I Became the Mother of His Child

Mrs. Song's angry accusations were loud. When Song Yuantao saw Song Yuanhuan directly carry Xu Xiuxiu into a room, blanket and all, and saw that there was no further trouble, he cleaned up the wooden pushcart and walked into the living room just in time to hear Mrs. Song's curses. Just as he wanted to go see his two little nephews and niece, he touched his nose and then, with a darkened expression, turned to enter a room.

That night, Song Yuantao and Wang Qinghua had another argument. Although Song Yuantao wanted to keep his voice down, Wang Qinghua seemed intent on causing a fuss, and her temperament was not slight when she was woken up in the middle of the night.

After Mrs. Song and Song Yuan Yao saw that Song Yuanhuan had settled Xu Xiuxiu and closed the windows, they took the two children into the room as well, and placed them gently beside Xu Xiuxiu. Seeing the mother and her three children deeply asleep, Mrs. Song turned her head with satisfaction and left the room. As soon as she stepped into the hall, she heard Wang Qinghua's shrill voice not far to the left, and her face instantly darkened.

Scenes like this had not been uncommon over the past year, and Mrs. Song could say she had grown accustomed to them. However, this was a great day for the second daughter-in-law, who had just given birth and needed to rest quietly, so for the eldest daughter-in-law, Wang Qinghua, to still make such a noisy fuss, Mrs. Song immediately became angry and walked towards the room on the left.

Bang, bang, bang! As Mrs. Song reached the door of the western room, she raised her hand and hammered the wooden door fiercely. "If you don't want to spend this good day properly, then pack up your things and leave. If I hear one more peep from you, don't blame me for storming into the room and tearing your mouth apart." Mrs. Song was quite confident at this moment because the second daughter-in-law had just given birth and needed a quiet rest. If Wang Qinghua dared to make trouble, she would dare to chase her away even in a snowy night.

Ever since the trouble she caused last year, Wang Qinghua had felt quite guilty. Moreover, over the past year, she had wanted to find another place and leave the Song Family Village, this "cursed place," but she was not young anymore and not particularly beautiful. Finding another man was not as easy as she had imagined. Even if some worthless man took a fancy to her, they had to consider the abilities of her husband, Song Yuantao, and the intimidation from her younger brother-in-law, Song Yuanhuan.

Thus, her plans for the past year had dragged on without fruition. With insufficient confidence and lack of determination, she became more insecure. Therefore, upon hearing her mother-in-law's threatening voice outside the room, Wang Qinghua instantly knew better and shut her mouth. She had learned the hard way just how formidable her mother-in-law could be; once Mrs. Song hardened her heart to make her leave, not even Niuniu's or Song Tianxin's desperate cries would help.

After the quarrels in the western room finally quieted down, Song Yuanhuan, who had been sprawled on the ground intermittently checking on his wife and twins on the bed for fear of them being disturbed, also finally relaxed his tightly knitted brows that seemed capable of killing flies, exhaled a rough breath, warmed his hands by rubbing them together, and slowly approached the bedside.

With his index finger gently lifted, Song Yuanhuan carefully poked the sleeping baby girl wrapped in her cocoon of blankets, his heart melting. Then, he looked at his son lying beside her, whose cheeks were noticeably chubbier, and poked the little guy's cheek as well, though with a noticeably heavier touch than he had used with his daughter. Seeing his son frown and purse his little mouth as if in displeasure from being born, Song Yuanhuan immediately felt guilty and withdrew his hand.

Xu Xiuxiu slept quietly throughout the night, completely unaware that the Song Family home was anything but peaceful on the night of her laborious childbirth.

The next day, as the sky began to brighten, Xu Xiuxiu awoke. Song Yuanhuan, being a light sleeper and not knowing when Xu Xiuxiu would wake up, had feigned sleep without allowing himself to fall into a deep slumber. Xu Xiuxiu tried to turn over but was startled awake by the pain in her lower body, letting out a sharp intake of breath.

"Xiuxiu, how are you feeling? Are you in pain anywhere? Are you uncomfortable or hungry?" Song Yuanhuan hurriedly threw off the thin blanket and climbed up from the floor to ask, his anxious gaze carrying a comforting effect.

After the pain had subsided, Xu Xiuxiu did not answer Song Yuanhuan's question. Instead, she asked about the children, "Mr. Song, did I give birth to a set of boy and girl twins yesterday?" Xu Xiuxiu's voice was still a bit hoarse from last night's pain, and remembering the nurse's announcement she had overheard in her daze before fainting, she opened her eyes wide and looked to Song Yuanhuan for confirmation.

"Yeah! You were impressive, giving birth to two at once." Song Yuanhuan leaned down to kiss Xu Xiuxiu's forehead, then praised her with a beaming smile, "Look, both of them are lying next to you, looking especially cute just like you."

At his words, Xu Xiuxiu curved the corners of her lips contentedly and turned her head to look at the two babies in the wooden bed. A tender softness unique to a mother flickered in her eyes. In fact, she felt very fortunate just to be able to have twins. In these times of family planning, this was likely her last chance to have children. To be able to hold two, and a set of boy and girl twins at that, she felt truly satisfied.

"How wonderful." Xu Xiuxiu murmured, her eyes reddening slightly.

One did not know the hardships of childbirth until they went through the soul-wrenching pain themselves. It was only after experiencing it firsthand that Xu Xiuxiu had to admit that children are indeed a gift from God.

"Xiuxiu, are you hungry? I've stewed some fish soup for you. Would you like some?" Song Yuanhuan said, thinking back to the previous night when the chicken soup prepared at home had been drunk up by his sister-in-law Wang Qinghua. Not wanting to kill another chicken to make soup for his wife and worrying she might wake up hungry, he tiptoed out to the stream that ran from one end of Song Family Village to the other in the middle of the night and caught a couple of fish.

"Mm!" Xu Xiuxiu nodded, feeling her appetite. After being jostled around on a train all of yesterday, and with all her energy and strength spent in the delivery room, her voice was hoarse and how could she not be hungry.

"I'll bring you the soup now." Seeing this, Song Yuanhuan immediately turned and left the room. He was very careful when opening the door, cracking it just wide enough for him to slip through, and closed it securely behind him as soon as he was out.

While Xu Xiuxiu was waiting, enduring the pain of childbirth, she struggled to turn her body to look at the two babies, wrapped side by side in small swaddles beside her. Seeing that both infants looked like newborn monkeys, she couldn't help but let out a light laugh. She had to say, these newborns were truly ugly, and for Song Yuanhuan to say they looked especially cute like her was really going too far; they obviously resembled him more.

While Xu Xiuxiu humorously teased about the children's appearances, outside the room Song Yuanhuan was quick to bring in the soup, even carrying the whole pot back with him. To Xu Xiuxiu's amazement, he deftly placed it in front of her, "I'll feed it to you." Song Yuanhuan gently grabbed a pillow to prop behind Xu Xiuxiu, then carefully helped her sit up to drink.

"Does it taste good?" After feeding Xu Xiuxiu a spoonful, Song Yuanhuan immediately asked for her opinion. Having gone through great lengths to stew the fish soup for his wife, he was in dire need of her approval at that moment.