Raising Babies in the 70s - Chapter 115

The Zhang family chatted quietly at night, and Zhang Chengbei suddenly said with some concern, “The neighbor is pregnant with twins, will they have two boys, two girls, or both?”

Zhang Chengbei sincerely hoped that it would be two boys, preferably like his son, naughty and could pull the flowers in the yard and destroy the plants in his parents’ yard.

If not two boys then two daughters. He hoped it was not a girl and a boy. If the twins turned out to be a girl and a boy, they would have a perfect family and be a winner in life.

Why were they blessed with all good things?!

Huang Xinying said, “I think it’s two boys. I quietly flipped through IChing (ancient Chinese divination text), and I also found a bunch of bamboo sticks for fortune-telling. It’s definitely two boys.” 

Zhang Chengbei took a deep breath. What was wrong with her? 

Did she forget that she was a teacher?

But the subject of discussion was good.

Zhang Chengbei quietly told her in the quilt, “Why don’t you try to divine what we could have? What is the probability of us having a daughter?” 

Huang Xinying: “…Who wants to do divine reading for you?”

****

Xiao Lu next door was not dazzled by Zhang Chengbei’s yard, but Political Commissar Lao Liu was stimulated.

Political Commissar Liu felt that his yard could no longer be so decadent, and planned to clean it up.

Li Qinghua then said, “You have to learn from Zhang Chengbei.”

“Look at how good Zhang Chengbei has made the yard now.”

Political Commissar Liu: “…” 

For a while, the eloquent Political Commissar Liu didn’t know what to answer.

Now he was not as good as Xiao Lu, and even Zhang Chengbei?

The world was a weird place.

*

Once Qin Rou was seven months pregnant, the night life for both husband and wife also disappeared. At that time, Jiang Ping moved in with her and slept next door to take care of her at night. Only when Lu Yan came home did her mother-in-law leave.

Lao Lu didn’t come to live with them, because he had to stay in another yard to take care of the flowers and plants.

Jiang Ping accompanied her to and from work. Sometimes she could hitch a ride for a while. Sometimes they, mother-in-law and daughter-in-law walked home slowly. Qin Rou walked for a while and rested for a while. Jiang Ping would also accompany her patiently.

Everyone in the unit knew her mother-in-law Jiang Ping.

The two of them were mother-in-law and daughter-in-law, so it was difficult not to attract attention. Qin Rou was a beautiful pregnant woman, and the mother-in-law beside her was half a head taller than her. Jiang Ping looked extraordinarily energetic. She was even more heroic when she wore a military uniform.

When the two were together, they were very eye-catching.

Of course, it was mainly because people next to her had never seen a mother-in-law accompanying her daughter-in-law to and from work.

The announcer Qin Rou in the unit married a naval officer, which made them envious indeed. The officer’s salary was high and he could support his family, not to mention he was very handsome.

However, most things had advantages and disadvantages. As a colony member, Qin Rou’s husband had little time to go home and couldn’t take care of the family. Sometimes he went to sea for a long time before returning home, which was the bad point.

When Qin Rou was pregnant, another colleague in the same unit, Tian Yemei, was also pregnant. The two were placed in the logistics work together. Compared with Qin Rou’s husband, hers was very considerate and would come to the unit whenever he had time to pick her up. He also brought her food and vegetables.

Tian Yemei often praised her husband for being so nice to her in her work unit, which made others envious.

Of course, if one showed off too much, it would be annoying, and no one wanted to know about others’ personal life in detail.

Zeng Xueqing didn’t particularly like to hear that.

Qin Rou’s husband did not appear in the workplace very often. She also rarely talked about how her husband treated her at home, but anyone with eyes could see that she was living a happy life. 

Zeng Xueqing doubted Tian Yemei’s words, but envied Qin Rou.

When Tian Yemei began to talk to them about her family’s affairs again, Zeng Xueqing couldn’t help but say, “Whether a person is doing well or not is all reflected on the face. If you are so comfortable at home, why doesn’t your face show it like Qin Rou’s does?”

Others responded the same way, “It’s strange, have you noticed that Xiao Qin has become a lot more beautiful.”

“I also feel that she has become more beautiful, as if there is light in her eyes. Xiao Qin was beautiful before, but she is even more beautiful now. I wonder how beautiful her children will be in the future.”

“She looks in a good mood every day.”

“The army officer must be very kind to her at home…”

“If I could just marry someone like Chief Lu.”

“Don’t let Xiao Qin hear what you say, she has only one husband…”

The colleagues were laughing, but Tian Yemei was not very happy. In fact, she was very upset. She glanced at the pregnant Qin Rou, and some thought flashed in her heart.

She recently discovered something. When her husband came to pick her up from the work unit, he peeked at Qin Rou. She didn’t know if he was surprised by her beauty or because she was pregnant like her. But her husband peeked at other women, which still made her very uncomfortable.

So Tian Yemei didn’t want her husband to come to her work unit, but wanted her mother-in-law to accompany her to and from work every day, just like Qin Rou.

As a result, they had a big fight at home. Her mother-in-law thought she was being illogical. Who dared to ask their mother-in-law to pick them up from work?

“How could you be hypocritical?”

“If it wasn’t for the grandson in your stomach, I wouldn’t have come.”