Chapter 293 Big Sister's Little Wish

"You, your mind is full of your big oil fields."

"Do you regret not being able to follow Mr. Li and the others to your great Gobi Desert, and you still want to take my son there? Go away, my son will not go to the desert with you to eat sand anymore. He'll be tanned like a charcoal ball then, how will he find a girl?"

Chen Juan complained a few words about Li Zhengpeng. A while ago, Jinling University was planning to form a geological team to accompany several senior experts from the National Geological Institute to the vast Gobi Desert in the northwest for exploration.

Given Li Zhengpeng's qualifications, he had the opportunity to join and was even included in the school's consideration list.

However, when the leaders finally spoke to Li Zhengpeng, he politely declined.

It wasn't that he couldn't endure hardship. In fact, accompanying the National Geological Institute for exploration was Li Zhengpeng's long-held dream. But he had just gotten married, and his wife was newly pregnant.

At this time, he really couldn't bear to leave Chen Juan alone at home and run off to the great Northwest. After all, no one knew if this trip would last months or years.

Thinking of those seniors who went into the Gobi Desert and dedicated their lives in obscurity, Li Zhengpeng sometimes felt deeply ashamed.

Ultimately, he couldn't be as great as them, at least not during his wife's pregnancy, when he couldn't bear to abandon her.

"Alright, say less."

"Zhengpeng has always wanted to go to the Gobi Desert to find oil fields for the country, we all know that's his ideal."

"Men, after all, have to pursue their careers. Zhengpeng didn't say he would abandon his wife and children to pursue his own ambitions."

"Sacrificing the small for the larger good is a great thing. Juanjuan, you should support Zhengpeng's work more in the future, and the two of you should understand each other."

Chen Liming glanced at his daughter. As a father, he naturally wanted his son-in-law and daughter to live happy lives.

But unfortunately, he himself had dedicated most of his life to the country, and he could understand his son-in-law's thoughts.

Even the ancients had the spirit of "serving the country with utmost loyalty, until death."

Born in this era, facing the covetous gaze of surrounding nations, who wouldn't want to serve the country well and make it strong?

Our strength isn't to bully others; we simply don't want to be bullied. Even this has been achieved through the blood and sacrifices of countless people.

Whether it was Chen Liming or Li Zhengpeng, they were both passionate men who wanted to contribute to the nation's construction and its strengthening.

"Dad, Juan'er is very supportive of my work. She even said that when the child is older, if I really have to go, she'll bring the child with me."

"What great Gobi, what great desert, as long as she, Chen Juan, is by my side, she can endure any hardship and fears nothing!"

"Besides, I'm still young, and there will be opportunities in the future. Going to school now to accumulate more knowledge and train more geologically knowledgeable reserves is also a contribution to the country."

Li Zhengpeng quickly explained, fearing his father-in-law would say more harsh words.

In fact, Chen Juan had been very understanding. At that time, she had even proactively suggested that if Li Zhengpeng truly wanted to go, he should. Her parents would take care of her at home.

To have such a wife, what more could a man ask for!

However, how could he bear to leave her, pregnant and alone in Jinling? This trip to the Northwest would be thousands of kilometers away. Even sending a letter would take one or two months to arrive.

The critical point was that terrain exploration involved constant movement and no fixed locations. If Chen Juan wanted to reply, there would be no stable address to send it to.

"You father-in-law and son-in-law are ganging up on me, so only my daughter is unreasonable?"

"She's pregnant, and it's her child in her womb. What, as fathers, you're not supposed to take care of the child?"

Qin Lifen's temper flared up when she heard this.

Chen Liming and Li Zhengpeng's faces stiffened. They stood side by side against the wall like two naughty schoolchildren who had made mistakes, not daring to make a sound.

Chen Juan glanced at Li Zhengpeng, who was looking at her for help, and ignored her husband, returning to the house with her mother.

She had her own little thoughts.

She was very willing to support Li Zhengpeng and could understand her husband's desire to serve the country.

She could endure hardship with him, and even bear the pain of separation and longing. This was all because she loved Li Zhengpeng, and out of love, she was willing to do anything for him.

However, he couldn't assume that this was what a wife was supposed to do.

Women, no matter how magnanimous, sometimes have their own little thoughts, feel wronged, and wish their husbands would understand their difficulties. Chen Juan was no exception.

And just as her elder sister and brother-in-law returned, Chen Yang, Zhang Weiyang, and Lei Baoguo's meal was rather meager.

Zhang Weiyang was still worried about leaving the elderly man alone in the hospital room, which meant they couldn't go to a good restaurant nearby for a decent meal.

In the end, Zhang Weiyang went to the hospital cafeteria, got two more dishes with meal tickets and food containers. The three men squatted outside the ward, placed the food containers on the reclining chairs, and had a few drinks.

After such a long time apart, it would be strange not to have a drink. Moreover, both Zhang Weiyang and Lei Baoguo had worries weighing on them and needed to drink to relieve them.

Sometimes, men drink purely to relax, and after drinking, they can talk things over.

Of course, those who get drunk and act out are another matter; this has nothing to do with their capacity for alcohol or their behavior when drunk.

When Chen Yang returned, he found that his two little cousins were being taken by their aunt to pet cats. The silly orange cat's brow was furrowed as if it was about to become a knot.

There was nothing it could do. Its owner wanted to let these two little troublemakers torment it, and it dared not speak up.

"Sister, when did you get here?"

Chen Yang quickly waved the smell of alcohol off himself. The three of them had a pound of liquor at noon, and he had drunk nearly four taels. The smell of alcohol was too strong, and he was afraid of offending Chen Juan.

"This morning. They said you went to visit a friend's elder, why are you drinking?"

Chen Juan pinched her nose. Pregnant women are sensitive to smells. If it weren't for the fact that the three of them hadn't seen each other for so long, and Chen Yang rarely drank, he would have been worried about making Chen Juan and Shen Xue uncomfortable.

"We haven't seen each other for a while, so we had a few drinks."

"I'm going to take a shower and change my clothes quickly, so you won't feel uncomfortable from the smell of alcohol."

Chen Yang glanced around, not seeing his wife in the yard, and prepared to go into the house to boil water for a bath. In the middle of winter, not boiling enough hot water made bathing a challenge.

"Xue'er is sleeping. She has a good habit of taking a nap at noon. I can never fall asleep, so I took the two little ones to play in the yard."

Chen Juan knew her younger brother's character well. Chen Yang hadn't even asked, and she already knew what he was thinking.