Riding the wind of rebirth

Zhang Ge couldn't walk back and sat down again. He paced back and forth at the door, which made Yang He even more nervous.

Even with the advancements in medicine, childbirth remains a significant hurdle for women. However, with my sister-in-law, who has given birth before, by our side, we all felt more confident.

“When I gave birth to Xiaoguang at the township health center, there was a power outage. Xiaoguang was born by the light of a kerosene lamp and needed several stitches,” the woman said. “With conditions like these now, what are you worried about?”

Strangely enough, not only Yang and his side relaxed, but even Zhang and his father looked much better.

"Are Feng Xueshan's family members here?" The nurse came out again just as I was speaking.

"Yes!" Zhou Zhi and Yang He raised their hands simultaneously as a reflex, but then Mai Xiaomiao pulled Zhou Zhi's hand down, both amused and annoyed.

"Where's the baby?" Yang He was terrified. "Nurse, don't scare me like that..."

"What child?"

"No, didn't you always bring the kids with you when you came out?" Yang He's eyes welled up with tears. "My wife, my kids, what happened to them?"

"You're such a strange person." The nurse glanced at Yang He and took a step back: "They all had natural births and are healthy. The baby and mother will be wheeled out together soon. You can get ready."

After saying that, he turned around and hurried back as if avoiding Yang He.

"Hey..." Zhou Zhi was about to ask a few questions when the operating table was pushed out. Feng Xueshan was lying on the bed, also on an IV drip, with a small baby lying next to her.

"Xueshan." Yang He leaned over the operating table and couldn't help but kiss Feng Xueshan's forehead: "Mom, thank you for your hard work."

"Waaah..." Feng Xueshan burst into tears, "Yang He, he's so ugly..."

“Don’t talk nonsense, he’s a very cute kid,” Zhou Zhi quickly said.

"You're lying to me, the doctor just examined me..."

"Newborn babies are like this, it'll be fine once you get the dilation and treatment." The sister-in-law quickly went over and picked up the baby. "He's fine, Xueshan, trust me, the baby's very well-behaved, don't worry!"

Mai Xiaomiao looked at the baby with a wrinkled face, who looked like a little monkey, and wanted to say something to praise him, but she couldn't bring herself to say it: "Let's talk about it when we get back."

"Is it a son or a daughter?" Yang He realized that the information he received was different from what others had: "The nurse didn't say anything just now!!"

"You scared the nurse so much that she forgot to say anything." Zhou Zhi rolled her eyes at Yang He. "I saw blue and pink ribbons. Are they for distinguishing genders?"

"What are you looking at?" The older sister-in-law lifted the child's bundle a little to look: "Son!"

Zhou Zhi picked up the ribbon next to the little foot and read it aloud: "Date of birth: September 4, 1996, 10:45 PM, weight 3 kilograms and 768 grams."

"Family members, bring the patient over and follow me." The doctor in the white coat patiently waited for the group, said a few words, put his hands in his pockets, and led the way towards the elevator. When there are many family members, volunteers are not needed. As Zhou Zhi pushed the operating table into the elevator, he didn't forget to greet Brother Zhang: "Brother Zhang, we'll go down first, see you in a bit."

Back in the room, there was another flurry of activity. First, Feng Xueshan had to be moved back to bed, the baby placed in the crib, and then the doctor gave a long explanation of how to take care of the baby and the precautions for accompanying the new mother.

Feng Xueshan had a natural birth with only a slight tear, which made things much easier to take care of. However, her voice was a little hoarse, probably from shouting in the delivery room. Her sister-in-law had already cooked sweet fermented rice with eggs, but she couldn't eat the eggs yet, so she only had some drinks.

"Xueshan, Yanghe, congratulations." Yanghe handed the baby to his sister-in-law to take care of, sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes were full of Feng Xueshan, and he gently stroked the hair on Feng Xueshan's forehead. This scene made Zhou Zhi feel warm and he couldn't help but regret that he hadn't brought a camera.

"Thank you." Feng Xueshan felt a little better after drinking some brown sugar and fermented rice water: "Zhouzi, Xiaomiao, thank you."

“Your voice is hoarse, so don’t speak,” Zhou Zhi said softly. “We’ll come see you and the child again tomorrow.”

"The child's birth date and time..."

“I remember, I remember. On the way, I called my fourth cousin and told him about the child’s birth date and time so he could do a divination.”

After saying that, he turned to Yang He and his sister-in-law and said, "Yang He, sister-in-law, we'll head back now and come back early tomorrow morning. If you need anything, Yang He, just give me a call and we'll bring it with us when we come back tomorrow."

Then he said to Feng Xueshan, "Don't worry, Xueshan. The child won't be ugly even if he looks a little like you. He's good-looking now, and he'll be even more beautiful when he grows up."

“Sister Xueshan, the baby is very cute,” Mai Xiaomiao added. “I’m already used to seeing him.”

"You can leave now..." Feng Xueshan was so angry she laughed.

"Wait a minute." The eldest sister-in-law brought out two bowls of brown sugar glutinous rice soup with eggs from the small kitchen: "According to the custom in our hometown, guests who come to visit the children must eat a bowl of brown sugar glutinous rice soup with eggs. Please eat before you leave."

Huaxi is very close to Hongqi Village, less than a ten-minute drive away. However, the once bustling Hongqi Village is now quite deserted.

Many businesses have moved their shops to the Hongwasi Street area, or even to the side of the First Ring Road, across the street from the Sichuan Conservatory of Music. The shops on both sides of the pedestrian overpass have become the most sought-after locations, with the addition of cafes, small Western restaurants, barbecue restaurants, Pizza Hut steakhouses, Holiland cake shops, and Malan Ramen...

Half of Hongqi Village was already empty. The film studio and game arcade were not open at all. When Zhou Zhi led Mai Xiaomiao into his studio through the special passage, the usual faint noise was gone, and the whole space was eerily quiet.

"What is the baby's birth chart that you just mentioned?" Zhou Zhi called his fourth cousin on the way, and Mai Xiaomiao listened intently, feeling very curious.

Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "Well, I actually understand it more as a kind of hope for the child's future. It's a little complicated to explain."

Zhou Zhi had previously given Mai Xiaomiao a popular science explanation of ancient Chinese philosophy, including Taiji, Yin and Yang, the Four Symbols, the Five Elements, the Eight Trigrams, and the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches. So, explaining it now was relatively simple: "The Eight Characters are actually the year, month, day, and hour of a person's birth. Chinese people believe that these four elements of birth can greatly predict a person's future life. It is actually a kind of divination-like prediction method, supported by a whole set of theories."

"However, from a Confucian perspective, any 'fate' can be changed; this is the meaning of 'human will can overcome nature'."

"Therefore, based on the combination of the eight characters (birth date and time), the so-called 'destiny' will be identified in terms of the five elements, and then the five elements in the name will be used to supplement it. Chinese people believe that this can rebalance the child's 'destiny' and allow them to live a happy, peaceful, and prosperous life." (End of this chapter)