Chapter 10: Suspected Pregnancy

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Xie Jinyu paid no attention to Chen Wanru’s unsolicited attentions. After securely locking all the doors of the cowshed, she strode toward the pigsty, undeterred by Chen Wanru’s venomous gaze.

Chen Wanru watched Xie Jinyu’s retreating figure, then glanced toward the cowshed before her. When she first arrived at Leap Forward Village as an educated youth, the cowshed had been a simple straw shelter, but now it had transformed into a three-sided courtyard.

Originally, the cowshed housed many people, but now only Yan Hongying and Xie Jinyu lived there.

Chen Wanru looked toward the unoccupied side of the cowshed, contemplating discussing it with Lu Qianjin. The young couple needed to live in the cowshed to avoid having to face the disapproving looks of Lu’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law in the Lu household.

Though the doctor had warned her that she had suffered heavy bleeding and might be at risk of miscarriage, requiring rest, her mother-in-law and sister-in-law still scolded her indirectly, accusing her of idleness.

Just because she was the wife of a village party secretary didn’t mean she could act like a lady of privilege.

Chen Wanru glared fiercely at Xie Jinyu’s departing back, thinking bitterly: If it weren’t for Xie Jinyu’s escape, how would she have ended up tied to Lu Qianjin?

When Xie Jinyu came to attend her wedding, she would give her a surprise!

Back at the village party secretary’s house, Chen Wanru shared her plan to set up her new home in the cowshed with the whole family.

The party secretary took a drag from his pipe and looked toward Lu Qianjin. “Qianjin, what do you think?”

Chen Wanru took the initiative to hold Lu Qianjin’s hand, answering on his behalf: “Father, Qianjin agrees with me.”

As the head of the family, the party secretary sensed the recent tension in the household. Although he doted on his youngest son, he couldn’t afford to upset the eldest couple. Taking another puff, he said, “The wedding banquet will be held here at home. After you marry, you’ll move to the cowshed to live, citing the reason of starting your own household.”

Chen Wanru readily agreed.

The cowshed’s walls were packed earth, made sturdy and sealed with yellow clay and newspaper by Ye Changzheng, so it was not drafty where Xie Jinyu and Yan Hongying lived.

However, the side where Lu Qianjin and Chen Wanru were to stay had been uninhabited for some time, and neither Chen Wanru nor Lu Qianjin knew much about upkeep, so they never considered sealing the walls.

The emperor favors his eldest son, but common folk favor the youngest.

Despite Lu Qianjin being a worthless scoundrel, the party secretary and his wife still favored him greatly.

They hoped that after settling down and becoming a father, Lu Qianjin would straighten up and stop his carefree ways.

Preparations for Chen Wanru and Lu Qianjin’s wedding were in full swing.

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At this time, Xie Jinyu also received a letter from Ye Changzheng. She took the letter and handed several letters she had written to the postman.

These included a few essays and the beginning of a long story she had been working on, intending to submit to a magazine. If the editor liked her work, she might earn some extra income.

Returning to the cowshed with the letters, Xie Jinyu eagerly sat at her desk, carefully tearing open the envelope and reading every word.

Ye Changzheng wrote that he had submitted his application to join the army and that a decision would come in as soon as a week or at most a month.

The crackling noise from the courtyard interrupted her reading. She slipped the letter under her pillow and went to open the door.

Chen Wanru stood smiling at the entrance.

“Jinyu, I’m going to be your neighbor now.”

Though the marital home was set at the party secretary’s house, Chen Wanru and Lu Qianjin had agreed to move some seldom-used items into the cowshed early, in preparation for separating households after the wedding.

Seeing the ever-present Chen Wanru, Xie Jinyu felt an immense headache.

“Chen Wanru, you want your marital home here?”

Chen Wanru confidently approached. “Father said that after the wedding, when we separate households, we’ll live here. The men will move the things; we’ll just sit by the fire.”

But unlike the idle Chen Wanru, who was resting for pregnancy, Xie Jinyu and Yan Hongying were busy studying medicine, reviewing, and writing—they had no time to tend the fire.

“I won’t light the fire,” Xie Jinyu said coldly with a mocking tone. “Chen Wanru, you’re carrying the Lu family’s golden grandson. You’d better go back and keep warm.”

Hearing this, Lu Qianjin urged, “Wanru, go home and keep warm! Don’t let my son catch cold!”

The firewood in the cowshed had been chopped one axe stroke at a time by Ye Changzheng. She had no intention of letting Chen Wanru and Lu Qianjin, the scoundrels, benefit for free.

So, before nightfall, she carried the wood that had been left on the other side back behind their house, piling it up.

When Yan Hongying returned to the cowshed, she saw Xie Jinyu carrying wood and asked, “Xiao Yu, what are you doing?”

Xie Jinyu explained Chen Wanru and Lu Qianjin’s plan to move in.

Yan Hongying frowned, both angry and frustrated. “What exactly are they trying to do?”

Chen Wanru and Lu Qianjin had harmed Xie Jinyu once; she would never give them the chance again.

“Grandma, if Chen Wanru causes trouble...”

“Xiao Yu, don’t worry. Leave it to me.”

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Xie Jinyu took a bowl and chopsticks, locked the door, and went with Yan Hongying to have dinner at the commune.

When Ye Changzheng was here, the three of them cooked their own meals, but after he left, Xie Jinyu naturally went with Yan Hongying to eat the communal pot meals.

When they arrived, the pot had just been filled with steaming hot bean curd rice.

Xie Jinyu and Yan Hongying each took a bowl and sat by the fire to eat.

Other villagers gathered nearby, discussing Chen Wanru and Lu Qianjin’s upcoming wedding.

Zhan Xinyue approached from behind and softly called, “Xie Jinyu, come with me for a moment.”

Puzzled, Xie Jinyu followed her. Zhan Xinyue handed her a package.

“What’s this?”

Xie Jinyu set her bowl on a nearby stone and took the package, curious.

“It’s some local specialty my family sent me.”

Xie Jinyu felt their relationship wasn’t close enough to exchange gifts.

“What about you?”

Zhan Xinyue smiled mysteriously. “One of my articles got accepted! The payment isn’t much, but I’m happy. Luckily, you enlightened me that day. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have realized my writing and imagination could earn money.”

Xie Jinyu hadn’t expected Zhan Xinyue to be so determined, but thinking back... in her past life, Zhan Xinyue had fought hard alone to carve out a place for herself. Now, she could make a living from her pen.

“Congratulations, Zhan Xinyue.”

Grateful, Zhan Xinyue said cheerfully, “If you like it, next time my family sends me something, I’ll share it with you.”

“I’ll try it first.”

Xie Jinyu unwrapped the paper. A strong oceanic fishy smell wafted out.

A wave of nausea churned in her stomach. Covering her face, she quickly folded the paper back up, turned around, and took a sip of the sour vegetable bean curd rice.

Only then did the sick feeling subside.

“Xie Jinyu, could you be pregnant?”