The sky was just barely light, and under the faint morning glow, the outline of a large village nestled by the mountainside could barely be seen. At this moment, the village was as quiet as usual, but one farmhouse seemed unusual.
From the third house of the Gu Family, near the entrance of the village, came heart-wrenching cries mixed with the anxious voice of an elderly woman, "Changqing's family, don't just scream! Push! You've had several children before, and the baby is almost out, so push hard!" A woman was lying on the bed, covered in sweat, clenching her teeth, letting out cries of pain.
This was a small inner room partitioned from a larger one, with a kang beside the bed. Aside from a cabinet, there was no other furniture in the room. Lying on the kang, covered with blue coarse-cloth bedding, was a petite woman giving birth.
Outside in the yard, a crowd of men and women of all ages had gathered. A man dressed in a worn-looking, washed-out blue short jacket sat on a bench by a well, frowning, holding a polished tobacco pipe, though he wasn't smoking; the pipe had long since gone cold. Despite his male appearance, age showed in his graying hair.
This was Gu Changqing, the head of the third house of the Gu Family, and inside, giving birth, was his wife, Mrs. Lv. Unable to sit still, he stood up suddenly and paced back and forth, hearing the cries from inside.
Beside him, an eight or nine-year-old boy held a three or four-year-old little girl in his arms, with a six-year-old child by the hand, all visibly anxious.
The older boy was the Gu Family's third son, Gu Chenglian, holding the youngest daughter, Gu Wan, while holding onto the fourth son, Gu Chengchi.
Hearing the sounds, Gu Wan was a bit scared, clinging tightly to Gu Chenglian's arm, "Third Brother, I'm scared!"
"Don't be scared! Mother is giving birth to your little brother." Gu Wan remained silent after hearing this, not letting go of his hand. Though Gu Chenglian comforted his little sister, he was, after all, a child, and also very frightened at heart.
But being the older one, understanding more, and seeing Father worried as well, he refrained from asking if Mother's fall would affect the childbirth.
Originally pacing back and forth, Mr. Gu recalled upon hearing the children's conversation that they were quite young and staying here would only scare them more, so he thought of sending them to the eldest son's room to squeeze in with their cousins.
"Old Three, take your siblings to your elder brother's room for the night. We don't know when your mother will give birth, and the kids can't hold on."
Mrs. Fang, the wife of the eldest son's family, then led the siblings to the room. With the old house's matriarch in labor, there was no place to rest. Once the siblings were settled, she returned to take her three children back. She felt a bit uneasy as the grandmother's fall was partly related to her eldest daughter.
Mrs. He, sitting beside them, was feeling a bit impatient, thinking the old matriarch was not young, yet still having children, even having grandchildren already, wasn't she embarrassed.
The whole family waited in the yard. The women not sleeping was one thing, but the men not sleeping, especially since they had to work the fields the next day, how could the children's father bear it?
Even though there was an eldest son, twenty mu of land still relied entirely on her husband, the eldest son, and father-in-law. People were not made of iron; every harvest season, they lost weight. With the poor family meals, the young ones couldn't do any hard labor. It was her husband who suffered the most, working like an ox for the family. Eating little and doing more, this was treating him like an animal! Not to mention the little medicine jar they had at home.
Looking at the loud cries, the whole family couldn't sleep. The eldest couple were also foolish, always doing as they were told without slacking off at all. Look at the eldest daughter-in-law, eating the least, doing the most, having to work in the fields, and so thin that she barely had any flesh on her body, their children following suit, were they being used as servants by the younger ones?
She next looked at the eldest granddaughter of the Gu Family, Gu Lian, and Changsun Gu Wanhai, holding the youngest girl in his arms, Gu Lan, all looking emaciated.
They were six and five years old, and even the two-year-old was like a one-year-old, kept busy every day.
Unable to do heavy work, they fed the chickens and pigs, and had to do everything except the fieldwork, receiving only half a cornbread per meal was a great act of mercy from the grandmother, wasn't it foolish beyond measure?
Thinking that although she was scolded every day, she at least got some benefits out of it; otherwise, her two sons would suffer dearly.
Mrs. He felt her waist about to break while sitting and pounded it, "Oh my waist!" Sitting there, she thought it better to lie down in the room. She considered that the noise might have disturbed the kids sleeping on the kang. Looking around at the Gu Family's home, she sighed at it being small, any big noise could be heard from every room.
Giving birth wasn't predictable time-wise. She wanted to go back inside but feared her father-in-law wouldn't allow it since the matter wasn't resolved. So she sat there to avoid getting a hard time if the father-in-law caught sight of her.
"Dad," a somewhat younger man entered, this was Gu Family's eldest, Gu Chengli. He led in a bearded, gray-haired doctor, dressed in a blue tunic and carrying a medicine box.
The doctor's clothing was a bit disheveled, suggesting it was tied in a hurry.
"Brother Li is here, come in quickly. My wife's fall last night has delayed the birth, so we need you to take a look."
Doctor Li, rushing here, hadn't even caught his breath. Thinking that it had only been a few hours since labor began. How could any woman give birth so quickly? Some take a day or two. Gu Changqing seemed a bit too anxious. It was said Gu Changqing cherished his wife dearly; this seemed to be true.
And childbirth, with him as a male physician, there were many inconveniences.
But then he thought, Mrs. Lv wasn't young, and since she fell, it was necessary to be cautious. In emergencies, one must be flexible; if the situation worsened, propriety couldn't outweigh life and death.
Listening to the sounds from the main house, indeed sharper and tenser than usual childbirth, Doctor Li was about to speak when the just-closed courtyard door sounded again.
Gu Changqing frowned, who else could be coming so early before daylight?