Yaping said confidently, "It should be certain."
“Can we keep this child? Your father is sick, and we have no financial foundation left. Raising a child is so expensive. To be honest, for a while, I lost faith in our marriage. I'm so scared! What if we're not together one day, and the child will be fatherless.”
"Don't worry, the child won't be without a father. I promise." Yaping didn't look at Lijuan, but at the distance. Lijuan nestled in Yaping's arms, helpless and bewildered.
"Mom, Lijuan is pregnant. I'd like her to move back in so we can look after each other."
"Pregnant? Where did this child come from? She doesn't even live at home. You'd better think this through; it could be whose child it is." Ya Ping's mother looked incredulous.
Yaping said firmly, "Don't worry, it's mine, I know."
"In that case, come back!"
"Please don't give her a hard time, I'm afraid she'll miscarry. I must make sure this child is born safely so my dad can see it with his own eyes."
"Don't worry! As long as you're definitely my family's child, I can tolerate anything for the sake of my grandson. I'm willing to be your slave."
"I'm sure."
On Sunday, Yaping and her mother went to Lijuan's house to pick her up. Lijuan looked embarrassed and quickly called out, "Mom!" Yaping's mother smiled broadly, as if nothing had happened, calling Lijuan "Lijuan" repeatedly, and said in front of Lijuan's mother, "What's past is past! Lijuan is still my child, I won't remember anything." Lijuan was so ashamed that tears welled up in her eyes. She really wanted to apologize, but the words stuck in her throat. Lijuan remembered Sister Cai's words: when both sides extend a hand of sincerity, perhaps the situation isn't so bad.
"I was wondering why his mother's smile was so fake. She forgot everything as soon as she turned her back. So you're pregnant again, huh! Young lady, it's not that your mother is jinxing you, but the moment I saw that old woman, I knew she had a cunning look on her face and was full of bad intentions. You really have no wits at all. Can you really get pregnant with him now? Who knows what the future holds! His father doesn't know how long he'll drag this out, and you don't know how long you'll have to carry this burden. His mother keeps stirring things up. You've put yourself on a tightrope! You won't be able to turn back! Honestly! You didn't even discuss such a big thing with your mother! If you had told me first, I would have strongly opposed you having the child with him! You can't even take care of yourself, how can you take care of a child!"
Upon hearing the news that Lijuan was confirmed pregnant, Lijuan's mother pounded her chest and stamped her feet in despair. "You wretched girl, I'm never going to take care of you again! You never report anything to me and you're always being led by the nose! Let me tell you! This is definitely Yaping's scheme to use a child to keep you from divorcing him!"
"Mom, what nonsense are you talking about!" Lijuan replied with a smile, "I never planned to divorce him! I agreed to this pregnancy. I also want to use this child to get closer to Yaping. The past few months have been really painful!"
"Hmph! Think it through. Don't be more trouble than you're worth, having more children just means more worries."
Lijuan moved back to her own place. Yaping moved into the study on the very first day she moved back.
"Yaping, let's sleep together! I promise I won't do anything. I want you by my side, to smell your scent." Lijuan held Yaping's hand and shook it in the study.
"No, my mother won't allow it. She's afraid something might happen again. This time, we must strictly control it and follow the doctor's orders. I'm doing this for your own good, for the good of our child. Be good!" Yaping resolutely kicked Lijuan out of the study and locked the door every night.
"You're so annoying! It's like you're afraid I'll rape you! Why did you lock the door?" Lijuan complained coquettishly.
“I’m locking myself away, because I’m afraid I can’t help but think of you.” Yaping stroked Lijuan’s head and shook it.
Lijuan's pregnancy has been fraught with difficulties. From the moment she found out she was pregnant, she vomited constantly, throwing up everything she ate, even bile.
"Hmm, Lijuan's probably having a boy this time. Look at her last pregnancy, she had no symptoms at all. They say only girls carrying boys have such strong reactions. It means the last one she miscarried was a girl. It's good she miscarried; otherwise, there wouldn't be this one," Yaping's mother whispered to Yaping's father. Yaping's father was getting thinner and thinner, like a strip of skin peeled off a bamboo pole. When the old man coughed, it felt like his lungs and liver might cough up. Yaping's father pressed his hands against his abdomen, saying with deep emotion, "Whether it was a boy or a girl from the last pregnancy, we should be able to see it by now. I'm afraid that no matter how good this pregnancy is, I won't be able to wait!"
"Don't worry! You have a long life ahead of you!" Yaping's mother comforted her.
"Lijuan! You need to eat more! Look at you, you were already thin, and now you're so pregnant you're practically unrecognizable!" Yaping's mother had prepared a table full of dishes, but Lijuan wouldn't even touch them. "If you don't eat, how will the baby get enough nutrition?"
"I can't eat a single bite," Lijuan said weakly.
"We have to persevere, even if it's tough!"
"I tried it! I threw up as soon as I ate it. My mouth had no taste at all. It was all bitter." Lijuan's daily meals consisted of two sour apples.
"Your wife is vomiting like this, how can this baby be saved? I've never seen vomit like this before, she won't eat anything," Yaping's mother muttered to Yaping. Yaping was helpless.
"Lijuan, just eat a couple of bites!" Yaping sat down in front of Lijuan's bed with a pork hock in his hand. Lijuan glanced back, then felt nauseous, covered her mouth, and got out of bed.
"Mom, do you still have any of the pickled cabbage you brought from Northeast China? I suddenly have a craving for pickled cabbage." Lijuan suddenly called home one day while she was at work.
The house was in chaos. Yaping's father coughed violently for a while, then couldn't breathe properly. While Yaping's mother was busy getting medicine and a nasal spray, she accidentally kicked over the bedpan, stepped over the puddle of urine, and ran to answer the phone.
"Whose call was it?" Yaping's father asked after calming down a bit.
“Lijuan’s. She suddenly said she wanted to eat pickled cabbage.”
"It's not easy for her to get something to eat, so please take it to her quickly!"
"But... how can I go like this?"
"Sigh! I've given up all hope. But the child can't be delayed even for a day! Go quickly! The grandson is waiting to eat!" Ya Ping's mother reluctantly put down everything she was doing, grabbed the jar of pickled cabbage, and took a car to Li Juan's workplace.
Because she didn't know the way, Yaping's mother took the wrong turn and had to change buses twice, arriving at Lijuan's workplace close to closing time. Lijuan was deeply moved to see her mother-in-law carrying the jar of pickled cabbage, looking exhausted. "Eat quickly! While you still have an appetite!" Yaping's mother urged. Lijuan opened the jar, and a pungent, sour smell hit her. Lijuan started gagging again, unable to get up from the corner.
"No! I was just thinking about how delicious it would be, and the smell was enough. I'm so sorry, Mom, the time I wanted to eat it is long gone." Lijuan's face was deathly pale. Yaping's mother, her face ashen, silently took the jar and left.
"Mom, won't you wait a few more minutes? I'm about to get off work, let's go home together!"
"No, the whole family is waiting for food! And his father isn't in good health. You can go back slowly! There's no rush."
"Has Lijuan eaten?" Yaping's father asked.
"Don't ask anymore, it'll only make you angry again. Mind your own business and ask yourself more questions." Yaping's mother slammed the jar down on the table.
"Sigh! Forget it. Just bear with it! Consider it for the sake of my grandson. It's not like I'm doing it for her sake."
Yaping's mother wiped the tears from her cheeks with the back of her hand and tidied up the messy house.
"Old man! You can't leave! If you leave, where will I go? Thinking about this life, it's truly heartbreaking. In old age, it's all for nothing. We always long for children, but what's the use of having children?"
"You can't say that! This is the root of our Li family! Isn't the purpose of living to ensure the continuation of our family line? If you don't have children, who will remember you? Who will burn paper money for you after you die?"
"You still expect them to burn paper money for you? Old man, you're much luckier than me. If you go first, at least I'll still miss you and think about you. If I'm gone, I'll be on my way in poverty, and no one will remember to burn me a single piece of paper money. Sigh!"
"Yaping, I really want to die. Last time it didn't hurt at all, but this time it feels like my skin is being ripped off and my tendons are being pulled out. I want you to hug me." Lijuan lay on the bed holding Yaping's hand.
"Lijuan, I know you're working hard, but you have to eat something! Otherwise, how can you survive for 10 months? Let me hug you." Yaping reached out and shook Lijuan. "I'm going to sleep now. Call me immediately if you need anything, okay?"
Lijuan was stumbling as she approached her sixth month of pregnancy. At this stage, most pregnant women had their bellies proudly and noticeably protruding, but if Lijuan didn't deliberately stick them out, no one would offer her a seat on the bus. Every day after work, the first thing Lijuan did when she got home was to show her aging father, Yaping, her belly. She would specially change into tight-fitting clothes so he could see the outline. Yaping's father, with sheer willpower, persevered.