Chapter 81 New Life "From now on, this is your son."...

People at that time had completely different attitudes toward ghosts and gods. For example, the people in the Tonggan production team respected the mountain goddess, but they might have been afraid of ghosts.

Li Linshi was simply driven by possessiveness, wanting to assert his presence and let Li Rou know he was there. He didn't intend to scare her, after all, he wasn't so jealous as to lose his mind and forget that Li Rou was his older sister who had loved and protected him since childhood.

Li Linshi planned to proceed gradually, slowly revealing his true colors so that his sister would discover his existence on her own.

Li Rou first noticed that the clothes that had been hung out to dry had already been placed in her and Zhong Ying's respective rooms before she could even take them down from the line; the rammed earth floor was damp and dark, indicating that water had been splashed on it and the floor had been swept; and the large water tank, which had been mostly used up the day before, was full again early in the morning before Li Rou could even pump water from the well…

Li Rou's first thought wasn't that "the house is haunted," but rather that Zhong Ying had taken over her housework.

“I know you’re not the kind of person who just watches others work and does nothing yourself,” Li Rou snatched the kettle from Zhong Ying’s hand. “I’ll do it. Don’t get involved in these trivial matters from now on. I appreciate your kindness, but you should focus on your important tasks.”

Zhong Ying watched Li Rou's hurried departure with the water bottle, and then looked at Li Lin with a puzzled expression.

Li Linshi was speechless. He was used to it; the credit would always be given to Zhong Ying.

However, Zhong Ying did have other things to do.

The educated youth finally finished researching and developing the blueprints for the water turbine.

Yu Jing spread the blueprints out on the table. There were some dark circles under her eyes, but she looked relieved. "Fortunately, with the help of Han Yanqun and Yang Tongjie, as well as Cheng Zhiqing and your brother Zhong Ying, they also helped calculate the manufacturing dimensions of many parts."

The people she mentioned all waved their hands.

Yu Jing genuinely felt this way. The more she participated in the hydropower construction, the more she realized the truth of "many hands make light work." Although she was a graduate of water conservancy engineering, and the design of the hydropower station came from her mind, bringing the project to fruition was not something she could do alone.

From initial idea to implementation, the hydropower station was successfully advanced by Zhong Ying after countless trips; the construction of the factory was the result of the hard work of every member of the Tonggan production team; Han Yanqun and Yang Tongjie, both with backgrounds in agricultural machinery, demonstrated their skills in the structural analysis of the wooden turbine; and Cheng Bin and Zhong Xin contributed to the calculation of the dimensions for component manufacturing…

After calming her excited state, Yu Jing briefly explained the blueprints to the production team: "This is the drive wheel, a major component of the water turbine. The rotating wheel forms a helical blade, which converts the energy of the water flowing into the turbine into the mechanical energy of the turbine's main shaft; the tailrace pipe collects the energy of the water flowing out of the drive wheel, increasing the power station's processing capacity, and is installed below the drive wheel; the support equipment supports the various forces generated by the turbine during operation, as well as the weight of the turbine itself..."

Many of the members didn't even know how to read, yet they listened attentively.

“Most of the components of the wooden water turbine can be made of wood,” Yu Jing summarized. “We need a carpenter who can make these things.”

Lin Shuhong pushed her youngest son forward, "My youngest son has been learning carpentry from his uncle, can't we use him?"

The young man, whose face was still green, was pushed to the front of the crowd, and his face turned red as everyone's eyes fell on him.

Hu raised an eyebrow and joked, "Lai Cai, you've graduated? From now on, you Liu brothers will really be taking care of all the house-building work."

Lin Shuhong herself can deliver babies. She has been the midwife of the production team for decades. She knows that it is not enough to just farm. People still need to have some skills. So she made sure that her children learned some skills: the eldest, second and third sons can build walls and houses, the fourth son who is idle and delinquent all day can actually erect roof beams, and the youngest son is meticulous and has learned more delicate carpentry.

Lai Hunzi had a different opinion: "Lai Cai is only seventeen this year, right? Can he handle such an important task? It would be better to let his uncle do it."

“Lai Cai’s uncle works for the Yuqianwa production team, so we have to pay him for his work; but if the people in our production team do the work themselves, we can just record the work points directly…”

While everyone was discussing animatedly, Li Linshi noticed that Zhong Ying was looking down, trying hard to suppress her laughter.

Li Ming finally made the decision: "Youth is not a problem, let Lai Cai give it a try."

His gaze swept over the faces of several educated youth, including Yu Jing, Han Yanqun, and Yang Tongjie, then over Liu Laicai, Yao Dongxiu, Nie Jinlong, and others, before settling on the siblings Zhong Ying and Zhong Xin... The young people in the production team were rising up and growing into a new force; they would be the future of this land.

Liu Laicai was surrounded by several educated youths who gave him an extra lesson, explaining in detail how to make a wooden water turbine. The others dispersed and continued to add bricks and tiles to the hydroelectric power station building.

"Why do you find it funny?" Li Linshi then asked Zhong Ying.

Zhong Ying couldn't help but laugh because everyone kept calling him "Lai Cai." She wasn't mocking Liu Lai Cai's name; it was just that the song on Douyin was too catchy in modern times. The two-word keyword was like a music play switch, starting to play in her mind.

Li Linshi listened to her mutter and sing a few lines softly. His expression was strange. He really couldn't appreciate it. The songs he knew were all of a different style, like "Sunset in the West, Red Clouds Flying".

Upon hearing this, Zhong Ying's gaze towards Li Linshi became strange, and she suddenly hallucinated that the eternally young face in front of her had transformed into that of an old man.

The sudden chaos interrupted the conversation between Zhong Ying and Li Linshi in the corner.

Nie Jinfeng clutched her stomach and slumped to the ground. Li Rongshi dropped the wooden stick he was using to mix concrete and rushed toward her.

Yao Dongxiu quickly put down his work and came over. "Quickly, help your wife home first. She can't give birth here."

Somewhat flustered, Li Rongshi obeyed her every word, supporting Nie Jinfeng by the shoulder and carrying her forward. Li Rou, who had put down her tools, also rushed over to help her.

Liu Hongyan called Tian Mei and Zhong Ying to go and help.

Li Ming didn't leave; he stayed at the factory construction site to continue directing the commune members' work.

Fortunately, Li Rongshi's house was located in the middle of the village, so he didn't have to cross the entire village to walk home from the hydroelectric power station at the foot of Yingshan Mountain. However, it still took him a while to walk home while supporting Nie Jinfeng, who was starting to experience labor pains.

Liu Hongyan and Yao Dongxiu helped Nie Jinfeng into the delivery room that had been prepared in advance. Li Rongshi went in but couldn't help much. He could only help his sister-in-law, sister and brother and sister-in-law boil water outside.

Basins of hot water were poured in, and cries of pain could be heard from within...

Liu Hongyan hurriedly took the basin of water again, her expression not good. "There's been a problem. The umbilical cord is wrapped around the baby's neck. Jinlong's family is trying to untangle it."

Upon hearing this, Li Rongshi felt dizzy and his legs went weak. In that instant, he recalled the last time he saw his cousin Changgui from his third uncle's family. The umbilical cord was also a rope, wrapped around the neck. Changgui was dead. Could his and Jinfeng's child still live?

His mind went blank, and he didn't even notice when his mother went back into the house.

Li Rou, who was closest to Li Rongshi, saw him about to fall and quickly helped him up.

Zhong Ying, who was standing nearby, quickly braced Li Rongshi's back, preventing him from falling.

“Second brother, isn’t Sister-in-law Nie still inside? She’s studied at the commune clinic,” Zhong Ying comforted him. “Sister-in-law and the child will be fine.”

Li Rou chimed in, "That's right, brother, don't scare yourself. Mom's expression just now wasn't as bad as if the sky was about to fall."

Li Rongshi finally had the strength to stand up straight again, though he was still somewhat incoherent, "Yes, you're right, with Sister-in-law Nie here, everything's fine; you're also right, Mother seems alright..."

The three people in the courtyard looked nervously and expectantly at the closed door of the house. Tian Mei, who was standing in front of the stove in the kitchen, was also looking in that direction, silently praying as well.

"Fortunately, it ended without any real danger." Zhong Ying wiped the cold sweat that had disappeared from her forehead. When she closed the door and faced Li Lin, she couldn't help but feel a little smug. "I knew that the female doctor in the production team was very useful. She could save lives in critical moments."

Li Linshi looked at Zhong Ying, as if he could see her tail wagging behind her. His eyes curved slightly, and his smile was dazzling. "Yes, it's really thanks to your persistence back then, and we also have to thank Sister-in-law Nie for turning the tide today."

On the other side, Li Rongshi and Nie Jinfeng, a married couple, were saying similar things.

"Thank goodness Sister-in-law Nie was there." Li Rongshi said, still feeling lingering fear. "Otherwise, this little one might not have survived."

Nie Jinfeng turned her head to look at the baby lying in the small swaddling clothes in her arms, and sighed, "Why is it another boy? Is this fate..."

Zhong Ying herself had long forgotten the promises made to her child by both families during the marriage negotiations, but Li Rongshi and Nie Jinfeng had not forgotten. Ever since they learned of her pregnancy, they had been hoping that their second child would be a daughter, so that she wouldn't have to be adopted out and wouldn't have to call her "Second Uncle" and "Second Aunt" instead of "Father" and "Mother".

But it turned out to be a son. Today's events seemed like fate. The boy almost lost his life right after birth. Luckily, Yao Dongxiu was there. But her ability to save the child was due to her participation in the commune's medical training course.

Outsiders might not know all the details of Zhong Ying's initial suggestion, insistence, and constant persuasion of Yao Dongxiu to study, but as a family who ate at the same table every day, Li Rongshi and Nie Jinfeng knew everything.

So ultimately, the fact that this child is alive today is due to the karma sown by Zhong Ying.

Nie Jinfeng wasn't ungrateful. She hardened her heart and stopped looking at her newborn son. "This is fate. Whoever's son is meant to be will be. Without Yingni'er, how could he have survived? Besides, this was agreed upon long ago. Whoever has a second son, either my elder brother's family or our family, will register him under Guangfu's uncle's name. From now on, he will be their child."

Li Rongshi was also reluctant to part with her, otherwise he wouldn't have longed for his daughter so much. But reality had turned out this way. He sat on the edge of the bed, half-embracing Nie Jinfeng, and tried to comfort her with a higher voice, "We all live in the same production team, we see each other every day. So what if he's a nephew? We can still take care of him if we want to..."

The next day, the entire Li family came to visit Nie Jinfeng, who had just given birth. Zhong Ying, who was unaware that she was about to have a son, curiously came over to look at the baby.

“This child…” Zhong Ying began, wanting to say a few words of praise, but seeing the little baby who looked like a red-skinned monkey, she couldn’t find anything to say. She naturally changed the second half of her sentence, “Second brother, have you named him yet?”

The children of the Li family in this generation all use the character "Guang" in their names. Li Gangshi's son is named Guangzong, and Li Rongshi's eldest son is named Guangfu. In comparison, the second brother's naming skills are slightly better. I wonder what name he will give his second son.

Li Rongshi looked at Zhong Ying and smiled awkwardly, "Not yet. Jin Feng and I think it would be better if you came up with the name for the child."

"Me, name it?" Zhong Ying was completely confused. Even if Li Rongshi and Nie Jinfeng couldn't think of a name, shouldn't it be left to Li Ming and Liu Hongyan, the grandparents, to name it? What kind of name is it for her, an aunt, to name her nephew?

Li Rongshi picked up the child lying on the bed. The little one was light, but it made his arms feel heavy. He held the child, gritted his teeth, and decided to cut off his heartache quickly.

"Fourth sister-in-law, we agreed that whoever had a second son would adopt him to you," Li Rongshi said, holding the child and handing him over. "From now on, he is your son."

Zhong Ying was so frightened that she staggered backward, almost falling to the ground, but Li Linshi caught her from behind.

Zhong Ying's face paled, and she stammered, "No, no, no—"

Don't come any closer!

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Author's Note: Zhong Ying (horrified face): Suddenly becoming a mother... I'm so scared!