Republic of China: Guandong Ginseng King

Chapter 211: First Time Being a Father

In the early morning of August 16th of the year of Jichou, Qu Shaoyang's daughter-in-law Chen Xiuyun gave birth to a son weighing 6.2 jin. Both mother and child are safe.

Qu Shaoyang was so happy that he rushed into the house. "Master's wife, I'm going to see Xiuyun and the child."

Lin Ruolan was quick to stop Qu Shaoyang.

"Wait a minute, the inside isn't clean yet.

I just wanted to tell you the good news because I was afraid you would be anxious. Please wait a moment. I will call you when I have finished cleaning up."

People nowadays believe that the delivery room is unlucky because of the dirty blood, and that it is unlucky for men to enter the delivery room.

Although Lin Ruolan is a woman, this idea is deeply rooted in her mind, so she naturally cannot let Qu Shaoyang enter the house.

Qu Shaoyang was just about to say that he didn't care about these things when Liu Dongshan came over and grabbed Qu Shaoyang.

"Listen to your mistress's arrangements. When everything is cleaned up, you can go in to see your wife and children."

Qu Shaoyang had no choice but to wait outside patiently.

In the delivery room, Li skillfully cut the baby's umbilical cord with new scissors.

Reserve a small section, tie it with a thin red thread, fold it carefully and tie it up, then wrap it with a soft cotton strip.

Next, wrap the child in a large blue cotton quilt, a middle quilt, and a small quilt, wrapping him/her up like a candle bag.

The baby was quite chubby. Except for being slapped twice when he was born and crying a few times, he didn't cry or make a fuss after that. He just let Li play with him quietly.

Soon after, the placenta and other parts came out.

Li put the placenta into a pottery jar that she had prepared in advance and threw an ancient coin into it.

Then cover the mouth of the jar with green cloth, tie it with a hemp rope, and put it aside for the time being.

"My dear, please help me clean up the house first.

I sent the afterbirth away and asked Shaoyang to find a high place to bury it."

Li gave some instructions, came out with the pottery jar, handed it to Qu Shaoyang, and then gave him a few words of advice.

Qu Shaoyang took the pottery jar, took his belongings, and walked to the back of the mountain. He found a high hill, dug a hole, and buried the pottery jar.

When he returned home, Lin Ruolan and Li had already tidied up the northern kang and put new kang mat and bedding on it.

Chen Xiuyun also changed into clean clothes, tied a towel on her head, and lay on the kang with a sleeping baby beside her.

The room was fumigated with mugwort, and the bloody smell was much lighter.

Qu Shaoyang first stayed in the outer room for a while, waiting for the coldness in his body to dissipate, then he entered the east room and came to the north kang.

"Wife, how do you feel? If you feel uncomfortable, tell me immediately."

Qu Shaoyang held Chen Xiuyun's hand and asked softly.

"I'm fine. Dad just came in and checked my pulse."

From stomachache to safe birth, Chen Xiuyun spent most of the night in tossing and turning. How much energy did she have left?
It was just that she was a new mother, and the excitement in her heart had not yet faded, so she just managed to stay awake.

"Shaoyang, come and look, this is our son, look how handsome he is."

Chen Xiuyun turned her head and looked at her son who was sleeping beside her, she was very fond of him.

Qu Shaoyang's eyes were full of his wife just now, and he didn't really pay attention to what the child looked like.

When I took a look at him at this moment, I was amazed at how wrinkled his face was, with more wrinkles than that of the old man.

Moreover, there is a hint of black in the red, and it has a layer of fetal hair. At first glance, it looks like a monkey. I really can't see what's so good about it.

But seeing that his wife was so happy, Qu Shaoyang didn't want to ruin the atmosphere, so he nodded.

"Well, our son looks like me. He will definitely be a handsome boy in the future."

I can't say he looks like his wife, so I think he looks like him. Chen Xiuyun glanced at her husband and couldn't help laughing, "How can you brag about yourself like that? You are so shameless."

Qu Shaoyang also smiled foolishly, "Wife, you've worked hard, take a nap, I'll take care of the child."

Qu Shaoyang could see that his wife looked tired, so he advised her to close her eyes and rest. Even if she couldn't sleep, she had to close her eyes and rest.

Chen Xiuyun was indeed tired. Not long after she closed her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.

Logically, when a daughter-in-law gives birth, it should be the mother-in-law who takes care of her during the confinement period, and it makes no sense for the mother from her natal family to interfere.

But Qu Shaoyang's mother was far away in his hometown in Shandong. Even if he sent a letter back now, by the time she finally arrived, the child would probably be over a hundred days old and he could not be relied on at all.

Lin Ruolan is Qu Shaoyang's master's wife, but there is still a level difference between them.

Besides, she has two kids to take care of at home. It's okay for her to lend a hand from time to time, but it's impossible for her to serve her all day long.

Qu Shaoyang is a grown man, and the autumn harvest is such an important time, so he cannot stay at home all day to take care of his wife and children.

Therefore, there is no need to follow any rules. During this period of confinement, only Li can take care of me.

Li sent her son-in-law to the south kang to rest. After she cleaned up the house inside and outside, she went to the north kang to accompany her daughter and grandson.

At first, the baby was fine, he didn't cry or make a fuss. But when it was almost dawn, he became uncomfortable again, making grumbling sounds and was obviously hungry.

Chen Xiuyun had just given birth and had no milk yet, but Mrs. Li still insisted and let Chen Xiuyun try to feed the baby.

The little kid struggled for a long time but didn't get any food, so he became unhappy and started crying loudly.

Li calmly prepared some sugar water and fed it to the child little by little with a spoon.

I don’t know if the little kid felt the sweetness of the syrup or was comforted by something, but he smacked his lips a few times and fell asleep contentedly.

Li looked outside and saw that it was already dawn. She decided not to sleep anymore and got up to cook.

Qu Shaoyang, who was sleeping on the south kang, couldn't sleep after hearing the noise, so he simply got up, got dressed and went out.

"Shaoyang, where are you going?" Li asked when she saw him.

"Mom, I'll go to Zhang the butcher to see if he has any pig's trotters and buy some.

Then go and order some crucian carp and melon seeds. Isn’t that also said to increase lactation?”

Pig trotter and soybean soup and crucian carp soup are both good for increasing milk production.

Chen Xiuyun gave birth prematurely and her family did not have time to prepare, so Qu Shaoyang planned to go to Zhang the butcher early and make sure to save a few pig's feet.

Mrs. Li listened and nodded, "Okay, go and have a look. When you buy it, you can ask your father to prepare some medicine. You will be able to produce milk soon after you drink it."

Qu Shaoyang nodded and walked out quickly.

Here, Mrs. Li quickly lit the fire and cooked some millet porridge and a few eggs, and let Chen Xiuyun have some first.

Qu Shaoyang went to buy pig's trotters and crucian carp early in the morning. Everyone around him knew that his wife had given birth.

The news spread quickly. Before noon, many people around Maoer Mountain knew the news.

Those who were friends with Qu Shaoyang would inevitably send their wives to visit Qu's house with some eggs, millet, brown sugar, dates and other things to show their support.

No matter who sees Qu Shaoyang's son, they all praise him, saying that the child is so handsome, with a chubby face and looks very attractive.

Whenever Qu Shaoyang heard this, he would start to wonder if there was something wrong with these people's eyes.

Like a monkey, how can you tell he's good-looking?

This is not Qu Shaoyang’s fault. In his previous life, due to work reasons, he and his wife were rarely together and they never had children.

Later he died in an accident and traveled to this era.

So all in all, this was Qu Shaoyang's first time seeing a newborn baby and he had no experience.

How could he understand that the baby looked wrinkled because it had been soaking in the amniotic fluid for too long?
(End of this chapter)