When the pears are green

The White Dew has passed, and the dew is getting thicker at night.

Jiang Qingzhou urged Song Li, who had just finished eating the pig's trotters, to wash up quickly, and then the two of them walked back and forth in the yard together.

Rather than saying that Song Li was taking a walk, it would be more accurate to say that Jiang Qingzhou was pushing Song Li. Song Li's body became increasingly bulky, and she became increasingly lazy.

"Oops..."

Song Li felt a stirring in her abdomen and couldn't help but cry out in pain.

Jiang Qingzhou hurriedly supported Song Li and asked with concern: "Xiao Li, what's wrong? Where do you feel uncomfortable?"

"Qingzhou, the baby is kicking me. Please support me for a while. I want to go back to the house and lie down." After Song Li said this, she held her waist with one hand and climbed on Jiang Qingzhou's arm with the other, and slowly walked towards the east room.

Jiang Qingzhou half-lay in front of Song Li's bulging belly, pointed at the bulging belly on the right side and asked: "Xiao Li, is the right side moving?"

Song Li smiled and shook her head, and softly told Jiang Qingzhou that it was the left side that was moving.

"The left one? Why is the right side bulging?" Jiang Qingzhou asked in confusion.

Song Li hooked her long hair with her fingers and answered: "The baby should be turning over. Maybe he is bored and playing with the umbilical cord."

Hearing this, Jiang Qingzhou moved closer to Song Li's abdomen and said softly to her still bulging belly, "Be good, baby. It's late. Go to sleep."

Song Li burst out laughing, took Jiang Qingzhou's hand and gently stroked her abdomen.

Jiang Qingzhou's warm palm gently slid across the bulging belly, and the belly quickly returned to normal.

"Xiao Li, the baby is asleep." Jiang Qingzhou raised his head and looked at Song Li with surprise.

Song Li smiled and nodded, asking Jiang Qingzhou to go to bed early as well.

Jiang Qingzhou stood up and took out two sets of dresses from the closet for Song Li to try on.

Song Li picked up a snow-blue short-sleeved shirt and asked curiously, "Why did Qingzhou think of making clothes for me?"

Jiang Qingzhou answered while helping Song Li try on clothes: "Autumn is coming soon. You need to wear more clothes in the morning and evening. You have gained some weight recently. You will not be able to wear the clothes you wore in spring. A few days ago, I took the cloth that my mother brought and asked Cai Lian to make two sets of clothes for you. Wear them for now."

Song Li wanted to refute, but she did see her round face in the bronze mirror held by Jiang Qingzhou.

Song Li pinched her face and whispered softly: "It turns out you've gained weight. I thought your clothes were too small!"

Jiang Qingzhou smiled and scratched Song Li's nose. After Song Li lay down, he helped Song Li gently rub her slightly swollen ankles and calves.

The weather is getting cooler and the swallows are starting to fly south.

Jiang Qingzhou was worried about leaving Song Li, who was eight months pregnant, alone at home, and he didn't dare let Song Li go with him to the town to set up a stall, so he discussed with Song Li not to attend this year's Mid-Autumn Festival party.

"Xiao Li, you can make money anytime, but I just want to be with you right now, to accompany you in giving birth to our child. My aunt calculated for me before, and the baby should be born next month."

"Okay, I'll think about making money after the baby is born."

Song Li had calculated the money in the family a few days ago and found it was enough for expenses before the New Year, so she naturally agreed to Jiang Qingzhou's proposal. Moreover, Song Li was extremely dependent on Jiang Qingzhou at this time.

The Jiang family's corn was ripe. Jiang Qingzhou took advantage of Song Li's deep sleep and spent two days pulling the corn and stalks back home. He then spent another five days tilling the land and planting cabbage.

Near September, Zhang Ying gave birth to a baby girl.

Zhang Ying's two children were only one year apart in age. After delivering the babies, the midwife repeatedly reminded Zhang Ying not to have another child within three years, otherwise it would damage her foundation.

After the midwife left, Zhang Ying's mother hugged Jiang Zhong, who was crying and shouting for his mother, and loudly scolded Jiang Qian for not being caring and not coming back even after his wife gave birth.

Jiang Ping, who was outside the house, was too ashamed to say a word, and hurried into the kitchen to cook brown sugar eggs for Zhang Ying.

On the first day of September, Song Changhe, Zhang and Song Yue came to visit Song Li together.

Zhang looked at Song Li, who was now much rounder than before, with satisfaction, and smiled as she handed the pottery basin with a pomegranate pattern that Song Yue was holding to Song Li.

Song Li lifted the red scarf covering the basin and saw a bunch of millet stalks in the basin. On the stalks were an orange-red pomegranate flower made of silk and five men and two women made of unknown material.

"Mom, what is this?" Song Li asked, pointing at the white objects that were pasted into the shape of five men and two women.

Zhang took a look and smiled as she told Song Li, "I don't know either. Mingde bought it from the city. He said it's popular in the county. The pomegranate on the pottery basin was also painted by Mingde when he came back last month."

"Sister, this is Tongcao. Mingde said that Tongcao is a medicine that has the effects of ventilating the lungs and... promoting lactation." Song Yue's voice became lower and lower. She lay on Song Li's arm with a red face, not daring to look at the expressions of Zhang and Song Changhe.

Jiang Qingzhou quickly dragged the shocked Song Changhe to the new house to see the newly born rabbits. Song Changhe stood in front of the rabbit nest and couldn't help but complain to Jiang Qingzhou in a low voice: "Qingzhou, Mingde is a scholar, how can he say such words to an unmarried girl? He is really, really a fool."

Jiang Qingzhou quickly explained to the angry Song Changhe on behalf of Wu Mingde: "Dad, this is the effect of Tongcao herbs. Mingde can't lie."

Song Changhe sighed and stamped his feet, silently cursing Wu Mingde in his heart.

Zhang was more open-minded than Song Changhe. It was just a word and she didn't take it to heart.

Song Li then asked why there were five men and two women instead of six men and three women or something like that.

"You silly child, your mother knows that it was made into five sons and two daughters because King Wu of Zhou had five sons and two daughters." Zhang, who was sitting on a stool nearby, answered with a smile.

Song Li suddenly realized that it was because King Wu of Zhou had five sons and two daughters. People might use this to hope that their families would also be able to multiply and be cared for by the gods.

Song Yue then explained to Song Li: "Mother is right. Mingde said that giving a woman who is about to give birth a picture of five boys and two girls made of tongcao is to wish her a smooth delivery and a thriving offspring. People in the village give paper with pictures of five boys and two girls. Mingde bought this from the city specifically for my sister."

"That silk flower too?" Song Li turned her head and looked at Song Yue and asked with a smile.

Song Yue nodded embarrassedly.

Zhang smiled and tapped Song Yue's head with her finger, then took out a square two-layer plate box from her backpack and handed it to Song Li.

Song Li opened the lid. The upper layer was filled with steamed buns, and the lower layer was filled with animal flower cakes in the shapes of sleeping sheep and lying deer.

Seeing Song Li's puzzled face, Zhang quickly explained to Song Li, "Sending steamed buns means sharing pain. The mother's family gives steamed buns to the expectant daughter, hoping to share the pain of childbirth. Sleeping sheep and lying deer mean "sleeping", which means the mother's family hopes that their daughter can rest well and take good care of her body after giving birth."

Song Li suddenly felt that the wooden box in her hand weighed a thousand pounds, carrying too many infinite and beautiful blessings from her parents that could not be expressed in words.

Zhang then took out a pile of children's clothes for all seasons, thin quilts, diapers, etc. from another backpack.

Song Li couldn't help but exclaimed: "Mom, this is too much. I heard that children grow very fast. How can we wear them all?"

"Don't worry, mother is an experienced person, so she naturally knows how big it should be. Xiaoyue and I made these at home. They have been washed and can be used directly after the baby is born." After Zhang finished speaking, she loudly called out Jiang Qingzhou and Song Changhe who were still in the new house, and told Jiang Qingzhou to put these things away.

Because Jiang Qingzhou had no parents, Zhang was afraid that Song Li would have no one to take care of her during childbirth, so she stayed in the Jiang family.

Two days later, Jiang and Zhang Peng came to Jiang's house to visit Song Li. Jiang felt relieved to see Zhang there.

In the following days, Chen Yuan and Ruyi came to see Song Li, and Ruyi made a cute tiger-head hat for the unborn baby.

Song Li often plays with this hat, and she especially likes the eight red peace knots hanging from the top of the hat.

When all the corn stalks in the field were cut, Lingling, Wu Mingshu and Yang Jing came to Jiang's house together. The three of them talked with Song Li for a long time.

On the morning of September 15th, Zhang and Song Li were washing together in the yard. The cup in Song Li's hand suddenly fell, and the splashing water wet Zhang's shoes.

Zhang didn't care about her shoes that were soaked through, and hurriedly supported Song Li, who was pale and trembling all over.

Song Li told Zhang in a crying voice: "Mom, my stomach is falling, I should be bleeding, I feel so uncomfortable."

Zhang, who was anxious, could only pretend to be calm. She comforted Song Li softly, "Don't be afraid, Xiaoli. You should have seen blood. There is still some time before the birth. You should lie down first. I will make you some egg custard. Only when you are full can you have the strength to give birth. When Qingzhou comes back, I will ask him to find a midwife."

After Zhang settled Song Li down, she hurried into the kitchen to make egg custard for Song Li.

After eating a bowl of egg custard, Song Li felt much better. Although she felt uncomfortable, she did not vomit.

At this time, Zhang heard the sound of the door being pushed open, and ran to the yard to tell Jiang Qingzhou, who had not yet entered the yard, about Song Li's situation.

Jiang Qingzhou hurriedly turned the donkey cart around to find a midwife.

The midwife asked about Song Li's condition in detail, and smiled and said to Zhang and Jiang Qingzhou, who were both anxious, "Don't worry, she's still a long way from giving birth. Try to get her to eat more. If she can't eat anymore, go to the town's clinic and buy some ginseng to boil in water. When her stomach starts to hurt, come back to me."

That day, Song Li had no other discomfort except for occasional nausea.

Just when Song Li thought that giving birth was not as scary as she had heard, she began to feel persistent pain in her abdomen.

Song Li was in so much pain that she couldn't stand, sit or lie down. She just lay in Jiang Qingzhou's arms and cried.

Jiang Qingzhou patted Song Li's back gently, and softly negotiated with Song Li who was reluctant to let go: "Xiao Li, I'm going to find a midwife. Let me accompany you, okay? I'll be back soon."

Song Li wiped her tears on Jiang Qingzhou's shoulder and slowly loosened her arms around Jiang Qingzhou's neck.

The still calm midwife touched Song Li's shrinking abdomen and asked Zhang to make something for Song Li.

Song Li endured the discomfort and forced herself to eat some, but then vomited it all out.

Jiang Qingzhou quickly took out the ginseng that Ruyi had given him earlier, went to the kitchen, cut it into slices and boiled water for Song Li to drink.

Song Li's pain was getting worse and worse. Jiang Qingzhou wanted to accompany Song Li during the birthing, but was sent to the kitchen by Zhang and the midwife to boil water.

While wiping Song Li's sweat, Zhang softly told her, "Xiao Li, I've been through this and I know how unbearable it is for women to give birth. Some things are better not to be known by men. They can understand the difficulties women face, but they may not be able to empathize with their helplessness and unbearableness."

Zhang half-hugged Song Li with concern, asking her to conserve her energy so as not to be exhausted when giving birth.

After a day and night of pain, Song Li finally gave birth to a baby boy in the afternoon of September 17th.