Zeng Hongjie had a wide network and often interacted with office staff and employees, so it was easier for her to gather information.

Jiang Lin smiled and said, “With exams coming up, don’t take this too seriously. It’s not a big deal. Cheng Rushan has already checked with the military district, and there’s no issue with our situation. The school is just not fully informed, and Comrade Sun probably just wants to meet her target.”

Staff members often have specific tasks, such as handling a certain number of cases to meet their goals.

Who gets selected is often random or based on connections.

In the future, the focus of family planning will shift to rural areas.

After all, most people in the city have jobs, and it’s not feasible for them to risk losing their livelihoods for having more children.

If the family planning office fails to meet its targets, it will turn its attention to the countryside.

Jiang Lin didn’t want her friends to get upset or stressed over this, especially since everyone had exams coming up.

She was confident she’d be fine. Clerk Sun wouldn’t dare force her to terminate her pregnancy.

As long as she provided the hospital certificate and a note from Director Feng at the military district, there wouldn’t be any problems.

However, she felt it was important to take some action to ensure that the family planning office enforced the regulations fairly, rather than letting officials make arbitrary decisions.

This way, no one would be unfairly targeted or forced into meeting quotas.

She discussed with her classmates about preparing a letter to the municipal government in the name of their class, presenting their case clearly and persuasively.

Once the letter was finished, classmates willing to support could sign it. With their classmates’ involvement, they could gather several dozen letters with hundreds of signatures.

At that time, university students held significant status, and job placements after graduation often involved some level of leadership.

Therefore, a joint letter from them to the municipal government would definitely have an impact.

Su Xingyun said, “We’re doing what we can to help. I’ll also discuss with the student committee to get other classes involved.”

Jiang Lin said, “Monitor, we need to be careful not to make extreme statements or cause any conflicts. We’re only suggesting ideas in our letter.”

Policies are made by people and enforced by people.

Some people are very rigid and harsh in enforcing rules, while others are stubborn when it comes to following them, leading to conflicts.

History shows that the process of planning was often very forceful, so everyone needs to exercise restraint.

Zeng Hongjie noticed it was getting late and suggested Jiang Lin head home first. She planned to meet with others to discuss and mobilize students through the school newspaper.

In such matters, acting a minute earlier could help people sooner.

They hoped to send out the first batch of suggestions by the next afternoon.

At 5:30 PM, Jiang Min came to find Jiang Lin.

With Cheng Rushan away, she stayed for the night to see Xiao Meng and Xiao Jun and keep Jiang Lin company.

Jiang Min adapted well to her studies and was managing fine, but she started late, so she had to work hard.

She relied on intense studying to handle memorization and comprehension.

She got up at 4 AM every day and studied under the streetlight until lights out, getting at most four hours of sleep.

She had lost weight since coming back.

Yan Runzhi was concerned and often made extra food for Jiang Min, which was sent to her via public transport when they went to the theater.

Jiang Min was deeply moved and worked even harder to study, wanting to live up to her family’s support.

Jiang Lin said goodbye to her classmates and went with Jiang Min to take the bus.

Jiang Min looked at her and asked, “Linlin, are you feeling unwell?”

Jiang Lin replied, “I don’t know what’s wrong. I started throwing up today.”

Jiang Min said, “It happens. I don’t remember the exact details from my first pregnancy, but the second time wasn’t as bad. Since this is your second child, it shouldn’t be too difficult.”

They talked about the upcoming final exams and their revision progress while on the bus.

Jiang Lin checked Jiang Min’s progress and was impressed. “Sis, you’ve picked it up so quickly in such a short time. That’s amazing!”

Jiang Min smiled. “I didn’t completely abandon studying while at the farm. I often read books.” At the farm, she was responsible for accounts, so once she got the hang of things, it became easier.

She also discussed the family planning issue at school with Jiang Lin.

Since their school had special classes, it was quite obvious when someone from the old three classes was pregnant.

“There were also cases where they were pressured to have abortions, saying that not supporting the policy would affect graduation and job placements. Some classmates complied. Others, who couldn’t manage, ended up aborting because they felt it was requested. There were also those who refused and were continuously persuaded.”

Jiang Lin instinctively touched her small belly.

Being pregnant felt magical, and she found herself feeling a gentle motherly love, wanting to care for her baby unconditionally.

Even hearing about other children being harmed made her upset.

Especially hearing about those who didn’t want to terminate their pregnancies but were forced to, made her heartache.

So, they had to write that letter, and it needed to be done quickly.

If they could help even one person, it would be worth the effort.

Jiang Min was relieved that Cheng Rushan was competent, as it meant Jiang Lin wouldn’t face trouble.

Otherwise, who knew what might have happened?

With people chatting together, the journey was not boring, and before they knew it, they had arrived at their stop.

Wensheng was waiting at the station with a bunch of small radishes.

Seeing them get off, the children gathered around to greet them. Wen Sheng took Jiang Lin’s backpack, and they all headed home together.

On the way, Jiang Min asked if Xiao Jun had been misbehaving.

Dabao said, “Don’t worry, Auntie. The little brother is behaving now.”

Of course, “behaving” wasn’t entirely accurate.

Xiao Jun’s stubbornness, after being spoiled by his grandmother for six years, couldn’t be changed in just twenty days.

However, Dabao saw progress and wanted to praise him, giving Xiao Jun a bit of face so he wouldn’t be embarrassed.

Xiaobao just laughed.

He knew that crying and throwing tantrums wouldn’t work; if he misbehaved, he wouldn’t get any snacks and no one would play with him.

Now, Xiao Jun was most afraid of Dabao and listened to him the most, wanting to stick with him every moment.

Unfortunately, Dabao wouldn’t let him stay close all the time.

He required Xiao Jun to reflect on his mistakes at home and strive to correct them.

Dabao applied the school teachers’ techniques for disciplining naughty children to Xiao Jun.

Interestingly, Xiao Jun accepted these lessons better from Dabao than from teachers or family members.

Seeing Dabao stand up for him, Xiao Jun felt a strange sense of pride and puffed out his chest, saying, “Mom, don’t worry, I’m very good now. I haven’t bullied my sister for days.”

Xiao Jun nodded vigorously, “I don’t bully her when I come to Auntie’s house.”

Though he still tried to bully occasionally, Dabao and Xiaobao were always around to stop him, so Xiao Jun mostly just made a fuss and said mean things to Xiao Meng.

But after those incidents, Dabao’s punishments would follow.

Xiao Jun found that scolding Xiao Meng only led to him getting punished, so recently he had been trying to control his temper and avoid upsetting Xiao Meng.

In the past, he couldn’t have held back for even a second.

Seeing Xiao Meng so relaxed and Xiao Jun behaving well made Jiang Min very happy and grateful.

She felt that her decision had been the right one, and seeing her children like this made everything worth it.

Xiaobao held Jiang Lin’s hand and asked, “Linlin, are you tired from studying?”

Jiang Lin smiled, “Not really. Auntie, you’re the one who’s tired. You have to study for a whole year in just one month; that’s really exhausting.”

The children complimented Jiang Min when they arrived home.

At home, Yan Runzhi and others had already prepared the meal, and they were washing their hands to get ready to eat.

He Liang and others were at work and wouldn’t be back for dinner, so it was just their family eating together.

Yan Runzhi noticed Jiang Lin was only eating pickles and steamed buns and wasn’t touching the meat.

She asked, “Bao’er’s mother, is the food not to your liking?”

She had specially bought pork bones, made winter melon bone soup, and added some bamboo shoots for extra flavor.

The soup had a golden layer of floating oil, making it look both appetizing and delicious.

Jiang Lin didn’t hide it, “I don’t know what’s going on, but I started feeling nauseous today.”

Especially the smell of fish and the greasy smell of meat made her feel uncomfortable.

It felt like such a waste to vomit such good food.

Anyway, she could fill up on other things, and once the nausea passed, she’d be able to eat normally again.

It wouldn’t affect her nutrition.

Xiao Meng and Xiao Jun thought Jiang Lin was feeling like them.

Xiao Meng even gave Jiang Lin some advice, describing her own feelings.

Jiang Lin smiled, “Xiao Meng is so sweet. Auntie is fine, just can’t eat greasy food for now. It will get better soon. You need to eat well too.”

Xiao Meng nodded and took a big bite of rice.

Yan Runzhi said, “Da Bao, Xiao Bao, look at how hard your mother is working. You should take good care of her in the future.”

Wen Sheng and the children felt heartbroken when they heard that Jiang Lin couldn’t eat meat because she felt unwell.

She used to love eating the meat cooked by her grandmother, and now not eating it must be really hard for her.

None of them felt like eating meat.

Seeing their concern, Jiang Lin laughed and said, “Mommy is fine. I ate too much at lunch in the cafeteria, so I can’t eat much tonight.” She didn’t want the children to worry about her.

Yan Runzhi got up, put a small pot on the stove, and when the water boiled, she added a few drops of oil, then threw in some cleaned baby greens.

She also added some thin rice noodles and a few frozen shrimp.

After cooking, the vegetables were crisp and green, with a sweet taste and no grease, making it very appetizing.

In the provincial capital, winter didn’t have such greens, which were transported from the south along the canal and sold only in limited state-run markets.

Another portion was sent to the military district, and the price wasn’t cheap.

Winter’s small bok choy is tastier than summer’s—tender and sweet, so even though it’s expensive, it sells out quickly.

Yan Runzhi also managed to get some to give Jiang Lin a change of flavor.

“Bao’er’s mother, would you like some soy sauce?”

Jiang Lin replied, “Mom, I’d like some chili sauce.” Recently, she’s been craving something with a strong flavor, and she’s been very tempted.

Yan Runzhi served it with a cloth underneath, saying, “This is not greasy and very refreshing. Eat more, Bao’er’s mother.”

The spicy sauce with a hint of sweetness was delicious, and Jiang Lin enjoyed it so much that the kids thought the bok choy was the most delicious.

After dinner, Yan Runzhi asked the kids to listen to the radio or read stories with Cheng Yunzhi and not disturb Jiang Lin.

Jiang Min also spent some time with the children, reading them stories.

Dabao and Xiaobao were obsessed with stories to the point of addiction.

The books Jiang Lin borrowed from the library were not enough for them, and she even borrowed some old ghost stories that hadn’t been destroyed yet.

Since the books were in classical Chinese and hard to understand, usually Cheng Yunzhi read them.

Today, with Jiang Min around, she took over reading and explaining them.

Jiang Lin put the hospital check-up report and the military political office’s note into her bag, planning to show them to Sun Gan Shi at school tomorrow.

She wanted to avoid Sun Gan Shi using the situation to pressure Liu Laoshi and affect his work.

Since Cheng Rushan wasn’t home, she didn’t mention it to Yan Runzhi or the others to avoid worrying them.

Yan Runzhi made a sweet potato soup for everyone, and Jiang Lin had a bowl as well.