Chapter 61
Ye Qingzhi had not expected that after sending two letters in a row, Zhang Xianjuan would send a third one.
There was less than a week in between, which meant that Zhang Xianjuan’s situation was very urgent.
“Whose letter?” He Qiming asked, seeing the letter in Ye Qingzhi’s hand when he came home.
“Who else could it be but Zhang Xianjuan? I think she’s just grasping at straws. You haven’t even replied, and she’s still writing to you,” Ye Qingzhi said, shaking the letter.
It had to be said, Zhang Xianjuan’s shamelessness was something Ye Qingzhi had never seen in her life.
“It’s her again?” He Qiming asked, taking the letter and glancing at it. It was about the same as the previous two, both asking him to help her younger brother-in-law for Jingyan’s sake.
No, wait. This letter didn’t even ask about Jingyan. How could she have the nerve to ask him to do it for Jingyan’s sake?
He Qiming directly put the letter at the bottom of a box. He would still not reply. He could not get involved with this kind of person.
“We’re fine, but I’m afraid she’ll come looking for Jingyan in the future,” Ye Qingzhi said with a worried look.
He Jingyan was already a thoughtful person. If Zhang Xianjuan were to look for him in the future for the sake of her remarried children, he would definitely be very sad.
“Don’t worry. With me and Old Lin and these old comrades around, we won’t let Zhang Xianjuan bully Jingyan,” He Qiming said, a fierce glint in his eyes.
He had already agreed with Zhang Xianjuan back then that he would adopt Jingyan, and from then on, he would have no relationship with her. She could not come looking for Jingyan. If she dared to go back on her word, he had ways to deal with her.
Well, Jingyan is still young. It will be more than ten years before he grows up. We’ll talk about it then.
Ye Qingzhi stopped thinking about Zhang Xianjuan. She was going to pick vegetables, so they wouldn’t get old.
The front and back yards added up to two or three hundred square meters. Every corner had been utilized by Ye Qingzhi. Now, with green beans, cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, and pumpkins, she could pick a lot every day. Even with a large family, they couldn’t finish it all.
Yang Xiaorou, Zhang Shuhua, and the others didn’t know how to grow vegetables. They only planted some green onions and peppers in their yards. Ye Qingzhi would give them some. The rest she would either dry or pickle.
“Oh my, Qingzhi, you’re giving me some again? It’s not easy for you to grow vegetables. I’m so embarrassed,” Zhang Shuhua said with a smile, taking a bottle gourd and a handful of beans.
“It’s just some vegetables I grew myself. Don’t mind that it’s not much,” Ye Qingzhi said, exchanging a few polite words with her, then turned and went directly into Yang Xiaorou’s house.
She gave more to Yang Xiaorou. Cucumbers, eggplants, tomatoes, and so on, she gave her a little of everything.
“My god, Qingzhi, are so many vegetables ripe again? Don’t pick them for me next time,” Yang Xiaorou said before Ye Qingzhi could speak. She continued, “I want to pick them myself.”
She didn’t like to grow vegetables, but she liked the joy of picking them.
“Alright. After you’ve finished these, you can come to my house and pick them yourself,” Ye Qingzhi said with a smile.
Yang Xiaorou was so happy she wanted to kiss Ye Qingzhi but was blocked by her hand. “I’m going back now. When Meiduo’s family is going to slaughter a cow, remember to help me buy a few catties of beef.”
“I know. I’ll forget anyone but you,” Yang Xiaorou nodded.
In the blink of an eye, it was already July. The sun in the Northwest was very harsh, but as long as you were not exposed to it, it was very cool. Therefore, Ye Qingzhi was even more reluctant to go out.
Today was different. Today was the children’s final exam. Ye Qingzhi planned to take them to school.
“You just have to perform normally today. Don’t be nervous. Be sure to check your papers carefully after you’ve finished,” Ye Qingzhi said, patting their backs and gently pushing them into the school.
“Yes, I know,” He Jingyan nodded.
“Ma, don’t worry. I’ll do well on the exam,” Ye Anmin said with a warm smile.
Ye Anjie was in preschool. Although there was an exam, it was just a formality. But Ye Qingzhi still encouraged him very seriously.
“Ma, don’t worry. I’ll definitely get a perfect score,” Ye Anjie said, raising his chin confidently.
Looking at the three children’s backs, Ye Qingzhi looked up at the sky. The sun was getting bigger and bigger. She had to go back early.
“Sister Qingzhi, are you taking your children to school?” Cao Liya asked with a smile when she saw Ye Qingzhi.
“Yes. Are you going to work or just getting off?” Ye Qingzhi asked, glancing at Cao Liya’s belly. It was only a little over three months, so you couldn’t tell anything.
“I’m going to work. I’m not on the night shift now. I’ll resume the night shift after the child is born,” Cao Liya said, touching her belly with a happy smile.
“You have a child now. It’s best not to work the night shift,” Ye Qingzhi said. She walked with her for four or five hundred meters and they parted at this intersection. “Then you go to work. Be careful on the road.”
“Thank you,” Cao Liya said, thanking Ye Qingzhi for her kindness. Not long after she left, she ran into Zeng Huijun standing there. She smiled and greeted her. Just as she was about to leave, she was unexpectedly called back by her.
“Nurse Cao, I was just about to go to the hospital. Let’s go together,” Zeng Huijun said, glancing at Cao Liya’s belly and asking with a smile, “How do you feel being pregnant? I heard it’s very uncomfortable in the early stages.”
Cao Liya looked at her in confusion but still told her how she felt.
Her reaction was not big. Besides being a little nauseous when she brushed her teeth in the morning, she didn’t feel anything at other times. She could eat and sleep, so in just over three months, she had already gained several catties. She had been controlling her appetite these few days, so that she wouldn’t be too fat and hard to lose weight later.
Zeng Huijun looked at her with envy. “That’s great. I can’t eat anything now.”
Cao Liya was taken aback for a moment. “Are you pregnant?”
“What, what? Who’s pregnant?” Sun Cailian popped out from somewhere, startling both Cao Liya and the other woman.
Zeng Huijun quickly explained, “No, no, I’m not sure. It’s just that my period is late, and my reaction these few days is a bit like pregnancy. I was just about to go to the hospital for a check-up.”
She had not expected Sun Cailian to be nearby. Now that Sun Cailian had heard it, if she wasn’t pregnant, wouldn’t she be laughed at by the military wives in the military compound?
Zeng Huijun frowned in annoyance and quickened her pace, hoping that she was really pregnant and not a false alarm.
“Hey, why are you walking so fast?” Sun Cailian asked, her eyes darting around. She turned and ran towards the family compound.
Meanwhile, not long after Ye Qingzhi got home, Li Jinfeng came to find her, her big belly moving with great strides.
“Big news! Zeng Huijun is pregnant!”
Ye Qingzhi didn’t even hear what she was saying. She quickly helped her to sit down first. “Big Sister, you’re pregnant. You could give birth at any time. Can you not run around?” She poured her a glass of warm boiled water and then asked, “What did you just say?”
“I said Zeng Huijun is pregnant. Tsk, tsk, now that she’s pregnant, it means that Regiment Commander Xu definitely has no problem. Then all the pressure is on Bai Xue,” Li Jinfeng said with some excitement.
Zeng Huijun is pregnant?
She and Xu Kaisheng had been married for half a year. Both of them were healthy. Without contraception, it seemed normal to get pregnant.
Bai Xue had gotten her marriage certificate on the same day as them. Now that Zeng Huijun was pregnant, Bai Xue’s pressure would indeed be great.
“How do you know?” Ye Qingzhi asked, looking at Li Jinfeng’s big belly. Where had she been visiting again?
“Sun Cailian heard Zeng Huijun say it herself. She’s at the hospital for a check-up now. Oh my, something’s wrong. Qingzhi, my belly is getting hard. I think I’m about to give birth,” Li Jinfeng said. Halfway through, she suddenly felt her belly start to contract and harden.
“What? Then let’s go to the hospital quickly,” Ye Qingzhi said, jumping up with a whoosh.
Li Jinfeng held Ye Qingzhi’s hand, much calmer than her. “You’ve already had two children. What are you panicking for? It’s still early before the birth. You can go home and take a shower with me first. It’s a good thing I washed my hair yesterday.”
She had two biological children, but neither of them were born by her. Although she had the memories, Ye Qingzhi was still very panicked.
“Alright, I’ll help you,” Ye Qingzhi said, helping Li Jinfeng out. She happened to run into Zhang Shuhua. “Sister Shuhua, are you going back? If Xiaorou is at home, please help me tell her that Sister Jinfeng is about to give birth and ask her to come and help.”
“Is Jinfeng about to give birth? Has her water broken?” Hearing that her water had not broken, Zhang Shuhua breathed a sigh of relief. “Then it’s still early. Alright, I’ll help you pass the message to Xiaorou.”
Li Jinfeng was very calm. She went home, took her clothes, and went to the bathroom to take a shower, not even wanting Ye Qingzhi to accompany her.
But Ye Qingzhi was worried and stood guard at the bathroom door.
“Qingzhi, I heard Jinfeng is about to give birth,” Yang Xiaorou and Gu Yao said, rushing over. They looked around but did not see Li Jinfeng. They looked at her in confusion. “Where’s Jinfeng?”
Ye Qingzhi tilted her chin towards the bathroom. “Here, she’s in there taking a shower.”
Gu Yao teased with a smile, “As expected of someone giving birth to her fifth child. Don’t worry, Jinfeng has experience. But what about that Zeng Huijun, Qingzhi, have you heard?”
“Are you talking about her being pregnant? I just heard it from Sister Jinfeng,” Ye Qingzhi said, touching Yang Xiaorou. “Does Bai Xue know?”
“With that big mouth Sun Cailian around, everyone in the entire family compound knows. How could Bai Xue not know?” Yang Xiaorou had also seen Bai Xue’s red eyes, as if she had been hit hard.
Some people were really mean. They even specially asked Bai Xue if she was pregnant, which made Bai Xue so angry her tears almost fell.
“If Zeng Huijun is really pregnant, then there will be even more people pointing fingers at Bai Xue,” Yang Xiaorou said with some worry.
As they were talking, Li Jinfeng came out from her shower, saying with a grin that it was a good thing it was summer. If it were winter, with such a big belly, she wouldn’t even be able to put on her pants.
“I was worried before that it would be too hot to have a baby in the summer, but it turns out that the summer in the Northwest is so cool. I should have had my previous children in the Northwest too,” she said. She didn’t have to work in the fields here. Life was much more relaxed and free than back home.
“Jinfeng, what about your confinement? Is your mother-in-law coming, or your own mother?” Gu Yao asked, helping Li Jinfeng towards the hospital.
Li Jinfeng had wrapped a silk scarf around her head and said with a smile, “My mother-in-law is coming. Counting the days, she should be here in a few days.”
Halfway there, Li Jinfeng’s contractions became more and more intense. Ye Qingzhi, Gu Yao, and the others almost couldn’t support her. Fortunately, Li Hanxing heard the news and rushed over.
After stopping and starting, they finally arrived at the hospital. After the doctor’s examination, she was already seven centimeters dilated. They took her directly into the delivery room.
“Why am I more nervous watching someone else give birth than when I was giving birth myself?” Yang Xiaorou asked, pacing back and forth outside the delivery room.
“Stop pacing. You’re making my head spin,” Ye Qingzhi said, pulling Yang Xiaorou to sit down. From the corner of her eye, she saw Zeng Huijun walk past in the corridor. Seeing her happy expression, she knew that she must really be pregnant.
Yang Xiaorou followed Ye Qingzhi’s gaze and also saw Zeng Huijun. “From her appearance, could it be that she’s really pregnant?”
“Definitely,” Ye Qingzhi said, pulling Yang Xiaorou. “Don’t keep staring at her. They’ve been married for more than half a year. It’s normal to get pregnant.”
Yang Xiaorou withdrew her gaze. It was normal for her and Xu Kaisheng, but Bai Xue was completely confirmed to be infertile.
After about two more hours, Li Jinfeng finally gave birth to her fifth child, a very cute little girl.
When she learned it was a girl, her tears immediately fell. She looked at Li Hanxing and said in a choked voice, “I’m sorry.”
“What’s there to be sorry about? A daughter is also good. Look, our little fifth is so cute,” Li Hanxing said. It was impossible for him not to be disappointed, but Li Jinfeng had just worked hard to give birth, and with Ye Qingzhi and the others watching from the side, he had to comfort her first.
“Jinfeng, you’ve just given birth. You can’t cry. It’s fine. As long as you can have children, you don’t have to worry about not having a son,” Gu Yao said, patting Li Jinfeng’s hand and comforting her.
Li Jinfeng nodded, her eyes red. That’s right. If this one wasn’t, she would just have another one. She didn’t believe that if she kept having children, she wouldn’t be able to have a son.
Looking at the fierce fighting spirit in Li Jinfeng’s eyes, Ye Qingzhi and Yang Xiaorou exchanged a look.
“Jinfeng, you must be hungry. I’ll make you some brown sugar eggs,” Gu Yao said, worried that Li Hanxing wouldn’t know.
“No need. Let Hanxing do it. I’ve taught him,” Li Jinfeng said, shaking her head.
“Yes, you don’t have to worry. I can take good care of Jinfeng,” Li Hanxing said with a smile, holding the child.
On the way back, Yang Xiaorou sighed with emotion. “Zeng Huijun is pregnant, and even Su Mengwan, who got married in May this year, is pregnant. I wonder how aggrieved Bai Xue must be in her heart.”
Su Mengwan. She hadn’t heard her name in a long time and had almost forgotten her existence.
She’s pregnant? Then is the child in her belly the female lead, Su Nuan?