Siheyuan: Five mouths waiting for food at the beginning

I had lunch outside at noon and went straight home. I didn’t plan to go to work in the afternoon.

Zhao Shanhe felt that he had miscalculated. Why should he find a job for his brother-in-law's wife? His mother-in-law was at home taking care of her two grandchildren, so who would take care of Qin Jingru?

When I was decorating the house, I had it all planned out. I created a partition just to allow my mother-in-law to come over and serve me. But I forgot about it later. Now that I have arranged the work, I have ruined myself.

It's not a long month now, and it won't hurt to drink tea and chat in the office during the day. Zhao Shanhe is not going to let Qin Jingru resign. There is absolutely no need. There is no difference between resigning from Qin Jingru's job and not resigning. She just changes the place to rest. At least she won't be so bored in the factory.

I will apply for a suspension from work when the pregnancy is further along. It is better for pregnant women to move around during pregnancy. It is easy to cause problems if they always lie down during childbirth. When Qin Jingru's belly gets bigger, I will insist on letting her move around, and accompany her for a walk or something.

It is early April now, and the expected date of delivery is around late September or early October. Let's leave it this way for now. If it doesn't work out, we can hire someone to take care of the baby when the month is a little bit older.

After get off work in the afternoon, Zhao Shanhe announced the news to his family and everyone was very happy.

This child is the first child of the Zhao family, which means he is the next generation of the family. Everyone attaches great importance to him. Zhao Shanhe also discussed with his family how to take care of the child during the confinement period.

Aunt Chen said that she would resign and let Daya take over. By then, Daya would have just graduated from the third grade of junior high school and would be 18 years old. She would not need to go to school anymore and could just take over. (As mentioned earlier, Daya started school late. She is four years older than her younger siblings and is only one grade higher.)

Zhao Shanhe had originally planned to stop Daya from continuing her studies after graduation and was going to find her a job in a steel mill. But then the wind started to blow and she wouldn't even be able to get her diploma if she continued to study. Without a job, she would have to go to the countryside.

Zhao Shanhe was considering the pros and cons, whether to let Aunt Chen resign. Aunt Chen was not yet 20, and if she didn't resign, who would take care of the children? After all, you couldn't trust outsiders as much as your own family. Besides, Zhao Shanhu was years old and was about to get married, so having children would be another problem.

So Zhao Shanhe agreed that Aunt Chen should quit her job to take care of the child, and then several people would give Aunt Chen pension money. This matter would be solved, and it would not be important whether Daya went to school or not. Now Daya might blame him a little, but she would definitely be grateful to him later. Now he could not tell everyone in advance that he would not be able to get his diploma.

"Aunt Chen, don't you remember that we discussed finding a matchmaker for Shanhu at Donglaishun before the Lunar New Year? I know what you and Shanhu meant was that I just got married and my family has no money, so you asked Shanhu to wait a little longer. I think it's time to find a partner for Shanhu. I'm not so nervous now," Zhao Shanhe said.

Zhao Shanhu is 20 years old this year. Uncle Cheng transferred him to a cadre position some time ago. His salary is now over , so he has no problem supporting his family.

"Okay, Shanhe, I'll go ask after get off work tomorrow afternoon. Shanhu is old enough, it's time for him to get married. I'm happy to see you getting married and having children," said Aunt Chen.

"Brother, don't buy a bicycle for now. It's not easy for you. My sister-in-law is pregnant again. I will buy one myself later. I have saved some money now," said Zhao Shanhu.

"Now that you have a watch, a sewing machine will be enough. When you get married, I will buy you a bicycle and a radio. I keep my word. As for the money, don't worry about it," Zhao Shanhe said.

"I suddenly remembered that there is no need to find a matchmaker. There is a young girl in our department store. She is 19 years old and very pretty. I will introduce her to her tomorrow and arrange a time to meet her. Our Shanhu is tall and has a high salary. If she is satisfied, we can get her." Aunt Chen suddenly added

"Aunt Chen, let's make a reservation for this weekend. We still have a few days. Everyone should get ready first and come to our house for a meal. We can meet each other first. If it's suitable, I will take you for a walk in the mountains and lakes."

"I'll go say hello to my father-in-law tomorrow and ask him to help make some furniture," Zhao Shanhe said

During the time it takes to have dinner, I managed to resolve two important issues.

Lying in bed at night, Qin Jingru asked, "Brother, do you like boys or girls?"

"I like girls. Daughters are dad's little lovers from the previous life. They are so soft and cute. Sons are debt collectors from the previous life. They are naughty and give people a headache," said Zhao Shanhe.

"Brother, no, you must like sons. I must give you a son," Qin Jingru answered firmly.

The older generation is particularly obsessed with having sons, and the more sons the better.

"Jingru, why do you have to give birth to a son? Isn't a daughter good?" Zhao Shanhe asked

"There is a family in our village who gave birth to three daughters. Her husband always beats her, her mother-in-law scolds her, and the villagers point fingers at her. She often has no food to eat. I even secretly gave her steamed bread," Qin Jingru introduced.

"Jingru, don't have such thoughts. I'm not trying to comfort you. It doesn't matter whether you have a son or not. I really like daughters," Zhao Shanhe said.

"Jingru, let me give you some scientific knowledge. Whether a baby is a boy or a girl has nothing to do with women, but everything to do with men. Men's sperm..." Zhao Shanhe explained

"Brother, what you said is too profound. I don't understand it," Qin Jingru replied.

At this time, Zhao Shanhe did not dislike Qin Jingru for being a village girl. On the contrary, Qin Jingru satisfied his vanity more. If Qin Jingru knew everything, how could he satisfy his vanity? Besides, Qin Jingru served him well and had nothing to eat or wear. Such women were basically extinct in the future, so he should cherish her even more.

"For example, men have two kinds of seeds, and women are just a piece of land. If you sow melons, you will get melons, and if you sow beans, you will get beans. Men sow seeds that produce boys, and the children born are boys. If they sow seeds that produce girls, the children born are girls. So whether a boy or a girl is born is determined by men, and women's land is the place where seeds are nurtured," said Zhao Shanhe.

"Also, the inability to have children has something to do with both men and women. If the land is saline-alkali, she can't grow food. Even if the land is good, if the seeds are bad, she can't grow food either." Zhao Shanhe continued to explain to Qin Jingru

"Brother, now I understand what you said. I always thought that giving birth to a boy or a girl, or not giving birth to a child at all, was a woman's problem." Qin Jingru looked at Zhao Shanhe with stars in her eyes.

Qin Jingru admired Zhao Shanhe too much. She thought he was amazing. He paid her more than 100 yuan a month, arranged such a good job for her, and made his family members workers. He knew a lot, so she must serve Zhao Shanhe well.