Chapter 398 Legs are a bit weak

An Zhiqiu drove three times a day to deliver soup and meals to his wife and sister, to pick up his father-in-law and mother-in-law, and to look for some nourishing ingredients. Staying by the bedside in the hospital at night was no easier than when he was working, as the postage was several dollars a day.

Fang Hongye stayed in the hospital for only two days before she felt the pain of labor. That same night she gave birth to a big fat boy weighing seven kilograms.

Uncle Fang, Aunt Fang and An Zhiqiu stayed in the hospital for the whole night. They were so excited that they couldn't close their eyes, but they were also afraid that the hospital would be in chaos and wanted to keep an eye on the baby in the cradle all the time.

An Zhixia waited for the children to finish their breakfast, entrusted their lunch to Mrs. Deng, and went to the hospital. She sent them back to catch up on their sleep, and she, Old Lady Jiang, and Mrs. Zhang took over.

It was the first time that An Zhixia saw such a small child at such a close distance. The little face was the size of a palm, and its dark eyes followed the swaying figure. Its little arms and legs kept stretching, and it cried aggrievedly from time to time.

Mrs. Zhang was more experienced and put her hand on the child's mouth.

The little fellow's mouth opened eagerly as she searched with her hand.

"He's hungry," Old Mrs. Jiang was also very happy, "Hurry up and give him to his mother." The old lady was also quite trendy and used the word "mother" directly.

Fang Hongye had just finished drinking crucian carp soup, so she took the child and started feeding him.

The little fellow took a big bite and drank it eagerly, making the adults shout, "Slow down, slow down, no one is snatching it from you!"

An Zhixia found everything curious and could kill half a day just staring at the little baby.

But the child was too young and fell asleep after just a few sips. Mrs. Zhang pulled his ears and said with a smile, "When he drinks milk, you have to stroke his ears, otherwise the little thing will get lazy and fall asleep, and will wake up crying because of hunger after sleeping for less than three minutes."

In one day, An Zhixia also learned how to hold the baby and change the baby's diapers.

When An Zhiqiu sent her home, the children surrounded her and kept asking what their little brother looked like and whether he was well-behaved.

An Zhixia's eyes were bright with joy and she answered them patiently, "The day after tomorrow is the weekend. Your aunt and brother will be discharged from the hospital. Let's go to their home to visit them."

The children were temporarily satisfied.

"Brother, have aunt and uncle told us when we should hold a wedding for the child? Who should we invite?" An Zhixia asked in a low voice.

"When it's one month old, maybe after the new year. The child's grandfather is planning to go back to the countryside to oversee spring ploughing before the 16th day," An Zhiqiu said in a low voice as he looked at the three children studying obediently on the kang table. "I thought we could have a meal together as a family and give red eggs to my colleagues at work."

"Okay," An Zhixia didn't like the courtesy of face exchange, "I want to give my nephew a big red envelope!"

An Zhiqiu smiled and replied, "Do you think you can run away? You stay at home for the next two days. I will bring you lunch at noon. When your sister-in-law is discharged from the hospital, I will pick you up."

"Brother," An Zhixia protested dissatisfiedly, "It's only a few steps from here to the TV station..."

Before she could finish, An Zhiqiu patted her head gently and said, "You have a baby in your belly now, so you have to be careful when you go out. I am worried about some people in the station, so it's right to be on guard."

An Zhixia nodded helplessly, looked at him eagerly and said, "Then brother will come to pick me up every day. I will be very bored at home alone."

An Zhiqiu and her three children finished all the housework. She also made a lot of winter clothes for the family, including the little peanut in her belly. The quilts were also refurbished. It can be said that An Zhiqiu had no work to do for this month.

"Okay, I'll take you for a walk every day. Your sister-in-law did as you said and walked around the playground for twenty minutes every morning, noon and evening. When she gave birth, she pushed as the doctor said. She didn't suffer much and gave birth in two hours," An Zhiqiu said with a smile.

He stayed in the hospital for three days and experienced a lot of things.

Some pregnant women had their water broken but their uterine contractions had not started yet, and they had to toss and turn for a whole day and night. Some pregnant women had difficulty giving birth, and the doctors cut open their bellies to take the babies out. Some pregnant women were left on the operating table forever.

An Zhiqiu's legs trembled when he thought about it now. He was a young and brave man who was not afraid of tigers. When he was waiting outside the operating room, he was nervous and scared, but the fear was not real.

Because he was sure that Fang Hongye and her son would be safe, but when a bed covered with white cloth passed by him in the evening and the family members' miserable, desperate and heartbreaking cries, he suddenly assumed that it was Fang Hongye lying on the bed.

An Zhiqiu's legs immediately weakened and he almost fell to his knees. When he looked at An Zhixia's stomach, he was more horrified and fearful than excited.

"Xia Xia, you were right before, as long as the child has a good name," he nodded firmly, and then thought about his wife who still had to go through another childbirth, his legs felt a little weak.

An Zhixia also touched her belly. She heard that giving birth is the most painful. She was afraid of pain, but it was something every woman had to go through and it was a sacred mission that needed to be accomplished.

Li Hanqian was very fast. Within two days, he had rented an empty warehouse from the transport team. The warehouse had two rooms, one large and one small. The small room was used to store various materials, while An Zhixia taught the family members how to use the large room.

As long as the family members have learned it, they can go to the nearby supply and marketing society to collect the materials themselves in the future, and An Zhixia will not have to worry about it at all.

Mrs. Deng's children are now in elementary and junior high school, so she has temporarily taken on the job of registering and collecting money.

Because the atmosphere at the TV station was too tense, An Zhixia did not bring along the families who were turned away by the Maicheng Craft Factory. Instead, she only notified the families of the team led by Fang Yuan.

The family members were very happy to learn that they could take on large odd jobs. As soon as the children left in the afternoon, they all carried stools and clean cloth bags and went to the warehouse in a large group.

When I met acquaintances on the road and asked them about it, they all smiled and vaguely said they wanted to learn some sweater patterns.

When they arrived at the warehouse, they closed the door to refuse the prying family members, found a seat and sat down, looking at An Zhixia and Mrs. Deng eagerly.

An Zhixia smiled and said, "I think the sisters-in-law know what we are doing here, right? I used to work in the supply and marketing cooperative, and I knew the leader of the cooperative. I suggested to him that we assign some odd jobs.

Although there are garment factories and some crude sweater assembly lines, there is a huge difference between machine-knitted and hand-knitted sweaters.

Therefore, if we can knit a lot of beautiful sweaters, it will increase the variety of goods in the supply and marketing cooperative, bring us some extra income, and help men share the burden. "

The family members were very excited when they heard this. Money is the cutest and most attractive thing. They all expressed their sincere gratitude to her.

An Zhixia didn't say much and went straight to the point: "I have secured some odd jobs for you, but the conditions are a bit harsh. You need to advance the material costs, which is equivalent to a deposit to prevent some people from smuggling materials home or deliberately wasting or damaging them.

In the business world, it is always the case that villains come first and gentlemen come later. I hope everyone can understand.

The finished products are to be sold outside, not to be worn by children or men at home. They should be elegant, fashionable and beautiful. Whether you can earn some pocket money depends on your personal ability. "

Mrs. Deng and the others had already told them all these things one by one. Just because they could accept such a request, they ruthlessly took out a portion of their savings and put it in their pockets to prepare for the deposit.

They will cherish this opportunity and will never be foolish enough to kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

An Zhixia stepped aside and asked Sister Deng and another Sister Yuan to be responsible for registering the payment and distributing the materials. There were 57 people in total, including the wives of the transport team employees, their mothers, or close relatives. All of them had some knitting skills and were skillful.

After the items were distributed, An Zhixia took out the sweater patterns she had sorted out and posted them on the walls of the warehouse one by one. These were drawn with low-quality colored pencils she got from the supply and marketing cooperative. The models were simply drawn with a few strokes to create curves, and they were wearing sweaters of various contrasting colors and patterns.

Each one is stylish and beautiful, like the opening credits of the 9 o'clock theater on an overseas channel.

Everyone gathered around to watch, and while they liked it, they couldn't help but doubt their own abilities. "Sister Fang, this dress is so beautiful, can we knit it?"

The problem is that even if they can knit them and keep up the speed, will anyone buy the sweaters?

People who are skillful can figure out how to knit it after just a few glances. It just takes a little effort. Who would be willing to spend money on it?

An Zhixia smiled and said, "Why can't you knit it? Just choose the right material and color, knit the pattern neatly and evenly, and make sure the number of stitches is correct, then it will be fine."

Everyone felt that this was very realistic and felt a little relieved. They nodded vigorously, saying that they would study hard and be careful when working so as not to let her help down.

People in this era are rarely fat, so she plans to have everyone knit sweaters of one size, and then subdivide the sizes after they all get the hang of it.

They started by learning the simplest patterns and color combinations.

They are all used to doing needlework at home. Even though they don't have many opportunities to knit sweaters, the family members get the hang of it quickly. They each draw the finished product and knitting method in their own small notebooks and record the number of stitches.

An Zhixia planned to give everyone a class every other night to check the previous results, review them, and then learn new things.

As soon as she walked downstairs, she saw her brother rushing over. She looked at her watch in surprise, "Brother, have you sent Uncle Fang and Aunt Fang back? It's a little early today. Are Aunt Zhang and Grandma watching over Sister-in-law and Xinxin in the hospital?"

The little guy was named An Shixin, and everyone hoped that he would live a peaceful life and achieve something in the new society. However, the old man was somewhat superstitious and thought that children with humble names would be more likely to survive, so An Shixin was given a more rustic nickname: Niu Dan!

An Zhixia couldn't shout.

An Zhiqiu still had a serious look on his face. He forced a smile and greeted everyone, then protected his sister as he walked home.

(End of this chapter)