Chapter 10: She’s Really Pregnant

Right now, she was busy rendering lard. She had already cleaned out the lard jar two days ago, and that new pot she had bought could also be used to store lard.

This time, Chen Rou took out a full jin (about 500g) from the space. Having fully grasped Han Guobin’s personality, she felt emboldened and unafraid.

So she rendered quite a lot of lard and crispy bits. The lard jar was filled up to the neck, and the remaining bit, including the cracklings, was stored in the pot.

They would eat the lard and cracklings from the pot first. The lard in the jar was meant to be sealed once it solidified, to be stored in the cupboard and used next year.

Using the pot that had just finished rendering lard, she tossed in a handful of cabbage, slapped some cornmeal pancakes onto the sides of the pot, and once the cabbage was served, she made a tomato and egg drop soup. That was breakfast.

She didn’t have to go to work today, so she stayed home to handle the food. Han Guobin and his wife finished breakfast and headed out together.

Chen Rou then began chopping pig trotters in preparation to stew them with peanuts.

The pig ears were saved for dinner.

Although the weather was getting colder day by day, it still wasn’t cold enough to preserve meat. Aside from the lard, everything else should be eaten as soon as possible.

There was still a piece of pork loin at home, which she had already marinated. It would be great for stewing with green beans or potatoes.

Once the pig trotters and peanuts were in the pot to stew, Chen Rou washed her hands with soap and began making clothes for Han Guobin.

It was an underlayer garment. Zhou Zhen didn’t go to work today either. Yesterday, she also bought a piece of fabric, but it was for herself, so she came over to Chen Rou’s house.

She helped make clothes while chatting and mentioned what had happened with Sister-in-law Han.

Chen Rou didn’t say much, and deftly continued sewing Han Guobin’s clothes as she said, “It’s already so cold at this time of year. I reckon this winter’s going to be colder than last.”

“I think so too. Is your family ready with enough quilts? My place is fine. If it gets cold, we can just huddle together,” Zhou Zhen replied.

“I’ve prepared them. It’s just that we’re short on clothes,” Chen Rou said.

“Aren’t you making some now?” Zhou Zhen asked, pointing at the cotton-padded jacket in her hands.

“I’ve got enough. These two sets are for Guobin to wear close to the skin. Plus, one cotton-padded jacket,” Chen Rou said.

“That’s quite a few new clothes already. Still not enough?” Zhou Zhen asked, eyes wide.

“They’re not warm enough,” Chen Rou replied.

“You don’t go out in the heavy snow anyway. Just heat the kang (heated bed platform) and it’ll be fine,” Zhou Zhen didn’t think much of it.

“It’s just that we don’t have much money. Otherwise, I’d like to buy him two jin of wool yarn and knit a sweater for him,” Chen Rou said.

Zhou Zhen twitched the corner of her mouth. “You’re really willing.”

Wool yarn didn’t require ration tickets, but knitting one sweater cost nearly as much as a city worker’s monthly salary. That was a huge sum. For villagers, their annual savings might only just be enough for one sweater.

It was truly a luxury item among luxuries.

Chen Rou knew it was too expensive. Last time, she couldn’t bring herself to buy it. Right now, they only had twenty-five yuan left at home. They had to save some for emergencies, didn’t they?

Seeing her like this, Zhou Zhen couldn’t help but think: who said Old Chen’s daughter didn’t know how to love her man? She was practically spoiling him.

She hadn’t even made one for herself but was already thinking of buying one for her husband.

But in truth, Chen Rou had a high-neck wool sweater in her space. It wasn’t suitable to wear now, but she would definitely take it out later to wear, layering it under a coat. Who would know?

As for her Guobin seeing it—no problem. He never questioned these things and had never even seen other women’s clothing.

That’s why she even planned to use the thermal underwear in her space during winter.

If he saw it, then so be it. She wasn’t afraid. Besides her, he wouldn’t see another woman wearing such things. Probably not in this lifetime. He might even think all women dressed like that. She wasn’t worried about being found out.

As they chatted, the smell from the kitchen started drifting over—pig trotters stewed with peanuts, and it smelled amazing.

Zhou Zhen stayed a little longer and went home around ten o’clock. Chen Rou then started resting the dough and continued sewing.

As she worked, a sudden thought struck her—hadn’t her period been delayed for quite some time?

She paused, stunned, and began to think back. Before she arrived, the original host had her period once. The original host’s body was healthy and her cycles were regular. But since Chen Rou took over, it had been nearly a month and a half without her period.

Chen Rou figured she’d wait a few more days. If her period still didn’t come, then there was no escaping the truth.

With the meat distributed, their household meals naturally improved.

For lunch, they had corn buns paired with the peanut-braised pig trotters. The aroma was so good that Chen Rou ate quite a lot.

Thinking that she might really be pregnant, even though it wasn’t confirmed yet, she consciously began to supplement her nutrition.

For example, in the evening she made a stew of soybeans and pig ears.

She sliced the pig ears into strips, stewed them until they were soft and tender. The soybeans were fragrant and delicious too. Once they finished eating, Han Guobin handled the cleanup.

She continued sewing clothes.

Han Guobin had no objections at all. After washing the dishes, he even swept the floor. He had discovered that ever since he started rushing to do chores after coming home from work, his wife looked at him more tenderly and treated him even better.

He didn’t see housework as a burden. If it made his wife happy, why wouldn’t he do it?

He knew that his wife was just as busy at home. The winter quilt, his heavy cotton-padded jacket, and cotton pants—all were made by her and very warm.

This made him feel clearly what it meant to have a wife versus not having one.

Once he finished his work and came into the house, Chen Rou held up the clothes in her hands and measured them against him, saying, “Just right—not too long or too short.” She had been worried that the shoulders might not fit, but her eye for measurements turned out to be spot-on; the clothes fit snugly.

“Wife, you made this for me too?” Han Guobin asked.

“Mm, made you two pieces to wear underneath,” Chen Rou replied without even looking up.

There was no describing the feeling in Han Guobin’s heart right then.

He had never had anything like this before. Now that he had a wife, she actually made clothes for him.

The man sat down, quietly watching his wife stitch each thread by hand. After a while, Chen Rou finally looked up and asked, “Boil some water and get ready for a bath?”

“Alright,” Han Guobin nodded.

There was a small shed built in the backyard, so he could go there to bathe.

As days passed, the winter wheat had already been sown, and Han Guobin officially started his winter break. It was the slack season now, time for everyone to lie low and conserve energy through the winter.

At this point, Chen Rou had more or less confirmed it—she was definitely pregnant.

Aside from consciously eating a bit more nutritiously, not much else had changed.

Han Guobin couldn’t stay idle. One day, he asked his wife to prepare some dry rations for him.

As soon as Chen Rou heard that, she knew he planned to head into the mountains. These days, the regulations were more relaxed—during the slack season, many people went into the mountains to hunt for wild game to supplement the family meals. It wasn’t like a few years ago when even pulling out a blade of grass up there would get you into trouble.

“Pack a little extra. I’m guessing it’ll take me two days to get back,” Han Guobin said.

Chen Rou was startled. “Two days?”

“Yeah, there’s plenty of wild game around right now. I want to catch more while I can,” Han Guobin replied.

Chen Rou originally wanted to go with him, but now that she was pregnant, she’d only slow him down. So she didn’t insist. Instead, she reminded him, “Be extra careful out there. Both me and the baby are waiting for you at home.”

Han Guobin didn’t register her words at first. It was only after a long moment that he reacted. He stared blankly at his wife. “The two of you?”

Chen Rou was busy making buns for him to take—there was no meat left, so she used some crispy pork drippings with eggs and vegetables for the filling. Without looking up, she said, “I’m pregnant. Of course it’s the two of us.”

Han Guobin’s breath caught. He immediately turned his wife around to face him.

Chen Rou was startled. “What are you doing?”

“Wife, are you really pregnant?” Han Guobin couldn’t help asking, his gaze dropping to her belly.

“Yeah.” Chen Rou rolled her eyes at him. She hadn’t planned on getting pregnant so soon, but she couldn’t resist this sneaky man’s sweet talk in bed.

Eventually, she had just let herself go and enjoyed it fully. So, getting pregnant wasn’t really all that surprising.

Han Guobin pulled her into his arms. At first, Chen Rou thought he was getting in the way, but she could clearly feel just how happy he was—his whole chest was practically buzzing with joy. She snorted, “Just make sure you come back safely, or I’ll definitely remarry.”

Her words were ruthless, but Han Guobin responded seriously, “Wife, I’ll be back in two days. You wait for me at home, okay?”

The thought of handing over such a wonderful wife to another man was absolutely out of the question—especially now that she was carrying his child.

Chen Rou made ten buns for him to take, and since the mountains were freezing this time of year, she also packed his thick winter coat.

A man had to hold up the family. Her man wasn’t someone who lacked sense, so she didn’t interfere too much—just supported him in her own way.

Chen Rou lived a simple life at home. She’d cook some porridge or make noodles for herself—nothing fancy.

Once November arrived, the weather truly turned cold. It was already nearing mid-November, and she’d started using the heavy quilts just yesterday.

Last night, she couldn’t help missing Han Guobin a little. When he was home, he always held her while they slept, keeping her nice and warm. It was still warm last night, but something just felt… missing.

Habit is a scary thing.

But he should be back tomorrow.

That day, she carried a basket into town. When she returned, there was a piece of mutton in it.

She split the mutton in two and took it over to her parents’ house.

“Little sister-in-law is back,” her second sister-in-law greeted her with a smile when she saw her.

Her eldest and third sisters-in-law also came out. Their attitudes were rather pleasant. Chen Rou could tell right away it was because of the meat she had brought last time. As expected, her parents hadn’t kept it for themselves.

She wasn’t surprised. After greeting her sisters-in-law, she took out two pieces of mutton from the basket.

Her mother was stunned. “Why are you bringing meat again? And mutton, no less?”

“I ran into it in town today, so I got a piece. This is for you and Dad. And this other piece—Mom, take it to Uncle and have him stew it with radishes. Good for warming the body.”

One piece was to nourish her parents, the other for her uncle.

There wasn’t much meat to go around. Each household would only get about two taels—a small piece of belly meat per family.

But it was still meat, and rare mutton at that. Mutton stewed with radish was bound to be delicious.