Ning Shu said, “She’s pregnant and needs help now. If we go over there, won’t we just be offering ourselves up as free labor?

In my opinion, not only should we not go, but if it were me, I’d want to leave for a bit.

As for the children being upset, we can discuss how to handle that later.”

He Jiaxing’s mom and Yang Wenjie’s mom thought about it and found her suggestion quite reasonable.

Indeed, it wasn’t appropriate for them to go over now.

Meanwhile, next door, Wang Yuhong had calmed down after muttering to herself earlier.

However, standing around wasn’t helping.

Her house still needed cleaning, and since the neighboring kids had promised to help, she decided to go find her neighbor.

Supporting her pregnant belly, Wang Yuhong went next door.

“Sister-in-law… are you there?” she called out.

Just as Ning Shu and the others had started conversing, they heard Wang Yuhong’s voice.

He Jiaxing’s mom and Yang Wenjie’s mom didn’t recognize Wang Yuhong’s voice, but Ning Shu did.

She quickly said, “The neighbor’s family member is here. I’m pretending to be unwell and faint. Could you take me to the clinic?”

Understanding Ning Shu’s hint, the two immediately supported Ning Shu and walked her outside.

They met Wang Yuhong at the door.

Seeing Ning Shu being helped by the two with her eyes closed, Wang Yuhong was puzzled.

She stepped aside and asked, “What’s happened?” At that moment, she could only ask, unable to mention asking Ning Shu for help with cleaning.

He Jiaxing’s mom looked at Wang Yuhong’s delicate face and gentle voice, thinking she appeared refined and couldn’t have imagined her talking behind the children’s backs.

She responded coolly, “We came to find Ning Shu, but found her fainting inside. Since no one else is here, we need to take her to the clinic. We’ll talk later.”

Assuming the cool response was due to concern for Ning Shu, Wang Yuhong didn’t think much more about it.

She could only watch as they left, unable to say anything.

What about her own house?

After thinking for a moment, she decided to check if anyone was at another neighbor’s house.

With that in mind, Wang Yuhong went to Wang Yingchang’s house across from Lin’s.

“Excuse me, is anyone there… Is anyone there?” Wang Yuhong called out several times without a response.

She walked inside to ask another family.

Meanwhile, He Jiaxing’s mom and Yang Wenjie’s mom supported Ning Shu out of the alley, and the three breathed a sigh of relief.

He Jiaxing’s mom said, “Why do I feel like this is a scene from a great escape movie? I’m more nervous than when the Japanese invaded the village in those films.”

Yang Wenjie’s mother smiled and said, “The main thing is, they have a pregnant woman at home, and her husband is hospitalized due to a mission. We should avoid getting involved.”

Anything related to pregnancy or an injured person, no matter how justified you are, might seem unjustified to others.

Ning Shu replied, “Exactly… Oh right, Guodong from my family went to buy a water bucket and wooden basin for her. I need to wait for him at the door. If he comes back home later and people ask him to do this or that, he won’t easily refuse.”

“You can’t say no to letting him help,” said He Jiaxing’s mother. “These big men like Guodong value their comrades. If a comrade’s family is in need, he’ll definitely help. You need to think of a reason.” Normally, helping wouldn’t be a big deal, but after hearing Ning Shu’s description, she felt that woman wasn’t normal.

Ning Shu nodded, “Got it, thanks for the reminder.”

Knowing Guodong’s personality, no matter what Wang Yuhong did, he would help out for the sake of her husband.

Of course, there’s nothing wrong with Guodong helping out.

But she wasn’t willing, because she had said a few things about some kids.

After Ning Shu and the others parted ways, she went to the guard post gate.

Although she didn’t know where Guodong was, she just waited at the gate.

As a result, before she even reached the guard post, she saw Guodong pushing his bicycle with three kids beside him, chattering away.

It turned out the three kids were also waiting for him at the guard post gate.

“Mom… Mom… ” The three kids were talking to their dad about cleaning up, pouting angrily with their little mouths.

They were so angry, wanting dad to know how wronged they felt, but then they saw mom walking over this way.

“M… Mom… ” Sanbao left his brother and dad and ran toward their mom.

Ning Shu caught the Sanbao in her arms and said to Guodong as he walked in, “I remember my period is about to come this month.

The pads I had earlier are not good anymore, so I threw them away.

What’s left won’t be enough when my period comes.

Luckily, you’re off today. I don’t want to ride a bicycle. Can you take me to town to buy some?”

Guodong didn’t think much about it, “Sure, but it’s hot now. Go home and rest. I’ll go alone to buy. Give me the money and the ticket.”

Ning Shu rushed over in a hurry.

Where would she have the money and the ticket? Besides, this was all a spur-of-the-moment plan.

How could she have thought about so much?

Moreover, she wasn’t really going to buy anything.

She said, “I’ll go too, and I’ll take a look at the department store to see if there are any new clothes.”

Hearing her say this, Guodong didn’t say anything more, “Okay, I’ll go deliver the water bucket and wooden basin to Neighbors next door. Will you wait for me here or at home?”

Ning Shu replied, “Let the three kids carry the water bucket and wooden basin back home.”

Yibao said, “Dad, we can carry it.”

Erbao continued “Mom, we don’t need help. I can carry a water bucket by myself. I’m really strong.”

Sanbao said, “I can carry the wooden basin too.”

All three brothers offered.

Hearing the children all saying this, Guodong naturally didn’t say anything more.

“Alright then,” he unloaded the water bucket and wooden basin from his bicycle.

Ning Shu told the three children, “We’re leaving now. Hurry back home, especially on such a hot day. No going outside, no playing with water… Understand?”

She reminded them.

Yibao, Erbao and Sanbao nodded, “Got it.”

Watching their parents leave, they carried the water bucket and wooden basin back home like diligent little bees.

Back at home, the three brothers were already panting.

They set down the bucket and basin, then quickly drank cold water.

They breathed heavily for a while before feeling a bit cooler.

With their parents gone, the three brothers were free at home.

Erbao asked, “Brother, should we go next door to check?”

After all, they had only cleaned half of the place, which was like an unfinished task, and Erbao was still thinking about it.

Yibao asked, “You still want to clean?”

Erbao shook his head immediately, “No, no, I just want to sneak a peek at the door.”

Yibao said, “Okay, go ahead then.”

“Yeah!” Erbao immediately ran out again.

Sanbao looked at Yibao, then at Erbao, and followed Erbao out.

Seeing this, Yibao also joined them.

After all, as an eight-year-old, how could he not be curious when his two younger brothers went out?

The three brothers quietly peeked into the next-door house and saw a woman cleaning inside, while the aunt sat and watched.

Erbao whispered, “Bro, the bucket has water in it.”

Yibao also whispered, “But this isn’t our bucket. Our bucket is over there.”

The color of the wood was different due to age.

Moreover, if carried on a shoulder pole, the bucket needed to be tied with a rope, but the rope on this bucket with water was different from the one used by the Lin family.

“Yeah, whose bucket is this?” Erbao casually asked.

“I don’t know,” Yibao replied.

Just then, a man’s voice came from behind them, “Kids, what are you doing here?”

The sudden voice startled the three brothers, and they immediately ran into the next-door house.

At the same time, the voice alerted Wang Yuhong inside.

She turned to look outside but didn’t see anyone.

She got up to go out and see.

After taking two steps, she saw a male soldier coming with two lunch boxes.

“I’m sorry, sister-in-law, I’m late. I went to the canteen for food, but they had finished serving. Then I bothered the sister-in-law of our company commander to make some noodles. It took some time.”

This soldier was from the same company as Vice Captain Li.

He had gone to the train station earlier today to pick up Wang Yuhong and then went to the hospital to check on Vice Captain Li.

Since they didn’t have tickets on them, they couldn’t eat outside, so they returned to the barracks canteen.

As it turned out, when the soldier went to the cafeteria to get food, it was already past the serving time and there was nothing left.

Considering that Captain Li’s wife was pregnant, the soldier had no choice but to shamelessly go to Captain Li’s house to ask.

Captain Li’s wife then prepared a fresh meal for him.

“It’s no trouble at all. Thank you so much. Would you like to eat together?” Wang Yuhong expressed her gratitude while opening the lunchbox.

When she saw noodles inside, her eyes lit up.

Not only were there noodles, but also eggs. Were rations this good for outsiders?

Wang Yuhong couldn’t help but feel resourceful.

Actually, she didn’t eat out for lunch not because she lacked money or a ticket.

Her mother-in-law always gave her money and a ticket whenever she went out, although not much, it was enough to get by.