Chapter 535: Envy
Chapter 535: Envy
Jiang Xia didn't really care about Wenwan's childbirth, but she still asked, "What did she give birth to?"
"A daughter. I heard it was a difficult birth, and she had postpartum bleeding. They came to the city hospital to give birth, but not this one, the one next door. I heard this from Zhou Li. When Zhou Bingqiang's wife found out that it was a daughter over the phone, she was quite unhappy. She sold all the chickens she was raising for Wenwan's postpartum confinement!"
Jiang Xia: "..."
Zhou Mu: "I raised forty chickens, what for? But she's going too far! It's her first child, and she can still have a second one. If you ask me, it's better that the first one is a daughter."
Tian Caifua: "Who can guarantee that the second one will be a son? Not everyone is as fortunate as Xia, having everything in one go! Some people have two children in three years, but she had three in one year!"
Jiang Xia: "..."
"But I heard from Zhou Li that the baby is quite chubby, over seven catties. Much heavier than our three kids! It's great that each of the triplets weighs over four catties."
Tian Caifua looked at Jiang Xia's post-pregnancy figure, her arms were still slender, and her face hadn't turned into a round one.
"You ate so much during your pregnancy, almost ten meals a day, and your mouth never rested. How come you didn't gain any weight?"
"..."
Jiang Xia was slightly embarrassed. She didn't eat ten meals a day!
"I gained weight too, but I don't know how much. I think I gained about ten pounds."
"I gained ten pounds after giving birth to Wenguang, and then another ten after Wenzong. By the time the four brothers were born, I had gained forty pounds in total! I used to be very slim as a girl, just like you. Equally beautiful! Ah Huan, isn't that right?"
He Xinguan smiled, "Yes, you were tall and slender when you were young, the village beauty."
"Exactly!" Tian Caifua was satisfied and then continued to tell Jiang Xia about Li Xiuxian's situation.
"Liao Ruixiang and Feng Yifen are getting a divorce! Feng Yifen is demanding five thousand yuan from Liao Ruixiang, and she also wants him to buy her a house in town. She wants half of the profits from the fish farm, and she wants twenty yuan for living expenses every month!"
Tian Caifua spoke with a hint of schadenfreude, "Isn't this what Li Xiuxian asked for? Li Xiuxian should feel that she should give, after all, she was the one who acted shamelessly first!"
Jiang Xia remained silent, unsure of what to say.
Tian Caifua didn't need Jiang Xia's response, "Liao Ruixiang refused to give the money, so Feng Yifen keeps causing trouble for Li Xiuxian at school. Now, Li Xiuxian hasn't been to school for classes, and I don't know if she's been suspended. Serves her right!"
After talking about Li Xiuxian, Tian Caifua was about to gossip about other villagers, but Zhou Chenglei couldn't stand it anymore. Jiang Xia needed to rest, so he said, "Big sister-in-law, it's almost four o'clock. Aren't you going home? If you don't leave now, it'll be dark by the time you get home. The road at night is not easy to walk on, why don't you stay in the city tonight?"
Tian Caifua, eager to leave, didn't even respond, "I'm not staying the night. There's a lot of work to do at home, I'm going back!"
Tian Caifua returned to the village after dark. The next morning, she went to the vegetable garden to water the plants, and by noon, almost the entire village knew that Jiang Xia had given birth to triplets, two boys, and a girl.
In the afternoon, Tian Caifua went to the pier to pick up the fish, and soon, the whole production team knew that Jiang Xia had given birth to triplets, two boys, and a girl.
This news sparked various feelings of envy and jealousy.
Most people could only have one child, but she had three at once!
That day, Zhou Bingqiang's wife went to the city to see her granddaughter and brought some food. She couldn't help but complain, "I started working in the fields the day after giving birth! Some people give birth to three children at once and are fine, but you gave birth to a daughter and have been making a fuss ever since. You were lazy during your pregnancy, doing nothing, and then you had a difficult birth! I think you're just lazy."
Wenwan had a weak body and was annoyed by the complaints, but when she heard that Jiang Xia gave birth to three children at once, she turned to her, "Did Jiang Xia give birth? When did she give birth, and did she have a difficult birth?"
Zhou Bingqiang's wife rolled her eyes, "Of course not, not everyone is like you. She probably gave birth a day after you. You gave birth in the afternoon, and she probably gave birth the next morning. I'm not entirely sure."
"Wenwan was curious about Jiang Xia's baby, wondering if it was a boy or a girl. She asked again, "What did she have?"
"Two sons and a daughter. All of a sudden, they have both a son and a daughter, completing a good family. She's so lucky!"
Her tone was filled with envy and bitterness, wishing she could swap her granddaughter for the triplets.
Zhou Bingqiang's wife was truly envious!
Wenwan fell silent.
It wasn't that Jiang Xia was lucky!
It was because she had seized the initiative and firmly held onto Zhou Chenglei beforehand.
Now, Zhou Chenglei and his family would surely treasure her even more!
Wenwan glanced at the baby in Zhou Guohua's arms.
Unlike herself, who had given birth to a daughter, Zhou Bingqiang and his wife had only taken a brief look and didn't even want to hold her.
Zhou Bingqiang's wife brought out the food and said to Wenwan, "But I heard that the triplets were placed in an incubator right after birth. I wonder if there's any problem."
Wenwan remained silent. In this era, it was indeed challenging to raise triplets.
Zhou Bingqiang's wife placed the food in front of Wenwan and said to her son, "Don't keep holding her. If you get used to it, you'll have to hold her every day. Who has the time? You have to serve everyone! Put her down and come serve your wife her meal!"
Wenwan looked at the food, which was just steamed egg with pickled vegetables, without even chicken soup or fish soup. She found it unbelievable:
"Is this all we're eating?"
Zhou Bingqiang's wife replied, "What else? When I was sitting the month, I didn't even have eggs, only pickled vegetables!"
After giving birth to a financial burden, what more could she ask for?
She had even sold the chickens!
Wenwan was infuriated!
She had risked her life to give birth to Zhou Guohua's child, and now that she had barely recovered, this was all she got to eat?
Zhou Guohua frowned, "Mom, Xiao Wan needs to nourish her body, and the baby needs milk. Make some chicken soup or fish soup. Otherwise, the baby won't even have milk to drink."
Zhou Bingqiang's wife thought about having to buy formula if there was no breast milk and said, "Then go buy some soup for her yourself!"
In the neighboring hospital room, Jiang Xia had just finished her lunch.
The lunch was brought by Zhou's parents, consisting of steamed perch, ginger chicken breast, shrimp with steamed egg, and pigeon soup.
There was no green vegetables as Zhou's mother believed that one shouldn't eat green vegetables or fruits during confinement due to their cooling properties.
Jiang's parents also came by, bringing a thermos of crucian carp soup. The soup was made by Jiang's father after work, and it was a milky white color.
Both sets of parents would come by early and late, bringing soup for Jiang Xia.
Now, Jiang Xia didn't need to drink water as the soups prepared by both families were enough for her. Apart from the soups, there was also ginger tea.
Four thermoses of soup for lactation were placed on the table.
There was milky white crucian carp soup, chicken soup, octopus and papaya soup, and pigeon soup.
The previous day, Jiang Xia had also drunk a lot of soup, but there wasn't much breast milk. The babies had to drink formula milk.
Early that morning, Dr. Gao came to check on her and finally, there was some breast milk. Dr. Gao also taught Jiang Xia how to express a small amount of milk, less than 60 milliliters.
Dr. Gao took the milk to feed the babies, as breastfeeding was better than formula.
The babies were in the incubator, and the nurses fed them. Jiang Xia and Zhou Chenglei could only look at them.
After everyone had left, Jiang Xia asked Zhou Chenglei, "Could you go out for a bit and close the door?"
Zhou Chenglei asked, "What's up?"
"My milk is coming in, and it hurts. Please go out and close the door."
Zhou Chenglei instinctively glanced at her and then noticed Jiang Xia's clothes gradually becoming damp.
He quickly went to close the door but didn't leave. After closing the door, he returned to the bedside, "How do we do this? Teach me."
The previous night and that morning, when Dr. Gao was helping her with lactation, he had been asked to leave, so he didn't know how.
"No need, you go out. I'll do it myself."
"You gave birth, and I'll raise them. Shouldn't these tasks be my responsibility?" Zhou Chenglei washed his hands and sat by her side, reaching out to unbutton her blouse.
Jiang Xia: "..."
After a while, Zhou Chenglei supported Jiang Xia out of the ward to deliver lunch to the children.
(End of Chapter)
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