Chapter 79

It was too late, and the surroundings were pitch black. Su Ying woke up Jiang Leyun and asked him to find Wu Guihua for help. Wu Guihua was deeply asleep, but when she heard the urgent knocking, she groggily opened the door and saw Jiang Leyun looking anxious. After hearing what he needed, she quickly woke her youngest son and told him to watch over his sister.

When Wu Guihua arrived at the Xu home, she asked urgently, “How is Xiao Jiang doing?”

Su Ying was wiping Jiang Suihan’s sweat, “She’s in pain, she keeps saying it hurts.”

Jiang Suihan, sweating from the pain, gave Wu Guihua a weak smile, “Sorry to trouble you, sister-in-law.”

Wu Guihua waved her hand, “We’re neighbors, no need to be so formal. Let’s get Xiao Jiang to the hospital first. It looks like it might not be a quick labor.”

Having had three children herself, Wu Guihua had a lot of experience. Generally, labor didn’t happen quickly and could be quite a lengthy process.

There was no cart at home, but they had a bicycle. They made Jiang Suihan sit on the back seat while they pushed the bike to the hospital. Jiang Leyun wouldn’t stay home and followed behind with a water bottle.

“Do you want some water, sister?”

The child was very anxious. He had never seen anyone give birth before. In his young memories, childbirth was a very dangerous thing. His mother had bled heavily when giving birth to him. Although she survived, her health deteriorated over time, and after two years of illness, she eventually passed away.

He was very afraid that his sister would suffer the same fate, as she was his only remaining family. He couldn’t bear to lose her too.

Jiang Suihan didn’t want to frighten her brother and forced a smile, “I’m not thirsty. I’ll drink later. Just be careful and watch the road, don’t fall.”

Once they arrived at the hospital, Su Ying urgently found a doctor and said a pregnant woman was about to give birth. Jiang Suihan was then taken into the delivery room.

The doctor checked her condition and said it was still early for delivery and that it might take a few more hours. Jiang Suihan suggested that her mother-in-law take Jiang Leyun home to rest for a while. Given her mother-in-law’s age, staying up all night might be too much for her, and her brother was too young to be of much help. The hospital had doctors and nurses, so she would be in good hands.

Su Ying asked Wu Guihua to go home first, feeling uncomfortable having someone stay at the hospital all night.

Wu Guihua suggested, “Auntie, you should go home and get some things to bring over. They might come in handy, and you should also bring some food. I guess Xiao Jiang will be hungry soon and need to replenish her strength.”

Su Ying was aware of these things even without Wu Guihua’s reminder, “Alright, I’ll bother you to stay here. I’ll ride back home to get the supplies.”

She then looked at Jiang Leyun and asked, “Lele, do you want to go home and sleep? Your sister might take a few more hours to give birth.”

Jiang Leyun sat on a large chair, appearing very small, and firmly shook his head, “I’m not going home. I want to stay at the hospital with my sister. If I’m here, she won’t be so scared.”

Su Ying didn’t force him and hurriedly left to ride her bicycle back home.

Jiang Suihan lay on the bed. The pain was not as severe as before, and she felt a bit better. She touched her brother’s small head sitting beside the bed and asked, “Are you tired? Do you want to sleep?”

Jiang Leyun couldn’t help but yawn and struggled to keep his eyes open, “I’m not sleepy.”

He reached into his pocket, pulled out a large white rabbit candy, and held it out in his palm: “Sister, have some candy.”

Jiang Suihan shook her head: “I don’t want any, you eat it.”

Jiang Leyun was insistent, and eventually, the candy was broken in half. The brother and sister each took a piece and shared it.

Jiang Leyun’s cheek puffed up on the right side as he asked his sister: “Is it sweet?”

Jiang Suihan smiled and said: “Very sweet.”

Just as she finished speaking, she suddenly winced in pain. Jiang Leyun looked alarmed: “Is my nephew being naughty again?”

As her belly grew larger, Jiang Suihan often had Jiang Leyun read to the baby, saying it would help the baby recognize his uncle’s voice and be closer to him when born. Jiang Leyun frequently touched his sister’s big belly and spoke in a childish manner to soothe the baby. When he felt the baby move, he would sternly tell the baby not to be naughty.

Once the contraction eased, Jiang Suihan had the strength to continue chatting with her brother: “Yes, it’s eager to come out and meet everyone.”

Jiang Leyun yawned again and asked drowsily: “Why hasn’t my brother-in-law come back yet?”

Could it be that he’s only coming back now because the baby is about to be born?

Jiang Suihan stroked her belly: “Soon.”

She hoped he would make it back in time.

After having some chicken noodle soup brought by her mother-in-law, Jiang Suihan felt drowsy, dozing off for three to four hours. However, she was soon awakened by pain. She realized how naive she had been, thinking childbirth wouldn’t be too painful and that others were exaggerating. Now, she wished she could slap herself—what she was experiencing now was far worse than the initial pain.

It was unbearable!

As dawn approached, Jiang Leyun slept in the hallway outside, using three stools pushed together. He was small enough to fit comfortably, covered with a thin jacket.

Su Ying was anxious, nervously pinching her palms, standing and pacing outside the delivery room.

The sound of hurried footsteps grew louder, and she instinctively turned her head. Xu Zhao walked quickly towards her, drenched in sweat and looking exhausted, his clothes rumpled, clearly just having returned and not yet had a chance to tidy himself.

“Mom, how is Sui Sui?”

Su Ying glanced at the delivery room: “She’s still inside. It’s been over an hour.”

Xu Zhao’s brow furrowed deeply as he approached to check on the situation, but the door was tightly shut and he could see nothing. The more he didn’t know, the more anxious he became.

With Jiang Suihan’s due date being so near, he was especially worried, traveling nonstop and barely stopping to rest, afraid of missing her delivery.

When he returned home and found it empty, he guessed something must have happened. He knocked on the neighbors’ door, and the noise at the Xu family home had been quite loud in the middle of the night. The neighbors quickly informed him that his wife was in labor at the hospital. Xu Zhao hurried to the hospital without delay.

Fortunately, he arrived in time and had not broken his promise.

“Ah…”

Jiang Suihan was trying not to make any noise to conserve her strength, fearing that she wouldn’t have enough energy when it was time to give birth. The pain kept increasing, and if pain could be rated, childbirth pain would definitely be at the highest level, like being on the brink of death. It hurt so much she felt like cursing.

Xu Zhao shuddered suddenly and rushed to the delivery room door, wishing he could go in and take her pain: “Sui Sui, I’m back. Don’t be afraid, I’m right outside.”

Hearing his voice, Jiang Suihan initially thought it was a hallucination caused by the pain and didn’t respond.

Not hearing a reply from Jiang Suihan and no longer hearing any pain sounds from inside, Xu Zhao grew even more worried. He pressed his face against the door and shouted: “Sui Sui, are you okay?”

Jiang Suihan was in excruciating pain, and if possible, she would have asked the doctor to knock her out so she wouldn’t have to endure it anymore. Hearing Xu Zhao outside, her frustration flared up, and she yelled: “Xu Zhao, you bastard!”

If it weren’t for him, she wouldn’t be pregnant and suffering like this.

At this point, she had completely forgotten that they had discussed and decided to have a child together, and that she shared half the responsibility for the current suffering.

Xu Zhao responded to the insult with the best attitude possible: “I’m a bastard, the biggest bastard. Once you’re out, you can curse me however you like.”

Jiang Suihan gripped the bed sheets tightly and continued to berate him: “I hate you so much! After this, I’m never having another child.”

Without hesitation, Xu Zhao quickly agreed from outside: “No more children. After this one, we won’t have any more.”

Su Ying glanced at Xu Zhao but said nothing. She felt they needed at least two children—having just one wouldn’t do. If this baby was a girl, the Xu family wouldn’t have a successor.

However, she understood that now was not the time for such discussions. Her daughter-in-law was still in the delivery room, struggling to bring the next generation into the world. Discussing such things was useless at this moment.

No one knew how long they had waited. Su Ying, tired from standing, sat down on a nearby chair to rest while waiting. Jiang Leyun also woke up, ignoring his rumbling stomach, staring intently at the delivery room door.

“Waa…”

A loud cry of a newborn baby came from the delivery room.

Su Ying and Jiang Leyun immediately stood up and moved to Xu Zhao’s side, all three of them watching anxiously.

With a creak, the door opened from the inside, and a nurse came out holding a small bundle: “Are Jiang Suihan’s family here?”

Xu Zhao reacted first: “I’m her husband.”

The nurse smiled and said: “Congratulations, it’s a very healthy baby boy, weighing 3.3 kilograms.”

Xu Zhao looked at the nurse holding the tiny baby, with red, puffy eyelids and ruddy skin, resembling a tiny old man. He had never held such a small baby before and was worried he might hurt his son by not handling him gently enough.

As he hesitated, a pair of hands reached out and carefully took the baby from the nurse.

Su Ying’s face lit up with a radiant smile, her expression full of affection as she gazed at the baby. “My precious grandchild, you look so beautiful. Look at this mouth and nose, so delicate and adorable. And this forehead, so full and rounded, you can already tell that he’s blessed.”

Xu Zhao looked at the tiny, wrinkled red baby and found it hard to praise him as blindly as his mother did. He turned to the nurse and asked, “How is my wife?”

The nurse replied, “Your wife is fine. She fainted from the exhaustion of labor. She’ll be alright after some rest.”

Jiang Suihan felt as though she had just woken from a long dream. In the dream, she had been running endlessly, exhausted, unable to stop. Eventually, she fell down from sheer fatigue.

She suddenly jolted awake, breathing heavily, and felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. She reached down and touched her stomach.

Why was her belly flat? Where was the baby? Where had the baby gone?

Panicking, Jiang Suihan struggled to sit up.

At that moment, Xu Zhao entered the room and saw her struggling to prop herself up. He quickly went over, put down the cup, and gently pushed her back onto the bed. “You’re not fully recovered yet. Why are you trying to get up?”

Seeing Xu Zhao, Jiang Suihan’s rationality returned. She remembered hearing the baby’s cries before she fainted. Grabbing Xu Zhao’s hand anxiously, she looked toward the door and asked, “Where’s the baby?”