Chapter 75
Lin Yao’s pretty face wrinkled into a ball, and her stomach was in pain. She had never given birth, so she didn’t know how painful childbirth would be, but now she was in so much pain that she couldn’t speak, and she felt that it was almost over.
Gu Shian didn’t have time to think about it, and he carried Lin Yao to the county health hospital.
The days were long in summer, and although it was past six o’clock, it was still bright outside.
Dongzi, that brat, hadn’t been back to the county for half a year. As soon as he came back, he called his friends to go outside to catch cicada monkeys. In the years of famine, whether in the city or in the countryside, the people had a hard time.
Last winter, many children in the city hadn’t had meat for half a year, and they wanted meat so much. As the saying goes, if you do it yourself, you will have enough food and clothing.
In the large elm forest on the outskirts of the city, there is the sound of cicadas chirping in the summer. A group of little boys carrying cicada poles and water buckets rush in, scaring away a flock of birds.
They not only catch cicadas, but also sparrows to eat, and pick cicada shells. Cicada shells can be used as medicine, and each can be sold for one cent. If you pick more than ten a day, you can also earn ten cents, which is a huge sum of money for a boy of eleven or twelve years old.
Each of these boys has half a dozen cicadas in his hands, and their eyes are shining. They are looking forward to going home and asking their parents to put some pork fat in the pot to fry the cicadas until they are crispy. Each bite is crunchy and fragrant, and the taste is full of oil. Needless to say, the taste is so delicious.
Dongzi was not as greedy as his friends. He lived a carefree life in the countryside. His sister-in-law raised rabbits at home. He and his father would go to the back mountain to trap rabbits whenever they had time. On snowy days, the rabbits came out to look for food. Once they fell into the trap, they could not get out. In the countryside, the Gu family could only eat meat once a week.
It was good in the countryside, but it was not as lively as in the city.
When the group of boys reached the entrance of the alley, they went back to their own homes to find their own mothers.
Dongzi and Hutou came back noisily carrying buckets of hot water. The two boys were sweating profusely. Gu Shidong rushed to the big courtyard, howling. Just as he reached the door of the house, he and his eldest brother came out holding his sister-in-law. The two brothers bumped into each other.
Gu Shidong was startled, "Brother, what's wrong with my sister-in-law?"
At this time, the uncle and aunt in the alley were fanning themselves under the banyan tree after dinner and asked when they saw her.
"Hey, is she about to give birth?"
"It looks like she is. Hurry up and send her to the hospital."
Dongzi hurried to follow his brother. Fortunately, Gu Shian had already made preparations. He borrowed a cart from the uncle's family in the next yard, spread bedding on it, and placed a small bag for delivery, enamel basin, towel, warm pot, etc. on it. He parked it under the flower eaves in the front yard. His wife started the car and pulled it to the county hospital.
Everyone was kind-hearted and came to help.
The county hospital was two blocks away from the big hospital. Ten minutes later, Lin Yao was lying in the delivery room of the hospital. Strangely enough, as soon as she arrived at the hospital, her stomach didn't hurt so much. If Deputy Director Gu hadn't refused to let her go, she could have walked a few steps holding her stomach.
The doctor from the health center came in a hurry, examined her, and said with a smile, "It's not time for you to give birth yet. This is false labor pain before delivery. It usually occurs a few days before delivery. The expected date of delivery is July. Unless you encounter any collision, you will not give birth prematurely. Don't worry."
Gu Shian's heart finally settled down. Lin Yao was tortured by the little thing in her belly. Although it was not the due date, she was sweating all over from the pain. Her body was wet, and her beautiful face was pale.
Now it was the end of June, and it was only a few days before Lin Yao's due date. Lin Yao stayed in the delivery room.
Gu Shian went to handle the hospitalization procedures. His sister-in-law was lying in bed and looked uncomfortable. Gu Shian was running around anxiously.
When Gu Shian came back and saw this scene, he frowned, and rushed the brat home to wait for his parents to come back. He went home to clean up the dishes, got a basin of water, and made a towel to wipe Lin Yao's body.
Lin Yao was sleepy at this time, whining and unwilling to move.
Gu Shian patiently soothed her, wiped her face and neck, and then wiped her hands. Knowing that the little girl was vain, he applied cold cream on her after wiping, and fanned her with a fan, serving her very well.
In the coolness, Lin Yao's tiredness and heaviness gradually eased, and she fell asleep comfortably.
Gu Shian lowered his head and kissed the little girl on the forehead, his eyes and eyebrows were gentle.
*
In the big compound, Zhang Cuilan and her husband and Xu's mother went to the countryside, and through Uncle Zhang, they found a familiar fellow villager and bought two crucian carps.
Crucian carps are best for milk production, but pig's trotters would be even better.
However, these days, pig's trotters are extremely precious. Last year, there was a famine, and the pigs raised in the countryside had a large reduction in production. This year's pig cakes have not grown yet, and pig's trotters are not easy to buy even in Yunshui County.
Xu's mother discussed with the fellow villagers and wanted to buy a female goat to go home and milk it for her grandson.
The fellow villager sighed, "Where are the goats? Not to mention female goats, even male goats are hard to find in the village. Last year, the village had a big pot of rice in the commune canteen. There was no food in the village. We couldn't just kill all the goats raised in the village and eat them. If we didn't eat, we would starve to death. There was nothing we could do."
The environment was like this, and everyone was helpless.
The eldest aunt secretly brought a small bag of soybeans and stuffed it into Zhang Cuilan.
"Cuilan, there's nothing good at home. Take these soybeans back and make soup to increase milk production."
Mother Xu was so grateful that she didn't know what to say. She held the eldest aunt's hand and kept thanking her.
The eldest aunt said, we are all family, so don't mention thanking her.
Xu's mother insisted on leaving a note for her uncle's family before she and Zhang Cuilan and her husband boarded the old ox cart back to the city.
It was already past eight o'clock when the group returned to Yunshui County. The streets of Yunshui County were lit up with thousands of lights, and the large compound was quiet. Dongzi stood at the door, looking around, waiting for his parents to come back.
When the brat saw Zhang Cuilan and her husband, he immediately ran over.
"Mom, Dad, Mom!"
"What are you doing here?"
"My sister-in-law is about to give birth, and she's in the hospital now!"
Dongzi's big tongue didn't make his words clear, and the frightened old mother stumbled and almost fell.
Gu Mancang supported Zhang Cuilan, and the old couple listened to their son's chatter, and then ran to the health center in a hurry.
Lin Yao was very energetic at the moment, lying on the bed eating wontons from the hospital.
She slept for more than two hours in the afternoon, and her energy and spirit were almost restored, but her stomach was growling.
Gu Shian went to the cafeteria to get a small wonton. The wontons in the hospital cafeteria were made with the soup base made from bones. They were small wontons, each one was round, with a thin skin and a lot of fillings, shepherd's purse and egg fillings, and a handful of green coriander sprinkled on top. When you take a small bite, the rich and fragrant fillings immediately burst out.
Lin Yao said one by one, her eyebrows curved with satisfaction.
Her buttocks were resting on the side, and the corners of her mouth were slightly raised. The doctor came to check on her just now and said that Lin Yao was sitting very steadily this time, and the fetal position was very correct. In addition, the mother usually trained at home every day, so it would not be a problem for her to give birth safely on the due date.
Zhang Cuilan and her husband hurried over and breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that their daughter-in-law was in good condition.
Dongzi was still shouting in the back, "Has my sister-in-law given birth? What did she give birth to? Can I go in and take a look?"
This is the bad son.
Zhang Cuilan brought the old son aside, "You bastard, what nonsense are you talking about? When did your sister-in-law give birth?"
The old mother was so scared that she almost fell on her heels.
Gu Shidong shrank his neck guiltily and shook his head in embarrassment.
He had been rushed home by his elder brother a long time ago, and he didn't know what happened afterwards.
"........"
In short, this was a false alarm, and the old Gu family did not take it lightly. After all, the doctor also said that Lin Yao was only a few days away from the due date, and she had to be closely observed in the next few days.
Lin Yao ate and drank well in the delivery room, and got out of bed and walked in the corridor in her spare time.
Zhang Cuilan took advantage of the good weather these days to wash and rinse at home, and hung the dried meat under the eaves. It took two or three days to dry it in the sun.
The dried meat was wrapped in oil paper and placed in the cabinet to be eaten at home later.
On July 2, the eighth day of Lin Yao's hospitalization, Zhang Cuilan went home to cook for her daughter-in-law at noon. The steel mill started working and Gu Mancang was busy in the factory.
Gu Shian wanted to take a few days off to accompany Lin Yao in the hospital to give birth to her baby. Man
proposes, God disposes. The sunny sky suddenly changed its face. The weather was gloomy. After a few rumbling thunders, heavy rain followed.
The rain lasted for five or six days. Due to the heavy rain for several days in a row, the river water in the village of a town in Yunshui County surged, triggering a mountain torrent. Several villages near the downstream of the river were flooded. From a distance, the originally beautiful countryside turned into a turbid ocean.
Fortunately, the villagers of several nearby villages had already moved to the caves in the back mountain in advance. The county leaders sent all the police to the countryside for rescue. The armed forces and the militia company were also sent out, but there were still not enough people.
The Second Corps of the Northern Theater Command had received orders, and the PLA soldiers who were going to the countryside for rescue were already on the way.
The young men from the county public security bureau carried sandbags one by one and rushed to the front line of disaster relief.
A few days ago, the water flow at the lower end of the river was too fast, and mountain torrents would occasionally roll in with a wave. After the sun came out in the past few days, the water level of the river dropped a lot.
The PLA soldiers who came to rescue also arrived at the front line. The young men from the Public Security Bureau and the people's soldiers carried sandbags and wooden stakes to reinforce the river bank. The stakes were driven down so that the sandbags could be stabilized.
In the evening, the rain fell again, but now it was a drizzle, and there would be several more rains in the next few days.
These days, bamboo rafts can only carry a few people, and some disaster victims scrambled to get on the rafts.
Xu Xiangqian wore a raincoat and roared heartbreakingly with an iron horn.
"Don't rush, line up. The old people and children go on the rafts first, women go at the back, and men go at the end!"
"That man, what are you doing? There are plenty of rafts at the back. How dare you, a grown man, rush to grab
one?" "What the hell, are you afraid of death? What the hell? Go line up!"
"That lady, you can't cut in line. The old people and children are at the front, and you are at the back."
"Grandpa, it's your turn. Someone, help you get on the raft."
"Don't stick your head out once you're on the raft. There are big waves in the river! Don't stick your head out!"
Big Head Brother kept shouting, but some victims who were still unaware ignored his words and ran around in a hurry to maintain order.
Just when he was getting anxious and angry, a man who was soaking wet put the sandbag on his shoulder on the river bank and strode over.
"You go and have a rest, I will maintain order."
Xu Xiangqian was stunned. Why did this voice sound so familiar? He turned around and met a pair of narrow and slightly raised black eyes.
Hey, isn't this the old customer!
Big Head Brother was so happy that he was talking incoherently, "Old Gu, you're finally back. My dad said that you led a team to pick up the fellow villagers in Sanshan Village. The situation there is the most dangerous. People can be knocked down by a wave. OK, you're lucky. I don't have to worry about you anymore. Yaoyao is about to give birth in the hospital, and you can hold the fat boy when you go back."
Gu Shi'an's heart ached for his wife who was waiting for the birth of her baby in the hospital in advance. He calmed himself and tried not to think about the hospital.
Gu Shian stood on the river beach, and the originally restless group of disaster victims immediately calmed down. Several troublemakers did not dare to show up. They were not fools. Although Gu Shian wore military green trousers and black rubber shoes like ordinary rescue soldiers, the man's eyes were cold and sharp. He looked at people coldly without any emotion.
Such a man is not easy to mess with.
County Health Hospital.
In the morning, Lin Yao was lying on the bed reading leisurely. After noon, he ate two boiled eggs. Zhang Cuilan went home to stew chicken soup for her daughter-in-law as a snack.
As soon as Zhang Cuilan left, Lin Yao, who was lying on the bed, felt something was wrong. Her stomach began to twitch, accompanied by the pain of falling down. She hurriedly followed the doctor's instructions and breathed in and out skillfully, while asking Dongzi to call the doctor.
Dongzi ran away.
A few minutes later, the female doctor from the delivery room came with the nurse and checked Lin Yao. "It's time to give birth. It's two fingers dilated. Push the woman into the operating room quickly."
The doctors and nurses in the hospital were busy. Lin Yao held her stomach and thought optimistically, it's two fingers dilated, it seems that giving birth won't be that painful.
Ideals are full, but reality slaps in the face.
As soon as Lin Yao was pushed into the delivery room, she began to feel pain in her stomach. It started with pain every ten minutes, then became pain every five or six minutes, and finally came like a tide. The intense pain made her feel like a fish out of water. She could only grit her teeth and hold the sheets in bed, listening to the doctor's instructions, trying to get the little thing in her stomach out as soon as possible.
Zhang Cuilan came with a lunch box to deliver food. She saw her old son lying at the door of the delivery room. When she asked, she found out that her daughter-in-law had entered the delivery room.
Gu Mancang also hurried to the hospital after receiving the news.
When he came, Lin Yao was working hard inside, and Zhang Cuilan was anxious in the corridor.
Gu Mancang wiped the sweat off his head and told his wife not to worry. In fact, his legs were so weak that he could not walk. First, he was out of breath and tired from running on the road. Second, he remembered that when his wife gave birth to their old son, she was in pain and screamed in the house. He felt sorry for the suffering of his daughter-in-law.
The family walked in the corridor, and some leaned on the door cracks.
At 11:30 in the middle of the night, a loud cry of a baby broke the silence of the night sky. At the same time, Gu Shian, who was covered in dust, also appeared in the hospital.
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