Giving Birth 

Lin Miaoyin suddenly felt embarrassed. She put her hands down and raised an eyebrow at him. “Go ahead.” 

Meng Yuanzheng asked her to turn her back to him and gently placed his large hand on her shoulder. 

Compared to the effort she had put into massaging him earlier, it was much easier for him. His palm easily covered her shoulder, and his fingertips gently moved, steadily relaxing her muscles. 

“A little lower,” she instructed comfortably. 

Meng Yuanzheng reached down and pinched the back of her neck, “Here?” 

“Yes, right there. Press harder.” 

He gently massaged it. 

“Didn’t you just eat? Use a bit more strength.” 

He squeezed a bit harder, and there was this loud cracking sound. Meng Yuanzheng froze in fear. Her neck was so slender and fragile in his hands—what if he accidentally broke it? 

Surprisingly, Lin Miaoyin felt relieved. She couldn’t shake the strange discomfort in her neck. Now, with her muscles cracking, it felt much better—like the feeling after waking up and stretching after sleeping for too long. 

She turned back to look at him. “What’s wrong? Keep going.” 

“Mm.” Seeing she was fine, Meng Yuanzheng continued massaging her back, then tried the same method she had used on him to gently massage her head.  

“Can you stop covering my face with your hand?” she said, feeling speechless.  

When she massaged his head earlier, she’d wrapped her arms around it to make it easier. But his hands were so big that they practically covered her entire head, with his fingers even touching her eyelids. 

Meng Yuanzheng felt a little helpless and adjusted his movements a few times until Lin Miaoyin was satisfied before continuing. 

After all that effort, they both went to bed feeling refreshed. 

*** 

The next day, they went to work as usual. Today’s work was to cut the sweet potato vines. 

Sweet potatoes were planted in late April, and by now the vines had spread everywhere. If the vines grew too densely, they competed for nutrients, which prevented the sweet potatoes from growing large. Additionally, the vines had also branched out excessively, so the extra ones had to be cut, leaving only the main vines. 

The young leaves of the cut vines can be used for cooking, while the old leaves can be fed to pigs. 

Meng Yuanzheng’s work today was still the same. Watching him leave with the bucket on his shoulder, Lin Miaoyin grabbed her sickle and a large basket and headed to the fields. 

Cutting sweet potato vines is a very important task. If the main vine is cut accidentally, the sweet potatoes will be ruined. Because of this, the team leader did not dare to let the newly arrived educated youths do it and only allowed them to continue pulling weeds. 

The sweet potato field was on the mountainside, not far from where Meng Yuanzheng and the others were working. 

“Singing a mountain song, one side sings and the other echoes~” Lin Miaoyin hummed cheerfully as she walked up the hill.  

Fortunately, the massage last night helped; although her muscles were a bit sore, it wasn’t too bad.  

This time, there was no division of labor for who was responsible for cutting which piece of vine; it was a collective effort. Her sister-in-law, Cui Fen, was also in the group, so the two worked together.  

Lin Miaoyin placed her large basket nearby, crouched down, and started sorting the tangled sweet potato vines spread across the ground. She separated the main vines from the branch vines and then decided which ones to cut. She didn’t cut all the branch vines; she still left some.  

The cut vines were carefully arranged, with their ends aligned, and placed neatly in the basket. This made it easier to pick out the tender tips and leaves later. 

Cui Fen was worried that her sister-in-law would be as impatient as before, so she accompanied her throughout the whole process and carefully explained how to distinguish and how to cut the vines. 

Lin Miaoyin listened carefully and acted cautiously, without making any mistakes. Cui Fen was very satisfied, and the two talked while cutting. 

They talked about some family matters first, and Cui Fen asked if the two had fought in the past few days. 

Speaking of fighting, this was also a headache for the Lin family. 

When Lin Miaoyin decided to marry Meng Yuanzheng, she had cried and begged, even threatened to jump into a well, forcing her parents to agree. However, after she got married, Meng Yuanzheng’s true colors were revealed. They often quarreled and fought, and she would go back to her parents’ home every time.  

What could Father Lin and Mother Lin do? They would not let their daughter be bullied by outsiders. They had to support her and call Meng Yuanzheng over to give him a lesson, letting him know that if he wanted to live a comfortable life in Houtouwan Brigade, he had to behave himself. 

Meng Yuanzheng was also a man who knew how to handle the situation. He coaxed the girl back home with kind words, but after a few days, they would start fighting again.  

“No, he’s been very well-behaved lately,” Lin Miaoyin answered honestly.  

“Hmm.” Cui Fen paused her work. “That’s not normal. Keep an eye on him. What if he’s pretending to be obedient at home while messing around with someone outside? Don’t let him fool you.” 

Lin Miaoyin pressed her lips together and nodded. “I know.” 

“That reminds me, Father praised him yesterday,” Cui Fen said. 

“Oh? What did he praise him for?” 

Cui Fen looked at her with a complicated expression. “Look at you, the moment you hear Father praised him, you’re smiling like you just found money on the ground.” 

“Oh, I’m not smiling.” Lin Miaoyin put away her smile and pretended to be indifferent. “I’m just curious. Father has never praised him before.” 

“He works better now than before and doesn’t make any mistakes.” Cui Fen said as she cut off a handful of sweet potato vines and removed the rotten leaves. “This is really strange. How come he is willing to work all of a sudden? He’s like a completely different person after falling into the pond.” 

Lin Miaoyin stopped. That’s right, after falling into the pond, he did seem like a different person. 

Wait, he’s a different person… Could it be? 

No, impossible. There couldn’t be such a coincidence. She would rather believe that he fell into the water and that the laziness in his brain was washed away, or that he was scared by the “divorce” and dared not act like a troublemaker again.  

“What are you thinking about?” Cui Fen gave her a little pushed. Lin Miaoyin came back to her senses and didn’t think about it anymore. “It’s nothing. Oh, what day is it today?” 

“It’s Friday. Oh, and that reminds me, the day after tomorrow is the self-criticism meeting for him and Zhang Hui. Make sure you watch him closely so he doesn’t hide that day.” 

“Where is Zhang Hui now?” 

“She went back to the brigade yesterday. The team has already reported her to the police. I heard from mother that she will be assigned to raise pigs in the future.”   

Raising pigs and cattle is considered low-level work. It’s tiring, has low work points, and comes with great responsibility. It’s usually given to people from less favorable backgrounds. 

“You think that if they meet again, and Zhang Hui finds out that she has been given a serious warning while Meng Yuanzheng is fine, will they start fighting?” Cui Fen said, clearly enjoying the situation. 

Lin Miaoyin was silent. If this had been the old Meng Yuanzheng, she’d have happily cheered them on as they fought like dogs. But when she remembered the man who quietly stayed with her while she bathed the night before, she felt a bit of pain in her heart. 

“Mother also told me yesterday that she didn’t know when you two would have a baby.” 

“What?” Lin Miaoyin was stunned. 

“You’ve been married for a few months; isn’t it time to consider having a baby?” Cui Fen, who had been married for just a year and was already a few months pregnant, asked.  

Lin Miaoyin had never thought about this before and felt quite embarrassed. “Isn’t it still too early for that?” 

“What’s too early? If you’re pregnant now, you can give birth next spring, which means you won’t be able to have your confinement period during the hottest season.” Cui Fen looked very disappointed. “Besides, if you have a baby, your husband will care for you more. He’ll realize his responsibility and his heart will be tied to you.” 

Lin Miaoyin thought that if her sister-in-law were in modern times, she would definitely be an expert on relationships. 

Seeing her still in a daze, Cui Fen gave her a gentle pat, “How long has it been since you two last… did that?”  

Authors note:  

Cui Fen: How long has it been since you did that? 

Lin Miaoyin 🫨: I… I can’t remember. 

Cui Fen 😠: You’ve been married just a few months and it’s already like this—either he’s seeing someone outside or something’s wrong with him! 

Meng Yuanzheng: !!! Sister-in-law, please let me explain. 😠

Congratulations to sister-in-law for successfully fighting her way through the crowd of supporting roles and grabbing a scene.