Chapter 27: Chapter 29: Pregnant
Seeing the dazed look on her husband’s face, she knew he hadn’t understood what the young ones meant. ’Oh well,’ she thought. ’With the kids and me protecting him, no one would dare bully my man anyway.’
She took the cured meat from the basket. A glance told her it was over three pounds. ’Looks like this niece-in-law acts just like her nephew,’ she mused. ’They’re both the type to return a foot of kindness for an inch received.’ ’Hmm, two pounds for Eldest Sister-in-law and Mother-in-law each, one for Second Sister-in-law, and three pounds for my own family... The extra pound must be the result of her and Li Miao being so fiercely protective today.’
Seeing her son still laughing nonstop, the Third Aunt chuckled as well. ’They must be happy for their cousin, marrying such a good wife and finally able to live a proper life.’ "Alright, now," she said. "Your big brother knows what he’s doing. Just look at how your sister-in-law handles things—she’s generous, reasonable, and not one to be taken advantage of. You all know what happened today. Go get Li Hua and the others and discuss it with your big brother. That Sun family is also fiercely protective of their own, so you’d better be careful."
Li Guo scoffed. "Protect their own? My ass. It’s just Sun Er’s bunch of brats. Who else would protect that loudmouthed shrew?" Li Gui shot Li Guo a glare. ’Just listen to what Mom says. Why are you making all those faces?’
"Let’s eat. Sister-in-law gave us this cured meat. Mom will cook some tonight to help Dad and our brother get their strength back," Li Gui said, getting up to prepare lunch. ’Why overthink it?’ she thought. ’It’s not like the Li family is helpless. We’re not going to let our sister-in-law be wronged.’
Li Xiu only found out that his wife had given meat to all the elders after he came home from work. He just smiled without saying anything. ’It’s fine for my wife to be in charge of household matters. All I have to do is make sure she isn’t wronged.’
He ate the meal his wife had prepared with deep satisfaction. There was cured meat stir-fried with garlic sprouts, salted fish stewed with eggplant, egg and luffa soup, a plate of pickled mountain peppers and bamboo shoots, and freshly made scallion pancakes. ’She must be worried the heavy work is taking a toll on my body.’ He picked up a piece of cured meat with his chopsticks and placed it in her bowl, smiling. "Darling, eat some more."
Zhou Lian paused. "Can you please not call me ’darling’?" Every time he called her that, she got goosebumps. They had been husband and wife for two lifetimes, and even when they were at their most intimate right after getting married in their past life, he had never called her ’darling’.
"Why not? You are my darling," Li Xiu said, lowering his head to hide a smile. ’She’s just shy. It’s fine, I don’t call her that in public.’ ’She’s told me several times already, but she still hasn’t given up hope, huh? She’ll just have to get used to it slowly. It’ll be fine once she’s used to it. Besides, she’s lived a whole extra lifetime. Why is she still so shy!’
Zhou Lian took a deep breath. ’Forget it. He’s always been this stubborn. Let him call me what he wants. It’s not like I can tape his mouth shut!’
"What do you think about me giving away the meat?" Zhou Lian asked. She had told him about it as soon as he got back, but he hadn’t given her a clear response yet.
"Darling, you’re the one in charge of this family. You have the final say on household matters. As long as you don’t let anyone bully you, you can do whatever you want. Your husband is here to handle the difficult things. Just don’t let yourself be wronged!"
Li Xiu said it nonchalantly. ’My darling is just too well-behaved. What’s the big deal? If it were up to me, I wouldn’t have sent anything to the old family home at all. Still, what she did was satisfying. The family elders have no grounds for complaint, and those at the old house will probably be too angry to eat. In our last life, my wife sent them plenty of things, but it was all wasted on a bunch of ungrateful wolves.’
"Oh, right. Don’t worry about what happened this morning. Your husband will definitely give you a proper resolution for it," Li Xiu promised his wife. ’A new bride is sensitive, and it’s not good for her to get involved in all the village drama. In our last life, she suffered so much because of things like this. This life... heh. If I let my wife be wronged again, it would be a waste of me having lived a second time.’
"Alright. Just don’t go too far and give her a chance to turn it back on us," Zhou Lian said as she ladled a bowl of egg soup for him. ’I guess I am a little touched. This man really treasures me now.’ Li Xiu sipped the soup blissfully. ’I knew it, my wife is soft-hearted. Soon, very soon, she’ll come to love me again.’
Spring plowing was over, and spring planting was about to begin. Li Xiu went to the team leader and arranged for his wife to have a seed-planting job.
Planting seeds only earned 8 work points a day, and it was usually a job for teenagers and the elderly. Li Xiu didn’t care about the work points; he was just worried about tiring out his wife.
In truth, the work wasn’t easy either, requiring one to be bent over planting seeds all day. But the other jobs were even more tiring. Right now, you couldn’t even take leave and skip work. Li Xiu’s heart ached for his wife, but he couldn’t push her into the spotlight of public opinion. The land hadn’t been contracted out to individual households yet. In another two years, once the household responsibility system was in place, it would be better. Then, even if his wife didn’t work in the fields for a whole year, no one would care. At most, people would just say he doted on his wife!
Li Xiu cooked dinner all throughout the spring. He couldn’t bear the thought of his wife having to work in the kitchen after a long day in the fields. While everyone else grew thin and tan from the exhausting spring work, Zhou Lian only got a little tanner. Far from losing weight, she had actually been fattened up a bit by Li Xiu.
By April, Li Xiu became even more attentive. ’Our daughter should be in my wife’s belly by now.’
Sure enough, one morning at the end of April, Zhou Lian felt nauseous and couldn’t eat. Li Xiu was worried sick, asking her again and again what was wrong and if there was anything she wanted to eat.
Zhou Lian was stunned for a long moment before tears started to fall. ’This is my daughter, isn’t it? I’m pregnant with my daughter.’
Seeing her cry, Li Xiu’s heart ached, and he pulled her into his arms. He knew she was crying from excitement. ’My wife treats our two children as her entire life.’ But he had to pretend he didn’t know, so he just kept comforting her, "Darling, don’t cry. Tell your husband what’s wrong. Don’t cry. Where does it hurt?"
"Li Xiu, Li Xiu, I’m pregnant! I’m pregnant!" Zhou Lian cried out excitedly. ’My period always comes at the beginning of the month, but it hasn’t come since we got married. Our daughter was born on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month. I must have gotten pregnant right after the wedding. How could I have overlooked that? How could I have forgotten something so important? I almost forgot about the daughter I’ve been longing for!’
"Pregnant? Pregnant with what? A baby... you’re pregnant! Right, your period hasn’t come! You must have gotten pregnant right after we married!"
Li Xiu could finally show his excitement. ’My daughter, my precious daughter!’ He hugged Zhou Lian tightly, burying his face in her hair so she wouldn’t see the tears on his face. ’Finally, everything is perfect. My daughter is here. It’ll be another three years for my son, but... having my wife and my daughter, the emotions I’ve been tightly suppressing since I came back to life were finally all released.’
’Before my wife married me, I was worried. After she married me, it got a little better, but then I was afraid something might change with my daughter and son. Now that my daughter is on the way, there shouldn’t be any more problems.’
Zhou Lian felt something wet on her neck. Calming her own emotions, she asked him, "Are you crying?"
Li Xiu wiped his tears, lifted his head, and kissed her. "I’m so happy. With you and our child, our family will only get better and better. I’ll work hard to earn money and provide for you and the baby."
Zhou Lian understood what he meant. Li Xiu had never been favored by his parents. Now that he was going to have a child, he had a foundation of his own—a family, a home with a wife and child that truly belonged to him.
Li Xiu kissed her fondly and said, "Darling, you have to take good care of yourself. Tell me whatever you want to eat. Your husband is very capable; I can definitely get it for you."
Zhou Lian smiled. She felt utterly content now. Her daughter was on the way, and she finally felt at ease. Reborn into this new life, the most important thing—her children—had not changed. Her husband had also become more dependable. As for everything else, nothing could shake her anymore.
