The fried soybeans were placed in a bowl, and Gu Yan put a few grains into his mouth while feeling the pain. The two women sat under the dim oil lamp, chatting while waiting. The fire in the stove was burning brightly, the room was as warm as spring, and a thin layer of white smoke was coming out of the large kettle. The two young girls were taking a nap obediently against the wall on the other side. Gu Yan told them several times to go to sleep, but they kept shaking their heads.
"It's better to have a daughter. A daughter is like a mother's little cotton-padded jacket. The three little brats in our family can't be woken up even by thunder when they fall asleep. If it were me, I probably wouldn't even know I gave birth to those three little brats."
Gu Yan smiled and didn't comment. Besides, daughters are better. People are always happier when they have a son than a daughter. As long as the custom of giving birth to a boy to continue the family line remains unchanged, there will never be so-called equality between men and women.
"I..." There was a wetness in his pants. Gu Yan had never given birth before and didn't know what was going on. Could it be the water breaking in my memory? The person who had remained calm despite the pain from the bone splitting finally panicked.
"What's wrong?" Sister Xu asked anxiously and reached out to touch her. Wasn't everything going well the whole time? Why did you suddenly change your expression?
"My pants are wet."
"Oh no." Sister Xu clapped her hands. "The amniotic fluid broke. What should we do? Why hasn't this damn man come back yet?" The woman got up from the door, lifted the door curtain and went out. When she didn't see anyone, she lowered the curtain in vain.
"It's not easy to give birth if the water breaks first." She muttered to herself, and quickly poured her a glass of water, "Drink some water to replenish yourself. If there is no water at all, you will suffer even more."
Gu Yan took it and poured it into his mouth stupidly. She knew nothing about giving birth. All her knowledge came from hearsay and the unreliable memory of her original body. The other party said so, so she followed suit. She can endure the suffering. Since she has chosen to be a mother, she is not afraid of this little bit of pain.
"Without the amniotic fluid, will the baby suffer from lack of oxygen and intrauterine distress?"
"What oxygen? What embarrassing..."
I was born and raised here all my life and I don’t understand these professional terms at all. Although Sister Xu gave birth to three children, she still looked confused.
"Nothing, I was just wondering."
"Don't be afraid. There are many people whose water breaks first, and they are all fine." The woman clenched her hands tightly while saying comforting words, and she was obviously nervous. "You wait at home, I'll go out and take a look, why hasn't he come yet?"
"Don't." Gu Yan quickly grabbed the person and said, "Don't run around at night, as a woman."
"It's okay. I took...ah, my husband took the sickle away."
"So you stay still, and I..."
"How's the pregnant woman?" Before Gu Yan could finish his sentence, the voice of an older woman came from outside the door. "Hey, it doesn't seem to be a big deal, does it? Wife of the Han family, how often do you feel pain?"
"A few minutes."
The woman was surprised when she heard this: "The pain is so frequent, it means you are about to give birth. Men and children, go out first, I will check it out."
As I got closer to Gu Yan, I could see in the dim light that her forehead was already wet. Sister Xu quickly helped her lie down, and couldn't help but say, "Why are you so stubborn? You didn't even say anything when it hurts so much."
Gu Yan smiled but didn't respond. He gritted his teeth and dealt with the waves of pain. I've told you what to do. It's no use crying since it's not the time to give birth! The pain of twelve ribs breaking at the same time is rising one level at a time. No wonder women can hold a grudge against childbirth until the end of time. This is truly the most difficult time in their lives when they need the most help. No matter how strong a woman of steel she is, she is longing for someone to help her at this moment.
"Dahua and Xiaohua, put on your cotton-padded jackets. Or follow your uncle to their house. It's cold outside."
"Don't worry about it now."
"Mom, please stop worrying about us and focus on giving birth to a little brother."
Aunt Xu, who was delivering the baby, took off her pants and murmured, "Mom, your cervix is already five fingers dilated. I have never seen a woman in labor who is calmer than you. Your cervix is dilated quickly, so it should be easy to give birth. Don't be afraid. Just follow my lead and push hard. You will be born soon."
Outside the house, Sister Xu’s husband originally wanted to take the two children to their home. As a result, the two refused to leave no matter what was said. I have to wait for my mother right here. The man had no choice but to go outside and bring in a bundle of corn stalks to start a fire. It's not the coldest time of the year, and it won't be so cold if there's a little spark.
Seeing her uncle struggling to light the fire with the flint, Dahua couldn't help but reach for the gas lighter in her pocket. This thing was given to her by her mother when she was lighting the stove, and she was told not to let anyone see it. So even though the child knew that this thing was very useful, he still didn't dare to take it out in front of outsiders.
The fire was finally lit, and the three of them squatted on the ground in a circle. Sister Xu's husband is not a talkative person, and the two young girls are also worried about their mother. The three of them are silent, only glancing at the temporary delivery room from time to time.
"Why hasn't mom given birth yet?"
"Yes, it's almost dawn."
The man glanced at the pale sky and finally said, "It's going to take time to have a baby. Just wait."
Working from sunrise to sunset is the traditional lifestyle of people who have no entertainment. As the first ray of sunlight jumped out of the horizon, the quiet village was awakened. The first person to come out of the main room was Old Lady Han, who was used to getting up early.
The old lady stepped on her bound feet, snorted coldly when she saw them, and then took the chamber pot to the toilet at the back. In the ear room where Gu Yan was, only the occasional voice of the midwife or Sister Xu could be heard. As for the woman in labor who was said to scream in pain, there had been no sound at all.
"Fuck, fuck, how's Gu's sister? The team bell is about to ring, I have to go to work. Do you want to ask her to go to her parents' house? If necessary, I'll ask our brat to go there."
The man didn't wait for his wife's reply, but heard her suddenly shout anxiously: "What's wrong? Why are you convulsing?"
This was obviously not said to him. Later, the midwife also exclaimed: "Oh no, it's prenatal wind. What should I do? This is fatal!"
"Then... this... what should we do?"
"Wake up, wake up quickly. If you keep beating like this, both you and the child will die. Wake up quickly..."
Prenatal wind, also known as eclampsia. It is a very dangerous disease for pregnant women. Whole body tonic convulsions, foaming at the mouth, and coma. Gu Yan was already unconscious at this point, and he didn't react at all to the slap on the face.
Sister Xu had never seen such a scene before, and she stretched out her blood-stained hands in panic. I could only unconsciously mutter: "What should I do?"
Aunt Xu, the midwife, saw that Gu Yan was still convulsing, and rolled her eyes without responding to her words. He jumped to the ground in a hurry.
"Go and call the old Han family over, this daughter-in-law is in trouble."
She shouted, but before the man outside could react, two little girls beside her had tears on their faces, murmured for their mother, and lifted the curtain to go in. The old lady who came back from behind also heard it clearly.
"Old sister, your daughter-in-law is not well, look at this..."
Aunt Xu, who opened the door, didn't bother to take care of the two children who were rushing in, but grabbed the head of the Han family. She knew how dangerous prenatal wind was, and now she had to inform the host family about the situation as soon as possible.
"Save the child. This is the root of our second child. You have to help save it."
"She... It's not a matter of saving the adult or the child now. This prenatal wind makes people lose consciousness, and usually there are two deaths."
"Ah? Then...then tell me what this is for?"
"I'm asking you, has your daughter-in-law had any convulsions or dizziness during this period? This prenatal wind usually doesn't come suddenly."
"How would I know? I'm not a worm in her stomach."
"Mom often feels dizzy and had a few convulsions a couple of days ago. She's been complaining about not feeling well these past few days."
Finally, Sister Xu did not lose her mind and stopped the two children from getting on the kang in time. But the bloodstains on the kang still hurt the children's hearts, and the tears in their eyes could not be stopped.
"Yes, what is this called?" Aunt Xu thought about the content of the training class for a long time but couldn't remember it. She slapped her thigh and said, "Even in a big hospital, you have to be hospitalized in advance for treatment. We don't have that kind of ability in our small mountain village."
"So...what should we do now?"
"Where's her man? Call him over so I can explain the situation to him."
"What's the point of calling him? He's a grown man and doesn't understand these things."
"Are those his wife and children?"
"……yes."
"Then he's in charge."
"It's not like he gave birth to the child..."
"Go and call them now, don't waste time. His wife and child are dying, and it's not like he's gone to contribute to the motherland and won't be back. They're clearly at home, why don't you care?"
Sister Xu got anxious and yelled at the door. Old Mrs. Han pouted and finally stopped making trouble. He rolled his eyes at them, turned around and went back to the main room, without even lifting the curtain to see whether his daughter-in-law was alive or dead.
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