“The baby is lying transverse in the womb; it’s a difficult labor. You’d better find someone else to deliver it!!”
The midwife hurried out the door, fearing that if the woman died in her hands a moment later, she would be held responsible.
Nearby, a seven or eight-year-old girl dressed in tattered hemp clothes heard this and hurriedly knelt on the ground, kowtowing to the old woman beside her.
“Grandma! My mom is having a difficult labor! I beg you to let me go out and get a doctor to save my mom’s life!”
Her arms and ankles were covered in bruises of all sizes, a shocking sight.
“I won’t spend your money. I’ll find a human trafficker tomorrow and sell myself!”
The surrounding women and children also pleaded bitterly.
“Mother, Xiuyun’s labor is difficult. Please let us go out and find a doctor!”
“Mother, a human life is at stake!”
The sounds of pleading, mixed with the laboring woman’s painful cries, made one’s heart feel desolate.
The eldest son of the Song family, Song Zhiyong, stood aside with a limp, his weathered face full of helplessness.
The old woman narrowed her slanted eyes and stood guard strictly at the door.
“What doctor! Which family doesn’t give birth by themselves? It just has to be that spendthrift woman who thinks she’s the most precious!”
“Ptui! That lowly piece of trash!”
“If you want to get a doctor, it’ll be over my dead body!”
Just after the old woman finished speaking, her whole body suddenly convulsed, and then she fell straight to the ground.
It actually… came true.
“Mother, are you okay?”
“Mother, what happened to you?”
The whole family, young and old, gathered around.
Wu Yulan opened her eyes and saw the concerned gazes of the entire family. She was suddenly stunned.
What was going on? Hadn’t she died suddenly from overwork?
Strange memories flooded her mind, making Wu Yulan feel dizzy for a while.
After a good while, Wu Yulan finally figured out that as a Doctor of Medicine, she had undergone soul transmigration into the body of a shrewish, mean, and viciously wicked old woman in an alternate history ancient setting.
Right now, the original owner’s third daughter-in-law was having a difficult labor. Not only did this malicious old woman refuse to pay for a doctor, but she also stood guard at the door, preventing anyone from going out to get help.
Despite this, when her children and grandchildren saw her faint on the ground, they were still very worried about her.
Wu Yulan looked at the skeletal “children and grandchildren” in front of her and cursed inwardly, “Old beast!”
She felt a bit stifled. Was she… going to live under the identity of this wicked old woman from now on?
Painful screams from the laboring woman came from inside the room.
Wu Yulan suddenly snapped awake.
Whatever, saving the person was the priority right now!
Her expression sharpened as she scolded the lingering crowd, “What are you all dazing around for? Get lost and go find a doctor, now!”
The little girl kneeling on the ground heard this and took a cautious look at Wu Yulan.
Seeing that the old woman didn’t even look at her, she scrambled up from the ground and ran out the door like crazy.
“Mom, wait for me! I’ll definitely bring a doctor back to save you!”
Wu Yulan saw that the others were still dazed and scolded again, “What are you staring for? Hurry up and boil water! Those who should cook, go cook!”
Hearing this, the youngest son, Song Zhishu, poked his head over. “Mother, how did you know your son was hungry?”
Wu Yulan glanced at Song Zhishu, who was wearing fine cotton clothes and had a fair, clean complexion, and ignored him.
This was the youngest son whom the original owner doted on in every possible way. For his sake, she treated the rest of the family like beasts of burden.
If this youngest son had been successful, it might have been one thing, but he was a “useless mud that couldn’t stick to the wall.” While enjoying the support of the whole family, he couldn’t even pass the Tongsheng exam.
Thinking of this, Wu Yulan silently rolled her eyes at Song Zhishu. She turned and shouted loudly toward the kitchen, “Boil a large pot of hot water, brew some porridge, and boil two eggs!”
Song Zhishu smacked his lips. “Thank you, Mother. My head has been aching from studying lately; I really do need some eggs to nourish myself.”
Not only did Song Zhishu think the porridge and eggs were for him, but everyone else thought so too.
Wu Yulan didn’t bother to respond. She washed her hands and headed straight for the laboring woman’s room.
Opening the door, she was hit by a heavy smell of blood.
Inside the room, Li Xiuyun was clutching her belly in pain, while the eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Guiqin, stood watch over her with an anxious face.
Seeing who entered, Wang Guiqin shrank back. “Mother, why… why are you here?”
Wu Yulan did not speak. She walked over, reached out to take Li Xiuyun’s pulse, and then examined her abdomen.
Discovering that the fetus was in a breech position, her brow furrowed almost imperceptibly.
“Hold her down for me!”
After giving the command, she picked up a pair of scissors from the side.
Wang Guiqin looked terrified, her voice trembling slightly. “Mother, what… what are you going to do?”
Wu Yulan kept a stiff face. “What else? I’m delivering the baby. Do you want both mother and child to die?”
Seeing the scissors, Li Xiuyun’s already gaunt face turned even paler. But then she remembered that she likely wouldn’t be able to give birth to this child on her own.
If she couldn’t give birth, it would mean two lives lost.
At that thought, she bit her pale lip. “Mother, you… you can cut. The child is more important!”
Wu Yulan pursed her lips and approached with the scissors.
Then, without hesitation—
Li Xiuyun’s whole body trembled as she closed her eyes and bit down hard on her lip.
However, the expected pain did not come.
Snip!
“These damn clothes are in the way. Might as well get rid of them!”
After using the scissors to cut the fabric, Wu Yulan tore the clothes open directly and tossed the scissors aside.
Li Xiuyun was stunned.
“Mother, you weren’t going to cut my belly to… to take the child out?”
Wu Yulan’s vision went dark for a moment as she cursed again in her heart: That damned old woman, how badly did she torment these people!
“The clothes were in the way,” she explained simply, placing her hands on Li Xiuyun’s belly.
“Endure it!”
As she spoke, she gave a look to Wang Guiqin.
Wang Guiqin hesitated for a second before pressing her hands onto Li Xiuyun’s, though she didn’t dare use too much force.
Wu Yulan glanced at her and then focused all her attention on Li Xiuyun’s abdomen.
She was going to perform an External Cephalic Version on Li Xiuyun—that is, turning the breech fetus around so it could enter the birth canal properly.
As a battle-hardened medical doctor with a PhD, performing an External Cephalic Version was second nature to her. However, the amniotic fluid had already broken, making this extremely dangerous.
Therefore, Wu Yulan was exceptionally cautious.
Feeling her movements, Li Xiuyun’s nerves tightened.
“If you don’t want two lives lost, relax now!”
Hearing Wu Yulan’s words, Li Xiuyun hurriedly adjusted her breathing and forced herself to relax.
Just as she finished adjusting her breath, Li Xiuyun felt Wu Yulan’s hands pull away from her stomach.
“Mother…”
She endured the pain and called out timidly.
Wu Yulan patted that calloused hand. “Don’t be afraid. The fetus is in the right position now. Next, you just need to work with me and push, and you will definitely be able to give birth to the child.”
Li Xiuyun looked at her mother-in-law. Although she still had that same sharp and mean-spirited appearance, having her company at this moment actually brought a sense of peace.
“Mother! Xiuyun will never forget your great kindness as long as I live. If the child is born safely, I am willing to work like an ox or a horse to repay you!”
As soon as Li Xiuyun finished speaking, she felt a wave of contractions. The pain forced a scream out of her.
“Ah—!”
“Listen to me, take a deep breath…”
With the sound of a baby crying, Li Xiuyun completely relaxed.
“It’s born! It’s born!” Wang Guiqin shouted happily.
Li Xiuyun thought of something and forced her exhausted eyes open. “Is it… a boy or a girl?”
She had already given birth to one daughter. If this one was also a girl, her eldest daughter would be sold by her mother-in-law.
That was how the children of the first and second sisters-in-law had been treated; two girls in the family had already been sold. She didn’t want Chunni to…
At this thought, Li Xiuyun’s lips trembled even more violently.
“Mother, is it… is it a boy?”