Chapter 89 The baby was born.

Grandma Ji and Mom Ji brought Molly a lot of clothes, including two coats each made of mink, cashmere, and wool, as well as several sets of thermal underwear and cashmere pants.

“If you can’t fit into them now, just keep them. I’ll call your dad and have him mail over a batch of larger sizes,” said Mrs. Ji.

"Mom, I have clothes to wear now. If we buy too many clothes now, what a waste if we can't fit them after I give birth?" Molly wasn't very interested in clothes; as long as they were comfortable, that was fine with her.

"It's not a waste. We can just have someone resize it later." Mrs. Ji originally wanted to say that it was lost, but looking at Molly's face, she changed her mind.

"We also need to send over more fabric. It's so cold and we have nothing to do, so we can make some clothes and shoes for the child," Grandma Ji said. After thinking for a moment, she added, "We also need to buy some milk powder to nourish Molly. We should also buy some bird's nest and cordyceps. Ginseng is also essential; we need to prepare it in advance, both fifty-year-old and one-hundred-year-old varieties."

Mrs. Ji agreed with Grandma Ji, "We should prepare more. We should have them prepare a batch of bottles and formula in advance, especially imported ones. We should research them beforehand and buy whichever brand is best."

Molly: "......"

Never mind, she can just listen.

Putting everything else aside, she felt much more at ease after Grandma Ji and Mom Ji arrived. At least, she no longer had to worry about her child not having enough clothes or milk.

At night, Ji's mother slept with Molly, while Ji's grandmother slept with Mo Chuyang.

Molly needed to get up to use the bathroom at night. As soon as she moved, Aunt Ji woke up, turned on the light for her, grabbed a flashlight, and helped her walk to the bathroom.

The snow has stopped, but it's still very cold outside.

“I’ll put a chamber pot in your room tomorrow night. After you’re done, I’ll take it to the yard so it won’t smell bad,” Mrs. Ji said, shivering.

Molly responded softly, "Ji Hefeng's mother is so good. Now, she is my mother too."

Mrs. Ji put Molly back to bed, added coal to the stove, and then lay down next to Molly.

The next morning, Ji's mother had Mo An take her to make a phone call. She not only called Kyoto, but also Wang Hechuan in town. The following day, Wang Hechuan arrived by bicycle with a whole sheep and half a piece of beef.

"I originally only planned to buy sheep, but I got lucky and came across a beef vendor. This cow fell down the mountain and broke its leg, but it was still alive when it was slaughtered, so the meat was fresh and edible," Wang Hechuan said.

Mrs. Ji was overjoyed. "That's wonderful! Go warm yourself by the fire. Xiao An, cook a bowl of noodles for your Brother Wang."

"You don't need to be so polite, I'll just eat at my dad's place," Wang Hechuan said with a smile.

“Your dad’s busy, he doesn’t have time.” Mrs. Ji asked him to sit down. “I’ll go get you the money.”

Mrs. Ji returned, took out four hundred yuan, and stuffed it into Wang Hechuan's hand, saying, "Take it."

"That's too much." Wang Hechuan wanted to return the extra money to Mrs. Ji, but she didn't take it. "Just consider it as an early New Year's gift for your son."

Wang Hechuan then accepted it, saying, "I'll thank you on his behalf."

After eating the noodles, Wang Hechuan and Mo An cut the mutton and beef into pieces and froze them in the unmelted snow. Only after finishing did he ride away on his bicycle.

"Mom, we have so much meat at home." Lu Lu whispered to Molly, "Grandma bought a lot of meat, enough to last a long time."

The fish Mo An bought before, plus the ones delivered today, and the hundreds of fish Molly caught before, have piled up into a small mountain, enough to feed them for a month or two. Besides, there are more than twenty live hens at home, and they can collect eggs every day.

Now we really don't need anything.

Lu Lu felt relieved.

Mo An was relieved.

That evening, the uncle and nephew planned to eat dumplings: lamb dumplings, beef dumplings, and chive and egg dumplings.

The uncle and nephew were in charge of the filling, while Ji's mother and grandmother rolled out the dumpling wrappers. Mo Chuyang did odd jobs. Once the filling was ready, the whole family would wrap the dumplings together.

Sitting by the fire at night, eating steaming hot dumplings, instantly creates the atmosphere of Chinese New Year.

Molly didn't ask Ji's mother about Ji Hefeng's situation, and Ji's mother didn't mention it either.

During the day, she listened to radio programs and watched her mother and grandmother make clothes for their unborn child.

Mo An and the other two went out to ice skate and have a snowball fight.

The snow fell intermittently, and it didn't stop until New Year's Eve.

On the morning of New Year's Eve, Ji's mother, Mo An, and Lu Lu got up and started busying themselves in the kitchen. Mo Chuyang was in charge of helping out. The group fried meatballs, fried dough sticks, and made New Year's cakes. Molly had never seen these things before, and neither had Mo An and Lu Lu. Ji's mother guided them throughout the process.

Molly woke up to the aroma of the food. Seeing her constantly looking towards the kitchen, Grandma Ji teased her, "You're such a glutton."

Molly readily admitted, "I really want to eat it."

"Then I'll go check if they're ripe for you and bring you some over." Grandma Ji got up.

“There’s water on the ground, please be careful,” Molly reminded her.

"Okay, I'll be careful." Grandma Ji leaned against the wall, her small steps still quite steady.

The lunch was very lavish; after discussing it, Ji's mother and Mo An prepared ten dishes, all of which looked and smelled delicious. The only downside was that the food cooled down quickly.

Mo An: "I lit a brazier under the table, but it still got cold so quickly. Looks like we'll have to have hot pot after all."

Lu Lu: "Luckily I was quick, I was already full."

Mo Chuyang: "I'm full too."

Molly was still hungry, but she knew she couldn't eat too much in one meal. "I'm done."

Mrs. Ji smiled, "May you have abundance every year. We can reheat these dishes tomorrow morning. Tonight we'll have dumplings. We'll make a lot this time and freeze them. We can just cook them whenever we want."

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, Zhu Lezhi and his group of children went from house to house, and their first stop was Molly's house.

Zhu Lezhi said he wanted to kowtow to Molly to thank her for saving his life, but Molly refused, saying, "If you dare to kowtow, you can forget about getting a goose after the New Year."

Zhu Lezhi immediately stopped bowing, saying, "I'm not going to kowtow anymore."

Grandma Ji smiled and handed out candy and cookies to the children, and gave each child a two-cent red envelope. It wasn't that she was stingy or didn't want to give more, but rather that everyone was receiving the same amount, and giving more would be inappropriate.

Mo An, Lu Lu, and Mo Chuyang also went to pay New Year's visits with their friends, making a lot of noise and adding to the festive atmosphere of the New Year.

After the children left, Sister Bao and Sister Zhu, among others, came to visit Molly's family. They had never met Mother Ji and Grandma Ji before, but they vaguely knew about the Ji family's background. Seeing that Mother Ji and Grandma Ji were dressed in fine clothes, they couldn't help but feel happy for Molly.

"You've finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel; good days are ahead," Sister Bao remarked with emotion.

Molly raised the corners of her lips. "Thank you for your kind words."

The excitement lasted until February.

Molly never went out. She was a woman who could endure loneliness. She would stay at home, listen to the radio, listen to Grandma Ji tell stories, and go to sleep when she was tired.

The snow fell intermittently until March.

It was still very cold, but Molly was finally allowed to go out and walk around in the yard.

Her belly was frighteningly large, comparable to the large water vat in the house. Her belly had become very thin, and pink lines, which looked like blood vessels, had appeared on her skin.

The baby in her belly was very active; Molly could sometimes see tiny hands and feet on her belly.

In April, the doctor told Molly to prepare herself, as the baby could be born prematurely at any time.

The children's clothes and blankets have been washed, sun-dried, and neatly folded in the closet. We've also bought several extra sets of blankets and sheets to prevent the children from getting them dirty and to change them promptly.

There were several large boxes of canned milk powder, quite a few bags as well, and more than ten baby bottles prepared.

Everything was ready, and all that was left was to wait for Molly to give birth.

Molly needs someone to accompany her everywhere she goes, even in her room. Her family is worried that her belly is too big to see clearly, or that she might fall because of her weight. Not to mention Grandma Ji and her mother, the children are also very anxious.

On April 15th, at noon, Molly saw that the sun was shining and asked Aunt Ji to boil some water for her to take a bath. Halfway through the bath, her water broke.

Molly herself remained calm. She dried herself off, got dressed, and then said to Mrs. Ji, "Mom, my water broke."

Mrs. Ji trembled, and the enamel quilt in her hand rolled to the ground. She couldn't help but murmur, "Don't be afraid, don't worry, everything is packed. We'll go to the hospital now."

Mrs. Ji wanted to get the things, but she had to support Molly, so she could only call out to Grandma Ji, "Mom, you wait at home for Xiaolu and Chuyang to come back. When they come back, you can bring the things to the hospital with them."

Grandma Ji readily agreed, "Okay, you go first, we'll be there in a bit."

Molly's steps were steady and unhurried, her expression relatively calm. Mrs. Ji supported her, "Molly, does it hurt?"

“It doesn’t hurt,” Molly said truthfully.

Mrs. Ji thought she was just comforting herself, "You have to bear the pain and not cry, otherwise you won't have the strength when you give birth. We have prepared ginseng, brown sugar and eggs, everything will be fine, don't be afraid."

Molly: "Mom, I'm not afraid."

Molly walked to the delivery room by herself, and the doctor looked at her big belly and felt terrified.

"Call all the doctors who are on holiday over here," the head doctor said to the nurse beside him.

The nurse nodded and ran off.

"Be prepared for emergency care at any time. Everyone, be on high alert." After giving the instructions, the director entered the delivery room with a stern face.

As Ji's mother listened to the doctor's words, looked at the doctor's expression, and saw the nurses running around, tears streamed down her face.

When Grandma Ji arrived with Lu Lu and Mo Chuyang, she saw Ji's mother wiping away tears, and her heart jumped into her throat. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just feel sorry for Molly. She's so well-behaved, she doesn't cry or make a fuss, and she even comforted me." After saying this, Mrs. Ji felt even more like crying.

"Don't cry, having a baby is a joyous occasion, everything will go smoothly." Grandma Ji was also worried, she had never seen a pregnant woman with such a big belly in all her years of life.

Grandma Ji sat down on a chair to the side, closed her eyes, and silently prayed in her heart.

Lu Lu and Mo Chuyang, the two children, stood outside the ward, their ears pressed against the door. They could hear intermittent sounds coming from inside, but none of them were their mother's voice.

About half an hour later, they heard crying.

Lu Lu looked at Mo Chuyang, "Has it been born yet?"

Mo Chuyang looked blankly at him. "It should be."

"Has she given birth?" Mrs. Ji's voice trembled.

Grandma Ji suddenly opened her eyes.

However, they waited a while longer, but the door to the delivery room did not open.

The expressions on their faces grew increasingly grave, and Mrs. Ji almost lost her balance.

About twenty minutes later, the door to the delivery room opened.

"Where are the baby clothes you brought?" the nurse asked.

"Here, they're all in the bag." Lu Lu ran to the chair and grabbed his handbag.

"How many outfits do you have? One or two won't be enough, you need to prepare six!"

"......."