CHAPTER 237: 237 STRONG

As July set in, the beautiful and pretty girls all donned skirts.

Jiang Xinyu really didn’t like skirts, but to hide her belly, she too wore a long skirt.

Her cautious movements, usually apparent, were even more evident. She would never make large gestures.

"Director Jiang, you seem to look prettier lately."

"Really?" Jiang Xinyu just smiled.

"Director Jiang, you seem to have something on your mind." Pan Xiulan looked at Jiang Xinyu with some concern.

"Hmm?"

"Honestly, ever since you returned home for the holiday, your smiles have seemed forced."

Hearing Pan Xiulan’s words, Jiang Xinyu felt a sting in her nose.

The two girls were scared. "Director Jiang, what’s wrong?"

"It’s nothing, don’t ask." Perhaps due to the pregnancy, she spent every day missing Wei Kaiyun and worrying. Even though she repeatedly admonished herself not to do this, to keep a good mood for the baby, it really wasn’t something she could control.

The two exchanged a look, very concerned for Jiang Xinyu. Although she was their leader, they were roughly the same age, and Jiang Xinyu was particularly generous, so their relationship was especially good.

Jiang Xinyu lost her appetite for lunch, returning to the office feeling very aggrieved.

But she knew that nothing had happened yet; if it really became apparent, she’d face malicious gossip from others. She couldn’t bear that kind of pressure.

She Xiaoyun had completed her maternity leave. At noon, after hastily feeding her child, she returned to work and called Jiang Xinyu.

"Xinyu, come over to my house for dinner tonight."

"Sister She, I’m not going."

"It’s okay, my mother-in-law has returned home, my mom is watching the child."

"Sister She, it’s not because of that, I just don’t want to go out."

"Alright then, I’ll bring the child over to your house on Saturday night."

"Sure, I’ll prepare something delicious for the child. Sister She, what do you want to eat?"

"I don’t mind the flavor as long as it’s good."

"Alright, I got it."

"By the way, the peaches are ready for picking, do you still want some?"

That requires too much effort, after thinking for a bit, Jiang Xinyu decided to refuse.

"Sister She, I don’t want any."

"What’s wrong? This is the first time I’ve seen you uninterested in food.

Brother Zhao from the peach garden said there are plenty of peaches for canning. Should I ask if you want any?"

"Sister She, could you get Brother Zhao to deliver them to my house? I really can’t go and pick them up myself."

"Sure, when he delivers peaches tomorrow morning, I’ll let him know. It’s fine, he’ll definitely bring them to you."

Jiang Xinyu received She Xiaoyun’s call again at noon the following day. "Brother Zhao said he’ll deliver them to you tomorrow at noon, and he’ll be waiting near your house."

"Got it, thanks so much, Sister She."

"No problem, I ate some canned peaches too."

Jiang Xinyu rode her bike home after work on Friday noon and saw a donkey cart from afar.

"Brother Zhao, thank you."

"No worries, there’s three hundred pounds of peaches."

"Alright, I’ll take them all. But I can’t help Brother Zhao with work."

"It’s nothing. What’s a little work?"

Jiang Xinyu closed the door, looking at the three big frames of peaches on the ground, and collected them, knowing peaches that get too soft can’t be canned.

Back indoors, she had rice with three-flavor egg custard and a dish of stir-fried shredded carrots with meat.

The carotene in carrots should be good for the baby, so even though she didn’t like the taste, she insisted on eating it three times a week.

All these were from the storage space; she took some out while keeping the rest for later consumption.

She took a half-hour nap at home before biking back to work, finding skirts very inconvenient.

After coming home from work in the evening, she began peeling peach skins and worked until ten o’clock, processing one hundred pounds of peaches into seventy bottles.

Luckily, she had the storage space, otherwise, she wouldn’t have lasted through moving them.

The next day, Saturday, she forced herself to get up early at seven and peeled and cored the remaining two hundred pounds of peaches, storing them for steaming in the afternoon.

It took half an hour longer than planned, making her late for work; there was no helping it. She dared not work too fast, fearing discomfort for the baby in her belly.

After work in the evening, she took a bath, sitting in the tub while touching her belly, already over four months along, which was becoming very evident.

Jiang Xinyu lived in a state of anxiety every day, and suddenly felt her baby move. She looked down and saw her belly protrude in one spot.

Jiang Xinyu touched that spot, tears streaming down her face.

"Baby, are you greeting mommy? Baby, mommy felt you."

The next day, she heard a knock at the door and remembered She Xiaoyun said she’d come today. She quickly answered, then changed clothes, hurried to the west room, and set out a small bowl of braised pork along with a bowl of rice. Then she opened the door.

Outside was She Xiaoyun with her family of three.

"Sister She, Mr. Wang, please come in."

"Xinyu, what’s wrong? Were you bullied? Why were you crying?"

"No, come in quickly to eat. I haven’t prepared any dishes. I made this during lunch."

She Xiaoyun worriedly watched Jiang Xinyu, feeling something was off but unable to pinpoint it.

Seeing the meat and rice on the table, She Xiaoyun wasn’t shy and went directly to the courtyard to pick two cucumbers, cutting them into strips and adding a bit of green onion.

"Sister She, isn’t this too simple?"

"We’ve got meat and rice, what’s simple about that? We’re not outsiders here."

The child was put on the kang, and the three ate together, Jiang Xinyu kept urging the two to eat more. "If there’s leftovers, it’ll spoil by tomorrow. Mr. Wang, don’t be polite."

After eating, there was not much to clean up, as all the food was gone.

"Tongzhou, after I feed the baby, you take the child home first."

"Alright." Wang Tongzhou also noticed Jiang Xinyu wasn’t herself and figured she might not want to talk while he was there.

"Sister She."

She Xiaoyun didn’t respond, and once the baby was fed, was taken home by his father.

"Xinyu, what’s really going on?"

Jiang Xinyu kept her head down, tears streaming steadily without saying a word.

"Say something, please."

"Sister She, I don’t want to talk now, please don’t ask."

She Xiaoyun was really at a loss, never having seen Jiang Xinyu like this before. She always felt they were peers, but now realized this was a girl six years younger than herself.

"Alright, if you don’t want to talk, that’s fine. If you need anything, come to me, I’ll definitely help you with anything."

"Okay." Jiang Xinyu wiped her tears.

She cried herself to sleep lying alone on the kang that night.

The next day, standing in front of the mirror, she tried to bolster herself. "Jiang Xinyu, you can do this, you must do this, you now have your own child. You must be strong."

She drank milk powder, knowing it supplemented calcium, as there were no calcium tablets available, this was all she could do.