records of this. Comrade Lu gave birth first that day. She bled after giving birth and fainted. The Li family called the neighbors to take her to the hospital. But, as I mentioned before, it was raining, so in the end, they had to use a tractor to get her there. This is another reason why the villagers remember this incident so vividly.”

Wen Jiajia understood completely and took a deep breath. “In other words, the child was left at home after birth?”

Lin Yunfei nodded. “This matter is quite easy to investigate since many people know about it. The uncle and his wife were not very kind to the child but were especially kind to their nephew, that mischievous child. Villagers said the child looked a bit like his uncle. The uncle even publicly stated that his nephew resembled him, which is why he favored him more.

After giving birth and recovering from her illness, Comrade Lu returned to work. She would send extra money home every month and buy meat and eggs for her sister-in-law from time to time, saying she could help breastfeed her child… When the villagers learned about this, they were envious.”

“But later, after they raised their nephew to be chubby and white while their own daughter became as thin as a bamboo pole, their reputation improved greatly. People said they were kind-hearted and loyal, caring for their younger siblings. Otherwise, why would their nephew call them mom and dad? It shows that they are genuinely nice, not just pretending. After all, children are the best judges of whether people are truly kind.”

“Oh, and there’s another crucial detail. Their daughter has spent most of the past two years living at the aunt’s house. They say the child’s grandmother loves her very much. If you look into this in detail, doesn’t it seem a bit strange? If the grandmother really loved the child, why would she let her become so skinny?”

Wen Jiajia felt a wave of nausea and almost vomited.

It wasn’t morning sickness but an intense sense of nausea.

She decided she would inform Comrade Lu about this when she got back. If it turned out to be false, then so be it. The embarrassment was worth it.

But if it were true, Wen Jiajia would feel guilty for not revealing the news sooner, thus allowing the couple’s immoral behavior to continue unchecked.

Lin Yunfei sighed. “You should have told Comrade Lu earlier. There’s definitely something suspicious. Uncle said the same thing. But the police can’t confirm it. They can’t just accuse someone of swapping children without solid proof. If Comrade Lu had come out to investigate, he would have noticed something amiss.”

Even someone like Wen Jiajia, who was only listening, could tell something was wrong. It was puzzling why the villagers hadn’t noticed.

Wen Jiajia said firmly, “I will definitely speak up.”

Just as she finished speaking, she couldn’t hold back and vomited.

Lin Yunfei was startled and quickly grabbed a spittoon.

What a reaction!