Chapter 8: An Unexpected Surprise

After watching his mother leave, Zhang Guoqing returned to the bedroom, locked the door behind him, opened the thermos, poured some hot water, and grabbed a fresh towel. “Jiaojiao, let me wipe you down with a warm towel first. Otherwise, our son won’t have anything to eat.”

As he spoke, he took off Zhou Jiao’s underclothes and quickly wiped her with the steaming towel under the covers, then hurriedly tucked her in again.

“Don’t take this lightly—you can’t afford to catch a chill during your confinement. The weather in the Northeast is really cold right now. Not having a heater is so inconvenient. Haha, Jiaojiao, look at us—don’t we look just like we did when we first met?

Oh, back then you were a freshman in college. I remember how skinny you were, your face so sallow, but your big eyes were so bright and full of life. Even then, I thought, if you became my wife, I’d make sure you were well-fed and rosy-cheeked—your big eyes would make you even prettier than a New Year’s painting doll. It took so much effort for you to finally put on some weight, and now it’s like we’re back to square one.”

As he reminisced, he thought about how hard he’d worked to get close to her. It took him two whole years to win her over, watching her work tirelessly to earn money, even more desperate than he was as an orphan. It broke his heart.

When they finally planned to get married, he gave a dowry of 50,000 yuan. Friends tried to comfort him, but he didn’t really care. He’d been with her for over five years, and when his mother finally agreed, it didn’t matter if it was 50,000 or everything he had—being with her was enough.

Besides, he couldn’t bear for her to marry without her parents’ blessing. Even if the blessing was bought with money, he wanted her to be able to hold her head high in front of others.

When it came to money, he’d rather fight for it with clients than let her suffer even a little. The two of them, both alone in the world, had always found warmth in each other.

Zhou Jiaojiao said sweetly, “Hubby, thank goodness I have you. Otherwise, how would I survive?”

“Haha, don’t worry, I’m here. As long as our family is together, we have nothing to fear. Just focus on your recovery for now—we’ll think about the future after the New Year. Right now, your only job is to eat and rest.”

“Mm, I’ll listen to you. Actually, in my last life, besides you and our child, there was nothing in that world I was attached to. The only thing I regret is losing that necklace space—it had so much food in it, and lots of baby formula. If I still had it, we wouldn’t have to worry about formula or diapers for our son…”

Suddenly, with a thud, baby formula and diapers appeared on top of Zhou Jiao’s blanket, along with a bowl of braised pork.

The couple stared in shock. Zhou Jiao stammered, “Hubby, I was just thinking about eating braised pork, and about the formula and diapers, and they just appeared! I was just wishing they were still here, and they came out. Wait, let me try taking out the postpartum soup.”

Sure enough, the familiar blue-and-white porcelain bowl of postpartum soup appeared, still steaming hot. She’d specially ordered it from the postpartum care center.

The two of them grinned at each other in delight. With the space back, they felt secure about the future. Even with money, it wasn’t easy to buy rice or brown sugar these days, let alone pork trotters, crucian carp, or old hens for nourishing soup.

Now, Zhang Guoqing no longer had to worry about Zhou Jiao’s recovery, or their baby going without milk.

After a while, Zhang Guoqing said seriously to Zhou Jiao, “Jiaojiao, put everything back into the space for now. Listen to me before you say anything!

Think about it—the smell of braised pork in this sealed room would be a rare treat for people these days. Anyone would notice it right away. And some things in the space are even more fragrant—you can’t just take them out.

We haven’t split off from the family yet, and everyone’s living together. It would be too easy to get exposed.

Don’t use the space unless absolutely necessary. After the New Year, when we have our own place, we can think about it. Tomorrow I’ll look for a small stove to put in the sitting room as a cover. Don’t touch the postpartum meals during the day—just use them at night. If anyone asks, just say I brought them.”

Seeing Zhang Guoqing’s serious expression, Zhou Jiao realized how important this was and nodded earnestly. Keeping the family safe was the most important thing; even without the space, they’d manage.

Zhang Guoqing patted the top of her head. He felt bad for scaring her, but if he didn’t make it clear, she might not be careful enough, and that could cause big trouble.

“It’s okay, I’m here. If anyone asks, just shake your head. Say you don’t know, that your mother-in-law and I brought everything. Your mother is a good excuse right now.”

Zhou Jiao nodded quickly, like a pecking chick. “I know, ‘an innocent man gets into trouble for his treasures.’ Don’t worry, I won’t use it unless you’re here. When we do, you can keep watch, and we’ll only eat in secret at night when it’s quiet. It feels a little bad, but…”

“Now, think about happy things. Check if everything’s still in the space, and see if the gold is there too. That should cheer you up.

I remember I bought a lot of organic rice, farm pork, and cured meat. Oh, and from that Fatty’s lamb shop, I think I bought ten sheep from his hometown, and he delivered them all butchered and frozen. You put them in the space, remember?

And the last time we went to the farmhouse, I bought a lot of beef from the neighbor who was butchering a cow, haha…”

Zhou Jiao nodded in admiration. Back then, she’d been reluctant to store so much in the space, and even bought a lot of plastic bins to organize it all.

“That’s right, you even paid a high price for Little Yang to buy 50 black-bone chickens and their eggs. They’re all here. The only thing we’re a bit short on is rice, but there’s plenty of pork, all cut into strips. Tomorrow, you should take some out for Mom.”

Seeing Zhou Jiao finally relax, Zhang Guoqing felt at ease. For now, she just needed to rest and recover.

In these hard times, sweet potatoes and potatoes were better than eating tree bark, but they still needed to gather wild greens and fruits for vitamins. He also needed to buy some soybeans and mung beans—soybeans for protein and tofu, mung beans for cooling off in the summer and for sprouting.

Watching his son’s little arms and legs as he nursed, and seeing Jiaojiao’s gentle smile as she gazed at their child, Zhang Guoqing suddenly felt a lump in his throat. He was overwhelmed with emotion. He’d always wanted a child of his own, but never realized how deeply it would affect him.

This was his son, his own flesh and blood—his legacy in this world. He wanted to give him everything good and keep him far from harm.

Now, he finally understood his own father a little. Back then, his father had loved him too—when he heard Zhang Guoqing was in the orphanage, he’d rushed over right away. He must have felt the same urgency and excitement Zhang Guoqing felt now."