Farm Tough Girl
Chapter 276 - 276 277 Born_1

Chapter 276: Chapter 277: Born_1 Chapter 276: Chapter 277: Born_1 When Yu Ze returned, Muniang noticed his complexion was somewhat off. “What’s wrong?” she asked.

“Nothing, just that some news arrived from the Capital City,” he replied.

Muniang felt a sudden weight in her heart. “What happened? Has there been some bad turn of events?”

Yu Ze, seeing how startled Muniang looked, didn’t want to scare her with his speculations and simply said, “I heard my father is furious. If I were in the Capital City right now, he would surely apply the family discipline directly to me. When we go back to the Capital this time, I’m afraid punishment is inevitable.”

Muniang rolled her eyes at him with annoyance. “And to think you’re a General. Scared of a beating, are you?”

Yu Ze, with a smirk, pulled Muniang into his arms. “Right, I am scared. I don’t care; it’s because of you that I’m going to be beaten. When the time comes, you must accompany me back. I’m afraid to go alone.”

Muniang’s face was filled with resignation. Scared my foot.

“My lady, once Qinghe’s child is born, shall we go back and get married?”

“The baby isn’t born yet,” Muniang said, clearly already acquiescing.

Yu Ze was overjoyed; he cupped Muniang’s face and kissed her. The hard-won wedding, he had longed for far too long.

Little did they know how much longer it would be until the child would be born successfully, and no one could’ve predicted that when the moment suddenly arrived, everyone would be sweating with anxiety.

Muniang, as usual, accompanied Qinghe for a walk outside that day. Now that Qinghe could still move, they walked more, hoping for a smooth delivery for the child. Muniang carefully supported her, since it was still early morning and the sun wasn’t very strong, its rays quite comfortable on their bodies.

The two sisters chatted and laughed leisurely on their stroll, enjoying themselves immensely.

But suddenly, Qinghe’s face turned ghastly as she clutched her belly. “Muniang, my stomach… my stomach hurts.”

Muniang jumped in shock. “What’s wrong? Are you going into labor?”

The pain intensified for Qinghe. “Yes, I think I’m going to give birth, Muniang!”

“Then I’ll quickly go and call the midwife,” said Muniang, but as she was about to get up, she realized something was amiss. How could she leave Qinghe alone here? Cursing silently for her oversight, how could she not have brought servants with her in this critical period?

At that moment, Qingmei popped up from nowhere. “I’ll go call the midwife for you, I’ll be right back!”

With that, she dashed away.

Before Muniang could even react, Qingmei returned with an old woman, being a midwife, followed by a villager pulling a cart.

“I was worried she wouldn’t make it back comfortably, so I found a household in the village to help us with transportation,” Qingmei explained.

Muniang expressed her gratitude. “Thank you.”

Muniang helped Qinghe onto the cart, and the villager pulled it away while the midwife walked alongside, watching over everything. With much difficulty, they made it back, and the maids immediately brought Qinghe inside.

As Muniang was about to follow, she noticed Qingmei standing motionless at the door. “Come in and sit for a while. I’ll have the servants bring you something tasty,” Muniang offered. She always distinguished clearly between kindness and grudge; although she didn’t have a good relationship with Qingmei’s mother, the child had been a great help today, and Muniang naturally wanted to show her appreciation. And for thanking a child, the best way Muniang could think of was to offer treats.

Qingmei, however, shook her head. “I’d like to ask you not to mention my helping Qinghe to anyone. My mother is waiting for me to get back to work. If I’m gone for too long, they might suspect I’m slacking off. I should leave now.”

Having said that, she turned around and ran off.

Muniang looked at the small figure in astonishment. Her legs clearly still troubled her; she limped along, and her wound must not have healed. She had come over just to tell her not to speak of today’s events—it seemed she was still afraid of being beaten by her mother. Muniang’s heart tightened; she suddenly felt that her prior actions had been too selfish. This child had helped her regardless of her own safety, yet Muniang had avoided her for fear of trouble. Her cheeks flushed with shame.

“Lady, why are you still at the door? Lady Qinghe is about to give birth!”

Only then did Muniang snap back to reality and hurriedly lifted her skirt to rush inside.

Qinghe had already been moved to the room specially prepared for her delivery. As soon as Muniang walked in, she saw Qinghe lying on the bed in so much pain that tears blurred her vision. Muniang’s heart clenched; childbirth for a woman was like a walk through hell, and she was genuinely scared for her.

“Qinghe, Qinghe, you have to believe in the midwife, everything will be all right. You just have to grit your teeth through the pain, please hold on,” Muniang said urgently, grabbing Qinghe’s hand.

Qinghe struggled to make a sound through her nose: “Mhm.” But she clearly had a resolute will.

The midwife deftly cleaned up the scene and began to deliver Qinghe’s baby.

Muniang didn’t understand anything and could only stand by anxiously. Qinghe was sweating profusely, her hair sticking to her head, screaming heartrendingly.

“One, two, three, give it another push; it’s almost out!”

Qinghe gritted her teeth and, enduring the pain, pushed once more, followed by the clear cry of a newborn—”Wah”!

The midwife took the baby and smiled, “It’s a girl.”

Muniang hurried over, “Let me see, let me see.”

Carefully, she took the baby from the midwife’s arms and brought her to Qinghe, “Look, Qinghe, your baby.”

Exhaustion mixed with joy on Qinghe’s weak face: “She’s so small.”

The midwife quickly said, “The child is very healthy, such a loud cry.”

Qinghe smiled gratefully: “Mhm.”

The news of Qinghe’s delivery spread throughout the village, and everyone was relieved for the mother and child’s safety. But the Qiao family was enveloped in silence.

“I say, we might as well not keep the child. It’s just a girl, and who knows if she’s the offspring of some stranger? Why bother with this?”

Madam Zhao had been especially disdainful of the child since the incident with “the stranger” involving Qinghe, and now hearing it was a girl, she was even less interested in keeping her. Girls were considered a financial loss, so why waste rice raising one?

Qiao Dazhi thought for a moment, then nodded, “Maybe we shouldn’t bother, after all. The child’s reputation is a bit tarnished now.”

Qiao Yuanzhen’s face was gloomy, deep in thought, his mood appeared to be bad.

The Qiao parents now dared not provoke Qiao Yuanzhen’s temper lightly. When he hadn’t yet become a scholar, he was just somewhat aloof. But now he had inflated into being haughtily arrogant, not more capable, but his temper grew worse every day. The slightest displeasure provoked a temper tantrum; the Qiao parents no longer felt like they were raising a son, but rather serving an ancestor.

“No! I must have this child,” Qiao Yuanzhen said through gritted teeth.

(There will be another update in the afternoon.)