The corridor outside the delivery room was crowded with people, eyes fixed on the glass door, fervently hoping to hear any sound from inside.
Zhang Guoqing, usually smiling, had a serious expression, lips tightly pursed. In the scorching early July sumr, he felt no heat, only a chill within.
Yesterday, sumr vacation had just begun, allowing Zhang Guoqing to finally relax a bit. He returned to the Big Courtyard with Zhou Jiao and promptly took the advice of Mother Zhang, moving with his parents and the midwife into a small courtyard in the alley.
Who could have expected that after everything was settled, just when he planned to let Zhou Jiao rest leading up to the due date, she started bleeding unexpectedly in less than a day.
Zhang Guoqing questioned if it was his fault. He shouldn’t have taken his wife back to the Big Courtyard, no matter how slow the car drove, there would still be bumps.
The due date was in August, but it had now been moved more than a month earlier. Thinking about Zhou Jiao biting her lips until they were bleeding, Zhang Guoqing deeply regretted his recklessness.
He was so close, losing his mind at the last step!
Mother Zhang gently squeezed her son’s hand, softly comforting him, "Twins often co early, don’t worry. Our Jiao Jiao is very lucky; it will certainly be alright."
Zhang Guoqing stared at the large door, absent-mindedly gazing with a blank expression.
"Why is there no sound at all?" Cheng Ruzhu paced around, unable to hold back her voice any longer.
Zhang Guoqing knew the doctor inside had advised his wife not to bite down on the towel. But who was she? That was Zhou Jiao! Zhou Jiao, who was never comfortable losing composure in front of outsiders.
Old Mrs. Cheng sat in a chair with her head bowed, hands clasped together. If one observed closely, they would notice her lips were constantly moving. But who had the presence of mind to pay attention to details at a ti like this?
Zhou Jiao had been inside since the early morning, and now it had been over ten hours. As ti ticked by, those waiting grew increasingly uneasy.
Cheng Ruzhu finished speaking, noticed no response from anyone, nudged her sister-in-law Liu Xiu, "I’ll make a call to have the aunt at ho send so food over."
Liu Xiu glanced at her sitting in-laws waiting patiently, "I’ll do it."
Cheng Ruzhu didn’t argue, and as soon as Liu left, she leaned against the glass door, eager to pull down that layer of white cloth from the other side.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and Cheng Ruzhu nearly fell inside upon seeing Doctor Lin. She quickly steadied herself and asked excitedly, "Doctor Lin, how is it?"
"Aunt Lin, how is Jiao Jiao now?" Zhang Guoqing rushed forward.
Doctor Lin swiftly blocked him, "She’s doing well! Don’t go in and disrupt her."
"Aunt Lin, please let go in."
"No way! It’s packed with dical staff inside, there’s no room for you to squeeze in."
Zhang Guoqing looked at her disappointedly. So-called experts, with no understanding of the benefits of a husband’s presence during childbirth. What a ridiculous era!
He turned his head, craning his neck to look inside, but unfortunately, the delivery room was next door.
In a mont of desperation, Zhang Guoqing shouted, "Jiao Jiao, I’m waiting outside for you, hang in there. Darling, I’m outside waiting for you, you must hang in there. We won’t have any more kids after this, Jiao Jiao, hang in there..."
Doctor Lin was dumbfounded, tugging at his arm, "Alright, stop disturbing your wife during childbirth."
"...Darling, Ping’an is waiting for you to co ho, darling, you must hang in there..."
"What are you doing? Shut up already!"
Seeing the doctor truly angry, Zhang Guoqing promptly closed his mouth, obediently craning his neck to look inside, trying to listen carefully for any sounds from within. Unfortunately, the noise from other patients, maternity won, and children in the neighboring rooms frequently interrupted his listening.
"Your wife asked to deliver a ssage, are you listening or not? If not, I’m leaving."
Beside him, Zhou Xiaozheng asked sternly, "Tell quickly, what did my Jiao Jiao say?"
Doctor Lin almost couldn’t catch her breath. These father-in-law and son-in-law pairs were hard to please! Just when she was about to speak, wasn’t she interrupted by the younger one? Judging by the elder’s deanor, he seed to think she was deliberately hiding sothing.
She pursed her lips, responded irritably, "She asked you all to go ho and do your own things."
Zhang Guoqing’s eyes shifted, squeezing out a smile, and saluted, "Aunt Lin, you’ve worked hard, please keep an eye on things for us."
Doctor Lin couldn’t bear to watch his ambiguous smile, nodded, turned imdiately and disappeared back inside, quickly closing the door tightly.
Zhang Guoqing was turned away, noticing his father-in-law’s dark face, sighed sympathetically. At tis like these, no one had more clout than obstetricians!
Lin Lishan said quietly from the side, "Why is it that Uncle Hu just happens to be absent? It would be better if he were here."
Zhou Xiaozheng cast a sidelong glance at his wife.
"Just knew that old man was unreliable!" Zhang Guoqing strongly agreed with his mother-in-law. You hung onto this apprentice for so many months, why disappear at the last critical mont?
Zhou Xiaozheng was too tired to complain, ignoring the couple, approached Mr. and Mrs. Cheng, "Aunt, you all should head ho. Since Jiao Jiao has sent a ssage, there shouldn’t be a problem."
Old Mrs. Cheng glanced at him quickly, lowered her head again, continuing to silently recite her prayers.
Zhou Xiaozheng saw Mr. Cheng shake his head, continued suggesting Mr. Zhang and Mother Zhang return to accompany Ping’an.
"Don’t urge us, with Jiao Jiao inside, we don’t want to leave, Chen Family’s girl is at ho with Ping’an, no problem there." Mother Zhang firmly refused before her husband could speak.
Mr. Zhang nodded in agreent, "Trouble going back and forth, not being here feels uneasy."
The persuasion was fruitless, Zhou Xiaozheng continued sitting with a stern expression, gazing at the glass door, noticed his son-in-law resting against the wall with closed eyes, furrowed his brow.
Ti gradually passed as everyone ate a bit of the food Aunt Cheng had brought, tasting little.
Everyone waited until sunset, after Zhang Guoqing shouted again, and after Zhou Jiao requested another bowl of noodles—finally, by eight o’clock in the evening, there was movent inside.
Inside the delivery room, the midwife Zhang Guoqing invited, whose loud voice had finally co into play, rang clearly outside, boosting everyone’s spirits. Old Mrs. Cheng and others rushed to the door.
"She’s starting to deliver, good, very good."
"Our Jiao Jiao is suffering."
"Don’t talk, listen to what they are saying inside."
The cry of a newborn echoed out, bringing a smile to everyone’s faces outside the delivery room.
Mr. Cheng laughed heartily, "Must be a chubby boy, quite the loud voice."
"Calm down, there’s more. The twins."
"Oh, why hasn’t soone co out to announce good news first?"
Zhang Guoqing frowned at the chattering crowd, not in the mood to inform them that a healthcare worker inside already said it was a boy.
He silently counted the numbers, hearing the joyful chatter of dical staff. At this mont, Zhang Guoqing finally took a deep breath.
——It wouldn’t take long before his wife could get through this, in a mont, a tear fell from his eye.
No one knew how he got through these past few months. Watching Zhou Jiao’s belly grow thinner each night, especially as the months increased and the baby’s limbs moved, he truly worried they would burst through his wife’s belly.
"Wait, no, the position has shifted, let rub it over."
"What’s going on? The fetal position was normal just now. Quick, you rub this way, you squeeze this way."
"Xiao Wu’s wife, don’t sleep, there’s still a baby! Wake up, there’s still a baby inside!"
"Yes, good, keep rubbing."
"Here’s so ginseng slices, let her hold them."
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