The dormitory atmosphere had been strange these past couple of days; now everyone was guarding their personal belongings as closely as they would against Ge Sanni, placing their things in tightly secured spots, fearing they might take something by mistake.
Okay, she could understand that.
But now, Yang PeiMin no longer went back to the dorm at noon, instead soaking up time in the laboratory with Li Yue, which actually resulted in getting quite a few things done.
It was the weekend now, and Li Yue, who was addicted to the laboratory, had invited her to join. Thinking about her own issues, Pei Min had to reluctantly decline.
Yet it seemed like fate was playing tricks on her. That "relative" could have come any time, but chose to arrive just when she had sat down on the bus heading to the hospital.
She was not pregnant!
Afterward, she hurriedly got off at the next stop, rushed back to the dorm, put on a sanitary pad, and sat down on her bed, taking a long time to catch her breath; she still had not recovered from the sprint.
She couldn’t quite describe her feelings: a sense of wistful loss engulfed her heart, along with a faint disappointment.
Then she immediately got up, tidied up a bit, and decided to make a trip back to the military unit to clear things up with Shen Yiguang, to spare him the unnecessary worry about her supposed pregnancy.
Just last week Shen Yiguang had mentioned he might be busy and unable to come over, but he’d make time to see her. However, he hadn’t shown up yet, so Yang PeiMin thought it best to make the trip herself.
"Pei Min, where are you heading? Going back to the military dependents’ district?" Cheng Aihua asked her.
Yang PeiMin nodded and responded casually.
"You’re the luckiest in the dorm, Pei Min. With your man so close, you can visit whenever you want—no wonder you got pregnant," Tan Yan said, laughing.
Now Yang PeiMin could definitively correct her, "Sister Tan, I got my period this month."
Tan Yan was taken aback, then her laughter became more genuine, "No worries, I was just asking casually. But hey, you’re still young, no rush. Once you graduate and find a good job, that’ll be the perfect time to have a baby. I’ve heard some companies even offer maternity benefits and leave, so you’ll have everything you need and no worries. It’s truly the best situation."
Yang PeiMin smiled, understanding the hidden meaning in her words; she probably feared Yang PeiMin would end up like Ge Sanni.
With not much to take along, packing was quickly done.
Luckily it was still early morning; she had originally planned to head to the hospital early and had not known how long that would take. Even though that was no longer necessary, she could still catch an early bus back.
Perhaps today was a special day of jokes from the gods, as they seemed to offer her a stroke of luck in compensation. At the county bus station, she bumped into Xiao Xu, who was seeing off an officer about to take a bus.
While Yang PeiMin was queuing for the bus, she heard someone calling her "sister-in-law" from behind. Instinctively, she turned around and spotted Xiao Xu.
It turned out he was on his way back to the military unit as well, so she hopped into his vehicle.
"What’s your husband up to?" she asked Xiao Xu as they drove.
Xiao Xu gripped the steering wheel, looking somewhat tense, and didn’t dare to meet her eyes, but he managed a relaxed smile, "Nothing much, he just went to the field training camp these past few days. He even had me pass on a message to you that I was supposed to deliver to your school after dropping off Mr. Sun: he said you don’t need to come this week, he won’t be there. But I didn’t expect to run into you at the station."
After hearing this, Yang PeiMin slightly furrowed her brows, "He’s just recovered, right? Why is he out in field training? Is it dangerous? Is it intense?"
Xiao Xu reassured her with a chuckle, "Don’t worry, sister-in-law. Everyone knows he’s been hospitalized for an injury recently, so this time he’s just commanding from the sidelines without participating directly."
Despite Xiao Xu’s reassurances, the worry didn’t leave Yang PeiMin’s face. It’s hard to tell how things might go on-site; who’s to say he would just observe and not demonstrate?
However, with him already gone, her worrying was of no use, and she fell silent for a moment.
Xiao Xu, seated at the driver’s wheel, sneaked a glance at her, wiping imaginary sweat from his brow, thoughts racing—she surely wasn’t overthinking, right? The truth was her husband was involved in a live exercise, deep within swamps and dense forests.
During her stop at the town, Yang PeiMin had Xiao Xu pull over. She decided to drop by Quan’s place to bring her and her grandson some jujube cakes, and also to buy some medicinal herbs for experiments, now that she had access to the laboratory.
Quan gave her a plain look, but upon seeing the list of medicinal herbs, some quite uncommon, she said, "I don’t have these on hand at the moment. Wait a bit, and come back another time."
Yang PeiMin wasn’t disappointed—finding these herbs was never going to be easy. She simply asked Quan to give her what she did have available.
Quan nodded, prepared her order, gave Yang PeiMin another look, and then said, "Next time you come, bring some pork floss for my grandson, he loves it."
Yang PeiMin agreed and, thinking of Xiao Xu waiting outside, did not linger any longer.
Before entering the compound, Yang PeiMin made a point to stop by the military region’s communications department to check for any mail.
Thinking about the letters she had sent to Qiao Ying and Shen Yiyue, they ought to have received them several days ago; if they had responded promptly, there should be mail waiting.
However, there was no correspondence from the two of them at the communications personnel. Instead, there was a thick letter from the Shen family elders, which was also addressed to her.
Curiosity piqued by the weight of the envelope, Yang PeiMin wondered what they had written. Then, a sudden dread hit her—could there be some problem?
With this thought, she did not dare linger any longer in the place, quickly taking the letter back to her quarters.
The moment she opened the letter and saw the first sentence, she almost collapsed:
... "Precautions for a pregnant daughter-in-law!"
How did they find out?
Oh, it must have been Shen Yiguang blabbering!
Reading further, the entirety of the letter was filled with ordinary prenatal care advice, detailing what to eat and what to avoid, urging her not to overwork herself and to eat well... all of it suggesting she was the great hero of the Shen family, that the eventual child would undoubtedly be smart and beautiful... and now, they didn’t want her to send monthly living expenses home anymore, insisting she save the money for her pregnancy.
The letter comprised eight full pages!
Sitting on the sofa, Yang PeiMin felt her hair could turn white from worry. Where would she find a grandchild for the Shen family now?
It was all Shen Yiguang’s fault for blurting things out before anything was certain!
And now he was off to training, leaving her unable to even vent her frustration at anyone!