“When there’s finally a chance, you’re not even willing to give it a try.”
Datou’s voice was so loud that it drew the neighbors from the courtyard over. Many were asking what had happened. Datou didn’t hide anything and directly said that he wanted to take his father to see a new specialist, but his father refused.
Hearing that it was such a good thing, the neighbors began urging him one after another.
“Ning Geda, oh Ning Geda. They’re right to call you ‘Geda’ (Lump). Your brain’s just like a lump—won’t budge. Seeing a doctor doesn’t take much effort. If it doesn’t work out, no harm done. But if it does work, wouldn’t that be a huge gain?”
Several uncles and older men who had some friendship with Ning Geda began to persuade him.
It was the first time Bai Lan had seen the men of the courtyard mobilize like this. Even her father had shown up at some point and started trying to talk sense into Ning Geda.
“We’ve been neighbors for decades. Seeing you like this, we really feel it’s a shame. If you’re worried about the difficulty of getting there, every able-bodied man in this courtyard can help carry you to the hospital. I guarantee nothing will go wrong.”
Qin Yan’s father, Uncle Qin, immediately suggested.
The men around him nodded one after another, rolling up their sleeves as if ready to help. Some of the more impatient ones were already about to go take down a door panel to use as a stretcher.
It was Xu Jianbei who stopped them. “The sun is almost setting. By the time we get to the hospital, the specialist will probably be off work. If Uncle Ning’s family agrees, we can go tomorrow. We can pool our efforts in the courtyard and help carry Uncle Ning over.”
“That’s right, that’s right. Let’s do that. I’ll just go to work a bit later tomorrow,” Uncle Qin said warmly.
Seeing how enthusiastic the neighbors were, Datou nodded vigorously, deeply moved. He immediately said to his father, “Dad, look. Everyone in the courtyard has offered to help. So you don’t have to worry about being a burden anymore. If the specialist really can’t help, we won’t be disappointed, I promise.”
But Ning Geda just shook his head. “Not going. Not going. I don’t want to trouble the neighbors. My body is the way it is. I don’t want to go through all that trouble anymore. I just want to live in peace.”
This sparked another round of persuasion.
Bai Lan stepped out of the crowd and went back home with Xu Jianbei to sit down. The front courtyard was packed with people, and she was finding it hard to breathe.
Sitting in her own room, listening to the commotion from the front courtyard, Bai Lan sighed. “Why is Datou’s father so stubborn?”
Xu Jianbei placed his hand on Bai Lan’s belly and said softly, “Maybe he really has some concerns. We’ve done all we can. Don’t worry too much. How are you feeling in your belly right now?”
Bai Lan laughed at that. The baby was barely over a month old—what could she possibly feel? The little one was probably no bigger than a peanut right now.
When Bai Lan shared this “peanut” theory, Xu Jianbei burst out laughing.
“How about we call the baby ‘Peanut’ as a nickname?”
Bai Lan shook her head firmly. “No way, no way. If we call him Peanut, he’ll curse us out when he grows up.”
In those days, nicknames were all kinds of crop names, or things like “Dog Egg,” “Hairy Egg,” or “Iron Pillar.” But Bai Lan didn’t want to give her child such an earthy nickname. Something like “Tuan Tuan” or “Yuan Yuan” (symbolizing reunion and completeness) would be much better.
The couple then launched into a heated discussion about the baby’s nickname, completely forgetting that the little one was still only the size of a peanut.
——
This good mood carried all the way to the dinner table.
Xu Jiannan and Liu Meiling had both eaten out at noon—they were busy with their braised meat business on weekends. But they came home for dinner in the evening, and upon hearing the news of Bai Lan’s pregnancy, they immediately offered their congratulations.
Liu Meiling even went so far as to pull Bai Lan aside at the dinner table to chat—a rare occurrence.
In the six months since Bai Lan had married into the Xu family, her relationship with Liu Meiling hadn’t been exactly close, but it wasn’t bad either. Especially back when they had both shared the same target of mockery: Su Xiaomei. But after Su Xiaomei was arrested for her crimes, the two sisters-in-law had lost their common topic.
Plus, quite a few things had happened recently, so Bai Lan hadn’t really talked with Liu Meiling in a while.
So after dinner, when Liu Meiling pulled Bai Lan aside to continue chatting under the eaves, Bai Lan thought she might bring up the braised meat business. After all, that business had grown quite big. Even though Bai Lan wasn’t involved in buying ingredients or anything, while working at the cafeteria, she occasionally heard people talk about how delicious the braised meat from a certain black market vendor was.
But she soon realized that Liu Meiling wanted to talk about something else entirely: having children.
Bai Lan hadn’t expected that Liu Meiling—the female lead of a short-drama-style story—would have such anxieties.
“Third Sister-in-law, I really don’t have any special secrets for getting pregnant.”
Hearing this, Liu Meiling sighed. “I’m just asking casually. I’m not in a rush, but I know Jiannan really wants kids.”
Liu Meiling had married Xu Jiannan not long after Bai Lan had transmigrated here. It had already been over half a year.
In all that time at the Xu household, Bai Lan had never seen the elder Xus pressure them to have children, nor had she noticed any signs of such desire from Xu Jiannan himself.
As if reading Bai Lan’s confusion, Liu Meiling sighed again. “Your third brother would never say it out loud. But I can feel it.”
Bai Lan thought about their relationship and understood what Liu Meiling meant. Although she didn’t interact much with the couple, Bai Lan knew they had a very good relationship. And according to the short drama’s plot, their future relationship would also face various tests from all sides.
So, Liu Meiling’s desire to have a child for the man who loved her was entirely her own choice.
Still, Bai Lan truly didn’t know any fertility secrets and could only sigh.
Liu Meiling didn’t blame her. She simply remarked that Bai Lan was luckier than she was. After finishing this somewhat heavy topic, Liu Meiling grew curious about what had happened at the Ning household that day.
When she and Jiannan had come home, the crowd in the front courtyard had already dispersed. But in the back courtyard, one could still hear the older women talking about the Ning family.
Liu Meiling had no personal connection with the Ning family, but Datou had been helping behind the scenes with transporting the braised meat. So she wanted to show some concern for Datou’s situation.
Hearing this, Bai Lan didn’t hide anything. She told her everything that had happened, in full detail.
Liu Meiling frowned upon hearing it. “Actually, if Datou didn’t have his father holding him back, his life really could turn around. He’s been helping me for less than three months and has already earned nearly a hundred yuan.”
Datou’s help with transporting braised meat wasn’t full-time—it was a side job. Earning nearly a hundred yuan in less than three months, about twenty to thirty yuan a month, was already equivalent to a regular worker’s monthly wage.
“He should have enough money saved up. It’s just his father who’s the problem.”
Bai Lan sighed as she spoke. Datou’s father was truly stubborn. That afternoon, practically the entire courtyard had tried to persuade him, and he still hadn’t budged.
Liu Meiling wasn’t as patient. She said directly, “If it were me, I’d just call two strong men over, plop him onto a door panel, and carry him straight to the hospital.”
The female lead truly was the female lead—speaking with such authority.
Bai Lan almost laughed. She found Liu Meiling’s straightforwardness quite endearing.
While the two sisters-in-law were chatting on one side, Xu Jianbei was also talking business with his third brother on the other.
“For now, things are fine. But next year, if we can find a suitable courtyard nearby, we’ll buy it. The money we have right now isn’t enough yet. If we really need cash at that time, Third Brother, I’ll withdraw my share.”
Xu Jianbei wasn’t saying this because he was truly desperate for money. The main point was that he and Bai Lan had discussed it. From the New Year until now, Third Brother and Third Sister-in-law had been so busy with the braised meat business that they barely had a moment to rest. He had only put in some start-up capital at the beginning and had already made a good profit. He didn’t want to keep riding on his brother and sister-in-law’s coattails.
Xu Jiannan shook his head immediately upon hearing his younger brother’s words. “If you really find a suitable courtyard and don’t have enough money, Third Brother will lend you the money. Don’t talk about withdrawing your share.”
Xu Jianbei knew he wouldn’t convince Third Brother in one go. He was only bringing it up now to plant the seed. Seeing that his brother didn’t want to discuss it further, he changed the subject to the Ning family situation.
The talk in the entire courtyard that night revolved around the Ning family.
Over at the Qin household, Qin Yan’s father was sighing to his wife, “That Ning Geda really is a lump. You can’t reason with him! The way he’s letting himself go is dragging his son down to death.”
Hearing her father’s words, Qin Yan felt a bitter taste in her mouth. Datou was her good friend. To have a father like that was simply the worst luck imaginable.
Aunt Qin, unaware of her daughter’s thoughts, agreed with her husband. “Isn’t that the truth? Geda’s wife is about the same age as me. But when I saw her today, she looked more than ten years older than me.”
Although Aunt Qin worked as a helper in the cafeteria and was frequently exposed to cold water, the atmosphere in the Qin household was good, and her husband was the head of the security section. They never had to worry about food or money. So she naturally looked young. Standing next to Ning’s mother, who was the same age, the contrast was even more striking.
Listening to her parents’ discussion, Qin Yan poked at the rice in her bowl with her chopsticks. She made up her mind that she would find a way to make Datou take his father to see a doctor. If his father could be cured, then Datou would no longer have to worry.
As for Bai Lan’s earlier suggestion that Datou might like her—Qin Yan decided she had forgotten all about that. She and Datou were still good friends.
—
In the following days, the courtyard’s conversation still revolved around the Ning family.
Ning Geda still hadn’t given in, but Datou had stopped trying to persuade him. Although his friends all said he should give it a try, his father wasn’t willing, and Datou was truly at a loss. If he had his father carried directly to the hospital without discussing it first, Datou was afraid his father would cause a scene there.
So, he pulled himself together and prepared to go out on a delivery run. This time, he would take a long-distance route, get far away from all of this. Things would get better after some time passed. Datou comforted himself with this thought. After all, he was already used to taking care of his father.
Once Datou left, the courtyard gradually stopped talking about the Ning family. When Bai Lan learned of this, she could only sigh that Datou’s luck was truly terrible.
But the hustle and bustle in the courtyard didn’t die down. Because Hu Aihua had returned from Haicheng with her husband, Zhu Cheng.
At first, the neighbors in the courtyard hadn’t felt much when Hu Aihua married a man from Haicheng. But last week, Hu Aihua had taken leave from the recycling station and gone with Zhu Cheng to Haicheng. Now that she was back, the neighbors immediately noticed a difference.
“Oh my, after a trip to Haicheng, Aihua looks so much more energetic. Southern climates really are good for people.”
Hu Aihua was handing out White Rabbit creamy candies to the neighbors in the courtyard and was very pleased by the compliments.
Hu the Widow held her head even higher, practically looking down her nose at everyone.
Bai Lan found the whole scene quite amusing.
Xu Jianbei was plucking a chicken he had just slaughtered and also saw what was happening across the way. “They were gone for almost a week, weren’t they?”
Bai Lan nodded. “About a week, I think. Yanzi even complained to me that with Hu Aihua taking leave, her workload increased.”
As she spoke, Bai Lan observed Hu Aihua a bit more. Her complexion was rosy, and she spoke louder than before. It seemed her married life wasn’t bad. So, she wondered—had she just been overthinking things when she warned Hu Aihua earlier?
Just as she was thinking this, Hu Aihua came over with a package of pastries.
“These are for Bai Baowei. My husband and he are technically relatives of a sort. On this trip to Haicheng, we heard he likes these pastries, so my husband told me to bring some to him.”
At the mention of “relatives of a sort,” Bai Lan immediately lost interest in talking to Hu Aihua.
“No need. My brother has nothing to do with the Fang family. So don’t bother giving him anything.”
Rejected, Hu Aihua was a bit unhappy. She felt Bai Lan was being unreasonable. The whole situation of the children being swapped between the Fang and Bai families had nothing to do with the Zhu family.
“My brother really isn’t going to compete with Fang Baoguo over anything, so stop bothering him.”
The words were blunt enough. Hu Aihua was very displeased and could only leave with the pastries.
Bai Lan rolled her eyes. She felt these people were making too big a deal out of things.
Back home after being rejected, Hu the Widow immediately asked Hu Aihua what had happened and why she was trying to mend fences with Bai Baowei.
Hu Aihua shook her head. “I don’t know either. This was my husband’s idea.”
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