As soon as I stepped out the door, I saw Wu Lei and Wu Qian slowly walking over, with some things in their bowls, but I didn't know what they were.
"I'm back. I was just saying I was going to come find you guys, but I've been gone for so long."
Wei Yuyan walked back to the courtyard.
"Sister-in-law Xiuhua bought ducks and we're looking at the ducklings. They're even cuter than chicks."
As Wu Qian spoke, she even imitated a little duck wiggling.
"Sister-in-law, this is dried vegetable that Sister Xiuhua gave me. She said it's dried wild vegetable and it tastes good when stir-fried."
Wu Lei handed the bowl to Wei Yuyan, and only then did Wei Yuyan see clearly that it really was a bunch of dried vegetables.
"Okay, did you thank Sister Xiuhua? If you like ducklings, we'll buy some to raise next month."
Wei Yuyan was thinking about raising ducklings yesterday, but she didn't expect her sister-in-law Xiuhua to be one step ahead of her.
"Yay, we're going to raise ducklings at home too! That's great!"
Wu Qian jumped up with joy.
At noon, Wei Yuyan stir-fried bird eggs with chili peppers and stir-fried bok choy.
"This bird egg tastes just like a chicken egg."
Wei Yuyan picked up a bird egg and tasted it. She didn't know why, but even though the taste was similar, she still thought the bird egg tasted better.
"Mmm, they're all delicious."
Wu Qian ate heartily.
In the afternoon, Wei Yuyan went to chat with Sister-in-law Xiuhua again.
"Sister-in-law, what are you doing at home?"
Wei Yuyan saw that Sister-in-law Xiuhua's door was wide open.
"Sister-in-law, come sit down. I'm not doing anything, just sewing. My husband works outside, so I'm up in the mountains when I'm home."
His clothes are always getting damaged, and I have to mend and patch them every few days.
Xiuhua's sister-in-law was sitting in the yard sewing clothes; they were all men's clothes.
"Yes, my two naughty kids are the same. I often have to sew and mend things. Xiao Lei even got into a fight yesterday."
Wei Yuyan also sat down on a chair to bask in the sun.
"Kids are all like that."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua's face was full of gentleness. Wei Yuyan didn't expect that Sister-in-law Xiuhua was someone who liked children.
She's easygoing in other ways, but she's also very attentive and gentle with children, yet she doesn't seem to have any children yet.
"Sister-in-law, how long have you and Brother Zhang been married?"
Wei Yuyan asked from the side.
"We've been married for five or six years, are you wondering why I haven't gotten pregnant yet?"
Xiuhua knew she wanted to ask this but was too embarrassed to.
"Don't you want to have children so early? The child is too naughty, and Brother Zhang's mother is gone, so there's no one to help him."
Wei Yuyan was a little embarrassed because she hadn't expected her sister-in-law Xiuhua to see right through her.
"Sister-in-law, there's really nothing to be ashamed of. I'm already numb to it all. I've tried so many folk remedies and taken so much Chinese medicine over the years."
There was absolutely no reaction. I... I even wanted to persuade my husband to take a concubine, but he stubbornly refused.
At this point, Sister-in-law Xiuhua could no longer hold back her tears.
"What did the doctor say?"
Wei Yuyan also felt a little sorry for Sister-in-law Xiuhua. In modern society, being unable to have children was something that people would humiliate.
Moreover, in an era where people could be bought and sold and where it was permissible to have multiple wives and concubines, Brother Zhang could easily take a concubine at any time.
Fortunately, Brother Zhang didn't. Otherwise, Sister-in-law Xiuhua would have been truly desperate. Even if a woman like that went back to her parents' home, she wouldn't be treated well.
"We've seen many doctors, both in the town clinic and in the county town."
All the doctors said there was nothing wrong with my health, and that it might just be that my time hadn't come yet.
But this fate has been waiting for several years, and I don't know how many more years we can hold on."
When Sister-in-law Xiuhua mentioned this, she sighed and wiped away her tears.
"Brother Zhang, haven't you seen a doctor?"
Wei Yuyan seemed to have grasped the key point: it was only Sister Xiuhua who went to see the doctor, and Sister Xiuhua didn't have any problems.
"He hasn't seen it. You mean... he... his problem? That's impossible..."
Xiuhua had never thought about this issue before; she had been taught since childhood that bearing and raising children was a woman's job.
“When I was living at my parents’ home, I had a relative who had been married for seven or eight years but had not been able to conceive.”
I always thought it was a woman's problem, but I happened to meet an old doctor who said it was very likely a man's problem.
They took the man's pulse, and guess what? It really was the man's problem; his sperm quality was poor and it wouldn't survive.
So he couldn't get pregnant for a long time. The old Chinese medicine doctor prescribed Chinese medicine to regulate his body, and he got pregnant in less than half a year.
Wei Yuyan could only make up a story to tell her sister-in-law Xiuhua.
"Really? Sister-in-law, should I ask my husband to go to the clinic to get checked out...?"
Sister-in-law Xiuhua didn't even realize the needle had fallen from her hand; she was wondering how to bring it up.
"Of course you should. Having a child is a matter for the couple. The doctor said you have no problems, so it's probably Zhang's problem."
Wei Yuyan encouraged her to see a doctor as soon as possible and get treatment quickly so she could get pregnant.
"Yes, sister-in-law, you're right. I... I'll talk to my husband about this tonight. Sister-in-law, thank you for reminding me. I feel like there's hope again."
Sister-in-law Xiuhua suddenly smiled, hoping that this time they could find the right direction.
“Sister-in-law Xiuhua, I think you definitely have a chance. You’re only in your twenties.”
Wei Yuyan thought about modern times, how many people get married in their thirties and have children in their thirties and forties.
"If I really get pregnant, the first person I'll thank is you."
Xiuhua looked at Wei Yuyan with gratitude.
"Okay, if your sister-in-law gets pregnant, you have to treat me to a drink at least."
Wei Yuyan was craving some wine, but the wine here was very expensive, and the cheap wine didn't taste good, so she didn't want to drink it.
"Sister-in-law, do you still like drinking? Then I'll make wine in the summer and make a lot of it."
When Sister-in-law Xiuhua heard that she wanted to drink alcohol, it just so happened that she brewed wine every summer.
"Sister-in-law, you can make wine? Do you grow grapes?"
Wei Yuyan looked around the yard but didn't see any grapes.
“They’re planted in the vegetable garden, in the back. I brew wine every summer, and your brother Zhang and I drink a little in the winter to warm ourselves up.”
Xiuhua's sister-in-law found a needle on the ground and started sewing clothes again.
"I also want to grow grapes. Why don't you dig up a seedling for me, sister-in-law?"
Wei Yuyan also wanted to eat sweet and sour grapes in the summer.
"Sure, but I don't know if they'll survive. These grapes were transplanted by your brother Zhang. Why don't you ask him to get some for you when he comes back?"
Xiuhua's sister-in-law was worried that the transplant wouldn't go well.
"Yes, I can do it, sister-in-law. I had a successful transplant back in my parents' home."
Wei Yuyan was glad that her family home was quite far away, otherwise it would have been difficult to find an excuse.
"Is that so? That's good. Here are the scissors. Go cut them yourself and cut a few more branches."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
