Xuemei pursed her lips and said, “Mom, I feel like there are two babies.”

Zhulan was startled, “It wasn’t this big the last time I came back!”

Xuemei thought that she was already quite pregnant last time, but her mother left in a hurry and didn’t stay at home for long. Plus, it was almost summer and she was wearing loose clothes, so her mother naturally didn’t notice. “Mom, my belly was quite big when you came back last time.”

Zhulan felt a little guilty. She left in such a hurry last time. Then she glared at him, “You don’t even know how many you’re carrying? Do you think it’s just two? Have you had your pulse checked?”

Xuemei shook her head, “No.”

She had already given birth to two children, so she knew what was going on, and the children were well-behaved, so she had never thought of taking their pulses.

Zhulan, “.”

Well, women in ancient times were really strong when it came to giving birth. From the memory of the original Zhulan, many women dared to deliver their own babies. But she was a modern person. In her memory, when her mother remarried and became pregnant, she had constant prenatal checkups and various tests. Her mother was even admitted to the hospital before giving birth.

Zhulan helped Xuemei sit down. She thought that giving birth to one child in ancient times was scary enough, let alone giving birth to two at the same time. Zhulan’s hands were a little trembling as she reached out to touch Xuemei’s belly. It looked quite big. It seemed to be similar to the belly of her mother who was pregnant with one child in her memory!

Zhulan felt the babies moving and remained silent. It seemed that there really were two babies moving. She stared at Xuemei’s belly and realized she had been a bit foolish. In modern times, babies are well-nourished and it’s normal for them to weigh seven or eight pounds at birth. In ancient rural areas, newborns weighing over five pounds were quite rare.

Xuemei’s family conditions were not particularly good, and Xuemei was slim, so the baby in her belly must not be very big.

Zhulan’s heart ached when she thought about it. The twins would be born prematurely. And how could they raise two small children in ancient times?

Xuemei was a little dumbfounded. She wasn’t scared even though she was pregnant with two babies, so why did she think her mother was scared? “Mom.”

Zhulan took a deep breath and asked, “Are you feeling uncomfortable riding in the carriage?”

Zhulan was counting the days on her fingers. Oh, it was September now. It was a good thing that Xuemei didn’t give birth prematurely. Logically, the baby shouldn’t want to move. She herself had never been pregnant before. All she knew were the memories of her original body and her own mother. When her mother was about to give birth, she seemed to move a lot. She said that she would be short of oxygen or something. Ah, Zhulan was going crazy. She really didn’t understand!

Xuemei was about to say that she didn’t feel uncomfortable, but she cried out, and Zhulan was scared, “What’s wrong, what’s wrong?”

Li Xu Shi had been listening for a long time. Her qīnjiā mǔ‘s face changed, so she stopped interrupting. Seeing Xuemei’s expression, she said, “It looks like she’s about to give birth.”

Zhulan also guessed, “It’s time to give birth, it’s time to give birth.”

Zhulan calmed down after repeating it twice, and said to Li Xu Shi: “Who is the midwife in Lijia Village? Please ask her to come.”

Li Xu Shi stood up and said, “I’ll go and invite her right away.”

Zhulan helped her daughter out of the main room and walked to the side room. The kang in the side room had been lit and was warm.

Zhulan walked and called Zhao Shi, who hurried out of the kitchen, “Mom, what’s wrong?”

Zhulan said, “Go to my room and find the quilt. Your elder sister is about to give birth. Oh, and also find the blanket I prepared in advance. And also take out the newly bought scissors.”

Fortunately, she prepared the scissors for safety, otherwise, she would have been even more worried if she used the old scissors.

Zhao Shi was dumbfounded. Her dà gūzi was about to give birth. She was in a hurry and said, “Okay, I’ll go find everything right away.”

Zhulan added: “Cut some of the fine cotton cloth I bought.”

There is no time to wash it now, so she could just use it first. Luckily she had already washed the quilt, and luckily she made two for replacement, otherwise two would not be enough!

She was also lazy. If she had been more diligent, she would have prepared all the quilts and mattresses. However, who would have thought that Xuemei would give birth prematurely? She was thinking of buying them and making them slowly, and then she would finish them when she returned to Pingzhou!

Xuehan heard the noise and said, “Mom, I’ll go call my jiěfū.”

Zhulan hurriedly called the little girl, “Tell your eldest brother to drive the carriage to the county to invite Doctor Lu to come over and tell him that your sister is pregnant with twins and is about to give birth. Oh, and ask Doctor Lu to bring the medicine for the baby’s belly button, and also find the strong liquor that your father bought for your wàigōng so that you can use it to wash the scissors later.”

Li Shi was killing a chicken and still holding it in her hand, “Mom, what can I do?”

Zhulan was already very calm. After all, she had experienced Zhao Shi’s birth, so it wasn’t the first time she had prepared. “You continue to cook. It’s such a coincidence that these two little guys want to join in the fun today!”

Li Shi’s shěn were about to say they were leaving but swallowed their words and responded, “They know that wàigōng and wàipó are back, and they are anxious to see them!”

Zhulan smiled and went into the house to look at Xuemei. Xuemei was not panicked at all and was still walking on the ground while enduring the pain. Zhulan thought that it would be better not to put pressure on Xuemei. She didn’t understand the situation. Xuemei had just gone to Pingzhou in April, and it was said at that time that it was almost four months. Now it was early September, and she didn’t know whether it was really nine months!

Zhao Shi came over with a bunch of things in her arms. Zhulan hurriedly took them and wanted to spread the quilt.

Xuemei stopped her, “Mother, when I give birth, there will be blood. Do we have any straw mats or something like that at home?”

Zhulan was speechless, “If there was a straw mat, would I take the quilt?”

Li Shi’s second shěn said, “I have some at home. I’ll ask my daughter-in-law to go get it.”

Zhulan asked Xuemei, “Can you still bear it?”

Xuemei’s forehead was covered with sweat, “Yes.”

Zhulan turned around and said, “Thank you.”

Zhulan asked Zhao Shi to look after Xuemei while Jiang Sheng came to the backyard. Zhulan took the liquor from Xuehan’s hand and went to disinfect the scissors herself. She didn’t trust others, so she also had to disinfect the basin. She also had to rinse the cotton cloth used by the midwife to wipe her hands with hot water. There was a lot of work waiting for her!

By the time Zhulan was ready, the midwife and the straw mat had arrived.

Two straw mats were brought over. Since the house had just been heated and there was no ash, they could only lay down more straw mats.

Zhulan asked the midwife to disinfect her hands before letting her in. She watched from the side and felt at ease.

The childbirth was indeed straightforward for Xue Mei. She didn’t endure much suffering, and the birth canal opened quickly. Within less than half an hour, she was ready to deliver. The first baby came out swiftly, and the second one followed not long after. It turned out to be two babies; both were born in an hour and a half.

Zhulan’s legs were numb from standing, but she still had to help the midwife with the babies. Doctor Lu brought over some medicine, so the two little ones no longer needed to have their belly buttons touched with wood ash. The two little kids were smeared with medicine and wrapped in fine cotton cloth. Zhulan and Zhao Shi each held a child and went out of the house to the outer room.

Zhou Shuren was already outside and asked, “Are the two babies boys or girls?”

Zhulan smiled, “Two boys.”

Zhulan then said to Dr. Lu, “Please take a look at these two premature twins. How are they doing?”

(End of this chapter)

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