I am not Ximen Qing.

Old Jin was a frugal old man. With so many children, the expenses for their living and education were a major headache for him. He was worried that his unborn child wouldn't have enough money, so his frugality was almost obsessive. Actually, Honglin misunderstood Old Jin's intentions. She bought a lot of delicious food and made her younger siblings eat it all, deliberately trying to annoy Old Jin.

“Honglin, don’t waste money. Your Uncle Jin has his own difficulties.”

“Mother, look at Hongmei, Hongli, Hongqi, and Honghua. They are all pale and thin. This won’t do.”

"I'm about to give birth to my son."

"I understand, Mother. I won't argue with Uncle Jin."

"Yes, don't argue with your Uncle Jin."

Honglin's stubbornness and longing for her father made Lao Jin yearn for her to call him "Father," but all he received was Honglin's cold "Uncle Jin." However, their mother made Hongmei, Hongqi, Honghua, and Hongli call Lao Jin "Dad," and later "Father," which helped Lao Jin regain some face. Honglin filled the cellar with radishes, potatoes, and cabbages he had brought back from the mountains. He was finally relieved; at least his younger siblings would have enough food for the winter. He also demonstrated his capabilities to Lao Jin and warned him to treat his siblings well, reminding him that with him in the family, Lao Jin had to be careful. In Honglin's heart, her father was irreplaceable. Although her second and eldest sisters had changed their address, that was due to her mother's pressure, and Honglin would never yield. Lao Jin also knew that Honglin calling him "Uncle Jin" was already a huge honor.

"The bolder the people, the greater the harvest." Socialist construction is booming, building a prosperous and democratic new China. Unity is strength. This was the era of the planned economy; with people, you had everything. Women were completely liberated and free. Women held up half the sky, and many became March 8th Red Banner Bearers and model workers. China's development and construction cannot be separated from the struggles and efforts of women. Besides working, women were busy bearing children, creating a miracle of population growth. Families had seven or eight children, and meals were always lively, with siblings scrambling and arguing over food and drink.

Mothers giving birth alongside their daughters is nothing new; it's commonplace. Midwives are incredibly busy, and the women are all remarkably robust and strong, giving birth as easily as chickens and geese laying eggs. The midwives are very experienced and can handle any difficult births, so very few women die from childbirth. Women receive no special care when they marry and become pregnant; they work, do their chores, and do what they're supposed to do. Giving birth seems to be a "side job" created by love in their lives. After giving birth, they might drink some brown sugar water and seaweed soup, and eat eggs and stewed old hens—a luxury as precious as an egg for the Daoguang Emperor.

Huang Yupei never expected that her eldest daughter would give birth first, then her second daughter, and finally herself—all boys. Old Jin was overjoyed to see that they were boys, with little penises to carry on the family line. Moreover, this boy was the oldest in the family but the youngest, but that didn't matter; the child would be an uncle from birth, with two older nephews who would also have to call him uncle. Old Jin knew that Huang Yupei had argued with her second son-in-law about their children's names, and now he was worried that her son-in-law would repeat the same mistake. Old Jin knew that her second son-in-law was an educated man who had left a big city to work in the forestry bureau in the mountains. Why go to the mountains instead of staying in the big city? Because there was good food in the mountains. The mountains and rivers of Northeast China were full of the original "Beidahuang" (Great Northern Wilderness) scenes of "beating roe deer with sticks and scooping fish with ladles, pheasants flying into the cooking pot"—this didn't capture the true abundance of the land, which was even more barren than the Great Northern Wilderness itself. Why could the spirit of Yan'an overcome the stubborn, decadent, and corrupt ideology of the Kuomintang in Shanghai and Nanjing? The mountains and rivers of Northeast China hold a wealth of delicious food; cities cannot truly solve the problem of hunger. While hunger lingers outside the mountains, the mountains offer delicious local produce. Consider how rich the Northeast is; the Japanese plundered it for over a decade. Those who have never experienced hunger do not know the wonders of the mountains and the suffering outside. Zhao Mengji would never want to return to the big city. He could find himself in these mountains.

The eldest son-in-law, Li Jingshan, possessed the pride of a modern-day Li Bai—talented, capable, and handsome like a refined scholar. He always looked down on the migrant children from the mountains. Old Jin completely lost the courage to deal with his second son-in-law in the face of his eldest son-in-law, because Li Jingshan was too arrogant and had an extremely strong presence. He could almost subdue his stepfather, Old Jin, with just a few words. The eldest son-in-law had always been curious why Old Jin didn't have a single relative in the bureau—a rather bizarre and unusual situation.

However, it's quite a miracle that a mother gave birth to two children at the same time as her two daughters! Li Jingshan was incredibly open-minded. To what extent? He inherently disliked boys, even constantly praying that he wouldn't be born with the son he so despised. Li Jingshan loved daughters and fundamentally hated sons. In his mind, Wu Zetian, Empress Dowager Cixi, Wang Zhaojun, Xi Shi, Diao Chan, Yang Guifei, Catherine the Great, Queen Elizabeth, Cai Wenji, Zhuo Wenjun, the "Ode to the Goddess of the Luo River," the "Ode to Deng Tu Zi's Lust," and Li Qingzhao were all daughters. For some reason, he was almost driven to a mental breakdown, solely hoping his wife would give birth to a daughter. A daughter was all he needed; good or bad in studies didn't matter, as long as it was a daughter, he would be overjoyed. Meanwhile, Hongyu secretly hoped to be born to replace Li Jingshan. After their son was born, she showed no joy whatsoever in becoming a father. Li Jingshan would shout loudly, "This is real! Jia Zheng didn't deserve to beat Baoyu to death! This is real! There really are such hopeless fellows!"

"Brother, you should be smiling. Don't get too excited, it's your son."

"Fifth brother, I'll give it to you."

"Brother, don't get so worked up. Be rational. Can't you at least consider the Buddha's feelings?"

"Fifth brother, how's work at the power plant?"

"Brother, the power plant will always have the best benefits."

"Yes, even Qin Dabao managed to find a female nurse at the hospital."

"That's all because Da Baozi benefited from his aunt's husband's connections."

Qin Dabao's uncle is the head of the power plant. Because of his love for his nephew, he is quite kind to Dabao and gives him face. However, Dabao has the same good fortune as Zhang Sheng in The Romance of the Western Chamber. The nurse is indeed as beautiful as Su Daji.

"I've given birth to a husband! I've given birth to a husband!"

"What was born?"

"Stop keeping me in suspense. You've given birth, so why pretend to be in pain?"

Li Jingfu was Li Jingshan's fifth younger brother. A good student, he was assigned to a management position at a power plant after graduation. Naturally, he became the fifth uncle of his eldest brother's son. The uncle was often more excited than the father, and the fifth brother wondered if his eldest brother had mental problems. His sister-in-law's pregnancy with their first child, a son, gave him hope for the Li family's future. The fifth brother felt his eldest brother was acting strangely, but he knew his brother too well. It couldn't be; his brother was a true engineer, a genius like Edison, passionate about invention, especially in the research of various home appliances. The radio, television, and tape recorder in the fifth uncle's house were all assembled by Li Jingshan himself. Because Li Jingshan was an engineer at the electrical factory, he had opportunities to travel to the south, most frequently to Shanghai. There, Li Jingshan was a prominent and capable figure; many relatives and friends enjoyed the benefits of his appliances. At that time, televisions and tape recorders were imported from Japan, and you needed a quota to buy them. Unexpectedly, Li Jingshan had exceptional hands-on skills; he could purchase various components and assemble televisions, tape recorders, and radios. Such a capable person caused such a commotion in the hospital's delivery room, even wanting to give his own son to his fifth brother. He also swore that the child was a troublemaker and a naughty brat who would bring misfortune to his parents in the future, and said absurd things like he was determined to give the child away. This made Zhang Hongyu cry and wipe away her tears.

"Yes, it would be so nice if he were a daughter!"

“Jingshan, you definitely have psychological problems. Why don’t you go see a psychologist?”

“Hongyu, I am healthier than anyone else in my heart. Even your father is afraid of me.”

"Stop fooling around, or the hospital will think you're sick."

"Hongyu, I just hate my son."

"I love my son."

"I do not like."

"Okay, shall we have another one? A whole bunch of daughters."

“Hongyu should have two more daughters. More than that won’t be good enough to raise. Daughters are not like boys; they need to go to university.”

"Can't my son go to university?"

“Hongyu, I’m not trying to discourage you, but this son of yours is a troublemaker, a brat, and a drunkard. Anyway, I’m right.”

To be honest, Li Jingshan was a handsome but arrogant scholar. It was Zhang Hongyu who actively pursued him, and it took considerable effort to win over his haughty demeanor. Zhang Hongyu treated the Li family a thousand times better than her own family, using almost all of her salary to support her fifth son's education. The fifth son lived up to her expectations, getting into university and being promoted to a managerial position as soon as he joined the power plant. Therefore, the fifth uncle supported his sister-in-law's opposition to his brother Li Jingshan. However, from a common-sense perspective, Li Jingshan's actions were indeed excessive. Making a judgment about a newborn son was a bit too much. Even if he didn't like his son, wasn't he still the eldest grandson of the Li family?