Chapter 83: Chapter 83: Xu Meiling Is Pregnant

That afternoon, Xu Meiling threw up all over the place. When asked, she admitted her period still hadn’t come this month. Liu Guifang hurriedly took her to the commune to see the traditional Chinese doctor, who felt her pulse.

The doctor said her pulse did suggest a possible pregnancy, but it would take a little longer to be completely sure.

The two of them went home happily, ready to share the news with Chen Jianghe.

Ever since their wedding, things hadn’t been peaceful in the Xu household.

Starting from the very first night, Chen Jianghe would rather sleep on the floor with his own blanket than share the kang bed with Xu Meiling.

If the family had another room to spare, he would have insisted on sleeping separately.

Sharing a bed with this woman, he was afraid of having nightmares, or being ambushed again. He’d even stopped drinking completely, terrified Xu Meiling would take advantage of him again.

Xu Meiling cared about appearances and didn’t want the family to know their married life was anything but harmonious.

But who in the family couldn’t tell? The two of them looked nothing like a couple—more like enemies.

Chen Jianghe kept a one-meter safety distance from her at all times. If she got close, he’d move far away, always wearing a sour expression, as if someone owed him eight hundred yuan.

Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang tried to talk to Chen Jianghe in private, urging him to treat Xu Meiling better and stop looking like he was at a funeral all the time.

But Chen Jianghe just shrugged it off, saying, “Didn’t you all bring this on yourselves? I said I didn’t want to get married, but you insisted. Everything now is your own doing.

She’s my legal wife now. I’ll treat her however I want. She hasn’t complained—she’s even happy about it. So you all should mind your own business.”

Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang were furious, but there was nothing they could do.

Chen Jianghe’s arrival had put the whole family on edge.

Lin Xiaomeng was already unhappy with the situation, and now there was one more person for her to look after.

Even though she tried to keep up the image of a good wife and daughter-in-law, she was reaching her limit.

Xu Meiling had been spoiled since she was a child—she didn’t even know how to wash her own underwear. Even after getting married, she still lived at home and didn’t feel like a married woman at all. Other than tidying her own room, she didn’t do a thing.

Not only did she not do chores herself, she wouldn’t let her husband do them either.

When Chen Jianghe first moved in, he at least pretended to help out a bit, washing his own clothes and such.

But Xu Meiling, acting all considerate, told him to leave his dirty laundry for her to wash—only to turn around and dump it all on Lin Xiaomeng.

She actually had the nerve to give her husband’s dirty clothes to her sister-in-law to wash, without the slightest sense of shame.

Who could tolerate a sister-in-law like that?

Lin Xiaomeng finally snapped. When Xu Huaizhi came home for the weekend, she had a huge fight with the family.

Xu Huaizhi was furious too. In the past, his wife had to take care of his parents and, by the way, look after his younger siblings. He didn’t say much—after all, that’s how it was in most families.

But now his sister was married. Even if she still lived at home, it made no sense for his wife to do all the housework, including washing her brother-in-law’s clothes.

Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang knew this wasn’t right, but since it didn’t affect them directly, they didn’t care.

Their indulgence only made Xu Meiling more brazen, until she finally pushed Lin Xiaomeng over the edge. Lin Xiaomeng declared, “It’s either her or me in this house,” and once again demanded to split the family.

This was the second time Xu Huaizhi had sided with his wife against the family. Xu Mingshan was unhappy about it, but didn’t want to push his son further away.

In the end, he had to offer Lin Xiaomeng a carrot to keep the peace.

Xu Mingshan said the commune elementary school would be hiring three new teachers next spring, and he’d find a way to get Lin Xiaomeng a teaching job. That way, she wouldn’t have to do farm work or serve the family anymore.

Lin Xiaomeng thought this was acceptable—she’d already heard about the job opening.

In her previous life, this had happened too. But back then, even though Xu Mingshan had a way in, he kept quiet and secretly gave the job to Xu Meiling, just to keep Lin Xiaomeng at home doing chores.

That old fox—if she hadn’t made such a fuss this time, he would have quietly given the job to Xu Meiling again.

To them, a daughter-in-law was just a servant, a slave—never as important as their own flesh and blood.

With Xu Mingshan’s promise, Lin Xiaomeng felt at ease. Once she got the job, she’d move out with her son, only coming home a few times a month—basically living separately.

At worst, she’d give them a bit of money for household expenses. She had her own ways of making money and wasn’t short on cash.

Xu Meiling might be shameless, but Chen Jianghe still had some pride. The day after the big fight, he used the excuse of supervising the new house’s renovation to move out.

He’d rather stay at the construction site than live at home.

Before, at least they shared a room and saw each other every day. Now it was back to the old routine: Xu Meiling chasing, Chen Jianghe running. Xu Meiling ended up hating Lin Xiaomeng even more.

With a big fight every three days and a small one every two, Lin Xiaomeng gave up trying to be the perfect daughter-in-law. If this kept up, she’d go crazy, and her son Dacheng would be affected too.

So she simply went on strike.

At first, Liu Guifang tried to punish her by withholding food, but Lin Xiaomeng wasn’t afraid at all.

She’d already stocked up a full set of cookware in her space. One trip to the mountains and she’d have more meat than she could eat. She’d secretly bought plenty of rice and flour too. She had all the good food she wanted—why eat their gruel?

Liu Guifang even tried to bribe her son Dacheng with fruit candy, but Lin Xiaomeng just bought two jin of White Rabbit candies for him to eat as he pleased. Dacheng happily followed his mom everywhere.

Xu Huaiyu, meanwhile, found an excuse to move to the county, so he could spend more time with his “goddess.”

All in all, the whole family was a mess, with chickens flying and dogs jumping every day.

But now, things had taken a turn—Xu Meiling was pregnant. That’s how it is for men and women: once there’s a child, they can settle down and live a proper life.

“Ling’er, you really are something—pregnant after just one try! I’d like to see if Chen Jianghe still dares to ignore you. You’re carrying his flesh and blood now.

From now on, you two should live well together. You’ve already put the whole family through enough,” Liu Guifang said earnestly to her daughter.

Xu Meiling stroked her belly, imagining the child inside, and was in a rare good mood.

“Of course. We’ll definitely be fine.”"

"Chapter 84: Chen Jianghe Fell