The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead-Chapter 372 - 361: Brief Encounter

That night, Lu Jingqiu leaned against Jiang Nanzhou’s chest and talked about many things.

She also mentioned to Jiang Nanzhou that Wei Jincheng was planning to be discharged from the army, and they, as a couple, might start a factory and were thinking about inviting her to join.

Lu Jingqiu asked Jiang Nanzhou to help her analyze the situation.

Jiang Nanzhou wasn’t very experienced in business, but when it came to judging people, he was quite accurate.

He knew that Wei Jincheng was not someone content with the status quo and was quite an active person, good at handling matters. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have caught the attention of his leaders so soon after joining the military; they were reluctant to let him leave.

Jiang Nanzhou said it was her money, and it was up to her to decide if she wanted to invest.

Lu Jingqiu was inclined to invest, but in a marriage, small matters could be decided on her own, yet for major decisions, discussing with her husband was still necessary.

Just like becoming sworn sisters with Shen Manman, both her father and Nanzhou thought she acted rashly.

After all, they had not met many times, but Lu Jingqiu often relied on her intuition, just like with Xue Jianian and Luo Xinyue.

Shen Manman was a decent person, very innocent and enthusiastic, and what was key is that she had that unyielding spirit, which Lu Jingqiu admired—a quality she herself lacked. She liked having such positive and aspirational people around her.

The next morning, Jiang Nanzhou rode a bicycle to Niannian’s house and bought back a portion of large shrimp.

He peeled the shrimp for her and made shrimp rice porridge, also boiling two eggs.

Lu Jingqiu gratifyingly ate a big bowl and an egg.

After breakfast, she took her prenatal checkup booklet and rode a tricycle to the Military District Hospital.

Since Lu Jingqiu became pregnant, it was the first time Jiang Nanzhou had taken his wife for a prenatal checkup, and he was even more nervous than the pregnant woman herself.

But now they had equipment for listening to the fetal heartbeat, and the checkups were quite simple: measuring blood pressure, listening to heartbeats, monitoring the baby’s heartbeat, and then the pregnant woman would weigh herself, concluding the entire checkup in fifteen minutes.

When Jiang Nanzhou heard the sound of the baby’s heartbeat, he stared unblinkingly at her stomach, extremely excited.

Lu Jingqiu, on the other hand, was not as surprised. Ultrasound equipment should already be available in hospitals by now, but it was treasured, and they regarded childbirth as too common an affair to recommend ultrasounds.

"Qiuqiu, are you feeling any discomfort?"

Lu Jingqiu, seeing Jiang Nanzhou’s hands sweating with nervousness, took out a handkerchief and helped him wipe his hands, "No, hasn’t the doctor said the baby is very healthy and that we should maintain our current course?"

"Doctors are truly amazing. Just by listening and feeling the pulse, they can tell if the baby is positioned right."

"That’s because he’s a veteran in Traditional Chinese Medicine. The doctor who conducts my checkups has ten years of experience in delivering babies. He was originally at a maternity hospital in the city, but our side lured him over to take care of the childbirth needs of the families in the unit."

"The men in our unit can go about their duties without worries only when there’s proper care for their families. That’s the greatest reward for us."

"So, you feel reassured now?"

"Yes, reassured. It has been over five months in the blink of an eye."

"Yes, should we start thinking of a name for the baby?"

"Yes, grandpa has already thought of one. Do you want to hear it? We can think of another if you don’t like it."

"What did he come up with?"

"Jiang Shicheng. Shicheng, as in a lifetime, used as a given name to signify devotion, prosperity, and well-being. Cheng means compliant, agreed. It signifies inheriting heaven’s blessings, the talent of a pillar of the state, a continuous lineage. Grandpa has high hopes for the child. What do you think?"

"Jiang Shicheng, well, it sounds pleasant, and the meaning is good too. I hope he grows up to be as outstanding as you and grandpa. Shall we settle on this?"

"Do you like it?"

"Like it? What about you?"

"I’m wondering if this name might put too much pressure on the child."

"What pressure is there? We don’t seek to be outstanding; being able to inherit the spirit of our grandparents’ generation, to learn from the hardships and durability of our own generation, and to be brave in innovation is enough. As long as one has the right values, it’s not necessary to achieve something great."

"Qiuqiu, you think more deeply than I do."

Lu Jingqiu, holding his hand, walked outside and said, "Once you have a child, doesn’t everyone want the best for their own child?"

"Right, that’s what every parent desires."

Both of them were looking forward to the birth of the child.

Jiang Nanzhou took her to a department store, where Lu Jingqiu bought many soft fabrics, as well as the cloth needed for the baby’s small bundle wraps.

Lu Jingqiu bought a pure cotton flower fairy quilt cover, which could be used directly without having to make it into a small quilt.

Lu Jingqiu also found a rectangular, one meter by eighty centimeter, small wool blanket, decorated with giraffes, monkeys, and rabbits, full of 80s’ nostalgic imagery. In childhood, such pastel-colored small wool blankets were used to wrap babies and for children to sleep with during naps – neither too thin nor too thick and very skin-friendly.

"Comrade, how much is this?"

"Comrade, this one comes from Shanghai, it’s this year’s new model, and our market department only got back twenty sets. A set is thirty yuan."

Lu Jingqiu frowned slightly, "That expensive?"

The sales clerk hurried to explain, "Comrade, take a look at what you just bought, and compare it with this one, you’ll see. Not only is the fleece dense, but it is also very thick. You buy one, and it can be used for decades, it won’t wear out however you wash it, and it’s absorbent too. If the child wets it, it won’t seep through and dampen the quilt underneath."

Jiang Nanzhou felt it and said, "We’ll take this one."

"Alright, I’ll write up an order for you."

There wasn’t much in the way of baby clothes, and Lu Jingqiu didn’t wish to buy any. She only purchased soft cotton fabrics, intending to make clothes for the child herself back home.

After leaving the store, it was already past eleven o’clock.

Jiang Nanzhou took her to the state-owned restaurant close to their home; they would have lunch out today.

After returning home and resting, Jiang Nanzhou was ready to leave.

Lu Jingqiu clung to him, unable to bear his departure.

Jiang Nanzhou felt the same, "I’ll come to be with you whenever I get the chance."

"Those chances aren’t many."

Jiang Nanzhou rubbed her head and said, "There will be some. Didn’t they just install a telephone in our alley? I’ll call you when I get back."

"Yeah, it will be more convenient for me to call you now. We don’t have to use the school’s phone every week; you can call me on Sundays."

"Alright. Do you want to see me off?"

"Okay."

Jiang Nanzhou took Lu Jingqiu back to the compound, and by around four o’clock, the plane from his unit was due to leave.

Lu Jingqiu also went along, curious as it was her first time being this close to a plane, taking a tour around it.

As Jiang Nanzhou was helping her down, they happened to run into Camp Commander Wu, Company Commander Wang, Yang Guodong, Er Dan, and Li Zhu, who had come over to greet Nanzhou.

Walking to one side, Lu Jingqiu listened to the men talk about recent events.

Only then did she learn that Yang Guodong had been promoted, with everyone congratulating him.

In the blink of an eye, Jiang Nanzhou boarded the plane and flew away from her sight, leaving her feeling downcast. freewebnσvel.cѳm

However, with outsiders around, it wasn’t appropriate to show tears.

Yang Guodong and the others offered to take her back, but Lu Jingqiu quickly declined, gesturing that she wasn’t going back today, mainly to avoid troubling them.