Chapter 165 Born
Looking far to the south, there is a vast expanse of snow at the end of the yellow sand. The top of the snow-capped mountain is covered with impenetrable white snow. The winding river is frozen. The river running through the desert is gradually drying up. In the lower reaches of the river, fish sink to the bottom and wag their tails in the turbid mud.
Gan Da and Gan Er brought some stones and placed them on the soft river bank. They stepped on the stones to catch fish in the freezing muddy water. The swimming fish were frozen stiff, but they caught one every time.
"Sharing fish soup today?" a merchant in a sheepskin coat came over and asked.
Gan Da looked up and said, "No, we caught them and put them in a water tank. Our shopkeeper's wife is about to give birth, so we're raising the fish to eat while she's in confinement."
"When will the baby be born? I haven't seen Shopkeeper Yu for four or five days."
Gan Da and Gan Er were not sure either, they only said that he was born in the twelfth month.
"It's almost time. No wonder she hasn't been to the inn anymore." The merchant shook the snow off his shoulders and said, "You should go ask her when she plans to slaughter the pigs. I think the pigs in the pen are quite big."
Gan Da actually knew about this and said, "The shopkeeper's wife said that we should kill a pig every ten days after the twelfth lunar month."
"That won't be long. Okay, I understand." The merchant rubbed his hands and strode away from the river.
Near noon, Zhao Xiping came over on a camel. He came over to say hello to Uncle Lao Niu and asked about the situation of the guesthouse. After making sure that there was no problem, he went to find Sui Liang.
"Is my sister home alone?" Sui Liang handed him the cash box and said, "This is the meal money collected yesterday. Brother-in-law, take it back first."
"Your sister has Xiaomi with her, and she's worried about this place, so she asked me to come take a look." Zhao Xiping took the cash box and the fish bucket from Gan Da with his other hand. He instructed, "Take the dogs and patrol more often at night. There are many people staying in the guesthouse, so be careful of those with bad intentions. Also, be sure to put out the fire in the stove after boiling water. I'll have Uncle Lao Niu check. If any remaining fire is found, whoever started it will be punished with a military stick."
Gan Da nodded reluctantly.
Zhao Xiping went to the kitchen again. There was Yin Po watching over him, so he was not worried about anything. He took away a basket of pancakes and buns, and rode his camel back to the city with the things.
At Qianhu Suo, Sui Yu and Zhao Xiaomi were cooking a mutton pot. She suddenly wanted to eat mutton this morning, so she asked Zhao Xiping to buy five pounds of fresh mutton and stew it with small radishes. The soup was thick and white, fresh and fragrant.
Hearing the door open, Sui Yu peeked out and saw Zhao Xiping's hands were full. She walked out to take the basket.
"I don't need your help." Zhao Xiping walked around her and into the kitchen. He put down the bucket and basket with one hand, and quickly went back to the house to put the cash box.
"The snow is falling heavily again." Sui Yu looked up at the sky.
"It snowed early this year, and it was quite heavy. I'm sure the crops will grow well next year." Zhao Xiaomi dumped the fish into the water tank in the corner. She turned her head and rushed to the person who came in and said, "Third brother, when I get pregnant, can you help me raise fish in advance when I'm about to give birth?"
Zhao Xiping looked at her and said nothing.
"Third sister-in-law, look at him!" Zhao Xiaomi was angry.
"I won't interfere in your affairs." Sui Yu smiled.
Zhao Xiaomi glared at him angrily and said nothing.
The mutton soup in the pot was boiling. Zhao Xiping lifted the lid and poured in the chopped green onions. The green onions were very flavorful and cooked quickly. He stirred the soup and asked, "Xiaomi, would Lian Zheng like to come over for dinner?"
"He's not coming. He went up the mountain to collect firewood."
"Then get the bowls and chopsticks and prepare to eat."
The pancakes were broken into small pieces and placed at the bottom of the bowl. Thick white mutton soup was poured into the bowl, and then two spoonfuls of mutton and radish were placed on top. The three people each held a bowl, holding the boiling hot mutton soup and sitting in the kitchen to eat slowly.
Sui Yu's belly has grown, and she needs something to lean on when sitting or lying down. When Zhao Xiping is at home, he is her backrest. The couple faces each other, and the man hunches his back for her to lean on.
"Is Lian Zheng okay with you?" Zhao Xiping asked.
Zhao Xiaomi swallowed the soft mutton and said, "Ask me? I'm fine with you, but not as attentive and considerate as you, Third Brother."
"That's normal. You're not as good as your third sister-in-law." Zhao Xiping said honestly, "Just live a comfortable life. Why compare with us? If you're pregnant and want to eat fish, ask the baby's father to catch it. Don't ask me."
Zhao Xiaomi rolled her eyes and said, "I just said it casually."
Zhao Xiping ignored her and turned around to see that Sui Yu had finished the mutton soup in her bowl. He asked her to sit still and he stood up to add more mutton soup for her.
Sui Yu wanted to eat mutton, but when it came time to eat, she couldn't eat much. She was full after drinking two bowls of soup, half a steamed bun, and a small spoonful of mutton. The rest of the food in the bowl was collected by Zhao Xiping.
Zhao Xiaomi cleaned the stove and left the mutton and mutton soup in the pottery pot, which was kept warm in the stove so that Sui Yu could continue to eat when she was hungry.
"Third sister-in-law, Third brother, I'll go back if I'm fine." Zhao Xiaomi took down the sheepskin coat hanging on the wall and said, "Third brother, you have to leave a maid at home to take care of her. If my third sister-in-law has spotting, you can send someone to call the midwife."
"I know that Yin Po and Meng Ma will come back to live here in a couple of days." Zhao Xiping saw her out, and after they walked away, he locked the door from the inside.
Sui Yu had already put on her fur hat. She took the man's hand and they walked into the snow-covered yard for a walk.
Zhao Xiping looked down and saw the bulging belly. The sheepskin coat was bulging high, covering the tip of the feet in the snow. He reached out and touched it and said, "Is the baby coming soon? If it gets bigger, it will be bad."
"Shut your stinky mouth." Sui Yu glared at him. "What's wrong? Can't you say something auspicious?"
"Your belly is too big." Zhao Xiping smiled awkwardly and said, "The baby is not small anymore, it's time to give birth."
Sui Yu tilted her head to look at him, then she understood what he meant, "Are you scared?"
Zhao Xiping didn't say anything. He was indeed scared, afraid that something might happen to Sui Yu.
Sui Yu laughed twice and said, "Don't worry. The doctor said I'm in good health. When the time is right, the baby will be born. Both he and I will be fine."
Zhao Xiping forced himself to cheer up. She shouldn't have comforted him.
After walking around the yard twice, Sui Yu went to the toilet. When her stomach was empty, she went into the house to sleep.
Zhao Xiping also lay down and covered herself with the quilt. When Sui Yu fell asleep, he moved to the end of the bed, lay down, hugged her legs and feet and rubbed them. The weather was cold this year, and the frostbite on her feet relapsed. It became itchy when she warmed herself up.
About an incense stick's time later, Sui Yu woke up, and Zhao Xiping quickly moved to the head of the bed to help her turn over.
"You didn't sleep?" Sui Yu asked vaguely.
"I'm not sleepy." Zhao Xiping tucked the mattress behind her, pulled up the wolfskin to cover the mattress, and half-draped it over him. He held her from under the wolfskin and asked in a low voice, "Is your waist sore?"
Sui Yu shook her head, "I want to sleep a little longer."
"Okay, you sleep."
The sound of wind and snow outside the house grew louder. Zhao Xiping thought of the fire in the stove. After Sui Yu fell asleep, he got out of bed, opened the door, and went out to the kitchen to add two pieces of firewood.
The room was dimly lit. Sui Yu woke up again to find a warm water bag at her feet. No one was inside, and there was the sound of shoveling snow outside. She lay flat on her back for a while, and when her stomach growled, she called out, "Captain Zhao, I'm hungry."
"Here I come."
Zhao Xiping brought in a basin of boiling water and said, "Wipe your face first to wake yourself up. The mutton soup in the pot is still hot. I'll go get it for you. Do you want some?"
"Eat it. I also want to eat hot cakes, the kind baked with fire, with burnt crusts." Sui Yu said.
"Okay, I'll make you whatever you want to eat." Zhao Xiping put the basin of water on the table. He held up the sheepskin coat for her to put on, and then handed her a hot cloth with the water wrung out.
"Light the oil lamp." Sui Yu felt that the light in the room was too dim and made him feel listless.
Zhao Xiping went to the kitchen with the oil cup in his hand, and came back with the oil cup in his hand after about ten steps.
Sui Yu was applying camel oil, first on her face and then on her belly. The baby in her belly woke up and followed her movements with punches and kicks.
Zhao Xiping took a look and went out to get some mutton soup.
Sui Yu didn't want to go out and suffer the cold, so she just sat on the bed to eat, and put a piece of clothing on the mattress so that the mattress would not be dirty even if the cake crumbs fell.
Sui Yu didn't finish a bowl of mutton soup and only ate half of a pancake. He couldn't eat anymore, so Zhao Xiping had to take the rest.
"If you're pregnant, I'll have to eat at least five meals a day." Zhao Xiping said helplessly, "Don't let me get fat when you lose weight after giving birth."
"It's okay to be fat. I won't dislike you if you're fat."
Zhao Xiping glanced at her, threw away his bowl and chopsticks, and stopped eating.
Sui Yu looked at him with a smile, stretched out her hand and said, "Come, wring out the cloth and wipe my hands."
Zhao Xiping first sent the dishes to the kitchen, then left the back door open to let the smell dissipate. After cleaning Sui Yu clean, he took the water out and poured it, then sat on the bed to chat with her.
The wooden door was wide open, and the warmth in the room gradually dissipated. Sui Yu and Zhao Xiping took off their sheepskin coats and lay down. The two of them covered themselves with the mattress and chatted and laughed in bed.
The colder it was outside, the tighter they huddled together. The bulging quilt seemed like their refuge. Huddled inside and listening to the whistling wind, they felt a sense of security.
"Do you think it feels the same when the baby is in my belly?" Sui Yu asked.
"So what do he think I am? A man-eating beast?" Zhao Xiping tapped his swollen belly and muttered to himself, "I'm a man-eating beast, and you're his mother, protecting him?"
This idea was novel. Sui Yu lifted the mattress to take a breath and said, "That might not be the case. The little guy can hear me talking to you day and night, so he must know that you know us."
Zhao Xiping leaned over and kissed the bulging belly, and emphasized seriously: "I am your father."
Sui Yu watched with a smile, but when she wasn't paying attention, her leg cramped again. She cried out, and Zhao Xiping hurriedly sat up and massaged her leg.
It was already dark outside, and before I knew it, half a day had passed.
When it was time for dinner, Sui Yu was not hungry yet, so Zhao Xiping stayed in bed and did not cook. It was not until late at night when the whole city was quiet that the couple dressed up and went to the kitchen to light a fire and cook.
The two of them lived a life of day and night reversal, eating when they were hungry and sleeping when they were tired.
Zhao Xiping asked for leave from Captain Hu early on. He stayed at home and followed Sui Yu's schedule in everything, taking care of her happily day after day.
On the first day of the twelfth lunar month, the guesthouse slaughtered the New Year pig. That afternoon, Yin Po and Meng Ma carried more than ten pounds of pork back to the city. The two stayed in the Qianhu Suo to take care of Sui Yu's food and drink.
It was a nice day on the second day of the twelfth lunar month. Sui Yu instructed Zhao Xiping to take out the children's clothes and swaddling clothes and hang them on the clothesline to dry.
When the midday sun was shining brightly, Grandma Yin heated up the kitchen, Sui Yu leaned back in a chair, and Zhao Xiping washed her hair.
That night, Sui Yu felt a dull pain in her stomach while she was sleeping. As soon as she stood up, she felt hot under her body.
"Do you want to turn over?" Zhao Xiping sat up. He seemed to have not slept yet and suddenly woke up. There was no trace of sleepiness in his voice.
Sui Yu lifted the mattress and found a dark water stain on the blue bed sheet.
"I'm about to give birth. Go find the midwife." Sui Yu said calmly, "Ask Aunt Yin to make me a bowl of sugared eggs. I'm a little hungry."
Zhao Xiping's heart was in turmoil for a moment. He jumped out of bed and was stunned for a moment before he clenched his hands tightly, opened the door and walked out.
"Put on your sheepskin pants, it's cold outside." Sui Yu reminded.
Zhao Xiping seemed not to hear. He first woke up Yin Po and Meng Ma, and then came back to put on his pants.
"I'll go call the midwife, you wait for me at home." Zhao Xiping hugged Sui Yu and kissed her forehead.
Sui Yu felt his lips trembling, she pointed at him and laughed, and when she saw him almost tripping on his way out, she laughed even more out loud.
When Aunt Yin heard it in the kitchen, the tension in her heart relaxed. This mistress was really amazing. She was not afraid even when giving birth for the first time. It was like she didn't know what fear was.
After an incense stick, Zhao Xiping called the midwife. The midwife washed her hands and came into the room. She checked the baby and said, "It's going pretty fast. I think she'll be able to give birth by daybreak."
"Let me make a bet. Guess whether it's a boy or a girl." Sui Yu still had the mind to make a joke.
"I won't guess. I'll do as you say." Zhao Xiping took the sugar-water egg handed to him by Yin Po and said, "Are you hungry? Eat something quickly. I'll feed you."
"No, please don't. You're shaking so badly. I'm afraid you'll poke the chopsticks into my nostrils." Sui Yu laughed to death. Seeing him nervous, she wasn't nervous anymore.
Sui Yu hadn't finished her bowl of sugar-water eggs when sweat started to form on her forehead. She quickly drank the syrup and stuffed the bowl to Zhao Xiping, saying, "Get out! I'm about to give birth."
Zhao Xiping didn't move. He stayed by the bed. The bowl in his hand gradually lost its temperature. The eggs were cold and smelled fishy, mixed with the strong smell of blood. This fishy smell calmed him down.
He fetched hot water, poured out the blood water, helped the midwife, wiped Sui Yu's sweat and covered her with a blanket. When Sui Yu was in the mood to talk, he sat beside her and accompanied her.
When it was getting light outside, a baby's cry was heard inside the house. Zhao Xiping took the wet baby from the midwife's hands and immediately took him to show Sui Yu.
"It's a boy who looks like you."
Sui Yu took one look and tilted her head, "It's still like you."
He looks quite ugly.
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