Wang Shijie was stunned for a moment, then said helplessly, "I'm sorry, Jiayi, my Wang family cannot have a descendant with an unclear family background."
After hearing her husband's words, Wang Jiayi burst into laughter, tears streaming down her face.
Her laughter echoed over the wall and reached the next house.
Feng Mingshu suddenly grabbed Zhou Jinshan's hand tightly. She opened her mouth, but ultimately said nothing.
Zhou Jinshan gently stroked his wife's belly: "Mingshu, I know what you mean. Don't worry, I'll go out and take a look."
Feng Mingshu quickly grabbed his hand and said, "Do what you can."
Zhou Jinshan nodded, called his sister to take care of his wife, and strode outside.
As they approached the gate, Yan Jiayi was walking past his yard, looking up. Wang Shijie did not come out; only Director Lu and his soldiers were keeping a close watch on Yan Jiayi.
Upon seeing Zhou Jinshan, Yan Jiayi stopped in her tracks, turned her head and smiled at him, saying, "I couldn't make it in time for your child's birth, so let me offer my congratulations first."
"Thank you," Zhou Jinshan said, his gaze shifting to her abdomen, his eyebrows twitching slightly.
Yan Jiayi clutched her stomach and laughed: "You guys just heard that? Don't worry, I was just kidding. Go back and tell your wife to give birth to the baby safely."
After saying that, he turned his head and said to Director Lu, "Let's go."
Seemingly not wanting her neighbors to see her disheveled state, she walked very quickly.
But Aunt Qin from the east courtyard ran out with a food box in her arms. After catching up with her, she ignored the soldiers' attempts to stop her and firmly stuffed the food box into Yan Jiayi's hands: "You promised to come to my house for dumplings the day you arrived on the island, but you haven't gone yet. So I brought it to you. We've been neighbors for so many years, you have to try my cooking."
Yan Jiayi's previously dry eyes suddenly welled up with tears. She clutched the food box tightly, choked out a "thank you," and quickly walked away.
But she never got to eat the box of dumplings, because once she entered the interrogation room, the food box was taken away by the soldiers, and she never saw it again.
Feng Mingshu fell asleep not long into the night when he was suddenly awakened by pain.
She reached out to the side, but didn't touch anyone, so she had to call out her sister-in-law's name loudly.
The door opened quickly, and the sister-in-law and mother-in-law rushed over, asking anxiously, "Sister-in-law, are you feeling unwell?"
"Where's your brother?" Feng Mingshu asked with difficulty.
“Fourth Brother went out after you fell asleep,” Zhou Caifeng replied hastily.
Feng Mingshu was in severe abdominal pain, and she also felt wetness between her legs. She said with difficulty to her mother-in-law, "Mother, I think I'm going into labor."
"Sister-in-law, are you sure you're not mistaken? Your due date is still half a month away," Zhou Caifeng exclaimed.
"Shut up, you brat, get out of the way!"
The old lady pushed her daughter away, lifted the blanket off Feng Mingshu, and saw that her pants were wet. The old lady was also anxious: "Her water broke, she must be taken to the hospital! Caifeng, go next door and call for help, go to the east side, not the west side."
Zhou Caifeng immediately responded and hurriedly ran to the east courtyard to call for help.
The old lady stayed home and quickly packed her things, then busied herself going to boil eggs.
Feng Mingshu called out with difficulty, "Mom, there's no need to boil eggs. There's chocolate in the bedside table drawer; it's high in calories. Could you bring it for me?"
The old lady agreed immediately, ran back, opened the drawer, and found candy and cookies inside. She didn't know which was chocolate, so she just packed them all in.
"Mother, Sister-in-law Qin and Battalion Commander Qin are here!"
Zhou Caifeng's voice rang out from outside, and the old lady immediately called out, "Let your sister-in-law Qin come in." But seeing her daughter-in-law covered in sweat, she gritted her teeth and called out again, "Please invite Battalion Commander Qin in as well!"
Battalion Commander Qin had intended to avoid suspicion, but upon hearing the old lady's greeting, he didn't hesitate and strode into the house.
Feng Mingshu was in so much pain that her consciousness was almost blurred, but she could still sense that several people had entered the room, including a man, but it wasn't Zhou Jinshan's.
After that, she was picked up, put on a bicycle, and taken to the hospital.
She heard the doctor's voice in her ear, instructing her on how to breathe and how to push. She did as instructed, but everything before her seemed shrouded in mist, unreal.
After Feng Mingshu was taken into the delivery room, everyone else was kept outside.
Aunt Qin comforted the anxious Mrs. Zhou: "Don't worry, Auntie. Teacher Feng is a very good person. She and her child will surely be protected by the Bodhisattva."
This was during the height of the campaign to destroy the Four Olds, so Sister Qin's phrase "May the Bodhisattva protect us" was inappropriate. However, no one noticed at the time. Even the old lady, after being reminded, immediately began to bow in all directions, earnestly requesting the gods to protect her daughter-in-law during childbirth and to ensure the safety of both mother and child.
Sister-in-law Qin and Zhou Caifeng also hurriedly followed suit, chanting incantations.
Only Battalion Commander Qin remained clear-headed. He wanted to offer a word of advice, but seeing that the three women—old, middle-aged, and young—were all as anxious as ants on a hot pan, he knew that if he didn't give them something to hold onto, it would be even more unbearable.
Besides, there weren't many people in the hospital late at night.
So he swallowed his warning and said to his wife, "Keep an eye on things, I'll go to the camp and call Commander Zhou back."
"Then hurry up and call him back!" Sister-in-law Qin waved him away hastily.
Battalion Commander Qin arrived at the camp, but was told by his guard that the commander was in a meeting and Regiment Commander Zhou was not allowed to leave.
Battalion Commander Qin wrote a note and begged his guard to take it in. The guard hesitated for a moment, but then agreed.
When Zhou Jinshan received the note and read its contents, he suddenly stood up, causing the chair to scrape against the cement floor with a screeching sound, attracting the attention of everyone present, including the leaders above.
Zhou Qingshan was sweating profusely with anxiety. Ignoring everything else, he said to his superior, "Reporting to the superior, my wife is having a difficult childbirth in the hospital. I request that you grant me leave so that I can go to the hospital to accompany her during childbirth."
The commander had never seen his beloved subordinate, whom he had been carefully cultivating, so anxious. However, there was a reason for it, so the commander nodded and agreed: "Okay, I approve it."
Zhou Jinshan saluted and rushed out immediately, not even hearing the commander call his name.
The commander had no choice but to summon his bodyguard and give him an order.
Just as Zhou Jinshan was about to rush out of the camp, his bodyguard caught up with him in a jeep: "Commander Zhou, the commander has asked me to drive you to the hospital."
Zhou Jinshan immediately opened the car door and jumped in. After the car had driven a short distance, Battalion Commander Qin caught up to the gate of the compound, panting and cursing, "You abandoned your messenger as soon as you got in the car, you have no conscience at all!"
It feels good to criticize the boss, since he'll never admit that he can't keep up with the boss anyway.
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