Chapter 142 Premature Mountain Goods, An Unexpected Turn of Events, Ivy's Premature Birth...
The day after returning to the village, Lai didn't rest either.
We collected more than twenty sunflower heads at home, and after several days of sun exposure, they are ready to be deseeded.
Besides the sunflower seeds, there's another structure on the flower head called the tubular flower, some of which remains at the end of the seed after drying. It's easy to remove, but it can be a bit messy.
Ray and Lamb spent some time using a wooden stick to knock the sunflower seeds off the flower head and gather them into a small pile.
The infested, kernelless, and dried flower petals were sifted away bit by bit against the wind. About a third of them were sifted out, and in the end, only a little over half a bag of sunflower seeds were filled.
The plants didn't grow very well, and the yield didn't meet Lei's expectations.
Based on his experience last year, these roasted melon seeds would sell out in a few days, so he would still have to buy raw melon seeds from the villagers to roast.
Lei doesn't plan to plant sunflowers next year; it would be a waste of effort.
After dealing with the sunflower seeds, Lai and Lamb found a shady spot and started peeling chestnuts.
Chestnuts are difficult to peel, as the outer shell is covered in sharp thorns. Using homemade tools can save a lot of effort, and peeled chestnuts sell for a few more copper coins than unpeeled ones.
Without sufficient manpower, Lai naturally wouldn't go to such great lengths to sell just a little more. He still intended to sell roasted chestnuts, which would at least double the profit compared to selling chestnuts alone.
Ray, Lamb, and Neil were busy in the mountains and at home, stockpiling mountain produce.
There are endless roasted chestnuts and sunflower seeds, and countless chestnut balls and pine cones to peel. Open your eyes to the aroma of chestnuts, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds; close your eyes to the taste of chestnuts, pine nuts, and sunflower seeds.
Life was both tiring and fulfilling.
Perhaps out of fear of being beaten, or for some other reason, Gris didn't bother Neil and Danny, and Neil gradually lowered his guard.
Another ten days or so passed, and Lai had stockpiled quite a bit of mountain produce. The majority were chestnuts and sunflower seeds, with a small amount of walnuts and pine nuts.
He finally decided to go to town to sell these nuts.
After selling off this batch of stockpiled goods, the crops in the fields will probably be ripe. He'll resume selling them once he's finished working in the fields.
While Lai and Lamb were busy working non-stop, the little baby from the Rhys family had already shed his wrinkled appearance from when he was just born.
Xiao Bao looks different every day; his skin is fair and his face is round.
The villagers who visited all praised the child for being adorable, which filled Ivy with both envy and anticipation.
As her due date approached, her belly grew larger and larger, stretching her skin and causing unsightly stretch marks to appear.
She already disliked others touching her stomach, and ever since she discovered the stretch marks on it, she became even more averse to letting anyone get close.
I'm due to give birth in about two weeks. Mark has been away for a long time but will be back in a few days. Nothing can go wrong.
Ivy thought to herself.
She spends most of her time in bed, rarely leaving her bedroom, just to avoid making any mistakes.
Her pregnancy was not very stable. She had some bleeding when she was six months pregnant. She was too scared to tell anyone. Fortunately, the bleeding stopped the next day, which made her pay extra attention to her condition.
Maggie naturally had some opinions about Ivy's behavior, but she kept them to herself and didn't complain. However, she couldn't help but grumble a few words to her younger daughter from time to time.
The news that Farah had given birth to a boy had already spread throughout the village. Maggie was very envious and did her best to cook delicious food for Ivy, hoping that her belly would cooperate and allow her to hold her head high in the village.
"Sister-in-law, dinner is ready."
Anna served Ivy dinner. There was meat, soup, and some sweet little fruits.
Anna secretly swallowed.
The meat was specially bought by Maggie from town for Ivy. Usually when there was meat at home, her father and older brothers would eat first, while she and her mother, Maggie, would only eat a small piece.
"Thank you, Anna."
Ivy pulled two copper coins from under her pillow and handed them to Anna.
"Take this and buy some trinkets."
Anna hesitated for a moment before accepting.
Normally, Maggie wouldn't give her any pocket money. Only her eldest brother would occasionally sneak her a few copper coins. As for her second brother, he would only give her a copper coin when he needed her to run errands.
Ivy, who had only been married into the family for a short time, might occasionally give her some pocket money in order to win over her sister-in-law, or for some other reason.
Regardless of the reason, Anna was very happy to receive more copper coins.
She didn't particularly like Ivy, thinking she had a bad temper and wasn't good enough for her honest, hardworking, and profitable older brother, but she didn't object to Ivy joining her.
Especially after Ivy became pregnant and her temper improved a lot, Anna's feelings towards Ivy grew stronger and stronger.
"Anna, has your brother come back yet?"
"No, I heard he'll be back today or tomorrow. News has come back from town. Sister-in-law, don't worry, my brother is very capable."
Mark has been doing this frequently ever since the vegetables came into season and he started taking them to other places to sell at high prices.
If they didn't have enough vegetables at home, they would buy some from other people at a cheaper price. They even got their younger brother to help them, and they made a little money over time, though they were often not home.
This is fine for him too.
My brother and I only stay at home for a few days a month, and we don't have to listen to Maggie's endless complaints every day anymore, which makes the family much more harmonious.
"good."
Ivy slightly curled the corners of her lips.
"Sister-in-law, I'm going out to eat. Just leave it aside when you're done eating, and I'll come back to collect it."
"Um."
Ivy nodded and began to eat.
Not long after we started eating, commotion spread outside.
"My son is back!"
Maggie's voice was so loud that it was impossible for Ivy not to hear it.
She laboriously lifted the small table to the side, changed her clothes, tidied her hair, and got off the bed while holding onto the headboard. She was wearing Mark's shoes.
In the later stages of her pregnancy, her thighs and feet began to swell, and she could no longer wear her original shoes, so she made do with Mark's shoes.
She also wanted to greet Mark, who hadn't been back for a long time, so she hurriedly tidied herself up.
The family had all gone out to greet the two returning home, leaving only half-eaten food in the living room. There was only a small plate of meat, and the table was mostly filled with vegetables and potatoes.
Ivy, clutching her stomach, struggled to move forward and finally reached the door, where she immediately saw Mark.
Mark had gotten quite a tan, his hair was cut very short, and he looked very relaxed.
Mark also saw Ivy, whose belly was huge, and gave her a bright smile.
He's gotten darker and thinner, but he looks much more energetic. Business should be good this time.
Ivy observed Mark's changes, thinking to herself. She slowly walked towards the front door to greet her returning husband.
The younger brother led the mule cart, while Maggie held onto Mark tightly, pinching his arm every now and then to see if he had lost weight recently.
While dealing with his mother, Mark made room for his younger brother to bring in the mule cart, which was filled with things he had bought for the family.
While everyone was talking, for some unknown reason, the mule suddenly broke free of its restraints and charged forward, heading straight for Ivy. Everyone was terrified.
Ivy was already heavy and had difficulty moving, and now this huge beast was charging at her, leaving her with no way to avoid it. She hurriedly held her belly and tried to back away.
Mark reacted quickly, grabbing the mule's reins and using brute force with his brother to control the mule's charge, averting a crisis. Just as he was about to breathe a sigh of relief, he heard Ivy's cry of pain.
Ivy fell to the ground, her shoes flew off to the side, and bloodstains slowly seeped onto her skirt.
"Ivy!"
"Blood, why am I bleeding! It hurts so much."
Ivy was completely stunned, and tears streamed down her face uncontrollably.
Maggie's family was immediately thrown into a panic.
Mark was still leading the mule and couldn't let go easily, so Ivy was carried back into the house by her father-in-law.
In this critical moment, Maggie's family finally came together.
Maggie was so angry she wanted to curse. While helping her husband, she told Mark to quickly go and fetch the midwife.
With his brother's help, Mark unloaded the mule cart as quickly as possible, mounted the mule, and rode off. His brother, not idle either, went to find an experienced midwife in the village to help.
Ivy bled a lot, and her water broke shortly afterward. The room was filled with her painful wails.
Maggie sent her husband and youngest daughter out, telling them to prepare hot water and clean cloths.
"It hurts so much! Waaaaah, it hurts so much! Where's Mark? Where's Mark?!"
"Mark went to find the midwife, he'll be back soon. Just bear with it, just bear with it, Ivy. The baby has to be born today, or you'll be in danger!"
Maggie persuaded Ivy to remove all the clothes Ivy was wearing under her skirt, revealing a large patch of bright red blood.
"Ah! Waaah!"
Ivy was writhing in pain on the bed, and Maggie tried her best to hold her down, her forehead covered in sweat.
After all, she was her niece, and now her daughter-in-law; there was still a bond of kinship between them. Maggie didn't want anything to happen to Ivy and her grandson. If something did happen, she wouldn't know how to face Ivy's parents.
Ivy felt like she was in pain for hours, and her consciousness was fading when Mark finally returned with the midwife.
Without time for conversation, Grandma Afu changed into clean clothes and washed her hands before entering the room.
Mark didn't listen to his mother and go to find the wizard. Instead, he went to town to pick up Grandma Afu.
Hearing that the pregnant woman was not yet full-term and had accidentally fallen and bled, and seemed to be about to give birth, Grandma Afu hurriedly took the medicine and set off.
The arrival of the midwife temporarily calmed everyone down, as if they had found a pillar of support.
Mark stared blankly at the door, while Ivy's wails continued to echo from inside.
“Brother, Grandma Afu is the most amazing midwife, she’ll definitely have a solution. Sit down and rest for a while, so that if we need medicine later, we’ll have the energy to go buy it.”
Even the most difficult younger brother in the family rarely uttered a word of comfort. He forcefully pushed Mark into a chair.
A short while later, Maggie came out carrying a basin of bloody water.
"W-How is it!?"
Mark jumped to his feet, his voice trembling with nervousness.
"Grandma Aphrodite said she would do her best to ensure the safety of both adults and children. Anna, quickly boil some more water."
"good!"
Time passed second by second, and Ivy's cries of pain grew weaker and weaker inside the room, but the baby still hadn't been born.
No one in the living room uttered a sound.
"Mark, Aphrodite wants you to go to the city and find a doctor who knows magic. Go quickly."
"Um."
Mark was heartbroken and desperate. He mechanically mounted his mule and headed to town.
Ray and Lamb returned from selling roasted chestnuts and were having dinner.
There were quite a few customers today, and we made a lot of money. Lai went to Mu's place and bought some spare ribs to make sweet and sour spare ribs.
The bear cubs in the Shepherd family have been able to maintain their human form stably.
The chubby little boy with curly hair won the hearts of all the aunties in the market, and he was almost always carrying snacks.
Although it had been a long time since they last met, the children seemed to still remember Ray and were particularly fond of Ray's thighs. In the end, Ray rescued himself with a bag of sweet chestnuts.
After dinner, the three of them sat in the living room eating grapes.
The transplanted grapes are growing very well thanks to the blessing of wood magic and are ready to eat.
It has a strong grape flavor and is not sour at all.
The three of them ate and chatted in a relaxed and comfortable atmosphere.
"Woof woof woof!"
Lamb was telling the funny story about selling sunflower seeds today when suddenly Little Black's loud barking came from outside.
Mark appeared in the living room of the Rye family's house, sweating profusely and looking anxious and nervous, interrupting Lamb's story.
"Ray, please save Ivy!"
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Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-05-22 23:58:23 and 2024-05-25 23:16:05!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Fengyu (10 bottles); Don't be wronged! (5 bottles); Cultivation is great (1 bottle);
Thank you so much for your support! I will continue to work hard!
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