Mr. Shen was eager for others to praise his daughter and didn't think his words were flattering or belittling. He chuckled and said, "As the saying goes, the younger generation surpasses the older, and the student surpasses the teacher. These bayberries look good, but I wonder what they taste like?"
Su Yunzhi took two seeds from the basket, wiped them on her apron, handed one to him, and popped one into her own mouth: "Here, these are from your daughter, they're the original kind, you try them first."
Mr. Shen took the bayberry and put it in his mouth. He preferred sweets and couldn't handle sour foods very well. The moment the bayberry entered his mouth, his face wrinkled up for a moment, but then he relaxed. "Give me a few more."
Uncle Zheng asked him, "Is it delicious?"
Mr. Shen nodded. "It's a little sour at first, but it tastes quite sweet."
Su Yunzhi also said, "This tastes even better than those dried bayberries we bought."
Uncle Zheng laughed and said, "That's the variety we grow. It's not ripe yet. These are the ones I picked that are red, but not fully red. They'll taste even better around the Dragon Boat Festival."
Su Yunzhi popped another one into her mouth, then remembered that her father had just asked her for two, so she quickly took it to the kitchen.
Uncle Zheng sat down on the sofa and looked around. "Where's Wuqiu?"
"I just finished breakfast and went back to my room to rinse my mouth." Mr. Shen's attention was still on the bayberries. "Such good bayberries, it would be a waste to use them to make wine."
"It's a real shame to use them for making wine." Uncle Zheng agreed. Speaking of the sales of these bayberries, he thought of something else. "These bayberries are sweet, and it's been sunny for the past few days, but the weather isn't going to be very good. If it keeps raining, the harvest will probably be greatly reduced."
Mr. Shen had thought of this, "Let's see how the weather goes. If the weather is bad, we shouldn't wait until they're fully ripe. Instead, we should pick them and wholesale them to make canned goods."
Uncle Zheng nodded: "These bayberries are quite good for canning."
Just then, Shen Wuqiu came downstairs.
It was raining today, and she hadn't planned to go out anyway. She decided to stay home and wear something comfortable, a loose-fitting summer loungewear set.
These loungewear pieces look loose, but because they have an elasticated belt at the waist, they actually accentuate the waistline.
Uncle Zheng exchanged pleasantries while scrutinizing her. Although he felt that something was different about her, he didn't think about it. After a while, he asked, "Wuqiu, what good food have you been eating lately? It's only been a short time since I last saw you, but you seem to have gained weight."
No woman likes to be told she's fat. Shen Wuqiu touched her face. "Really?"
"Your face hasn't gotten fat."
Shen Wuqiu realized what was happening, glanced down at her slightly protruding belly, and was thinking about what to say when her father calmly spoke up: "She's not fat, she's pregnant."
A note from the author:
Your comments are so heartwarming.
Well, the main reason is my history of being a procrastinator~ Of course, I can explain. Two previous stories were updated slowly, firstly because I was quite busy with real-life matters, and secondly because that subject matter wasn't my forte, so writing it wasn't easy. But don't worry about this one; it's what I most want to write and what I'm better at, so unless there are special circumstances, I won't arbitrarily stop updating it.
Chapter 42 Immortal Herb
Pregnant?
Uncle Zheng was taken aback. He looked at Shen's father, then at Shen Wuqiu, and asked, "What pregnancy?"
Shen Wuqiu, being a naive young man, didn't know how to respond for a moment.
She never intended to hide it from those around her, and never took the initiative to tell anyone, mainly because she didn't know how to bring it up. After all, she herself was completely unaware of her pregnancy.
After a brief silence.
Mr. Chen smacked his lips, took out a packet of candy from his pocket, popped one into his mouth, but still felt a little unsatisfied. At times like these, he would have an unusual urge to smoke.
"Qiuqiu is pregnant, three months along."
Anyway, he was going to offend someone no matter what, so Dad Shen was too lazy to beat around the bush and just got straight to the point.
"..." Uncle Zheng was getting a little agitated. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. "Old Le, even if you don't want to be in-laws with me, you don't have to make up an excuse like this, do you?"
Before he could even light his cigarette, Mr. Chen shoved a packet of candy into his hand, saying, "I'm sorry to have to make you eat this candy, but my daughter is really pregnant."
Since being diagnosed with lung cancer, Mr. Shen had no choice but to quit smoking, and most people also stopped smoking in front of him.
Uncle Zheng was so shocked that he subconsciously wanted to smoke a cigarette to calm down. After hearing what Mr. Shen said, he blankly stuffed the cigarette back into his pocket, still somewhat disbelieving, and looked at Shen Wuqiu again.
"Uncle Zheng, I'm really pregnant." Shen Wuqiu knew what he wanted to say.
"You're pregnant..." Uncle Zheng's expression turned somewhat grim. He then turned to look at Mr. Chen, "Old Le, this is a bit unfair of you two. I was really hoping our two families could become one, but this..."
“I didn’t mean to hide it from you.” When talking about this, Mr. Shen felt a little guilty. “It’s just that I really didn’t know how to tell you about this. Qiuqiu has always been a strong-willed child. She’s been away from home for so many years and never tells her family what’s going on. I only found out about this child not long ago.”
Mr. Shen was not a man of few words to begin with; he would say a few words and then pause, making his speech quite difficult.
This sincere yet troubled attitude left Uncle Zheng speechless, and he had no choice but to suppress his dissatisfaction for the time being. "Other people's daughters are overjoyed when they get pregnant, but why do you look so worried?"
Mr. Chen sighed, “Old Zheng, we’ve known each other for many years. I won’t lie to you, if Qiuqiu gets married and pregnant, I’ll definitely be overjoyed.”
Uncle Zheng had already guessed there was more to the story from what he'd said before, and now that Mr. Shen had explained it this way, he had a pretty good idea of what was going on, but he still feigned a bit of incomprehension on the surface:
"Pregnancy before marriage isn't a big deal these days. Take the Bai family in our village, for example. They seem like a very generous family, right? But their wife has been living at home for three years, and just because she hasn't conceived, she refuses to let them get married and have a wedding banquet. She says that society is chaotic now, and many girls love to play and be beautiful, making it difficult for them to have children. If they want to enter the Bai family, they have to have a child first."
After saying that, Uncle Zheng felt that his example might be a bit inappropriate, so he explained to Shen Wuqiu, "My dear niece Wuqiu, I didn't mean anything by it. Don't take it to heart. I just wanted to say that in this day and age, these things are not a big deal."
Shen Wuqiu didn't take his words to heart, nodded, and then added on behalf of her father, "My dad isn't such an old-fashioned person."
Uncle Zheng was puzzled: "Old Le, what are you worried about? Wu Qiu, although I haven't had much contact with her before, I can tell that she is capable and discerning. The person she has chosen must be good too. Sigh... how did she get pregnant? My son has no chance."
Mr. Shen said casually, "If you don't mind, your son still has a chance."
"...Dad, what are you saying?"
Mr. Shen ignored her and looked at Uncle Zheng, saying, "I don't know what kind of person Qiuqiu has taken a liking to, and I probably won't have the chance to find out in this lifetime."
"...Old Le, what do you mean by that?"
"That person is gone."
"..." Are you kidding me? Uncle Zheng suddenly realized that what he had just said was a bit superfluous.
Seeing the rapidly changing expression on Uncle Zheng's face, Shen Wuqiu was extremely embarrassed: "Uncle Zheng, my dad was just joking with you, don't take his words to heart."
Uncle Zheng glanced at her, then looked at Mr. Chen. He was extremely embarrassed and didn't know what to say. After a long pause, he finally managed to say, "That's good too. The child can take your surname."
"..." Is this supposed to be comforting?
Uncle Zheng belatedly realized that his words were somewhat inappropriate, and quickly tried to remedy the situation: "What I meant was, the dead cannot be brought back to life, so let's all try to think more positively."
Fortunately, both Shen Wuqiu and her father took this matter in a very open-minded way.
It was Mr. Shen who, seeing his old friend's changed attitude, felt a bit uneasy. "You said before that I didn't want to be in-laws with you, but now you're the one who doesn't want to, right?"
Well... it's true that he likes his niece Wuqiu, and he's never considered himself an old-fashioned or feudal person. But his own son is still a virgin, and he's suddenly become a father—to be honest, he's not that open-minded.
Uncle Zheng began to feel a little uneasy. "It's not that I don't want to, it's just that... I still need to see my niece, Wuqiu, right?"
The topic was thrown back to her, and Shen Wuqiu could only force a smile: "Uncle Zheng, please don't overthink it, my dad was just joking with you."
Mr. Shen: "I'm not joking. You always say how great Qiuqiu is, and now you know her situation inside and out. Oh, there's something else I forgot to tell you. Qiuqiu isn't carrying one or two babies; she's carrying four. You see, if your son marries Qiuqiu, wouldn't that be wonderful? You'd have four ready-made grandchildren."
"..." Four? Uncle Zheng was a little dumbfounded, staring blankly at Shen Wuqiu, "Four?"
Shen Wuqiu was extremely embarrassed and nodded, "Did I scare you...?"
This is really a bit scary.
Uncle Zheng nodded, then stood up, walked silently to the door, then remembered something and came back. "I think I've been through a lot today. I'll go back and think about it carefully."
Mr. Shen snorted through his nose.
Shen Wuqiu quickly stood up to see him off, "Uncle Zheng, I'm so sorry, my dad just likes to joke, please don't take it to heart."
Uncle Zheng didn't respond and went straight outside.
Shen Wuqiu stood at the door and watched the person leave before turning back into the hall. She said to her father, who was chewing on a candy, "Dad, really, you've already told people I'm pregnant, why did you bring up those things again?"
"Does my daughter's pregnancy mean she's entitled to a higher price? I'm just angry at his inconsistent attitude. He was the one who was eager to have you as his daughter-in-law, but as soon as he heard you were pregnant, his attitude changed completely."
Although she knew her father was just being kind to her, Shen Wuqiu still said honestly, "You're only being so biased because I'm your daughter. Put yourself in my shoes. What if you found a wife for your brother, and then they told you she was pregnant, but the father was gone? Would you still want her to be your daughter-in-law?"
After saying that, Shen Wuqiu added insult to injury: "Oh, by the way, she's pregnant with four."
Mr. Shen glared at her angrily, "If that girl were like you, I'd be willing too."
"..." This bias is so extreme, Shen Wuqiu felt helpless and amused. Seeing Su Yunzhi coming over, she added, "Even if you were willing, your aunt would definitely not be, and your brother would definitely not be either."
"What are you talking about?" Su Yunzhi, who had been busy in the kitchen arranging the freshly washed bayberries, didn't see Uncle Zheng and asked, "Old Zheng is gone?"
"Let's go." Shen Wuqiu looked at the bright red bayberries in the fruit plate and felt a little tempted. She picked one up and popped it into her mouth. "Did you buy these? Or are they from our own orchard?"
"Old Zheng didn't tell you, this is what he picked from the garden. You've been craving sour things lately, this should suit your taste."
Shen Wuqiu ate three in one go, "They're not very sour, they're quite sweet."
Su Yunzhi smiled and said, "I think you're definitely carrying a boy. I'll go to West Mountain tomorrow and pick some green ones for you."
“If they’re too sour, they won’t do either.” Shen Wuqiu popped a few more into her mouth. “I haven’t seen West Mountain since the fruit trees were planted.”
"In this weather, it's all wet and slippery outside, you'd better stay indoors as much as possible," Su Yunzhi said, then glanced at Shen's father and asked Shen Wuqiu, "What did you just say? Why does your dad look so dark?"
This is a long story. Shen Wuqiu put the last bayberry in her hand back into the fruit plate. "I didn't say anything, I just told Uncle Zheng that I was pregnant."
Su Yunzhi understood immediately, "Your Uncle Zheng still wants to reunite you and his son?"
"...I'm pregnant..."
Su Yunzhi understood and looked at Mr. Shen, "Now they don't want to anymore, right?"
Bringing up a sore spot, Mr. Shen's face darkened even more. "It's as if I'm begging them to agree."
Su Yunzhi pursed her lips and said perfunctorily, "Don't worry, Wuqiu is capable, and we're still in good health. We can help take care of the children, and there shouldn't be any problem with four kids."
Am I worried about this?
"Then what are you worried about?"
"Qiuqiu isn't your daughter, so you're definitely not worried."
These words were a bit hurtful, and Su Yunzhi's face immediately fell.
Before she could explode, Shen Wuqiu quickly spoke up: "Dad, what you said is a bit too much. Auntie, you don't need to pay attention to what Dad said, he just said it in a moment of anger."
"Those are just words from the heart," Su Yunzhi scoffed. "Anyway, she's not my daughter, so I'm too lazy to meddle."
Shen Wuqiu glanced at her father and winked at him.
Dad pretended to be dead and stuffed bayberries into his mouth one after another.
Shen Wuqiu had no choice. In the past, she would have been indifferent to such minor family conflicts, but now that they were getting along properly, her relationship with her stepmother had become much more harmonious. She could also feel the other woman's genuine concern for her. If she continued to ignore her as before, it would really hurt her feelings.