Chapter 532: Startled
Chapter 532: Startled
"It's been taken care of. When our sales staff was placing the order, someone bumped into their hand, causing an extra stroke on the number 'one'. The procurement and order management team thought it was an order for 100,000 items, so they produced and shipped that amount."
That extra stroke made her think it was an order for 100,000 items. At that time, she was away on a business trip, and the deputy factory manager signed the documents.
With an excess of 90,000 items that couldn't be sold, the factory suffered another loss this year!
Mr. Jiang tried to console her, "It's still early in the summer. There might be some last-minute orders, and we can try to sell the excess stock at a lower price to recover the costs."
"90,000 items, how are we going to sell them? Who would place a last-minute order for that many!"
The difference was just too huge!
Moreover, these were summer clothes, and all the sales agents had already been selling summer apparel for a while. Any popular items would have been reordered by now! The factories were already producing autumn and winter clothing.
And that particular design wasn't even a popular one! Who would reorder it?
"A bunch of lazy old-timers, just waiting for retirement. They always make mistakes, and now they've caused such a huge problem for me!" Mrs. Jiang was getting increasingly angry as she thought about it.
Mr. Jiang, worried that she might wake their daughter, spoke in a gentle tone, "Don't get worked up. There will be a solution. Let's take it easy and think it through. I'll help you figure something out later, so our child doesn't have to worry."
Their daughter had been having trouble sleeping at night, either due to breathing difficulties or pelvic pain. Her complexion wasn't as good as before.
Mr. Jiang handed her a cup of water, "Have some water."
Mrs. Jiang took the cup and drank some water to calm herself.
Mr. Jiang needed to go home for a bit, "Do you want to go home and rest? I need to make a trip back."
His wife had mentioned that it was good to apply tea oil to the navel before taking a bath after childbirth.
Xia Xia and Xiao Dong had used it back then, so Mr. Jiang asked someone to buy a few pounds of tea seed oil, and the person said they would deliver it after 3 pm today.
"I won't be going back."
"Then keep an eye on the soup in the kitchen. Don't let it boil dry; simmer it until 5 pm, and when Xia Xia wakes up, give it to her to drink. I'll be back soon."
"Okay." Mrs. Jiang picked up the unfinished sweater she was knitting.
She was knitting these sweaters for her three grandchildren, and they were almost done.
After a sleepless night, Jiang Xia had finally woken up at 5 am. She felt a slight discomfort and a sense of pressure in her lower abdomen, which had awakened her. She called for Zhao Cheng Lei to help her out of bed.
Zhao Cheng Lei assisted her to the bathroom.
Mrs. Jiang quickly put down her knitting, "She's awake. The soup is ready; I'll serve it to you."
"Thank you, Mom."
Mrs. Jiang went to the kitchen and served a bowl of soup, "Does Ah Lei want some?"
"I'm fine, thank you, Mom." Zhao Cheng Lei supported Jiang Xia as they entered the bathroom.
After using the bathroom, Jiang Xia sat by the dining table and slowly drank the soup.
It was already past 5 o'clock, and the sun had moved away from the balcony. Zhao Cheng Lei went to the balcony to collect the children's clothes before starting to cook.
The clothes had been washed earlier and were now being hung out to dry in the sun.
Mrs. Jiang finished knitting the sweater and asked, "Did you finish knitting yours? If not, I can do it."
Just as Jiang Xia finished her soup, she felt a sudden tightness in her stomach, accompanied by a slight pain in her lower abdomen, "It's on the table in the room. You can go get it."
Recently, she had been experiencing these occasional sensations, and Dr. Gao had explained that they were uterine contractions. If the contractions came in waves, she would need to go to the hospital, but occasional occurrences were normal.
Mrs. Jiang went to get the sweater and saw the high school physics textbook on the desk.
Her mind went blank for a moment, and she was furious! She picked up the physics book, stormed out of the room, and slammed it onto the dining table, creating a loud 'slap' sound, "Did you sign up for the college entrance exam again? You still haven't given up, have you?! Why won't you listen to me?"
Jiang Xia was startled, and her stomach tightened again. Instinctively, she stood up, and then she felt a sudden release in her lower abdomen, as if something had broken, followed by a sensation similar to urinary incontinence.
"Mom, Xia Xia is my wife now!"
Jiang Mu's voice was loud enough that even Zhou Cheng Lei, who had poor hearing, heard it from the balcony. He hurried inside and couldn't help but shout back from the balcony.
Jiang Mu was startled by the loud response.
Zhou Cheng Lei rushed in from the balcony and immediately noticed something was wrong with Jiang Xia. He threw his clothes onto the sofa without a second thought and rushed over, "What's wrong?"
"I think my water broke," Jiang Xia said, cradling her belly, afraid to move.
Jiang Mu was speechless.
Zhou Cheng Lei's face turned pale. He swiftly pulled out a chair and laid Jiang Xia across it horizontally, "Mom, open the door and get the car keys!"
Jiang Mu was so shocked she froze for a moment, then quickly opened the door and grabbed the car keys.
Zhou Cheng Lei hurriedly carried Jiang Xia downstairs.
"Careful, slow down, Ah Lei!" Jiang Mu followed behind, wearing slippers, not even taking the time to change her shoes.
When they reached the ground floor, Jiang Mu rushed to open the car door.
Zhou Cheng Lei carefully placed Jiang Xia in the car, laying her on a blanket on the back seat.
Jiang Xia had previously instructed Zhou Cheng Lei to use a blanket to line the back seat. She had heard from a colleague that her water broke on the way to the hospital, and later complained that she should have brought a diaper liner to sit on. She had reminded others to prepare a liner for such situations.
Zhou Cheng Lei set Jiang Xia down and asked Jiang Mu for the keys, "Give me the keys."
"Okay," Jiang Mu quickly handed him the keys and then climbed into the car, holding Jiang Xia's hand to comfort her, and herself, "Don't be afraid, there's still some time before labor starts. It won't be that fast for the first child."
Jiang Xia was still in pain from the contractions and didn't respond.
Zhou Cheng Lei quickly got into the car, starting the engine while keeping an eye on Jiang Xia through the rearview mirror. Once everything was ready, he stepped on the accelerator and sped off to the hospital.
He had already positioned the car for a quick departure when he parked.
His hands were slightly trembling, but he managed to drive steadily.
Just as Zhou Cheng Lei arrived at the hospital, Jiang Fu also showed up downstairs on his bicycle. Not seeing his daughter and son-in-law's car, he guessed they might have gone to the hospital.
He hurriedly picked up a bottle of tea oil and ran upstairs, not even bothering to lock his bicycle.
Breathless, he reached the sixth floor and opened the door, seeing clothes casually thrown on the sofa and half-eaten stew on the table.
Jiang Fu rushed into the room and saw the birth bag his son-in-law had prepared, so he grabbed it and ran out.
As he was about to leave, he saw Zhou Fu driving a tractor towards them. He quickly called out, "In-law, Xia Xia is at the hospital. Let's go!"
"So soon?" It was only the end of June, not even July yet.
It was nearly twenty days earlier than the expected due date.
Zhou Fu's heart was racing as he quickly found a spot to turn around.
By the time Zhou Fu had turned around, Jiang Fu had already ridden off on his bicycle, pedaling away.
At the Hospital
Zhou Cheng Lei drove straight to the hospital entrance, then got out and carried Jiang Xia from the car, "Mom, park the car!"
"Okay!" Jiang Mu replied.
Zhou Cheng Lei ran into the hospital carrying Jiang Xia.
Everyone in the hospital was staring at him.
As Jiang Xia's contraction pain subsided, she said, "Don't rush! Slow down."
A nurse quickly pushed a bed over, "What's wrong?"
"Her water broke. I'm looking for Dr. Gao Jie," Zhou Cheng Lei explained.
The nurse hurriedly pushed the bed towards Dr. Gao Jie's office.
The office was empty, but at that moment, Zeng Yuan came running down the corridor, "Dr. Gao just went into the delivery room. She won't be out soon. I'll help with the examination and delivery instead!"
(End of Chapter)
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