Hard work after winning the lottery

Seeing her mother's alarmed expression, Hua Yun couldn't help but laugh. She took out the folded ultrasound report from her pocket, unfolded it, and handed it over.

"I'm not kidding. I just got back from the county hospital. I had an ultrasound, and I'm six weeks along."

Li Guifen snatched the order form.

Although she wasn't very literate, she recognized the term "early intrauterine pregnancy" and could understand the dark image.

After all, she's a woman who has given birth to two children.

Li Guifen's hands trembled as she held the form.

She looked at the list, then at Huayun, then back at the list.

After trembling for a while, she finally let out a scream.

"Oh God! May Guanyin Bodhisattva protect us!"

Li Guifen grabbed Hua Yun's hand with surprising strength, her eyes instantly reddening: "Really pregnant? My goodness, my darling! This is so sudden, such a wonderful surprise!"

She was so excited that she was incoherent. She circled Hua Yun twice, as if she wanted to hug her but dared not, afraid of hurting the tiny baby who was only the size of a pea.

"How long...how long? You said six weeks? Oh dear, that's only a little over a month! That's a dangerous time!" Li Guifen suddenly realized, slapping her thigh. "You brat! You're pregnant and still running around everywhere! Driving to the county town! Eating fried food! Oh dear, what if you get hurt!"

Hua Yun was both amused and exasperated: "Mom, I'm not that delicate, I'm still so young..."

"Shut up! What do you know!" Li Guifen immediately adopted the majesty of the Empress Dowager, glaring at her fiercely. "The first three months are the most crucial! From now on, you sit still and do nothing! This cooking fumes are strong, go out, go get some fresh air!"

As she spoke, Li Guifen tried to push Hua Yun away.

She took two steps forward, then stopped, her eyes gleaming as she asked, "Does Yan Jin know? Has he been told?"

Hua Yun blinked, revealing a sly smile: "Not yet. He's busy, and I was thinking... giving him a surprise."

"Oh, my silly girl!" Li Guifen laughed even harder. "Alright, alright, a surprise is great, a surprise is great! If Yan Jin knew, she'd be ecstatic!"

Just then, Hua An, who had finished moving things outside, poked his head in and said, "Mom, Sis, what are you two plotting in there? Why did you turn off the fire? I'm waiting to eat meatballs."

Li Guifen had no interest in frying meatballs now. She took off her apron and threw it on the cutting board, her face beaming with a radiance even brighter than if she had won the lottery.

"Eat, eat, eat! All you ever think about is eating! Your sister's pregnant! You're going to be an uncle again! What are you even eating, you idiot!"

Hua An was stunned by the shout and almost dropped what he was holding.

"What? Pregnant...pregnant?" Hua An's gaze slowly moved down, landing on Hua Yun's flat stomach. His mouth formed an "O" shape. "Sis, I'm going to be an uncle again? Really? Holy crap! Really?"

"Snapped!"

Li Guifen slapped Hua An on the back of the head: "Be civilized! You're an uncle now, stop spewing nonsense! It'll ruin prenatal education!"

Hua Yun laughed so hard she almost fell over when she saw this.

"Come on, come on! Let's go inside!" Li Guifen was full of energy, as if she had become ten years younger. She pushed Huayun towards the main room, "We have to tell your dad, your grandparents, and Grandpa Zhou! This is incredibly joyous news! Our two families are going to have another member!"

Inside the main room, the battle raged on.

Zhou Yinchuan, wearing a military green cotton overcoat, held a chess piece in his hand and glared at Hua Mutou opposite him: "Old Hua, you made the wrong move! How can you let your bishop fly across the river like that!"

Hua Mutou took a puff of his pipe and said slowly, "Why not? Mine is a flying elephant, with wings. That's a drone, you know? Modern warfare is all about high technology."

"Bullshit! You country bumpkin, you know nothing about drones?" Zhou Yinchuan glared angrily, puffing out his beard. "Let's play chess, stop spouting nonsense. Hurry up, take back your moves!"

Just as they were arguing fiercely, the thick curtain of the main room was suddenly lifted.

A gust of cold wind blew in, followed by Li Guifen's voice, which was eight octaves higher.

"Dad! Honey! Stop playing chess! Something terrible has happened!"

This shout startled everyone in the room.

Grandma Hua, who was sitting on a stool sewing shoe soles, almost pricked her hand with the needle. Hua Shu, who was sitting on a small stool peeling peanuts, was also stunned, and the peanut shells in his hand fell all over the ground.

Zhou Yinchuan reacted the fastest; after all, he was a soldier, and even though he was older, his alertness remained. He jumped to his feet, his eyes instantly sharpening: "What's wrong? What happened? Did that brat Yan Jin bully Yun'er?"

Hua Mutou nervously put down his pipe: "What's all the fuss about? Is the sky falling?"

Li Guifen's face was flushed with excitement. She pulled Hua Yun to the center of the room, as if she were displaying a rare treasure.

"Dad, Uncle Zhou, this is wonderful news!" Li Guifen gasped for breath, her gaze sweeping around before finally settling on Zhou Yinchuan's face. "Yunyun... is pregnant!"

Quiet.

A deathly silence.

The entire main room seemed to have been paused.

Only the old-fashioned wall clock was still ticking away.

one second.

two seconds.

three seconds.

"Clang!"

The chess piece in Zhou Yinchuan's hand fell to the ground and rolled under the table.

The old man stood frozen in place, as if struck by lightning, his lips trembling as he stared at Hua Yun. After a long while, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Guifen, what... what did you say? Say it again?"

Hua Yun looked at her usually imposing father-in-law, who could shake the business world with a single stomp, and felt a pang of tenderness in her heart.

She smiled and nodded, her voice gentle: "Grandpa, it's true. I just went to the hospital to check, I'm six weeks along."

"oops!"

Zhou Yinchuan slapped his thigh hard, the force of which overturned the chessboard next to him, scattering chess pieces all over the ground.

"Good! Good! Good!"

The old man said "good" three times, his voice rising higher and louder with each utterance. A chrysanthemum-like smile instantly bloomed on his weathered face, and tears welled up in his eyes.

"Thank God! I'm going to have a great-grandchild again!"

Zhou Yinchuan was so excited he spun around in circles, completely flustered, fumbling with his pockets and rubbing his hands. "This...this has to be celebrated! We absolutely have to celebrate! Xiao Zhang! Where the hell is Xiao Zhang? Quick! Get me some wine! I want to have a couple of drinks with Old Hua!"

Hua Mutou, standing nearby, was also stunned by the news, but he was a beat slower to react. When he came to his senses, his old face was covered with wrinkles, and he couldn't stop smiling, but he still habitually argued with Zhou Yinchuan.

"What are you drinking! Are you so happy you've gone mad! Yun'er is pregnant and can't stand the smell of alcohol!" Although Hua Mutou was tough-talking, his hands were already trembling as he reached for the pipe, but he couldn't light it no matter what he did; his hands were shaking too badly.

"Right, right, right! No drinking, no smoking!" Zhou Yinchuan realized what was happening, snatched Hua Mutou's pipe, and threw it into the corner of the kang (heated brick bed). "Put it out! From today onwards, this room is a no-smoking zone! Anyone who dares to smoke will have to deal with me!"

Hua Mutou: "..."