CHAPTER 360: CHAPTER 360 NAMING

A month’s salary can actually buy a TV, what kind of job is this, and she is still in school?

Lin Shuangmei felt her brain wasn’t quite up to task.

"Is Yingzi your friend?" Yang Peimin asked.

It wasn’t until Yang Peimin asked that she realized and quickly smiled, "Yes, yes, I’m Shuang Mei. You know about me, sister?"

Yang Peimin looked at her and nodded with a smile, "Yingzi mentioned you before, said that you were exceedingly polite last time, treating her to noodles. She hasn’t been here long and still doesn’t know many people, perhaps you could come over and chat with her."

Lin Shuangmei thought Yingzi’s sister was especially beautiful and gentle, the kind who could dazzle you. She waved her hands frantically, "No, no, it was Yingzi who helped me. That skein of yarn is enough for me to knit a sweater and pants for my brother. If my mom knew about it, she’d kill me." She said, sticking out her tongue. Noticing the people who had finished setting up the TV leaving, she paused and added, "It’s getting late, I should head back. My parents might be off work too. If they come home and don’t see my brother, they’ll be upset."

Her playful manner of speaking made everyone struggle to hold back their laughter.

Yang Peimin also smiled and said, "Alright then, we won’t keep you. We wouldn’t want your parents to have to come looking for you. That would drag us into it too."

Lin Shuangmei even nodded in a hurry.

That caught everyone off guard.

She quickly realized, scratched the top of her head, smiled embarrassingly, glanced at the TV, and then left.

On this end, Shen Yixiang was already fiddling with the remote, flipping through channels without even blinking.

While Yang Peimin and her sister were tidying up the table for dinner, she asked Yang Peiying, "What’s the situation with Lin Shuangmei? How come this young lady is taking care of a child at home? Are her parents from the leather factory nearby?"

Yang Peiying replied, "Her grandparents are in the countryside, and I don’t know why they haven’t come over. Her parents have four children; she has two younger sisters, one is thirteen and the other ten, and they’re still in elementary school. I heard there were also two more sisters who either didn’t survive or were given away. Last year her mother had a little brother, and since they both have to go to work, there was no one to take care of him. Shuangmei wasn’t going to school, she just registered when the leather factory was hiring, but she wasn’t accepted, so she ended up staying home to take care of her brother."

Yang Peimin nodded, pretty much what she had guessed.

"What does she normally do? What do you two do?" Yang Peimin asked again with a gossipy tone but also with the intent of keeping an eye out for her sister. She brought her sister out into the world and didn’t want her to run into bad people.

A smile appeared on Shen Yixiang’s face, "At home she does chores, cooks, and takes care of the baby. Her parents and sisters come home for lunch, so in the morning when her brother wakes up, she has to carry him to the market to buy groceries, and she’s busy as soon as they get back. Her brother is only months old, and there’s a lot of work to do, feeding, changing diapers – so many in a day. She doesn’t even dare to stray far when she goes out, as her brother isn’t weaned yet, sometimes she has to carry him to the factory to find her mother to nurse him."

"Her brother is a tough and playful one, always restless at home, wiggling around to go out and play. The family all dote on him, and her mother even told her to take him out for walks when it’s not cold... Usually, she also has to sew and knit clothes and socks. A few days ago, her mother thought the weather hadn’t turned warm yet, so she bought a few pounds of yarn for Shuangmei to knit woolen pants for her brother. Our house gets better light, so I invited her over to knit; this way, she also keeps me company. Sister, you wouldn’t believe it, but she can knit several patterns, and she said she can teach me too, told me to buy some yarn and bring it over..."

It was all ordinary domestic life. Lin Shuangmei was just a common worker’s child, with parents both working at nearby factories. This kind of family background was quite reassuring and not likely to cause trouble; her parents were still working in the area. As long as it wasn’t a very complicated family, even if the girl liked to take small advantages, it didn’t matter much.

So she didn’t bother them.

As for the yarn she mentioned, he had given her money for that too, "You can now go to the mall by yourself, can’t you? Take this money and choose some colors you like when you’re at the mall. Buy some and knit something for yourself to wear."

Yang Peiying shook her head, "I don’t need to, I’ll knit for my nephew. It’s perfect since Shuang Mei is also knitting for her brother, and I can learn by watching."

Yang Peimin also shook her head in the same manner, "Then buy a few more pounds, pick some colors you like, and after you’re done with your nephew’s, start on your own."

After dinner, Yang Peimin watched TV with them for a while, then went back to her room to do homework.

The two girls in the living room kept watching until after nine o’clock, only stopping after the TV drama had ended.

Then Shen Yixiang tiptoed around Yang Peimin’s room, and on seeing Yang Peimin still sitting at the desk, she said with a smile, "Sister-in-law, haven’t you gone to bed yet?"

Yang Peimin, who was writing a business plan for cosmetics, replied off-handedly, "Soon, I’m about to finish these couple of characters and then I’ll sleep."

Shen Yixiang gave a sound of acknowledgment, told her to rest early, and left.

Only then did Yang Peimin belatedly realize that her sister-in-law probably had something she wanted to talk to her about.

But she didn’t plan on chasing after her, figuring that if it was something important, Shen would bring it up tomorrow.

Now her belly was getting bigger by the day, and in the fourth month, she was surprised to feel the baby move. At that time, she was so busy that the realization of the baby’s movement alerted her to the fact that she was already four months pregnant. She happily waited for Shen Yiguang to come over, and then the two of them would spend a lot of time just touching her belly, silently waiting for the baby to move again – quite a foolish scene.

At this stage, she felt much better, and her appetite had increased. She started to boost her nutrition. In the city, there were places to get fresh milk, and Shen Yixiang would make an effort to bring it back early in the morning for everyone in the family to have a glass.

It had already been five months, and although her belly hadn’t shown much in the first three months, it was now bloated like a balloon. Even with thick clothes on, her pregnancy was clearly visible.

Shen Yiguang still came over diligently, following his usual schedule, even though sometimes he would arrive to find Yang Peimin had succumbed to sleepiness. Seeing her peaceful sleeping face would make all his day’s fatigue vanish. If she was still awake, he would talk to the child in her belly.

Yang Peimin just watched him and said, "You’re looking more and more like a doting dad."

The joy in Shen Yiguang’s eyes was so thick it couldn’t be concealed, "I’ve thought of a few more names. If it’s a son, joining the air force wouldn’t be bad, we could call him Feixiang, Aoxiang, Lantian..."

Yang Peimin watched him with a faint look, "And Baiyun too."

She felt that naming the child was something she should rely on herself for, and this person hadn’t even considered girl’s names at all. How very typical.