Chapter 23: What Kind of Family Background Does the Shi Family Have?

Nong Yasi frowned as she looked at Shi Yuebai.

This abnormally overweight girl gave her a feeling that was hard to describe.

It always felt like she had to listen to her—she simply couldn’t not listen.

Otherwise, if this girl got angry, the consequences would be very serious.

Nong Yasi’s lips moved slightly.

“Your mother’s labor is going to be very difficult. She needs something to eat, or she won’t make it through.”

Normally, no one could have children in the wasteland. In these radiation-filled conditions, who knew what kind of monster a newborn might turn out to be.

But in such harsh environments, women’s suffering only seemed to multiply.

Most of the time, it wasn’t even the woman’s choice to get pregnant.

Sometimes, they didn’t even know they were pregnant until it was too late.

Just like Shi Yuebai’s mother.

Shi Yuebai swung her stick again, hitting Chen Huaihai.

Then she turned around.

“Let’s go. I’m going to give my mom some mental support.”

When Shi Yuebai entered the tent, her mother was drenched in sweat, pinned to the bed by her second sister-in-law.

Even at a time like this, she was still trying to get up.

Maybe she thought that if she changed positions, the pain would lessen a bit.

“Yuebai, your second sister-in-law is unfilial! She’s trying to kill me! Yuebai, help me hit her!”

Shi Yuebai’s mother had never liked her second sister-in-law.

There was no other reason—just that old-fashioned sense of family status from before the apocalypse.

The Shi family had been very wealthy before the world ended. The second son was the classic rich kid, heir to the family business.

The second sister-in-law had been a very popular actress at the time.

So this was basically the story of a celebrity marrying into a wealthy family.

Shi Yuebai’s mother thought very highly of herself and naturally didn’t like a woman who was only after their money.

So when the second sister-in-law joined the family, she suffered a lot of trouble from her mother-in-law.

Then the apocalypse came, but the second sister-in-law didn’t leave her foolish husband like those gold-diggers would have.

But by then, Shi Yuebai’s mother had already been driven half-mad by the radiation of the wasteland.

The story of the celebrity marrying into a wealthy family never got its happy ending.

Shi Yuebai pushed her flatbed cart closer.

“Mom, second sister-in-law isn’t unfilial. Once you give birth, the pain will stop.”

Shi Yuebai’s mother could just barely listen to her.

After all, Yuebai was her favorite daughter.

She stopped struggling, but she wasn’t helping either.

Shi Yuebai held her mother’s hand, then turned to Nong Yasi.

“I can make sure she has enough strength. Just be quick.”

Nong Yasi glanced at the sick, weak, and pregnant women of the Shi family.

Even though the tent was full of women and girls, the atmosphere here was surprisingly comfortable.

She gritted her teeth, knelt on the mat, and reached out to press on Shi Yuebai’s mother’s swollen belly.

Shi Yuebai’s mother immediately let out a pig-like scream.

“Ahhhhhh!”

At the same time, Shi Yuebai closed her eyes, sweat beading on her forehead.

She endured the pain in her meridians, forcing her body fat to compress and transform into energy, sending it in thin streams into her mother’s body.

To endure and resist such intense pain, a person needed to burn through all their energy.

And after years of living half-crazed in the wasteland, Shi Yuebai’s mother had always saved her own rations for her beloved daughter.

Her body was already falling apart—skin and bones, yet still carrying a huge belly.

Who knew how much she was suffering.

To help her mother resist the pain and have enough strength to give birth, Shi Yuebai had to provide double the energy from her fat reserves.

And this “double” wasn’t just about the amount.

It was about doubling the output rate.

But now, her meridians were so blocked it was almost inhuman.

The energy could only trickle through the tiniest channels, thinner than a strand of hair.

So the amount she could release was very little, and very slow.

But her mother needed a lot.

To give her mother more strength, Shi Yuebai had to double her output.

She had no choice. Meridians were fragile—forcing it would only cause them to snap.

That would mean her body would be ruined.

Shi Yuebai could only make the energy flow twice as fast as before.

The pain doubled as well.

Shi Yuebai gritted her teeth, holding her mother’s hand tight, pouring energy into her nonstop as her mother screamed in pain.

When the pain reached its peak, Shi Yuebai cursed in her heart.

What the hell? She was a grand shaman, always selfish and self-serving.

Why was she sacrificing so much for these people?

It was infuriating.

Shi Yuebai felt like her personality was about to turn into that of a bleeding-heart saint.

“Yuebai, Yuebai—”

Her mother’s voice rang out.

She lay on the mattress, tears at the corners of her eyes.

She was in agony, but when she saw Shi Yuebai drenched in sweat and gritting her teeth in pain, she cried and asked, “Yuebai, does it hurt?”

“Mommy’s here, oh, mommy’s here, it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t hurt.”

Shi Yuebai’s heart ached. Her mother might not have been a good mother-in-law, but she was definitely a good mom.

She took a deep breath and tried to keep her voice steady.

“It’s okay, Mom. It’ll be over soon.”

The original owner had eaten her mother’s rations; Shi Yuebai was using the original owner’s body.

This debt—Shi Yuebai would repay it!

She gritted her teeth hard and once again forced her body fat to move at top speed.

This time, it was three times faster than before.

Her meridians hurt so much they were going numb.

This pain, all over her body, was hard to say whether it was worse or better than her mother’s labor pains.

“She’s out, she’s out!”

Nong Yasi, who had been wearing a dark, exhausted expression, suddenly broke into a smile.

A hint of vitality appeared on her face, and she said excitedly, “It’s a girl!”

The second sister-in-law was also excited. She strained toward the faint sound of the baby’s cries.

“How’s the baby?”

As in, does she have all her fingers and toes?

“All the parts are there,” Nong Yasi replied, handing the bloody baby to the second sister-in-law and starting to clean up afterbirth for Shi Yuebai’s mother.

Shi Yuebai finally let go of her mother’s hand.

The pain in her body faded. She sat silently on the flatbed cart, watching the newborn in her second sister-in-law’s arms.

Shi Yaoyao crawled over from the campfire, not minding that Shi Yuebai was drenched in sweat.

She snuggled into Shi Yuebai’s arms.

“Auntie…”

“Good girl, Yaoyao, hand Auntie that kettle.”

The kettle was something they’d brought while fleeing.

It was a new aluminum kettle.

Resigned, Shi Yuebai used a water-gathering spell to fill the kettle.

While Nong Yasi was busy with her mother, Shi Yuebai took Yaoyao, grabbed a few pieces of charcoal from the fire, and put them in the bottom of the kettle.

This outdoor kettle was designed to be very convenient. The charcoal at the bottom kept the heat, and also warmed the water.

Shi Yuebai asked Yaoyao to bring her a small plastic basin, then poured the warm water into it.

“Second sister-in-law, bring the baby over. Let’s give her a quick wash.”

Nong Yasi stared in shock at the steaming basin of water.

What kind of family background did the Shi family have? They actually had such clear water, and could even use it to bathe a newborn?"