Back to the 60s: The Struggle Career of a Charmed Wife
Chapter 130 - 0130: Letter from Lu Jiang 2_1

Which mother doesn’t look forward to that with joy?

A child dying moments after birth probably inflicts the deepest sorrow and heartache on the mother who carried him.

As fathers, as mothers-in-law, who haven’t endured the misery of gestation, and haven’t formed an emotional bond with the child, their sorrow comes across as quite confined in comparison. They soon manage to put it behind them.

Feng Qingxue saw such a situation when she went to visit Hongling.

Guo Guangcheng was at the doorway, sheltered from the wind and basked in sunlight, chatting with people. There was little trace of grief on his face. His mother was also present. Although she sighed repeatedly, she only talked about the child’s lack of fortune, blamed Hongling for being useless, and about how she couldn’t protect it despite carrying it for so long.

"It was a grandson, a weighty four and a half jins, who just died like that."

The expression in Guo Guangcheng’s mother’s eyes betrayed her regret as she slapped her thigh talking about it,

Hearing this, comfort came from the surrounding people.

"Guangcheng and Hongling are still young. They just need to take care of themselves adequately. After the baby’s month is over, they could probably conceive another. By the end of the year, you’ll be holding your grandchild."

"You need to be open-minded about it. No one wants such a thing to happen, but what can one do when a child is out of luck? The children who didn’t survive birth aren’t just from your family. My third child only lived for a day!"

"Indeed, my child also lived only for three days, got a cold, and their stomach ruptured."

"Yours at least got a cold and died. Unlike me, who had a baby girl for a first child. It took so much effort to give birth, only to have my mother-in-law drown her in the toilet pot shortly after. The second baby was also a girl. She only lived for seven days, somehow she was under a draft and caught cold, got a fever, and died in a few days!"

Feng Qingxue was impatient to hear more and called out to Guo Guangcheng’s mother, "I have come to see sister Hongling!"

Seeing Feng Qingxue carrying a basket, Guo Guangcheng’s mother’s face instantly brightened with a smile, "Oh Xiaoxue, you are here to see Hongling? I will take you in. She is inside observing her confinement period!"

Thanking her, Feng Qingxue entered the room to see the distraught Hongling lying in bed.

During her pregnancy, Hongling had been extremely thin, making her belly look disproportionately huge.

Now, her belly had flattened, her complexion had a sickly waxen-yellow hue, devoid of the tiniest trace of rosiness, her eyes were swollen like rotten peaches. She had heard Feng Qingxue’s voice from outside the room. Turning her head to look at Qingxue, tears started to well up in her eyes again.

"Xiaoxue!"

Feng Qingxue quickly sat on the edge of the bed, "Sister Hongling, don’t cry. Tears can damage the eyes during confinement."

"I know, but whenever I think of my poor child, I can’t help but grief."

Following behind them, Guo Guangcheng’s mother couldn’t help but say, "What’s the use of grieving over a dead child? If you had any sense, you would wipe those tears, take advantage of this time when there is not much to do and recover properly during confinement, then give me another grandchild!"

Upon hearing these words, Hongling instantly fell silent and hurriedly wiped away her tears.

Feng Qingxue disliked the attitude of Guo Guangcheng’s mother greatly and hurriedly said, "Mother, there are so many people outside. You should go and tend to them. I want to talk to sister Hongling. I will persuade her to take good care of herself."

Guo Guangcheng’s mother said nothing but glanced at the basket.

Feng Qingxue understood. But how could she hand over the things she prepared for Hongling to Guo Guangcheng’s mother? Considering her attitude, the stuff would probably never reach Hongling’s mouth if it was given to Guo Guangcheng’s mother.

So, Feng Qingxue feigned ignorance and asked innocently, "Mother, do you need anything else?"

"No, nothing!" Even if Guo Guangcheng’s mother had a thick skin, she was too embarrassed to ask Feng Qingxue directly about what she had brought. She convinced herself that whatever ended up in her daughter-in-law’s hands was as good as it being in her own. So she simply left.