Chapter 53 The Birth is Imminent: His mother is about to give birth.
The rain, spun like silver threads in the lamplight, flew obliquely and densely, accompanied by the wind, and the wind carried the rain, slanting across the dark sky.
The pedestrians on the long street outside the palace walls were also scattered by the heavy rain. Only the lights in the distance were still on, but they were blurred into halos by the mist.
Looking at it, it seemed increasingly unreal.
Yao Ruyi stood frozen in place, feeling as if she were dreaming.
My mind went blank, and my heart was pounding wildly.
Her nose was pressed against Lin Wen'an's collar, and her forehead even touched his Adam's apple, which bobbed slightly as he swallowed. She was pressed against his chest, her eyes shrouded in darkness, with only a few rays of light, blurred by the rain, filtering through when her cloak was billowed up by the wind and rain.
When a person cannot see, all other senses become exceptionally clear, even time itself; what may be a mere instant is stretched out into an eternity. The sound of rain was deafening in Yao Ruyi's ears, so loud it drowned out all other sounds in the world, except for the pounding of her heart.
Just now, when her hand was suddenly pulled close, she subconsciously raised it and it was now pressed against his chest. Even through two layers of clothing, she could still feel the strong outline of his muscles and bones in her palm, and... the fabric, soaked with rain, continuously radiated the slightly hot warmth of his skin.
The familiar medicinal scent still lingered at the tip of her nose, diluted by the rain. Although it was a bitter smell, she could only smell the crispness of grass and trees, as if she were gently sniffing a clump of grass that had been dampened by the rain.
Yao Ruyi thought that ever since the day she suffered from mushroom poisoning, her mind seemed to have never fully recovered. At this moment, despite her embarrassment and nervousness, she felt no resistance; instead, a secret joy and peace of mind arose within her.
Those tiny emotions were like tiny bubbles rising from the depths of her heart, barely perceptible to her. She could only think: her brain must have been poisoned by the fungus, all because of the officials.
Just then, Da Huang suddenly shook its fur, splashing water droplets that soaked both of their shoes. This seemed to wake them both. The arm that had been around their waist suddenly relaxed, and Lin Wen'an let go, but still used his cloak to protect her. He looked at the raindrops clinging to her hair, his voice slightly hoarse in the sound of the rain: "...The rain is too heavy. I'll go hire a car. Wait for me here for a while."
He bent down to pick up the umbrella from the ground, shook off the rain, opened it, and quickly walked out of the narrow eaves under the palace wall.
Yao Ruyi only gradually snapped out of her daze after his figure was swallowed up by the torrential rain. She couldn't quite explain what was on her mind at that moment. She bent down and pulled Big Yellow, who was wearing a straw hat, under the eaves. She stared at Big Yellow's wet little straw hat for a while, then squatted down and wrung out its soaked tail like wringing out a mop.
The wind carried raindrops, and the lanterns at the palace gates swayed wildly in the wind, casting dappled light and shadows on the palace walls, along with streams of water rushing down like a waterfall.
As she stood up, she looked up at the row of swaying octagonal lanterns. When she looked down again, she noticed that the imperial guards who had been guarding the gate had been standing motionless with perfect understanding, eyes downcast, as if no one had passed by at all.
She suddenly felt a little embarrassed for them.
For her, a stranger in a foreign land, hugging was not a big deal. During the years she sought medical treatment everywhere, she was fortunate enough to squeeze onto the green trains during the Spring Festival travel rush in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou with her grandmother. It is no exaggeration to say that she was squeezed so much that she could hug more than a dozen people per minute. People from all over the country, men and women, young and old, came from all over the world.
But if this happened here, it must be a very serious matter, right? Then... what exactly did Second Uncle mean today? He's a very thoughtful person... Yao Ruyi stared at the heavy rain, deep in thought.
She was still confused when a carriage finally broke through the thick rain and slowly came to a stop in front of her. Once inside, she chose the furthest corner to sit, not daring to look up, and hadn't figured out how to ask. Hesitantly, she absentmindedly groomed Big Yellow all the way.
She wiped the fur off Big Yellow's forehead until it was almost matted, and he kept turning his head to look at her.
After getting off the car, she first led Dahuang into the yard, while Lin Wen'an settled accounts with the driver at the gate, giving him a generous tip before sending him away. By the time she turned back, she was already halfway inside the house, practically bolting the door shut.
Lin Wen'an strode through the narrow courtyard and raised his hand to stop the door from closing.
Yao Ruyi stared at him blankly.
In the sudden spring rain, her high, straight brow bone and silent, deep eyes revealed a beauty that Yao Ruyi had never thought was beautiful before seeing them. But after seeing them, there seemed to be only one answer.
He didn't go any further; he just stood at the doorway and whispered a few words to her.
He said...
As dawn broke through the clouds, the sky and earth shone with golden light. After the sudden, inexplicable rain that night, the weather had been sunny for two days in a row. This morning was especially so; before dawn, the sun had already risen, bathing the old houses and tiles in the alley in a fuzzy, golden glow.
Before the morning bell rang at the Imperial College, the sound of reading filled the Zhixingzhai. Yao Ruyi and Xiao Shitou sat side by side in the stationery shop, one big and one small, with their arms resting on the wooden planks propped up by the window, holding their faces in their hands, and sighing in unison.
Little Stone's troubles are simple.
His mother is about to give birth.
Yao Ruyi's troubles are actually not complicated.
Two days have passed, and the words Lin Wen'an said to her that night still linger in her mind. His voice was low and he spoke slowly, but each word dripped into her heart like raindrops, and to this day, it still ripples gently in her heart.
"As one wishes."
“I am neither your relative nor your elder, nor do I wish to be.”
"If you wish, you may call me by my first name from now on."
He said those words, and she couldn't sleep all night. In her dreams, she was constantly caught in a damp downpour, and she was also deeply immersed in that embrace that was actually only fleeting. In her dream, she seemed to be clutching half a soaked hem of her clothes, and her whole body was wrapped in the warmth of the scent of medicine and the misty vapor.
In her dream, she wanted to say something to him, but she couldn't speak, and she was so anxious that she was covered in sweat.
The next day, she got up with dark circles under her eyes, dawdling over dressing and combing her hair, but still carefully selected a delicate pink peach blossom from the hair accessory box to adorn her hair. As she pushed open the door, she was torn between two conflicting thoughts, fearing that she would see Lin Wen'an as soon as she stepped out. What should she call him then?
But when she went outside, she only saw Cong Xin humming a little tune in the pine field, San Cun Ding feeding the puppies, Grandpa Yao admiring himself in the mirror and trimming his beard, and Uncle Cong busy preparing breakfast in the kitchen. There was also Wang Wang lying on his back on top of Da Huang and the other puppies, his belly up.
Instead, she became reserved and embarrassed to ask. Instead, she swung her arms back and forth, pretending to do morning exercises, and looked around. She even lifted up the row of dog kennels in front of the side gate to take a look.
He's not in now.
They left the doghouse behind and returned home dejectedly.
When Cong Bo came out with breakfast, he said, "Young lady, Mr. Yao, come and eat quickly. There's no need to wait for Erlang today. Someone from the palace came early this morning and hurriedly called him away."
Yao Ruyi froze on the spot, feeling as if a pot lid had been placed over her heart, covering her pounding emotions. The lid seemed to have been soaked in vinegar, making her feel sour and depressed.
She could only sit down by the table with a sense of loss, pick up her chopsticks and bowl, and eat two bowls of porridge with two large steamed buns.
Just as he was lost in thought, Little Stone sighed heavily again.
Yao Ruyi tilted her head to examine Xiao Shitou's heavy expression, finding it quite amusing, and asked with concern, "Has Aunt Ying sent a midwife to check on him? When do you estimate he will give birth?"
"The midwife said my mother has started bleeding. It'll be in the next couple of days. She could go into labor today, or she might have to wait until tomorrow. It all depends on when my little sister is ready to come out." Little Stone knew everything about his mother's situation and spoke in an old-fashioned manner, "I think if there's no sign of labor by tomorrow, she'll have to take labor-inducing medicine."
Yesterday, Yao Ruyi heard that Aunt Ying was about to give birth, so she gave Xiao Shitou a day off and specially cut two feet of red silk to go to Lin Si Cao's house and hang it on Aunt Ying's door.
She heard Aunt Yu say that this could ward off evil spirits and protect the house for the new mother. Although she knew there was no scientific basis for it, she still followed the custom of the time. After all, it was Aunt Ying who was risking her life inside, and if it could put her at ease, then those two feet of red cloth would have served its purpose.
Lin Si Cao went to the yamen early in the morning to ask for leave, saying that he was going to the clinic to buy a ginseng root and ask two female doctors to come and wait for him, and that he should be back soon.
Lin Weiming and his brothers also skipped school and stayed home, so Xiao Shitou dared to go out to buy face cream.
So today, Yao Ruyi originally planned to guard the stationery shop herself. But unexpectedly, Xiao Shitou came over again early in the morning. He brought the wages he had saved up over the past few days and picked out a large jar of the most expensive Gong Shengchun face cream from Yao Ruyi's general store. He also carefully selected the camellia scent that his mother liked the most.
But after he finished buying the items, he didn't go back immediately. Instead, he followed Yao Ruyi to the stationery shop. He sat there restlessly, feeling troubled and unsure of what to do. At first, when Yao Ruyi asked him, he wouldn't say anything. Later, he lowered his head, tightly hugged the face cream in his arms, and murmured, "I feel that Mother is working so hard."
He pursed his lips, lowered his head further, and his voice trembled: "She sat washing clothes for too long yesterday, and when she got up she felt dizzy and accidentally fell, which is why she bled. My father wasn't here, I wasn't here either, and my brothers were all at school preparing for their exams, so they weren't here either. It was just my mother by herself."
Fortunately, she was already full-term, and neither she nor the baby were seriously injured. Although her mother said she was fine, having given birth to several children before, she knew what she was doing, but Xiao Shitou was still scared. Granny Xue told his father that people always said the first child was the hardest, and the subsequent ones were easier. But she had seen a lot with her husband, who was a royal physician, and she knew that no matter how many times a woman gave birth, it was like a gamble for the mother. If it went smoothly, great; if not, she would have to face death. She wanted to warn his father to be careful.
Little Stone couldn't bear to think about life without his mother. He would cry whenever he thought about it. He even thought that if his mother had to go to the gates of hell, he wouldn't let her go alone; he would go with her.
He was even more anxious than Aunt Ying, who was about to give birth. He tossed and turned at night, and even cried secretly under the covers. He bit his fist, not daring to cry out loud, but his older brother still found out.
Fortunately, he wasn't mocked by his older brother. His brother, who usually loved to tease him, just silently pulled him over, roughly wiped the tears from his face, and then vigorously pulled and stretched his face like a dough ball: "What are you crying for? You've soaked the blanket. Tomorrow, Mom will think you wet the bed. You're so young, yet you have so many things to worry about. You still have four older brothers to support you. Don't worry, Mom will be fine."
After that, Lin Weiming kept his word and stopped going to the school to study. Even when Aunt Ying tried to send him away for fear that he would fail the imperial examination, he refused, saying, "I can just take the exam again tomorrow. It was fine when I was young, I didn't understand, but now I'm the first in the family, don't I understand? I can take the imperial examination again and again, but I only have one mother!"
This brought tears to Aunt Ying's eyes.
Now he's the one who's taking care of the house. He even clumsily tried to cook a bowl of brown sugar egg custard for his mother. His second brother also skipped school and dragged his third brother to the outer city to buy black-boned chicken, saying it was for their mother to eat during her postpartum confinement after giving birth to their younger sister.
Fourth Brother helped tidy up the delivery room, putting up curtains and laying out mattresses. He also borrowed a lot of large teapots and stoves from various households to prepare for boiling water when the baby was born.
After much thought, Little Stone seemed to have finally made up his mind. He raised his big, tearful eyes and said to Yao Ruyi in a choked voice, "Sister Ruyi, I'm sorry, I can't come anymore. I'll stay at home and help take care of Mother and my sister."
He kept wiping away the tears in his eyes, holding back his sobs. He regretted not being home that day and deeply remorsefully admitted that he hadn't kept his promise. He had only been a helper for a month and was now quitting. He felt uneasy and ashamed.
Yao Ruyi then picked him up and rubbed his head: "Silly stone, what's the big deal? Of course you have to take care of your mother first. It's great that you think like this! Don't worry about your elder sister. Now that the Imperial Academy has started, the students have to go to class during the day, so Zhixingzhai doesn't need many people. Besides, I'm here, and isn't your elder sister Jiuwan here too?"
She bent down, took out her handkerchief, and gently wiped away the tears on his face. Smiling at his eyes, which were about to burst into tears, she said softly, "Just stay by your mother's side. If you ever want to come back as a shop assistant, I'll always welcome you and always have a place for you, okay?"
Little Stone nodded emphatically, hugged Yao Ruyi's waist affectionately, pressed his face against her lower abdomen, and choked out, "Sister Ruyi, thank you, I'm leaving now."
Yao Ruyi then took his hand and came out together, gently comforting him for a while before watching Xiao Shitou carry the jar of face cream and run into the Lin family's house.
These few words from that little stone had brought tears to her eyes. Yao Ruyi sighed softly and turned to go back into the shop. Leaning against the counter, she pondered for a while what gifts she should prepare to congratulate Aunt Ying after her safe delivery. Red envelopes were essential, and she should also buy some donkey-hide gelatin and longan for the new mother to replenish her blood and energy.
Yesterday, Aunt Yu invited everyone to pool their money to have two silver bell bracelets made at a gold and silver shop for Aunt Ying's soon-to-be-born child. This was only right, and Yao Ruyi naturally contributed some money as well.
But she still wanted to prepare something extra for Aunt Ying. She thought that when people came to visit at this time, just like in later generations, they would usually give more gifts to the children than to the new mother.
Having made up her mind, she thought of Aunt Ying, who, despite her hardships, was fortunate to have such a sensible and considerate child as Xiao Shitou, and felt a little comforted for her.
After thinking about this and that, in the end, I inevitably fell into my own little musings and daydreams again.
At home, Aunt Yu made Yu Jiuwan drink a large bowl of tonic medicine while she was being watched, and it was so bitter that she had to eat four or five pieces of dried fruit to catch her breath. Today, she took off her traditional woman's hair bun and dressed up as she pleased, combing her hair into a double bun, adding a few pearl hairpins, and putting on her favorite lake-blue wide-sleeved jacket. She was then ready to go to Zhixingzhai for her shift.
After returning to her parents' home, those were truly the best days she had experienced in recent years.
She no longer had to get up at dawn to serve her parents-in-law, and could sleep soundly until late morning. She could wear whatever she wanted, and no longer had to listen to her mother-in-law's nonsense like, "Always dressed so plainly, is it because someone in the family has died? It's really bad luck."
After getting up lazily today, her mother quickly prepared all the meals for the family.
Even her father, while his wife was bringing dishes to the kitchen, said to her with emotion, "Jiuwan, it's a good thing you're back. I've finally had some good food to eat these past few days."
Yu Jiuwan then realized that although the family was well-off, her two older brothers were often away from home, and she was also married. Her aunt was extremely perfunctory in cooking every day. In order to save trouble, she pickled several vats of salted vegetables at once. The Yu family's daily meals were either thin porridge with salted vegetables, steamed buns with salted vegetables, or a pot of salted vegetable soup.
Before Ruyi's grocery store opened, the elderly couple always made do with what they had. After Ruyi's grocery store opened, Aunt Yu was sometimes too lazy to even cut pickled vegetables, and often made do with grilled sausages with instant soup noodles, egg burgers, and tea-braised chicken.
When it comes to food, Yu Shouzhen dared not complain. Before Jiuwan returned, he once cautiously asked if he could skip the pickled vegetables. Aunt Yu slammed her chopsticks on the table, glared at him, and shouted, "If you don't want to eat them, cook them yourself!"
He dared not say it again.
But after Jiuwan returned, he was saved!
My daughter is weak; can she really eat only pickled vegetables? Suddenly, the meals at home became much more abundant.
Now every meal includes three dishes and a soup, with meat, vegetables, and large steamed buns made of white flour. Every now and then, Aunt Yu will even go out and buy a few pounds of mutton to stew. She's incredibly generous.
A few days ago, several old oxen that had died in the market were approved by the government to be slaughtered and sold. As soon as the news spread, Aunt Yu ran wildly and grabbed three ox tail bones and half a catty of beef brisket.
She spent two strings of cash on this beef without batting an eye.
That night, Yu Shouzhen happily drank two bowls of beef bone soup and carefully gnawed the remaining meat off the beef bones—such precious meat was naturally not for him to eat. Aunt Yu first removed the beef meat from the bones and even knocked out the marrow from the bones for Jiuwan to eat.
When Jiuwan was to be divided between the two of them, Aunt Yu scolded him.
"Why stand on ceremony with your parents! Just take good care of yourself; that's more effective than feeding your father and me dragon liver and leopard belly. Eat it while it's hot! Beef tastes best when it's hot."
Yu Shouzhen nodded vigorously beside him, agreeing that the best food should be given to his daughter. His daughter had suffered so much over the years and deserved nourishment. He thought it would be good for him to gnaw on bones; at his age, it was time to exercise his teeth.
Besides, there was soup too. The beef bone soup was so delicious. He could dip his bread in it and eat it. His stomach was full and warm all night long, and his hands and feet were warm when he slept. He didn't even need a hot water bottle. Accompanied by Aunt Yu's thunderous snoring, Yu Shouzhen was able to sleep soundly all night without any dreams.
After Yu Jiuwan got up and finished washing up, he went into the kitchen to help Aunt Yu. Before he could even start, Aunt Yu chased him out like a chicken, saying that the firewood was choking and he shouldn't come in so he wouldn't cough.
She had no choice but to go out into the yard to help her father feed the birds, but the colorful parrot immediately flapped its wings and yelled, "You little rascal!"
Yu Jiuwan narrowed his eyes, put his hands on his hips, and said, "Who are you insulting?"
"What a murderous bastard! You scoundrel! You're spineless!"
Yu Jiuwan was so angry that her fingertips trembled. Pointing at the feathered beast that was smugly flapping its wings and jumping around on the bird stand, she said fiercely, "You just wait, you just wait. I'm going to go next door and bring Wangwang over. Let's see if you dare to be so arrogant then!"
She was about to angrily go and get the dog to punish that wretched bird when she suddenly realized that she was acting like a child, still having the mind to argue with the bird.
Yu Jiuwan stood frozen at the threshold for a long while, then laughed self-deprecatingly.
It's true, once you go home, you become more childlike.
Oh well, if she really gets caught and eaten by the dog, her father will probably cry until the Great Wall collapses. She was about to turn around and go back inside when she caught a glimpse of Yao Ruyi staring blankly at the alley from the open window of the stationery shop, Zhixingzhai, diagonally across the street. Her brows were furrowed, and it was clear that something was wrong.
Yu Jiuwan's heart skipped a beat. She walked over with a smile and waved her hand in front of her: "Still not awake this morning? What are you spacing out for? Have you had breakfast yet?"
Yao Ruyi suddenly came to her senses: "Good morning, Sister Jiuwan."
Yu Jiuwan smiled and said, "It's getting late. I noticed that they don't come to borrow books anymore, so I'm being lazy today. I'll come over after I've had breakfast."
Yao Ruyi smiled and said, "No need to rush. There will be even fewer people after the bell is rung."
Yu Jiuwan nodded. These days, she spends most of her time in her study organizing books, copying and archiving them, and occasionally repairing and mounting any damaged ones. She has a very leisurely life, so Ruyi told her that she wasn't feeling well and didn't need to come so early every day, but should rest more.
Moreover, ever since Yao Ruyi's "Three Years to Become a Jinshi, Five Years to Become a Zhuangyuan" went on sale, the scholars at the Imperial Academy seem to be possessed, spending all their time hunched over their desks solving problems. After finishing, they hand in their work to Dr. Yao for review, are reprimanded, and then wail as they go back to redo it. As a result, all sorts of howls often come from the Zhixingzhai at night, leading unsuspecting people to think that a group of porcupines are kept inside.
Speaking of this book, she couldn't help but borrow a copy from Meng Boyuan yesterday and became completely absorbed in it. After reading such an exquisite book, she felt as if she had the confidence to take the imperial examination. It was hard to believe that such a book could be compiled in such a short time.
But she knew that Ruyi was in charge of everything, from how the book should be laid out and what content should be placed in each section to overseeing the printing press. Dr. Yao and Dr. Jiang were only responsible for what they could do, while Lin Wen'an personally proofread and wrote almost everything else for her.
Even many of the past imperial examination questions were not archived by the Imperial Academy, nor were they ever publicly released by the court. It was only through Lin Wen'an's possession of that book that he obtained it from the emperor. The fact that this "Sanwu" book was ultimately completed so perfectly was not solely due to Ruyi's hard work from the very beginning.
As for why people are so dedicated... the thought flashed through her mind, and Yu Jiuwan smiled and asked, "What happened to you just now? You looked frowning, is something on your mind?"
Yao Ruyi's ears turned slightly red, but after thinking about it alone for so long, she couldn't help feeling anxious and uncertain. She really wanted to talk to someone to relieve her stress. Otherwise, she felt suffocated by her own thoughts!
After hesitating for a moment, she scratched her cheek and whispered, "It's not me. I don't have anything on my mind. It's a friend of mine who's been quite troubled lately..."
Yu Jiuwan blinked.
Yao Ruyi, fearing she wouldn't believe her, emphasized again, "It really wasn't me, it really is my friend..."
Yu Jiuwan couldn't hold back any longer and was about to laugh when he saw Xiao Shitou rushing out of the Lin Si Cao family's gate, crying and shouting. Because he was in such a hurry, he tripped and fell heavily after only two steps, but he didn't hesitate or stop at all. After getting up in a hurry, he rushed out again.
Yao Ruyi and Yu Jiuwan exchanged a glance, their expressions changing, and hurried over as well.
Aunt Ying must be about to give birth!
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Ruyi is looking for someone: Not inside the house, not in the yard, then let's lift the lid of the water vat and see if they're there, and check the doghouse too. [Cat emoji]
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