Back To The 80s

Chapter 250: Chapter 260: Prenatal Checkup (Extra Chapter for 440 monthly votes)_1

Gu Xiaobei washed an apple, didn’t bother to peel it, took a bite, and handed it to Lu Zhanguo’s mouth, "Take a bite and try it."

Lu Zhanguo patted her head and said, "I don’t like this, you go ahead and eat it."

As Gu Xiaobei crunched on the apple, she recounted the whole matter of Xiangmin running away from home to Lu Zhanguo.

Lu Zhanguo furrowed his brow, remaining silent for a while. Gu Xiaobei added, "I bought two bags of milk powder last time. There’s one unopened bag still left. Shall we give it to his family? Xinxin doesn’t have milk to drink, it’s sad. I heard that when Xiangmin left, he took all the money at home."

"Okay, let’s give it to them first. Just remember to buy one more bag for our home," Lu Zhanguo thought for a moment and said.

"Mhm, but Aunt Jin said our baby seems a bit large. She’s afraid it might be difficult to deliver. I’m thinking maybe I should stop eating so much," Gu Xiaobei expressed her concern.

Unable to help himself, Lu Zhanguo patted her belly and pinched her skinny arm, "I’m worried you’re not getting enough nutrition. How come you’re losing so much weight?"

It puzzled Gu Xiaobei too. She wasn’t the type who couldn’t gain weight. Remembering what Shen Heng had said the previous day, she couldn’t help but ask, "Do you think it could really be twins?"

Lu Zhanguo found it hard to believe, "We can’t be that lucky."

"We should still go for a check-up. What if we don’t prepare enough clothes or something? If it really is twins, that would be great. Haha, it’s best if we have one boy and one girl. Even two girls would be fine, just not two boys," Gu Xiaobei became more excited as she thought about it.

Lu Zhanguo found it weird why she didn’t want two boys, "Two boys would be great. They could both join the army when they grow up."

Gu Xiaobei gave him a look. "Marrying off sons is too expensive!" Furthermore, sending them both to be soldiers, did he think their home was a base for producing new recruits?

Lu Zhanguo immediately went silent. He couldn’t argue with her twisted logic.

Gu Xiaobei figured that Qu Yan wouldn’t be able to come until tomorrow at the earliest. But as soon as she finished her apple and was about to have dinner, Qu Yan showed up with her baby.

The moment she stepped in, she anxiously asked, "Sis-in-law, what’s wrong with my baby?"

Gu Xiaobei glanced at the baby in Qu Yan’s arms. The baby’s cheeks were flushed. It was likely he’d caught a chill from the wind when the door was opened this morning. She wondered how could Qu Yan not understand this. She simply said, "I have no idea. But you should feel if the baby has a fever. If so, hurry and have your brother-in-law take him to the hospital."

Qu Yan panicked, "My brother-in-law is working the night shift. If the baby really has a fever, it could be very serious for such a young child." Saying so, her eyes turned towards Lu Zhanguo.

In her mind, Gu Xiaobei scoffed at Qu Yan. All this woman wanted was for Lu Zhanguo to take them to the hospital, why all this roundabout talk?

Lu Zhanguo frowned and said, "Go to the barracks and find Guo. Ask him to arrange a vehicle for you. Wrap the child in something warm and hold him tight on the way. Go directly to the hospital from the barracks. Don’t waste any time."

Qu Yan was stunned. She hadn’t expected Lu Zhanguo’s arrangement but had no choice. She returned home, wrapped the baby in a thicker quilt, and hurried towards the barracks.

Watching Qu Yan leave, Gu Xiaobei chuckled to herself. She knew Lu Zhanguo wouldn’t agree to Qu Yan’s suggestion. He always preferred to solve problems quickly and effectively, not understanding all the beating around the bush.

Because of Guo Huaqiang’s sick child, Gu Xiaobei had to postpone her prenatal checkup for another day.

In the early spring of the Northwest, there was a wide variety of wild vegetables. Gu Xiaobei didn’t have to go far. There was plenty of shepherd’s purse and purslane in their own fields.

Seeing it was a nice day, Li Fengmei invited Gu Xiaobei to dig for wild vegetables. Even though Gu Xiaobei’s belly was a little bigger than normal for her stage of pregnancy, she was still nimble.

They took home shepherd’s purse, which, after briefly boiling in water, can be used in a cold dish, stir fry or stuffing. However she couldn’t eat the purslane, as it was not suitable for pregnant women. Gu Xiaobei wasn’t aware of this and still dug up some to take back home with plans to make a cold dish.

Li Fengmei said, "This purslane doesn’t taste good fresh, it’s slightly astringent. We should pick more, wash and dry them. They’ll delicious in dumplings in winter. Now that we have lots of shepherd’s purse, we should hurry up and eat them. Once shepherd’s purse starts to flower, they can no longer be eaten."

Always one to take advice, Gu Xiaobei agreed immediately. Additionally, Li Fengmei was far more experienced in these matters.

The two of them dug a basketful of shepherd’s purse and a whole basket of purslane. Li Fengmei, worrying about Gu Xiaobei straining herself with a basket while her belly was big, took both baskets and started to head home.

Li Fengmei asked Gu Xiaobei to go home and rest while she washed the two baskets of wild vegetables. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Gu Xiaobei couldn’t just let her do it alone. She followed with a basin to the water room.

Ge Chunling was washing clothes at the water room. Seeing them coming with baskets of wild vegetables, she laughed, "I just dug up some shepherd’s purse yesterday afternoon. It’s pretty good when you blanch it in water and use it for dumpling fillings."

"This shepherd’s purse is best for dumplings if you add fatty pork. We didn’t buy any meat today, so we’ll just make it into a cold dish tonight," Li Fengmei replied while picking out the yellow leaves.

Ge Chunling stopped washing her clothes and came over to help them. She said, "I heard instructor’s baby girl, Xinxin, fell ill. She’s got pneumonia."

Hearing this, Li Fengmei exclaimed, "What a pity! It’s such a pity! Why didn’t Xiangmin close the door when he left?"

Gu Xiaobei felt Xiangmin deliberately left the door open so passersby could hear the baby crying and maybe stop to check.

That night, when Lu Zhanguo came back, he told Gu Xiaobei they could go to the hospital for a check-up the next day. Gu Xiaobei was excited and tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep. Lu Zhanguo helplessly said, "Go to sleep. Otherwise, you’ll have a headache tomorrow."

"I can’t sleep. The baby keeps kicking me. I guess it’s just as excited as me. We can confirm the number of babies tomorrow," Gu Xiaobei chuckled after she finished, thinking the situation sounded like counting piglets.

Lu Zhanguo wasn’t that imaginative, "I don’t even know if our town hospital has that kind of machine."

Hearing him say this, Gu Xiaobei felt her happiness was premature. She turned over a few more times before finally falling into a fitful sleep.

The next morning, they hurried to the hospital. As it turned out, they did have an ultrasound machine. With the machine, Gu Xiaobei happily queued up for an ultrasound.

The hospital only had one ultrasound machine that was shared for all patients who needed an ultrasound. Thankfully, the place was not crowded. Gu Xiaobei was number fifteen on the list. Among those waiting, only one was a pregnant woman who needed an ultrasound. The rest were patients from other departments.

The pregnant woman walked out of the exam room and happily told her husband, "I could see our baby’s hands and feet. It’s wonderful."

Her husband found it hard to believe, "Really? Then, our two dollars were well spent."

Gu Xiaobei watched them leave with envy. She couldn’t wait for her turn.

Eventually, when it was her turn to lie down on the small bed next to the machine, she saw the doctor’s face growing more and more serious, as the images appeared on the screen.

Gu Xiaobei laid there, watching the doctor’s expression turn increasingly strange. She couldn’t help but feel a lump in her throat. Unable to hold back, she asked, "Doctor, is my baby okay?"

The doctor looked at her with sympathy and after a long moment replied, "You can’t keep this fetus. It’s a monstrosity."