Chapter 61.2

He planned to find time to visit the hospital and ask the doctor about how to care for a pregnant woman and what to avoid in daily life. As a good husband and father, he wanted to make sure he did everything right.

Jiang Suihan suddenly asked, “Do you prefer a boy or a girl?”

Xu Zhao pulled the blanket up a little: “Our family doesn’t have a tradition of valuing boys over girls.”

Jiang Suihan was skeptical: “You have two older sisters and you’re the youngest. You still dare to say there’s no gender preference in your family?”

The logic was strong, and Xu Zhao was momentarily at a loss for a counterargument. He fell silent: “I like both boys and girls. If it’s a boy, he can protect his younger sister. If it’s a girl, she’ll be the little princess of the family.”

He didn’t have a strong desire for a son to carry on the family name. Whether a boy or a girl, as long as it was their child, he would love it. In fact, if they had a little girl like her, cute, beautiful, and gentle, he imagined he would want to hold her every day and watch her fall asleep.

Thinking about this, he felt a bit like he was showing a preference for girls, and he felt slightly guilty.

Jiang Suihan said seriously, “I’ve decided we’ll have two children, ideally one boy and one girl. The age difference shouldn’t be too great, maybe two or three years, so they can play and go to school together.”

She fixed her gaze on Xu Zhao, curious about his reaction.

Xu Zhao remained unfazed: “As you wish. I’ll respect your decision, whether it’s one child or two.”

The difficulties of pregnancy and the challenges it entails could only be truly experienced by a mother-to-be. As an observer and beneficiary, he had no reason to insist on the number of children. Even if she decided not to have more, he wouldn’t force her.

Jiang Suihan couldn’t help but pinch his face: “You really will listen to whatever I say?”

Xu Zhao suddenly said, “Zhang Xiangqian said that if you tell me to go east, I should definitely go east and never west. I think he’s right.”

Jiang Suihan was taken aback at first, not understanding why Zhang Xiangqian was being mentioned. After a few seconds, she realized what he meant.

Seriously, can’t you just admit that you’ll listen to me? Why do you have to be so roundabout?

There were no outsiders here, so why the pretense?

Jiang Suihan couldn’t help but complain, continuing from the previous topic: “What if both children are girls? Won’t your parents and grandfather have opinions?”

Xu Zhao said with confidence: “We don’t live with them, so their opinions don’t matter.”

Jiang Suihan rolled her eyes at him: “It’s easy for you to say, but I’ll be the one dealing with the disapproval.”

She knew that many people’s thoughts were still stuck in the past, with some deeply ingrained traditional beliefs that couldn’t be eliminated quickly. The Xu family only had Xu Zhao as the male heir among the younger generation. The elders surely hoped for more grandsons.

Although she knew Xu Zhao was just comforting her and his words might not be completely trustworthy, she was still happy. At least his attitude was good, unlike some men who are very patriarchal, marrying a woman only to expect her to bear children and preferably sons, continuing to have children until they succeeded.

Such men are nothing short of a feudal scourge, and encountering such a man is like going through trials of heaven.

Xu Zhao decided to skip the topic: “It’s getting late. We should go to sleep.”

He would have been better off not mentioning sleep. As soon as he did, Jiang Suihan yawned and thought, I’ll let you off for now.

Once she was asleep, Xu Zhao gently slipped his hand under the blanket, placing it on her abdomen. After a while, there was no reaction from the belly.

He couldn’t help but smile, realizing how silly he was. The baby was not even two months old. It was too early to expect any reaction.

The next morning, Xu Zhao went to the cafeteria to buy breakfast and borrowed a car from the logistics department.

Zhang Xiangqian, sitting in the front passenger seat, yawned while eating a bun: “Can’t you let me sleep in a bit? I’ve been on edge for the past two months, eating poorly and sleeping badly. Just when I get home to rest, you drag me out of bed. What’s the big deal?”

Woken up early by Xu Zhao, he had only managed to wash his face before being hurriedly dragged into the car.

Xu Zhao kept his eyes on the road ahead and didn’t spare a glance at Zhang Xiangqian: “We’re going to the county’s department store.”

There was a bump on the road that Zhang Xiangqian couldn’t avoid. As he took a bite of his bun, the car jolted, almost making him choke: “Water, give me water quickly.”

Xu Zhao said, “The water bottle is on your left.”

Zhang Xiangqian immediately grabbed the bottle, unscrewed the cap, and drank hastily, spilling some water on his shirt in the process.

After coughing repeatedly, once he recovered, he said to Xu Zhao with annoyance, “I don’t think I’m fit to go out today. I don’t think I should be with you. Why didn’t you bring your little wife along? Aren’t you two inseparable?”

Recalling his mother’s specific instructions not to mention the pregnancy before three months, Xu Zhao responded calmly: “I think you’re just jealous.”

Zhang Xiangqian immediately jumped up: “Jealous of you!? Why would I be jealous of you? What do you have that makes me envious?”

Xu Zhao replied indifferently, “Perhaps you’re jealous of my happy marriage, my youth, my higher position, and my greater abilities.”

He listed each point without paying any attention to Zhang Xiangqian’s increasingly grim expression.

If it weren’t for the fact that they were in the car, Zhang Xiangqian would have liked to punch Xu Zhao in the eye. He ground his teeth and muttered through clenched jaws, “Yes, everything you said is true. But there’s one thing you can’t compete with—I have a son, and you don’t.”

As soon as he finished speaking, he laughed heartily without restraint.

Xu Zhao smiled but remained silent; his son was already on the way.

They joked and chatted, and within an hour and a half, they arrived at the county.

Zhang Xiangqian got out of the car and stretched. “Perfect timing. It just so happens that my son Youyou’s clothes are a little short. I’ll take some clothes back and ask his mother to make him two new sets of clothes.”

Xu Zhao, holding a paper filled with items, walked into the department store first, with Zhang Xiangqian closely following. Curious, Zhang Xiangqian peeked at the list: “Milk powder, malted milk, cookies, brown sugar, milk candy, canned fruit—why is everything food-related?”

Xu Zhao didn’t answer and continued forward.

A crowd had gathered ahead, bustling with noise. He heard the salesperson shouting, “Form a line, everyone. We have fresh osmanthus cakes and poria cakes^[1]It is a pancake-like snack made from flour, sugar, and fuling (Poria), rolled around nuts, honey, and other ingredients.today. Limited quantities—first come, first served. Each person can buy up to two pounds of each.”

These cakes were not regularly sold at the department store and were available only sporadically. Today, they were lucky to get some.

Xu Zhao changed direction and joined the line for the cakes.

Zhang Xiangqian followed and happened to have a ticket for one pound of cakes. He decided to buy half a pound of each flavor, just like Xu Zhao.

Next was Xu Zhao’s shopping spree, with Zhang Xiangqian acting as the assistant, carrying bags up and down.

Finally able to rest, Zhang Xiangqian couldn’t help but complain about Xu Zhao’s lack of consideration. He had thought they were close friends, but now he felt like a laborer.

Xu Zhao put the items in the car’s back seat. “Let’s go.”

Zhang Xiangqian asked, “Where to?”

Xu Zhao replied with two words, “Black market.”

Zhang Xiangqian quickly followed, “Isn’t this enough? Your family only has three mouths to feed. You should be careful.”

Xu Zhao thought to himself that he was mistaken. His family actually had four mouths.

He had been to the black market before with Jiang Suihan. The location hadn’t changed, and the entrance was somewhat hidden. The two entered quietly and found interesting items at reasonable prices, so Xu Zhao paid up.

Seeing beef for sale, Zhang Xiangqian’s eyes lit up. He realized that today was indeed an auspicious day. The luck was extraordinary.

At the regular grocery store, pork cost 79 cents per pound, while the black market price was 0.14 cents more. Beef was even pricier, at 1.12 yuan per pound.

Zhang Xiangqian couldn’t help but gasp at the prices. The meat was indeed expensive.

But rare opportunities are hard to come by. He gritted his teeth and bought five pounds, planning to deliver two pounds to his in-laws on the way back.

Once, during a meal, Xu Zhao had heard Jiang Suihan mention a craving for beef, and Jiang Leyun had also expressed a desire for tomato beef. He decided to buy five pounds.

In one go, ten pounds of beef were sold, and the vendor, who had his face covered with cloth, happily grinned and cut two pounds of meat for each of them.

Xu Zhao also bought some chestnuts, a chicken, and ten pounds of fine rice. Zhang Xiangqian watched him pay and silently sighed, realizing he couldn’t match Xu Zhao when it came to spending money.

Xu Zhao spent money as if it were nothing, as if shopping were free.

After finishing their shopping, the two left the black market without delay.