The Daily Life of a Stepmother in the 1980s
Xu Tao pressed her lips together and confessed "It's not necessary. This problem of mine started when I fell into the river as a child during winter. Doctors couldn't cure it"
The illness had been a lingering issue since she was very young, causing her period to start much later than others, at eighteen instead of the typical age. She had already seen many doctors by then.
Zhao Weiguo furrowed his brows. Upon hearing her mention falling into the river, he hugged her tightly and softly asked "Did you fall into the river that connects Xujiacun and Houshancun in Fenghuang County?"
He had a deep impression of that river from his hometown.
When he was younger, before joining the army, he often took his younger siblings to play in the river during the summer, catching fish and shrimp. The water was very clear, and the current was quite strong.
"Yes." Xu Tao quietly nodded as she leaned against Zhao Weiguo.
The original owner couldn't swim and was particularly interested in water. Her fall into the river was an accident, and she nearly lost her life because of it.
"You went to play by the river in the middle of winter?" Zhao Weiguo continued to rub Xu Tao's abdomen while trying to distract her from the pain.
He noticed her attention was almost entirely on her abdomen, likely due to the severe discomfort she was experiencing.
"When I was young, I didn’t know better. Even when my hands were frozen red, I still went to play in the water" Xu Tao said, pouting her lips in helplessness, feeling regret for the original owner's reckless behavior as a child.
It was truly a misfortune in her childhood, something she had to bear as an adult.
"We should still find some time to visit the hospital" Zhao Weiguo replied.
With the pain being so severe, he couldn't relax unless she saw a doctor. Her pale face and sweaty appearance earlier that evening kept replaying in his mind, and it felt like his heart was gripped tightly by a fist.
Xu Tao sighed. She leaned against Zhao Weiguo's chest, her back pressed firmly against him. After a moment of biting her lip, she spoke "My family actually took me to see a doctor before. The doctor said there’s no cure for the pain. The most they can do is prescribe some medication to alleviate the pain, but those pills are harmful and addictive, so it’s best not to take them."
Relying on medication to relieve the pain, especially every month during her period, would be painful.
"Is there no other way?"
"As long as I stay careful, it’s mostly okay. The main problem is just during my period. Otherwise, there are no major issues."
"Got it."
"But the doctor also said..." Xu Tao hesitated, still unsure whether to tell Zhao Weiguo about her difficulty conceiving.
As her husband, he had the right to know.
"Hm?" Zhao Weiguo was patiently listening.
"The doctor said I might have difficulty getting pregnant." Xu Tao hadn’t been concerned about this before. She didn’t have a strong desire to have children, but after spending time with Zhao Linnan, her thoughts had slowly changed.
If possible, she would like to have a child. Of course, Xu Tao wasn’t fixated on the idea, but it was something she had thought about.
And she could accept that she might not be able to have children. But could Zhao Weiguo accept it?
"......" Zhao Weiguo froze for a moment, his hand that had been warming Xu Tao’s abdomen paused for a second.
Xu Tao had been paying attention to Zhao Weiguo as she spoke, and when she felt his hesitation, her mood became somewhat heavy. He still minded it, didn’t he?
"Oh, will there be any other effects?" Zhao Weiguo asked after the brief pause.
"No, it’s just that I have a high likelihood of being unable to get pregnant. Would you mind?" Xu Tao continued to press Zhao Weiguo with the question.
The family planning policy had just begun, and subconsciously, people still believed in having many children for more blessings. Zhao Linnan was indeed adorable, but Xu Tao and Zhao Weiguo were in their second marriage, and Zhao Weiguo was no longer a soldier and didn’t have a government job. According to the regulations, they could still have another child.
She didn’t know if Zhao Weiguo still wanted to have a child or if he would want to have one with her.
"I don’t mind." Zhao Weiguo honestly replied "I really don’t care. I never even considered marriage before, but my parents didn’t approve, and then we had Xiao Nan, which gave my parents some peace of mind. Whether you can have children doesn’t matter to me. The important thing is you. Will you feel regretful about it?" Zhao Weiguo asked Xu Tao for her true feelings.
He already had a son, but if they could have a cute daughter together, he would be happy. However, if not, he wouldn’t force it.
He was more concerned about Xu Tao being upset since Zhao Linnan wasn’t her biological son.
"Regretful? A little, I guess! But having Xiao Nan is enough" Xu Tao said with a light heart.
She considered Zhao Linnan her son, and the little guy was attached to her. Even though there was no blood relation, she had raised him, and even if he found out she wasn’t his biological mother, he probably wouldn’t abandon her in the future.
The little guy was the male lead, and no matter how she, his stepmother, treated him, he would likely be aware of it and wouldn’t be ungrateful.
"Mm." Zhao Weiguo held Xu Tao even tighter.
Xu Tao had told Zhao Weiguo about the situation. Although she felt some regret that her body might not be able to conceive, she wouldn’t overly worry about it. After speaking, she leaned against Zhao Weiguo’s chest again, and his hand continued to gently caress her abdomen.
The warmth of his hand was soothing against her stomach. Xu Tao closed her eyes and felt the roughness of his hand moving across her belly. The pain seemed to dissipate as if the man was transferring it away. Unconsciously, she fell asleep in his arms.
Because her period had arrived, Xu Tao proudly enjoyed several days of being treated like a queen at home. She didn’t cook, didn’t wash dishes, and simply waited for her meals. Even her clothes were washed by Zhao Weiguo.
"Mm, well, you wash my clothes, and I’ll handle the rest" Xu Tao said, not having that thick of a skin.
When Zhao Weiguo was washing clothes in the evening and handling the underwear she had changed out of, rubbing it gently in his hands, Xu Tao’s mind exploded with embarrassment.
She and Zhao Weiguo were married, and all sorts of intimate things had happened between them, but seeing Zhao Weiguo carefully scrubbing her underwear with his large hands made her feel incredibly shy and utterly flustered.
"It’s fine, I’ll wash them for you. For these days, you don’t need to touch water" Zhao Weiguo didn’t see anything wrong with washing a woman’s underwear and even did it happily.
Xu Tao's head was buzzing, and her cheeks were flushed. And the next moment, when she saw Zhao Weiguo holding her bra, she couldn't help but feel even more embarrassed.
It's not like he had to take such good care of her.
"Stop it" Xu Tao tried to stop Zhao Weiguo helplessly.
That man, Zhao Weiguo, was so mischievous. Holding the little black garment, he casually wet it and lathered it up. When he heard Xu Tao's protest, he turned around with a puzzled look.
Finally, as if he could see Xu Tao's hesitation, he glanced at Zhao Linan who was carrying a watering can to water the plants, and lowered his voice "You've touched it, kissed it, so why can't you wash it? What's the logic!"
"..." You're just amazing!
Xu Tao raised her hand to her forehead and pretended to be dead, hiding in the room.
She was no match for Zhao Weiguo in terms of thick-skinnedness, and what he said seemed to make sense. Her small chest had already been invaded by men in various ways, so now it was just a matter of helping to wash clothes. She was too shy, it was too late.
After figuring it out herself, Xu Tao hid in the room and continued writing her novel, while also starting to look forward to the reply from the publisher.
She had also mailed her manuscript, and she didn't know when she would get a reply. She had been full of confidence when she mailed it, and Xu Tao thought she had written pretty well, but without getting a reply from the publisher, she couldn't help but worry.
Time passed quickly, and a few days later, Xu Tao's period ended. After being a queen for a few days, she became a housewife who did the laundry and cooking again.
But Zhao Weiguo would also help occasionally, and washing dishes was still Zhao Weiguo's job.
However, since Zhao Weiguo had become more open-minded, he had started to intentionally exercise, preparing to let Zhao Linan sleep on his own. Xu Tao agreed with this.
The little boy was gradually growing up, and it was time for the child to sleep in a separate room.
But in the past, Xu Tao and Zhao Weiguo would sleep with the child, and only quietly change rooms after the child fell asleep. Xu Tao was almost too lazy to move, but Zhao Weiguo was very persistent, hugging her and changing rooms in the middle of the night every day. Xu Tao was happy to watch Zhao Weiguo struggle.
The first day after Xu Tao's period ended was also the first day that Zhao Weiguo planned to let Zhao Linan sleep on his own. Zhao Weiguo and Zhao Linan, this father and son, were at odds for the first time.
"Dad, aren't you and Mom going to sleep with me?" Zhao Linan asked while sitting on the bed, his little face drooping as if he was about to cry.
"Yes, starting today, you sleep by yourself."
"..." Xu Tao pursed her lips and said nothing.
"Xiaonan wants to sleep with Mommy" Zhao Linan's eyes turned red directly, and the little guy pouted his small mouth.
Xu Tao couldn't bear to see this scene. As soon as Zhao Linan pouted his small mouth, she regretted it "Or, let's do it like before, and first coax him to sleep."
Xu Tao suddenly felt that Zhao Linan was only two years old. It seemed a bit cruel for a child so young to have to sleep independently.
"No." Zhao Weiguo insisted.
It's normal for boys to sleep alone, you can't consider him young and not let him adapt to being independent.
"Mommy" Zhao Linan was very smart, knowing that it was useless to argue with Zhao Weiguo, the little guy stretched out his two arms to Xu Tao with red eyes.
Xu Tao was about to step forward to hug the child without thinking, but Zhao Weiguo grabbed her wrist "Go back to the room first, I'll talk to him."
How could Zhao Weiguo not see through his son's cleverness? The little guy knew that it was useful to be coquettish with Xu Tao, so he stretched out his little arms. If Xu Tao went to hug the child, the possibility of letting the little ghost sleep alone today would be shattered. Basically, Xu Tao would have to coax him to sleep, and then he would sneakily transfer Xu Tao to the next room.
He was happy to hug Xu Tao and change rooms every day, but sometimes Xu Tao was so sleepy that she was too lazy to change places, and she was reluctant when Zhao Weiguo hugged her, because her sleep would be disturbed.
It was also because of this that Zhao Weiguo decided to let his son Zhao Linan adapt to sleeping independently directly. He didn't believe that a little ghost who could sleep on his own in the middle of the night had to listen to stories every day to fall asleep. It was only because this stinky kid was spoiled by Xu Tao that he had so many problems.
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