Daji Village, Shen family.
The weather had gotten even colder, but today the sun had finally shown itself. Chen Guizhi had been lying in bed for seven or eight days, with Shen Yidong attending to her side. They had been waiting for the doctor to visit, and there seed to so improvent. Chen Guizhi, seeing the clear sunlight outside the window, said to Shen Yidong, who was bringing in breakfast, "I’m going moldy just lying here. Later on, help out to the yard to sit for a while."
Shen Yidong disagreed, "Given the state of your health, I don’t dare move you. You’d better rest for a few more days."
Chen Guizhi glared at her, "You child, I’m feeling much better now, not so feeble as you make out."
"You’re not feeble? Wasn’t it just yesterday that soone got out of bed and fell off the kang? Acting like a child at your age, always trying to be strong. If you won’t think of yourself, at least think of your daughter. If anything happened to you, your siblings would tear to pieces." Such words could only co from a daughter as close as Shen Yidong.
Chen Guizhi thought back to yesterday’s incident when she had needed to relieve herself. At the ti, the old man had gone out to work, and Shen Yidong had left to feed her grandson. Having rested so days, she didn’t feel as weak and heavy as she had at first. She’d thought she could manage to get up by leaning on the wall, but she had not anticipated her lack of strength upon standing. She’d fallen to the floor, knocking over a chair nearby. Shen Yidong, hearing the noise, had rushed in and was startled.
Fortunately, she hadn’t hit anything serious, just felt dizzy for a while, and it eventually passed without further incident. When the family had co back, they took turns scolding her, saying she shouldn’t have gotten up by herself. Now, hearing Shen Yidong bring it up again, she felt sowhat guilty and softened her tone, "Yidong, go call Sister-in-law Gen over. The two of you can help outside to sit for a bit. Look how good the sun is outside. Getting so sunshine is beneficial. Didn’t your brother and sister-in-law always say that it’s good for absorbing calcium..."
Shen Yidong rolled her eyes, "When have we ever not had sunlight? We work in the fields every day, baking in the scorching sun. It’s easy for you to say, having never worked the fields, coming up with such claims. Mother, I must say your daughter-in-law has so odd notions. Anyway, enough about her. Finish your porridge quickly, I still have to go out and do laundry."
After Chen Guizhi had eaten, she still wanted to persuade her daughter to let her go outside. At that mont, Shen Erniu’s voice ca from beyond the door, carrying a tinge of excitent even from afar.
Chen Guizhi quickly urged her to go see, "Go see what your father is up to."
Shen Yidong actually didn’t need Chen Guizhi’s urging as she was already rising to leave, but before she could step out, Shen Erniu lifted the door curtain and entered. He, who usually had a limp, now seed to burst in with the vigor of a brisk walk.
"Old woman, Ah Guang has sent a telegram."
Chen Guizhi also propped herself up, leaning forward with a thin face that bore a joyful expression, "What did our son say? Is everything well with him in the military?"
Shen Yidong also joined in, looking at the words on the telegram, reading them out loud, "Good news, pregnant."
Chen Guizhi reached out for it, seemingly wanting to see for herself, and then her voice began to tremble, "Is this? Really?" Excitent flared in her eyes; she didn’t know where to look until she saw the old man rubbing his hands together, grinning foolishly, and she also began to smile goofily.
"Our daughter-in-law is really pregnant, thank heaven! Thank heaven!"
Shen Yidong walked up to her side, supporting her, "Mom, don’t move around too much; you’ll get dizzy again."
Chen Guizhi grabbed her hand, "It’s alright, I’m just so happy. Let’s see what we have at ho and mail so things to our daughter-in-law."
Then she began to calculate on her own, "What’s good to eat during pregnancy? Right, chicken, and chicken eggs, pork, and fish soup are also very good. I rember when I was pregnant, I particularly craved sour apricots. I wonder what flavors she likes now. Didn’t we pickle so sauerkraut recently at ho? If she likes sour food, we’ll mail so to her. No, that’s not enough sauerkraut. I’ll pickle so cucumber and radish slices too. They are crunchy and can be snacks. How is the daughter-in-law doing now? I’ll tell you what, husband, you call her and ask how she’s feeling, what kind of reactions she’s having, whether she can eat. If the reactions are strong, tell her to rest more and not strain herself. If she has no appetite, let Ah Guang think of sothing and get so fresh things for her. If she’s vomiting frequently, she shouldn’t stop eating. Even if it’s hard, she needs to eat sothing, she must not starve. We still have so money at ho; we can send so to her, so she can buy warr clothes to wear. She must not catch a cold..."
The more Chen Guizhi talked, the more she couldn’t put her mind at ease. She wished she could sprout wings and fly over there to take care of her daughter-in-law herself.
However, Shen Yidong thought it was too much, "Mom, why don’t you rest for a while? How are we supposed to mail chickens and eggs? Things like sauerkraut are available everywhere, it’s not worth much and can easily be asked for from any household over there. It’s unnecessary to mail it from such a distance, and sending money like that isn’t needed either. If you really want her to have better food, just let Ah Guang mail less living expenses back, and he can use what’s left to buy things for his wife to nourish her. But I have to say, Mom, when I was pregnant, why didn’t I see you being so attentive? Dad, am I right?"
Shen Erniu was bent over searching for sothing underneath another table, and Shen Yidong asked, "Dad, what are you looking for?"
Shen Erniu replied cheerfully, "I’m looking for that bottle of sorghum liquor your brother-in-law brought last ti. I’m happy today. You, go get so at later, your dad is going to have a couple of drinks."
Chen Guizhi also chuckled and didn’t stop him. Instead, she started instructing her daughter, "Check if there is any pork head at; your dad likes to have that with his drink. Fry up a plate of peanuts for him too, look how happy he is."
Shen Yidong, watching the two of them so joyous, joined in the laughter, "Okay, okay, I’ll buy everything for you. It’s been like watching for the stars and waiting for the moon to finally have this happen. We really should celebrate with a few drinks. Ah, speaking of which, I, as an aunt, am also delighted. I’ll get myself ready and head into town to buy things."
Chen Guizhi patted her hand, "And isn’t that the truth. I feel strength in my body now. Buy so fatty pork when you’re there, and tonight we’ll make dumplings. See if your older and second sisters can co over to eat too. Oh, it’s wonderful, help up; I want to sit outside where the air is fresher, clears my head. I need to see if there’s anything I haven’t thought of yet. Write down what I said later for your dad to tell your brother...Old man, should we also notify our in-laws over there..."
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