Transmigration: A Farm Girl's Brocade

Chapter 21: Chapter 21 Splendid_1

Chapter 21: Chapter 21 Splendid_1

Old man Qian leaned over to look at the baby girl and frowned, “Twins are always small; they need to be carefully nurtured.”

The elderly couple spoke a bit loudly, waking the baby girl, who started crying with a tiny mouth open, yowling softly like a kitten. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

Old woman Qian quickly gave the baby back to Lady Wu, saying, “The poor thing, a gust of wind or even a sneeze could blow her away. Quickly take this girl back inside and bring out my great-grandson for me to see.”

Lady Wu then brought the crying granddaughter back to the west room and brought out the grandson. She knew this child was not prone to crying, so before entering the room, she pinched his little bottom hard, and the little boy immediately cried out loudly.

“This cry indicates he’s a fine boy,” Old woman Qian smiled, her face wrinkling as she took the baby boy, “Hmm, this little one is about five pounds. Lady Cheng really did well, despite being thin and small, she gave birth to mixed-sex twins.”

Old man Qian also smiled until his eyes disappeared, laughing heartily as he urged, “Five pounds is still light, take him back quickly, and don’t let him catch a cold.”

Old woman Qian hadn’t held her great-grandson enough but, hearing the old man say this and with the child crying loudly again, she had to hand the child back to Lady Wu. She added, “I remember Lady Cheng’s belly being so small, never thought she’d give birth to twins. Even if these two are small, together they are eight pounds, quite remarkable.”

Lady Wu hastily said, “Mother only saw Manjiang’s wife a month ago. Mother doesn’t know, but in this past month, Manjiang’s wife’s belly grew like crazy, and she’s been eating a lot.”

Luckily, Cheng Yue had not seen any outsiders, except her immediate family—the one she saw most was Old woman Qian, and that had been over a month ago.

Old woman Qian nodded with a smile, and took out a string of coins, saying that in the hurry, she hadn’t bought chicken or eggs, and told them to buy some themselves to help Lady Cheng produce milk and recuperate.

Qian Sangui then said he had already thought of names for the babies and asked Master Qian to consider them. He first complimented Master Qian on the good name given to Qian Yishan, especially the ‘Yi’ character, which was very learned, so he also used the ‘Yi’ for the babies. The boy would be named Qian Yeejin, the girl Qian Yixiu; together, they made up ’embroidery’.

Old Master Qian was very pleased upon hearing this and nodded emphatically, saying they were well-chosen, meaningful, and scholarly.

In the corner, Qian Yixiu thought to herself, no wonder she crossed time and space to come here; it turned out she shared some fate with this little girl, at least they had the same name.

It didn’t take long for the news that the silly Lady Cheng had given birth to mixed-sex twins to spread around Huaxi Village. Even more talked-about was that the silly Lady Cheng had smoothly delivered both children within half an hour during the night, without even enough time to call the midwife, and both were safe and sound.

In the area within a hundred li, there were families with twins, but this was the first to have mixed-sex twins. The villagers clicked their tongues in admiration, saying the silly Lady Cheng indeed had the fool’s luck, brought prosperity to her husband’s family, and gave birth to mixed-sex twins.

Following that, groups of relatives and villagers came one after another, even those who didn’t normally interact came as well, hoping to share in the joy. Old woman Qian stood firm at the door like a protective deity, refusing to let the women enter the house, saying she feared frightening Lady Cheng. She also did not allow the babies to be brought out, saying they were too small and afraid of catching a cold from the draft.

Little Doggy also stood by Old woman Qian at the door, barking fiercely at anyone lingering around the windows.

A guest is a guest, and since moving here, Qian Sangui’s home had never been this busy. Both husband and wife were happy, with Qian Sangui feeling spirited, he entertained the male guests in the hall. As the hall was too small, Lady Wu entertained the women in the yard. Their family was poor; without boiled red eggs, they served peanuts to their guests.

Using the excuse that the children were born too small and weak, they didn’t celebrate the ‘third-day-after-birth’ ceremony. On the third day, Lady Wu ran to the county town and exchanged a silver cake for two strings of copper coins, which relieved the family’s immediate financial strain.

They had a good story for where the money came from; they said it was ten taels of silver brought by Lady Wu’s brother.

Lady Wu’s brother had become a Scholar in his early years, but after several attempts, he never passed the Graduate exam. He went on to serve as an aide to one of his classmates who had become a Graduate and was now serving as the magistrate of Fulin County in Quanzhou Province.

Her parents had followed their son there, separated by thousands of miles of mountains and rivers. They had sent a letter through someone six years ago, but there had been no contact for many years since then.

After discussing with Lady Wu, Qian Sangui still gave Old man Qian one string of cash, “When Manjiang left, you took out all your retirement money, and it’s my fault as a son for being useless. Although the silver my father-in-law brought this time is not little, our family still relies on that to live. Right now, I can only give you this much. When our family’s situation improves in the future, I will honor you with more.”

Old man Qian didn’t want to accept it at first, waving his hand, “Although ten taels of silver doesn’t sound like a small amount, your household is only spending without earning, and you and Manjiang’s wife need to eat well to recuperate. How long can it last? Wait until the children grow up a bit more, and you’ve become stronger, then give it to us.”

Old woman Qian quickly spoke up, “Old man, we are already nearly sixty years old, and we don’t even have a decent coffin yet. If you ask me, we should first take the money, and if the third child’s family is in trouble later, we can help then.”

Only then did Old man Qian accept the silver.

Lady Wu was busy like a spinning top, taking care of two little ones, a pregnant woman, and a patient. But she was happy in her heart and did not feel tired no matter how busy she was. Six-year-old Qian Manxia could already be a little helper, tending the fire, cooking, cleaning, feeding the chickens, and often acting as Lady Wu’s assistant, helping to take care of the young and old.

The little Doggy also got a name, Dashan. This earthy name was teased by Qian Yixiu for a long time. The little dog might be ugly, but it was cute. She thought that once she traveled back in time, she would definitely find a way to change this rustic name.

Qian Yixiu didn’t go into the mountains, but stayed in the cabin playing with the kids. Before the time travel, she was already in her thirties, overflowing with maternal love. Not to mention seeing human babies, even seeing puppy and chick babies could stir affection in her heart.

Now, she firmly believed that infants really had a Heavenly Eye, seeing things adults couldn’t. Whenever the children cried, she would float in front of them and make funny faces. This trick was quite effective; both kids would immediately stop crying and stare at her with rapt attention. Qian Yeejin would “ah, ah, ah” to greet her, while Qian Yixiu would quietly watch her, occasionally a smile flickering at the corner of her mouth.

In order to increase Cheng Yue’s milk production, she was given better meals, with old hen soup, carp soup, and soybeans stewed with pork trotters, each of these milk-producing soups being rotated. But still, the milk was not enough. Qian Yeejin ate so much that he could consume the equivalent of two and a half times what little Qian Yixiu did. He adamantly refused to drink rice soup, crying loudly whenever he was fed it.

Once Qian Yeejin had enough milk, the little that was left was given to Qian Yixiu to drink. It was not enough, so she was fed rice soup as well.

It truly seemed that the crying baby got the milk, pushing the rightful share to the corner. Even Qian Yixiu, squatting in the corner, felt sorry to watch this.

After a period of nourishment, Cheng Yue had regained a lot of her roundness, her melon-seed face turning into an oval one, her complexion as white as jade, and she appeared even more gentle and serene after becoming a mother, with an transcendent aura. Looking like this, she would be a rare beauty even in a well-maintained noble circle, let alone in the countryside.

Lady Wu had once secretly chatted with Qian Sangui, “I think not even the ladies in the palace are more beautiful than Yueyue.”

Qian Sangui had not seen Cheng Yue during her confinement but could imagine that, even when she was thin as a rail, she was a beauty hard to come by. Now that she had put on some weight, wasn’t she even more beautiful? He then said, “Then we must keep her from being seen by others even more.”

Before long, the twins of mixed sex reached their first-month milestone, and Qian’s third wife joyfully invited guests. Lady Wu used two hundred copper coins to arrange a few banquet tables, inviting a few relatives, the local official and his wife, and Xie Huzi’s family, with whom they were closest.

That morning, Lady Wu specifically weighed the two children. Qian Yeejin was naturally heavier, and with good growth over the month, he reached almost seven and a half pounds. Qian Yixiu, however, did not fare as well, only weighing four and a half pounds.

Qian Yixiu sighed as she looked at the little one. The poor child, weighing even less than a newly born baby. Now at a month old, the little face was still wrinkled, and the fingers were not much thicker than matchsticks; the cries were as gentle as those of a kitten.

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