Chapter 281: About to Give Birth
The doctor didn’t even need a thorough examination to see that Sheng Wanyan was in peak physical condition.
“You’ve taken excellent care of yourself,” the doctor noted with a smile. “In my opinion, you’ll go into labor right on your due date.”
Sheng Wanyan smiled in relief. She had been eating and resting diligently over the past few weeks for this exact reason, wanting nothing more than for her baby to reach full term.
“That’s wonderful,” Mother Gu chimed in happily. “Maybe the child’s father will actually make it back in time.” A full-term birth meant a healthier baby, and those extra few days might give her third son the window he needed to return.
Knowing that Sheng Wanyan was a military wife whose husband was away on a covert operation, the doctor offered a few more words of comfort before concluding his rounds. Once the medical staff left, Sheng Wanyan lay back down to rest, letting her lunch digest.
Five days passed smoothly, leaving Sheng Wanyan just forty-eight hours away from her official due date.
That evening, the quiet of the ward was shattered when one of the pregnant village women was rushed into the delivery room. Her labor concluded in the dead of night, and the moment she was wheeled back into the room, the ward was instantly filled with bitter cursing and helpless weeping.
“Another money-loser!” an old woman hissed.
“Waaaaah… sniffle…”
“Cry, cry, cry, what’s the use of crying now?” the old woman scolded sharply. “You’re just a useless hen that can’t even lay a proper egg!”
The woman who shared Sheng Wanyan’s due date had just given birth to a girl—her third daughter. Her mother-in-law was furious, unleashing a torrent of abuse, while her husband stood by with a dark, sullen face, refusing to say a word or comfort his weeping wife.
“This useless creature forced me to waste so much hard-earned cash on a hospital bed!” the mother-in-law ranted. “You’re checking out tomorrow! We don’t even want this child anyway. Take her back to your parents’ house. You don’t even have the dignity to bear a son, yet you have the audacity to lounge in a hospital?”
The only reason they had spent their precious savings to check into the facility in the first place was because the husband had been entirely convinced this baby would be the long-awaited grandson. Now that a daughter had arrived, the old woman’s heart ached with bitter resentment over the wasted money.
It was the middle of the night, and the ward was shared by a woman who had just endured childbirth and others, like Sheng Wanyan, who were on the verge of it. Everyone was abruptly jolted from their sleep by the vicious shouting.
Sheng Wanyan woke up with a deep frown. She had been feeling physically uncomfortable over the past two days as her body prepared for labor, and the midnight screaming was making rest impossible. Mother Gu exhaled a sharp breath, her temper flaring as she threw back the privacy curtain to confront the family.
“If your family has zero desire to sleep, the rest of us actually do!” Mother Gu snapped, her voice commanding and cold. “What happens if your relentless screeching disturbs my pregnant daughter-in-law and shocks my future grandchild?”
Of the four expectant mothers in the ward, three hailed from the local villages, and when rural women clashed, the shouting matches were formidable. The mother-in-law from the adjacent bed—the one whose precious grandson was currently sleeping soundly—immediately joined the fray.
“Exactly! If you’re miserable with your family dynamics, go take it up at home! Why are you terrorizing the rest of the ward?”
Once a few people voiced their indignation, the collective outrage grew too heavy to ignore. Seeing that she had provoked the entire room, the abusive old lady finally bit her tongue and fell silent. She sat on the edge of the cot, comforting herself with the thought that her own son was an achievement. If you’re so powerful, she thought, why don’t you try giving birth to a boy who drains your family’s finances? Let’s see if you’ll still worship him then.
Though the old lady ceased her shouting, the exhausted mother next door continued to weep softly into her pillow. Her eyes were hollow with absolute despair and confusion, and her chest heaved with heavier sobs whenever she glanced at the tiny infant sleeping beside her.
“M-My love…” the woman whimpered, turning a desperate, pleading gaze toward her husband. But the man kept his face locked in a cold scowl, refusing to look her in the eye.
Terrified of drawing further anger from the room, the woman muffled her cries against the bedsheets. No one else spoke up; despite the annoyance of the disturbance, everyone secretly pitied her miserable situation.
Mother Gu drew their privacy curtain closed once more, urging Sheng Wanyan to close her eyes, but Sheng Wanyan knew sleep was gone for the night. She checked her wristwatch; it was already past four in the morning, with the first hint of dawn bleeding through the window.
“Mom, I’d like a drink of water, and then I need to use the restroom,” Sheng Wanyan whispered.
Mother Gu quickly poured a fresh cup from the thermos and helped her down the corridor. By the time they returned, the abusive mother-in-law and the sullen husband had walked out of the hospital, leaving the vulnerable mother and her newborn completely abandoned in the ward.
With no relatives around to tend to her, the woman had to rely on the busy nurses just to get a sip of water, prompting a few kinder family members from the other beds to step in and help her fill her cup.
Sheng Wanyan climbed back onto her mattress in silence. As she passed by, the weeping woman watched her with a mixture of profound envy and crushing disappointment. Seeing how gently and protective Mother Gu treated her daughter-in-law made her own reality unbearable. If only I possessed Sheng Wanyan’s striking beauty and prestigious in-laws, she thought bitterly, I wouldn’t be facing exile today. Now her husband and mother-in-law had deserted her, her child was tiny, and stress had completely dried up her breastmilk, leaving her with nothing but plain water to fill her baby’s stomach.
Sheng Wanyan propped her pillows up and cracked open a textbook to pass the hours, while Mother Gu, finding herself entirely awake, retrieved their delivery bag to double-check their supplies.
By the following afternoon, a dull, rolling ache began to ripple through Sheng Wanyan’s lower abdomen. Noticing her daughter-in-law’s shifted breathing, Mother Gu immediately summoned the attending physician to the bedside.
After a careful examination, the doctor turned to Mother Gu. “The family needs to remain on high alert tonight. Keep a vigilant eye on her every movement. Barring any unexpected changes, she will officially go into labor tomorrow.”
“If her contractions intensify or her water breaks during the night, march straight to the nurse’s station and call for immediate assistance.”
Mother Gu nodded rapidly, her heart leaping into her throat. It’s finally happening! Her third son’s baby was about to enter the world. Yet, a heavy pang of sadness hit her; Gu Tingxiao still hadn’t crossed the base gates, meaning he would completely miss the arrival of his firstborn.
The physician reviewing the charts today was a different staff doctor who wasn’t familiar with Sheng Wanyan’s background. Noting the absence of a father, he frowned slightly. “Are all your postpartum supplies prepped and ready for the delivery room? Where exactly is the patient’s husband?”
“Everything is meticulously prepared and sterilized,” Mother Gu replied smoothly, her posture elegant. “The child’s father is currently executing an active military mission for the state. I am her mother-in-law, and I will be overseeing her care.”
The doctor’s expression instantly softened into a look of deep respect. “I see. My apologies. Please keep a strict watch over her tonight, and don’t hesitate to call us the moment the patterns shift.”
Once the medical staff departed, Mother Gu felt a wave of nervous adrenaline hit her. She couldn’t risk leaving the hospital grounds tonight; she had to anchor herself right beside her son’s wife.
Pan Yue arrived for her afternoon shift a short while later. The moment she learned that Sheng Wanyan was projected to deliver the following day, she hurried back across the lane to alert Grandpa and Grandma Sheng.
“Wanyan’s due date is officially tomorrow,” Pan Yue reported breathlessly as she walked through their door. “Do you think her contractions will start moving early tonight?”
“It’s hard to say, but the specialist mentioned her baseline vitals are incredibly stable,” Grandma Sheng mused. Despite the reassuring update, the elderly couple couldn’t sit still and immediately marched over to the hospital.
Finding Sheng Wanyan in excellent spirits and looking remarkably radiant, the grandparents finally let out a collective sigh of relief.
“Grandpa, Grandma, please come sit down,” Sheng Wanyan welcomed them warmly.
“Don’t worry about us, sweetheart. We actually brought dinner over for you two,” Grandma Sheng smiled, setting a heavy container on the bedside table. She knew Mother Gu wouldn’t dream of leaving the room to forage for food tonight, so she had prepared a hearty home-cooked meal to solve their logistics.
“Thank you so much, Grandma. You’ve saved us a massive amount of trouble,” Mother Gu said gratefully, her shoulders dropping. She had been quietly stressing over how to balance her watch with fetching dinner.
Grandma Sheng patted her granddaughter’s hand gently. “Eat up, Wanyan. Are you feeling any sharp discomfort right now?”
Sheng Wanyan smiled and shook her head reassuringly. The dull ache from earlier had temporarily receded, leaving her feeling perfectly comfortable. “I’m fine, Grandma.”
She dined with a robust appetite, thoroughly enjoying her meal. Watching her eat so heartily brought an immense sense of peace to the family elders. In their experience, a woman required an abundance of physical strength to successfully navigate the delivery room, and a good appetite was the best possible sign.
