Chapter 122: Car Pickup

Chapter 122: Chapter 122: Car Pickup

"Then what do we do?" Aunt Zhang asked in a panic.

Mother Su glanced at her. "What else can we do? We spend money on her treatment and to save the two babies."

"This... how much will that cost?" Aunt Zhang’s breath hitched.

Mother Su sighed. "At least two thousand."

"And we can’t even be sure if the children will be easy to raise after they’re born."

Aunt Zhang’s breathing quickened, and her hands began to tremble. Two thousand! That wasn’t two, or two hundred—it was two *thousand*!

It was an astronomical sum. She had never seen so much money in her entire life.

"Aunt Zhang, are you all right?" Mother Su asked, startled by the sight of her looking about to faint.

"I’m fine... no, I’m not!" Aunt Zhang slapped her thigh and burst into tears. "How could this happen! Back then, Zhengchuan’s own mother... it was the same thing with childbirth. She needed surgery, and it didn’t just wipe out their savings—she didn’t even survive. Thank goodness Zhengchuan pulled through, or else..."

"Why is my life so hard?" Aunt Zhang wept uncontrollably.

Mother Su noticed villagers passing by, already casting curious glances their way. She quickly pulled Aunt Zhang inside.

Aunt Zhang had a good cry, but she also knew that if word of this got out, it would just become gossip.

No matter how upset she was, she had to pretend everything was fine.

After returning home and discussing it with Uncle Zhang that night, Aunt Zhang gritted her teeth and scraped together eighty.

Their finances, which had eased up a little thanks to the forty from Zhang Yun, were now stretched thin again.

The next day, Aunt Zhang went to the Su family’s house before dawn and gave the money to Mother Su.

Mother Su didn’t refuse. At a time like this, every extra cent gave Wanwan and her two children a little more hope.

Early in the morning, before the sky had lightened, Mother Su and Father Su shouldered their bags, boarded the production brigade’s tractor, and left the village.

-

"Ugh..."

Su Wan came out of the hospital bathroom, her face pale. Aunt Zhao helped her back to the hospital room, where a nurse brought out a machine.

Su Wan began her daily oxygen therapy.

After the oxygen, Su Wan did feel much more comfortable.

"Wanwan, are you really going to the university to register tomorrow?" Aunt Zhao asked as she led Su Wan back into the courtyard.

Su Jue had already gone to the university to register today. He had even been assigned a dorm and was there getting it set up. He wouldn’t be back until later.

"I have to go. My studies have been delayed, but I need to get my enrollment sorted out while my belly isn’t too big." Su Wan knew that not enrolling wasn’t an option. She had accepted a provincial scholarship, so she couldn’t just not attend. Even deferring for a year would be difficult.

"All right, then. With me and Ajue taking you, it shouldn’t be a big problem."

「Early the next morning.」

The three of them were eating breakfast when a military vehicle pulled up to the courtyard gate.

In those days, even three-wheeled vehicles were a rarity, let alone a large military vehicle like this one.

Instantly, neighbors from all around the alley began to peek out curiously.

"Sister-in-law." Xiao Deng’s voice sounded from the entrance.

Su Jue went to open the gate. He saw the military vehicle, then noticed the driver’s seat was empty and guessed that Xiao Deng had driven it over by himself.

"Mr. Deng, please come in." Su Jue led him inside.

Xiao Deng smiled and said to Su Wan, "Sister-in-law, I’m Xiao Deng. Do you remember me?"

"I remember. What brings you here? Is Zhengchuan finished with his assignment?" Su Wan couldn’t help but ask.

But Xiao Deng’s words disappointed her. "Battalion Commander Lu and Battalion Commander Qi are still on their mission and haven’t returned."

"I came today to take you to the university to register, Sister-in-law. Battalion Commander Qi arranged it before he left."

’So, Qi Hao had arranged this out of consideration for Lu Zhengchuan.’

"Oh, right." Xiao Deng noticed the bags of luggage in the courtyard. "I’ve already bought some bedding and put it in the vehicle, just as Battalion Commander Lu instructed."

"Sister-in-law, if you’re missing anything, just tell me, and I’ll go get it for you."

Su Wan wouldn’t really be staying in the dorm much, but she would keep the bed so she could rest there during the day.

"Thank you for your trouble, Xiao Deng. Have you had breakfast? If not, sit down and eat with us," Su Wan invited politely.

Xiao Deng waved his hand. "Sister-in-law, I already ate at the canteen. Let me help you with your luggage first, shall I?"

"The luggage is over here." Su Jue didn’t refuse Lu Zhengchuan’s arrangements.

He had been thinking that taking Wanwan to the university in a three-wheeled vehicle would be uncomfortably bumpy. Now that they had a car, at least he wouldn’t have to worry about the jarring ride.

He and Xiao Deng took the luggage and put it in the trunk.

After Su Wan finished her breakfast, the group got into the car.

Xiao Deng drove very steadily, especially since he could see how large Su Wan’s belly had grown.

"Sister-in-law, your belly... how many months along are you?" Xiao Deng asked conversationally.

Su Wan caressed her belly, her eyes full of affection. "A little over five months."

’By the time Lu Zhengchuan gets back, I’ll be almost six months along.’

"Your belly looks pretty big for that, then. It must be tough on you." Recalling his commander’s instructions, when they reached the gate of Capital University, Xiao Deng simply stayed in the car and showed his credentials. The guard immediately waved them through. The car drove directly onto campus, stopping in front of a dormitory building.

Su Jue was confused. "Shouldn’t we go register first?"

"I already registered for Sister-in-law, and I’ve picked up the dorm assignment too. We can go straight to the dorm. Sister-in-law, here is your student ID. You’re in Class One of the Physics Department. There are twenty-eight students in your class this year."

Xiao Deng parked the car and casually handed a stack of documents to Su Wan.

Su Jue didn’t ask any more questions and accepted the kind gesture.

He and Xiao Deng got out of the car first to get the luggage.

Aunt Zhao helped Su Wan out of the car, and they stood in front of the dormitory building.

"Another pregnant woman coming to study."

"If you ask me, if you’re going to study, you should just focus on studying. What’s the point of studying with a big belly?"

Two passing girls with short hair grumbled in dissatisfaction.

Aunt Zhao couldn’t stand it. "What’s with the way you two students talk? Who made a rule that pregnant women can’t study? There are pregnant women who still go to work and do research, you know!"

The two students hadn’t expected the old woman to be so brazen as to talk back to them right then and there.

One of them, a short-haired girl wearing a crystal hairpin, didn’t have a good temper either.

She spun around and snapped at Aunt Zhao, "Listen here, auntie. We’re just telling the truth. What? Getting your belly knocked up instead of studying properly—you call that a good student?"

"Knocked up?" Aunt Zhao scoffed. "Our Wanwan is military family. She’s a married woman. All you talk about is fooling around. I’m afraid the only reason ’fooling around’ is on your mind is because you do it so much yourself."

"You! How dare you curse at me."

"You’d better apologize to Rongrong right now!"

Zhang Chunhua pulled at Xu Rongrong while arguing endlessly with Aunt Zhao.

The argument was making Su Wan’s ears hurt, and she frowned slightly.

Hearing the voices, Xiao Deng walked over. "What’s going on?"

"Xiao Deng? What are you doing here?" Xu Rongrong’s first reaction upon seeing Xiao Deng was surprise. Her second was to look for someone behind him.

But other than Su Jue, who had just walked over, there was no one else behind him.

"Where’s Brother Qi?" Xu Rongrong couldn’t help but ask.

"I’m sorry, I can’t disclose Battalion Commander Qi’s whereabouts. Mr. Xu, I believe you’re a foreign languages major. Your dormitory isn’t here," Xiao Deng pointed out.