Back to 1984: Let's Work Hard Together to Raise The Kids!-Chapter 297: A Crazy Idea

Xiao Jincheng naturally understood this fact. Upon hearing it, he slowly lowered his eyelids, concealing his unwillingness, "So what do you want to do? We can’t change the fact that Yuanyuan is frail."

"But we can find a way to have another one!" Guo Lingyue gritted her teeth and voiced her true desire.

Xiao Jincheng, shocked and angry, broke free from her grip, "Are you crazy? I’m a public servant. Do you want me to knowingly break the law?"

Guo Lingyue sobbed, "I have no choice either! Dragging along a sickly child, I’m just afraid that after struggling to raise her, she’ll suddenly be gone. By then, not only will we have to bury our child in our old age, but I’ll also miss the best age for childbirth. Even if I want to have another, it won’t be possible. What should we do then?"

Although these words were unpleasant to hear, it must be said that the probability of this happening was quite high.

Xiao Jincheng’s tightly pressed lips trembled slightly, revealing his inner panic and anger.

The couple stalled for a long time, discussing all night before finally deciding to secretly have another child.

This had to be done in secret, without alerting the elders of the Xiao family.

So Xiao Jincheng took Guo Lingyue and the child back for dinner one last time, making it clear that Guo Lingyue should stay home to take good care of the child and not run around.

Guo Lingyue had a great attitude of admitting her mistakes, being sweet-tongued as before, making Mu Qinglian happy.

Mu Qinglian also found it hard to pursue further.

In the blink of an eye, it was the height of summer in August.

Chen Xinyue’s belly was already showing. Living in Nanyu for her pregnancy, she led a comfortable life with everything at her fingertips, without having to constantly worry about this and that, and visibly put on some weight.

Xiao Jinlin would come to stay for three to four days almost every week and was not tired of this routine.

Old Madam Xiao was initially very worried, but after seeing the recent photos of Chen Xinyue and how well the Chen family was taking care of her, she was relieved.

When Lin Qin came home from work and saw Chen Xinyue with her slightly bulging belly, wearing a straw hat and taking a walk accompanied by Xu Xinyi, she hurried over to call out, "I just bought some sweet rice cakes, come inside and eat!"

The two sisters exchanged a glance and immediately followed with eager steps.

Lin Qin glanced at Xu Xinyi, who had a strong scholarly air, and casually asked, "Now that the admission letter has arrived, when do you plan to report to the provincial capital?"

Xu Xinyi, resting her chin in her hand, was troubled while eating her snack, "Aunt, actually, I want to go to school by myself, but my parents won’t agree. They always think I can’t take care of myself alone, and they want to check if my roommates are easy to get along with. If not, they plan to consider renting a place outside for me to live.

My eldest and second brothers also said early on that they would take me to college. Even grandpa wants to go; he said he’s never seen a university in his life."

Lin Qin was dumbfounded by what she heard and instinctively retorted, "Nonsense! When I was in college, he clearly went to my school and even watched a performance!"

Lin Yi, who had just come in from outside, scoffed, "You went to a college, not a university! Xinyi is going to one of the top-ranked universities in the province. I have to go and see it for myself so I can brag to Qingxiang and the others!"

Chen Xinyue laughed heartily, "Grandpa, why didn’t you come with us to the capital at that time? We also attended one of the best universities!"

Lin Yi waved his hand, "It was too far. I went there once for your engagement, and when I got back to the village, everyone was envious, all asking if the capital was fun, if the food was good, and if I’d visited any famous sites.

Luckily, I went and could answer everything. After listening, they all wanted to travel to the capital immediately.

But if you told them I visited the capital’s universities, they might not even have heard of them. In our province, everyone knows about the provincial capital’s university, nothing else matches up!"

Chen Xinyue thought Lin Yi made sense and gave Xu Xinyi a sympathetic look. Not afraid to make things more lively, she said to Lin Qin, "Mom, why don’t we go and have some fun too! I could meet up with Miao Qing and Tang Jing. The provincial capital is so close to us. If we sail, it only takes a little over two hours, and we won’t have to worry about getting jolted on the road."

Initially feeling that her daughter was whimsically impulsive, Lin Qin changed her mind upon hearing it would be by water.

Not to mention, just last year Chen Wenjun and Gao Lei had bought a yacht together, fully documented, capable of going out to sea. The weather has been good lately, with no strong winds or waves, so traveling to the provincial capital by sea allows them to bring more luggage and enjoy the trip on the way.

Most importantly, the provincial capital has dedicated harbors for docking.

Once there, they could hire a few private cars and comfortably head to the provincial capital’s university without delay and even stay in the provincial capital for a while. Of course, there’s another important matter as well.

Lin Qin glanced at Chen Xinyue and pondered, "Call Jinlin and inform him. If he agrees, we will go."

Xu Xinyi almost choked, looking incredulously at the people in front of her, "No... no! Are you really going? Oh my god! Heavens! This is going to cost me my life!"

Her quirky demeanor made Lin Qin laugh and cry.

Once Lin Qin composed herself, she inquired, "You’ve gotten into college, how are your grandparents taking it?"

Regarding her grandparents, Xu Xinyi showed no emotional reaction, as though she was talking about strangers, "I don’t know. I’ve had little contact with them since I was young. Every time Dad took me back to the village and we met them on the way, I’d just greet them. They’d only nod at best and wouldn’t talk to me, and sometimes when Grandma was in a bad mood, she’d stop Dad to complain, saying how hard it was for my uncle’s family and that he needed to help them more.

She even mentioned that my elder cousin had lost his job and needed Dad’s help in finding a new one. Hearing it so often, I’ve developed no fondness for them."

Chen Xinyue laughed as she pinched her cheek, "That’s all it took to lose fondness?"

Back when she had to get by under Ma Cuihua’s control, it was truly tough.

Xu Xinyi clenched her fists, indignant, "I just can’t understand it! They’re all sons; how can Grandpa and Grandma be so blatantly biased, always favoring my uncle in everything. It’s as if everything he does smells like roses. If my uncle’s family is really in such dire straits, why don’t they come to Dad directly? Instead, they have Grandpa and Grandma speaking for them!

In case Grandpa and Grandma are meddling, and Dad helps out without knowing better, only to be blamed later for interfering too much and not being appreciated for his efforts, Grandpa and Grandma, feeling sorry for Uncle, would have no problem being complained about. And Dad? What does he owe them?"

It was clear that Xu Xinyi had been holding these feelings in for a long time; once she started talking about this, she couldn’t stop, releasing all the grievances accumulated over the years, with every word reflecting her concern for Xu Dahai.

Lin Yi, sighing, patted her head, "Your grandparents’ inability to think clearly isn’t new; we’ve long been used to it. Fortunately, now that your eldest and second brothers have grown, they can handle things and earn money. Even if your grandparents don’t care for your parents, you siblings do.

It’s not in vain that they have raised you with such hardships and challenges."