Everyone sat down, and no one asked anything about Ning Xueling.
With children around, the house was lively. After dinner, everyone played with firecrackers in the courtyard, having a great time.
Luo Xuyuan specially hired someone to take a family portrait for everyone. The elderly were surrounded by their children and grandchildren in the middle, smiling the happiest.
After the photo was taken, the families from the first and third rooms left because they had things to do, leaving only the people from the second room. The older kids wanted to go see the temple fair, and Luo Haotian readily agreed.
For safety’s sake, Lu Yichen and the four older uncles also followed them to the temple fair, worried that the crowdedness might separate the children.
After seeing them off, Luo Qiao put the little ones to bed and then went downstairs to gossip with a few sisters-in-law.
Geng Yanqiu brought up Ji Lin: "Qiaoqiao, Ji Lin is pregnant."
Luo Qiao was peeling tangerines, somewhat surprised: "When did that happen? I spoke to her on the phone before the New Year, and she didn’t mention pregnancy."
"Probably she didn’t know she was pregnant when she spoke to you. It was the day before you came back. I went to the hospital to see a client and bumped into her there. She had just found out. Ji Wei was hopping and skipping with the results in his hands, and that’s when I learned that Ji Lin was pregnant."
"So they didn’t go back to the south for the New Year?"
"Yeah, they had already bought their tickets, but then Ji Lin felt unwell, took a rest for two days. They had no experience with this, luckily she didn’t take any medication in private. Ji Wei was worried and insisted on taking Ji Lin to the hospital for a check, and that’s when they found out she was pregnant."
Xiao Ya said, "These two moved pretty fast. I used to think they were awkwardly matched, but now it seems like it was destiny."
Geng Yanqiu laughed: "You should see them now; their love is genuine. This ’marriage first, love after’ situation isn’t too bad."
Zhou Guifang smiled and added, "You all talk about free love nowadays, but in the past, it was all arranged by parents. People got married after only a few meetings, and some didn’t even meet before marriage, yet they still lived life just fine."
Speaking of the devil, Ji Lin called right when they were talking about her. She complained that Luo Qiao didn’t call her when she returned to the country, and after much grumbling, she awkwardly asked, "Qiaoqiao, did your fourth sister-in-law mention anything about me?"
Luo Qiao mischievously queried, "Mention what about you?"
Ji Lin, a bit embarrassed, took a while to say, "Qiaoqiao, I’m pregnant."
Luo Qiao burst into laughter: "Talk about coincidence, we were just talking about you and you called. Is your morning sickness severe?"
"It’s quite bad every morning and evening. I don’t really have an appetite, and I always feel like I can’t fully wake up."
"That’s all normal. I think we still have some pickled cucumbers my grandma made. I’ll send you some, you can eat them with porridge, they’re refreshing."
"I won’t be shy then. I can’t stand the sight of oily food now, it’s driving me nuts."
Then she added, "Not me nuts, but driving Ji Wei nuts."
She finished and burst into laughter.
Luo Qiao knew Ji Lin very well, it seemed that the two had genuinely fallen for each other: "Then I’ll bring it to you tomorrow."
"Okay, thanks so much, sister."
After hanging up, Luo Qiao turned to Zhou Guifang beside her: "Grandma, can you pack a small bowl of those pickled cucumbers for me? I’ll take them to her."
Zhou Guifang smiled: "There’s plenty of those pickles left. Yipin brought us quite a few cucumbers last autumn, and I pickled them all. I gave some to your great-aunt and little aunt. None of your sisters-in-law can eat pickled foods, there are still two jars unopened."
Luo Qiao laughed: "Alright, I’ll take more for her since she’ll be eating porridge often during pregnancy."
********
Over at the He family, after the wedding banquet ended, He Xialan and He Dongping followed He Qiuping to his home. They originally wanted to mock Ning Xueling, but to their surprise, the usually gentle Big Brother erupted this time.
After everyone left, Ning Xueling finally spoke: "Qiuping, I’ve made things difficult for you."
He Qiuping said, "I can’t let you suffer like my ex-wife did."
It took He Qiuping a while to continue: "Back then, as the eldest in the family, I used more of the family resources. Actually, I was just being silly because it was clear that Xialan and Dongping dropped out of school because they weren’t doing well academically.
But our parents always said my sister and brother dropped out to make way for me, and I felt guilty towards them ever since. When I started working, I handed over my salary to them. After I got married, it became a habit to treat them well, and it was because of this that my ex-wife suffered.
It’s also why I broke away from the family. In the past years, as long as my parents were there, I didn’t want to make things difficult for them, so as long as they didn’t go too far, I just turned a blind eye.
But now it’s different. Xiao Jun and Xiao Qing are about to settle down, and I can’t let Xialan and Dongping continue to throw their weight around under the guise of being elders after they get married, nor will I allow them to bully you."
After hearing this, Ning Xueling thought about what Luo Xuyuan said today. She saw that the relationship between those siblings and her Big Brother and Second Brother wasn’t as good as before, likely because they always used their status as elders to oppress them.
He Qiuping noticed Ning Xueling didn’t say anything: "Xueling, what’s wrong?"
Ning Xueling regained her composure and smiled faintly: "It’s nothing, just thought of some things."
He Qiuping knew she was probably thinking of her children: "Don’t worry, I’ll treat you well in the future."