The Bride Kidnapping (Part Two)
Qubu hurriedly raised his hand and said, "Qubu swears to the mountain god that if Aguo survives, Doctor Liu will be our second parents; even if he doesn't survive, Doctor Liu will still be my child's savior. Mountain god above, Qubu will never be an ungrateful villain!"
A huge weight was lifted from my heart, and I nodded, saying, "With your words, I can confirm that A-Guo was right about you."
From behind the curtain came Aunt Xu's joyful voice: "The bleeding has stopped! It's stopped!"
The women who were assisting with the delivery were full of praise: "It's true, Dr. Liu is amazing!"
"Dr. Liu, you are simply Hua Tuo reincarnated!"
"What do you mean Hua Tuo reborn? He's more like Hua Tuo himself!"
Qu Bu squatted in the corner, burying his face in his hands and sobbing. Liu Yu emerged from behind the curtain, and I quickly wrung out a clean towel from the basin and handed it to him: "Thank you for your hard work, Dr. Liu!"
Liu Yu wiped the sweat from his forehead, his expression and speech finally returning to normal: "It wasn't hard work, just a bit of a fright."
I laughed and said, "Dr. Liu's contribution is truly remarkable. I'll have Lord Wei have a couple of drinks with you later to calm your nerves."
Liu Yu waved his hand: "You flatter me, Madam Qing. Drinking with Ji Zhou is a must. The credit for the safety of both mother and child goes to Aunt Xu; the mother's good health and strong will to live are also factors; as for me, Liu Yu, I was just doing my duty as a doctor."
As she spoke, she picked up a prescription from her medicine box and handed it to me, saying, "This is a medicinal diet prescription from the palace. It is very effective in replenishing blood and qi, and it uses only common ingredients. Please trouble you, Madam Qing, to cook it according to this prescription and give it to the woman after she wakes up."
I went out and handed the prescription to Huai Xu, instructing her to prepare it.
Huai Xu beamed with joy: "Are you really alright? I just heard Qu Bu crying inside, it scared me to death!"
"He's really fine," I said with a smile. "He was just excited. Remember to let Madam Wang know so she can rest assured."
"That's wonderful!" Huai Xu ran off happily, but stopped abruptly as he passed Wei Ji and exclaimed, "Lord Wei, you are truly a lucky star for Nan Guang! Ever since you came here, one happy event after another has occurred!"
The woman at the door also said, "Miss Huai Xu is right, Lord Wei is clearly a blessed man!"
Perhaps the people of Jiangnan are too reserved and subtle to appreciate the straightforwardness of the people of Nanguang. Wei Ji lowered his head slightly and silently turned away.
I went back inside. Qu Bu and Liu Yu were struggling, one wanted to kneel down and the other wanted to be helped up. Several midwives were watching the commotion by eating flatbread on the side.
A woman from the village laughed and said, "Qubu, you must acknowledge Doctor Liu as your father."
A Han Chinese woman standing nearby chimed in, "Dr. Liu is Han Chinese, so just call him 'Dad' directly. It'll save us from having to say 'Father' twice."
"Dr. Liu, Qu Bu and his wife are really capable!"
"Exactly. It's like a great son delivered right to your door, and you don't even have to raise him. Why not take him if he's free?"
These women, having been busy all day, now had a moment to spare, and they chatted amongst themselves, finding a perfect opportunity to amuse themselves with the two of them.
Liu Yu kept giving me meaningful glances, so I quickly stepped in to defuse the situation: "Dr. Liu, Prefect Wei is still waiting for you outside. Qu Bu, don't rush. To become godparents, you need to match your birth dates. When Mr. Liu has time, we can have him do the calculations for you."
I picked up my medicine box and pushed the two of them out the door. The women behind me laughed and said, "Qing Niangzi, you can't leave."
"Yes, yes, yes! Qing Niangzi, don't go, chat with us a little longer."
I handed the medicine box to Wei Ji: "Lord Wei, Doctor Liu wants you to have a drink with him." Then I said to Qu Bu, "Qu Bu, go to the kitchen and prepare two dishes so that Doctor Liu can taste your cooking."
I went back inside and said to the women, "You've been busy all day, are you about to burst with boredom? What kind of fun are you looking for? Tell me!"
A woman from the Liao family chuckled and said, "Qing Niangzi, you dare to come to the delivery room? Will you ever be able to have children again?"
I laughed and replied, "If I don't want to have more, I don't want to. I already have a daughter!"
Another woman said, "Qing Niangzi is so lucky to become a mother without pain."
The crowd burst into laughter, and then chimed in, "It's okay to be a mother even if it's painful. Qing Niangzi's physique shows she'll have a healthy baby."
"Stop talking nonsense! Qing Niangzi isn't married yet, where would she go to give birth?"
"By the way, Qing Niangzi, many young men proposed to you in the past. Weren't there any you liked among them?"
"Yes," I said, covering my mouth with a laugh, "but I haven't fallen for him enough to want to get married and have children yet."
"I think you've all eaten too many flatbreads and are feeling bloated. Qing Niangzi is smart and capable, and she owns her own inn. Huai Xu's daughter is also filial. They're living a comfortable life, so why would they want to go and give themselves to a man?"
"Qing Niangzi hasn't looked for a man all these years, is she still thinking about that boy from Dongchuan?"
"Look at your mouth, you can't even utter a decent word. Who asks such nonsense?"
"I'm sorry, Qing Niangzi, just pretend I didn't ask."
I laughed out loud: "Actually, you all really want to know, don't you?"
"That's right. Who wouldn't want to know about the women of Nanguangxidong?"
I frankly said, "Back then, I really felt that I would marry no one but him in this life. But as time went by and I experienced more things, I no longer had that thought."
A woman from the village grinned from ear to ear: "I knew it! Qing Niangzi from Ba Ting Dao would never hang herself on one tree for a man. Come on, a bet's a bet, you all owe me ten coins, and you can't renege on your debt!"
Aunt Xu lifted a corner of the cloth, peeked out, and cursed, "You bunch of rotten tongues, stop spouting nonsense here! Go home, wash up, and go to bed!"
"Oh!" the woman who won money replied with a smile, "My dear Sister Xu, there are so many joyous things happening today, I'm so happy I can't sleep!"
A woman nearby said, "Ah Zi, can't sleep? I have an idea for you: go back and have a three-hundred-round battle with your man!"
Azi waved her hand dismissively: "Are you telling a story? What 300 rounds? He surrendered in less than three rounds!"
The woman laughed triumphantly, "Who said she had sex with your man? Look at her, all she thinks about is that thing in her pants all day long!"
"So what if I am thinking about it?" Azi said nonchalantly. "It's not like you're not thinking about it. Where did your three kids come from? Weren't they born from sleeping with your man?"
Aunt Xu got up and shooed them out of the room: "You gossipy women, go to bed and sleep with men! Sell a few more babies, and I'll take care of the births for you!"
I then noticed that Aunt Xu's hair was already soaked and clung to her scalp, and her clothes were also soaked with sweat. She looked as if she had been pulled out of the water.
"Aunt Xu, A-Guo is still asleep. I'll stay and watch over him for a while. You should go back and change your clothes."
"No need, I brought dry clothes. I'll change after I finish this pancake."
I brought her a bowl of water: "I had only ever heard that childbirth was hard for women, but seeing it today, I realize that the work of midwifery is just as arduous. Aunt Xu, why did you choose this profession?"
While chewing on a flatbread, Aunt Xu replied, "My adoptive mother is Xu Shan's biological mother. She was a midwife in the area before she passed away. I was her assistant at first, but later, when her eyesight deteriorated, she took over as my assistant. As I worked, I ended up working for her until now."
I laughed and said, "So, you two must have grown up together since you were little."
Aunt Xu smiled and nodded: "That's right. I was born into his family, and my mother-in-law took me in herself."
I was a little surprised: "Isn't it usually the midwife who comes to the door to deliver the baby?"
Aunt Xu took a sip of water and slowly said, "The year I was born, my hometown was first hit by a great flood, and then by bandits. My biological parents followed the villagers and fled north to escape the famine."
"When we were almost to Tongcheng, my mother was eight months pregnant. But just then, my father suddenly fell ill and died. The villagers dared not take my mother with them on the journey. They left her with some food and abandoned her."
"My mother was heavily pregnant and had nowhere to go. She begged for food along the way and met my mother-in-law. My mother-in-law took pity on her and took her home to prepare for childbirth. That night, she gave birth to me."
"Because I was born prematurely, my mother didn't have a single drop of breast milk. My mother-in-law was still breastfeeding Xu Shan at the time, and she didn't have much breast milk either, but she was afraid that I wouldn't survive, so she stopped breastfeeding Xu Shan and used all her milk to feed me."
Aunt Xu's background was completely unexpected, and I exclaimed, "Your mother-in-law is truly a kind and gentle person."
"Yes. She's a very kind person, and she especially loves children."
"So, did Aunt Xu's mother never have any breast milk after that?"
Aunt Xu sighed softly, "She won't eat or drink, and cries sadly all day long. How can she produce any milk?"
“My mother cried because my father died young, because I was born prematurely and was weak, and because her life was too bitter. At the age of teens, she couldn’t bear these changes at all. No matter how much others tried to persuade her, she couldn’t get over it. Before she was out of confinement, she had already ruined her eyes by crying and even attempted suicide several times.”
“My mother-in-law could only watch over her from morning till night, but no matter how well she watched over her, there would always be times when she was negligent. One day, while my mother-in-law was asleep, she quietly picked me up and walked towards the river.”
I exclaimed in horror, "She's going to take the child and jump into the river?!"
Aunt Xu nodded and said, "My mother took me into the water and was spotted by a washerwoman not far away. The washerwoman stepped forward to stop her, and the two of them pulled and tugged at each other. I was snatched away by the washerwoman, but my mother was determined to die. By the time the villagers from the vicinity arrived and pulled her out, it was too late to save her."
I couldn't help but sigh: "I've never left Nanguang in my life, and I've always only known about the hardships of the border people. Now, after hearing what Sister Xu said, I realize that no matter where people are born, they can't escape natural disasters and man-made calamities."
“That’s right,” said Aunt Xu, taking off her clothes. “If we’re talking about the hardest-working ones, it has to be us women.”
“When those men are desperate, they can still steal, rob, and risk their lives. But what about women? They stay at home drinking thin gruel every day, and they'd be blown away by a strong wind. With no hope for life, they have no choice but to commit suicide.”
I wrung out a towel with hot water to wipe her back and couldn't help but ask, "Sister Xu, you and Brother Xu Shan are hardworking, honest, and kind to others, so why did you end up here?"
Aunt Xu thanked her, took the towel, and wiped herself as she said, "Is it the 'Song Criminal Code' or the 'Fighting Law'? I'm not quite sure. The corrupt officials in Tongcheng said we committed several offenses, which were combined, and that we should be exiled three thousand miles away, so they sent us here."
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