Chapter 44: The Fireplace

Jiang Cuihua didn’t take her words seriously. She frowned and said, “It’s not that easy for a famine to happen. I think you’re just overthinking things because you’re pregnant.”

Fortunately, the baby would be born soon.

Jiang Cuihua waved her hand dismissively. “Alright, I’ll have your brothers bring over some bamboo shoots later. There’s no need to give them eggs—we’re family, there’s no need to be so calculative.”

Liu Yinyin: “……”

Fine. She could always make it up to them later in some other way.

And so, the two of them got busy peeling winter bamboo shoots and drying them.

Several busy days passed, and soon, the villagers had dug up all the winter bamboo shoots from the nearby mountains.

Liu Yinyin’s harvest was quite good. From Liu Xiaoman alone, she managed to get about sixty pounds of winter bamboo shoots.

Later, Liu Mingcheng also delivered another 120 pounds to her.

Since Jiang Cuihua was always around, Liu Yinyin could only secretly sell fifty pounds of bamboo shoots to the system, earning 800 yuan.

The rest were all dried into preserved bamboo shoots.

A whole sack of dried bamboo shoots weighed only about eleven or twelve pounds. She also had a sack of dried cured fish, all stored in the cellar.

That morning, Liu Yinyin packed twelve eggs into a basket and headed to Liu Ergou’s house.

The family of three had returned the previous day, and she wanted to check on them.

“Guizhi, how are you feeling?” Liu Yinyin asked as she stepped into the house, carrying her basket.

It was Liu Ergou who had opened the door for her, and this time, she didn’t see Xin Xiujuan anywhere.

What Liu Yinyin didn’t know was that the moment she knocked on the door, Xin Xiujuan heard her voice and immediately darted into a room to hide—afraid that Liu Yinyin was coming to collect the debt.

Her daughter-in-law had given birth to a baby girl, and the medical expenses had cost twenty yuan. Xin Xiujuan was so heartbroken over the money that she could barely stand it.

“Yinyin, you’re here! Come in and sit,” Yang Guizhi greeted her. Her face looked a little haggard, but she forced a smile. “We really owe you a lot this time. If it weren’t for you…”

She choked up mid-sentence. After a moment, she continued, “If it weren’t for you, my baby and I wouldn’t have made it.”

That night, she had woken up to use the toilet. As she stepped outside, a rat startled her, causing her to slip and fall—triggering premature labor.

“You shouldn’t cry during postpartum recovery—it’s bad for your eyesight,” Liu Yinyin comforted her. “I didn’t do much. As long as you and the baby are safe, that’s all that matters.”

Beside Yang Guizhi lay a tiny baby, fast asleep.

“I brought you some eggs to help with your recovery. How’s the baby doing?” Liu Yinyin set the eggs on the table and leaned in to take a closer look at the newborn. The baby was so small and thin that it was heartbreaking to see.

“Don’t even ask,” Yang Guizhi sighed deeply, her face full of worry. “I don’t have enough milk, and the baby isn’t getting enough to eat. She cries all night.”

Due to the difficult labor, Yang Guizhi’s body hadn’t recovered well, and she wasn’t producing much milk. While in the hospital, she had managed to get by with the patient meals, which provided some nutrition. But after returning home, all she had to eat were pickled vegetables and coarse cornbread. Probably due to poor nutrition, her milk supply dwindled. The baby, starving, cried loudly throughout the night.

A newborn this small couldn’t eat anything other than milk.

Liu Yinyin glanced at the baby. “I’ve heard that red sugar stewed with eggs helps with milk production. I still have some red sugar at home—I’ll bring you half a pound later.”

“Oh, no, that won’t be necessary,” Yang Guizhi quickly declined. “My mother is coming to visit me this afternoon. She’ll probably bring some red sugar.”

Her mother’s home was far away—otherwise, she would have come sooner.

Liu Yinyin didn’t have anything else to do, so after chatting for a while, she took her leave.

Since Gu Cheng was off work today, Jiang Cuihua hadn’t come along.

At home, Gu Cheng wasn’t idle either. Somehow, he had learned about a skilled craftsman and had hired him to build a fireplace in their house.

Winters here were harsh, and Gu Cheng worried that their child might get cold, so he wanted to have a fireplace installed in advance.

Once the weather got colder, they could light a few logs in the fireplace to keep warm.

Building a fireplace required proper technique, so they needed an experienced worker for the job.

When Liu Yinyin arrived home, she saw the craftsman and Gu Cheng swinging hammers against the wall with loud thuds.

To install the fireplace, they had to create a vent for the smoke, which meant breaking through the wall to make a hole.

Since it was going to take a while, Liu Yinyin headed to the kitchen to prepare lunch.

To treat the craftsman properly, Gu Cheng had gone to the county early that morning and bought a slab of pork belly.

For lunch, she decided to make braised pork.

Liu Yinyin planned to make four dishes: braised pork, stir-fried dried fish, and two vegetarian dishes—potato and eggplant stew and cabbage with vermicelli.

These days, in addition to drying the cured fish and bamboo shoots, she had also finished making sweet potato vermicelli. From around 300 pounds of sweet potatoes, she had produced over 50 pounds of sweet potato vermicelli, filling a large bag.

She had just finished washing the vegetables when Gu Cheng came into the kitchen to help.

During this time, Gu Cheng had been making breakfast, while Jiang Cuihua took care of lunch and dinner, with Liu Yinyin assisting.

Although she could cook herself, they didn’t feel comfortable letting her cook alone.

When Liu Yinyin saw him enter, she asked, “Is the master craftsman still working alone?”

Gu Cheng nodded. “I told him that my wife is pregnant and it’s inconvenient for her to cook, so he asked me to come help.”

Liu Yinyin smiled. “I’m just pregnant, it’s not that troublesome. Be careful, or people will laugh at you.”

After all, the villagers were gossiping behind her back, calling her a lazy woman, but Liu Yinyin didn’t mind.

As long as life was comfortable, what did reputation matter?

But with Gu Cheng acting this way, others might think he was too soft on his wife.

“Let them laugh,” Gu Cheng said dismissively. “Is it wrong for a man to care for his wife and child?”

The couple worked together to prepare lunch.

Gu Cheng’s cooking skills were decent, and the food turned out quite delicious.

Liu Yinyin’s cooking was average, but she didn’t skimp on ingredients, which made the dishes taste better.

The two men spent the entire day working hard and finally finished the fireplace.

Building a fireplace was skilled work. Gu Cheng had specifically paid ten yuan to hire the craftsman.

Besides that, he had to find ways to buy cement and bricks. All in all, building the fireplace was a costly and labor-intensive endeavor.

But the man was willing to spend the money.

Still, Liu Yinyin was quite happy about it.

Life passed leisurely, and another half month went by.

With her due date approaching, Liu Yinyin couldn’t be left alone. Gu Cheng and Jiang Cuihua took turns staying with her.

One afternoon, Liu Yinyin took a nap in her room. When she woke up, she felt a slight discomfort in her stomach. Looking down…

“Mother, come here and take a look!” Liu Yinyin shouted loudly.

“What’s wrong? What’s wrong?” Jiang Cuihua dropped the clothes she was holding and hurried into the room.

Liu Yinyin didn’t even feel embarrassed anymore. She pointed to a red stain on the blanket and said, “Mother, look, I’m bleeding.”

It seemed like her pants were a little wet too…

“Mother, oh no, this is the ‘showing of the blood,’ you’re about to give birth,” Jiang Cuihua said. With several grandchildren already, she remained calm and unflustered in this situation.