After a moment of silence, it was Yin Peibai who smiled and said, "It’s not too bad now. Although we owe some money for this house, I don’t regret it one bit. We’ll just tighten our belts and live frugally for a year or two, then we’ll be able to pay it off. It’s certainly better than living with my mother-in-law. If we were really living together now, I don’t know how angry I’d be..." "A few days ago, Liu Wei called and said Su Ling had a big healthy baby boy. I really want to go see them. But it’s a pity." She needs to have a proper month of postnatal care. "Most of her family will be there at the wedding banquet; we won’t be able to squeeze in. Let’s wait till you’re done with the month of postnatal care, and we can visit them together. Just the two of us." As expected, on the day of Su Ling’s wedding banquet, Lin Wan only managed to say four or five words to Su Ling; the house was packed. Afraid that she’d get jostled and hurt her belly, she had no choice but to step out. Luckily, the food at the banquet was delicious, and Lin Wan ate quite a bit. Fresh chapters posted on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⁂𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⁂𝕟𝕖𝕥 Her brother was about to graduate and had been busy with reviews, exams, and assignments these days. So, he’s been staying at the dormitory at night. With the local residence registration, it shouldn’t be hard to find a job—most assignments are close by. In the evenings when she had classes, Mom would pick her up. In two months, she’d be "unloading the goods" too, and she can take a month’s leave to rest. It’s perfectly timed with the July and August holidays. Today, her mom came back with several sticks of sugarcane and lychees, bringing them home, "Mom, where’d you get these?" Oh, lychees, they’re rare to find here. "Your Uncle Du gave them to me," said Liang Hongmei, glancing at her daughter, feeling guilty. "Huh..." Lin Wan almost choked on a lychee. Liang Hongmei knew her daughter would react this way; explaining would only make the misunderstanding worse. "Why are you staring blankly? Hurry up and eat. Lychees can’t be stored for too long. Your Uncle Du knows you’re pregnant, so he gave me plenty." "Mom, what’s going on?" Since when did her mom secretly have an affair? "Don’t look at me like that. Even if I tell you, you won’t believe it. Nothing’s going on between me and your Uncle Du." "Mom used to be so against it... Has Uncle Du been so persistent that Mom was touched?" "Not a chance. I only met your Uncle Du a few days ago. His friend’s son is getting married and wanted to come to our shop to have a look. Your Uncle Du just made the connection, and when he came today, he brought me these things, saying they were gifts from his friend. I didn’t want them, but he sneaked them into the shop when I wasn’t paying attention. Mom thought, well, might as well keep them. My granddaughter barely had any fruit this winter. A young girl not eating fruit would affect her skin. Eat up, there’s only two months left. Eat more fruit and drink milk, so the baby will be born fair and chubby." Lin Wan paused after eating the lychee. She hadn’t had milk for half a month. Hearing her mom today, it made sense. She decided that starting tomorrow, she’d continue drinking milk. She might exercise more every day to balance it out. Lin Wan nodded and said, "Next time we meet Uncle Du, let’s return the favor." "That’s what Mom’s thinking too. Sigh..." For her grandson, she’s put herself out there. "I remember when I was pregnant with you, things were unsteady. Your dad often went to the mountains in the middle of the night to hunt for wild game to bring back for me to eat. When fruits were ripe, he picked wild fruits for me and your brother every day. Otherwise, how could you have been born so fair?" "So my fairness comes from eating fruits when I was in Mom’s belly." The mother and daughter shared a knowing smile. May weather was no longer as erratic as March and April with cold weather. The weather this month has been stable, perfect for outings. Yin Peibai completed her postnatal month and has started working now. Su Ling has also finished her postpartum care, but because her baby is still small, she plans to stay at home for another month. In their factory, the competition is fierce. They can’t rest at home for too long. To help them, Su Ling’s mother-in-law retired early, so they can focus on work while she helps to take care of the baby. After hearing about this, Yin Peibai was incredibly envious of Su Ling. The difference in mothers-in-law is huge. Lin Wan felt the same way. Back then, Lin Wan’s sister-in-law wanted the big aunt to stay home and look after the baby, but the big aunt was unwilling. But things have gotten better now. I heard that the big aunt really got promoted, and she’s earning more than fifty yuan now. This wage isn’t low. But each month, she gives Tan Aixiang twenty. This was promised when the sister-in-law resigned. Plus, Grandma stays at her sister-in-law’s house, leaving the big aunt with leisure, and this money is something she should give. "Su Ling, except for the eyes, your baby looks just like your Liu Wei." Liu Wei’s small squinty eyes and Su Ling’s double eyelids. "You’re right. Everyone in my husband’s family has small eyes. They picked me because of my big eyes," Su Ling admitted openly. Yin Peibai was holding the baby and was reluctant to let go. Since she arrived, she refused to let go. Even when it was time to leave, she still didn’t want to let go. Su Ling glared at her and said if she wants a baby, she should hurry up and have her own. When she saw Yin Peibai’s unhappy expression, she realized she had said something wrong. "Hanfu and I decided that we’ll wait until next year to have a baby." Luckily, Yin Peibai had worked things out. They still owed money now, and having a child would really be a burden. The couple had agreed that once their debts were paid off, they’d save money to prepare for a baby. "Why?" Su Ling didn’t understand. As long as they were careful, they could still have a baby after a couple of months. Yin Peibai glanced at her and said irritably, "We still owe money, so we need to pay it back before thinking about having a child." Today, she realized a serious issue. If they did have a child, who would take care of it? Her mother-in-law? She wasn’t confident. Her mom could help, but her sister-in-law was also about to give birth, so her mom definitely wouldn’t be able to handle it. She needed to discuss this with Zhang Hanfu when she got home. Her brother’s debts had been settled, and her parents didn’t want their money. Now only a few small debts remained. They’re living frugally, paying off the debts little by little. Saving money is essential for having kids. When leaving, Yin Peibai asked Lin Wan if there was any work. "I’m planning to make summer clothes—short-sleeves and long skirts—this month. But I’m about to give birth, so I don’t have time to sew. If you have time, you can help me sew. I’ll pay ten cents per piece." "Sure, just let me know when you need help." Yin Peibai was delighted. Actually, Lin Wan’s mom opposed her making clothes, because in another month, she’d be giving birth, and what if something happened before childbirth? The day after separating from Yin Peibai, Lin Wan first went to the recycling station, but didn’t find much. She then went to the Textile Street area. She found two types of muted floral cotton fabrics and a red gauze material to make red gauze skirts. Different colors, and also a black one. Black gauze skirts look nice too. Apart from these, Lin Wan also found two types of white materials. One denim for making shorts. She spent more than a hundred dollars just on buying the fabric. This time, Lin Wan didn’t ride her bicycle; she asked the shop owner to deliver them home for her. While her mom wasn’t home. Several batches of fabric were put in the west room. Lin Wan feared her mom would discover, so this time she placed them in the study. Mom rarely went into their study. Once the fabric arrived, Lin Wan hurriedly used different fabrics to create several designs. Long gauze skirts, floral button-down short sleeves, white T-shirts, and floral dresses. Once finalized, during the half-month when her mom was gone, Lin Wan was in the study cutting them up. Then in the evenings during school, she took them to give to Yin Peibai. During the half-month, she stealthily completed cutting more than a thousand pieces of clothing. The house was tidied up. Mom didn’t discover anything. Lin Wan figured when she’d be in confinement, Mom couldn’t be pulled away, so she entrusted the matter of delivering goods every couple of days to Yin Peibai. Lin Wan feared Yin Peibai would not do well, so she took her to the South Street shop twice to familiarize her with the street’s merchants. Sales for short sleeves were still a bit slow for now, but they were preparing stock; these shop owners understood. This time, Lin Wan even called Sister Gao and personally discussed things with Director Wang at the department store. Yin Peibai handled the deliveries. When Mom finally found out, Lin Wan had secured two major clients and suddenly dispatched more than four hundred pieces of clothing.