806 Giving Oxygen
Back then, Xia Jun’s combat ability was outstanding and his rank was much higher than Qiao Qiang’s. In the beginning, the two of them trained with their local troops before they joined the same army unit. During that time, Xia Jun had even been Qiao Qiang’s leader for a period of time!
Qiao Qiang had always remembered how Xia Jun rendered help to him, so he had always called him “Chief”.
“Then… you’re older than me. I’ll call you big brother then!” Qiao Qiang said with a smile.
“Sure! I had something on yesterday and didn’t manage to pick you up. Hope you’re not angry with me over that?” Xia Jun asked.
“I’m not angry. It’s good enough that you come to see me.” Qiao Qiang quickly invited Xia Jun into the house to chat. They had not seen each other for so many years and there was so much to talk about. The two brothers wanted to catch up properly.
Not long after, Xu Lan arrived at Qiao Mei’s place with Xia Wen. There were also many people behind her, each of them carrying many things of various sizes.
Qiao Mei did not find these things very valuable. After all, with the Xia family’s status, they did not lack food stamps and meat coupons at all. Moreover, they also had their own supply of seasonal vegetables which they could have whenever they wanted.
“Xia He! Your sister-in-law is pregnant! Hurry up and get up so that Qiao Mei can sit down!” As soon as Xu Lan entered the courtyard, she saw Xia He lying comfortably on the recliner in the courtyard while Qiao Mei stood at the side.
Qiao Mei quickly explained, “Don’t blame elder sister. If I sit for too long, my waist will hurt, so I just want to stand for a while.”
Only then did Xu Lan’s expression look better. For Qiao Mei’s sake, she decided not to berate Xia He.
“Eldest brother, why isn’t eldest sister-in-law here?” Qiao Mei asked.
At the mention of Tan Jing, Xu Lan’s face instantly fell. She had informed everyone of the family gathering today, but Tan Jing’s family suddenly called and asked her to go back home. They said that it was an urgent matter. Even though Xu Lan looked very unhappy, Tan Jing still went home on her own.
There was nothing that Xia Wen could say. After all, he could not stop her if the Tan family called and asked for her. It was already good enough that they did not ask him to go back with her.
“She has something on today and can’t come. There’s always a next time,” Xia Wen said.
Qiao Mei did not really care about this matter at all. It always felt awkward whenever they met, so it was actually better that she was not around.
Everyone sat in the courtyard and chatted happily. They told Qiao Mei about all the things to take note of in the late stages of pregnancy, as well to prepare herself mentally for childbirth and also what she should have on hand.
Xia He had never given birth before, but one did not have to go through something to know about it. She knew many people who had given birth before. In addition, Old Madam Kong always nagged at her, so she naturally amassed a great deal of knowledge after hearing so much.
“I still remember that when I gave birth to Xia Zhe, I almost lost my life! At that time, it was your aunt who delivered the baby for me!” Xu Lan said.
“That’s right. At that time, my eldest brother was so frightened that he almost cried and knelt down to pray. That was the first time I saw my eldest brother so scared!” The memory was still fresh in Xia Fang’s mind.
“How did this happen?” Qiao Mei asked fearfully.
At that time, Xu Lan was already unconscious and only Xia Fang knew all the details. Xia Fang said slowly, “At that time, eldest sister-in-law had to perform everywhere. Even though she was pregnant, she still had to go on tour all over the country with the art troupe while in the late stage of her pregnancy. She had to be in charge of supervising the reviews. Later on, all of us advised eldest sister-in-law not to tire herself out, but she did not listen. It was only when eldest sister-in-law was seven months pregnant that she really could not take it anymore and rested at home.”
After giving birth to Xia He, Xu Lan’s body had become weaker and she was no longer as strong as before. From time to time, she would feel dizzy. In addition, she often went to the art troupe to monitor their progress during her confinement period, so she did not recover properly.
By the time she was pregnant with Xia Zhe, she already felt obvious discomfort. However, for the sake of her career, she still chose to continue working. By the time she was seven months pregnant, she could not move around anymore.
She had to be given oxygen at home and had to have someone take care of her daily living. She was already very thin and weak because she worked too hard. Coupled with the fact that she could not manage to eat at the later stage of the pregnancy, she lost a lot of weight.
It was Xia Zhe’s good fortune that he was born. He was a premature baby and Xu Lan would probably have died if she waited until full term. Fortunately, the Xia family was very open-minded. To save Xu Lan, they would have chosen to give up Xia Zhe.
