Chapter 89 Old Woman

"..." The fourth brother's words left Jiang Hongying both amused and exasperated.

She bent down and fed Xiujuan a thin noodle. "I'm not asking you for help, it's not like I'm delivering a baby. You can go find a midwife or boil some water."

Although the fourth brother was a little annoyed, he still lowered his head and quickly ate his food, finishing two bowls in the blink of an eye.

He put down his chopsticks, got up and walked outside. "I'll go and see. If the eldest dares to be rude to Mother today, we'll leave him alone."

"Don't cause trouble. Have you gotten addicted to hitting people last time? Your temper is so bad." Jiang Hongying advised him, "Bear with it in critical moments. It's not too late to settle scores later."

"Understood!" the fourth brother replied, stepping out of the courtyard and arriving at the entrance of the thatched kiln.

Just as he was about to lift the curtain to go inside, he heard sounds of chaos and turmoil coming from within.

"Ah Feng, how are you now? Can you still get out of bed? Should we go and see if you've started bleeding?"

"Bear with it for now, eat something when the pain subsides."

"I'll go ask the old woman to help you give birth, so don't cry."

The eldest brother is such a chatterbox, he keeps talking nonstop.

"Go quickly, go and call my wife, I... I can't stand the pain anymore," Chen Feng said through gritted teeth. "I haven't bled, go quickly."

"Okay, then if you need anything, go to my mother. She's had five children already, so you can trust her." The eldest son added worriedly, "Don't be distant at this time. Even if you call your mother, it won't be in time."

He lifted the curtain and stepped out of the house. When he saw the fourth son, he instructed him again, "If Mother is too busy later, please help her out. When you come back, I will feed the sheep."

The fourth brother thought he was being long-winded, "Hurry up and go, it's more than ten miles to your mother's house, hurry up."

What he really wanted to say was that when they needed them, the boss was quite decent, but when they didn't need them, his face was as long as a donkey's.

If I hadn't known he wasn't like this before, the fourth brother would have beaten him up long ago.

Mother said that all men are like this after they get married, but the fourth son didn't believe it.

He definitely won't be like this in the future!

At this moment, Song Chunxue called out from inside, "Fourth brother, go dig up some yellow soil, clean, fine and soft."

"knew."

The fourth brother picked up a shovel and a large basket, preparing to shovel some off the wall of Yangshan.

It must be clean there, and it gets sun all day, so it's easy to break.

Song Chunxue sat on a low stool in the thatched kiln, watching Chen Feng cover her eyes with one hand and cry out in pain.

"Your baby is probably a boy, which is usually harder to deliver than a girl. Judging from your appearance, it's not time for you to give birth yet. You might be in pain for a whole day and night. Save your energy and eat something first, otherwise you won't even have the strength to shout when you really go into labor tonight."

As she spoke, Song Chunxue got up and walked out of the thatched kiln to the kitchen to get a bowl of rice.

They carried it into the thatched kiln and saw Chen Feng sitting on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed) with a frown on her face.

"Eat first. If you see any blood, just let out a gasp and we'll give birth before the old woman arrives," Song Chunxue said calmly. "I haven't eaten yet. I'll come after I finish eating."

Chen Feng didn't say a word the whole time, and Song Chunxue didn't expect her to respond.

After returning to the house, I ate two and a half bowls of rice, put the bowls in the pot, boiled water, and then went to the thatched kiln.

"Are you full? Would you like another bowl?" Song Chunxue asked, knowing that Chen Feng wouldn't say she wanted another bowl, and turned to leave.

"One bowl, please." Chen Feng gasped. "I'm not full."

Song Chunxue paused for a moment, then said with her back to her, "Wait."

The food had been sitting for too long and had become soggy, but Chen Feng ate two and a half bowls in one go.

Because she was pregnant, she gained 20 to 30 pounds compared to when she got married. She looked swollen all over, and when she didn't speak and had a long face, she was not a good-looking woman.

Song Chunxue didn't even look at her face; after all, that face never smiled at her, no matter what.

She used to swallow her pride and talk to her first, after all, she was the boss's wife.

Now, she understands her position very clearly, so she won't do things that are thankless and exhausting.

She did what she was supposed to do and didn't ask about anything else.

Half an hour later, the eldest son returned with his wife and rushed into the house.

"Have you given birth yet? Are you still in pain?"

Chen Feng lay on the kang (a heated brick bed), saying weakly, "It still hurts, but it's a little better than before."

Song Chunxue got up. "I definitely won't give birth today. You and the old woman keep an eye on things. I'm going to get some sleep."

"Mom, you go ahead and do your work. I'll take care of things." The eldest son realized that he hadn't spoken to her much lately.

"Have you eaten?"

Before leaving, Song Chunxue asked him a question.

The eldest brother looked at Song Chunxue's profile, hesitated for a moment, and said, "No."

"I'll go get two fried dough cakes." Song Chunxue looked at Granny Zhao, who had just entered the room. He had even delivered the eldest son's baby. He couldn't help but ask with a smile, "Has Granny Zhao eaten yet?"

"We've eaten, we're just about to wash the pot when your eldest son comes running over. This is his first pregnancy, right? He kept urging me on the way here, he practically wanted to carry me on his back." As she spoke, Aunt Zhao laughed, "I told him I couldn't give birth tonight, but he wouldn't believe me."

Song Chunxue smiled and said, "Please sit down first, I'll bring you some food. The first child is always difficult, and it's even harder if it's painful. It can take a day or two to give birth. I've given birth to five, how could I not know?"

The eldest son was a little embarrassed, so he moved a stool for his wife to sit down.

"Let me see," the old woman walked over, grabbed Chen Feng's hand, and squeezed the back of her hand. "It's still early. It's bound to hurt for a while. Childbirth is always painful. Don't cry out. Just bear the pain and sleep for a while."

"The baby will either be born tonight or tomorrow morning. Have you prepared the baby's clothes, blankets, and diapers?"

Chen Feng gritted her teeth and couldn't help but touch her aching belly, thinking that with her in so much pain, how could she not have given birth yet?

But she couldn't argue with her mother-in-law, so she could only grit her teeth and bear it.

The old woman didn't want to stay in the thatched cave any longer, so she went into the courtyard.

Song Chunxue gave two fried cakes to Jiang Yeming, and took the remaining three to the north room for the old lady to eat.

For farmers, fried dough cakes are the best of the best, and they are usually reluctant to treat others to them.

Seeing that Song Chunxue was willing to take it out for her, she couldn't resist breaking it in half, even though she had already eaten.

"I remember you used to be very frugal, reluctant to eat anything, even during the Lunar New Year when you cooked meat, you would only eat it after the children had finished. Now you're willing to eat fried dough sticks?"

Aunt Zhao was more than ten years older than Song Chunxue. She had asked Zhao to come to her home to deliver babies three times. In addition, she would pass by Zhao's house every time she went to the market in the village, so they were old acquaintances.

Song Chunxue laughed, "I used to be so stubborn, thinking that if I treated the children with all my heart, they would be happy and I would be happy too. But now I realize that they don't like it at all, and I shouldn't expect them to repay me."

"As the saying goes, parents' hearts are with their children, but children's hearts are as hard as stone. If I don't treat myself well now, no one will make me fried dough sticks when I'm old." She asked with a smile, "And you, how have you been these past few years?"

"Ah, it's a long story," Aunt Zhao sighed. "You're right, I'm not close to any of my children anymore. My husband and I don't live with them either; we live in a cave dwelling outside."

She smiled bitterly, “Your children live in a thatched cave dwelling, but they still have the ability to build a new house. We two old bones can only repair the old cave dwelling and prevent it from collapsing.”