Back To The 80s-Chapter 213: Pregnancy (Asking for Monthly Tickets)_1
Time passed like flowing water and before they knew it, mid-December had arrived. The village had seen several snowfalls, and all the beauty and ugliness of the world were covered in a coat of white snow.
Gu Xiaobei had completely entered her winter hibernation days. With Jiujiu gone, she no longer had to wake up early. After tutoring Chen Gang and Dadong at noon, she would go back to bed, perfectly fitting the picture of a lazy winter month.
Sometimes she would sleep until Lu Zhanguo returned in the evening. Some people, if they sleep too much, become more and more lethargic. But that wasn’t the case with Gu Xiaobei; the more she slept, the more energetic she felt.
Moreover, with each meal, her stomach seemed like a bottomless pit. No matter how much she ate, she still felt hungry. Gu Xiaobei finally accepted the truth: she was really pregnant.
Lu Zhanguo came home in the evening to an unusual sight: Gu Xiaobei was awake, sitting in front of the stove, eating baked bread slices.
"Hey there, I woke up because I was hungry," Gu Xiaobei said with a bright smile, looking up at him.
A twitch tugged at the corner of Lu Zhanguo’s eye. She had eaten two big bowls of noodles at noon, and she was already hungry again. Now Lu Zhanguo had some time on his hands and came home every day at noon to check on her.
Looking at Gu Xiaobei, who still appeared thin despite her increased food intake, he gently asked, "What do you want for dinner?"
"I want to eat egg fried rice," Gu Xiaobei responded, saliva almost trickling from her mouth at the thought.
"Alright, I will steam the rice now. You should eat fewer bread slices, they are quite dry," Lu Zhanguo instructed, patting her head.
"Hmm, your son wants to eat these crispy burnt bread slices," Gu Xiaobei argued, stuffing another slice into her mouth. The slices of bread, roasted on the stove until yellowish and crispy, were quite delicious.
As the weather grew too cold, they had to cook indoors even if it meant dealing with the oily smoke—they had no other choice since it was too cold outside.
Lu Zhanguo stirred up the fire to steam the rice. He also poured half a pot of hot water for Gu Xiaobei, who had moved to sit by the table and was still eating bread slices.
"You eat so much every day, where does all the food go? You don’t seem to show any weight gain," Lu Zhanguo wondered, pinching Gu Xiaobei’s cheek.
"Perhaps your son is eating it all. I always seem to be insatiable. Oh, what if our child is a big eater? What will we do then?" Gu Xiaobei worriedly said.
"Alright, stop worrying. Eat when you are hungry," Lu Zhanguo indulgently replied.
At dinner, after watching Gu Xiaobei eat two bowls of egg fried rice, Lu Zhanguo finally couldn’t hold back and delicately suggested, "Maybe you should eat less for now, and eat more when you get hungry?"
With her mouth full of rice, Gu Xiaobei pursed her lips and nodded.
Only after drinking half a pot of warm boiled water did she feel satisfied.
......
During winter mornings, the day breaks late. By the second half of the night, the heat from the stove exists only to maintain a warm temperature. Thick frost flowers would form on the glass windows, and a layer of hoarfrost would line the door seams. Opening the door would result in a creaking sound.
Fortunately, Lu Zhanguo hadn’t been assigned any tasks recently, so his days were filled with regular training. Therefore, in the latter half of the night, Gu Xiaobei relied on this natural "large furnace" for warmth.
Every early morning, when Lu Zhanguo left, he would stoke the fire to keep it burning. By the time Gu Xiaobei awoke, the frosted windows had turned into water droplets, the room warm and cozy.
When Gu Xiaobei woke up, the day was already bright. She checked her watch, tucked under her pillow—it was past ten o’clock. Surprisingly, she wasn’t feeling hungry, so she continued to lie in bed.
By the time she managed to get up and eat the breakfast Lu Zhanguo had warmed on the stove, Li Fengmei and Ge Chunling had come over to visit.
During winter, staying at home could become quite dull. So, they preferred to gather together, freely discussing various subjects.
"Sister-in-law, are you coming with us to town the day after tomorrow?" Li Fengmei asked cheerfully. She did not know Gu Xiaobei was pregnant, and Gu Xiaobei hadn’t told her. Li Fengmei already knew Gu Xiaobei enjoyed sleeping in and didn’t suspect anything.
"No, I won’t be going. I don’t need to buy anything," Gu Xiaobei replied. She really didn’t feel like going, and besides, it was too cold. She didn’t want to catch a cold—the little sweetheart growing in her belly was more important.
"We aren’t going shopping either. We are planning to go have our hair permed. We heard that many people get their hair permed at the end of the year," Ge Chunling said excitedly.
"You go ahead. I will not be perming my hair, so I won’t be going." Gu Xiaobei decided that she would go to town with Lu Zhanguo towards the end of the month to mail a manuscript.
"Then, we will be leaving. We probably won’t make it back by lunchtime the day after tomorrow. Can Dadong and Xiaodong eat lunch at your house?" Li Fengmei asked with a smile.
"Sure, tell them to come along with Chen Gang after school," Gu Xiaobei said, nodding with a smile.
Ge Chunling was fixing her shoe sole and looked somewhat unhappy as she spoke, "My mother-in-law is planning to bring my two sisters-in-law over for the New Year celebrations. It would have been fine if it was only her, but she’s bringing those two as well."
"Maybe she worried about them spending the New Year alone. How could she not be worried about two young girls left alone in the house?" Li Fengmei guessed.
"That’s not it. Both my sisters-in-law are married. They wrote in a letter that they had never traveled far before, so they wanted to come visit," Ge Chunling said helplessly, "Those two have always caused trouble for me since I married into the family. Despite being married, they keep visiting their mother’s house."
"It seems like your sisters-in-law married close to home," Li Fengmei stated.
"True, one married into our village, the other into a neighboring village. Luckily, I joined the army, otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to live peacefully," Ge Chunling complained, getting a headache from just the thought of her two problematic sisters-in-law.
Gu Xiaobei remembered Lu Zhanguo too had a younger sister who was married. She didn’t know anything about her sister-in-law’s personality. She just hoped she would not be too difficult.
"With the New Year approaching, I guess many family members will visit the military family compound. The children will also come. It will be lively," Li Fengmei stated.
The two chatted until noon before leaving, and by the time Gu Xiaobei checked the time, it was already lunchtime—there was no use trying to translate the manuscript anymore.
For lunch, she cooked hot noodle soup. Gu Xiaobei noticed Chen Gang seemed a bit distracted—he even made mistakes in the simplest of application problems.
Gu Xiaobei closed the textbook, gently asking Chen Gang, "What’s the matter, Chen Gang? You seem to be off today."
"Aunty, I miss Jiujiu. Her birthday is coming soon," Chen Gang said in a low voice.
Gu Xiaobei missed Jiujiu too. But traveling to the city during winter was not easy. The daily commute buses could be out for several days during the cold weather. Moreover, the old public buses didn’t have heating, and were particularly prone to breaking down on the way.
"Wait while I talk to your uncle. If he is going to the city one of these days, we can join him," Gu Xiaobei suggested.
"Okay, I even prepared a gift for Jiujiu," Chen Gang said, perking up.
"Alright, we’ll let you know in advance when we plan to go. For now, focus on revising your mathematics exercises. Don’t repeat the mistakes you shouldn’t be making," Gu Xiaobei said with a smile, pointing at the textbook.
Chen Gang scratched his head sheepishly and started tackling the problems earnestly.
Gu Xiaobei pondered on what kind of birthday gift to give Jiujiu.
In the afternoon, for a change, Gu Xiaobei didn’t take a nap. She had to work hard to earn money for the baby’s milk powder; Lu Zhanguo’s meager salary would certainly not be enough.
