Chapter 181: For a Son, No Risk Is Too Great
Chapter 181: For a Son, No Risk Is Too Great
On this day, Deng Shirong once again made his way to the county town.
The last time he had come to the county town, it was to take care of matters concerning his second son. This time, Deng Shirong had only one purpose in mind—buying a house.
Now, the day of his eldest daughter-in-law's childbirth was fast approaching. Having lived through a later era, Deng Shirong was not as ignorant as the rural folks of his time. He was acutely aware that childbirth was a perilous affair, and in ancient times, many women had lost their lives in the process.
For safety's sake, he was determined not to let his eldest daughter-in-law give birth at home, at least not for the first and second child. The hospital was the safest place for such a critical event.
As for future children, they would have to consider the family planning policies.
Speaking of family planning, while the policies were set by the national government, their implementation varied widely across different regions due to varying social mindsets.
For instance, many provinces began implementing family planning policies in the late 1970s, with significant results. Most people born in the 1980s and 1990s were only children, and families with second children were rare.
However, things were different in Bobai County. Before 1985, the government did not enforce family planning strictly in rural areas. Women were merely encouraged to use birth control methods, but there were no strict penalties for having more children.
After 1985, the government began to enforce family planning more rigorously.
At that time, people with stable jobs were only allowed to have one child. Any additional child meant losing their job.
Rural residents were allowed to have two children. If they wanted a third, it was considered an overbirth.
In Bobai County, the preference for sons was deeply ingrained. Having no sons was unacceptable, and families would continue to have children until they had a son. For many, even one son was not enough; they aimed for two to meet the standard.
The government took this into account when enforcing family planning. If a family with an overbirth only had daughters and no sons, they would only be fined, not forced to undergo sterilization.
However, if a family with an overbirth already had a son, they would be forcibly sterilized upon discovery.
Recalling his past life, Deng Shirong remembered the lengths to which women in the village would go to have a son. They were willing to take any risk.
For example, some women would hide in the mountains during their pregnancy. These weren't the modern, developed hills with houses and orchards, but true wilderness. Living alone in such a place was terrifying, but they did it to avoid detection.
To have more sons, the women in the village were truly fearless.
Some would hide at their relatives' homes. Deng Shirong vividly remembered a neighbor who was already poor. One of their relatives, trying to avoid family planning, hid with them. With no room to spare, the pregnant woman had to stay in the cowshed.
This was just the beginning. According to local customs, a woman could not give birth at a relative's home.
So, on a dark, windy night, when the relative was about to give birth, two close friends from the village helped her. They lit a kerosene lamp, cleaned a fertilizer bag, and took her to a secluded spot on a hillside to give birth.
It was a challenging time. There was no electricity, and the hill was desolate. They had no access to basic necessities like boiling water. The conditions were as primitive as they could be.
That time, the midwives were genuinely terrified. Every time they recalled the experience, they were still shaken, unable to imagine what would have happened if any unforeseen circumstances had arisen. Under such difficult conditions, the fact that the woman managed to give birth safely, with both mother and daughter doing well, could only be attributed to sheer luck.
After delivering the baby, the woman returned to her relatives' home, where she continued to stay in the cowshed until the full moon, when her husband’s family finally came to take her back. It was truly a pitiful situation.
Deng Shirong would never allow his daughter-in-law to suffer such hardships. If possible, he would avoid having more children, but if they did, he wouldn’t make them hide in the mountains. They could just as easily hide in the city, which was one of the reasons he planned to buy a house in the county town.
Of course, the primary reason for buying a house now was to make it easier for his eldest daughter-in-law to give birth.
After all, the distance from Naye Village to the county town was 76 kilometers, a journey that took two to three hours by car. It wouldn’t be practical to rush to the county town when she was about to give birth. If they came early, they would have to stay in a guesthouse, which was far from ideal.
Deng Shirong, who had stayed in guesthouses several times, had no faith in their hygiene during this era.
Therefore, buying a house in advance was absolutely necessary. No place could be as comfortable as their own home.
Moreover, if everything went as planned, his eldest son and daughter-in-law would be moving to the county town next year to start a business, and they would need a place to stay.
In this era, the most bustling areas in Bobai were Dajie, Dongwei Street, Wenhua Road, Gou'er Alley, and Xinglong Road. Buying a house in any of these areas would make life much more convenient, so Deng Shirong listed them as his primary targets.
However, he immediately ruled out Gou'er Alley.
While it was currently a thriving area, known for its variety of small goods, it would transform into a hub for arcades and video halls in the 1990s. Deng Shirong didn’t want his future grandchildren to be influenced negatively by such an environment.
The remaining streets each had their own advantages.
Dajie was one of the oldest streets in Bobai, established during the Tang Dynasty's Wude period. Many important government departments, as well as the county supply and marketing cooperative, Baise Cinema, and several banks, were located on this street.
Dongwei Street, also one of the oldest, was established during the same period. It had always been a market and livestock trading center, bustling with people on market days, with a daily foot traffic of tens of thousands. Its prosperity was undeniable.
Wenhua Road was arguably the most famous street in Bobai. It connected the county’s best primary, middle, and high schools to Dajie and Xinglong Road. The street was lined with shops, and it had a high foot traffic both in the present and in the future.
Finally, Xinglong Road was home to the New China Bookstore, a primary school, restaurants, a grain store, a department store, and the Dongcheng Market, making it the most bustling commercial and trade center in the county.
After listing these areas as his primary targets, Deng Shirong immediately went to Wenhua Road to inquire. Not only was it a bustling area, but it also had the best primary, middle, and high schools, and it was not far from the People's Hospital. If he could find a suitable house, it would be the ideal choice.
(End of Chapter)
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