Seeing Tian Jing approaching, Sister-in-law Niu’s face beamed with a smile:
“Captain Tian, thank you so much. You saved my daughter and her baby.”
Tian Jing raised an eyebrow: “A boy?”
Sister-in-law Niu nodded repeatedly: “Yes, yes. My daughter and son-in-law have gotten their wish. They finally have someone to take care of them in their old age.”
“Congratulations, congratulations.” Tian Jing looked at Grandma Niu, who was wiping away tears: “Grandma Niu has been taking care of everything so thoughtfully and meticulously. Niu Xiaosao has truly not let Grandma Niu’s hard work over the past half-year go to waste.”
“It’s truly Grandma Niu’s good fortune to have such a good mother-in-law.”
Sister-in-law Niu was taken aback for a moment, then nodded: “Yes, yes, Captain Tian is right. My daughter is fortunate.”
Niu Xiaosao’s eldest sister-in-law reached out to take the swaddling clothes from her mother-in-law: “Give it to me, I’ll take it to the ward.”
“Grandma Niu.” Tian Jing called out to Grandma Niu, who was still wiping tears: “You’ve worked hard for over half a year. Shouldn’t you hold this grandson?”
Sister-in-law Niu’s hand, which was reaching for her eldest daughter-in-law, froze.
Grandma Niu nodded: “I’ll hold him.”
She handed the bundle in her hand to her younger son and reached out her hand to her in-laws.
Sister-in-law Niu had no choice but to hand the swaddling clothes to her in-laws.
Tian Jing leaned in beside Grandma Niu and looked: “Oh, he’s quite handsome. Grandma Niu, look, his eyebrows are delicate and curved. The shape of his little mouth is so round. He’ll definitely be a handsome young man when he grows up.”
Tian Jing’s words made Sister-in-law Niu’s heart pound, but the last sentence made her relax:
“Indeed, indeed. The baby is still young, his features haven’t taken shape yet.”
Grandma Niu’s eyes followed Tian Jing’s voice, her face filled with a smile: “He looks like his older sister when she was little.”
Tian Jing stopped paying attention to Grandma Niu’s doting and turned to Sister-in-law Niu: “How is Niu Xiaosao?”
The smile on Sister-in-law Niu’s face faded: “The nurse just said she’s undergoing a suturing surgery and will need two months of recovery before she can get out of bed. They also said the mother is very weak and we should feed the baby formula.”
Grandma Niu’s hand paused, then she nodded: “Listen to the doctor.”
Tian Jing believed Sister-in-law Niu’s words. Giving birth at such an advanced age would surely have a significant impact on Niu Xiaosao’s body. Breastfeeding would be impossible.
Grandma Niu would have a lot of hard work ahead of her.
Brother Niu reached out to take the swaddling clothes: “Mom, let me hold him.”
Grandma Niu handed the swaddling clothes to her younger son and took the bundle from his hand.
Mother and son happily looked down at the baby, eyes closed, in the swaddling clothes.
More than half an hour later, the red light outside the operating room turned off, and the door opened. Two doctors walked out.
Tian Jing stepped forward and asked: “How is the patient?”
One of them was the emergency room doctor whom Tian Jing had threatened. He nodded at Tian Jing: “The surgery was very successful. The patient is weak and needs careful recuperation.”
Tian Jing nodded: “Thank you, doctors. You’ve worked hard.”
The doctors waved at Tian Jing and left with the other doctor.
Afterward, a bed was pushed out of the operating room. Niu Xiaosao, still under the effects of the anesthetic, lay on it, her face pale.
Sister-in-law Niu and her eldest sister-in-law hurried forward to take over pushing the bed.
Brother Niu followed, carrying the swaddling clothes, and Grandma Niu followed behind with the bundle.
Tian Jing stood still, waiting for the last nurse to come out of the operating room.
The nurse was surprised to see someone still at the operating room door.
Tian Jing said: “I just wanted to ask if there’s anything we need to pay attention to regarding the health of the mother and child, especially since the mother is so old.”
The nurse waved her hand: “You’ll need to ask the ward nurse about that. I’m just an operating room nurse.”
Tian Jing thanked the nurse and found the obstetrics and gynecology ward. Before Tian Jing could ask the nurses’ station for Niu Xiaosao’s room number, she saw Brother Niu standing by a ward door.
She walked over to Brother Niu and extended her hand to him: “Niu Xiaosao dirtied my car. Give me a red envelope for car wash fees.”
Brother Niu was startled, then said: “Wait a moment.”
He then entered the ward and soon came out with a red envelope and two hundred yuan in cash.
Tian Jing accepted it without politeness: “I’m going to wash the car. I’ll head straight home after that. Does anyone want a ride back?”
Brother Niu shook his head.
Tian Jing also shook her head, then sighed and turned to leave. Grandma Niu was over eighty years old. Could she handle staying up all night at the hospital?
While washing the car, Tian Jing made phone calls to Ding Zhao Gui and Song Tian Zhu.
By the time she got home, it was dinner time.
She told her family to eat first, as she needed to take a bath.
After she came out of the bathroom, the Li family was still waiting for her to eat together.
She quickly blow-dried her hair to about half-dry and then went to the dining room to eat.
Li Min whispered: “Sister-in-law, where did you go? I heard Niu Xiaosao had a car accident on the way to the hospital for delivery.”
Tian Jing glanced at her: “Eat, and we’ll talk after the meal.”
After dinner, no one moved in the dining room. They all looked at Tian Jing, including Shen Jian Rong.
Tian Jing looked at Li Min: “Who told you Niu Xiaosao had a car accident?”
“Brother,” Li Min pointed at Li Zheng Guo: “Brother got off work at noon and saw Brother Niu’s car being towed away by a tow truck from the repair shop.”
Tian Jing smiled at her husband: “Mayor Li, you’re becoming quite the gossip.”
Before Li Zheng Guo could speak, Li Min urged Tian Jing: “Sister-in-law, did you take Niu Xiaosao to the hospital? What did she give birth to?”
Tian Jing smiled: “She gave birth to a baby, what else could she give birth to?”
“Sister-in-law!” Li Min anxiously pressed: “Was it a boy or a girl?”
“A boy.”
Tian Jing walked out of the dining room. Her own family was too curious.
Li Zheng Guo glared at his sister and followed her out of the dining room.
Ouyang Mei Hua pushed her bowl away: “Li Min, you’re washing the dishes tonight.”
Li Min: “……” What did she do? Was she being punished for no reason?
Lin Hua Er placed Ji Yang, whom she was holding, into her husband’s arms: “Mom, I’ll wash the dishes.”
Li Min nodded and quickly ran out of the dining room. Her eldest sister-in-law chased after her. There were surely more things to discuss with her sister-in-law.
In the main house’s east room, the three Li family women and Shen Jian Rong were all present.
Shen Jian Rong asked: “Tian Jing, did that Niu Xiaosao really give birth to a boy?”
Tian Jing nodded.
Li Min rushed into the east room: “I don’t believe it.”
Mother Li and Ouyang Mei Hua both glared at her.
Li Min glanced at Xuan Xuan sleeping soundly on the bed, sat on the stool by the bed, and lowered her voice:
“Sister-in-law, we all hoped Niu Xiaosao would have a girl. It’s not that we women don’t sympathize with her, but she’s gone too far.”
Tian Jing nodded: “I understand, but she did indeed give birth to a boy.”
“I drove to the county town and saw Brother Niu’s car by the side of the road. It had scraped against a mountain and couldn’t start.”
“So, I kindly drove Niu Xiaosao to the hospital. Niu Xiaosao insisted on going to the Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, saying she had a room booked.”
“The Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital didn’t want to take her, so I threatened them with my work ID to take her, but it had to be a C-section…”
“…Sister-in-law Niu waited outside the operating room. When we arrived, she thanked me for saving her daughter and her grandson…”
“When Niu Xiaosao was safely out, I asked Brother Niu for a red envelope and car wash fees. I had the car washed inside and out, which is why I returned late.”
Li Min couldn’t detect anything unusual in her sister-in-law’s words: “How did Niu Xiaosao end up having a son?”
Ouyang Mei Hua impatiently nudged her: “Who caused it? It’s what she was carrying in her own belly.”
Li Min got up and left: “I’m going back to take care of my own group of grandchildren.”
After she left, Shen Jian Rong asked Tian Jing: “Don’t you find Sister-in-law Niu’s behavior suspicious?”
Tian Jing’s expression was calm: “It’s very reasonable. She was concerned about Grandma Niu and about me being tired from being an unrelated person.”
Ouyang Mei Hua chuckled: “Stop pretending. You’ve been acting mysterious these past few days. Li Min might not realize it, but we do.”
“Since you’re unwilling to say, we’ll just watch the show.”
Shen Jian Rong also understood from Ouyang Mei Hua’s words. She smiled at Tian Jing: “Maybe I won’t see the end of it, but you must let me know.”
Tian Jing shook her head: “It’s still a long way off, probably one or two years.”
Ouyang Mei Hua and Shen Jian Rong looked at Tian Jing in surprise: “This is going to be so big?”
Tian Jing nodded: “Brother Niu and Sister-in-law Niu have both agreed.”
“Alas!” Mother Li, who had been silent, sighed: “This is Grandma Niu crossing the line with Da Niu’s father.”