On the third day of the twelfth lunar month, it was the full moon celebration for Zhang Fangcao's son, Lin Jizong.
Lin Guangde had notified all households in the village half a month in advance.
Twelve tables were prepared for the banquet, assuming two people per household.
When they went to invite Tian Jing, she initially refused to go, but Lin Guangde said there would be a small spectacle to watch and that she would be seated at the same table as the village secretary, so nothing would go wrong.
Tian Jing then agreed.
The next day was the actual celebration, and she asked Li Zhengguo what to give as a gift.
"Just give cash, Lin Guangde will collect it anyway."
"Huh? Not to Zhang Fangcao?"
"Her? She's still living in a dream, not concerned with these mundane matters."
"What did you do again?"
"Nothing, just watch the show."
On the day of the full moon banquet, Tian Jing was so surprised her jaw almost dropped when she saw Zhang Fangcao, who could be described with the four characters for "fat head, big ears."
Not only her, but everyone who came to the banquet was stunned.
Zhang Fangcao still leaned against the slender Lin Silai like a petite woman, with the expression of a blissful young wife.
Seeing Tian Jing, she even provocatively raised her chin.
Tian Jing was speechless.
What kind of fate had Li Zhengguo arranged for Zhang Fangcao?
Lin Guangde carried his grandson to each table to express his thanks.
Everyone, more or less, slipped a small red envelope to the baby.
When Tian Jing saw the chubby baby, she was even more surprised. This baby didn't look like Li Aiguo, nor Zhang Fangcao, and certainly not like Lin Silai.
Li Zhengguo held his wife's hand and gave five yuan to Lin Guangde.
Those who looked their way didn't care who received the money.
Only Zhang Fangcao wanted to say something, but was embraced by Lin Silai, "Don't worry about it, we'll sort out the gift money tonight."
Hu Hongju, seeing the chubby baby, reached out to grab it. Lin Guangde twisted and dodged, "Li Guangping's wife, don't take my tolerance for weakness. Does this child resemble your Li Aiguo or not? Are you blind?"
Hu Hongju then carefully examined the baby boy, then looked at Li Zhengguo's side in surprise.
Lin Guangde sneered, "Do you think it's possible?"
Hu Hongju was stunned for a moment, then stood up and turned to leave.
With the annoying person gone, Lin Guangde shouted into the kitchen, "Serve the dishes."
"Coming!"
In the middle of winter, the dishes were served as soon as they came out of the pot, but they would get cold quickly.
Fortunately, there was hot soup, and after eating their fill, Tian Jing left early.
Li Zhengguo naturally left with his wife.
Lin Silai looked at Zhang Fangcao's follow- ing gaze and sneered.
The snow fell incessantly, sometimes stopping for a day or two, only to resume for another two days.
Almost no one was seen out in the village, yet Li Zhengguo was very busy, going out two or three times a day.
Tian Jing didn't interfere, wasn't it better to give her space?
One day, the snow stopped, and Li Zhengguo pulled his wife up the mountain. "Tiantian, let's go to the hot springs for a bath. Your due date is approaching, and we'll get the pine essence."
Go to the hot springs? Tian Jing readily agreed. Although she shouldn't soak at this stage, a bath was fine. "Should we bring Mom and Minmin?"
"Bring Mom, leave Minmin. That way, we can get in in one trip."
Li Min accepted being left behind without question. Her sister-in-law's belly was very large, and she couldn't be overworked.
Mother Li had not intended to go either, also worried about tiring Tiantian, but her son said her presence would be a safeguard.
Mother Li then had all the bedding from the cave brought along.
Li Zhengguo also agreed, bundling several quilts with cloth strips like backpacks, carrying them on his chest and back.
...
When Tian Jing entered the deep mountains, Little Pine and Little Black were the happiest.
Little Black was already an adult wolf, well-fed and strong, even more robust than its father.
Tian Jing wanted to know if Little Black was a vegetarian or a meat-eater now, but no wolf could give her an answer.
After bringing her mother-in-law to Green Pine Rock, she was bombarded with Little Pine's chatter.
While watching her mother-in-law put the bedding into the wardrobe, Tian Jing filtered useful information from Little Pine's nonsensical prattling.
"What?"
A piece of news from Little Pine made Tian Jing exclaim in surprise. Sudanshuwang.
"What's wrong?" Mother Li asked worriedly.
"It's nothing, nothing." Tian Jing waved her hand. "I was spacing out and asked the question unconsciously."
Li Zhengguo knew Tiantian was definitely communicating with Little Pine. "Tiantian, go for a walk. I'll help Mom with the things."
Mother Li couldn't stop her, and her daughter-in-law went to the pine tree.
She blamed her son, "You child, it's so cold up here?"
"Tiantian isn't afraid of the cold, and it's warmer inside than outside. It hasn't snowed here."
Her son's words silenced her. Mother Li could only shut her mouth and quickly pack the bedding so her daughter-in-law could go down for a bath.
In Little Pine's rambling, Tian Jing actually heard news about Zhang Fangcao.
The lonely Little Pine inquired about everything, especially things around her, and then claimed to have heard from other trees that a very fat woman from the village had recently been seen having an affair with a man who bore some resemblance to Li Zhengguo.
The place of their rendezvous was actually in that man's home, and the man's whole family knew about it, with his wife even helping to cover for them.
If this whole family had gone mad, had the man's wife also gone mad?
Who else could it be but Li Weiguo from Uncle Li the Second's family, who could do such a thing and vaguely resemble Li Zhengguo?
What surprised Tian Jing wasn't this, but that Li Weiguo's entire family and Zhang Fangcao all knew that the male child Zhang Fangcao gave birth to was Li Weiguo's.
She could understand Li Weiguo's inability to acknowledge his son, but the intricacies of this matter...
What was Uncle Li the Second's family plotting?
"Tiantian, Tiantian?"
"Hmm?" Tian Jing snapped back to reality. "Mom."
"Let's go down, it's too cold up here."
"Okay."
After a hot spring bath, Tian Jing felt much better. Her belly was getting bigger and bigger, and she didn't dare to get in and out of the tub. Li Zhengguo also didn't dare to carry her into the tub, for fear of hurting her, only washing her by wiping her down every night.
When she and her mother-in-law came out of the hot spring courtyard, Zhengguo had already dragged a wild boar over.
Mother Li glared at her son, "How is Tiantian supposed to carry this? Will she have to make two trips?"
"Mom, starting tomorrow, I'm going into the mountains to hunt wild pheasants for Tiantian to eat during her confinement. I won't have time for such large game. Shouldn't we prepare our New Year's goods?"
"You'll spoil the villagers too much."
"It's fine."
Li Zhengguo gave his mother only two words. How many more years would he indulge them? After the collective dissolved, everyone would be on their own, and who would care about the well-being of others?
Tian Jing first took her mother-in-law to the foot of the mountain, then returned to dig out the tree core essence.
Li Zhengguo hid the tree core essence in his arms and carried the wild boar, with Tiantian pulling him down the mountain.
As they exited the deep mountains, Tian Jing let go of Li Zhengguo, allowing him to drag the wild boar down the mountain by himself. She was pregnant and, no matter how skilled her martial arts, had to be careful with her belly, right?
Uncle Zhengguo has brought down a wild boar!
The children digging for wild vegetables at the foot of the mountain excitedly and enthusiastically helped pull it, and enthusiastically went to the team office to notify them.
Li Zhengguo then dropped the wild boar and accompanied his wife home.
He needed to heat water to wash.
Mother Li's worries were not unfounded. Indeed, someone felt that one wild boar was not enough.
They were so rebuked by Sister-in-law Niu and the other sisters that they almost wanted to dig a hole and hide.
After the scolding, Sister-in-law Niu was still not satisfied and said she would tell Tian Jing not to send any more game caught to the team, as the Li family's work points were more than enough to be deducted.
In the end, the one who was rebuked apologized in a low voice, saying he was just being a loose-tongued fool, and only then was the matter settled.