Chapter 3: The Ji Family

Hearing the midwife’s words, Qin Zhan felt very awkward. Telling him such things felt strange. “Hmm,” he responded, “I’ll wait outside, I’ll leave the lunch boxes at the door. Auntie, call me once you are done.”

“Okay.” The midwife responded cheerfully.

Qin Zhan turned his back to the room and placed the lunch boxes at the door, then walked to the side to lean against the wall and wait.

After quite a while, the midwife came to the door. She picked up the two lunch boxes on the ground and said to Qin Zhan, “Aihua’s wife has a good milk supply, the child drank for a long time. In this day and age, still having breast milk means that Widow Ji has been saving all the good food for her. Sigh, it’s a pity she’s so unfortunate. Aihua is gone just like that, I don’t know who the mother and child can rely on from now on.”

Qin Zhan pressed his lips together and was silent for a moment before he spoke, “Aihua still has us comrades. We’ll be the ones his family can rely on.”

The midwife smiled, but her thin face that was just skin and bones looked helpless, “Comrade, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but right now every household doesn’t have enough to eat. Who would willingly take on another mouth to feed? You male comrades might be willing, but would the women at home agree? You might be willing, but would the other comrades be willing too?”

This was something Qin Zhan truly could not answer on behalf of others. He had not yet started a family and did not know what people with families would think. Besides, talking about this now was meaningless. He was not one for small talk to begin with, especially not with a stranger. What he said just now was mainly to give the Ji family some confidence. Even if Ji Aihua was gone, he still had comrades. His widowed mother, wife and child were not to be bullied by just anyone.

Seeing that Qin Zhan did not speak further, the midwife was not bothered. She placed one of the lunch boxes on the bedside table, to be eaten by the Widow Ji once she woke up. She opened the other one, saw the white noodles topped with many fine golden-brown fried meat shreds and once again swallowed her saliva involuntarily. Then she closed the lunch box and said to Qin Zhan, “Comrade, I’d like to go home for dinner. I will inform the Ji family to send someone here.”

Qin Zhan nodded, “You’ve worked hard today. I’ll stay here to keep watch.” If there was anything inconvenient, he could ask a nurse for help.

“No, not at all…” The midwife hesitated for a moment then said, “Comrade, can I take this box of noodles home? I’ll clean the lunch box and have someone from the Ji family return it later.” After she said this, her dark old face turned a little red. She felt quite embarrassed saying this. But the noodles and meat strips were so tempting. She wanted to take them back for the children at home.

Qin Zhan came from a well-off family, and although he was not very familiar with the hardships of common folks, he had strong adaptability. He calmly answered, “This box of noodles was meant for you. Do as you see fit.”

Hearing this, the midwife breathed a sigh of relief, “Then, comrade, I’ll leave first.”

Qin Zhan nodded on the surface but was a little flustered inside. “What if the child starts crying later?” It was already dinner time, and soon it would be dark. He did not know when the Ji family would arrive, and he was worried he wouldn’t be able to handle things alone.

Captain Qin, who graduated from the military academy with the best scores, was feeling unsure for the first time about whether he could manage the baby in the coming moments.

The midwife laughed, “Don’t worry, comrade. The child has already eaten. He won’t cry for two or three hours. Unless he wets himself. If he cries after two or three hours, then he’s either hungry or wet.”

Qin Zhan nodded, “Thank you, Auntie.” If that happened, he could ask the nurse on duty for help. “Please also ask someone from the Ji family to come quickly. As a male comrade, I feel a bit restricted in what I can do.”

The midwife said, “Alright, I understand.”

When the midwife left with the noodles, she was very happy. The lunch box full of noodles had swollen by the time she reached home, and it looked like there was even more inside. Later, she could add some soaked dried wild vegetables and cook it again in hot water. Everyone could have half a bowl, and that would count as having something with oil.

With this happy thought, the midwife returned to the brigade.

When the Widow Ji and others had gone to the commune hospital, the commotion was not small.

When Qin Zhan arrived, only the original owner who was about to give birth was home. Widow Ji and the others were working in the fields. Because Qin Zhan was a male guest and had asked about the Widow Ji, the original owner naturally went to call her mother-in-law.

Qin Zhan had seen how far along she was in pregnancy and was worried that news of Ji Aihua’s death would be too much of a shock for her. That’s why he chose to tell only Widow Ji. However, the original owner overheard anyway.

At that time, the original owner was shocked and felt abdominal pain. Widow Ji quickly went to find the midwife. The midwife had experience and, seeing the situation, suggested sending her to the commune hospital immediately. Widow Ji went to find the team leader to rent an ox cart, but unfortunately, the old yellow ox had died recently and the new one had not arrived yet.

So they used the Ji family’s handcart, and Qin Zhan pulled it to the commune hospital.

Because of that, the news that the original owner went into premature labor and was taken to the commune hospital quickly spread throughout the brigade.

At that time, the village was not big. Any small incident spread quickly, especially since everyone was working together, the news traveled even faster.

When the midwife returned to the village, she first went to the Ji family.

Both branches of the Ji family had already prepared dinner, but they had not started eating. They were all in the yard waiting for news. In the Ji family, Widow Ji was the absolute head of the household. Because of her strong personality, no one dared to disobey her. While she was still away, no one dared to eat first.

Compared to Ji Aihua, who was 26 and just had his first child, the second and third sons had livelier households.

The second son was 24 this year, with two sons and one daughter. The eldest son Ji Chun was eight, the second son Ji Qiu was three and the daughter Ji Yangguang was five.

The third son was 21 this year, with two daughters and one son. The eldest daughter Ji Yueliang was four years old, the eldest son Ji Xia was also four year old and a few months older than Ji Qiu — they were twins. The second daughter Ji Xingxing was one year old.

When the midwife arrived, she saw both families of the Ji household in the courtyard and got straight to the point, “Aihua’s wife gave birth, it’s a big, healthy boy. She passed out during labor and had no strength, so the doctor performed a C-section. She hasn’t woken up yet. Your mother fainted from the shock and hasn’t woken up either. Right now, Aihua’s comrade is watching over them. You need to send someone to take care of them immediately.” As for Ji Aihua’s death, she didn’t say anything. That news should come from Widow Ji herself once she woke up.

Upon hearing this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The second son of the Ji family said, “Thank you, Auntie. We’ll go right away.”

His wife said, “You and I will go together. The third brother’s family still has young Xingxing, who can’t be left without your mother. The two of them should stay and take care of the kids.”

The third daughter-in-law quickly said, “Yes, yes, Second Sister-in-law is right. Xingxing can’t be away from me, she’s still breastfeeding. If she doesn’t see me, she’ll cry.” It was already dark, and she wasn’t about to walk over an hour to the commune hospital to take care of her sister-in-law. No way.

Seeing his wife say this, Second Brother Ji didn’t argue. “We’ll just eat a few bites, then go.” He originally planned to go because he was worried about his mother and sister-in-law. Asking his wife and sister-in-law to go together was to ensure the women were cared for.

His wife added, “You go eat first. I’ll make some egg drop soup for Eldest Sister-in-law and pack up clothes for her and the nephew.” When she was pregnant, her sister-in-law hadn’t yet given birth. Some of the nutrition supplements sent by her brother-in-law were secretly given to her by her sister-in-law. Now that her sister-in-law had her first child, she had to put in more thought.

It was just a pity that in these times, there wasn’t much good food in the house. The only presentable thing they had were a few eggs. But in this hot weather, eggs didn’t keep well. Plus, there were still small children in the house. Half of the eggs had been set aside by her mother-in-law to nourish the children. The other half were used to supplement her sister-in-law’s nutrition.

“Mm.” Second Brother Ji thought about what his wife said and found some sense in it.

Though at this moment, Second Brother Ji was still thinking, if Widow Ji and Ji Aihua were here, he wouldn’t be a thinking man at all—he would just obey.

In the Ji family, if Widow Ji was absolutely the head of the household, then Second Brother Ji, just like his title, was the second most authoritative person at home.

At the same time, Second Brother Ji was the most filial son in the whole family. In his heart, whatever his mother said was 100% right, even if it was wrong, it was still right.

In modern terms, he would be called a mama’s boy.

But in this era, he was not only a mama’s boy but also a big brother’s boy. Besides his mother Widow Ji, the second person he listened to the most was his eldest brother Ji Aihua, because he had grown up following his big brother everywhere.

It wasn’t just Second Brother Ji. Before Ji Aihua went to the army, all the younger brothers at home listened to him. Second Brother Ji had also been a carefree kid. Later, when the eldest brother went to the army, he became the family’s pillar, and over the years, he grew up fast and matured.

The rest of the Ji family went to eat. Second Brother Ji’s wife quickly made a few bowls of egg soup. After the egg soup was cooked, she put it in a thermos, then went to the eldest sister-in-law’s room to get what the baby needed. Fortunately, those things were prepared long ago, many leftovers from their earlier children. There weren’t many items in the room, so she found them quickly.

But when she left, she locked the room. She took the key with her, planning to hand it to the eldest sister-in-law at the commune health hospital. At night, if the room door wasn’t locked, and a thief or petty thief came by, it would be trouble.

Commune Health Hospital

Qin Zhan saw that the sky was completely dark outside. Except for the light in the ward, the corridor was pitch black. Still, he sat in the corridor, on a stool borrowed from a nurse.

But now, as night fell, the tension in his heart rose. The three hours the midwife had mentioned had already passed. He knew it took some time to go back and forth from the production team, but he was afraid the baby would cry at any moment.