RYEY – Chapter 223 Miao Qing Is Pregnant

“Oh, this woman is an old acquaintance of yours. Wait here—I’ll call her over.”

Cheng Qiao nodded. Then she saw the woman turn her head and glance at her. In an instant, Cheng Qiao broke into a smile—it was Miao Qing.

“Miao Qing, how did you get so old? Your hair’s already turning white.”

Wrapped up tightly yet still revealing a few strands of white hair, Miao Qing became the target of Cheng Qiao’s undisguised mockery. Miao Qing glanced at her, surprisingly not getting angry.

“Cheng Qiao, I didn’t understand before why Comrade Cheng was being especially strict with me. Now I get it—turns out he’s your father, taking revenge through official channels.”

“My dad taking revenge through official channels? Don’t make me laugh. Look at this whole stretch of grass grids. Every day my dad’s thinking about how to control desertification and improve the survival rate of saplings. When would he have the time for personal vendettas? Who do you think you are?”

Miao Qing’s face flushed red. Indeed, ever since Cheng Liguo took over this area, the results had been obvious to everyone. She had deliberately twisted the facts.

“You’re about to be a mother—you should accumulate virtue for your child. Stop doing things that harm others without benefiting yourself. Especially that mouth of yours—take the time to wash it clean and stop spraying filth.”

“When have I ever done bad things? What—what did you say? I’m going to be a mother? Cheng Qiao, is that true?”

The anger on Miao Qing’s face instantly vanished. She grabbed Cheng Qiao’s hand and asked excitedly.

“You’re already two months pregnant. Didn’t your menstrual cycle tell you?”

Miao Qing fell silent. Thinking back, it did seem like her period hadn’t come for a long time—two months, maybe three. Whatever. She needed to go to the clinic to get checked.

“Team Leader Cheng, I was talking nonsense just now. Please don’t take it to heart. I… I’d like to ask for half a day off to go to the clinic for an examination.”

Cheng Liguo nodded. Miao Qing wasn’t one of the relocated personnel; she still needed approval from her superiors to take leave. Seeing Cheng Liguo agree, she hurried off toward the clinic.

After running a couple of steps, she suddenly seemed to remember something and slowed down. Watching her retreating figure, Cheng Qiao couldn’t help but sigh.

“Girl, let’s go have lunch. Today I’ll take you to eat at our canteen.”

The so-called canteen was nothing more than meals cooked in various dugouts—coarse sorghum rice, accompanied by pickled cabbage stems and radishes.

After her rebirth, Cheng Qiao had hardly eaten sorghum rice anymore, let alone the mouth-numbingly salty pickles. But she knew that at this moment, she had to finish the bowl—so many people were watching.

“Team Leader, this is your daughter, right? My goodness, such delicate skin—can she do this kind of work?”

“Team Leader, is this child your grandson? I’ve never seen such a pretty baby—prettier than the ones on New Year pictures.”

“Team Leader, where’s your wife? Why didn’t she come?”

“Team Leader—”

“Enough. Aren’t you hungry? Why are you all so concerned about me? Eat quickly. If it’s not enough, go get more. Don’t regret it if you’re late.”

Cheng Liguo tapped his aluminum lunch box with his chopsticks. Hearing that, everyone dug in with renewed vigor. If they didn’t eat their fill, they wouldn’t be able to work in the afternoon.

Cheng Qiao took out a small biscuit from her backpack and handed it to little Cheng Li. The sorghum rice was too coarse—little Cheng Li couldn’t eat it. A biscuit would at least tide him over.

“Mom, I want that too.”

A five- or six-year-old boy stared at the biscuit in Cheng Li’s hand, swallowing hard. He tugged at his mother’s sleeve. The woman glanced at the biscuit, then lowered her head in quiet sorrow.

“They were sent down from Beijing. We don’t know their background—don’t act impulsively.”

Cheng Liguo whispered this reminder into Cheng Qiao’s ear, worried that her soft heart wouldn’t bear seeing children suffer. Cheng Qiao nodded. Indeed, she’d almost been moved just now.

“Dad, take me back. The sandstorm’s too strong here. Little Cheng Li keeps rubbing his eyes—I’m worried sand’s gotten in.”

“Alright. Looks like you can’t eat this anyway—give it to me.”

Cheng Liguo snatched the lunch box from Cheng Qiao’s hands, poured some hot water into it, and slurped it down in a few gulps. Then, carrying the two lunch boxes, he led Cheng Qiao away from the dugout.

When the father and daughter returned to the cave dwelling, Cheng Qiao quickly shut the door and took little Cheng Li into the space. She gave him a thorough bath, carefully cleaning around his eyes, then took a quick “battle shower” herself.

After that, the two came out of the space with their food, sat on the warm kang, and shared lunch bite by bite. Just as they finished eating, there was a knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

“Cheng Qiao, it’s me.”

Hearing Miao Qing’s voice, Cheng Qiao’s expression darkened slightly. Still, she picked up little Cheng Li and moved him further inside on the kang, wrapping him with quilts, before going to open the door.

“Wow, it’s so warm in here. Cheng Qiao, what brings you here? I know—you came to see your dad, right?”

“What do you want?”

“Cheng Qiao, thank you. I really am pregnant.”

Cheng Qiao said nothing, staring coldly at Miao Qing, waiting to see what she was up to.

“Cheng Qiao, don’t look at me like that. I’m married now. My husband treats me very well. Back then, I had no choice but to use Li Bing, because I knew my father was going to sell me to an old bachelor in some remote mountain village.”

Cheng Qiao’s brows twitched almost imperceptibly. She remembered Miao Qing saying the same thing back then, though she hadn’t believed it at the time. Now it seemed that it had been true.

“Cheng Qiao, even though I work every day fighting desertification now—hard and exhausting—at night I go home to hot meals, and when I’m tired, someone cares about me. I cherish this kind of life.”

“So?” Cheng Qiao asked flatly.

“So I came to ask for your forgiveness. Back then I was forced into it and did shameless things. And toward you, I was… malicious. After all, you were so beautiful—and so rich.”

“I won’t forgive you. I won’t forgive anyone who’s ever hurt me. You’re living worse than me now, and that makes me happy. The day I end up living better than you—that’ll be the day I take revenge. So pray that your life is always worse than mine.”

Anger surged in Miao Qing’s heart, but given how malicious she herself had been toward Cheng Qiao back then, wasn’t it normal for the other to want revenge?

“I hope you’ll always live better than me. That way I won’t have to worry about you taking revenge on me.”

“Hmph.”

“This is your child, right? He’s so cute—so beautiful. Cheng Qiao, can I hold him? I’ve heard that if a pregnant woman holds a beautiful child, the baby in her belly will also be beautiful.”

“What do you think?”

Cheng Qiao suddenly felt that Miao Qing had become stupid. Back then, she’d suspected Miao Qing of being reborn too—had she been wrong? She stopped thinking about it. As long as this person didn’t infringe on her life, she’d let her be. Otherwise—heh.

Miao Qing left dejectedly. But thinking that she herself was about to become a mother, her back straightened at once.

Cheng Qiao closed the door behind her. Just then, a hand suddenly slipped in from the side—if Cheng Qiao hadn’t been sharp-eyed, that hand would have been crushed flat.