"..." Shen Wuqiu couldn't imagine it. After a pause, she said, "Didn't you say that your clan has always had difficulty conceiving offspring and that you are so harsh on your offspring?"
"No matter how important offspring are, they are not as important as my sister."
Whether it was her tender words or her burning gaze, Shen Wuqiu was somewhat overwhelmed and could only deliberately skip the topic, "I didn't expect to sleep for so long today?"
Gu Lingyu knew she was being evasive, so she didn't force her to respond and went along with her words, "Yes, I did sleep a little longer today. Are you hungry, sister?"
Now that you mention it, I am indeed a little hungry.
With that, Shen Wuqiu got out of bed and went to the bathroom.
After quickly washing up, the two went downstairs.
"Oh, you're awake? I was just about to go up and call you for dinner. Does your stomach still hurt?" Su Yunzhi, who came out of the kitchen with a bowl of soup, was the first to see them. Since the kitchen exit was right in front of the stairwell, she didn't even put down the bowl of soup she was carrying before she hurriedly greeted them.
"It doesn't hurt anymore." Shen Wuqiu glanced towards the sofa in the living room and happened to see Shen Wujun looking in their direction. She was taken aback for a moment, "You're back?"
"I came back during the Dragon Boat Festival holiday since I had nothing else to do." Shen Wujun said as he walked towards her, stopping a couple of steps away. He stared at her from head to toe, finally fixing his gaze on her stomach with a strange expression. "How come it's so big already?"
Shen Wuqiu also looked at her stomach, "After all, there are four."
Shen Wujun didn't speak for a while, then asked her, "Can they move now? Will they kick you?"
"I haven't felt it yet. But... I have a feeling that they're moving inside."
Shen Wujun found it a bit amazing and swallowed hard. "Sis, can I touch it?"
"Can……"
"Can't!"
As soon as Shen Wujun reached out her hand, Gu Lingyu stepped in front of Shen Wuqiu to block her.
“My sister has no objections.” Shen Wujun rolled her eyes at her and then said, “Why are you staying at my house and not leaving?”
Gu Lingyu shamelessly replied, "Wherever my sister is, I will be there too."
Shen Wujun scoffed at her, then, as if remembering something, his expression instantly turned as disgusted as if he had swallowed a fly. "Let me tell you, I definitely won't marry you, so you'd better not try anything with me."
"..."
A few seconds later, Shen Wuqiu quickly pulled Gu Lingyu behind her and said to Shen Wujun, "It's time to eat, let's go eat quickly."
Shen Wujun gave Gu Lingyu a soft snort before walking toward the dining table.
After Su Yunzhi put all the food on the table, she shouted loudly towards the courtyard, "Wuqiu, get up, it's time to eat."
As soon as she finished speaking, Mr. Shen, Zhao Jiujiu, and the others walked in.
"Qiuqiu, does your stomach still hurt?"
Shen Wuqiu patiently responded to everyone's concern.
At the dinner table, everyone ate and chatted, and naturally, the topic of today's events came up.
Mr. Shen: "Regarding the matter of your sister and sister scolding you, your aunt, Junjun, and I went to your uncle's house to talk to him. In the afternoon, he came over with some people to apologize to you, but you were sleeping, so we didn't go to wake you up."
Su Yunzhi: "He Mei is indeed a formidable woman. I only found out today that she's incredibly capable in her husband's family as well. She even said she fought with her mother-in-law. No wonder she comes back every few days; it turns out she's having a hard time at her husband's house."
Mr. Shen was impatient with her gossiping, but he didn't stop her. He just frowned and said, "She's a married daughter, and we can't control her. But she went too far today. Qiuqiu, you're the one who was wronged today. I haven't made a decision for you. Whether you forgive her or not is up to you."
Shen Wujun: "This kind of gossipy old woman deserves a beating. She'll behave herself after a couple of beatings."
Mr. Shen: "You eat your food."
Shen Wujun: "I think it's all because you spoiled them that they're so lawless. The brother is like this, and the sister is like this too. It's one thing to take advantage of others, but now they're even bullying us."
Seeing that her father's face was getting darker and darker, Shen Wuqiu quickly tried to smooth things over, "Wujun, say less. What Zhihe said today was indeed nasty, and you all helped me get revenge, so let's just let it go. If things get too ugly, I won't be able to face anyone in the village."
Zhao Jiujiu: "Why are you worried about these things? Just tell me if you want to teach someone a lesson. Don't worry, if anything happens, your aunt will take responsibility."
Dai Ying also chimed in at the opportune moment: "Aunt Dai is also your strong support."
"..." This chivalrous spirit... Shen Wuqiu was amused by them, yet also touched:
“I’m not aggrieved. To be honest, they are all unimportant people to me. A few harsh words won’t hurt me. I really can’t be bothered to argue with them. Besides, I now have contracted so much mountain forest land in the village. If I start a huge fight with my own family first, others might have a different opinion of me.”
Shen Wuqiu wasn't saying this to appease them; it was because that's truly what she thought.
As the saying goes, "Even the King of Hell has his own opinions, and his underlings are hard to deal with."
Shen Zhihe is a bit stubborn and loves to persist, and besides, she didn't want to make things difficult for her uncle.
Hearing her say that, Zhao Jiujiu was still somewhat indignant, but ultimately respected her.
After finishing their meal, they started talking about Shen Wuqiu's stomachache that day.
Although the pain has subsided, Zhao Jiujiu and Shen's father are still worried and insist that Shen Wuqiu go to the hospital for a check-up tomorrow.
Shen Wuqiu couldn't refuse them, so she went to the hospital for a prenatal checkup the next day.
This time, Gu Lingyu was finally able to accompany her partner to her prenatal checkup.
Zhao Jiujiu was relieved when the test results came back normal.
Since it was a rare opportunity to come to the city, Zhao Jiujiu took them shopping after leaving the hospital. They bought a lot of things, and didn't go back until the afternoon.
On the way back, a black BMW was driving in front of them. Shen Wuqiu and the others didn't pay much attention at first, until they reached the bend at the village entrance, when the BMW suddenly drove into the field beside the road...
A note from the author:
Love you all, muah!
Chapter 56 Difficulty
The sudden turn of events startled Zhao Jiujiu, who was driving, so she slammed on the brakes.
"Giggle... hiss..."
As soon as the ear-piercing screeching stopped, Shen Wujun, sitting in the passenger seat, cursed under his breath, "Is this guy a fucking idiot?" He then turned to Shen Wuqiu in the back seat and asked, "Sis, are you alright?"
He was supposed to go back to the company early this morning, but because he was worried about Shen Wuqiu, he took a few more days off.
"It's nothing." Shen Wuqiu sat between Daiying and Gu Lingyu, protected steadily by the two cats, one big and one small, and didn't feel the impact of the sudden braking at all. "What happened to that car in front?"
"I don't know." Zhao Jiujiu unbuckled her seatbelt and opened the car door. "I'll go down and take a look."
Shen Wuqiu nodded. There was a small earthen mound in front of this bend and a bridge behind it. There wasn't a single person there to join the fun, except for them.
"Is everyone alright?" Zhao Jiujiu got out of the car and stood by the roadside, shouting towards the car in the field.
Several seconds later, a deep male voice came from inside the car: "It's alright."
The field by the roadside was also abandoned, but because there were few fields nearby, totaling less than five acres, the owners either used it to grow corn or left it fallow. Because this field was right by the road, it was too conspicuous, and only after much persuasion from the village leaders did the owners symbolically plant four bayberry trees on it.
The first two years after planting were fine, but after that, no one took care of it, and the thatch in the field grew almost as tall as the bayberry trees.
The black BMW wasn't exactly unlucky; it turned into a field instead of a field. If it had turned out, it would have ended up in the river with the driver.
"It's good that everyone is alright. Do you need any help?"
The man in the BMW was still somewhat shaken, and the violent shaking made him dizzy. He didn't try to be brave, though. "I guess I'll need to."
As they were talking, Shen Wuqiu and the others got out of the car. Shen Wujun jumped out of the thatched field first and walked to the driver's seat. "Should I call an ambulance for you?"
The man opened the car door, revealing a clean face that looked slightly disheveled. "No need. I just feel a little nauseous and want to throw up..."
As she spoke, she covered her lips and staggered as she tried to get off the bus.
Shen Wujun quickly helped him up, and the man, with his help, walked out of the thatched field. He didn't care about formalities and sat down by the roadside. "Thank you."
Zhao Jiujiu took a bottle of water from her car for him. "Are you alone in the car?"
The man nodded, unscrewed the bottle cap, and gulped down half a bottle of water. He looked a little embarrassed and said, "This is my first time here. I'm not very familiar with the roads. When I was driving, I clearly felt that there was still some distance between us."
Zhao Jiujiu nodded, "These country roads are winding and mountainous; it's easy for someone who isn't an experienced driver to make such a mistake."
The man smiled, not mentioning that he had been driving for over ten years. He noticed someone staring at him out of the corner of his eye, so he looked up at Shen Wuqiu and the others, paused for a moment, and then his gaze shifted slightly to Shen Wuqiu. "I hope I didn't scare you."
"No..." Shen Wuqiu opened his mouth.
"You should be glad you didn't scare us." Gu Lingyu, standing beside her, spoke first, her tone anything but friendly.
The man wasn't angry; he still had a smile on his face as he looked at her. "Well, it's a good thing I didn't scare you, otherwise I would have been in big trouble today."
Gu Lingyu gave a soft snort.
Shen Wuqiu secretly tugged at her hand and scratched her palm twice in a comforting manner.
Gu Lingyu was still a little annoyed. "Since there's nothing else, let's go back."
The cat's strange and ambiguous appearance made Shen Wuqiu wonder if it had some kind of misogyny. Otherwise, why did it seem like the cat was a little unhappy with every man it looked at?
The man seemed to be a sensible person; upon hearing her words, he immediately stood up and said, "I'm sorry to have troubled you. Please leave if you have something to do."
Seeing that his face was rather pale and unwell, Zhao Jiujiu still asked, "Do you have any relatives or friends here?"
The man nodded: "My dad works around here. I was on the phone with him just now and that's why I wasn't paying much attention to the road conditions. He should be here soon."
Hearing him say that, Zhao Jiujiu felt relieved and prepared to get in the car and go back.
Shen Wuqiu suddenly asked, "Your father's name is Zheng Guoqiang?"
The man paused, nodded, looked at her, then at her slightly protruding belly, "Chen Wuqiu?"
Shen Wuqiu smiled at him, "No wonder you looked so familiar, it turns out you're Uncle Zheng's son."
Zhao Jiujiu stopped. "Old Zheng's son? You've come to see your father?"
The man nodded, scratching his head awkwardly. "I have a lot of vacation time lately, so my dad let me come over for a couple of days."
Zhao Jiujiu, being an old fox, glanced at his expression and gave him and Shen Wuqiu a knowing look in her eyes. "It really is fate that brought them together from afar."
Gu Lingyu wasn't happy to hear this, and gestured towards Zhao Jiujiu with her lip, "He almost scared my sister."
Zhao Jiujiu found her puffed-out expression incredibly endearing and assumed her unhappiness stemmed from the sudden stop. She reached out and ruffled her hair, saying, "Qiuqiu wasn't scared, but I think you were."
"I'm not that timid." Gu Lingyu noticed the man looking at her and immediately glared at him fiercely. She knew who he was as soon as he got out of the car.
After all, that shameless old man Zheng was determined to steal her boyfriend away and make him his daughter-in-law. Last time, he even shamelessly brought a photo of his son.
Zhao Jiujiu smiled and ignored her, then looked at the man again, "Since he is Uncle Zheng's son, Little Zheng, why don't you come back with us for a cup of tea to calm your nerves?"
"It's alright, my dad should be here soon, you guys go back first." The man paused, then added, "Zheng Xinghe, Auntie can just call me Xinghe from now on."