The road in Xiaoer Village is really bad, full of potholes, with peaks here and flattened areas there.

There is a section of river that passes through the village. Many women are washing clothes by the river, which is very inconvenient with their bulging bellies.

Jiang Ji saw a man walking out of a thatched house on the roadside. He tilted his head and spat, cursing, "What bad luck! A big money-loser gave birth to a bunch of small money-losers. You made me die, so what's wrong with spending some of your money?"

He turned around and saw Gu Genmiao and Jiang Ji approaching. His eyes lit up, "Genzi, what is this?"

"He came from the city to see a doctor." Gu Genmiao said in a muffled voice, "The new doctor took a quick look and calmed down the crazy wife of the Wang family. It seems that the situation is quite real. Brother Mazi, maybe your wife can really give birth to a boy this time."

"That's great. When can you come to my house and take a look?"

Gu Genmiao was not very happy about this.

His sister-in-law is more pregnant, so it will probably happen in the next few days.

If he agreed to this, when Gu Mazi came to make trouble, his brother would definitely use the axe at home to chop him into several pieces.

The wife of Gu Mazi is only eight months pregnant, so she can wait.

So he said perfunctorily, "I'll come when I'm done. My dad and the others still need to confirm the cause of the illness with that Xiaobai...doctor first."

"Then you must remember, don't forget that it was your pockmarked brother, me, who took you to climb through the window to watch Widow Liu bathe."

Jiang Ji was a little speechless after listening to this. Even someone like Gu Mazi could bring up these things as topics of conversation to build friendships.

After finally getting rid of the troublesome Gu Mazi, Gu Genmiao caught a glimpse of Jiang Ji's gaze fixed in the direction of Xiaoer River.

Jiang Ji still looks good when he is not sick. The breeze blowing his hair reminds people of the soft willow branches by the river.

Gu Genmiao was also old enough to get married, and he wanted to show off. But he was not well-educated, so he could only talk about things that outsiders didn't know. He coughed a few times deliberately and said, "You see that river, right? Our village was named after the Xiaoer River.

At the beginning, there was a family in the village who could not give birth to a son. They saw many traveling doctors and took many folk remedies, but nothing worked. The woman in that family was beaten and scolded by her husband every day. Later, she felt ashamed and sorry for her in-laws, so she went out to the river in the middle of the night and wanted to commit suicide.

Guess what happened? In the middle of the night, I saw an old woman in white standing across the river washing clothes.

The old woman had no feet, a big white face, and her whole body was hanging above the river.

After hearing the woman's story, the old woman asked her to go back home along the same route and grab a handful of ashes from under the stove for her husband to drink. Guess what happened later? Ten months later, the family actually gave birth to a big fat boy. Everyone said that the old woman was actually the spirit of Xiaoer River.

"Those in the village who cannot give birth to a boy will throw the baby into the river and drown it, so that the river spirit of Xiaoer River will be a witness and will not let a girl be reborn into their family. Some will even pierce the girl's body with a thick needle, the same one used to make shoe soles, before throwing them in, so that they will cry heartbreakingly. The more wronged and loud the cry, the better. It is best if they remember this pain for the rest of their lives. This is the fate of daring to be reborn into your own family!"

As he spoke, he observed Jiang Ji's expression. Seeing her look of surprise, he felt a strange sense of accomplishment. "This is considered good. There are also ways to throw it into the pot and cook it to feed wild dogs, throw it into the cesspool and let it get dirty, bury it on the side of the road and let people trample on it... It's everywhere."

Jiang Ji glanced at the small mound of earth under his feet and silently walked around it.

When he said these words, it seemed very common, everyone here did the same.

They are not ashamed of it, but proud of it.

They don't think that people who try every means to have a boy are weird. In their opinion, this is a manifestation of having aspirations.

Those who feel satisfied with giving birth to a girl will only be subject to endless criticism and ridicule.

These people can't bear to move to the city, or chase a male fetus to join them.

In this way, the same idea will continue to be reinforced in a closed small circle, producing similar echoes.

This is the "echo chamber effect."

At this time, several women by the river finished washing clothes, and one of them lay down by the river and took a sip of water.

Because of her big belly, her body looked particularly heavy and she almost slipped and fell into the water. She was quickly pulled up by a woman nearby.

The river is full of sharp rocks, and it would be terrible if you fell into it.

The woman was still in shock, breathing heavily, and gently patted her belly to comfort him, "Don't be afraid, baby, don't be afraid."

Although her face was roughened by the wind, it still radiated the soft and beautiful motherly glow.

“Why do they want to drink water?”

Gu Genmiao took a look and said, "Oh, there are river spirits in the river. Those people believe in river spirits. They throw their previous baby into the river and let the baby drift downstream. They say that if they drink the water of Xiaoer River while pregnant with the next baby, they will give birth to a healthy, white and plump boy. Many people who did this before gave birth to boys. My father said that my mother also drank the water of Xiaoer River. I was born as the fifth baby, but it doesn't work now."

"Why not now?"

Jiang Ji seemed to have a hundred thousand questions.

Gu Genmiao didn't intend to hide it, but hesitated for a few seconds, his facial muscles twitched a few times, and his eyes were faintly filled with fear. "One night more than ten years ago, an adult water stick floated down from upstream. They said it was unlucky, so they angered the river spirit, and it has not appeared since then."

More than ten years ago.

It also doesn't match the policy of only giving birth to female babies which started ten years ago.

However, it has been too long since then, so these rumors cannot be fully trusted.

Even if two out of ten people gave birth to boys, the story would spread that the river water was a miracle.

Jiang Ji looked at that face overflowing with maternal love again, wondering if she would still be so gentle after giving birth to a girl.

Gu Genmiao took her for a walk around the village.

In the village, there are only a few small mounds of earth that can be seen from time to time, some of which are broken and dirty.

I didn't see any strange or ominous buildings.

However, Jiang Ji discovered that few men in this village were doing proper work. Instead, it was the women at home who were still carrying firewood, washing clothes and cooking even though they were pregnant.

Gu Genmiao thinks this is perfectly normal.

"The women in the village are not as delicate as you city people. They all went through this and are all doing well."

"Now that all the young and strong men in the village have died, what's the point of earning money to support the family? Everyone is exhausted, no longer working, and no longer caring about the land.