After a long and busy day, in addition to being pregnant, Gu Xiaobei was quite tired. After quickly drying her hair upon returning home, she fell asleep. However, she remembered to draw Lu Zhanguo's arm under her head before she slept, trying to get him used to sleeping together.
When she woke up, Lu Zhanguo had already left. Gu Xiaobei stayed in bed for a while before finally getting up. Li Fenghua, who had also been staying in the outer room, had left as well. The food that Lu Zhanguo had brought back from the mess hall was kept warm on the stove. Upon seeing this, Gu Xiaobei felt content as she washed her face and ate her meal.
When Li Fenghua returned home, her family was having breakfast. Her brother-in-law, Zhang Zhijun, had already left. As Fengmei, her mother, was eating porridge, she said, "Despite his small and delicate stature, Zhanguo is quite the cook."
Fenghua dismissed it with a snort, "Any food would taste good if it had that much meat in it." Fengmei knew the thoughts running through her sister's mind and bluntly said, "You should get over it now. Not to mention that Zhanguo is married, even if he were not, he would be out of our league. After all, I heard his father is an official in Capital City."
Fenghua felt uncomfortable as well. Ever since she had come to the army camp to help her sister look after her two children five years ago, she had fallen for Zhanguo at first sight. Even a single glance at him would satisfy her.
Seeing her sister remain silent, Fengmei continued, "In a few days, when you send me back, I'll speak on your behalf and find a match for you. You're 24 already, becoming an old maid." Fengmei's mother nodded, "Indeed, at your age, most people in our hometown already have two kids. Don't be too picky or you'll end up alone."
"If I end up alone, so be it! You must think I'm a burden at home, eating up your supplies. I'll find a job and support myself," Fenghua retorted, throwing down her chopsticks and laying down in the inner room.
Fengmei's mother was also offended, "You lose your temper just because I said a few words. I know what you're up to, the bed in our home isn't too small, yet you say it's too crowded. You'd rather go to the neighbor's, what good has it done you? Seeing other couples being affectionate, aren't you tormented?"
Fenghua, who was in the inner room, had tears in her eyes. Unable to control her emotions, she felt helpless.
"Let me tell you, when I leave the day after tomorrow, you must come with me. This year, I will find a suitable match for you. Let go of that hope you're holding on to." Fengmei's mother spoke, her heart aching for her eldest unmarried daughter.
After finishing her breakfast and tidying up, Gu Xiaobei soaked some clothes, preparing to launder them when an unexpected guest arrived. It was Chi Xiaoyue, carrying a few apples and a couple of canned goods in her bag. She warmly said to Gu Xiaobei, "Sister-in-law, I thought that since you're pregnant, you might crave some snacks. Fortunately, I had some apples. Don't think it's too little."
Chi Xiaoyue put the things on the table and saw the clothes soaking in the basin. "Let me help you wash them" she offered, reaching out to do so. But Gu Xiaobei quickly stopped her "No, these are my husband and my own clothes. It's inappropriate for an unmarried woman like you to wash them." Gu Xiaobei couldn't help but smirk at Xiaoyue's stiff smile.
Chi Xiaoyue quickly regained her composure and tried to make small talk. "I heard you're from H City? So am I! Where did you go to school? Maybe we're schoolmates!"
"I went to the Sixth Middle School, but by the time I was studying, you should have graduated and joined the army already. After all, you're quite a few years older than me." Gu Xiaobei didn't feel like indulging her.
As expected, Chi Xiaoyue didn't take well to the comment about her age. After exchanging a few more words, she left.
However, over the next few days, Chi Xiaoyue kept visiting, never coming empty-handed. Gu Xiaobei started to feel uneasy. When Lu Zhanguo came home in the evening, she brought it up during dinner. "Why does she keep coming here and bringing things? It's making me feel awkward. Isn't their medical team busy?" She didn't express any dislike for Xiaoyue.
Lu Zhanguo paused, not understanding Chi Xiaoyue's intentions either. "You don't have many friends here and Xiaoyue is a nice person, you could be friends." Be friends with a romantic rival? Gu Xiaobei didn't have such a broad mindset.
"Did you two date before?" Gu Xiaobei casually picked up some noodles with her chopsticks and asked nonchalantly.
"No, don't talk nonsense and eat." Lu Zhanguo frowned and said gruffly.
Looking at his guilty face, Gu Xiaobei was displeased and ate her noodles quietly.
Lu Zhanguo could tell that Gu Xiaobei was upset. "Our friends in the army were just teasing in the past, there's nothing between Xiaoyue and me." He explained to Gu Xiaobei, subconsciously not wanting her to misunderstand. At first, he did have some feelings for Xiaoyue, simply because he felt that it was time for him to get married and Xiaoyue seemed suitable.
But after spending a few days with Gu Xiaobei, he started to develop feelings for her. Gu Xiaobei, as she was now, was sensible and yet childishly innocent, and pure.
Gu Xiaobei was easily contented. Upon hearing Lu Zhanguo's words, she immediately became cheerful again.
"Oh, by the way, a friend of mine from home is coming to visit in a few days. Let's go to the town this Sunday and get some groceries." At this time, there were no weekends, only Sundays off.
"Good, the weather is warming up and I'm feeling cooped up at home." Gu Xiaobei was naturally happy to be able to go out.
"Isn't it strange that my pregnancy has had no symptoms so far? Could the hospital have misdiagnosed? What if I'm not actually pregnant? A misdiagnosis would be so frustrating as it would delay our intimate times." Gu Xiaobei seemed to be talking to herself.
Lu Zhanguo almost choked on his noodle soup. Why did this girl always make such surprising remarks? Moreover, she was bold in her actions, stealing kisses from him or randomly touching him every night. In this conservative era, such behavior was shocking and vulgar.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiaobei calmly continued to slurp her noodles.
It was now the end of March, the willows had turned green, and tiny sprouts of grass were popping up at the base of the morning sunlit walls.
Early on Sunday, Gu Xiaobei left the house with Lu Zhanguo, tidily dressed. Sundays were days off, and many people would head to the town, usually the entire family going together.
On the car, they coincidentally ran into Chi Xiaoyue and Li Juan as a couple. While Wen Dong, the commander who was Li Juan's husband carried on a conversation with Lu Zhanguo, Gu Xiaobei leaned quietly against Lu Zhanguo's shoulder. However, to Gu Xiaobei's amazement, Chi Xiaoyue seemed to not even notice her, keeping her head down and whispering with Li Juan the entire time, not even glancing their way once.
Gu Xiaobei squinted her eyes and decided to ignore it. She was rather pleased since Chi Xiaoyue hadn't bothered to pretend to be a pure and innocent lotus to her.
With the arrival of warm weather, the road was rather pleasant, and within less than half an hour, they reached the town. After getting off the vehicle, Gu Xiaobei and Lu Zhanguo headed to have some wonton soup first, while Chi Xiaoyue, without saying a word to anyone, went her own way.