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Chapter 254: Chapter 244 Discharged and Returning Home
On the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month, Wang Dashuan and Shen Yougen came again with the horse-drawn cart, but what they didn’t expect was that just four or five days had passed, and when they entered the ward, Yunfang’s big belly had deflated, and there was suddenly a child by her side.
"Born, born?" Wang Dashuan stammered, scared.
"Nonsense, where else would Pangpang come from?" Dashuan’s wife glared at her husband, inwardly reproaching him for making a fuss over nothing.
Coming to the hospital was for giving birth, after all, so isn’t it normal to see an additional child upon reuniting?
"Pangpang?" Dashuan didn’t understand.
"Yes, this is our Pangpang." Dashuan’s wife smiled broadly as she lifted the plump little boy from Shen Yunfang’s arms to show the other two people in the room. "Come on, say hello to your Uncle Dashuan and Grandpa Yougen."
Pangpang obligingly yawned a big yawn, which counted as a greeting for the two.
Pangpang was the nickname given to Shen Yunfang’s eldest son in the past few days by neighboring patients who came to see the child. Dashuan’s wife thought the name was very fitting; Pangpang was born weighing six jin and six liang, with arms and legs like lotus roots, utterly adorable. So, she began calling him that as well.
Of course, Shen Yunfang, the mother herself, wasn’t happy with the nickname Pangpang; she thought it was too much. The child was too young to understand now, but when he got older, she doubted he’d be pleased to hear people calling him Pangpang and might even blame her. However, no matter how much she opposed it, people kept calling him Pangpang, and in the end, she couldn’t object anymore and began calling him that too, thereby setting her eldest son’s nickname.
"Oh my, such a chubby little boy, he looks blessed," said Shen Yougen, chuckling as he looked at the child.
Wang Dashuan also nodded insistently; his own Xiaohu hadn’t been nearly this chubby when he was born.
"How did it happen so suddenly? Wasn’t she supposed to give birth after the New Year?" Wang Dashuan voiced the confusion of both men.
"Oh dear, you don’t know, we ran into a couple of ingrates, it was truly awful," said Dashuan’s wife.
Then Dashuan’s wife began to retell the harrowing tale of that night to the two men, a story she had recounted countless times to the neighboring patients, so by now it came out like a dramatic narration, with well-timed rises and falls in her voice, quickly rendering them both astonished and agog.
"My goodness, why are city folks so crafty?" Shen Yougen lamented.
"Absolutely, in my opinion, not only are they crafty, but they also have bad intentions," Dashuan added his perspective.
They all shared their opinions on the matter, collectively condemning the Zhao Dawei couple again, before finally getting to the crux of the conversation.
With Shen Yunfang having given birth and the baby looking healthy, and considering New Year’s was close, it seemed time to bring Yunfang and the baby home.
Dashuan’s wife didn’t speak but looked at Shen Yunfang. Naturally, she hoped to return home early, as these days away, despite eating better than at home, had left her mind lingering on her kids back home. After the incident with Zhao Dawei, her concern for her own children grew. But she couldn’t just say she wanted to go home—what would Yunfang do here by herself?
Shen Yunfang also felt there was no need to stay in the hospital any longer. Yet, from the city to Gaijiatun, even at the quickest pace, it would take five hours by horse-drawn cart. With the roads covered in ice and snow, no matter how thick the blankets, they would be frozen through; she could endure it, but what if her small baby was harmed by the cold? Shen Yunfang hesitated.
Seeing the hopeful look in Dashuan’s wife’s eyes, Shen Yunfang shared her own worries.
With more hands, there was more strength, and after some deliberation, they actually came up with a solution.
However, without any preparation today, they certainly couldn’t leave, so Wang Dashuan and Yunfang agreed to come for them the day after tomorrow, which was the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, to take them home.
After Wang Dashuan left, his wife and Shen Yunfang noticeably began to lose focus, their conversation drifting to the children at home, how Yunfang was also missing her own family in such cold weather, whether the west room was kept warm, if the quails on the bed-stove were freezing, and concerns about the mushrooms in the house, etc.
Before she knew it, Shen Yunfang had been in this era for three years, had married, and had children. She could say that she had completely become a person from Gaijiatun, thoroughly adapted to the life of the 1970s.
The two days passed quickly, and on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, Shen Yougen and Wang Dashuan drove a horse-drawn carriage with a compartment to pick up Shen Yunfang and the children.
As instructed by Yunfang, before he came, Wang Dashuan went to her house first, took out the bedding from her wardrobe, and spread it on the carriage. He also brought a charcoal brazier, with the coals inside glowing softly, which made the whole carriage exceptionally warm.
Yunfang herself was dressed in a thick cotton-padded jacket and cotton shoes, her head wrapped tightly in a scarf, and her hands holding the bundle that was Pangpang, swaddled like a big meatball. She was assisted onto the horse-drawn carriage by Dashuan’s wife.
"Oh my, you’re right, this carriage is really warm once it’s all set up," Dashuan’s wife said, feeling the heat soon after getting on the carriage and quickly taking off her headscarf.
"With no draft and a charcoal brazier inside, of course it’s warm," Yunfang said, taking off her own headscarf, then started to unwrap the outer blanket from her son.
A little cold is fine for a small boy, but wrapping him too tightly could easily lead to illness.
"Oh dear, don’t trouble yourself, I’ve got this. You just lie down and rest," Dashuan’s wife quickly took over and urged her to lie down, deftly unswaddling the small blanket and placing the child next to Yunfang.
"Sister-in-law, I’m fine, I can do it," Yunfang protested. These days, Dashuan’s wife had treated her almost like a disabled person, not letting her do anything. Yunfang felt quite embarrassed watching her hustling and bustling every day.
"I know you’re capable, but even the capable can afford a few days’ rest. Let me tell you, the postpartum recovery period for a woman is very important. If you don’t recover well, you’ll suffer for the rest of your life. You don’t know, my mother’s eyes are still bad because she didn’t recover well after giving birth to my sister. She cried during her confinement and got sick from it; it’s incurable now," Dashuan’s wife, a woman with experience, said, her own mother’s lifelong aches due to a poorly-handled confinement in mind. Why seek suffering when you can take care of yourself?
Yunfang was aware of the importance of the confinement period and genuinely appreciated all the kindness Dashuan and his wife had shown her.
The journey was bumpy. Shen Yougen and Wang Dashuan took turns entering the carriage to warm up. Pangpang only woke up once, was fed, had his diaper changed, then fell back into a deep sleep until the sky had completely darkened, and they finally saw Gaijiatun.
Since it was winter, and it had already turned completely dark, there was not a single person on the road, and the carriage went straight to Yunfang’s house.
Wang Dayi had been anxiously waiting at home, and seeing the carriage approaching from a distance, she quickly opened the gate and went out to meet them.
"You’re finally back, come in quick, come in. I’ve warmed the bed-stove, and dinner’s ready. Uncle Yougen, you can’t leave today, you must stay and have a meal, you’ve been a big help these days," said Wang Dayi with a cheerful smile as she took the child from Yunfang’s arms, not forgetting to call out to Shen Yougen.
Yunfang had the same intention. For all these days, Uncle Yougen had made several trips to the city for her sake, braving the icy weather, which was no joke. She also took this kindness to heart.
