The midwife had been chosen by Bahu in advance, but he was so flustered that he forgot to ride the horse. He ran halfway, carrying the horse’s reins, before coming to his senses. Turning back, he assessed the distance, puffed his cheeks, whistled, and continued running. When he reached the midwife’s house, a black horse familiar with the route arrived at the doorstep.
Seeing the black horse running back, Uncle Muren also ran back. It was still early in the day, with smoke rising from the yurts in every household, but Bahu’s home remained silent and cold. Bahu was nowhere to be seen, only a milk bucket thrown outside, and inside the yurt, it was quiet, with only Da Huang standing at the door, its head inside the yurt while its body was outside.
“Mi Niang, is it time to give birth?” Old Man wiped his sweat; he hadn’t run so fast in years.
“There’s some movement. Grandpa, go find Unclechaolu and ask him to ride a horse to bring Doctor Zhao from Xushui.” This was discussed early in the morning.
“Alright, I’ll go right away.” The old man wasn’t even catching his breath; he turned around and continued running, feeling both anxious and joyful.
Mi Niang endured pain for a while and then lost the feeling. She put on clothes and went outside. Seeing that Da Huang didn’t dare to approach her, she called it a couple of times.
“Why did you come out?” Bahu, holding a middle-aged woman, ran in panting. He saw M Niang walking in circles outside the yurt with her belly protruding, and for a moment, he doubted if everything that had happened earlier was just a dream.
The midwife, on the other hand, remained calm. Knowing that Mi Niang’s water hadn’t broken yet, she said they still had time. She told Bahu not to be paralyzed, to quickly start a fire, and to cook something simple and easy to digest.
After Mi Niang ate and washed her face, her water broke. As soon as her water broke, Bahu scooped her up horizontally and carried her into the yurt. “Auntie, what should I do? Boil water? I can boil water, besides boiling water, what else?”
“Put the basin and scissors in boiling water, and sterilize them. Whenever I need something, it must be boiled first,” the midwife instructed a couple of things and then entered the yurt. She had delivered twins more than a decade ago. The woman had a large frame, and delivering twins was faster than delivering a single child.
“How many months pregnant are you now?”
“Just over nine months.” Her stomach was throbbing, but Mi Niang endured the pain and didn’t cry out. “Auntie, I’m entrusting you with myself and the two children.”
”Don’t worry, I’ve been delivering babies for over twenty years. I have plenty of experience, and I’ll make sure all three of you are safe and sound,” the midwife said with a kind smile, her words sounding reliable. Mi Niang felt reassured, and she followed the midwife’s instructions without hesitation.
Bahu stood in the kitchen and couldn’t hear much. He either found the bubbling sound of water in the pot too loud or complained about people passing by talking too loudly. He went in and out, like Da Huang, sticking to the door of the bedroom to listen to the sounds.
As the sun hung low in the sky, he finally heard the midwife calling for water. “Auntie, how is Mi Niang doing?”
“She’s doing very well. The baby is healthy, the position is correct, just waiting for the cervix to open, and then she can give birth.” The midwife took the water and closed the door, leaving Bahu to stick to the door, hearing Mi Niang’s voice and wiping his sweat before continuing to boil the water.
He had been in a daze all morning, the milk bucket in the yard, Da Huang guarding the door, Bala diving into the doghouse, Alse wolves outside the doghouse… all of these seemed surreal to Bahu. He always felt like he was dreaming, and even pinching himself didn’t dispel the numbness.
Uncle Muren returned first. Seeing that there was nothing he could help with, he took a break and went out to check on the cattle and sheep. Both sheep and cows were waiting to be milked, and there were still pregnant heifers with big bellies, ready to give birth at any moment.
Doctor Zhao had just opened the door to his clinic when he was called over by Uncle Chaol. Bahu grabbed him and asked why Mi Niang didn’t call for him. The women who gave birth during the migration called for most of the night, so why didn’t Mi Niang call for him? He urged him to quickly go in and check Mi Niang’s pulse.
“Shout a couple of times to let the idiot outside hear some sound. I see he’s about to faint in a hurry,” Doctor Zhao said, looking at the deep tooth marks on Mi Niang’s lower lip. He chuckled and added, “If it hurts, just scream. Don’t bite your mouth open. It’s hard to eat comfortably during confinement if your mouth is all torn up.”
Mi Niang took a few breaths and said, “If I shout, I feel like I’m letting off steam. I’d rather endure it.”
Doctor Zhao, who had some experience with women’s illnesses, had also learned to estimate fetal positions over time. After checking Mi Niang’s pulse through her clothes and pressing on her belly, he reassured her, “The fetal position is fine, and the pulse is normal. Just endure a little longer, and you’ll be ready to give birth when the time comes.”
For first-time mothers, the cervix tends to open slowly, which means a gradual depletion of energy and spirit. Some women, scared of the pain, start crying from the beginning, and the more they cry, the more discouraged they become. By the time they need to give birth, they’ve lost all their spirit. In such cases, seven out of ten would face difficulties in delivery. Mi Niang seemed good at enduring, and there was an 80% chance of a smooth delivery.
Doctor Zhao left and asked Bahu to cook a meal for Mi Niang, providing her with strength and a full stomach. He estimated that labor would likely start in the afternoon. “You shouldn’t have any major problems here. I’ll be leaving now. Don’t let other patients go to the clinic and not find anyone.”
Bahu wanted to stay, but considering that there might be other women in labor who also needed the doctor, he reluctantly let him go. “I heard ginseng is good. Sell me a root.”
“One root?” That was quite a bold request. Doctor Zhao shook his head, amused, and handed five pieces of ginseng to Bahu. “These should be enough. Once the baby is born, I’ll come again tomorrow. Do you want me to pass a message to your mother? She probably doesn’t know that your wife is giving birth.”
“No need. I’ll take care of it myself. No need to inform her.” Bahu declined. If his mother was willing to come, he appreciated it; if not, he wouldn’t actively invite her.
Bahu escorted Doctor Zhao out, saying they would settle the bill tomorrow when he came again. Then, he asked, “Doctor Zhao, do you have children to inherit your skills?” He didn’t know the relationship between Doctor Zhao and his mother, nor did he know the history. But his mother wasn’t someone worth waiting for to change her mind.
“Yes, I do, but he hasn’t completed his apprenticeship. That’s why the pharmacy can’t do without me.” Doctor Zhao thought Bahu wanted to invite his son to take over. He reassured him that Mi Niang’s pregnancy was good and that this delivery would likely go smoothly.
After Doctor Zhao came and went, Bahu finally had a sense of reality. He stood in the yard for a while, collected his thoughts, then turned and went to the chicken coop. He grabbed a hen, slaughtered it, scalded its feathers, and chopped it up to make soup. The noodles, were already cold, and he barely touched, so he poured them into a bowl to feed the dogs.
The aroma of the chicken soup filled the air. Bahu scooped out two bowls to make poached eggs—one for Mi Niang and one for the midwife.
“Auntie, can I come in? I want to feed Mi Niang.” Bahu stood at the doorway and asked. If Doctor Zhao could go in, so could he.
“Don’t come in.” Mi Niang interrupted, not waiting for the midwife to respond. “Don’t come in. I feel like crying when I see you. Don’t make a sound, don’t talk.”
Trembling with pain, her heart shook, feeling empty and unable to find a foothold. If she couldn’t see anyone, it was fine, but if she heard someone, she would cry. It was too painful, too exhausting; she could hardly endure it.
Indeed, it became quiet outside. After a while, the sound of pounding butter started in the yard, with wooden mallets striking against the butter churn, creating a dull, rhythmic thudding.
“These men, they panic for a moment, but if it takes too long, they lose the sense of urgency.” The woman inside the room contorted her face in pain, while the men still had the presence of mind to work.
Mi Niang wiped away a tear and gulped down a mouthful of egg. She liked the sound of churning butter; the repetitive thuds of the wooden mallets could calm her emotions. Bahu knew that for almost half a month if she woke up early, he would go out to milk and then return to churn butter. She could sleep until dawn listening to those sounds.
“All right, let’s eat our fill, and then we’ll gather our strength.” The midwife took the bowl and threw it outside. After washing her hands, she peeked in, pleasantly surprised, “Okay, follow my instructions and push hard; the baby is about to come out.”
Hearing the sound, Bahu’s hand slipped, and the milk spilled all over the ground. He quickly grabbed the bucket and went to the river to fetch half a bucket of water, then continued to stir with the wooden mallet.
As the sun rose higher, the labor pains inside the felt tent became more intense. Bahu’s movements became faster, and sweat soaked his front and back. Finally, at the moment when the aroma of chicken soup was most intense in the kitchen, the first cries of the newborn echoed from the felt tent, full of vigor.
Da Huang stood up suddenly, sticking close to the gap in the door, trying to peek inside. Bahu took a breath but didn’t move. There was one more.
“Don’t bother with churning butter, Bahu. Bring hot water to clean your daughter.” The midwife shouted with a tired voice. After listening to the thudding sound for quite a while, her head was buzzing.
“Take a deep breath, push hard, yes, I can see the baby’s head now. Another one with a thick head of hair.”
“Wow—”
“Ease up, don’t strain too much.” The midwife placed the baby on the bed and then assisted in delivering the placenta before revealing a smile. “Such good fortune, a girl and a boy, elder sister and younger brother.”
Tilting her head, Mi Niang could see her little second one crying loudly beside the bed. She stared at his tiny throat eyes and commented, “Big brother and little sister are fine. Being an elder sister is more troublesome.”
“It’s your decision since you gave birth.” The midwife smiled and opened the door, telling the man waiting outside, “Come in, a boy and a girl, elder brother and younger sister, come and take a look.”
Bahu went to see Mi Niang first. She looked like she had just been pulled out of the water, pale and pitiable compared to when she first arrived in the Northern Desert.
“So laborious.” After watching for a while, he finally uttered these three words. When he tried to lift her for a bed change, he almost couldn’t do it.
Seeing this, the midwife rolled her eyes. She realized she was truly enlightened. Wives were exhausted from childbirth, and husbands outside the delivery room were worn out from churning butter. It was a stroke of bad luck for this woman to marry a man without a heart. She decided not to let Bahu hold the baby. What’s the point of having him hold the baby? It would be better to let the big yellow dog, who had been waiting outside for half a day, hold the baby.
After changing the sheets, the midwife cleaned up Mi Niang. The baby was also cleaned and wrapped in a blanket placed on the side of the bed. “Since you’re from the Central Plains, follow the postpartum customs of your family. I won’t instruct you anymore.” It was also pitiful. Even after giving birth to twins, there was no one from the in-laws, and the husband was useless.
“Auntie, stay and have a meal before leaving. I stewed a whole chicken, enough for two people.” The midwife was about to leave, and Bahu wanted her to stay.
“I’m not lacking in food, and your family is chaotic. I won’t stay and add to the chaos. Take good care of your wife and children. You can pay the midwife’s fee later.” The woman waved her hand. She wanted to go talk to someone. Bahu was useless, but he seemed more agreeable after getting married. Still, he was a heartless and careless person.
Bahu then entered the room to look at the two children. A boy and a girl, he was truly a father now. “This one is a boy, and this one is a girl?” He dared only to look and not touch.
“The girl was born first, but I want her to be the younger sister. Being an elder sister is more troublesome, so I want her to have an elder brother to rely on.” Mi Niang leaned against the bedhead, sipping chicken soup.
“Alright, then they’re elder brother and younger sister.” Bahu stared at them intently, “They don’t look like me, they look like you.”
Mi Niang couldn’t see the resemblance; they were rather ugly and dark. “Although Bahu and Bala differ by only one character, I can guarantee that even if the children don’t look like you, they carry your genes.”
