LW chapter 83

 

Zhou Yuan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He went to town again today to see the doctor and asked a lot of questions. The doctor almost drove him away. Then, the doctor said that the mood of the pregnant ger was the most important thing. If the pregnant ger was depressed, the child most likely wouldn’t recover. The doctor told him not to anger others.

“If you’re not tired, come down and see something.” Zhou Yuan squatted down to put on Chen Qing’s shoes. Chen Qing followed him and saw a sheep standing in the yard.

“What did you buy this for?” He wanted to step forward and touch the sheep but was afraid its horns might hit him.

“This is a dairy sheep. Children like to drink its milk.” Zhou Yuan said. “I saw someone selling one today, so I bought it.”

The ger could not breastfeed, and there were no women who had recently given birth in the village. It was better for the child to drink milk than rice soup.

“That’s good. Shall we send it to them later?” Chen Qing asked.

Zhou Yuan nodded. “The person who sold the sheep said the milk can’t be drunk directly. It has to be squeezed and boiled in water first.”

Chen Qing bravely stepped forward and gently touched the sheep. The tame sheep only stared at him.

“Will you come with me?”

“Can I go?” Chen Qing asked.

Aunt Sun said from the side, “Don’t enter the house, and don’t carry the child.” Elders always had taboos, and Chen Qing was afraid of affecting the children, so he nodded and obeyed.

After listening to Aunt Sun talk about the taboos for a while, he followed Zhou Yuan to Li Xin’s house. Li Xin’s house was lively at that moment, with the baby crying, Li Xin scolding Qi Shuning, and Zhang Yin coaxing the child. The atmosphere was bustling.

Zhou Yuan brought Chen Qing and the sheep into the house, quieting the yard a bit. Blacksmith Li was boiling rice soup. When he saw them, he came over to greet them. “Hey, what’s this?”

Niu Niu was squatting by the side, dyeing red eggs. This was a Luohe Village custom. When someone had a joyous occasion, they would send red eggs to every household to share the happiness. The family that received the eggs would return something in return, no matter what, as long as it was something good.

“This is a dairy sheep that I bought for the children to drink milk.” Zhou Yuan handed the rope to Blacksmith Li and spoke to Zhang Yin again.

“Don’t drink the squeezed milk directly. Add water, boil it, and let it cool before drinking. The ratio of water to milk should be one to one.” Zhou Yuan reminded them.

Chen Qing looked at Zhang Yin. “Aunt Yin, is Li Xin doing well?”

“Yes, yes. Didn’t you hear his loud voice?” Zhang Yin thought for a moment and said, “I’ll bring the baby out for you to see.”

As soon as she finished speaking, she heard Li Xin’s voice, “Ah Qing! I’m amazing! I gave birth to two very cute children.”

Chen Qing answered with a hoarse voice, “You’re amazing. Take care of yourself, and we’ll talk later.”

Zhang Yin smiled and went inside. Then, she and Qi Shuning each carried out a child. Chen Qing rushed over to take a look. In just one day, the children hadn’t changed much. He looked at them very seriously. He didn’t dare reach out to touch them. Then he said to Zhou Yuan, “They’re so cute.”

Zhou Yuan didn’t see the cuteness in the two children who looked like little monkeys, but he nodded anyway.

“Aunt, please take them in quickly. Don’t let them catch a cold.” Although it was September and not too cold outside, the children were fragile, and Zhou Yuan was a little worried.

Zhang Yin nodded, and Zhou Yuan tucked two small silver lock charms into their swaddling cloth. “Gifts for the children.”

“You’re very thoughtful, with lock charms for peace and a dairy sheep.” Zhang Yin smiled and thanked him.

“I’m also the children’s uncle, it’s my duty.” Zhou Yuan said, “Godmother, we’ll head back. Aqing should rest.”

“All right. This house has been a mess these past few days. Let’s talk in a few days. Aqing, take care of yourself. I’ll come see you soon.” After that, she and Qi Shuning carried the child back inside.

Chen Qing was satisfied after seeing the child and walked more lightly on the way back.

“In more than half a year, our child will be born.” Zhou Yuan looked at Chen Qing’s belly and stretched out his hand to touch it again. It was still soft.

“Yes.” Chen Qing touched his belly too. Then, Zhou Yuan grabbed his hand and kissed him on the mouth.

Li Xin’s house has been very busy lately. Red eggs had been sent to almost every household in the village. People went to Li Xin’s house from time to time now. The gifts were inexpensive and typical of those given to ordinary families.

Aunt Sun was the first to come. She brought two slaughtered chickens. Li Xin needed to drink more soup during confinement. When Zhou Yuan said that Chen Qing wanted to eat chicken giblets, Aunt Sun was ready to slaughter the chickens.

It wasn’t for Chen Qing, she simply had to send something to Li Xin.

Taking care of the two children was very difficult. Because they were twins, both Gers were thin and small. Qi Shuning had never taken care of children before, so he was clumsy and got scolded every day.

However, Li Xin himself was actually the best at taking care of children.

When asked, Li Xin said, “After my mother gave birth to Niu Niu, her health was very poor. She didn’t have much energy to take care of him, so I raised him when he was little.”

Li Xin leaned against the bed with two children on either side of him. Qi Shuning ran around the room while Niu Niu read his lessons outside. Sometimes, Zhang Yin complained about Li the blacksmith.

Overall, he felt that his life so far had been quite good.

His parents loved him when he was young. He had a good husband, a healthy family, and good friends. Many people helped them along the rough road.

He was fortunate in life.

*

After Chen Qing took a dose of medicine, his condition seemed much more stable, but his taste buds changed too quickly. He said he wanted bone soup when he woke up, but when he smelled it after it was boiled, he vomited everywhere.

Finally, Chen Qing drank a bowl of pickled cabbage noodle soup and stopped vomiting.

Zhou Yuan looked at the nearly empty kimchi jar and knew he had to ask Aunt Sun for help.

“How can he eat well if he only eats pickled cabbage?” Aunt Sun was also concerned, but she helped Zhou Yuan fill the jar with pickled cabbage and beans anyway.

“He says he’ll eat this or that, but he starts vomiting when it’s cooked.” Zhou Yuan was puzzled. “I don’t know what to do.”

“I guess the little one is throwing a tantrum at us,” said Aunt Sun. “Some time ago, I didn’t know they were in the womb and wore them out. When you have time, talk to the child more. Perhaps they’ll understand how hard their father is working.”

“Recently, he’s only eating pickled cabbage noodle soup.” Zhou Yuan was desperate. “Lately, he only likes sour food. He can eat mountain red peppers just like that, but the doctor said you can’t eat too many of them.”

The two of them sighed together. Aunt Sun remembered that when Li Xin was pregnant, he ate whatever he wanted. Only later, as the months passed, did he gradually reduce his intake. When it came to their family, Aqing couldn’t eat anything.

The escort agency had been running smoothly lately. Knowing Zhou Yuan had been busy lately, someone from the agency came every five days. After all, some things still required Zhou Yuan’s decision. Chen Qing asked Zhou Yuan to go to the county town alone and said he could return to his mother’s house. However, Zhou Yuan didn’t want to go because now was a critical time.

Chen Qing used to think his presence was useless, but after vomiting so much, he felt it was good to have Zhou Yuan nearby. Every night, Zhou Yuan touched Chen Qing’s belly and talked to the baby for a long time. He didn’t know if the child could hear him, but he fell asleep listening anyway.

For almost a month, Chen Qing had been lying in bed to protect the fetus. His daily routine was eating and vomiting, then vomiting and eating again. He should have gained weight, but instead, he lost a lot. Zhou Yuan weighed him every morning and felt that he was a little lighter each day.

Today was the full moon banquet for Li Xin’s twins. During this time, Chen Qing would visit Li Xin’s house to see the children when he was feeling well, but he still couldn’t go inside to see Li Xin. After waiting for today, Chen Qing bathed, put on clean clothes, and arrived early at Li Xin’s house.

Many guests were at the house that day, including Li Xin’s two uncles from his mother’s side. Zhou Yuan had to entertain the guests, while Chen Qing talked with Li Xin at home.

Li Xin had taken good care of himself during the postpartum period. He looked rosy-cheeked, white-toothed, and very spirited. The two children seemed to change almost every day. After the full moon, they had fully grown and were very cute.

Qi Shuning gave the children their full names, Qi Changan and Li Changning, and their nicknames were An’an and Ningning.

“How can you tell them apart?” Chen Qing looked at the two children in the crib and thought they looked exactly alike.

“They came out of my belly. Of course I can tell them apart.” Li Xin pointed to each child and said, “This is An’an, and this is Ningning.”

Chen Qing was suspicious. “Are you just making things up?”

Li Xin glared at Chen Qing, then said, “Their names are embroidered on their clothes.”

“What if they wear the wrong clothes?” Chen Qing asked again.

“Then switch them back.” Seeing that Chen Qing was about to call him irresponsible, Li Xin laughed and said, “Oh, I’m just kidding. I can tell them apart. An’an has a birthmark on his wrist, but Ningning doesn’t.”

Chen Qing lightly tapped him. “You scared me.”

“How are you?” Li Xin asked.

“I’m fine now, but before, I couldn’t eat much, and I vomited everything I ate. Now I’m all right.” Chen Qing lowered his head to look at his belly, which was already slightly bulging.

“I think your weight dropped too.” Li Xin pinched his face.

“It’s fine. Now you’re almost recovered.” Chen Qing said.

Soon after, Qin Xia arrived, and Li Xin asked him to come look at the child. He remembered that Qin Xia had carried him home and helped them with many things that day.

“I said I would come see you, but Shuanzi’s mother said you needed plenty of rest, so I didn’t come.” Qin Xia went to look at the two children sleeping in the crib and took out a red envelope, giving one to each child. “This is from me for the children. It has nothing to do with Shuanzi’s family.”

Li Xin wasn’t one for formality, so he pulled Qin Xia over and made him sit down. He now acknowledged Qin Xia as a friend from the bottom of his heart. “Thank you. I remember eating your snacks that day.”

Qin Xia smiled and said, “I also ate your snacks. We’ll be good friends in the future.”

The three friends held hands and turned in a circle. They only let go when someone knocked on the door.

Qin Xia knew that Chen Qing was pregnant. He approached him and said, “There are a lot of people here today, and your husband is busy. Follow me, and I’ll protect you.”

Chen Qing: ?

But he still thanked Qin Xia.

Many people came to see the child afterwards, and Zhang Yin also returned home. Chen Qing went with Qin Xia to the banquet to wait for it to begin.

Zhou Yuan was busy. After all, he was Li Tiejiang’s adopted son, Li Xin’s brother, and the children’s uncle. He entertained the guests with Li Tiejiang and Qi Shuning.

Despite his busy schedule, Zhou Yuan still found time to see Chen Qing.

“If you’re tired, go home and rest. Your adoptive father and the others know your situation and won’t mind,” he said.

Chen Qing nodded. “You go keep busy. I’ll talk with Qin Xia.”

“Alright.”

Chen Qing wasn’t someone who talked much, but Qin Xia could talk about anything and everything.

At noon, the banquet began.

The Li family was holding a big banquet today. Almost every family in the village came, except for the family of the former village chief. Although Li Xin’s house was large, it couldn’t accommodate all the guests, so the banquet was held on the main street.

After everyone started eating, the sound of gongs and drums approached from the village entrance.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and waited for the sound to slowly approach. When the yamen servant saw someone, he asked, “Is Qi Shuning’s house in Luohe Village?”

Someone answered, “Up ahead.”

When the yamen servant arrived at Qi Shuning’s house and saw him, he took a golden flower tablet made of plain silk with golden flowers pasted on it out of his sleeve and handed it to Qi Shuning.

Then, he loudly announced, “Qi Shuning of Luohe Village, seventh place in the Yuancang County Exam!”

 

 

Acargoreng: Tomorrow’s update will be the final chapter of the main story📌

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