While Fu Zhengzheng is making fun of Zhang Lin, her phone rings. The call is from Lin Jiao!
Thinking of Yang Tao’s analysis, she feels her hands a little cold. She calms down and connects the call.
“Zhengzheng, it’s me.” It’s not Lin Jiao’s voice on the phone but Li Yin’s voice which sounds a little deeper than usual.
“Li Yin? Why do you call me with your cousin’s cellphone?”
“Alas, how unlucky I am! I’m in the hospital. I should have visited Lingshan Nunnery with you yesterday to pray for a talisman for my baby.”
Fu Zhengzheng asks at once, “What’s wrong?”
“My belly doesn’t feel well, so my cousin comes to the hospital with me for an examination. The doctor says the baby’s situation is not good and I might have a miscarriage, so I’m asked to be hospitalized for observation.”
“My God. Did you fall down again?”
“No. I only carried some boxes when I opened the shop this morning.”
Fu Zhengzheng can’t help scolding her, “I’ve told you not to do manual labor anymore. But you don’t listen. You always forget you are pregnant.”
“OK. Sister Zhengzheng, don’t scold me anymore. My cousin has scolded me the whole morning.”
“Which hospital are you in? Ward number? I’ll go to see you this noon.”
Fu Zhengzheng takes notes of the hospital name and ward number, folds the paper and then puts it into her pocket.
She goes to the canteen and rushes the lunch. Then she goes to the city hospital where Li Yin is in by taxi. After buying some fruit at the hospital gate, she enters the hospital.
As soon as she goes through the gate, she hears someone calling her name. She looks over her shoulder and sees Lin Xiaoyue.
Lin Xiaoyue runs to her and asks, “Sister Zhengzheng, why do you come to the hospital?”
“I come to visit a friend, Li Yin who keeps a fruit shop. Yang Tao might have told you.”
“Li Yin? I know. Isn’t she pregnant?”
“Yes. She had pregnancy discomfort this morning. To prevent her from a miscarriage, the doctor asks her to be hospitalized. Xiaoyue, why do you come here?”
“My mom isn’t well again and takes infusion in the hospital twice a day. One is in the morning and the other is in the afternoon. In order to avoid shuttling back and forth between the hospital and home, we have rented a bed and go home after she takes infusion in the afternoon.”
Hearing Mrs. Lin is sick, Fu Zhengzheng goes to see her with Lin Xiaoyue immediately.
Mrs. Lin is lying on the bed and doesn’t look well, but she is in quite good spirits.
Mrs. Lin is glad to see Fu Zhengzheng and struggles to sit up while scolding Lin Xiaoyue, “I only come to the hospital for a minor illness. Why did you tell Zhengzheng? It’s enough to come to see me. But you’ve bought so much fruit. It’s a waste of money.”
Fu Zhengzheng puts down the fruit at once and goes up to stop her.
“Aunt, please lie down for a rest. Don’t move. The fruit doesn’t cost much.”
Mrs. Lin smiles, “I rest every day. Perhaps my illness just comes from rest.”
Lin Xiaoyue glances at her mother sulkily, “Mom, I think your illness doesn’t come from rest but from worries.”
“Worries?” Lin Yongcheng comes to Fu Zhengzheng’s mind instantly.
Mrs. Lin heaves a long sigh, “How can I not worry? As a younger sister, you will get married soon. But your brother is almost 30 years old and remains single.”
Fu Zhengzheng comforts her smilingly, “Aunt, didn’t I tell you for certain? Believe me, Yongcheng will surely bring back a beautiful and competent wife during the Spring Festival. Perhaps you’ve had a grandson when they come back.”
Mrs. Lin waves, sighs again and forces a smile, “Zhengzheng, I have comforted myself in heart for many years. Alas, Xiaoyue, the Qingming Festival is coming soon. Your brother may not come back. Let’s buy more joss sticks, candles and joss paper to visit your dad’s grave.”
Lin Xiaoyue says at once, “Mom, the doctor has told you not to walk much recently. Don’t go there. I’ll go alone.”
Mrs. Lin doesn’t agree, “How can I be absent? I’ll scold the old man. He is expected to bless his kids to get married early, but now he is lying under the ground and doing nothing.”
It amuses Fu Zhengzheng, “Aunt, if you scold uncle, he will be restless under the ground.”
“I just want to make him restless.”
Knowing her mother’s personality, Lin Xiaoyue doesn’t persuade her and just smiles at Fu Zhengzheng helplessly.
Fu Zhengzheng thinks and embraces Mrs. Lin smilingly, “Aunt, I think you don’t need to visit uncle’s grave during this Spring Festival, but someone has to!”
Mrs. Lin thinks she refers to Lin Yongcheng, “Yongcheng is busy and in another city. Don’t call him back.”
Fu Zhengzheng shakes her head, “I mean Yang Tao instead of Yongcheng. Aunt, please think about it. You have seen Yang Tao. Yongcheng and Yang Tao are old friends. Only uncle hasn’t met him. He should visit uncle’s grave to show what his new son-in-law is like. It’s a comfort to uncle.”
Mrs. Lin thinks what Fu Zhengzheng said is reasonable, but she asks soon, “Yang Tao is usually busy with work. Can he spare time?”
“No matter how busy he is, he should go. It only takes half a day to and fro. Nothing will be delayed. Xiaoyue, do you think so?”
Lin Xiaoyue is made flush by Fu Zhengzheng’s “new son-in-law”. She drops her head and nods.
Talking of Yang Tao, Mrs. Lin becomes cheerful and wears a relieved smile on her face, “Yang Tao is a good man. He should be taken to visit the grave of Xiaoyue’s dad. Call your brother later and tell him to make the time to come back. Our family can meet Yang Tao’s parents formally. Then select an auspicious day for your wedding.”
Lin Xiaoyue becomes more bashful and says shyly in a low voice, “Mom, my brother hasn’t got married. I’m not in a hurry.”
Mrs. Lin smiles, “Of course, you’re not. But Yang Tao’s parents are in a hurry. They have called me for several times about it. Your wedding can’t be delayed just because your brother hasn’t got married.”
Fu Zhengzheng echoes, “Yang Tao’s parents are indeed in a hurry. I heard his parents used to ask him if he had a girlfriend and introduce many girls to him each time when he went back home. As a result, he would rather live in the dormitory of the police office.”
Mrs. Lin looks at her daughter and says smilingly, “Yang Tao is so excellent. If you don’t tie him up earlier, I will remain worried even if you won’t.”
Lin Xiaoyue sticks out her tongue and says, “Yang Tao isn’t a bull that needs tying!”
Hearing that, Fu Zhengzheng and Mrs. Lin both laugh out. At this moment, Fu Zhengzheng’s phone rings. Li Yin calls her with Lin Jiao’s phone to ask her if she will come to the hospital. Then she remembers that she comes to the hospital to see Li Yin. After hanging up the phone, she rises at once.
“Aunt, I have something to do. I’ll come to see you again.”
Mrs. Lin waves immediately, “Go about your business. I only have an old illness. It’s not serious.”
“Aunt, please have a good rest.” Fu Zhengzheng steps out after telling her some points for attention.
“Sister Zhengzheng, wait.” Lin Xiaoyue runs after her with the fruit bag, “I’ll go back with my mom and can’t carry anything. Take the fruit to your friend.”
Fu Zhengzheng plans to go downstairs to buy fruit again originally. Hearing Lin Xiaoyue say in such a euphemistic way, Fu Zhengzheng smiles, takes the fruit directly, goes downstairs and comes to Li Yin’s ward.
Li Yin lies on the bed, being infused and looking at the ward door. When Fu Zhengzheng opens the door and enters, she becomes excited at once and asks Fu Zhengzheng to sit by the bed.
Fu Zhengzheng puts down the fruit and looks at her smilingly, “How are you now? Do you feel better?”
“I don’t feel uncomfortable now, but I don’t know if I’m better now. It depends on the doctor’s examination.” Li Yin sees the fruit and begins to scold her, “Don’t you know I sell fruit? Why did you buy the expensive fruit from other places?”
Fu Zhengzheng sits next to her with a smile, “No wonder it’s said that pregnant women like to chatter. It’s true.”
Then she looks around.
Knowing who she is looking for, Li Yin points to the door, “We just had lunch. My cousin went to throw the garbage. Didn’t you meet her at the door?”
Fu Zhengzheng shakes and touches Li Yin’s round belly through the quilt.
Seeing Fu Zhengzheng’s worry in the eyes, Li Yin says with a smile, “I said the baby was strong. Unexpectedly he is more and more fragile while getting bigger.”
Fu Zhengzheng glances at her discontentedly, “It’s not because the baby is fragile. It’s your fault. It’s because you don’t cherish him. You’ve been pregnant for six months, but you still often carry something.”
“I carry fruit boxes every day, and everything is fine. But when I just began to carry a box this morning… By the way, Zhengzheng, something springs to my mind.”
“What?”
“Last night, Liu Lin’s aunt called me and said the Qingming Festival was coming. She asked me to go to the countryside to burn joss paper to Liu Lin’s parents. I said that it was inconvenient for me because of pregnancy. This morning, I just carried a small box, but I had pregnancy discomfort. Was it because Liu Lin’s parents felt angry to hear that I refused to visit the grave?”
“How could you tell me you didn’t believe in superstition?” Fu Zhengzheng stands up smilingly to look for a fruit knife and peel an apple for Li Yin. Suddenly, she finds something is strange at the ward door.
Li Yin doesn’t agree with Fu Zhengzheng apparently, “I think something is really mysterious sometimes. You can’t disbelieve it. Think about it. I used to carry big boxes every day, but I was fine. Today I only carried a small box. How could I get pregnancy discomfort?”
Fu Zhengzheng draws back her gaze and rolls her eyes. She says smilingly while peeling an apple, “Talking of it, I remember something too. Do you remember Lin Yongcheng? He was once Siqi’s bodyguard. His father died early. His mother is usually well, but she is prone to get ill before each Qingming Festival. After they burn joss paper to his father, his mother will recover.”
Li Yin sighs with emotion, “So magical?”
“Yes. When I heard it for the first time from Xiaoyue, Lin Yongcheng’s younger sister, I didn’t believe. But I just met Xiaoyue in the hospital. Her mother is ill again and is infused in the hospital. Nothing serious has been found. The doctor treats it as a cold.”
“It seems I must go to burn joss paper to Liu Lin’s parents on the Qingming Festival.”
“You should. It’s a pity that I’ve agreed to go to Village Lin with Xiaoyue to visit her father’s grave on that day, or I will drive you there.”
“It doesn’t matter. It only takes about one hundred yuan to go there by taxi. Hey, my medicine almost runs out.”
Fu Zhengzheng looks up. Sure enough, all the medicine left has flown into the infusion tube. She presses the bell on the bed head immediately.
At this moment, the ward door is opened.