Liu Zhaodi saw this and quickly helped her into the house, saying, “Sister-in-law Cuihua, you’re going into premature labor! I’ll go get Gu Lǎopózi to deliver the baby. Just hang in there.”
As she spoke, she hurried off to find Grandma Gu. On her way out, she ran into Zhang Cuihua’s sister-in-law, Wang Ni, and quickly called out to her, “Sister-in-law Wang, hurry to my house and boil some water! Your younger sister-in-law is at my place, she’s in premature labor. I’m going to get Grandma Gu to deliver the baby.”
With that, she rushed off. When Wang Ni heard this, she also hurried over. Although the two sisters-in-law had their own little schemes, this was a matter of life and death, so she went without delay.
Meanwhile, Liu Zhaodi arrived at Grandma Gu’s house and started shouting before she even entered the doorway, “Grandma Gu, hurry and come out! Zhang Cuihua is in premature labor.”
Without a second word, Grandma Gu hurried toward Liu Zhaodi’s house on her small, bound feet. As she reached the door, she could hear Zhang Cuihua’s wails. Grandma Gu rushed into the room, took a look, and said, “I told you the baby was in the wrong position. I’m going to turn it now. It’ll hurt a bit, you have to bear with it!”
As she spoke, Grandma Gu’s hands began to rotate on Zhang Cuihua’s belly. “Grandma Gu, it hurts!” Zhang Cuihua cried out.
Grandma Gu said, “You have to bear it even if it hurts.”
Ah, ah, ah, ah!
Listening from inside Liu Zhaodi’s belly, Gu Yihan’s scalp tingled.
Suddenly, Gu Yihan felt her bottom bump against something hard. The air immediately felt thin, and she couldn’t breathe properly. Gu Yihan struggled uncontrollably.
Gu Yihan heard Liu Zhaodi shout, “Ah! Grandma, I’m going into labor too!” She was immediately brought into the delivery room as well.
Zhang Cuihua was already having a difficult birth, and things were getting hectic. When Grandma Gu saw Liu Zhaodi also come in, saying she was about to give birth, she became so busy she didn’t have a moment’s rest.
She could only shout, “Wang Ni, boil more water!”
Wang Ni was also incredibly busy and could only reply, “I know, Grandma Gu!”
Gu Yihan was completely bewildered. Liu Zhaodi had bumped her belly on purpose. What was she trying to do?
Before she could figure it out, she felt a current pushing her outward. She could hear the two women in the room crying out in pain, one after the other.
Suddenly, the cry of a baby was heard. Liu Zhaodi saw that Zhang Cuihua had given birth. Before Grandma Gu could even pick up the baby to check its gender, she was startled by Liu Zhaodi’s wails and immediately rushed to her side. Liu Zhaodi kept pulling Grandma Gu’s hand, crying that it hurt, so Grandma Gu could only focus on attending to her.
Inside the womb, Gu Yihan slid out bit by bit with each contraction. Finally, with one strong push, she slipped out.
Liu Zhaodi felt that she had given birth and immediately sat up, grabbing Grandma Gu’s hand. “Grandma, I’ll cut the umbilical cord myself. I came in such a hurry I didn’t bring anything to wrap the baby in. Could you help me get it?”
Grandma Gu had no choice but to nod. “Alright.”
Liu Zhaodi told Grandma Gu where the things were, and Grandma Gu went out.
The moment Liu Zhaodi saw she had given birth to another daughter, she immediately cut the umbilical cord and swapped the baby with Zhang Cuihua’s. She had seen that Zhang Cuihua had given birth to a boy, and she had to have a boy. Otherwise, her mother-in-law would not let her off.
Liu Zhaodi carefully held the baby, joyfully cooing, “Mama’s precious son, Mama has been waiting so long for you.”
What Liu Zhaodi never expected was that Gu Yihan had her memories and knew she had been swapped.
Grandma Gu brought the swaddling clothes to Liu Zhaodi, then went to check on Gu Yihan.
“Whoa, this little girl is so beautiful,” Grandma Gu said, holding Gu Yihan.
Gu Yihan looked at Grandma Gu and gave her a toothless smile. This made Grandma Gu even happier. The elderly were rather superstitious and knew that it was a good omen for a newborn to smile at them!
Liu Zhaodi was very unhappy. “Hmph, what’s so great about it? Still just a money-losing good.”
At this moment, Zhang Cuihua woke up. Grandma Gu looked at her and sighed, “This birth has taken a toll on your body. If you want to have more children, you must take good care of yourself and wait a few years.”
Grandma Gu looked at Zhang Cuihua’s pale face and shook her head helplessly. “You’re still young, only twenty-seven. You’ll have plenty of time to have more children in the future.”
Zhang Cuihua choked up. “It’s not easy for me to get pregnant. I only conceived a year after getting married. Er’ya was already five when I got pregnant with my second. And now it’s another girl. This…”
Grandma Gu didn’t know what to say to console her. Neither of them noticed the gloating look in Liu Zhaodi’s eyes.
Soon, those who had finished work for the day returned. Zhou Jianguo and Grandma Zhou entered the house together and saw Wang Ni just coming out of the kitchen. “Sister-in-law Wang, why are you tending the fire at our house? Where’s Zhaodi?”
Wang Ni thought to herself, You think I want to be here? She smiled and said, “My younger sister-in-law and your Zhaodi went into labor at the same time. They’ve probably both given birth by now.”
After speaking, she went into the delivery room with them. As soon as they entered, they saw the two women, each holding a baby.
Liu Zhaodi walked over to Grandma Zhou with the baby in her arms. “Mother, look, your big grandson.”
Grandma Zhou and Zhou Jianguo were overjoyed. They rushed over to hold the baby, saying happily, “Grandma’s big grandson! You’re just so adorable.”
Meanwhile, Wang Ni, holding the baby, said goodbye to Zhang Cuihua, saying they had to leave. Grandma Zhou just waved her hand dismissively. All she wanted to do now was look at her grandson; how could she care if others were leaving or not?
Grandma Zhou suddenly remembered something and quickly took out ten eggs for Grandma Gu. “Thank you so much, Grandma Gu!”
Grandma Gu didn’t stand on ceremony. She took the eggs and left on her small feet.
Gu Yihan was being held by her eldest sister-in-law. Perhaps because she was reincarnated with her memories, her vision was particularly clear. She looked up at her eldest sister-in-law, who had an ordinary appearance and wore her hair in the long braid popular in this era. Looking at her fake mother, she also had a long braid, but her skin was a bit fairer than her eldest sister-in-law’s, and she had a beauty mark on her ear.
Soon, Gu Yihan was brought to the Gu family home. When she arrived, she found that the entire Gu family was already seated.
Grandma Gu looked at Gu Yihan and asked, “So, the baby’s born. A boy or a girl?”
The eldest sister-in-law said happily, “It’s a girl.”
The eldest sister-in-law thought happily, A girl was born, how could I not be happy?
Right now, only her family had a son, so all the good things went to him first. If there were another boy, wouldn’t half of it have to be shared?
Grandma Gu just gave a faint “Mm.”
Then she looked at Zhang Cuihua. “Go back to your room and rest. I’ll have your husband kill a chicken for you to eat during your confinement.”
“Thank you, Mother. I’ll go back to my room then,” she said and left directly, without even a single glance at her newborn daughter.
Grandma Gu could see it clearly now; she did not like this child.
“Let me see the baby.” Grandma Gu reached out and took the baby from her eldest daughter-in-law’s arms. Gu Yihan looked at the spirited old woman before her, whose hair was combed back without a single strand out of place.
She knew that this Grandma Gu was the one who called the shots in this family. The moment Grandma Gu held her, Gu Yihan gave her a big smile, even letting out a little laugh.
When Grandma Gu saw this, she was delighted. This child was quite endearing