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Chapter 184: The Mother-in-Law's Shock
Chapter 184: The Mother-in-Law's Shock
The next day.
In Poxin Village.
After breakfast, Zhang Shouguo and Zhang Shoumin each hopped on their bicycles, with their wives in tow, heading to Longtan Street. Every day, they would drop their wives off at the store to do business before riding out to the countryside to collect goods.
Since it wasn't market day, Zhang’s father, along with Zhang Shoujun and Zhang Shoushan, didn't need to go to the store to help.
Zhang Shoujun and Zhang Shoushan had long since finished school. Teenagers couldn’t stay cooped up at home for long. Seeing their older brother and sister-in-law, and their second brother and sister-in-law, head out to do business, the two brothers excitedly grabbed their slingshots and headed up the mountain to hunt birds.
Zhang’s father, with nothing else to do, took his eldest grandson and granddaughter for a stroll around the village.
Zhang’s mother, carrying one child and holding the other, visited the neighbors to chat about everyday matters.
Around 10:30 in the morning, while Zhang’s mother was chatting happily with her neighbor, she heard someone call out, "Auntie Afat, your son-in-law is here!"
Zhang’s mother instantly broke into a smile, said a quick hello to her neighbor, and hurried back home.
"Yuntao!"
"Mom!"
Back home, after exchanging greetings, Zhang’s mother just placed the children in the homemade child seat when she saw her son-in-law hand over a large, heavy pig’s hind leg and a bag of candy and cookies. She couldn’t help but chide, "Yuntao, it would have been enough to bring a few candies for the kids. Why did you bring such a huge pig’s hind leg!"
"It was my father’s idea."
"He’s just being too kind."
Zhang’s mother took the pig’s hind leg and the candies and cookies, gestured for her son-in-law to sit down, and hung the pig’s hind leg on a bamboo pole.
"Is Dad at the store helping out?"
"No, it’s not market day today, so your two sisters-in-law are enough to manage the store. Your father is out somewhere with the two older kids."
After a few more pleasantries, Zhang’s mother brought up her daughter. "Yuntao, if my calculations are correct, Xiuping should be due soon. As a mother, I need to go ahead and take care of her, so she won’t be in trouble when the contractions start, and you won’t know what to do."
"Mom, that’s exactly what I came to talk to you about today!"
Deng Yuntao smiled and relayed his father’s decision. "My father said that giving birth at home can be quite dangerous. For one, there are no professional midwives, and for another, there’s no medical equipment. If something goes wrong, it could be too late to regret it.
So, my father thinks it would be best for Pingmei to give birth at the county hospital. That’s the safest place."
Hearing this, Zhang’s mother was overjoyed!
While most people in the countryside gave birth at home in this era, it didn’t mean they didn’t understand that giving birth at the county hospital was much safer.
However, most people simply didn’t have the means to go to the county hospital.
After all, to give birth at the county hospital, one would have to go to the city well in advance, not waiting until the contractions started. The estimated due date, calculated by the village women based on their own experience, could easily be a week early or late.
Staying in a hotel in the city for so many days would be a significant expense for an average rural family.
Moreover, the various costs associated with giving birth in the hospital added up to a substantial sum.
For rural people, this was money they didn’t need to spend. Giving birth at home could save them this money, so who would want to go to the county hospital?
As for the risks of giving birth at home, compared to the high cost of having a child in the hospital, taking a bit of a risk wasn't much of an issue for people in the countryside. After all, the women in the village had all gone through it, and incidents of complications were still quite rare.
Now, the mother-in-law had offered to have her daughter give birth at the county hospital. As a mother, Zhang's mother was naturally overjoyed and praised her, "Your thoughtfulness is truly commendable. If we have the means, going to the county hospital is definitely the best choice."
Deng Yuntai said, "Based on the calculations, Pingmei should be giving birth in about half a month, but my father says these things can happen early or late, so we can't wait until the last minute. That's why I'm here to let you know, Mom. We're planning to take Pingmei to the county tomorrow to wait for the birth."
Zhang's mother was surprised, "So early? With so many people eating and staying there, how much will it cost?"
Deng Yuntai smiled, "Don't worry about that, Mom. My father has already arranged for a house to be rented in the county." This was Deng Shirong's explanation to his children and daughters-in-law. To keep a low profile, he was pretending to rent the house instead of buying it.
Zhang's mother was even more surprised, "Just for giving birth, why would your father rent a house in the county?"
Deng Yuntai revealed a bit more, "Mom, my father didn't just rent the house for Pingmei's birth. He wants us to start a business in the county next year. This house is also rented in advance for us."
Zhang's mother was taken aback, "Yuntai, you're planning to start a business in the county next year? You're not going to work at the pottery factory anymore?"
Deng Yuntai nodded, "That's right. According to my father, being a master potter at the factory doesn't have much of a future. Although I earn a good salary now, I'll always be a worker. To really make a fortune, you have to be a businessman and a boss."
If her own son had dared to give up a job that paid over 200 yuan a month to start a business, Zhang's mother would have slapped him to wake him up. But this was her son-in-law speaking, and her capable father-in-law who had suggested it. That was a different matter entirely.
She knew very well how astute her father-in-law was. Just a casual bit of advice on her daughter's behalf had already made their family business flourish. Now that he was guiding his own son, it couldn't go wrong.
Thinking about this, Zhang's mother agreed, "Your father is right. No matter how much a master potter earns, he'll always be a worker. To make real money, you have to go out and start a business as a boss. Yuntai, what kind of business do you plan to start in the county?"
Deng Yuntai wasn't worried about revealing his plans too early, "I'm planning to open a restaurant like the Longtan State-Owned Restaurant, but it will be on a larger scale."
Zhang's mother was impressed. Her father-in-law was as generous and ambitious as ever!
"But that's for next year. It's still too early to talk about it now."
He then changed the subject, "Mom, if you have time, why don't you come back with me today? We can all go to Bobai tomorrow and spend some time in the county."
Zhang's mother's eyes lit up, and she nodded eagerly, "I have time, of course I do. I was just talking to your two sisters-in-law yesterday about going to take care of Xiuping during her delivery. They both fully support it, so it won't matter whether I'm at home or not."
(End of Chapter)
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