294 Managing Your Husband
âHaha!â Xiaoguo laughed and quickly covered her mouth. Then, she laughed silently for a long time. âHe was still thinking about food in his sleep. Itâs so funny.â
Mrs. Yang shook her head helplessly. It was her luck to have such a silly son, so she gladly accepted her fate.
Now, she just hoped that the baby in her stomach could be more like Zhuang Zhuang. It was fine with her if it just took after half of Zhuang Zhuangâs strengths. She would be grateful as long as there was no junior Xiaohu in her belly.
âSister-in-law, do you think itâs a baby boy or girl?ân/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
Xiaoguo looked at Mrs. Yangâs bulging stomach and asked curiously. Didnât they say that ancient people had a way to tell the gender?
âItâs probably another boy,â Mrs. Yang said happily. If she had a boy, he would be part of the familyâs labor force when he grew up.
âHow did you guess?â
âIf a woman craves for sourish foods during pregnancy, she will have a boy; if she craves spicy foods, she will have a girl. I drank a big bowl of vinegar when we had dumplings last night.â
Xiaoguo thought that Mrs. Yang was going to share some secret methods of telling the gender, but it turned out to be this sour and spicy theory. She found it unbelievable. âDid you like spicy food when you were pregnant with Xiaohua?â
âYes. When I was pregnant with Xiaohua, I loved spicy food. I wish I could eat nothing but spicy food for every meal.â
Xiaoguo nodded thoughtfully. It seemed that this explanation was not totally groundless.
Just as Xiaoguo was starting to think that it was believable, Mrs. Yang recalled again and said regretfully, âBut I also liked spicy food when I was pregnant with Xiaohu.â
At that time, they thought that she was expecting a girl. Unexpectedly, it turned out to be a boy. The entire family was so happy that they couldnât stop smiling.
It wasnât that they didnât like having a daughter. In this era, every family relied on farming for food. With a son in the family, it meant that they had an additional headcount in their workforce. On the other hand, once a girl grew up, she would be married off eventually. When a son grew up, he could still marry someone and bring back one more person into the family.
â⦠Ohâ¦â
Xiaoguo turned to look elsewhere. She picked up the glass of water beside her and took a sip. She was speechless. That was as good as saying nothing.
Mrs. Yang looked at Xiaoguo and then at her stomach. A bold thought appeared in her mind.
âDonât tell me you are pregnant too?â
âPfftâ¦â
Xiaoguo wiped her mouth and put down the glass of water. She looked at her in shock. âNo, no.â
âCome on, donât hide it from me!â
Mrs. Yang looked at her with certainty. If she wasnât pregnant, why was she asking her about this? She must be pregnant. Thatâs why she was asking all these to determine if it was a boy or a girl sheâs having.
âItâs true. Iâm not.â Xiaoguo didnât know whether to laugh or cry. She was still a virgin. Mrs. Yang was letting her imagination run wild.
When Mrs. Yang heard her words, she looked her up and down suspiciously. Her gaze was focused on her stomach, looking like she was trying to see through her clothes.
Xiaoguoâs face turned redder and redder. Being looked at like this by another person, she really felt like she was pregnant. In for a penny, in for a pound, she lifted her clothes for Mrs. Yang to see. They were both women anyway. What was there to be shy about?
âLook, look, look, look!â
Mrs. Yang really leaned forward to take a closer look. Her stomach was very fair and her waist was very slender. She concluded, âYouâre not!â
âHmph!â Xiaoguo let go of her clothes. Her face was burning.
Mrs. Yang didnât look embarrassed. Instead, she asked curiously, âNow that Danhe is back, and your Zhuang Zhuang is a big boy, donât you want another one?â
ââ¦â Xiaoguo stammered for a long time, unable to say a word.
âWhatâs there to be shy about!â
Mrs. Yang had been through this before, so she pulled the stool closer to Xiaoguo and nudged her with her elbow. She said with a smile, âThe last time he came back, did youâ¦â
âWhat?â Xiaoguo didnât quite understand and asked innocently.
Mrs. Yang smacked her lips and gestured to her with her eyes. âDo the deedâ¦â
â?!!â
Xiaoguo stood up abruptly. At that moment, she felt like her entire body was boiling. At first, she didnât know what Mrs. Yang was talking about, but from the look in her eyes, she understood!
But she was wishing that she hadnât got it instead. In that way, she could continue to play dumb.
How could an unmarried young woman not be shy when it came to such topics? Although she was from the modern world and shouldnât feel awkward just because of this subject, she had never thought about this after all. Now that Mrs. Yang was bringing this up all of a sudden, Xiaoguo got flustered because she couldnât come up with a reason.
âNo way, no way!â Mrs. Yangâs reaction was even greater than hers. Her face was filled with disbelief. Judging from her reaction, they had not done anything during that time.
âShh, Sister-in-law!â Xiaoguo called out to her. Zhuang Zhuang was going to hear her.
Mrs. Yang covered her mouth in panic and nodded to show that she understood. Then, she continued to ask softly, âYou really didnâtâ¦â
âSister-in-law, have some tea. I just bought this. Itâs very good.â Xiaoguo was a little flustered and immediately interrupted her.
âAh, okay. You can leave it here. You should have some crisis awareness. Danhe is good-looking and is someone of status. Most importantly, heâs residing in the capital all year round. How could you not worry? In my opinion, you should get pregnant quickly and lock him downâ¦â
âSister-in-law, try this snack.â
âAlright, alright, alright. Leave it here. Are you paying attention to what I am saying? This manâ¦â
The more Mrs. Yang spoke, the more energetic she became. Xiaoguo played with the teacup in her hand, turning a deaf ear to Mrs. Yangâs words. She wasnât interested in keeping her husband on a tight leash. She would just let nature take its course. If he didnât let her down, she would continue living with him. If he found another woman, she would let him go. All her time and energy were invested in Zhuang Zhuang. She didnât have time to think about Jiang Danhe.
Xiaoguo was obviously avoiding the question and Mrs. Yang could see it. She gave a sigh and stopped harping on the subject. This couple was too abnormal. On the night that Old Yang returned, they both⦠Ahem, she had digressed.
Mrs. Yang seemed to have thought of something and blushed. She then quickly changed the subject.
Seeing that Mrs. Yang was no longer harping on that matter, Xiaoguo heaved a sigh of relief. She held her face with one hand and looked at Mrs. Yang helplessly.
This pregnant Mrs. Yang was getting more and more gossipy. It was getting out of hand earlier. If she continued probing, Xiaoguo would have to find a hole to hide from her.
It was getting late. Brother Yang quickly came and brought Mrs. Yang back for lunch.
After sending the two of them off, Xiaoguo returned to the house. Seeing that Zhuang Zhuang was still asleep, she decided to wake him up so that his sleep would not be affected at night.
âZhuang Zhuang, Zhuang Zhuangâ¦â Xiaoguo shook him gently, but he refused to wake up. He mumbled a few times, turned over, and went back to sleep.
Xiaoguo was not in a hurry. She shifted position and continued to call out to him gently. After a while, he slowly woke up.
He stared blankly at the roof with his big eyes and blinked for a long time before coming back to his senses. He looked at the familiar surroundings and his gentle mother in a daze and blinked innocently.
Only then did he remember that he was home. His mother had personally brought him home. In his excitement, he sat up and hugged Xiaoguo, rubbing her face and neck happily.
Xiaoguo was feeling tickled by his hair, so she smiled and moved away from him. âAlright, alright. Stop fooling around. Wake up quickly. Iâll go cook now.â
âOkay!â Zhuang Zhuang nodded with his hair looking like a chicken coop. Seeing Xiaoguo leave, he hurriedly put on his shoes. As he put them on, he asked Xiaoguo curiously, âMother, are you making lunch or dinner?â
âLunch.â
Zhuang Zhuang did the math and looked pained. It was a pity that he had missed out on spending time with Xiaoguo in the morning.
âForget it, forget it.â Zhuang Zhuang shook his head. Since he had wasted the entire morning, there was nothing he could do. From now on, he had to follow his mother at all times and not leave her side.