Chapter 38 Warm Condensation Production

On New Year's Eve, the nanny was serving the New Year's Eve dinner to the table.

Two plates of vegetarian dumplings, two bowls of sweet rice wine, and freshly fried sugar cakes.

In the clay pot was bubbling the old hen raised at home, with diced radish and frozen tofu.

A dish of spicy and sour diced radish is also indispensable.

There were no exquisite dishes, but the table was filled to the brim.

The room was filled with the warm atmosphere of the New Year, and the two of them sat around a small table.

"Eat more. According to the date, you will give birth in the next two days. Eat more to have strength." As Nanny Xue said this, she kept putting food into the bowl in front of Wen Ning until it was piled up like a small mountain.

Suddenly, a string of firecrackers exploded outside the yard, and the flames made the window paper red.

Wen Ning looked up and said with a smile, "After midnight, it will be the new year."

Nanny Xue nodded in agreement, but saw that the girl frowned in surprise at the second, even louder burst of firecrackers.

"Did you scare the girl?"

Wen Ning opened her mouth and wanted to say "It's okay", but she felt a tight pain in her stomach.

Then, the pain surged up continuously.

She was stunned for a moment and was about to continue eating.

"Hmm!" She suddenly clenched the edge of the table, as if an invisible hand was tightly grasping her waist and abdomen, and then suddenly let go.

"Young lady?" The nanny saw that her face was pale and there was a row of tiny teeth marks on her lips.

"Mammy," she said in a trembling voice, "I... I'm afraid... I'm about to give birth!"

Nanny Xue looked down and saw a dark water mark on the girl's plain skirt.

"Don't panic, girl. It's still early."

As she spoke, she half-supported and half-carried Wen Ning towards the bed.

"Don't be afraid, girl. When it hurts, just breathe evenly. Inhale deeply and exhale slowly, just like I taught you before."

She placed Wen Ning on the thick mattress and wiped her sweaty hair.

"Girl, lie down here first. I'll go boil some hot water. If you need anything, just shout and I'll hear you."

Wen Ning took a deep breath, as if to encourage herself, "Mammy, go ahead. You have to go through this journey anyway. I can handle it!"

Madam Xue filled the stove with firewood and heard a knock on the door, followed by Ji Xianglan's cheerful voice, "Madam, young lady, I'm here to deliver dumplings for New Year's Eve!"

The nanny was startled and quickly opened the door. She saw Ji Xianglan standing at the door holding a large bowl covered with cotton cloth. "It's freshly cooked, still hot..."

Before he could finish his words, he heard a suppressed cry of pain coming from inside the room.

Looking at the towel in the nanny's hand, I immediately understood about 70% of the situation.

"Are you going to give birth?"

Seeing Ji Xianglan coming, Aunt Xue couldn't help but feel relieved. "You've come at the right time. Come and help me!"

Ji Xianglan was also unambiguous. She placed the large bowl on the low stool by the door, rolled up her sleeves and said, "Mammy, you have experience. You go and look after my wife. I'll go and boil some more hot water!"

This small courtyard, which had been quiet for a whole winter, suddenly became lively on New Year's Eve.

Three women, one drama.

One was gritting his teeth and enduring the pain, one was as steady as a rock, and one was running around the yard in a hurry.

Nanny Xue half-knelt in front of the bed, dipping a cloth into hot water and wringing it out.

Wen Ning clung to the edge of the bed tightly, and the contractions became more frequent.

She continued breathing according to Mammy's method, exerting her strength...

She didn't know how long it had been, but the severe pain still came in waves, one after another, and she felt like she was almost out of strength.

"Girl, push harder!"

"Girl, you can't sleep! Try harder!"

The nanny's voice was trembling as she kept calling her.

She gritted her teeth and gathered all her strength into her lower abdomen.

"Oh, the fetus is in an abnormal position! Miss, please bear with it, I will adjust it for you right away!" The nanny was anxious and bit her teeth to steady herself.

Wen Ning felt as if a knife was stirring in her stomach, as if it was going to break her bones apart.

Her strength had long been exhausted, and her grip on the nanny's hand gradually loosened.

Darkness came over her like a thick fog. She tried to exert force in a trance, but found that her whole body was light and fluttery.

Just as she was about to fall into endless darkness, a cold hand suddenly grabbed her wrist with such force that it almost crushed her bones.

"Want to die!" A deep and cold male voice sounded in her ears, "It's not that easy!"

She opened her eyelids with difficulty, and in her blurry vision, she saw an angular face close at hand, with the black armor still on, his brows sharp as knives, and a smell of blood coming towards her.

"You haven't fulfilled your promise to me yet! Your people, your debts, and even this child, are not yours to decide!"

Wen Ning's pupils suddenly shrank, and before she could come to her senses, a mouthful of spicy ginseng soup was poured into her throat.

"Girl, drink it quickly, you will have more strength after drinking it!"

Countless thoughts raced through my mind, but were interrupted by even more severe pain.

She stiffened her neck and swallowed the ginseng soup in her mouth, then bit her lower lip hard and tasted blood.

Finally, Mammy's surprised face came into view.

She followed the nanny's instructions and gathered her strength again, "Yes, one, two, three, push harder! Take a deep breath, and push harder..."

Finally, Wen Ning felt the last bit of strength in her body being drained away, and her stomach seemed to be hollowed out all of a sudden.

“Wow! Wow—”

The baby's loud cry pierced the snowy night, intertwining with the earth-shaking firecrackers.

She fell back onto the pillow exhausted, and with her blurred vision, she saw the blood-stained hands of the nanny holding high the little life covered in red.

"It's born!"

"It's a boy!"

Ji Xianglan rushed into the room again with hot water and saw the nanny wrapping a wrinkled baby in a clean cloth.

"Oh! It's born! It's finally born!"

Ji Xianglan clapped her hands in delight, "I've delivered sheep and sows before, but today is my first time attending a human birth!"

As she said this, she was about to pinch the child's face, but was slapped away by Nanny Xue.

"You think you're teasing the piglets?" The nanny glared at her, but couldn't hide the smile on her lips.

Ji Xianglan was not annoyed and quickly helped to clean up the bloodstained towels on the floor.

Wen Ning really couldn't imagine that if there was no one around, she would probably die here today.

Her lips trembled slightly, wanting to thank the two people busy in front of her.

But he found that there was only a thin breath left in his throat and he didn't even have the strength to say a word.

Madam Xue saw that she was struggling to speak, so she quickly said softly, "Young lady, if you have anything to say, we can talk tomorrow. For now, just rest. I'll take care of everything."

Wen Ning then obediently closed her eyelashes, her tense body suddenly relaxed, and she sank into the soft bedding.

The sleepiness came suddenly and deeply, and she no longer had the energy to think about the man's voice that seemed real and unreal. She just thought it was a nightmare caused by extreme pain.

…

I don't know how many hours I slept. The sound of firecrackers in the distance had not yet died down when Wen Ning was awakened by a loud cry, which was urgent and fierce, like a grumpy little animal protesting.

She opened her eyes drowsily, her whole body aching as if she had been run over by a wheel.

Until the crying sounded again.

So close.

Wen Ning was stunned for a moment, then she suddenly remembered that she gave birth to a child yesterday!

I actually gave birth to a human being!

The excruciating pain, blood, and chaos of childbirth yesterday all seemed like a dream. The only thing that was real was the vibrant little life before her eyes, so real that it made her fingertips tremble.

She looked at the tiny baby in the cradle, who was opening and closing his mouth to explore around, making tiny humming sounds in his throat.

Even though it was her first time raising a child, she knew that the little guy was probably hungry.

She was knowledgeable in medicine and knew that she had suffered a difficult delivery, lost too much blood, and was suffering from a deficiency of Qi and blood. She was afraid that it would take two to three days for her to produce milk.

"Mammy, I think he's hungry, but I can't feed him right now." Wen Ning felt a little helpless. The collar of her shirt was wrinkled by her grasping it, but she didn't even feel a bit bloated.