Chapter 41: Stomachache

◎Another Big Move◎

“Aiyo, I don’t know how to use this,” Wei’s mother quickly waved her hand. “Just let me listen along when you’re back. That’ll be enough for me.” Such an expensive item—she didn’t dare to mess around with it.

Hearing this, Wei Xuan wasn’t having it. This was bought specifically to help pass time for her mother. If she didn’t use it, wouldn’t Jiang Che’s thoughtful gesture go to waste?

She encouraged her mother: “Mom, things are meant to be used after they’re bought. We’re only home for a short while—how much time will we really have to listen to it? If no one uses it, then the money spent isn’t worth it. Besides, it’s sturdy—look, you can press anything and it won’t break. Don’t believe me? Try it.”

Wei’s mother hesitated for a moment. “Then… how about I give it a try?”

“Go ahead!”

Encouraged by Wei Xuan’s look, Wei’s mother imitated her son-in-law’s movements and cautiously pressed a button—it actually made sound. The feeling wasn’t bad at all. Then she tried turning another knob and discovered the channel could change too.

Seeing her mother gradually loosen up and get more comfortable, Wei Xuan and Jiang Che exchanged a glance—it hadn’t been easy.

With the radio, Wei’s mother’s days became much fuller. Every morning after breakfast, she’d see her daughter and son-in-law off, then clean up a bit, do the laundry, and sit in the house to listen to the radio.

After listening for a while, she’d cook lunch. After lunch, she’d take a nap, wake up, and continue listening to the radio until it was nearly time for Wei Xuan and Jiang Che to come home from work, when she’d get up to make dinner.

In the evening, the family would eat together, chat a bit, or listen to the news, and the day would pass just like that.

Time moved on to September. The second batch of college students, including Wei Xiaolong, were about to start school.

At the Wei family in the Dalianhua Production Brigade, Wei Xiaolong carried his bedding and clothes on his back, ready to report to school in the capital.

Once again, it was Big Brother Wei driving the ox cart to take him to the county seat to catch the long-distance bus. Father Wei looked at his youngest son and reminded him, “When you get to school, study hard. And if you have time, go visit your mom and sister more often.”

“I know, Dad. You take care too. I’ll come back during break.”

“Mm, go on then.”

Watching the ox cart disappear into the distance, Third Sister-in-law Wei muttered to herself, wondering whether her younger brother had remembered what she told him the day before. If her sister-in-law really agreed to let her go to the city to help take care of things, she’d have to start packing in advance.

Third Sister-in-law Wei was having a nice little daydream, but unfortunately, as soon as Wei Xiaolong arrived in the capital, he didn’t even get to see Wei Xuan. Instead, he was pulled aside by their mother and interrogated with a bunch of questions. Even the things Third Sister-in-law had told him to say were dragged out of him by their mother.

“Third Sister-in-law told me to ask my sister if she still needed help with anything over there. In another two months, it’ll be the slack season at home. She won’t have much to do and said that if Sister doesn’t mind, she’d be willing to come over and lend a hand.”

“Pah, she sure has it all figured out,” said Wei Mother with a snort. “With me here, why would we need her?”

She knew exactly what her third daughter-in-law was scheming. That woman wasn’t anything special — all she ever thought about was food. No doubt she just wanted to come freeload off her daughter.

“You’re such a fool too — she tells you to ask, and you just ask? Don’t you dare mention this to your sister, got it?” Who knows what the son-in-law would think if he found out.

“Got it,” replied Wei Xiaolong. He wasn’t stupid — if he were, he wouldn’t have told their mother first.

Wei Xiaolong only stayed one night at Wei Xuan’s place. The next day, he had to report to school. Jiang Che offered to take him, but Wei Mother stopped him.

“You already went with him to the school once before. He’s a grown boy — he’s not going to get lost. You’ve got work, don’t let this delay you.”

Since she wasn’t allowed to go with him, Wei Xuan secretly slipped twenty yuan into Wei Xiaolong’s hand. But he adamantly refused to take it.

“Sis, our school gives us a stipend.”

“I know they give stipends. A stipend is a stipend — this money is from me. Just take it, it’s not much. Keep it on you just in case something happens. When you’ve got money in hand, you won’t panic if something comes up. And you can use it now and then to treat yourself a little. Studying takes energy — if you don’t eat well, how are you supposed to keep up?”

As they were tussling over the money, Jiang Che happened to walk in and saw the whole scene. Wei Xiaolong’s face immediately turned even redder, mostly out of embarrassment — he was afraid his brother-in-law would be angry if he found out his sister had secretly given him money.

But instead of getting upset, Jiang Che actually joined Wei Xuan in persuading him to take it.

And so, in a daze, Wei Xiaolong ended up accepting the money and went back to the main room.

Seeing him looking distracted and absent-minded, Wei Mother asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Oh,” Wei Xiaolong snapped out of it. “Nothing. Mom, I’m heading off now.”

Wei Mother was humming along to the opera playing on the radio and casually waved him off without much concern. “Go on then. When you get to school, get along well with your classmates.”

“Got it.”

It wasn’t that Wei Mother didn’t care about her son — it was just that her daughter had already taken her to visit his school once before, and it really wasn’t far from her daughter’s house. Whenever she felt like it, she could just stroll over for a visit.

In the blink of an eye, more than three months had passed since Wei Xiaolong started school. The weather had shifted from summer into winter, and he had mostly adapted to university life. When he had the time, he would sometimes come back to Wei Xuan’s place for a meal and to check in on her and their mother.

That evening, Wei Xiaolong came over for dinner. The family had just finished eating and were chatting when a news broadcast came on the radio:

“Following a conference decision, our country will implement a policy of ‘internal reform and external opening’… This reform will follow a mixed economy model. In agriculture, the household contract responsibility system will be adopted…”

When the news ended, the room fell into silence. Finally, it was Wei Mother who spoke first: “What does that thing on the radio mean?”

She hadn’t understood most of it, but the part about agriculture caught her attention.

Wei Xuan had been waiting for this day for a long time. She was already prepared.

Wei Mother didn’t quite grasp the full implications of the news, so she remained calm, not particularly excited.

But Jiang Che and Wei Xiaolong, who did understand what they’d just heard, felt a wave of emotion stir inside them.

Something big was clearly coming. The only question was — would it be a good thing or a bad thing for ordinary folks like them?

Once they had calmed down a bit, the two began explaining to Wei Mother what the household contract responsibility system actually meant.

“Then is this a good thing or a bad thing?”

Wei Xiaolong gave a bitter smile. He didn’t know either.

But Jiang Che thought for a moment and said, “Judging by what the news said, it should be a good thing — but the details will depend on how it’s implemented.”

“Then we should call home tomorrow and let them know. The family probably hasn’t heard about it yet.”

Jiang Che said, “Alright, I’ll call them from the factory when I go to work tomorrow. Mom, try not to worry too much — whether it’s good or bad, it’s hard to tell right now.”

How could Wei Mother not worry? At her age, the more she had been through, the more cautious she became. She had really been frightened by the events of the past.

No matter what Wei Mother thought, life had to go on. The policy had just been announced, and for now, nothing had changed.

Besides, at this point Wei Xuan’s belly was already quite large — it was obvious she was close to giving birth — so Wei Mother’s attention shifted back to her daughter.

On the day of the Winter Solstice, Wei Mother got up early in the morning to chop meat filling and prepare dumplings. But before she even finished making the dumplings, she heard a cry of alarm from the next room.

“What happened? What’s going on?” She didn’t bother with anything else — she dropped the kitchen knife and rushed into the room.

The moment she stepped inside, she saw her daughter sitting on a chair, bent over, while her son-in-law stood beside her, looking completely panicked as he supported her.

Seeing that Wei Mother had arrived, Jiang Che immediately let out a breath of relief. “Mom, come look! Wei Xuan’s stomach hurts — is she going into labor?”

Just moments earlier, Wei Xuan had gotten dressed and was about to head out when she suddenly staggered and clutched her belly in pain. Luckily, he had been standing right behind her and caught her — otherwise, he didn’t even dare to think what could have happened.

Wei Mother stepped forward and gently felt Wei Xuan’s belly. It did seem to have dropped a bit lower compared to yesterday. She asked Wei Xuan, “Are you feeling a bit better now? Does it still hurt?”

Wei Xuan took a moment to catch her breath, then finally nodded. “A little better. It’s not as painful as just now.”

Wei Mother guessed that the pain earlier might have been a contraction. Taking advantage of the lull, she hurriedly told her son-in-law to ride the tricycle and take her daughter to the hospital.

“You help her walk outside, I’ll go get the quilt.”

By now, Jiang Che was completely flustered, so he just did whatever Wei Mother told him.

Wei Mother handed her daughter over to Jiang Che, then quickly walked over to the heated brick bed, grabbed the quilt, and headed outside.

The tricycle had been borrowed from Wu Yun by Jiang Che precisely for this moment — to take Wei Xuan to the hospital.

The day they brought it back, Wei Mother had already cleaned it thoroughly. Now all she had to do was spread the quilt on it.

Once the bedding was arranged, Jiang Che helped Wei Xuan lie down, and Wei Mother covered her tightly with another quilt before turning to give instructions.

“You two go ahead first. I’ll tidy up a few things at home and then come meet you at the hospital.”

“Okay, Mom, we’ll head off now.”

Without saying more, Wei Mother rushed into the kitchen, boiled the dumplings she had already prepared, packed them into a lunchbox, then grabbed the items she had packed earlier and headed for the hospital.

Her daughter hadn’t even had breakfast yet. If she hurried, maybe they’d make it in time for her to eat something before giving birth — and childbirth takes a lot of energy. You can’t go through it on an empty stomach.

Wei Mother searched around the hospital for a while before she finally found the ward where Wei Xuan was staying. There weren’t many people in the hospital, and for now, Wei Xuan’s ward only had two patients—her and another pregnant woman.

When Wei Mother arrived, Wei Xuan was starving. She had just gone through a wave of pain, and now her appetite had returned.

Wei Mother quickly opened the lunchbox for her to eat. Wei Xuan didn’t hold back, but halfway through eating, the pain in her belly started up again.

Jiang Che hurried outside to call a doctor. By the time Wei Xuan was wheeled into the delivery room, Jiang Che was already sweating nervously.

Although Wei Mother was also worried, she was more composed than Jiang Che. Seeing him sitting there dazed, she reminded him, “Xiao Che, shouldn’t you ask for leave from the factory? And you should also let your parents know. We can’t have the baby born without the grandparents even knowing.”

“Oh, right, I should tell them.” Prompted by this, Jiang Che finally remembered that he was supposed to be at work today. As for Wei Xuan, she had already taken time off a few days ago. With the due date approaching, no one could predict when labor would start, so she had taken leave early for safety.

“Then Mom, I’ll go downstairs to make a call. I’ll be right back. Please watch over Wei Xuan for me.”

“Alright, go on.” Watching her son-in-law run off, Wei Mother turned back toward the delivery room and muttered softly under her breath, “Bodhisattva, please bless them… Bodhisattva, please bless them…”

There was a public phone next to the hospital. Jiang Che first called the factory to explain the situation and ask for leave, then dialed his father’s office number.

“Hello, who is this?”

“Dad, it’s me.”

“Xiao Che?” Father Jiang glanced at the caller ID. “Where are you calling me from?”