I was reborn after my cousin stole my life.

Chapter 94: Aunt Yuan Arrives

"Comrade Yuan Xiu from the Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, could you please share your thoughts?"

At a hospital study meeting, the leader called on Yuan Xiu by name.

Yuan Xiu, who was sitting behind the conference table against the wall, looked up when she heard this and began to speak, holding her notebook.

Thanks to the last "ideological and civility class," she has now become an active speaker at hospital meetings.

She wasn't proactive; she was passively proactive. Even if she didn't take the initiative, her boss would still call on her.

She was called out twice during the two meetings this week.

"...These are some of my thoughts, and I hope we can all make progress together."

Yuan Xiu closed her notebook and breathed a sigh of relief.

She's starting to dread meetings.

In the past, you only needed to take notes during meetings, but now you have to organize your thoughts from the very beginning because the leader will call on you to speak.

People who receive too much attention from their superiors at work are not necessarily unpopular, but they certainly aren't very well-liked either.

Yuan Xiu has already realized that some people dislike her.

For example, there was a nurse named Wang Xiaomei who originally worked in the pharmacy but was later transferred to the nursing department.

Sure enough, Yuan Xiu discovered that she and the people around her were talking about her.

Yuan Xiu couldn't hear what they were saying, but she could tell that Wang Xiaomei had said three words to the people around her: "Make her look good!"

The mouth is very obvious.

To be honest, she didn't want to stand out at work, but her boss insisted on calling her, so what could she do?

After the meeting, Yuan Xiu and Hao Jia left the conference room together.

Back at the pharmacy, Yuan Xiu was a little tired, so she sat down in a chair and drank water from her military water bottle.

"Are you tired?"

Yuan Xiu nodded: "I didn't realize it before, but now I'm really tired, mentally exhausted."

Hao Jia laughed and said, "I understand. If I were you, I would be tired too. The fact that the leader called on you to speak means that the leader thinks highly of you. After all, everyone knows that you are highly conscious and articulate. Leaders like comrades like you. Even my uncle praises you in private."

"Did Director Hao praise me?"

This is really strange; Director Hao hasn't praised her once since she entered the pharmacy.

"Yeah, my uncle even told me to learn from you." Hao Jia grabbed a handful of sunflower seeds and started cracking them in her palm. "Want some?"

Yuan Xiu waved her hand: "I'm afraid of getting a sore throat."

She glanced at Hao Jia's expression and, seeing that she didn't seem unhappy, felt relieved.

"I should be the one learning from you. There are so many things I don't understand that I need your help with."

Hao Jia waved her hand dismissively, "Sure, sure, let's learn from each other!"

As the two were chatting, two people entered through the front door. Hao Jia saw them first and gestured towards the door with her chin, "Look!"

Yuan Xiu looked up and saw Yuan Juan and Zhou Lei.

Zhou Lei took the initiative to greet Yuan Xiu, "Sister-in-law, we've come to check."

It has been more than a week since Yuan Juan fell, and it is indeed time for her to have a follow-up examination and prenatal check-up.

Yuan Xiu nodded, not even glancing at Yuan Juan.

Yuan Juan: "..."

As Zhou Lei helped her upstairs, Yuan Juan glanced back at Yuan Xiu sitting in the pharmacy, feeling incredibly jealous. How could such a good job have ended up with Yuan Xiu?

"Watch your step," Zhou Lei reminded him.

Yuan Juan turned around, tugged at Zhou Lei's sleeve, and looked at him expectantly. "Old Zhou, don't send me back to my hometown. I can't bear to leave you. I know I was wrong. How about you find me a job, like Yuan Xiu's, where I can work in an office? I'll work hard and get the boss to praise you, and make you proud!"

Zhou Lei sighed helplessly: "What can you do? You just open your mouth and think you can get an office job, what a big mouth you have! Besides, I don't have the ability to arrange a job for you. You're heavily pregnant now, so don't think about such things. What you should be thinking about is giving birth to our son and raising him. You definitely have to go back to the countryside. I'll send you twenty yuan every month. After you give birth and the baby is a little older, I'll bring you here."

Yuan Juan was discouraged, knowing that he was determined and that no amount of humility or coquetry would work.

But she wasn't afraid; she would never go back to that poor place!

……

After get off work, Jiang Zhou picked her up as usual. The two rode their bicycles home, discussing what to eat for dinner.

From a distance, the two noticed a middle-aged woman standing outside the gate, carrying large bags and dressed in bulky clothes, who looked like she had just come from the countryside.

The moment Yuan Xiu saw that figure, her heart skipped a beat.

As Jiang Zhou rode a little closer, she heard the man talking to the young soldier on duty at the gate.

The hand around Jiang Zhou's waist tightened unconsciously.

"What's wrong?" Jiang Zhou turned his head slightly to look at her.

Seeing her gaze fixed on the middle-aged woman at the front door, a thought struck him: "Do you know her?"

Yuan Xiu nodded: "Yuan Juan's mother."

No wonder!

No wonder Yuan Juan stayed a few more days even after she tripped and fell. How could she contact her family if she didn't stay? How could she wait for her family to come and make decisions for her?

Jiang Zhou stared at the woman for a couple of seconds before looking away and riding his bike past the gate.

Aunt Yuan didn't notice Yuan Xiu; when her eyes swept over the woman sitting on the back of the bicycle, she felt that she looked somewhat familiar.

"Comrade, when can I go in? Let me tell you, I really am your Deputy Battalion Commander Zhou's mother-in-law. Oh, and Jiang Zhou too. You know Battalion Commander Jiang, right? His wife is my niece. Both of my sons-in-law are in the army. Would I lie to you?"

As she spoke, she opened the bundle she was carrying, took out a handful of peanuts, and stuffed them into the young soldier's hand, saying, "Here, take this, have some."

The young soldier stretched out his hand to stop her from getting any closer. "Comrade, please wait outside. Someone has already gone in to inform them."

Aunt Yuan looked a little embarrassed, holding the peanuts, and said, "Why can't you be more flexible? Look at me, I don't look like a bad person!"

People come and go at the entrance, and everyone who comes in and goes glances at her, and these people are all dressed better than she is.

This made Aunt Yuan, who always prided herself on being the best-dressed and most city-like person in the brigade, feel uneasy.

She tugged at her clothes and cursed inwardly: Damn weather!

She hadn't expected it to be so much colder here than at home. Back home, people were already taking off their cotton-padded coats, but here she was still wearing a thick one.

When she arrived, she was only wearing a thin cotton-padded jacket. She was so cold that she had to take out the clothes from her bundle and put them on. She looked incredibly bulky, and the outermost garment was almost impossible to button up.

Aunt Yuan hunched her shoulders, stamped her itchy feet, and stood at the door, eagerly waiting.

She waited for another ten minutes or so before she finally saw her daughter who had come to pick her up.

"Juan'er! Juan'er! Mom is here, here!"

Yuan Juan, clutching her pregnant belly, walked quickly and threw herself into her mother's arms as soon as she stepped out the door. "Mom! You've finally come! If you hadn't come, I would have been bullied to death!"