The north wind howled all night, and the next morning was cloudy like a snowstorm could hit at any moment.
Fearful that the cold might harm their wives, Ning Jianshe and Lianshan, who both cherished their wives, were quick to reconsider.
Hai Zi was driving the team’s cart, so there would be plenty of opportunities in the future.
What’s the rush to go now?
There’s no need to suffer through this bad weather!
Lian Yue was never enthusiastic about the costly process of a prenatal check-up and only agreed to go because of her husband’s persuasion. She had no issues with skipping it altogether, let alone postponing it.
In the countryside, when women give birth, they just prepare and call for a midwife when the time comes, don’t they?
In families that treat their wives harshly, they won’t even spare a few eggs to have an experienced midwife check the fetal position. Let alone get a recommendation letter and go to the city hospital!
Only because they had earned a decent income from selling deer and mushrooms, they were considering it this year.
Otherwise, Lian Yue would dismiss her husband’s concern as excessive pride. She wouldn’t even consider it, let alone drag her sister-in-law into it.
Three out of the four people had already reconsidered, leaving Shuzhen no choice but to insist, "Since we’ve already arranged everything, let’s just go together. Dress warmly on the cart and add a blanket, how cold could it be? Just because the sky is overcast doesn’t mean it’ll snow. If the weather’s bad, there’ll be fewer people at the hospital, so we won’t have to queue far, and the doctor might be more attentive."
That sounded logical!
However, Ning Jianshe still decided to reschedule with Lian Yue and advised Shuzhen to reconsider as well. With a pregnancy, it’s not convenient to take medication or injections. They had to be cautious, what if she caught a cold?
In Shuzhen’s heart, she was in tears: In this cold weather, I don’t want this either! But this concerns my husband’s future; I can’t feign ignorance just to avoid a cold, can I?
Family ties aside, Lian Hai’s job driving the cart is only because they all raised worms, chickens, and wood ear mushrooms. To easily sell goods later to the procurement station, she threatened Dai Honghua a bit and replaced Liu San, allowing her husband Lian Hai to drive the cart.
Having put him in that position, knowing the potential dangers, she couldn’t just sit back and let the cold take its toll. Just thinking about it made Shuzhen uncomfortable.
She couldn’t reveal the whole story, so when the sister-in-law’s husband offered well-meaning advice, Shuzhen just smiled without comment, determined to keep her decision unchanged.
Anyway, when it comes to stubbornness, her husband has never won against her in two lifetimes. This time should be no exception.
See, he’s quietly started packing up his old and new bedding to put on the cart for warmth against the wind?
Since Lian Yue and her husband weren’t going, Shuzhen took the opportunity to leave the household chores to them. She carefully instructed them on how to keep the worm shed warm, feed the 30 wild and domestic chickens, and collect the eggs.
Lian Hai drove the team’s ox cart over, prepared to protect his sister and benefactor’s wife from the cold. The cart was already lined with a thick layer of straw, topped with an old quilt.
Most delightfully, Lian Hai somehow acquired an old, tattered, patched-up canvas tent.
He said he knew there were leftover bamboo sticks from when they built the worm shed, so they tied a few well to the cart and draped the tent over it. With mats and quilts inside, there was no worry about it being too cold for his sister-in-law and sister.
With such a reliable brother, Lianshan gratefully patted him on the shoulder, continuously praising him for being thoughtful and capable.
Pleased with the compliments, Lian Hai chuckled foolishly, "Hehe, it’s nothing, really. As long as it helps, making my sister-in-law and sister suffer less is all that matters."
"Not just a little, it’s like blocking out all the cold wind! Hai Zi, you’re so considerate, I must thank you," Shuzhen laughed, giving a thumbs-up to Lian Hai as he set up the tent. "Since the warmth problem is solved, Xiao Yue and Jianshe, you don’t need to reschedule, do you?"
"But, the house..." Ning Jianshe thought about going together but had just agreed to look after the house for his brother-in-law, so going back on that wasn’t easy.
"There’s nothing to ’but’ about it. We originally arranged for my brother to watch the house. You both said you weren’t going, so I changed plans. Now, with Xiao Yue accompanying me, let’s stick to the original plan. See, my brother’s already here," Shuzhen interrupted Ning Jianshe’s hesitation, waving to Liu Shouren, who had just arrived.
With someone to cover for him now, Ning Jianshe no longer hesitated.
Lian Yue cheerfully climbed into the cart, saying it was better to go with her sister-in-law as company. The two of them together, they’d be more at ease with anything.
With the tent as a shield against the wind and Lian Hai’s straw and old quilt setup, Lianshan laid his new and old bedding inside the cart, covering Shuzhen and Lian Yue with his quilt. Another old quilt wrapped around Lian Hai, who was focused on driving and couldn’t stay inside the tent.
After bustling around for a while, everything was finally in place.
Lian Hai called from outside the tent, telling them to sit tight as he started driving the cart. Without waiting for replies, the ox cart slowly moved toward the village entrance to meet Accountant Sun.
Lian Hai had driven out half an hour earlier than scheduled, despite the delay at Brother Lianshan’s house. His timing didn’t exceed the original plan.
Yet Accountant Sun, who besides Lin Yuanzhi and higher-ups, had never waited for anyone with such impatience.
Speaking sarcastically, Lian Hai worried that this man, involved in work points and food distribution, might retaliate someday. So he pretended not to understand the hidden meanings, only smiling foolishly and saying he made extra preparations due to the cold weather.
"Driving out isn’t easy. It seems public work isn’t delayed, and you manage private matters well too. Balancing both must be tough!" Accountant Sun snorted, looking with disdain at the tent on the ox cart.
"What’s private business? Accountant Sun, you make it sound puzzling! My sister-in-law Lian Yue and I are carrying the revolutionary torch, hoping for a checkup at the hospital, to be responsible for ourselves and the next generation of revolutionaries. The team leader issued a proof and referral letter, clearly supporting this. What are you insinuating with your words?
Could it be that your allegiance to the team leader is just for show?" Seeing her brother-in-law being criticized, Shuzhen couldn’t hold back. She poked her head out from the tent, giving Accountant Sun a cold look.