Chapter 158

Xu Wen warns him, “Lu Yuanzheng, the child is indeed very important! I also especially want you to stay with us, mother and child However, I don’t want you to be a ‘deserter’ because of this”

For example, when participating in the selection process, you willfully let the water down and fall out of the selection process

“Besides, isn’t the exact time of the tournament still undecided? Maybe you can accompany me to finish my month?”

Lu Yuanzheng wasn’t as optimistic as Xu asked, “It’s just that we haven’t decided on a specific day to leave, not the time of the competition Before we leave the country, we still have to train The training will be closed, and we won’t be able to see each other”

As a result, the next day, Lu Yuanzheng received a training notice

Xu asked, “”

“Lu Yuanzheng, your mouth has been enlightened, right?”

Lu Yuanzheng: “”

Lu Yuanzheng didn’t even have time to comfort Xu Man

The job he had just accepted had to be handed over to someone else for the time being Then, he took the young warriors who had been selected to the center island, and then took them to other places for secret training

Since it was a secret training, where they were going and how soon they would return was a secret

“I’m sorry!” Lu Yuanzheng blamed himself, “I left you behind on the wedding day I’m afraid I won’t be able to be by your side again when you give birth”

Xu Wen was also a bit sad, but she didn’t dare to show it, otherwise Lu Yuanzheng would blame himself even more

She could only comfort Lu Yuanzheng as if nothing had happened: “It’s okay! Mom will be on the island with me in a couple of days! Anyway, you don’t have any experience in serving menstruation”

Lu Yuanzheng let out a long sigh, obviously not comforted

Xu Wen persuaded again, “Look, we’re not the worst off What’s the name of that guy in the third company, his wedding date has been set, his family guests have been notified, and his leave report has been approved, but if it’s not because of the competition, he won’t be able to take his leave, and he won’t be able to marry his daughter-in-law Everyone is the same”

Lu Yuanzheng didn’t want to talk anymore

The scene Xu Man described was particularly familiar

After a long time, Lu Yuanzheng spoke, “Suddenly, I feel that it’s our profession that’s prone to producing ‘scum'”

Xu Man thought for a moment, nodding in agreement, “Indeed, it’s a bit like that Each one of them is like a marriage cheater They don’t care if they get it right Even if they don’t, they can even stand the bride up at the wedding Usually live as a widow, have children as a single parent”

She said reaching out and putting her hand on Lu Yuanzheng’s waist, “But, it’s because of this that it’s all the more reason to think you guys are great! Since you are destined to sacrifice your small family, then protect the ‘big family’ well You’re going out to represent our country, and strive to win first place as a gift for our children!”

What else could Lu Yuanzheng say? It was superfluous to say anything

The day Lu Yuanzheng left, Xu Man didn’t go to see him off

She was afraid of crying

She was afraid of crying She was even more afraid that if Lu Yuanzheng saw her crying, he would feel sorry for her

Of course, Lu Yuanzheng didn’t give her a chance to see her off

Before dawn, he quietly left with his soldiers

Xu Wen felt a little empty in her heart

In fact, when they were usually together, Lu Yuanzheng was busy, and Xu Man was often unable to see anyone

Two people under the same roof are often a day or two to say not a word

This is just separated according to reason is not so, but Xu asked is inexplicably sad

About mother and child together, the child in the stomach also move more often than usual

There are less than two months before she will give birth

Xu Wen tried to adjust her emotions so that she didn’t think about Lu Yuanzheng

She tutored the girls in their homework during the day, and in the evening, after accompanying Xu Che to finish her homework, she took the two of them to the beach to play

Maybe it was bobbing against the houseboat, maybe it was surfing

Surfing Xu Man was definitely out of his league, but Dongsheng could teach Xu Che

She usually just watched them from her lounge chair, eating fruit, as long as it wasn’t dangerous

Every now and then, thoughts flooded in

The baby in her stomach would also move around, and occasionally she could see a more noticeable bulge on one side of her stomach

“You miss daddy too, don’t you?” Xu Wen patted her belly, “I miss him too”

But thinking couldn’t solve anything, so Xu Man had to force herself to be a little busier

What can a seven-month pregnant mom be busy with?

Many pregnant women have trouble taking care of themselves for more than seven months

Sleeping was the first big problem for Xu Man

With a belly that is already substantial and noticeably bulky when walking, it’s easy to get tired, and sleeping is even harder

The option of sleeping on one’s back had long since been removed from Xu Man’s sleeping position

Even lying on her back had become difficult, and she could only lie on her side

But lying on the side was not the same as before pregnancy either The stomach tends to fall towards the surface of the bed, so the lower back still gets tired easily

Turning back and forth, the more you lie down, the more tired you get

Xu Wen finally felt what a sister-in-law had talked about during a slumber party once

I can’t eat, I’m full when I eat, and it’s hard to feel the top of my stomach

He couldn’t sleep, and he was still awake in the early hours of the morning

That was the torture

Xu Wen often sat alone on the swing set in the yard, looking at the big moon or the stars in the sky thinking about Lu Yuanzheng

Sometimes she would be so aggrieved that she would secretly shed tears alone

Luckily, the other sisters-in-law took good care of Xu Man

Doudou’s mom and Song Baoying, who have had children, all know that Xu Man is not feeling well, and try to find time to talk to her

DouDouMom even made Xu Man two cylindrical pillows, one long and one short, for her to sleep on

“I learned this when my mother made them for me when I was pregnant and couldn’t sleep You put the long one behind you and the short one under your stomach, it’ll be a lot more comfortable”

Xu asked and thanked her, taking it home and realizing that these two pillows did indeed make her a lot more comfortable

Xu asked with a bright idea, asking DouDouMa to make more of these and take them to PengCheng to sell

“How many people can buy this stuff?” Doudou mom smiled and shook her head, “It’s very simple and doesn’t take much effort” It’s not as technical as a tiger shoe

“Trust me For people in the countryside, this stuff is common, just make it up as you go along, but for people in the city, it’s still very rare”

Of course Doudou mom believed Xu Man, and without saying a word, she agreed, “Then I’ll listen to you!”

Trusting Xu Wen, there was money to be made

Now there is a new group of sisters-in-law on the island, some of them were discharged from the army last winter, and some of them are new to the island this year, as well as those who have left the island to transfer

Some of them were seen the year before, and some of them are new faces, it is inevitably a familiarization process

When the new sisters-in-law come to the island, as usual, a pajama party will be held, but Xu Man was not feeling well and did not attend, so it was Song Baoying and the other old sisters-in-law who took care of it”

When the new sisters-in-law found out about it, they also came to follow Xu Man’s business, and one by one, they all paid the stall fee

Sister-in-laws who had already left the island continued to have their unsold goods sold by their second uncle, who converted them into money and then remitted it to them

The business of the grocery store for military wives became more and more prosperous

For one thing, the quality was excellent

Secondly, Xu Wen often helped plan some marketing activities

Thirdly, it was because many of the goods were sold in limited quantities for a limited time

Although it wasn’t intentional, it was somehow considered starvation marketing

Especially many buyers at first still feel expensive, want to wait a while to come back to buy, and then come back when already out of stock

Of course the buyers would ask Uncle Two to replenish the stock

The second uncle spread his hands and smiled bitterly: “My store is full of things handmade by military wives They all follow their men to make a living on the island When the men go back home, they will naturally go too If they don’t get discharged and transfer to another unit, they’ll go too Where can I go to replenish my stock if they all leave?”

Since then, many people know that Uncle Two’s store will not replenish many things that are gone, and buy them more generously

Xu asked to suggest uncle, which sister-in-law left the island, on the display case to post a preview

In fact, it is written on a big red paper with the last few pieces left

Slowly the regular customers will understand

Second uncle’s store is not as popular as Xu Wen’s restaurant, but the buyers are more sticky and the proportion of repeat customers is larger The income is also getting more and more substantial

Most of the sisters-in-law who follow the business, the monthly income is already not less than the average worker

Xu Wang and his wife were now doing what Xu Wen had done before, selling popcorn and clothes

Instead of the labor insurance products Xu Wen sold at the beginning, Xu Wang and his wife are selling women’s clothes

It’s a lot easier to buy goods now than it was last year

Last year, Xu Wen went out to buy goods are sneaky, from time to time will be checked

Now that the five special economic zones are about to be opened up, the policy on self-employment has become much clearer

Besides, such as the capital city of Yangcheng province, to do business with this piece of pipe more and more loose

It’s not as difficult to buy goods as it was last year

Now in Pengcheng, the significance of the existence of all kinds of grain, oil and rice stamps is getting smaller and smaller, because there are more and more individual traders

Individuals just want money, not tickets

Xu Man and Xu Wen provided the address, and Xie Dechun accompanied Xu Wang to buy goods

Xu Wang’s clothing was already quite good Before, in the production team, she bought clothes that were more fashionable in this era

The goods she bought were very popular with the young lesbians who came to work and sold very quickly

When it comes to women’s clothing, the vision of the stall owner has a lot to do with business

Xu Wen store business is also getting better and better

Xu Wen taught Xu Wen to use ice packs to save dumplings for delivery

He was responsible for running the factory, and Xu Qiushi helped him run the hall

Every evening after work, Xu Wen rode his newly purchased pedal tricycle to the factory, holding a loudspeaker and shouting from factory to factory

Need to order a meal on the menu, he came to send the next day at noon

There are dumplings and noodles, but also a variety of fried dishes to choose from

After collecting the orders, the next day Sang Xiaoqing and Zhu Meizhen cook together

Before the guests, Xu Wen and Xu Qiushi watched the children, and after the guests, Yuanbao watched Chunsheng

The children of the common people’s families were so skinny that as long as they didn’t threaten their lives or health, they weren’t too bothered

Zhu Meizhen’s cooking skills are better than Sang Xiaoqing’s, especially when it comes to making dumplings, which are big, thin and stuffed

Once busy, Zhu Meizhen is responsible for doing dine-in, Sang Xiaoqing is responsible for doing take-out

After making, Xu Wen and then ride a tricycle to the factory to send a family

At first there are only a few orders per day, now more and more orders, every day at noon there are dozens of meals to be delivered

If less, the ice bag is okay, the order is more not wait to send finished or will be lumped, because there are not so many ice bags

Xu asked to think about it, drew a few pictures to let Xu Wen to find a factory that can produce plastic to order a number of “takeaway box”

It is decades later, we order takeout commonly used style, or round deep bowl, or rectangular shallow box, there are disposable dumpling compartments and small ingredients box

In the 1980s, although foam lunch boxes were already available, they were not yet widely available, and it was not cost-effective to buy them in small quantities

A few decades later, the kind of environmentally friendly lunch boxes are even more unavailable

You have to find a factory to customize it

Especially the dumpling compartments are made of soft plastic A portion of twenty, half a dozen

One dumpling is placed in each compartment, so there is no fear that it will be squeezed out over time

Find a factory this is good to do, Xu Wen is now familiar with these factories in Pengcheng, say a good word and hand a cigarette, know the workshop director piggyback on the foot to do it for him

Because he wants several kinds of add up to only a few thousand, for others is not really a big order

The workshop director gave a word to do

Watching the Xu family busy, day by day better and better, Xu asked a lot of peace of mind

Time went by day by day, and Xu Man’s belly got bigger and bigger

In April, the Xu family would not let her go back and forth to pick up the goods, for fear that she would be born on the road one day

Doudou mom volunteered to press the boat, Shi Lei was not assured and arranged for her man to follow along

Xu Wen will still often with the Rainbow, she will regularly to Pengcheng Hospital physical examination

In the past, she used to come once a month, but now she basically comes once every half a month

In addition to teaching female students on a daily basis, it is to wait for the birth of a baby

For daily meals, either eat in the cafeteria or Xu Che cooks

In the production team, children usually cook when they are seven or eight years old

When Lu Yuanzheng initially left for half a month, Xu Wen would have a hard time because she missed him and also because of heartburn

Heartburn is a Weizhuang dialect, which probably means acid reflux that burns the stomach

According to the experience of other people who have been here before, they all said that it was because the baby in the stomach was growing hair

Later, Xu Man slowly got used to it, plus DouDouMa’s maternity pillow, and was able to sleep for a while

The thoughts of Lu Yuanzheng also gradually got used to no longer being so difficult

In fact, she once had a chance to go abroad with Lu Yuanzheng

They lacked an interpreter like Xu Man, and Lu Yuanzheng sent a telegram back to ask for Xu Man’s opinion before he left the country

Xu Man hesitated for a day but refused

Next month is the martial arts competition

She was due next month

By then, if the two events happened to fall on the same day, she would be delayed in her work and would also be in danger of being caught in the middle of the day

She would both delay her business and affect Lu Yuanzheng, fearing that he would be distracted

Although theoretically, the tournament should end before she gives birth

However, the due date was not the exact date of the child’s birth, it was normal for it to be half a month earlier or later

She didn’t dare to gamble, even if the probability of catching the day was actually not very high

Sometimes Xu Wen was glad she didn’t follow Lu Yuanzheng

She was a bit edematous now, and her entire body was like a hairy doughnut

Especially on her legs, a pit would appear when she pressed it, and she wouldn’t recover for half a day

She looked in the mirror and found herself quite ugly

Although Dongsheng and Xu Che both praised her for her beauty

All women love beauty and want to be perfect in front of their loved ones

She especially didn’t want Lu Yuanzheng to see her current appearance

Fortunately, Xu Wen did not have stretch marks

Or rather, stretch marks did not grow on her belly

Her belly was clean and dry, only due to late pregnancy, her belly was getting thinner and thinner, and she could see a thin diaphanous vein on it

But, with stretch marks like that on the buttocks, like a reddish earthworm, it is indeed very scary

Fortunately, that position, the general public can not see, including herself

As for Lu Yuanzheng

Xu Wen even more do not want Lu Yuanzheng to see these

By the end of the month, Zhu Meizhen also brought Chunsheng to Rainbow Island to take care of Xu Man’s daily life

Apart from the physical discomfort, Xu Man had more free time

It was always easy for people to have idle thoughts, and although Xu Man wouldn’t have idle thoughts, she wasn’t willing to be idle either

She asked Zhu Meizhen to get her some hen’s eggs from Pengcheng

This hen’s egg is not a hen’s egg

Because the eggs are laid by hens, but not all the eggs laid by hens can hatch chicks

Those that can hatch chicks are “hen’s eggs”

Xu Man didn’t know how to tell the difference, but Zhu Meizhen did

He had seen it before when he was at home

Every time Zhu Meizhen would hold an egg in the sun and look at it, she would know which egg would be able to hatch chicks

After getting the eggs, Xu Man found a wooden box with a gap, pressed a light bulb into it, laid cotton wool, put in the eggs, and planned to artificially incubate them

Of course, she only provided the method Specifically responsible for the hands-on are three children

Xu Che was the main one, and Dongsheng was the secondary one

Little Chunsheng was only responsible for following and watching

The first thing the three children did when they woke up every day was to see if the eggs had hatched any chicks

This was also a double whammy for Xu Man

Not only could he watch the children, he could also harvest a batch of chicks

Why not?

On the contrary, Zhu Meizhen was too busy

Busy preparing all sorts of swaddling cloths, small clothes, small shoes, diapers, and so on for the yet-to-be-born baby, she couldn’t be idle for a moment

Even though it was clear that the other sisters-in-law on the island had already sent a lot of baby items

The sister-in-law who knew how to do carpentry had even made Xu Man a stroller It was a stroller that could be used for both lying down and sitting

However, Zhu Meizhen’s mentality of “nothing is enough” and “prepare more just in case” could not be resisted

After Labor Day, Xu Wen ran to the hospital more and more frequently

The contractions became more and more frequent, and she could clearly feel them many times a day

A week after the due date, the baby still didn’t start

The Xu family, young and old, were all anxious to the point of no return

Xu Man was also anxious because he had heard that it would be dangerous if the baby didn’t come out by the due date

For example, if the amniotic fluid became cloudy, the baby could suffocate

However, no one could help but be anxious about this

Before going to bed at night, Xu Man laid on the bed as usual, put her hand on her stomach, and talked to the baby in her stomach for a while

“Why don’t you come out? Do you know I’ll be anxious if I can’t see you?”

“Are you not coming out because you want to wait for your father? But I don’t know when your dad will be back either I don’t even know where he is now”

There was a smattering of news about the international tournament in the newspaper, but, the newspaper’s news lagged a bit comparatively, and it didn’t represent Lu Yuanzheng’s current whereabouts

However, the newspaper said that the competition had ended, and that our country had won several championships in the International Military Competition

Lu Yuanzheng’s name was also in the newspaper alone

As she was a mother for the first time in two lifetimes, it was inevitable that she would be cautious and run to the hospital every day

From the initial embarrassment and awkwardness of being finger-examined, she became accustomed to it

After the checkup this day, the doctor looked at the finger with a bit of a blank expression