Chapter 95

The Spring Festival holiday passed quickly, and these days, the winter break isn’t as long as in the 21st century. Adults have only a few days off work, and the children are all back in school.

Since Su Xiaoxiao started feeling the baby’s movements, the cubs have added another daily activity to their daily routine, which is to interact with their younger brother or sister. They take turns leaning on Su Xiaoxiao’s belly to interact with the baby inside before they are willing to stop.

It was Xiao Fantuan’s turn to lie on his mom’s belly today: “Meimei (younger sister), hello Meimei, I’m your brother. Please answer when you hear me.”

Su Xiaoxiao’s belly moved slightly, even through the thick clothing. Xiao Fantuan could feel it. He was so happy that his smile reached his eyes. He said, “Mom, Xiao Tangyuan heard me!”

The two-year-old Xiao Doubao is better at speaking now. He pushed his brother aside and hugged Su Xiaoxiao’s belly, placing his ear against it: “Little brother, little brother, I’m the little big brother, please answer when you hear me~~~

At this moment, Su Xiaoxiao’s belly moves, and Xiao Doubao, with narrowed eyes, proudly announced: “Mom, Xiao Roubao heard me~~~”

Whenever this happens, Xiao Fantuan will pinch Xiao Doubao’s face into a little pout and rub it: “Big brother is so nice to you; can you not make big brother angry?”

Xiao Doubao confidently retorts while removing his brother’s hand: “If big brother is nice to me, he should give me Xiao Roubao~~~”

Only the calm and gentle Xiao Zhuzi would seriously chat with his “sister”, talking about how the weather was today, where they went, what they did, whether they were happy or not, and so on.

This kind of drama lasted until the Lantern Festival, and the kids never tire of it.

On the Lantern Festival, both adults and children have a day off. Su Xiaoxiao has been busy preparing the spring epidemic prevention handbook for the publicity department, and with the cold weather, she rarely goes out. Her mother always says that she should not be lazy after the baby stabilizes, and she should work and move around every day to prepare for giving birth in the future.

So that day, the whole Han family wrapped up Zongzi and set out for the food market.
The special treat for the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month is tangyuan (sweet glutinous rice balls), and there were also live chickens, ducks, and geese for sale. Su Xiaoxiao took the opportunity to buy a chicken.

During the winter, as the children couldn’t go out to catch earthworms, Hua Hua hatched eight little chicks. They needed rice bran and tea bran from the market to mix with coarse grains and old vegetable leaves to feed them. The three hens at home also began laying eggs every other day, so the times they bought eggs in the market had decreased. When they couldn’t buy eggs, they could only ensure that Su Xiaoxiao had one egg every day, and the three little cubs, Xiao Doubao, Zhuzi, and Fantuan, took turns to eat them.

Today, Lao Hu left a pig’s stomach for Su Xiaoxiao, and she planned to make a dish called “pig stomach stuffed with chicken” for dinner.

The weather was extremely cold, so the family didn’t stroll around the market for long; they went home directly after shopping.

Even so, Su Xiaoxiao still felt quite tired after going out.

In the evening, there was a Lantern Festival party at the military base. Han Cheng asked Su Xiaoxiao, “Do you want to go and watch?”

Su Xiaoxiao really didn’t want to go out in the cold, so she shook her head and said, “It’s too difficult for me to go, and it’s too cold. I don’t want to go. How about you take the kids to join the fun?”

Han Cheng replied, “In that case, let’s not go. You can rest, and I’ll cook.”

Han Cheng brought a chair into the kitchen for Su Xiaoxiao.

She sat on the chair and directed Han Cheng to make the “pig stomach stuffed with chicken.” This dish didn’t require much culinary skill; it involved cleaning the chicken, stuffing it into the pig’s stomach, adding a bit of white pepper, and simmering it over low heat for two to three hours. When the pig’s stomach and chicken became tender, they would be removed from the broth. The pig’s stomach would be sliced, and the chicken pieces would be put back into the soup. The dish would be cooked over charcoal, a common method for warming up in the winter in Su Jiacun.

White pepper warms the stomach but can be a bit spicy, so they used less when there were many children in the family. They would start by having a bowl of soup to warm their stomachs, and with one pot, they could have two meals, ensuring that everyone ate to their heart’s content.

If they cook another bowl of sweet potato tangyuan at night, this year can be considered a fulfilling one.

……………..

In the blink of an eye, it’s March, the weather is changeable, and the beans on the wall have long withered and matured. Su Xiaoxiao had Han Cheng gather them all to dry, some for eating and some for saving as seeds.

The “Mian” and “Fan” have grown into the size of roosters, and even the eight “children” of Hua Hua are not small; they are all roosters without exception.

By the time Su Xiaoxiao entered her sixth month, her belly had expanded like a balloon. It was growing every day, and her six-month belly looked larger than most people’s at eight months. Adding to that, Su Xiaoxiao had a small frame with slender limbs, a small head, and a small face, which made her even more exhausted.

Previously, the string beans and Dutch beans on Su Xiaoxiao’s wall grew vigorously, reaching over the wall and even covering the outside of it. So, when spring arrived, many neighbors came to Su Xiaoxiao to ask for seeds to plant.

Su Xiaoxiao had saved a good number of seeds and gave each of them some.

Dun Dun and her grandmother also came to Su Xiaoxiao’s house to ask for seeds, and when Dun Dun’s grandmother saw Su Xiaoxiao’s belly, she was shocked: “Are you about to give birth? Wasn’t it just six or seven months?”

In just a few days, her belly had grown a whole circle since the last time she saw her.

People these days are usually thin, and many expectant mothers don’t have a belly as large as Su Xiaoxiao’s.

Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t say for sure. She couldn’t even lie down to sleep at night now and had to prop herself up with a few pillows to sleep on her side. When she needed to get up to use the bathroom, she had to ask Han Cheng to help her up.

Han Cheng took her to the hospital for an examination, and an experienced doctor said that she had faintly heard two heartbeats. Given her rapid growth, it was highly likely to be twins. There weren’t precise instruments in those days, and obstetricians relied on their experience to make judgments. They couldn’t say for sure but suggested that she be cautious.

Su Xiaoxiao and Han Cheng were both surprised and delighted. It was Su Xiaoxiao’s first pregnancy, and she couldn’t feel how many babies were inside her. Sometimes she was called “Meimei” by Fantuan and Zhuzi, and other times “little brother” by Xiao Doubao. Lately, she was starting to feel that there might actually be both a little sister and a little brother in her belly.

But until they were born, she couldn’t say for sure, so she could only tell Grandma Zhang, “I don’t know either. Everything seems normal, but I’m uncomfortable at night, and my heart beats very strongly.”

Grandma Zhang, being an experienced person, asked her, “Has anyone in your family ever had twins? Both on your grandmother’s and your grandfather’s side, have any of your same-generation or older relatives had twins?”

Su Xiaoxiao thought carefully and shook her head, saying, “No, I haven’t heard any of the older generations mention it. In our family for the past few generations, I’m the only girl.”

Now, Grandma Zhang wasn’t so sure. “Twin pregnancies can run in families. I’ve seen the bellies of those expecting twins look just like yours when they reach the sixth or seventh month, starting to protrude more than those carrying a single baby for ten months. You should go to the hospital soon and have a doctor check. If you’re having twins, it will be twice as tough, and you’ll need to be extremely cautious. Don’t overexert yourself.”

Su Xiaoxiao nodded and thanked Grandma Zhang. “I’ll be careful, don’t worry.”

Grandma Zhang went back first, and Dun Dun stayed and waited until Fantuan and Zhuzi came back from school to play together for a while before leaving.

When Han Cheng returned, Su Xiaoxiao began to act a bit spoiled. “Han Cheng, Grandma Zhang mentioned that I might be carrying twins. I might not be able to go to school next month. I can’t sleep well at night now, and it’s tough in the morning. I get exhausted even standing for a single class at school. I really need to take extra care.”

The unexpected arrival of the baby disrupted Su Xiaoxiao’s plans. She had originally intended to follow Fantuan and Zhuzi into the third grade, and when they graduated from elementary school, she’d be ready to resume her college entrance exams. Then, she’d go to a junior high school in the capital, and it would align nicely with Xiao Doubao starting elementary school.

However, plans can’t always keep up with changes, and the unexpected arrival of this little life shattered her plans. Once he was born, that would be the true beginning of her busyness. If it turned out to be twins and, along with Xiao Doubao, she had three children to take care of, it would be difficult to manage not just substitute teaching but even her work in the publicity department.

Without an elderly person at home to help take care of the child, Su Xiaoxiao had to take care of it herself. Thinking about it, Su Xiaoxiao felt worried.

Han Cheng had this idea a long time ago. She originally only volunteered to teach a class, mainly for the sake of educating her own child. After all, Fantuan and Zhuzi have already benefited from her teaching, and she can teach them at home. Han Cheng had suggested not going to class after returning from the hospital.

Su Xiaoxiao originally wanted to persist for a while longer, hoping to finish the semester.

Han Cheng held her and said, “It’s alright, don’t go if you don’t want to. Don’t rush and don’t panic. When I go back to the office this afternoon, I’ll call in the Sujia Village and see if Mom can come earlier to accompany you.”

“Okay, call Mom for me. Tell her the doctor said I might be pregnant with twins, and my emotions aren’t very stable right now. If she knows, she’ll come right away.”

Su Xiaoxiao hugged Han Cheng’s waist and nuzzled him. Whether she was being delicate or overly sensitive, she had no experience with her first pregnancy and wasn’t sure if it was the influence of hormones, but she found that her emotions were really unstable.

Sometimes, she would get irritable for no reason, and she even started to worry a bit about what to do if I couldn’t conceive my two babies properly. Some nights, she couldn’t sleep at all. With her mother by her side, she would feel much more secure.

In fact, Han Cheng is more nervous now than Su Xiaoxiao, but at times like this, he absolutely cannot show it. There must be a strong presence in the family to make her feel secure. Han Cheng does everything for her now, as long as she is well, then his heart will be at ease.

“I know what to say. Don’t worry, our babies will definitely be very well-behaved, and everything will be fine.”

Su Xiaoxiao held onto Han Cheng and didn’t let go.

She was really getting anxious.

It was only when she took a deep breath and smelled his unique scent that she felt a little more at ease.

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Lucia: Next update will be on Sunday~

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