Font Size:
It all started with the child causing trouble in the Yuhong class, and the next day, Wen Jiajia went to his parents’ house to argue with them.
“From what you described, his mother seems quite reasonable. How could she raise such a child?” Lin Yunfei wondered.
Wen Jiajia explained, “It seems that the child has mostly been cared for by the elderly and by my uncle and his wife. Comrade Lu has her own job. Oh, I remember now—she said she works with the construction team, so she’s often not at home.”
These days, construction teams need to recruit local workers, and since much of the work is done manually due to the lack of machinery, the wages offered are relatively high.
Fuyang also had an engineering team; the nearby reservoir was dug in the 1960s by an engineering team that included many people from the commune.
“That’s what my family taught me,” Lin Yunfei said, thinking for a moment. “But that doesn’t explain why they’d teach their children to behave like this.”
Wen Jiajia recounted the events after she entered the room and repeated what she had overheard when she left.
After some thought, she whispered, “Maybe, and I mean maybe, could it be that the child isn’t Comrade Lu’s but rather the child of the eldest brother and sister-in-law of the family?”
This guess seemed far-fetched, but Wen Jiajia, influenced by melodramatic TV dramas from her previous life, felt it was quite likely.
If this issue involved someone unrelated to her, Wen Jiajia would probably have dismissed it after a few comments. But since Comrade Lu might be related to the original owner on the maternal side, Wen Jiajia couldn’t help but think more about it.
After contemplating this for the past two days, she came up with this possibility.
It was challenging for those not immersed in melodramatic dramas and novels to consider such scenarios. For example, Lin Yunfei had not thought of this possibility.
But when Wen Jiajia brought it up, Lin Yunfei was stunned and then said, “Although it sounds ridiculous, the truth often is. But this is really too far-fetched. Is it really possible?”
She was a bit incoherent.
Wen Jiajia sighed and said, “That’s why I haven’t dared to mention it to anyone. I thought about whether I should tell Lu Yiyuan, but I’m afraid I’d be chased out with a broom.”
Lin Yunfei quickly advised, “You’d better keep quiet for now. Are you sure the two children were born on the same day?”
“Yes!” Wen Jiajia nodded vigorously. “She mentioned it yesterday, otherwise I wouldn’t have thought of this possibility.”
She was confident she had heard it correctly and later confirmed with Sister Jin, who also remembered hearing it.
Lin Yunfei said, “You shouldn’t rush to confront him. After all, the child is still, for the time being, his son. The elderly relatives in the family have lived together for several years. You know how close they can be.”
Wen Jiajia replied, “I know. Otherwise, I would have told her directly the day before yesterday.” She felt that if this were true, Lu Yiyuan would be quite wronged, and his own daughter would have to suffer at home. This made Wen Jiajia uneasy and guilty.
“How about this: find out her home address, and I’ll ask my dad if he can help check it out.” Lin Yunfei thought for a moment. “My dad has friends everywhere, and one of his uncles seems to be in He Province.”
Wen Jiajia was delighted. “That’s great. Professional matters should be handled by professionals. I’ll find out when I get home.”
Wen Jiajia knew how to gather information and didn’t even need to ask Lu Yiyuan directly; Sister Bao could provide the answer.
In the evening, Sister Bao came to collect candy.
“Two kilograms should be enough. I smell beans. Is your family cooking sweet porridge again today?” Wen Jiajia handed over the white sugar to Sister Bao.
Sister Bao accepted the candy and said, “Yes, the greedy people were clamoring for some. My hometown sent me some beans and corn grits, so I cooked sweet porridge for dinner.”
“Oh, by the way, my mother also sent me some embroidery left by my grandma. Do you want to take a look?”
Wen Jiajia was also cooking. She shook her head and said, “Let’s look tomorrow. I need to go to the Li family later.”
“What do you need to see the Li family for?” Sister Bao asked curiously. “Which Li family? There are many people with the last name Li in our army.”
“It’s the Li family whose daughter-in-law recently joined the army. Their children have been complained about several times, and they even came to their doorstep.”
Sister Bao understood. “Li Sunming?”
“Yes, that’s him.”
“What do you want to see him for? He’s not home today.”
Wen Jiajia explained, “I actually want to find his wife, Comrade Lu Yiyuan. I heard Comrade Lu is from Hebei Province, and I want to ask where her home is.”
Sister Bao, being the gossip queen of the family compound, even though she had “retired” and now made lace at home, still had a lot of gossip.
She clapped her hands and said, “Oh, I know about that. His wife is from Wanggang, Hebei Province. Why are you asking?”
Wen Jiajia replied, “Oh, my mother’s family is from Hebei Province, and her accent is somewhat similar to Comrade Lu’s. I wanted to ask.”
Then she showed curiosity and asked, “Sister Bao, how did you know?”
Sister Bao hadn’t talked about gossip for a long time, so she sat down and began recounting. “Didn’t I tell you I used to live in He Province with my husband? Li Sunming was recruited into the army during that time. On my eldest daughter’s birthday one year, she wanted meat, and Li Sunming helped buy some.”
Wen Jiajia paused and asked, “So you also know where Li Sunming is from?”
Sister Bao said, “Hey, you two are from the same place—Wanggang. The conditions there aren’t that great.”
“Wanggang? Where exactly is it?” Wen Jiajia asked.
Sister Bao replied, “Red Star Commune, Xincheng County. I don’t know any more details. I’ve never been there myself.”
Wen Jiajia wrote down the address. She wanted to ask more, but decided against it after hearing what Sister Bao said.
That night
Wen Jiajia made a batch of egg-filled pancakes. Although they didn’t look very appetizing, the two children ate them without raising their heads.
The food at the school gate was still quite appealing, especially with Wen Jiajia’s well-seasoned sauce and added sauced meat. The taste was not bad at all.
However, this kind of food was troublesome to prepare, so Wen Jiajia made just enough for dinner and then stopped. She fried the remaining dough into pancakes and ate them as rolls the next morning.
After the two children finished bathing, Wen Jiajia said, “I’ll be sending you to elementary school in a few months. Are you happy?”
Wen Xuan looked confused. “Aren’t you sending your sister there too?”
“That was the plan at first, but then I thought it would be better if you went together,” Wen Jiajia said, patting the two girls on the shoulders. “After all, you’re only a few months apart, Xuanxuan. You can’t sit still while your sister can’t.”
Wen Xuan pouted. “I can sit still!”
She added that if given candy, she could sit still for the entire morning.
Wen Chun asked hurriedly, “Will Xiao Yi be going too?”
Wen Jiajia replied, “I don’t know. You can ask him yourself tomorrow.”
The two girls were both excited and a little scared.
Wen Chun, in particular, had a dream that night. She ran to Wen Jiajia’s room in the middle of the night and climbed onto her bed. Wen Jiajia was nearly frightened to death. If she hadn’t bit her tongue at the critical moment, she would have screamed.
The next day
Arriving at the hospital early in the morning, Wen Jiajia gave Lin Yunfei the address and handed her a burrito.
“Why do the things you make smell so good?” Lin Yunfei asked, sniffing. The aroma was very appealing.
Wen Jiajia joked, “Just eat it. You even want to know my family’s secret recipe.”
Lin Yunfei responded, “Is there a secret recipe for this? If Mr. Zhang in the cafeteria tried it, he could probably replicate it.”
Lao Zhang, with his golden palate, was known for making the delicious braised pork that Wen Jiajia loved. If he could perfect such a dish, his skills were clearly impressive.
Wen Jiajia had a plan. If she opened a factory in the future, she intended to recruit Lao Zhang to work there.
A month passed quickly.
It was early May, and although the weather wasn’t hot yet, some people on the street were already wearing thin shirts.
Wen Jiajia had a vague sense for the past half month that she might be pregnant.
Specifically, her appetite had been poor. Even with hot and sour noodles and beef pot stickers in front of her, she felt no desire to eat.
Then, she experienced stomach pain and thought it was her period, but it never came.
After another half month, Wen Jiajia was likely sure of her condition and decided to see a doctor.
Saturday evening
Wen Jiajia parked the car carefully, and Wei Dai had already prepared dinner.
Concerned, he asked, “What happened? Why did you come back so late today?”
Wen Jiajia blinked and touched her belly. “Nothing, I just rode a bit slower.”
Wei Dai replied, “You must be hungry. Go eat. What’s wrong? You’re getting thinner and thinner. Is it because of the hot weather making you lose your appetite? Do you want to buy some black plums and tangerine peels? They’re very appetizing when boiled and drunk.”
When Wen Jiajia heard the word “black plums,” her saliva started flowing.
She swallowed and asked, “Where can I buy black plums?”
“You want to eat them? I remember Dr. Zhong at the hospital can make them. Xiao Xue mentioned that when his wife was pregnant and couldn’t eat, he went to Dr. Zhong to buy black plums.”
Wei Dai said this as he served Wen Jiajia a bowl of rice.
Wen Jiajia washed her hands and sat down. The dinner was quite sumptuous, including steamed fish and a plate of fried spicy and sour tofu.
“Wen Chun and Wen Xuan are coming home for dinner,” Wei Dai said, calling to the neighbors next door. “The two kids are at the Xie family’s house. They’ve been playing some kind of classroom game lately. A bunch of kids gather after school, and they take turns being the teacher. It seems quite interesting.”
As he spoke, he smiled.
Sitting down and picking up his bowl, he noticed Jiajia hadn’t moved her chopsticks and urged her, “Eat quickly. Don’t you have an appetite again today?”
Wen Jiajia nodded. “Yeah.”
“What’s going on?”
“I think I’m pregnant.”
Boom—
The bowl in Wei Dai’s hand fell onto the table, spilling some rice.
***
If you’d like to show your appreciation, consider buying me a coffee—it really helps me keep going! 𖹭
Don’t forget to check out more of Vyl’s projects! ۶ৎ
_
✨ For even more, click Vyl’s profile or this link! ⋆. 𐙚 ˚
↓↓↓
Vyl[Translator]
~Thank you soo much for the support! Love yaa~ ⋆.❤︎