AYLS -Chapter 175

Su Weizhen really knew how to take care of herself. During her pregnancy, she ate only the food from the storage space, and she even balanced her nutrition carefully, so both she and the baby were developing well.

This meant that childbirth was still harder for her than for others.

Lin Qiao and Xu Yuanzheng waited outside all night before the child was finally born.

When mother and child came out, everyone gathered around. Upon hearing it was a boy, they all crowded forward to offer their congratulations.

Lin Qiao craned her neck to look at Su Weizhen lying on the mobile bed.

She looked very weary, but radiated a maternal aura, appearing especially different from usual.

And looking at the baby—perhaps because he had been nourished with food from the storage space—he seemed more vibrant than other newborns.

Truly a beautiful sight.

It looked even more like Zhenzhen.

After sending the pregnant Su Weizhen to her hospital room, Lin Qiao volunteered to go back and cook. All the ingredients were ready, and she borrowed the stove in the hospital kitchen to prepare the meal.

Su Weizhen said, “Xiao Qiao, thank you for this.”

“Do we even need to say that? Back when my Old Gu was hospitalized, you were busy running around with a huge belly yourself.”

Su Weizhen laughed, “That’s right. Since our relationship is like this, I won’t be polite. How about letting my child recognize you as the godmother?”

Xu Yuanzheng said, “No, I was still planning to become in-laws with Old Gu.”

Su Weizhen laughed at this, saying it was a great idea—double the family ties.

Plus, since they knew each other so well, it was completely reassuring.

She turned to Lin Qiao and said, “Given the relationship between our two families, and knowing our temperaments, you can rest assured and leave the child to my family.”

Lin Qiao: “…” The child isn’t even born yet, and they’re already talking about becoming in-laws.

“We don’t even know if it’s a boy or a girl…” A baby boy like Gu Huayuan would also be adorable.

On the way back, Lin Qiao kept marveling with Fat Cat about how cute Su Weizhen’s baby was.

Fat Cat said, “Can the heroine’s child not be cute?”

Lin Qiao felt full of envy.

She had really not wanted children before, afraid of the pain, afraid of the hardships.

But seeing Zhenzhen’s child, seeing how happy Zhenzhen was, she unexpectedly wanted a baby of her own too.

Of course, a big part of this was because she had fallen in love with Gu Huayuan.

It was natural to want a little bundle of love from that relationship.

“Stop thinking about it; the progress bar is moving again.”

Fat Cat reminded her.

Now, it was more worried about her returning to the real world than Lin Qiao herself.

If the player returned to the real world without enough negative energy, that meant it had failed and would disappear along with the game.

Lin Qiao: “…!!!” She couldn’t even think about a child? What kind of terrible game design was this?!

Still, she really wanted to stay here longer.

“Fat Cat, do you think if I stay here a very long time, it will affect the real world?”

Fat Cat said, “No, there won’t be any effect. It’s all instantaneous.”

When the designers created this, they hadn’t considered anyone staying too long; the longest one could last was a month, so there was no time lag built in.

Lin Qiao felt even more tempted.

She wanted to stay here anyway; going back meant facing her father and her half-brother.

Returning a bit later wouldn’t matter.

Watching Lin Qiao’s progress bar quietly advance a little, Fat Cat rubbed its forehead. “Actually, if you want the mission to be temporarily unfinishable, there’s another effective method.”

“What method?”

“Divorce Gu Huayuan.”

“…!” Lin Qiao’s face flushed with anger. “Why divorce? You nagged me to marry him back then, and now you want me to divorce?!”

She was furious. A big reason she wanted to stay here was because of Gu Huayuan, and Fat Cat was suggesting divorce!

Fat Cat shrugged. “Only this way can you stay here longer.”

Lin Qiao wasn’t happy. If she divorced, how hard would it be for her and Gu Huayuan later?

These days, cohabitation wasn’t popular.

Divorce meant separation.

Was she supposed to have a Platonic relationship with Gu Huayuan forever?

“Forget it, I’ll just ask Gu Huayuan. I’ll subtly hint at it when the time comes.”

Fat Cat thought that was a good idea—the native was smart.

But it reminded her, “Remember, don’t let him know the truth about this world.”

“Got it, got it.”

Su Weizhen returned from the hospital after two days.

Xu Yuanzheng had to work during the day, so Lin Qiao arranged for her two children to help Su Weizhen with the baby. They couldn’t do much else, but they could fetch hot water and lend a hand.

The two children were quite willing; every morning after breakfast, they rushed over.

Everyone in the compound also came to visit, commenting on how cute the baby was.

Every household sent eggs to Su Weizhen’s family, filling baskets to the brim.

After visiting Su Weizhen, they went to see the two fat pigs Lin Qiao’s family raised, looking extremely envious.

Everyone asked Lin Qiao for advice on raising pigs.

Lin Qiao said, “I’m just experimenting too. Once I report the situation to Director Hao in logistics and get approval, we’ll start training classes during the New Year. After that, everyone can raise pigs.”

This was truly great news.

If they raised pigs, there would be no shortage of meat.

Even the military’s usual supplies couldn’t provide much meat. At the end of the year, they only supplied radishes and cabbage.

The meat raised by logistics was only enough for the mess hall; even that wasn’t sufficient.

As military families, they couldn’t compete with the soldiers for food, so self-sufficiency was ideal.

With new babies in the compound and Lin Qiao’s pigs growing well, everyone had a joyful New Year this year.

On New Year’s Eve, Lin Qiao joined Su Weizhen’s family for the celebration.

Gu Huayuan wasn’t home. Zhenzhen had given birth and couldn’t cook the New Year meal, so Lin Qiao helped out.

The two children were busy assisting—washing vegetables, taking care of the baby.

Finally, they managed to prepare a sumptuous meal.

Both families celebrated a lively New Year’s Eve together.

Yet Lin Qiao couldn’t stop thinking about Gu Huayuan.

When staying up late, the two children had long since fallen asleep, but she tossed and turned in bed.

“Thinking about someone is really painful,” Lin Qiao complained.

In past years, she had felt this way too, but staying busy usually helped.

This year, she missed him even more than last year.

Unable to sleep, she got up and started organizing lesson plans, planning to talk to Director Hao the next day about starting the training class.

Fat Cat had put on a red Zhongshan suit for itself in the space and sighed.

It watched the progress bar inch forward, inch by inch.

Looking over at the negative-energy side, there was still a long way to go. In fact, just listening to stories could only maintain its daily energy needs; if it wanted to gather enough energy to return to its own space, there was only one way: the player had to suffer to death. Only that kind of pain suited that dog planner’s twisted psyche.

Dog planner!

It cursed at the dog planner, then took the initiative to send some reference books to Uncle Lin.

It didn’t even know how long it could exist, so it might as well give more to these foolish humans over here.

But after sending them, it regretted it. It had wasted energy points giving stuff to humans for free!

All because of that native Gu Huayuan, always talking about humans doing stupid things, influencing it too!

The fat cat rolled around in anger.

Then it looked at the players still staying up late. Immediately, it felt relieved—the players were even dumber than it was!

As for pig farming, Director Hao was also paying close attention.

The pigs Lin Qiao raised were growing well, and Director Hao had taken some time to come see them.

Lin Qiao brought her lesson plans to discuss starting a training class with him.

Director Hao naturally had no objections. Comrade Lin Qiao had already proven her ability through real results, and the beginning of the year was the best time for raising piglets.

He sent out a notice to promote the pig-raising training class within the compound.

Many military families in the compound were from rural areas, and when they heard about a pig-raising class, they eagerly signed up.

Especially the army wives who had seen Lin Qiao’s pigs—they were even more enthusiastic. Once the notice came out, they dragged Lin Qiao along to help select piglets.

Gu Huarui and Gu Huayin watched their sister-in-law being surrounded by people as she went out, holding snacks given to her, feeling both admiration and envy.

“Look at our sister-in-law, she’s so impressive,” Gu Huayin said with longing.

Gu Huarui chewed a broad bean, crunching it, “Of course, who made her capable?”

Gu Huayin clenched her fist. “Brother, we need to work hard too. If we gain skills, no matter what happens in the future, we won’t go hungry, and we can help at home. Look at Lanlan and Xiao Jun, they work so hard.”

Gu Huarui finished the bean and clapped his hands. “You’re right. Let’s go shovel the pig manure first.”

Gu Huayin: “……” At the beginning of the year, the entire compound was caught up in the pig-raising craze.

Everywhere, people were selecting piglets.

Lin Qiao taught them hand by hand how to choose, and in the afternoons, she held the training classes, imparting knowledge about pig farming.

They stayed busy all the way until Su Weizhen finished her confinement, and it still wasn’t done.

Even after the confinement period, Su Weizhen couldn’t devote much energy to work—the baby was still small. At the very least, she needed three months before she could carry the baby around to work; otherwise, the little one would easily get sick.

She felt a little guilty. “Xiao Qiao, I’ll still be keeping you delayed, won’t I?”

“Why say that? Do we really care about such things? Besides, we all go through inconvenient times and can understand each other.”

Su Weizhen smiled. “Xiao Qiao, once things settle here, you should hurry as well. I’ve realized that it’s best to get this done early; otherwise, you won’t have the energy.”

Lin Qiao pressed her lips together, smiling. “I’ll discuss it with Gu Huayuan when he gets back.”

She had decided to try giving him subtle hints, letting him know the issues she was encountering.

Once this matter was resolved, she could consider having a baby that resembled both herself and Gu Huayuan.

Perhaps because it was on her mind, Lin Qiao noticed that Gu Huayuan was returning later than usual this year.

Even when Zhenzhen’s child reached the full month, he hadn’t returned.

Even when the family slaughtered pigs for meat, he still hadn’t come back.

Lin Qiao had even asked Su Weizhen, after her confinement, to help make some smoked meat to wait for Gu Huayuan. Otherwise, fresh meat wouldn’t keep.

Su Weizhen said, “Your Gu has been gone for months now, hasn’t he?”

“Almost three months,” Lin Qiao pouted. “I can’t go ask Commander Sheng or the others.”

Su Weizhen comforted her. “That’s just how it is being part of a military family. No matter how worried you are, you can’t ask or pry.”

Lin Qiao could actually monitor where Gu Huayuan was with the help of the fat cat.

But she felt that since it was confidential, it was better not to check. What if someone got information from her?

She doubted her own secrecy skills. With someone as smart as Gu Huayuan, he would see through it in an instant.

Besides, she wasn’t even looking in on Uncle Lin’s side now.

Su Weizhen didn’t want her words to affect Xiao Qiao’s mood, so she changed the topic, talking about her own son, Mengmeng.

Her child with Xu Yuanzheng, named Xu Mengmeng, full name Xu Muwei, had a name that radiated pure sweetness, making Lin Qiao’s heart swell.

Mengmeng was just over a month old, but changing every day, cuter and livelier than right after birth, melting Lin Qiao’s heart.

After talking about Xu Mengmeng, Su Weizhen mentioned some nutritional remedies for Lin Qiao to restore her health. Once her Gu returned, she could conceive.

“You’re from the modern era, so you should know about scientific preparation for pregnancy, right? This is really important. Look at my Mengmeng—born healthy and clever.”

As a new mother, Su Weizhen spoke incessantly about childcare, and Lin Qiao genuinely felt moved.

She shyly twisted, “Okay, I’ll start supplementing.”

After all, preparing well before taking action was never wrong.

Just as Lin Qiao was feeling embarrassed, a communications soldier came to tell her to go to the comm room to return a call.

It was from the farm.

Hearing that, Lin Qiao went immediately, worried something had happened.

Running there without resting, she breathed heavily and redialed. After a few transfers, the call connected, and on the other end came Gu Bicheng’s strong, commanding voice.

“Dad, are you okay?”

“I’m fine, hahaha. Xiao Qiao, I’m calling to let you know that my issues here are resolved. I’m retired now, no need to study at the farm anymore. Your Aunt Zhang and I are coming over to visit. We’ll also pick up the child.”

Lin Qiao was overjoyed the moment she heard it. “Dad, really? You’re okay and coming?”

“Of course it’s true. Otherwise, how could I even call you?” he said, laughing himself.

Lin Qiao felt a mix of excitement and thrill in her heart.

She wasn’t just happy for Gu Bicheng’s sake, but also for this change.

“I’m coming over to see you all, and I’ll be staying there for a while.”