Seeing that it was getting dark, Jiang Yuwei realized it would be too late to ask Zhang Guang to go to Sun Wenpo's maternal village to fetch someone. So, without bothering to deliver the stools, she put down the cart, went into the yard, and pulled Aunt Zhang aside, saying:
"We should have the eldest son go and invite Uncle Ning over first. I know your wife is worried that Uncle Ning is a man, so we can keep him out of the house and have him wait in the yard. That way, we'll have a better idea of what to do. I'm not trying to be mean, but if something unexpected happens, saving lives is the most important thing. What do you say, Aunt Zhang?"
When Aunt Zhang met Jiang Yuwei's calm gaze, she seemed to have found a pillar of support. She tightened her grip on Jiang Yuwei's hand, nodded with tears in her eyes, and said:
"Yes, yes, Yuwei is right. Boss, go and invite Uncle Ning over quickly."
Jiang Yuwei patted Aunt Zhang's hand and said:
"Auntie, please take your second daughter-in-law inside and let her lie down. I'll take care of things here."
Aunt Zhang nodded gratefully and helped her daughter-in-law into the house. Jiang Yuwei looked at Zhang Guang, who was still standing there in a daze, and said:
"Zhang Guang, hurry up and go invite Midwife Sun. Although it's far away, we need to be prepared for both possibilities."
Zhang Guang, having received Jiang Yuwei's instructions, hurriedly ran out without looking back. Jiang Yuwei then looked at Uncle Zhang, who looked anxious, and said:
"I would like to trouble you to boil two pots of water and burn all the scissors in the house before bringing them to me."
Upon hearing this, Uncle Zhang nodded repeatedly, muttering to himself;
"Okay, okay, I'll go boil some water right away."
After saying that, he ran to the kitchen.
Seeing that everyone had been arranged, Jiang Yuwei picked up the tofu on the table and went inside. She had watched many videos and TV dramas about childbirth before, but because of the trauma, she had vowed never to have children. She never expected that it would come in handy today.
"Xiaoyun, you must hold on. Yuwei has sent Tianhe to invite Uncle Ning."
Aunt Zhang held Xiaoyun's hand and comforted her.
Upon hearing that her husband had invited Uncle Ning, Xiaoyun blushed and said:
"Mother, you're confused! How could you invite Uncle Ning? I... I'm giving birth, and if it were Uncle Ning..."
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei quickly stepped forward and said:
"Xiaoyun, don't make a mistake at this crucial moment. I've asked Uncle Ning to guard the courtyard. It's best if we don't need him. I've also asked Zhang Guang to invite Midwife Sun. Don't think too much right now. Nothing else matters but your life. Giving birth will take a lot of energy. Eat this tofu first!"
Xiao Yun glanced at Jiang Yuwei and then at the fragrant tofu in her hand. She swallowed hard, took the tofu, and started eating.
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei comforted her:
"Eat slowly, there's more outside. Don't worry about anything else right now, just take care of yourself. We'll take care of the rest. After you finish eating the tofu, you can learn how to breathe properly with me. This will help you have a smooth delivery."
While eating tofu, Xiaoyun nodded to Jiang Yuwei. For some reason, she inexplicably trusted Jiang Yuwei. She seemed to be the only calm person in her family, and with her by her side, she didn't feel so anxious.
Xiaoyun quickly ate a piece of tofu. Jiang Yuwei handed her a bowl of water to soothe her mouth, and then said to her:
"Come on, we can't just wait for the midwife and Uncle Ning to come. You need to learn how to save yourself. First, spread your legs apart. Can you feel the pain down there?"
Xiaoyun was covered in sweat and too weak to speak, but she nodded to Jiang Yuwei.
Jiang Yuwei gestured for her to look at herself, pointed to her mouth, took a deep breath, held it for a count of ten, then exhaled and rested. After demonstrating, Jiang Yuwei said to Xiaoyun:
"Did you remember what I just did? As soon as you feel pain down there, take a deep breath and count to ten, pushing in accordance with the pain. After you finish counting, exhale and relax your whole body. Just repeat this a few times."
Xiao Yun listened to Jiang Yuwei's advice and tried it herself a few times, but the pain was too unbearable, so she had to cry out:
"Mom, Mom, it hurts so much! What's wrong? Ahhhhh, it hurts so much! Am I going to die?"
Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei found a strip of cloth by the bedside and stuffed it near Xiaoyun's mouth, telling Xiaoyun to bite it when she felt pain.
Xiaoyun's face was completely drained of color, and beads of sweat were pouring from her forehead. Seeing this, Jiang Yuwei said to Aunt Zhang:
"Quickly, go to my cart and bring all the tofu in!"
Aunt Zhang nodded hurriedly and rushed out. At this time, Uncle Ning had already been invited by Zhang Tianhe to wait in the yard. Aunt Zhang didn't even have time to greet them and went straight to the cart to get the tofu before rushing into the house.
Jiang Yuwei took the tofu and fed it to Xiaoyun, then asked Aunt Zhang:
"Has Midwife Sun arrived yet?"
Aunt Zhang nodded and said:
"Yes, but Uncle Ning is already guarding the courtyard."
While observing Xiaoyun's condition, Jiang Yuwei said to Aunt Zhang:
"I'll have to trouble you, Auntie, to bring in the scissors and hot water. If Midwife Sun doesn't arrive soon, we can't wait for her any longer. I see that Xiaoyun is bleeding down there; she's probably about to give birth."
Upon hearing this, Aunt Zhang nodded repeatedly and ran out to fetch hot water and scissors.
After everything was prepared, Jiang Yuwei asked her to make up the crib so that the baby would have a place to lie down after it was born.
Jiang Yuwei said to Xiaoyun:
"Xiaoyun, try the method I taught you. We'll give birth while waiting for the midwife to arrive. It will be painful, but you just have to bear it and not shout too loudly, otherwise you'll waste your energy. Your main task now is to give birth to this child first, understand?"
Xiaoyun nodded weakly to Jiang Yuwei. She understood that saving herself was more important at this moment. Jiang Yuwei was right; they couldn't just wait for the midwife to come. So Xiaoyun started to push in rhythm with her contractions, following the breathing method she had just learned. She had only one thought in mind: to give birth to the baby.
Jiang Yuwei handed the tofu she was holding to Aunt Zhang:
"Aunt Zhang, you take this tofu and feed Xiaoyun a bite every now and then to help her regain her strength. I'll help her give birth!"
Aunt Zhang hurriedly took the tofu, and seeing Jiang Yuwei's very confident expression, she didn't dare to say anything more.
Jiang Yuwei first used the same techniques she used on ewes to massage Xiaoyun's belly to induce labor, and then occasionally lifted the blanket to check how many fingers dilated Xiaoyun was.
Xiaoyun was also very patient. Ever since Jiang Yuwei told her to conserve her energy and shout quietly, she continued to bite the cloth strip and sob softly, no longer yelling at the top of her lungs like before.
"It's peeking out! Xiaoyun, give it your all! Quick, Aunt Zhang, feed it some tofu!"
After listening to Jiang Yuwei's words, Xiaoyun cooperated even more diligently with the contractions. She had already mastered the trick, and soon the baby's head emerged. Jiang Yuwei was overjoyed at the sight.
"Xiaoyun, you're amazing! Just a little more effort, and the baby will be born soon!"
Just as Jiang Yuwei finished speaking, Xiaoyun suddenly tilted her head and fainted without warning. Jiang Yuwei was shocked. The baby was not fully out yet, and most of its body was still stuck inside. If the baby could not be out quickly, wouldn't it be a double tragedy?
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