"Of course there is. We'll go tomorrow," Pei Jing stared at Zhi Xia's belly. His originally happy expression turned a little worried, "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"
He felt a little guilty. The sisters-in-law around him had said more than once that Zhi Xia's belly was unusually large and there must be a chubby baby inside. He also knew that Zhi Xia's grandmother and mother both had a history of giving birth to twins, but he had never thought about it before.
"I just felt it recently too. After all, I haven't had it checked out yet, so it's all uncertain," she sighed again at the poor conditions here since coming to this side.
If she was in Jincheng, she would have gone to the hospital already. But here it was not easy to even go into town. It took 1-2 hours just to transfer buses to the city hospital.
Of course, time was not an issue for them, but she was pregnant and felt tired after just a few steps, let alone spending a whole day traveling around outside.
"It's my fault for never thinking about this. Go to sleep. We'll get up early tomorrow and go. If it really is twins..." Pei Jing hesitated and said to Zhi Xia, "If it's really twins, let's have someone from home come help you recuperate?"
His mother had passed away, so it would be most appropriate for his grandmother to come. But she was getting old and might not be able to handle it.
If he really asked, there was a high chance that Zhou Nan would come over. Pei Jing was afraid Zhi Xia would be angry.
Indeed, Zhi Xia had never thought about having Zhou Nan come serve her during confinement. "Let's talk about it later. It's still uncertain. Anyway, Meng Meng is here too. You took time off to be here, right? With you two, it should be enough. I can't move during confinement, but I'll recover after resting for a few days."
Pei Jing put his arm around her shoulders to comfort her, understanding this was rejection.
It wasn't that she was really unwilling, she just still had some resentment and didn't want to go begging.
The words from back then were still fresh in her mind. They didn't care about her, so she wouldn't care about them either.
But now she had to ask Zhou Nan to come serve her during confinement, which felt like slapping her own face.
Scooting forward, she pressed her whole body against his chest before closing her eyes to rest.
Pei Jing secretly sighed, tucking the blanket around her.
The woman in his arms was not just his wife, but a girl who needed care and affection.
He could feel that beneath her gentle exterior, she was stubborn inside and lacked a sense of security.
But it was good that she relied on him.
Kissing her forehead, Pei Jing adjusted his position to let her sleep more comfortably.
When Zhi Xia woke up, the spot beside her was no longer warm.
She sat up to see Pei Jing walking in the door. "You're awake, hurry up and get up. I made some food. Let's eat then go."
Zhi Xia nodded. "Okay. Should we let Meng Meng know we're going when we leave? With no one home all day, she might come by and wonder where we went."
"I mentioned it to Zhao Xin when I asked for leave earlier," said Pei Jing. "There's a military vehicle going into the city today that we can hitch a ride on."
Zhi Xia wore a loose shirt on top and maternity pants below. Luckily she was tall so it didn't look bad dressed like this.
After locking the door, the two set off.
The bumpy road made her regret going out a little, but not going would leave her worried.
By the time they finally arrived in the city, it was already noon.
Pei Jing and Zhi Xia got off the vehicle and headed straight for the hospital.
Zhi Xia thought the city hospital would have better facilities, but it was still very simple with white walls painted with big slogans that were peeling.
They were received by an old doctor who still diagnosed by taking the pulse. As Zhi Xia expected, there were indeed twins in her belly.
Along with joy was faint worry.
Twins tend to be born prematurely. Her due date was early May, but April was already more than halfway over. If she went into premature labor again, she only had a few days left.
Moreover, the risk for the mother was higher with twins. The old doctor recommended they come to the hospital to give birth.
He also explained some precautions that Pei Jing took careful note of before helping Zhi Xia leave.
A man rushed in just as they were exiting, nearly colliding with them if Pei Jing hadn't reacted quickly and blocked him in time.
"There's a pregnant woman here. Please be careful," Pei Jing explained, voice tinged with coldness from already being worried.
"Sorry, sorry, I was in a hurry," the blocked man quickly apologized. But when he looked up, he was surprised to see it was two familiar faces. "Comrade Pei, Sister Zhi Xia, it's you! What brings you here?"
Seeing Zhi Xia's bulging belly, he immediately understood.
The man was Wu Lei, the older brother they had met on the train, who was the director of the food factory. Zhi Xia had deliberately befriended him.
She had thought more friends meant more options. After all, she was a reborn person and couldn't just do nothing after coming here.
But she found the environment here didn't allow her to accomplish much. Pregnant as she was, she couldn't get around on foot every day, so she had to temporarily give up her previous ideas.
"Brother Wu, long time no see. You were in such a hurry, what for..." Zhi Xia also recognized him and was thankful Pei Jing had reacted in time earlier, otherwise they would have collided.
With her large belly, she couldn't afford a bump.
"My kid has diarrhea. I came to ask the doctor for some medicine. I was anxious..." Wu Lei also broke out in a cold sweat from the scare. "Sister, I'm really sorry about that."
"It's fine." The other party didn't do it on purpose, so Zhi Xia didn't hold it against him. "Your child's health comes first. Hurry on in."
Right after they exited, Wu Lei's voice rang out again behind them. "Comrade Pei, sister, could you wait for me at the entrance? I have some matters I'd like to discuss with you."
Even if they didn't run into each other today, Wu Lei had been wanting to go find them. He didn't expect such a coincidence.
"Alright, we'll wait for you at the entrance." Pei Jing replied.
Once outside, Pei Jing said to Zhi Xia, "Based on what the doctor said, you have at most half a month before birth, but we don't know the exact time. If contractions start and we can't make it to the hospital in time, it'd be worrying. So I think you should just stay in the city to avoid traveling back and forth."
Zhi Xia didn't have any issues with this. "Then where do we stay?"
"Let's see if Wu Lei can help us find a temporary place. If not, we can only stay at the hotel."
Worried they might not make it back at night, he had gotten a referral letter from his superiors before coming. But staying long-term at a hotel wasn't viable. If she really had to wait half a month for birth, he couldn't be away from base for half a month either. So best would be finding a temporary home where Meng Meng could come help care for her.
If they could only stay at a hotel, leaving two women alone in the city would make him uneasy too. He'd have to use up all his annual leave for the year now.
