After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

However, after giving birth to her first child with great difficulty, Su Xiaoqing's life completely ended. Her eyelids drooped heavily, and no matter how much Grandma Chen and Chen's mother called out to her, she only slightly moved her lips and then remained unresponsive. The blood beneath her body also seemed to be more abundant than usual.

"Oh no!" Grandma Chen's heart sank. "She's exhausted, her qi and blood are severely depleted! Sister-in-law Chen, is there anything at home that can help her regain her strength? Ginseng slices? Ginseng rootlets? Brown sugar water will do, but we need to hurry!"

Holding her newborn grandson, Chen's mother was filled with a mixture of lingering fear and relief when she heard this. Startled, she suddenly remembered: "Yes! There are ginseng slices! We kept them when Dashan was injured a few years ago. We didn't use them all, so I kept them!" She called urgently towards the door, "Old man! Old man! Quick! Bring us that packet of ginseng slices! It's in the red cloth at the very bottom of the cupboard in the inner room!"

Chen's father and Chen Xiaohe, who were pacing anxiously outside the door, were already as frantic as ants on a hot pan. Hearing the shout, Chen's father jumped and replied repeatedly, "Yes, yes! Here it is! I've been carrying it with me!" It turned out that in his panic, he had already rummaged through the house and taken whatever "treasures" he might need with him. With trembling hands, he pulled a small red cloth bag from his pocket and slipped it through the crack in the door.

Chen's mother grabbed the ginseng slices, opened them, and found several pieces of ginseng that were of average quality but were indeed cut. Although they were relatively young, they were undoubtedly a lifeline at this moment. Without thinking twice, she picked up a slice and put it into Su Xiaoqing's mouth, letting her hold it under her tongue.

Perhaps it was the effect of that little bit of ginseng, or perhaps it was the continuous calling of her mother and the midwife that had an effect, Su Xiaoqing's eyelashes trembled a few times, and she regained a faint trace of consciousness.

"Good boy, hold it in! For the baby in your belly, push again! Just like before!" Grandma Chen seized the opportunity and guided him to push again.

In Su Xiaoqing's hazy consciousness, she seemed to see her sister's gentle smiling face, Chen Xiaohe's honest and anxious appearance, and she seemed to hear the loud cry of the first child... She gathered all the last remaining senses in her body and, in accordance with Grandma Chen's guidance, struggled again.

This time, the process was much slower. The second child had clearly stayed in the birth canal for too long, and when the tiny body was finally fully delivered, he didn't cry immediately like his brother. His body was bluish-purple, his little face was slightly dark, and he lay limply in the midwife's arms, motionless.

Grandma Chen's heart sank to the bottom, but she did not give up. She quickly cleared the amniotic fluid from the baby's mouth and nose, then held the baby upside down and patted its soles and buttocks forcefully.

"Slap! Slap!" The crisp slapping sounds were particularly jarring in the quiet delivery room.

Time ticked by, each second feeling like an eternity. Mother Chen held her breath, tightly embracing her eldest grandson, who had stopped crying and was now curiously opening his eyes, her gaze fixed on the small, bluish-purple body in the midwife's arms.

Just as despair was about to seize everyone—

"Wah...uh...waah..." A weak, intermittent cry, as if the child had suffered a great injustice, finally rang out softly and with great struggle. Though faint, it truly proclaimed the tenacity of a new life.

Grandma Chen and her mother both let out a long sigh of relief, only to realize that their backs were soaked in cold sweat.

"Alright...alright...both are boys, both are safe..." Grandma Chen finished taking care of the second child, her voice filled with exhaustion, but also with a sense of relief. "However, Sister-in-law Chen, your second daughter-in-law has suffered a serious injury this time. She must be very careful during her postpartum period and take good care of herself for several months. She can't be careless. In the future...it might be more difficult for her to have children."

Looking at her two grandsons, laid side by side and gradually regaining their rosy complexions, and then at Su Xiaoqing, who had fallen into a coma again on the kang (heated brick bed) with a face ashen, Mrs. Chen was filled with mixed emotions. She solemnly nodded to the midwife, "I'll remember that, and I will take good care of them. We are so grateful to you tonight; you are a great benefactor to our family." She covered her two grandsons with soft blankets, then took out an even thicker red envelope and stuffed it into Mrs. Chen's hand. This time, it was a heartfelt and weighty expression of gratitude.

After seeing off Grandma Chen, who was equally exhausted but full of a sense of accomplishment, it was already dawn. Without resting, Chen's mother first went to check on the east wing. Su Xiaoyin was still fast asleep, her face tired but still rosy, and the twins beside her were also sleeping soundly. Chen Dashan stood guard beside her, his eyes fixed on his wife and children. Seeing her enter, he whispered that Xiaoyin had drunk some of the millet porridge he had cooked, and that he had also breastfed the babies and they had just fallen asleep.

Slightly relieved, Chen's mother returned to the west wing. Chen Xiaohe, with red eyes, stayed by Su Xiaoqing's side, holding her hand. The two newborns lay side by side on the kang (a heated brick bed), their little faces wrinkled. The older one seemed particularly robust, while the younger one appeared thin and weak.

"Xiaohe, watch over Xiaoqing and the child. I'll go brew the medicine and start stewing the chicken." Chen's mother's voice was hoarse, but she forced herself to stay awake. "Where's your father?"

"Dad went to the village head's house to borrow an oxcart, saying he's going to the county town to fetch a doctor," Chen Xiaohe said hoarsely. "Mother, you should go and rest for a while; your eyes are all bloodshot."

Mother Chen shook her head, looking at her unconscious daughter-in-law and two frail grandsons, she couldn't help but feel worried. "I'll go and boil some more ginseng slices for Xiaoqing to drink. There's some porridge, eggs, and chicken soup keeping warm in the kitchen; they need to eat when they wake up, don't forget. Leave the diapers on the floor; I'll wash them later." She said, giving a few more instructions before dragging her leaden legs toward the kitchen.

In the courtyard, the morning light was faint, and the air still carried the chill of the snowy night, mixed with the unique scent of new life and blood. Father Chen had already driven the borrowed oxcart out of the village, speeding towards the county town. Mother Chen sat down by the stove, watching the leaping flames, placing the fattest old hen into the clay pot while silently praying: "Heaven bless us, may the doctor we've invited have a miraculous cure, may both daughters-in-law be healthy, and may the children grow up safe and sound." This family had just welcomed its most precious child, but it couldn't withstand any more hardship.