Chapter 219: Zhang Shuwan Gives Birth

Yao Chunhua didn’t doubt Gu Jianing’s words for a second.

Whatever Ningning said, she believed.

“Ningning, once I finish taking care of your sister-in-law during her confinement, I’ll head straight to the Northwest Military District,” Yao Chunhua said, still worried about her daughter.

Especially since she was carrying twins.

Even though her in-laws’ family would be there, as a mother, she just couldn’t rest easy unless she went herself.

“Okay, I understand, Mom.”

Yao Chunhua gave her a few more reminders before reluctantly hanging up the phone.

On her way home, Yao Chunhua couldn’t stop smiling.

“Oh, Chunhua, I heard your eldest daughter-in-law gave birth to a boy?”

“Yes, she had him this morning. Both mother and baby are healthy.”

“That’s wonderful, congratulations!”

All along the way, everyone Yao Chunhua met was congratulating her.

When she was almost home, she ran into her neighbor, Wu Meili.

The moment Wu Meili saw how pleased and proud Yao Chunhua looked, she slammed her door shut with a sour face.

Yao Chunhua remembered how Wu Meili had once compared Yang Manman to a hen that couldn’t lay eggs, and she felt angry all over again.

Back then, they’d even had a fight over it.

Actually, at first, Yao Chunhua and Wu Meili got along quite well.

Probably because Wu Meili wanted to marry her daughter, Gu Baozhu, to Yao Chunhua’s eldest son.

Yao Chunhua never liked to meddle in her children’s marriages, nor did she believe in forcing them.

She knew marriage was a lifelong matter.

Choosing the right person was important.

So, when her eldest said he wanted to marry Yang Manman, and after meeting Yang Manman and finding her quite nice, she agreed.

She hadn’t expected that ever since then, Wu Meili would look at her with nothing but resentment, as if Yao Chunhua owed her something for generations.

At first, Yao Chunhua thought that even if they couldn’t become in-laws, they could still be good neighbors.

But Wu Meili just couldn’t let it go.

After that, she kept targeting Yang Manman.

Yao Chunhua couldn’t tolerate that.

So things eventually escalated to outright arguments.

But now, Yao Chunhua didn’t care about Wu Meili’s attitude anymore.

Neighbors or whatever, none of that mattered.

As long as her family was doing well, that was enough.

Even if Wu Meili couldn’t stand her, there was nothing she could do about it.

And now that Manman had given birth to a son, Wu Meili must be furious.

Sure enough, behind her closed door, Wu Meili was about to explode with anger.

In her mind, Yang Manman was never supposed to have children.

Then, whether it was Gu Yunting or the rest of the Gu family, they’d all regret marrying Yang Manman and turning down her daughter Baozhu.

But now, Yang Manman had given birth to a boy!

And the Gu family was doing better and better. Their daughter was a doctor who’d even appeared in the newspaper and married into the Beijing military district.

All three sons were workers.

The gap between the Gu family and the rest of them was only getting wider and wider.

—

Yao Chunhua got home, cooked a meal, served some to Yang Manman who was still in confinement, then held her grandson and fed him formula, watching him fall asleep before coming out.

As soon as she stepped out, she heard the villagers coming back from work.

Not long after, her husband came home.

Then, her three sons who worked in the city also returned.

As soon as Gu Yunting got home, he rushed to the bedroom to see his wife and son.

After the family finished dinner, Yao Chunhua mentioned her phone call with Gu Jianing that day.

Then she called her third son into the room and passed on Gu Jianing’s advice for him to study hard.

At first, Gu Yunzhou was a bit confused.

After confirming again, he asked, “Mom, are you saying that the college entrance exam might be reinstated soon, and I could go to university?”

“That’s not what I’m saying, it’s what Ningning said. Do you believe her?”

“Of course I do.”

How could he not believe his sister?

Only the Gu family knew how amazing Gu Jianing was.

So they trusted her completely.

Especially since, before she got married, when she was entangled with Wen Zhuqing, she did seem a bit unreliable.

But after marrying Sheng Zexi and joining the military, everything she did was completely dependable.

Gu Yunzhou felt that if Ningning was reminding him now, the college entrance exam was very likely to be reinstated soon.

He knew Ningning had always understood his desire to continue his studies.

His little sister really did know him best.

“Mom, I understand. I’ll start reviewing,” Gu Yunzhou said, his eyes full of determination.

“Good, good.”

—

At the Northwest Military District, three days after Gu Jianing’s sister-in-law gave birth, she was working in the traditional Chinese medicine department when she saw Guoguo running over in a panic.

“Aunt Gu…”

Gu Jianing immediately asked, “Guoguo, what’s wrong? Did something happen?”

“Auntie, Mommy… Mommy’s about to have the baby!”

“Shuwan-jie is in labor?” Gu Jianing stood up at once. “Where’s your mom now?”

“At home. Mommy’s in so much pain she can’t stand up.”

“Okay, I’ll bring people over right now. Guoguo, don’t worry, your mom will be fine.” Seeing Guoguo’s eyes fill with tears, Gu Jianing quickly comforted her.

Gu Jianing immediately notified the obstetrics department and had someone bring a stretcher as they hurried to the family housing.

Gu Jianing knew that Zhang Shuwan’s due date was approaching.

Since it was twins, she was bound to deliver early.

Lin Xing had been coming home as early as possible every day after finding out.

But unexpectedly, two days ago, Lin Xing was suddenly called away on a mission.

He had no choice but to entrust his wife to Gu Jianing and Sheng Zexi before rushing off.

Today, right after lunch, Zhang Shuwan suddenly felt pain in her belly.

When she saw her pants were wet, she knew her water had broken and the babies were coming.

But the pain was so intense.

She was in so much pain she couldn’t even walk.

Originally, she’d planned to walk to the military hospital as soon as she felt labor starting—it wasn’t far, and everything was arranged.

But she hadn’t expected the pain to be so severe that she couldn’t even stand, let alone walk.

Guoguo was frightened too.

Luckily, Guoguo was clever and quickly remembered what to do.

Her father had told her that if he wasn’t home and her mom was about to have the baby or felt unwell, she should go find Aunt Gu or Uncle Sheng next door.

Guoguo knew Uncle Sheng was out training and not home.

Aunt Gu was at the hospital.

So Guoguo ran straight to the hospital.

Fortunately, she’d been to Gu Jianing’s office with her mom before, so she remembered the way.

Now, Gu Jianing led the team to the family housing.

Soon, they arrived at the Lin home and saw Zhang Shuwan sitting on the kang, her face twisted in pain.

“Jianing, Jianing…” Zhang Shuwan looked at Gu Jianing with pleading eyes.

“Shuwan-jie, don’t be afraid, it’s okay. We’re going to the hospital now.”

…

With the stretcher, Zhang Shuwan was quickly taken to the obstetrics department.

The delivery began.

Although Gu Jianing didn’t go in, she kept monitoring Zhang Shuwan’s condition through the system’s data."