Northeast: My Absurd Woman

Chapter 148 Don't wait for others to realize how hard you've worked; that's something

As soon as he reached the window, Zhang Changyao impatiently called out, "Wu Ni, the hot chicken is here!"

Wu Ni and Liao Zhi were both so hungry that their stomachs were rumbling.

Hearing Zhang Changyao's footsteps as he returned, their eyes lit up.

This is really not Yang Wuni's fault. She tried to get up to cook for Liao Zhi several times, but Liao Zhi scolded her each time.

Liao Zhi told her that if a woman doesn't cherish herself, others will be even less likely to love her.

Don't wait for others to discover your hardships and then be moved to tears of gratitude; only a fool would do that.

"Huh? Wu Ni, you...you gave birth to the child yourself?"

The chicken that Zhang Changyao was holding was still steaming hot.

Looking at Yang Wuni lying on the kang (a heated brick bed), and the little one pouting and huddled under the covers, he was filled with joy.

"Zhang Changyao, I didn't give birth to him myself, Liao Zhi helped me give birth to him." Yang Wuni propped herself up to sit up.

"No, no, no, Wu Ni, you can't move. I'll feed you chicken soup, it's still warm."

Zhang Changyao didn't care about anything else and put down the bowl of chicken in his hand.

They pressed Yang Wuni's head down onto the pillow, preventing her from getting up.

He took a spoon from the newly made dish rack in the outer room and fed Yang Wuni chicken soup spoonful by spoonful.

"Zhang Changyao, I'll have the soup. You and Liao Zhi can have the chicken and potatoes."

"Wu Ni, I've already eaten at Wang Ga's house. You and Liao Zhi can eat now."

Yang Wuni took a few sips before remembering that Liao Zhi and Zhang Changyao hadn't eaten yet.

He picked up a piece of chicken and tried to stuff it into Zhang Changyao's mouth.

Zhang Changyao couldn't bear to put the chicken in his mouth, so he kept his mouth tightly shut and refused to open it.

Zhang Changyao took the chicken that Wu Ni had given him, tore off a piece and gave it to Liao Zhi, but Liao Zhi kept his mouth shut and refused to eat it.

"Two grown men are fighting with a woman who's in postpartum confinement for food! Are you trying to kill us all?"

Liao Zhi, who was pretending to be asleep with his eyes half-closed, had no choice but to speak after being disturbed by him.

"Wu Ni, I'll cook a meal and boil one of the eggs you bought for Liao Zhi for you."

Tomorrow I'll go to Ma Pengsheng's house and buy a few dozen more. I heard that women need to eat eggs and drink millet porridge during their postpartum period.

"What is it?" Zhang Changyao put on his apron and was about to cook.

I accidentally stepped on a soft placenta on the ground.

"Placenta, Zhang Changyao, take a look and see if Wu Ni gave birth to a girl or a boy."

"If it's a girl, we can just get rid of her; if it's a boy, we'll bury him under the threshold," Liao Zhi told Zhang Changyao in a serious tone.

"Placement of the placenta? There are these rules? Liao Zhi, did you learn this in school?"

Zhang Changyao used a small shovel to pry open the toilet paper to look at the placenta.

"Get lost! There's no such thing at school. I heard this from my grandma."

I found it quite interesting and even wrote it down in my notebook. My mother saw it and scolded me.

They said I wasn't studying hard enough and was preparing to become a midwife like my grandmother.

Liao Zhi joked about himself, while also thinking of his deceased mother and grandmother.

Only then did Zhang Changyao realize that he hadn't checked whether the child was male or female.

Pulling back the blanket, I immediately saw a small, dark thing hanging between the little guy's legs.

"Wu Ni, you didn't suffer in vain, you're a boy."

Zhang Changyao jumped for joy, ignoring Liao Zhi beside him, and gave Yang Wuni a big kiss on the cheek.

"Hmph! If you have a penis, you haven't suffered in vain; if you don't have a penis, you've suffered in vain?"

Zhang Changyao, you need to change your thinking. What era are we living in that you still prefer sons to daughters?

You'll see! In just a few years, families with sons will be envious of those with daughters.

Liao Zhi disliked Zhang Changyao, and his tone was somewhat mocking.

"Liao Zhi, Zhang Changyao didn't mean that. He also loves his daughter."

He felt the same way about his elder brother's precious children, Guiye and Guibao.

Yang Wuni looked at Zhang Changyao, who was not speaking, and hurriedly explained to Liao Zhi.

"Wu Ni, don't tell him. He's never been a father, so he doesn't know what that feels like."

"Anything born from your own seed is a treasure."

Zhang Changyao, who was grinning from ear to ear, couldn't be bothered to argue with Liao Zhi.

After dinner, Zhang Changyao didn't wash the dishes and went to Zhang Shuhua's house to share the good news.

My aunt told me that I should inform Wu Ni as soon as she gave birth.

"Oh dear! Why didn't Wu Ni give us a heads-up sooner?"

"What woman gives birth at home all by herself? That's incredibly risky!"

Zhang Shuhua, who was already in bed, hurriedly got up and put on her clothes and pants.

In a panic, he buttoned his clothes, making a mess of things, and accidentally buttoning them into the buttonholes.

The eggs that had been prepared in the cupboard were covered with layers of straw mats.

I don't know when I bought this big bag of brown sugar, but one corner of it has already soaked through the kraft paper.

Xiao Douzi was fast asleep when Zhang Shuhua leaned against the door of the treehouse and told him to go and sleep with Xiao Douzi.

Zhang Changyao helped Zhang Shuhua up and told her to walk slowly.

"Changyao, it's not that I'm criticizing you as your aunt, but Wuni is young and doesn't understand things. You should pay more attention to her."

A woman's first pregnancy is the most dangerous, can you believe how scary that is?

Wu Ni, if anything happens to you, your old aunt will be furious.

You bunch of idiots, you're all giving me no peace of mind.

Your eldest brother, your second brother, your father—tell me, which one of them is sensible and obedient?

They were all so captivating; even your second brother couldn't resist a woman.

Your father is treated like an animal by a woman, and he's so happy he doesn't know which way is up.

"Your older brother, not to mention, he's such a coward, yet he still stole Changguang's woman, sigh..."

Zhang Shuhua entered Zhang Changyao's house cursing all the way.

"Auntie, what's wrong? Did Zhang Changyao make you angry?"

Yang Wuni heard Zhang Shuhua's last words after she entered the room, and looked up to ask.

"Wu Ni, you silly child, how could there be no certainty about when she will give birth?"

Auntie checked to see if he was weak. She told him to drink a bowl of brown sugar water first, and then have some millet porridge with boiled eggs later.

Women shouldn't skimp on food during postpartum recovery; otherwise, the baby won't produce enough breast milk.

Zhang Shuhua touched Yang Wuni's head and neck, and feeling that her body temperature was normal, she felt relieved and made her some brown sugar water to drink.

"Auntie, there's a bowl of chicken here. Can Wu Ni have some?"

Zhang Changyao brought the bowl of chicken over to Zhang Shuhua to see.

"Changyao, this chicken is no good, it's too tough. I'll make soup for Wuni tomorrow."

After cooking it for a few meals, I'll shred the chicken into strips for her to eat.

Go to my house tomorrow, catch the old hen I left for Wu Ni, and kill it.

This baby is too thin; she needs to be properly nourished during her postpartum period.

Zhang Shuhua blew on the brown sugar water and fed it to Yang Wuni spoonful by spoonful.

"Auntie, I want to sit up. I'm not used to lying down all the time."

Yang Wuni had never been treated with such attention before, and she felt uncomfortable. She timidly lowered her eyelids as she tried to get up.

"Wu Ni, you must listen to your aunt. Women cannot sit during postpartum confinement."

"Your joints haven't closed yet; sitting like this will cause you back pain later."

Zhang Shuhua put down the bowl of sweet soup and forcibly pushed Yang Wuni into the quilt.

She climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), opened the child's body, and placed the child in the warm water that Zhang Changyao brought over to wash the child clean.

Crush the baby's umbilical cord with the anti-inflammatory white medicine tablets that Zhang Changyao had just bought and wrap it up.

The little guy, with his hands and feet bound, leaned against Yang Wuni's chest.

Zhang Shuhua whispered to Yang Wuni how to breastfeed.

Zhang Shuhua and Zhang Changyao slept around Yang Wuni and the child all night.

Zhang Shuhua was worried that Yang Wuni had a fever, so she would get up from time to time to touch her head and then touch her own forehead for comparison.

"Oh my! Isn't this a mess?"

I told you something was off about Changyao's house yesterday afternoon, but your dad said it was nothing."