LW chapter 68

 

Chen Qing was happy but also a little worried. “He was a blacksmith before. Won’t that affect the baby?”

The doctor looked at Li Xin. “Wow, you can still work as a blacksmith.”

Li Xin straightened his back. “Why?”

“Very good. Very good. Strong pulse. No effect.” The doctor was surprised by Li Xin’s good physique.

“Does he need to take medicine to stabilize the pregnancy?” Chen Qing asked again, acting as if he were the father of the child.

“All medicine is toxic.” The doctor twisted his beard. “He is healthy, and the child is too. Don’t worry too much.”

Chen Qing felt relieved. Li Xin asked, “Then can I still work as a blacksmith?”

The doctor paused for a moment. “That depends on you. Pregnancy is not a disaster. Do whatever makes you comfortable.”

Assuming Aunt Sun was his mother-in-law and that they weren’t poor based on their clothing, he reminded them again: “Don’t take too many tonics during pregnancy. It’s twins, be careful during childbirth.”

After listening to the doctor’s instructions for a long time and paying the consultation fee, the three of them realized it was already dark. Aunt Sun said Li Xin was forbidden from walking at night while pregnant, so he only stayed in town one night before leaving.

When they arrived at the inn, Li Xin was confused. Aunt Sun had never stayed at an inn before. Chen Qing was the only one who had ever stayed at an inn. As he entered the inn, Chen Qing made countless psychological preparations, praising himself for being able to handle it.

“I want a three-person room.”

The innkeeper nodded. “The room is at the end of the second floor. If you want to feed the cows and horses, it’s an extra five coins, for a total of 155 coins. Hot water is unlimited, and meals are separate.”

Chen Qing took out 155 coins from his wallet, but then he remembered that they hadn’t eaten yet. He and Aunt Sun could skip a meal, but Li Xin could not. He had been very hungry for a while and could no longer avoid eating.

Aunt Sun took Li Xin upstairs to rest, while Chen Qing went out to buy food.

It was already dark, and there was nowhere to buy food. He ran to a shop selling steamed buns and, like Zhou Yuan last time, was lucky enough to buy the last basket.

The town’s buns had thin skin and large fillings of bamboo shoots. Chen Qing and Aunt Sun each ate one, and Li Xin finished the rest.

After eating, Li Xin began to feel sleepy. Seeing that it was late, he turned off the light and went to sleep.

When the room was dark, Chen Qing turned to look at Li Xin on the other bed. He seemed completely unaffected by the pregnancy, he even snored.

Chen Qing wondered how Li Xin would take care of the children in the future. He felt that Li Xin was still just a child, yet now he had two children. He didn’t know how chaotic the future would be.

Thinking of this, Chen Qing fell asleep.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yuan, who had been away from home for almost three months, took advantage of the moonlight and arrived home before midnight.

There was no light in the room. Zhou Yuan smiled. Chen Qing should have been asleep by now. He walked quietly to the bedroom, but when he got closer, he found the bed empty.

Zhou Yuan was confused for a moment, but then he thought Chen Qing might be sleeping with Aunt Sun. He put down his things and got ready for bed, but he missed Chen Qing too much, so he got up and went over to the bed.

After climbing the wall, he saw that the door was unlocked from the inside. Realizing something was wrong, he entered the room. Indeed, no one was in the bed.

He turned and knocked on Aunt Sun’s door. When there was no answer, he pushed the door open. Aunt Sun was not home either.

He ran back to the house and discovered that the cow and cart were missing. He thought they might have already left, but he was still a little panicked. It would be a big problem for them to go out at night.

Zhou Yuan paced in the yard. He was always good at making plans and rarely got confused. He waited from midnight until dawn without sleeping.

When dawn broke, he walked to the village entrance. The villagers had just woken up and were washing in the yard.

Zhou Yuan asked questions, and his brother-in-law replied, “They took the cow cart to town yesterday afternoon, and Li Xin went with them. I didn’t see any problems, but something must be wrong.”

Despite this information, Zhou Yuan chose to go to town, taking the main road so as not to miss anything.

After spending one night in town, they went to the academy to pick up Qi Shuning and share the good news with him.

Since school hadn’t ended yet, the three of them took a break from their busy schedules and walked around town. When they arrived at the fabric shop, Chen Qing looked at Li Xin and said, “Would you like to learn how to sew? You’ll need to make two sets of clothes for your future children.”

Li Xin looked at his hands and replied, “Look at my hands. I can only hold a hammer, not an embroidery needle. Let Qi Shuning learn.”

Aunt Sun laughed at him. In the end, Li Xin bought a lot of soft cotton fabric. As he learned to sew, he anticipated the children’s birth.

Seeing that the time was almost right, they went to the academy entrance together. At that moment, some students were already walking out. Their cow cart was parked nearby. After a while, Qi Shuning came to them.

“Xinxin!” He saw Aunt Sun and Chen Qing with him and was astonished again.

“What’s going on?” Why did so many people come to pick him up all of a sudden?

Then, he looked at Li Xin again. Qi Shuning choked up for a moment. It had only been a month since they last met. Why did Li Xin seem much stronger?

Chen Qing and Aunt Sun were not in a position to discuss what had happened between the two of them, so they left it at that.

Li Xin spoke to Qi Shuning alone. Chen Qing was still driving the cart while Li Xin and Qi Shuning sat in the back.

He kept looking back, wondering why Li Xin didn’t say anything. Aunt Sun found this amusing and gently patted his hand.

Li Xin then slowly said, “We just went to see the doctor, and the doctor said there are two things growing in my belly.”

Qi Shuning jumped up from the cart in fright. By chance, the cart wheel hit a stone, causing the cart to shake. Qi Shuning almost fell off the cart. Li Xin hurried to catch him. Chen Qing was shocked, fearing that Qi Shuning would crush Li Xin, so he pulled his legs back. Finally, Qi Shuning steadied himself and sat down firmly.

“Can you calm down? That was scary.” Li Xin looked a little disgusted at him. “Sit down and listen to me.”

Qi Shuning looked anxious. “What’s wrong? Is it serious? If not, should we find Doctor Yu? He can definitely cure you.”

Qi Shuning pinched his hands. He knew that Li Xin’s sudden weight gain must mean something was wrong.

Li Xin took his hand and placed it on his belly. “The doctor examined me and found that there are two babies in my belly.”

Qi Shuning opened his eyes wide. “What?”

“You’re going to be a father! Be more stable.” Li Xin rolled his eyes at him.

Qi Shuning held Li Xin’s hand for a moment, then reached to touch his belly. He looked at Li Xin, unsure. “I…what should I do?”

Aunt Sun saw his confusion and gave him some advice. “First, write a letter and ask your parents to come back.”

Qi Shuning nodded quickly. “All right, I’ll write it when I get back.”

“If you don’t go to school, take better care of him, but don’t be too controlling.”

Qi Shuning almost took out a piece of paper to write this down, but he was still afraid that he hadn’t done enough. Li Xin quickly pulled him back. “Stop, stop. The doctor said everything is normal now. Don’t be silly.”

On the way back, Qi Shuning leaned on Li Xin’s arm and looked at him. He would hug Li Xin if the road was bumpy.

Midway through the journey, Chen Qing suddenly tightened the reins because he saw a familiar figure in the distance.

“Zhou Yuan?”

Zhou Yuan also saw them and ran quickly. Ignoring their stares, he jumped down from the ox cart and ran over to Chen Qing. “Where did you go last night? You weren’t here when I came back.”

Chen Qing was also very happy. He hugged Zhou Yuan’s neck tightly. “I came to town for something and stayed for the night because it was late. When did you return? Are you here to see us now?”

“Yes.”

Since they were still on the main road, Chen Qing pushed Zhou Yuan’s shoulder and asked him to let go. “Let’s go back first.”

For now, Zhou Yuan only greeted Aunt Sun and Li Xin. He was also stunned when he saw Li Xin. He didn’t expect him to be so fat.

Zhou Yuan sat in Chen Qing’s seat to drive the cart, feeling a bit worried. He asked Li Xin, “Is everything okay? What were you doing in town yesterday?”

Before Li Xin could respond, Qi Shuning spoke up: “Brother! Xinxin is pregnant, and it’s twins!”

Zhou Yuan was also stunned, but not for long. He smiled and patted Qi Shuning on the shoulder. “Then you must take on the responsibility of being a father again.”

“I know, brother.”

They sent Li Xin and Qi Shuning home first. Qi Shuning couldn’t wait to write a letter to Li Tiejiang and Zhang Yin. Zhou Yuan told him to send the letter to the Zhenwei branch in town, where someone would deliver it.

They couldn’t sit still at home. The wheat in the fields hadn’t been harvested yet. They packed up and went to the fields. While changing clothes, Chen Qing said to Zhou Yuan, “You should rest at home. You probably didn’t sleep last night.”

“I’ll work with you.” Zhou Yuan hugged him from behind.

“Rest. There isn’t much left. Can you cook for us? And boil water.” Chen Qing turned and kissed his cheek. “I’ll tell you something when I return.”

Zhou Yuan had no choice but to give in. He watched Chen Qing carry the sickle and go to the fields with Aunt Sun.

He waved to Zhou Yuan at the door. The main reason he couldn’t go was that Zhou Yuan didn’t know how to farm and might hurt his hands.

This was the last piece of land left for their family. After the harvest, all that was left to do was dry the wheat. Once dried, the wheat would be crushed with a stone mill.

The sun had been very strong lately, so it should dry in three or four days.

After Chen Qing and his companions finished harvesting the last of the wheat, they saw Village Chief Jiang and his men inspecting the fields near the Luo River, probably planning a water diversion route.

Chen Qing could no longer suppress his worry. If Zhou Yuan converted all his fields into rice paddies and the paddies couldn’t grow rice, it would take a long time for the land to recover. What would Zhang Xu’s family do?

“Don’t worry, Aqing.” Aunt Sun knew Chen Qing had a soft heart. “I always felt it wouldn’t be that hard.”

By the time they arrived home, Zhou Yuan had boiled water and poured it into the bathtub. Chen Qing didn’t think much of it. He took off his clothes and went to bathe. Farming work had its own difficulties. Corn leaves would scratch your hands and face, and harvesting wheat would make you dirty. Your mouth and nose got dirty, and there was black dust in your saliva and snot.

Chen Qing bathed for a long time and finally became dizzy. Zhou Yuan waited a long time, but Chen Qing didn’t come out. When Zhou Yuan went to check on him, he found that Chen Qing had almost fallen asleep.

Zhou Yuan carried him, wiped the water from his body, placed him on the bed, and slowly wiped his hair.

Chen Qing leaned on Zhou Yuan and slept soundly.

When he woke up, it was already afternoon. The food on the table was still warm. Not caring about anything else, Chen Qing ate in big bites.

Zhou Yuan came back from outside and sat beside him. “I know everything about the village. Village Chief Jiang can handle practical matters.”

Chen Qing swallowed the steamed bun in his mouth. “Do you think that’s a good thing?”

Zhou Yuan nodded. “Earlier, I wondered why Luohe Village, located next to the Luo River, didn’t grow rice. One reason was that no one was responsible, and the other was a lack of experience. The two old elders are experienced. Don’t worry.”

Chen Qing felt relieved. He always trusted Zhou Yuan.

Seeing that he was full, Zhou Yuan hugged him, placed him on his lap, and rested his head on his shoulder. “Ah Qing.”

“What’s wrong?”

Zhou Yuan reached for Chen Qing’s belly. “Looks like I have to work harder.”

Chen Qing sensed the danger and said, “Didn’t you say to let nature take its course?”

“All right.” Zhou Yuan kissed Chen Qing on the cheek. “I’ll take you back to my hometown after the rice is planted.”

Chen Qing lifted his eyes. “All right.”

“Maybe because our affairs aren’t settled yet, our children think this isn’t the right time.” Zhou Yuan held his hand.

He was going to go to Chen Qing’s birthplace, find the people who had oppressed him, and bring back the people he loved.

 

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