Mrs. Li stood woodenly, covering her face.
"Father, mother must have been stung by a wasp sting while cutting the grass," Daya said, feeling sorry for her mother.
Hongji's father glared at his daughter-in-law and then scolded Daya with a stern face, "What kind of behavior is this, you girl, making such a fuss?"
"Hongji, help your wife inside to sit down, it looks like she's about to give birth," Granny Li had intended to persuade the father and son, but her experienced eyes first noticed something wrong with Mrs. Li.
Mrs. Li felt a sinking pain in her abdomen, as if something was about to flow out from under her rough skirt, and she moaned softly.
"Ah..."
Just as Mrs. Lai had put away the bag and was looking through the crack by the window at the courtyard, she saw Mrs. Li finding excuses not to cook, which was unacceptable.
With her plump body standing at the doorway, Mrs. Lai glared fiercely and shouted, "Mrs. Li, aren't you cooking yet? Or do you want me, your Mother-in-law, to take care of you? Always giving birth to burdensome children."
"Mrs. Lai, your daughter-in-law is about to give birth, and yet you sit there expecting her to cook for you?" Granny Li reprimanded angrily. Isn't every daughter-in-law born of a woman?
"What does it have to do with you? If you want to interfere, you might as well come over and cook," Mrs. Lai said with indifference.
Her two daughters stealthily peeked out from the room, accustomed to their family's treatment of their elder sister. They never considered helping her, approving of their mother's approach, as it excused them from household chores.
"Wuu wuu wuu," Da Y took her sister off her back to go and help their mother.
Granny Li breathed heavily in anger, then held back from bursting out and said to the wooden Hongji, "What are you still doing standing there? Your wife is about to give birth. Go quickly and find the midwife."
"Mmm mmm," Hongji, hoping eagerly for a son from his wife, ran out the front door then turned back.
"Mother, give me some money..."
Hongji and his father were carpenters, and all the money they ever earned was kept by his mother; this wealth never passed through the couple's hands.
This filial son obeyed everything his parents said. With only a few Copper Coins on him, how could he afford to hire the midwife?
"Another burden-producing child, repeatedly costing money to give birth. This time, don't hire a midwife; let her give birth by herself at home," said Mrs. Lai with such venomous words.
All Granny Li could do was sigh. Although she had the desire to help, she lacked the ability to do so.
She could only pick up her vegetable basket and head back to her own home.
"Hmph, always meddling, as if she's so kind-hearted."
Mrs. Lai, with the smug look of a victor, glared at Mrs. Li again, "Aren't you going to cook quickly?"
"Mother, my wife is in so much pain she has crouched down; I beg you, please give me money to hire the midwife!" Hongji knelt down in front of his mother.
"Hire what midwife? The money your father and you earn from carpentry is all spent on her, giving birth to burden-producing children."
"Mother-in-law..." Mrs. Li knew giving birth was like passing through the gates of hell and wanted to plead for mercy, but pain left her speechless.
"Grandma, I beg you, please quickly hire the midwife for my mother," Daya knelt down. The eight-year-old girl had watched her younger sisters being born, one after another; she had practically raised them herself.
"Insolent! Does a burden-producing wretch like you have a say?" Mrs. Lai pointed a finger at Daya, and her hefty leg kicked the frail girl, causing her to fall to the ground.
"Wuu wuu, don't hit my elder sister," Daya's three little sisters cried around her.
"Crying, crying, cursing stars," Mrs. Lai raised her hand to beat the four girls.
Hongji, seeing his mother hitting his children, passively accepted it and saw his wife in pain collapsing on the ground. He scooped up his wife in a princess carry and took her back to their room.
"Hongji, don't do anything foolish. Giving birth is a woman's ordeal, don't go inside when there's blood involved," said Hongji's father, who stamped his feet on the ground as he saw his son ignoring him.
"Hongji, listen to your father," Mrs. Lai also called out from the doorway.
Hongji carried his wife into the room and heeding his parents' advice, walked out to see that it was already noon. Smoke was rising from other houses as they prepared their meals, yet his family was still hoping Mrs. Li would cook.
Hongji didn't understand much about childbirth except that he needed to boil some hot water.
"Daya, go into the room and look after your mother."
Daya, who was still sore from the kick from her grandmother, wiped her tears and obediently went into her parents' room, a room she shared with her three sisters, who followed her in to surround Mrs. Li laying on the bed.
"Mother, how are you?"
"Water," Mrs. Li was very hungry and thirsty, with no hope for a meal.
"Mother, there's only cold water." Daya poured a cup of cold boiled water from the kettle and helped her mother drink.
Hongji managed only to boil a pot of hot water, and while his parents wouldn't let him into the room, he could only call out to Daya at the room's doorway to bring in the hot water, keeping the other three girls with him as they waited outside.
Mrs. Li's pain intensified during the childbirth. With the starvation and today's premature labor, she used all her strength, bearing the pain to deliver the baby, and cut the umbilical cord herself.
Seeing her mother endure such pain during childbirth, Daya gently cleaned the newborn of blood and wrapped the baby in a piece of torn cloth.
"Daya, did your mother give birth to a brother?"
Hongji called out from the doorway, his father and mother also stood there, and his two younger sisters from the neighboring room were also listening.
No lunch had been cooked in the house and it was already well past noon.
"Dad, it's a sister."
"What? A sister?"
"Another loss-making child? Son, divorce her and marry another wife, our family can't be without descendants," Mrs. Lai lamented.
"Mother, I..." While his parents spoke, Hongji in agony cradled his head and crouched on the ground, burdened with years of gossip for only fathering daughters, facing immense pressure that weighed him down.
"Son, listen to me, drive out this loss-making woman and her children," Mrs. Lai said, by no means ready to take care of her daughter-in-law in her confinement, but instead, wanting to evict the just-delivered mother and her daughters from their home.
Mrs. Li, having just given birth, was weak and breathless. She had already seen the baby's gender while cutting the umbilical cord, and her heart sank in disappointment. Under her family's scorn, she expected some harsh words but hadn't imagined they would cruelly drive them out.
Her bleeding intensified immediately after the stressful delivery, blood continuously flowing.
Daya, holding the newborn in fear, thought having a brother might have eased their plight, faced yet again the harsh treatment of her mother, her young mind trembling.
It was only when the smell of blood grew stronger and she saw her mother faint that she put the baby beside her mother and shook her: "Mother, what's wrong? Please wake up."
Daya, terrified, couldn't wake her mother and seeing the continuous flow of blood, panickily pushed open the door and ran out.
"Dad, it's bad, Mother is losing a lot of blood."
Hearing his daughter's words, Hongji raised his head again, his heart skipping a beat at the sight of the fresh blood on his daughter's hands, and he knelt down to ask Mrs. Lai for help:
"Mother, give me money to call the doctor."
"Childbirth is naturally bloody, what woman doesn't go through this? What doctor? Hmph, the household money is for your sister's dowry," Mrs. Lai rolled her eyes dismissively, her stomach growling as she glared at Mrs. Li's room.