I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 81: It's Too Late

"She's pregnant!"

Dr. Sun from the Traditional Chinese Medicine department gave Yuan Xiu a diagnosis that made her dizzy after just one pulse.

"Pregnant...pregnant with what?" Yuan Xiu asked hesitantly.

Dr. Sun rolled his eyes at her. "You silly girl, you're a medical student, can't you tell? You're pregnant! You're already over two months along."

Yuan Xiu felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck her brain!

"That's impossible! Please take another look."

Dr. Sun snorted angrily, "I won't look! If you don't believe me, go upstairs to the obstetrics and gynecology department and let a Western doctor examine you with a machine."

Yuan Xiu remained silent. If she weren't afraid of offending someone, she would have really wanted to go upstairs to the obstetrics and gynecology department to have her urine checked.

How did she get pregnant?

Jiangzhou is not...

Yuan Juan was married to him for three years in her previous life...

Well, she probably made a preconceived mistake from the very beginning.

She was wrong from the moment she heard Yuan Juan's words.

In their previous life, Yuan Juan and Jiang Zhou were married for three years but had no children. Obviously, it wasn't that either of them was infertile, but rather that there was a problem elsewhere.

Yuan Xiu left the consultation room looking dazed. Before she even entered the pharmacy, Hao Jia came out to greet her, "What's wrong? What's the problem?"

Yuan Xiu had really startled her; she collapsed so suddenly. "Are you still dizzy? Why didn't I prescribe any medicine for you?"

Yuan Xiu shook her head. "No problem."

"Why am I dizzy if there's nothing wrong? Could it be low blood sugar?"

Yuan Xiu continued to shake her head: "It's not low blood sugar, it's that I'm pregnant."

"It's not low..." Hao Jia's eyes widened. "You're pregnant?"

Realizing what was happening, she immediately burst into laughter, "This is great news! Quick, sit down, sit down!"

Hao Jia pulled Yuan Xiu into the pharmacy, sat her down in a chair, and then took out a few candies from her drawer and stuffed them into Yuan Xiu's hand, saying, "Eat some candy to nourish yourself!"

She sat down next to Yuan Xiu. "How many months?"

"It's been more than two months."

"If I had known you were pregnant, I would have done all this climbing up and down. Why didn't you tell me?"

"I have no idea."

Yuan Xiu smiled bitterly. Could she say that she had never even considered the possibility of getting pregnant?

Did you have your period last month?

When Hao Jia asked this question, Yuan Xiu suddenly remembered that she hadn't had her period last month. She had been so busy that she had completely forgotten about it.

As for this month, she had some spotting, but it stopped the next day. She thought it was because she was too tired and even thought she would make more jujube tea to replenish her blood and energy when she had time.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiu stood up abruptly and went to the clinic of Dr. Sun, who had just taken her pulse.

A few minutes later, she returned to the pharmacy feeling relieved.

"What is it now?" Hao Jia was terrified by her.

"I'll ask the child if he's healthy."

"What did Dr. Sun say?"

"The pulse is smooth and round, like pearls rolling on a plate, which is very good."

Yuan Xiu breathed a sigh of relief. Although she hadn't thought about having a child, now that the baby was here, she naturally had to protect him well, afraid that her carelessness might affect the child.

When Yuan Xiu went to work in the afternoon, she still went to the obstetrics and gynecology department. It wasn't that she didn't believe she was pregnant, but that she went to register for prenatal care so that she could have more prenatal checkups and enjoy the welfare subsidies for pregnant women in this era.

The costs of pregnancy checkups and childbirth are borne entirely by the employer, not the individual.

When giving birth, there are also maternity allowances and maternity leave.

Women who are pregnant or giving birth can receive extra egg coupons and brown sugar coupons each month, which are beneficial to pregnant women.

If you can't get your tickets last month, you can't miss this month.

Yuan Xiu spent the whole day thinking about how to naturally tell Jiang Zhou about her pregnancy when she got home. She was really afraid that her expression would be off and make him overthink things.

"What are you thinking about?"

"I want to get pregnant."

When she blurted out those words, Yuan Xiu almost jumped up on the spot!

Turning around, she saw that Jiang Zhou had arrived at some point and was now standing next to her, walking alongside her.

Jiang Zhou frowned slightly, took the bicycle handlebars from her, and said, "...It's up to fate. Don't think too much about it. Many couples don't have children even after several years of marriage. We've only been married a short time, so it's normal that we don't have any yet. You're studying medicine, you should understand."

He never imagined that the fact that she hadn't gotten pregnant after several months of marriage would cause Yuan Xiu such a huge psychological burden.

Could it be that the things his mother sent put pressure on her to have a baby?

Yuan Xiu: "...What I meant by wanting to get pregnant is not what you think."

Jiang Zhou nodded. "I know, and I didn't mean anything by it. I just wanted to tell you that I'm not in a hurry to have a child. You've only just been admitted to the hospital and are learning traditional Chinese medicine from Dr. Liu. You also have to find time to study other subjects. Now is not the right time for you to have a child."

He paused, then lowered his voice and whispered, "Let's use contraception. When you go to work tomorrow, pick up a few of those things. We can have the baby in a year or two."

Yuan Xiu: "...You don't want children?"

Jiang Zhou: "Let's make some plans and ask for it later."

With him saying that, she probably doesn't feel so much pressure anymore.

"It's too late, we can't have it later."

Jiang Zhou paused, "What do you mean?"

Yuan Xiu suppressed a laugh, "It means it's already happened, and there's no way to avoid it."

Jiang Zhou's eyes lit up instantly!

"Are you pregnant?"

Yuan Xiu nodded. "What should we do? Has this disrupted your plans?"

Bullshit plan!

Jiang Zhou freed his right hand, quickly grabbed Yuan Xiu's hand, and then released it just as quickly.

"As the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes! The fact that the child is here now means it's the right time for him to come! We're both healthy, and at a normal pace, we should be having a baby soon. I knew it! There's no reason why someone surnamed Zhou would have one while I wouldn't... On the training field, he only deserves to be dominated by me..."

I was just advising her not to overthink it, but who is it that's overthinking it?

She's clearly comparing herself to others in secret, and yet I'm here advising her, worried she'll feel pressured, even mentioning contraception...

He was so happy he was incoherent.

Yuan Xiu smiled and sighed, then took his hand as he gripped the handlebars of the carriage.

Jiang Zhou glanced down, then looked at the pedestrians coming and going on the road. "Walk back, or ride your bike back?"

Yuan Xiu said in a low voice, "Let's walk back. I want to just walk like this."

Jiang Zhou listened to her, and the two of them pushed their bicycles, hand in hand, and walked slowly.

"You don't need to worry about whether I can manage or not."

Yuan Xiu answered his previous concerns, "I am in good health. This child came at just the right time. I don't think the pregnancy has had any impact on me. I go to work and study as usual. As a mother, I love learning so much, which can be considered as giving my child prenatal education in advance."

She genuinely felt that the baby had come at the perfect time. According to the due date, she should have resumed her college entrance exams right after giving birth. After completing her postpartum confinement, she could study diligently for another month and then take the exams.

If she is lucky enough to pass the exam, by the time school starts in February or March of the following year, the child will be about six months old.

If we don't have her now, we'll have to wait until she finishes her studies, which won't be one or two years as Jiang Zhou said, but three or four years later.

The only downside is the question of who will take care of the child after she enrolls in school.

There was a nursery in the compound that accepted babies as young as a few months old, but Yuan Xiu was a little worried.

Thinking of this, Yuan Xiu lowered her head and touched her lower abdomen. She had to pursue her own path, so she couldn't always be with him.

Baby, I hope you won't blame Mommy.

She whispered to herself.

……

"You two are really something, pushing a bicycle instead of riding it. Aren't you tired?"

As they neared their home, the two encountered Sister-in-law Guiying. Yuan Xiu quickly withdrew her arm from Jiang Zhou's and smiled, saying, "I've been sitting in the hospital all day, so I wanted to take a walk. Where are you headed, Sister-in-law?"

Sister-in-law Guiying was carrying a basket. "Let's go to the service center. They said a lot of new goods arrived this afternoon. Let's see what we can buy. Do you want to come? Let's go together."

Yuan Xiu shook her head. "My mother-in-law sent a lot of things, so we have all the New Year's goods at home."

"You're luckier than me. My mother-in-law just passed away too soon," said Sister Guiying, glancing at Jiang Zhou. "Battalion Commander Jiang, what good news has come your way?"

The smile on his lips never faded; I never realized he smiled so much before.

Jiang Zhou cleared his throat: "Little Yuan is pregnant."

"What...I'm pregnant!" Sister-in-law Guiying immediately understood what "pregnant" meant. "How many months? I knew it, it should be pregnant by now. I was just talking to Chunmei the other day, saying why you haven't heard anything yet."

"It's been over two months." Jiang Zhou said seriously, "Sister-in-law, why are you talking about this all the time? We're not in a hurry."

No wonder he always felt that his wife was under pressure. The sisters-in-law around her would talk about these topics all the time. How could she not feel pressured?

Sister-in-law Guiying glanced at him and said to Yuan Xiu in a teasing tone, "Look at you, not in a hurry at all. I didn't see that coming."

Yuan Xiu: "Sister-in-law."

"Alright, alright, I'll stop teasing you. Little Yuan, you need to be careful during the first three months. Don't climb up and down. If you feel nauseous, eat some sour foods to calm down."

Jiang Zhou immediately asked, "What's sour?"

"Dried apricots, dried plums, anything goes. When I was pregnant with my kids, I relied on dried apricots made from apricots from the old trees in our yard..."

Jiang Zhou didn't understand these things; he would remember every word Guiying said.

If it weren't for the fact that Sister-in-law Guiying was in a hurry to go to the service center, he could have invited her to his home and asked her questions while holding his notebook.

When they got home, Yuan Xiu was about to go into the kitchen to cook when Jiang Zhou grabbed her, opened a drawer, took out money and tickets, and a lunchbox. "Come on, let's eat at the cafeteria today."

"It's still early, I'll go do it."

"I'll eat at the cafeteria."

After saying that, he pulled Yuan Xiu out the door.

"Hey, Battalion Commander Jiang, what brings you two to the mess hall today?"

This is someone who has often heard Jiang Zhou boast about how good his wife's cooking.

Jiang Zhou raised his chin slightly: "It's a bit late today, my wife can't go hungry."

The man was stunned when he said that.

Jiang Zhou completely outshone me.

Give me back my wife; she can't go hungry.

Is this raising a daughter-in-law or a daughter?

Jiang Zhou doesn't usually seem like a henpecked husband.

"Ah, I can't go hungry, why?" the person asked instinctively.

Jiang Zhou straightened his back, giving him an expression that said, "You just don't understand at all," and said, "You have a child."

The person: "..."

If you have a child, you have a child. Why are you making such a big fuss about it?

And what kind of expression is that?

It's like everyone's been a father before.

Yuan Xiu: "..."

I want to cover my face.

Now, she's in big trouble. She just came to the cafeteria for a meal, and now everyone knows she's pregnant.

"Xiao Jiang's wife is pregnant? Congratulations!"

"Little Yuan is pregnant? That's great, that's great. You're young, you need to be careful."

So what if you're young?

What should I pay attention to?

Yuan Xiu pinched Jiang Zhou, afraid he would ask directly.

"If you don't understand anything, just ask me. I've had several children, so I have experience!"

Jiang Zhou went to ask, got the food, and then sat down at a round table with Yuan Xiu and several older women.

After one meal, the pregnant woman knew exactly what she should and shouldn't eat.

"You can't touch nails, or your child will be born with a hole in their face."

Yuan Xiu: Those are dimples.

"You can't eat rabbit meat, or the child will be born without a mouth."

Yuan Xiu: That's a cleft lip, it has nothing to do with eating rabbit meat.

"You can't lead a cow by the rope, or you'll get pregnant for 12 months..."

"You can't touch the old scale. The old scale weighs sixteen ounces. If you touch it, you'll be pregnant for sixteen months..."

Yuan Xiu: ...There's no basis for that.

Sisters-in-law, feudal superstition is unacceptable!

Fortunately, Jiangzhou didn't listen to everything. "...I was saying that after the New Year, when I went to the company, I would go to that mountain to hunt some wild rabbits. It seems that I can't go now."

Yuan Xiu: ...Actually, you don't need to listen to this.

"The child's missing mouth has absolutely nothing to do with eating rabbit meat. Don't believe what they say; those are just old sayings passed down from the older generation. If you don't believe me, go ask my master or the doctors in the hospital."

Jiang Zhou actually went to ask, and Dr. Liu scolded him, "What nonsense! Why can't you eat rabbit meat? Rabbit meat is good, it can even prevent anemia in pregnant women."

"Little Yuan, eat whatever you want. When your mouth feels like eating, it means the baby needs it. Just avoid eating things that are too cold in nature. There's a saying in traditional Chinese medicine: 'Grains nourish, fruits assist, meats benefit, and vegetables replenish.' Only when the four elements are in balance can the mother's body be strong and the baby healthy."

Yuan Xiu nodded in agreement.

The next day, Jiang Zhou appeared at the obstetrics and gynecology department.

When the female doctor who registered Yuan Xiu met her in the cafeteria, she joked, "I've never seen a male comrade like Battalion Commander Jiang. He asked so many detailed questions. He even wrote down when she had her prenatal checkup and when her due date was. He also asked..."

At this point, the female doctor winked at Yuan Xiu, suppressing a laugh but refusing to reveal what else Jiang Zhou had asked.

Yuan Xiu was preoccupied with worry all day long, and it wasn't until Jiang Zhou came to pick her up after get off work that she learned about it from him.

"...They didn't ask anything else, just whether it's okay to have sex during pregnancy."

Yuan Xiu: "..."

Please send down a bolt of lightning and kill me!

Do not!

Cleave Jiangzhou in two!

How could he even ask that question?!

She was too ashamed to face anyone!

"The doctor said that it's okay to have a moderate amount of it between four and seven months of pregnancy, and it won't have any effect."

Yuan Xiu remained expressionless: "...Who asked you that?"

She didn't want to know at all.

Really!