Chapter 613 - 226: Knowing
Chapter 613: Chapter 226: Knowing
"My fault, I should have thought of this earlier. It’s a pity..."
It was a pity that due to his lack of experience, Wanqing had been forced to suffer for no reason.
Chen Wanqing laughed upon hearing this. "We can’t even be sure if I’m pregnant yet, so don’t speak with such certainty. Then again, even if you had known I was pregnant early on, would you have stopped me from traveling to the capital with you? Jing, do you really want to leave me behind in Xinghuai Prefecture?"
Zhao Jing shook his head. He did not want to leave her behind.
The days they had spent apart when he took the prefectural and college exams had been far too agonizing for both of them. He had promised her before that, if at all possible, he would bring her along no matter where he went in the future.
But thinking of her potential pregnancy, Zhao Jing couldn’t help but frown again.
"You should have told me earlier about your pregnancy dream. That way, I could have made arrangements in advance."
"What arrangements?"
"For example, preparing a more spacious and comfortable carriage for you; having Shiling relax the itinerary so we travel for shorter periods each day; bringing a doctor along and stocking up on medicinal herbs we might need; or buying plenty of fruits and pastries in advance, just in case you lose your appetite or suddenly crave something..."
"It’s not too late to prepare now."
Zhao Jing smiled. "But in the end, I still put you through unnecessary hardship, Wanqing."
"I don’t feel like I’ve suffered at all, as long as you don’t mind that the child arrived at a bad time."
Hearing this, Zhao Jing let out a muffled chuckle. "It seems like no matter when he comes, it won’t be a good time. But he is our child; regardless of when he arrives, I welcome him."
"Smooth talker. I can never out-argue you. By the way, what exactly happened last night? You said you would tell me today, so hurry up and tell me."
"Let’s eat first. I’ll tell you after the meal."
There was an old woman at the post station who cooked, but her food was mediocre—barely enough to scrape by.
Xu Su Ying suspected her daughter might be pregnant. Coupled with the fact that the family had been traveling for days and had all lost quite a bit of weight, she decided to buy fish, meat, vegetables, rice, and noodles from the station after getting up today to cook a meal herself.
She made fish fillet porridge for her daughter. Inside the thick, hearty porridge boiled snow-white slices of fish. Once it was out of the pot, she sprinkled a bit of chopped green onion and fine salt over it. Chen Wanqing ate two full bowls, polishing off a steamer basket of soup dumplings as well.
Once she was full and ready to question Zhao Jing, she saw Xu Su Ying, Chen Song, and Xu Shiling returning from outside.
The three of them were carrying fish and rabbits, along with taro, wild ginger, and other ingredients and seasonings. They were clearly preparing to cook a massive feast for lunch.
Chen Wanqing hurriedly stood up to greet them. "Dad, Mom, Uncle Shiling, we’re supposed to be resting today. Why didn’t you just stay in the station to recover your strength? What were you doing running around outside?"
"The station has too few ingredients. We wanted to make something nourishing for you all, but there was nothing good, so we just went out to hunt some ourselves."
Chen Wanqing didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. "Aren’t you all tired?"
"Not really. It’s just that sitting in a carriage all day makes our bones ache. This was a perfect opportunity to stretch our limbs. Otherwise, every time we move we hear a CRACK, as if our bodies and joints belong to an eighty-year-old."
Seeing that it was getting late, Xu Su Ying had no time to dawdle. She quickly called Chen Song to help, and the two of them headed toward the kitchen together.
Xu Shiling was also craving his sister’s cooking.
Especially her spicy rabbit heads—when she was still living at home, she used to make them for him all the time. After his sister moved away, the cooks back home just couldn’t get the flavor right. Afraid that seeing the dish would only bring back sad memories, he hadn’t eaten it in years.
Having hunted two rabbits today, he absolutely had to get a rabbit head to go with his wine; otherwise, he’d be drooling in his sleep from the craving.
Xu Shiling hurriedly chased after them. His bouncing, joyful figure made him look just like a youthful Lang.
Once everyone had cleared out, Chen Wanqing completely forgot about the questions she had meant to ask. Thinking of the dishes her mother was cooking made her mouth water, and she wanted to follow them and take a look.
Zhao Jing stopped her. "Yao’an ran a high fever last night. Do you really not care about this?"
How could Chen Wanqing not care? She was immediately frantic.
"Yao’an had a high fever? It was a bad one, wasn’t it? De’an was the one who woke you all up yesterday, right? How is Yao’an now? Has the fever broken? Oh no, where is Yao’an? Why haven’t I seen him around? Quickly, take me to see Yao’an."
Zhao Jing comforted her. "Don’t panic just yet. Yao’an’s fever has broken; otherwise, Dad, Mom, and Shiling wouldn’t be in the mood to cook. It’s just that he’s been far too exhausted these past few days and his vitality was drained. Yao’an woke up early, had a bowl of porridge, and went back to sleep. He hasn’t woken up yet."
Hearing that Yao’an was still asleep, Chen Wanqing stopped worrying.
She pulled Zhao Jing back to ask for the exact details. Zhao Jing then replied, his tone as unreadable as Mo Keming’s, "Speaking of which, we actually have Meng Jintang to thank for this."