Chapter 86
Chen Qing's due date was in May, but it's already April and the weather has warmed up.
His belly wasn't as big as Li Xin's, so he was quite agile in the later stages. He couldn't stay idle and wanted to do everything.
Grandma Sun didn't stop him. More movement is always good for production. After Chen Qing's condition stabilized, Zhou Yuan also started running back and forth between the county town and home. The transformation of the escort agency takes time, and he has been very busy since after the New Year.
He also took Qi Shuning to the county town and paid Qi Shuning for his work.
While preparing for the exam, Qi Shuning also helped Zhou Yuan with the affairs of the escort agency. His success in the imperial examination was sent to Yunxi Town after the New Year, since the Tian family and the Fu family in Yunxi Town had helped them a lot.
The imperial examination is also in September, so he has to leave for the capital by at least the middle of July. Zhou Yuan has already told him that he will have someone from the escort agency escort him to the capital, which is also his reward.
His baby, An'an Ningning, is seven months old and full of energy. No matter when he comes home, the house is filled with the baby's babbling.
After the New Year, Niu Niu went to his maternal grandparents' house to learn a trade. Zhang Yin was the only one at home helping Li Xin take care of the children, and Chen Qing and Aunt Sun would sometimes help out as well.
After Qin Xia got married, he stayed at home for a while. After the New Year, Meng Shuanzi was about to go out, and Qin Xia went with him. This time, Meng Shuanzi led a group of people to Xiaxi, Qin Xia's hometown, and they have not returned yet.
After April 15th, Zhou Yuan stopped going out and stayed home with Chen Qing all day. As the due date approached, he became even more nervous than Chen Qing.
As Chen Qing's pregnancy progressed, she often experienced leg cramps at night. Zhou Yuan was now able to sit up and massage Chen Qing's legs whenever she moved, and then fall asleep again after hearing Chen Qing say that she was better.
The midwife they found was the same one who had previously delivered Li Xin's baby; they had already made arrangements and paid a deposit.
As someone who had been through it all, Li Xin told Chen Qing a lot about things to pay attention to in the later stages of the process. Chen Qing listened very carefully every time, even though some of the points were repeated over and over again.
Chen Qing's attack was very sudden, several days earlier than expected, on the night of April 26th.
Chen Qing groaned in the night. Zhou Yuan thought he had a leg cramp and got up to massage his leg, but when he touched a wet patch under his body, he found that Chen Qing was cramping.
Zhou Yuan immediately regained his senses. He lit the oil lamp and saw Chen Qing's somewhat pale face. He quickly dressed and said, "Qing, I'll go and call Mother to come and keep you company. I need to go find the midwife."
Chen Qing nodded: "Go quickly."
Just as Li Xin said, the pain wasn't constant, but rather came in regular waves. When the pain subsided, he found the snack box by his bedside and started eating some snacks.
Soon after, Aunt Sun arrived. He saw Chen Qing sitting obediently on the bed eating snacks, and his heart ached: "Mother is here."
Chen Qing's pain returned, and he hurriedly swallowed the milk cake in his mouth, calling out "Mother!"
"Don't be afraid, Mom's with you." Aunt Sun patted his hair. "I'll go boil some water. Can you manage by yourself?"
"Can."
When Aunt Sun went to the kitchen to boil water, she only lit the fire, put the water in the pot, and immediately returned to the room. Chen Qing finished eating the pastries and dared not move.
Li Xin said the pain would last for a long time, and Chen Qing was prepared, so he could still endure it.
Zhou Yuan quickly returned with Wen Gong, but Wen Gong stopped him from entering the room. Zhou Yuan asked incredulously, "Can't I go in?"
Remembering that a man had entered the delivery room before, the doctor sighed: "As long as you don't mind it."
Zhou Yuan rushed into the room and grabbed Chen Qing's hand: "I'll stay here with you. If it really hurts, just pinch me."
Chen Qing nodded, the pain leaving him too weak to make any further movements, and he gripped Zhou Yuan's hand tightly.
Chen Qing had to endure the first half of labor on his own. Zhou Yuan looked at his pale face, but there was nothing he could do.
Chen Qing was too weak to comfort him, so he could only hold his hand tightly when he was in pain. He always remembered Li Xin's advice not to waste too much energy, so he only groaned and never screamed loudly.
When the pain became unbearable, he could only pinch Zhou Yuan's hand tightly, even drawing blood.
Zhou Yuan felt no pain at all. His eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the doctor and asked, "How much longer will this pain last?"
Wen Gong glanced at the situation and said, "It will take at least another hour."
After another round of pain, Chen Qing opened his eyes, only to feel a wetness on his cheek. He looked up and saw Zhou Yuan crying: "I'm sorry, Qing, for making you hurt so much."
Chen Qing reached out and wiped away his tears: "It's okay, it's okay."
Zhou Yuan witnessed Chen Qing's pain firsthand. He saw that Chen Qing was soaking wet, her hair was a mess, and she looked very disheveled. He then decided that he would never let Chen Qing have a child again.
As dawn broke, the sound of a baby crying finally rang out in the room.
"It's born! It's a boy, and quite heavy." The old man and Aunt Sun wrapped the baby up together, while Zhou Yuan didn't even have time to look at the baby, he was only looking at Chen Qing.
Chen Qing was so tired that he fell into a deep sleep after Aunt Sun showed him the child.
Zhou Yuan was very nervous and was about to call for help, but Wen Gong quickly reassured him: "He's just too tired, he's just asleep."
Wen Gong held the child, Zhou Yuan picked up Chen Qing, and Aunt Sun cleanly and efficiently changed the sheets on the bed before Zhou Yuan put Chen Qing back on the bed. He moved very gently, afraid of waking Chen Qing.
The child cried loudly, so Grandma Sun took the child and fed him rice porridge. Zhou Yuan gave Wen Gong a red envelope and then saw him to the door.
When they got back into the house, the child had already finished drinking the rice porridge and fallen asleep. Grandma Sun placed the child next to Chen Qing, and both of them slept soundly.
Zhou Yuan felt completely exhausted and slid down onto the bed. Aunt Sun patted his shoulder and said, "You should rest for a while too. I still need to make something for Aqing. He's very weak and needs to be well-nourished."
Zhou Yuan nodded, then stood up, first kissed Chen Qing's forehead, then gently patted the child.
Unexpectedly, Li Xin arrived very early in the morning. Upon seeing the red paper pasted on the door, he quickly ran into the room and exclaimed, "She's given birth!"
Zhou Yuan nodded: "She gave birth."
"Is the little boy a boy or a girl?" Li Xin leaned closer to take a look, but the child was wrapped up and it was hard to tell.
Zhou Yuan shook his head. He had been so focused on Chen Qing that he hadn't listened carefully to what the nanny was saying, and he didn't know whether the child was a boy or a boy.
Li Xin patted his shoulder to show her understanding: "I'm going to make some goat milk for the baby, I'll be back in a bit."
When Li Xin returned, Chen Qing was still asleep, but the child started whimpering from hunger again.
Li Xin is very skilled at holding and breastfeeding the baby, who nurses quietly in his arms.
"Thank you," Zhou Yuan said.
Li Xin sensed something was wrong with him, so he placed the child next to Chen Qing and asked, "What's wrong with you?"
Zhou Yuan looked at Chen Qing on the bed: "Child, why make him suffer so much?"
Li Xin knew what he was thinking: "Don't get stuck on this. The child is yours and Aqing's. Aqing worked so hard to give birth to the child. If you don't like the child, then all his pain was for nothing."
Zhou Yuan was stunned for a moment, and Li Xin said again, "I don't know if letting you into the delivery room is a good thing or a bad thing. If you don't love the child, how sad will Aqing be when she wakes up?"
Zhou Yuan patted his forehead.
Seeing that he had figured it out, Li Xin rolled her eyes at him and said, "Qi Shuning was like that back then too. Look at him now, he loves his child like crazy."
"You should take a break," Li Xin said as she walked out of the house. "The next month will be tough."
After seeing Li Xin off, Zhou Yuan lay down fully clothed next to Chen Qing, embracing her. Their child was beside Chen Qing.
Zhou Yuan hadn't slept for long when the child woke up. Zhou Yuan tiptoed and picked up the child, unsure whether he was hungry or needed to pee. Zhou Yuan was at a loss, but luckily Aunt Sun arrived.
Grandma Sun took the child from Zhou Yuan's hands, glanced at him and saw that he had wet himself. She quickly changed his diaper, and the child, now comfortable, stopped fussing. Grandma Sun then placed him next to his little daddy.
Chen Qing slept soundly until night, during which the baby nursed three times. When Chen Qing woke up, the baby was still sleeping soundly beside him. His eyes reddened as he looked at Zhou Yuan and said, "He's so handsome, he looks just like you."
Zhou Yuan gently wiped away his tears: "Don't cry, don't cry. Mother said that crying during postpartum confinement will hurt your eyes, so you can't do needlework anymore. How will you make clothes for the baby?"
Chen Qing quickly wiped away her tears and looked at Zhou Yuan with pleading eyes.
"Get up and eat something first." Zhou Yuan helped him up, then carried a bowl of chicken soup and fed Chen Qing spoonful by spoonful.
After finishing the chicken soup, Chen Qing stared intently at his child, his own child, whom he loved dearly, especially since he felt the child looked remarkably like Zhou Yuan.
After resting, Aunt Sun came over to teach Chen Qing and Zhou Yuan how to take care of the child. Zhou Yuan was busier, as he had to dye the eggs red, take care of Chen Qing, and take care of the child.
Chen Qing couldn't get out of bed yet, and Aunt Sun wouldn't let him hold the baby, saying that if he was too tired during his postpartum period, his hands and legs would ache when he got old. So Zhou Yuan took care of everything for the baby himself.
Chen Qing sat on the bed, watching Zhou Yuan skillfully change the baby's diaper. He smiled and asked, "Will the baby only be close to you in the future?"
Zhou Yuan changed the diaper, carried the baby over to Chen Qing, and as soon as the baby got close to Chen Qing, the baby, who had been whimpering, immediately quieted down.
He smiled and said, "The child still likes you the most."
"Zhou Yuan, the baby hasn't been named yet." Chen Qing gently touched the baby's face.
Zhou Yuan said helplessly, "I... I don't know how to name it. How about we ask Shuning to help us name the child?"
Chen Qing thought it made sense. He was illiterate, and although Zhou Yuan knew a few characters, it would be better to leave the naming to Qi Shuning.
“Then we can give the child a nickname,” Chen Qing said. “We can’t just call him ‘Child’.”
“You can choose the child’s nickname,” Zhou Yuan said.
Chen Qing's mind went completely blank for a moment, with only those vulgar names like "Dog Egg" and "Big Hammer" stuck in his head. Li Xin's two little boys were called An An and Ning Ning, which sounded so much nicer.
"I can't think of a nickname for the child," Chen Qing said, somewhat discouraged.
Zhou Yuan sat down next to him and took his hand: "Peace and tranquility are what Li Xin and the others hope for their children. Peace and smooth sailing."
Chen Qing looked at the child's face and said, "How about we name our child Zhuangzhuang?"
"I hope he grows up strong and healthy and won't be bullied."
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