Chapter 284: Chapter 284: Xu Meiling’s Difficult Labor

Zhong Zijun and Ji Linhai were in charge of grilling, while everyone else was in charge of eating.

Gu Qinghuan even chilled some watermelon to go with it—hot and cold together, making it impossible to stop eating.

The spicy crayfish and stir-fried river snails received high praise from Old Master Ji.

“I never would’ve thought that the big bugs everyone hates in the fields could be turned into such a delicious dish. So fragrant, just amazing.”

A whole basin of crayfish was quickly polished off.

Gu Qinghuan then tossed some noodles into the leftover crayfish sauce—needless to say, it was delicious.

Once everyone was full and satisfied, Gu Qinghuan finally got down to business.

“My friend is looking to buy a batch of crayfish and river snails, offering fifteen cents a jin. Interested?”

“Fifteen cents?” Zhong Zijun perked up immediately. She’d made a nice profit last time with the loaches and eels, and had been thinking about it ever since.

“These things are everywhere in the fields, it’s basically like picking up free money. Shall we do it together?”

Everyone agreed.

This time, Gu Qinghuan deliberately wanted to give her family a chance to earn some money, so she didn’t invite any outsiders to join in.

Zhu Chunlin was busy taking care of his pregnant wife and working his job, barely having any spare time to earn extra money.

Xu Huainian’s family of three was also busy with the factory and had no time to fuss with these things.

So Gu Qinghuan teamed up with Zhong Zijun and Ji Linhai, and before long, they’d almost wiped out all the crayfish and snails in the nearby villages.

It just so happened that the summer was too hot for much fieldwork, so they had time to spare.

She quoted Zhong Zijun fifteen cents per jin, but actually sold them for twenty-five cents.

In the end, Zhong Zijun and Ji Linhai split the profits, each making nearly three hundred yuan.

Gu Qinghuan made four hundred.

Dabao and Beibei also joined in for fun. The two of them were quite capable, each earning over ten yuan, which Gu Qinghuan let them keep for themselves.

Of course, they only worked in their spare time—otherwise, they could have earned even more.

During this period, Lin Xiaomeng was also busy, sometimes not coming home for days and often leaving Dacheng at Gu Qinghuan’s house.

Gu Qinghuan simply arranged for the two boys to sleep on another kang (heated bed).

Later, Xu Huainian mentioned that Lin Xiaomeng had privately bought several thousand bars of soap from him, also at a wholesale price of fifteen cents each.

Gu Qinghuan more or less guessed what she was up to.

Lin Xiaomeng was making a comeback, and she had some business sense. She got Xu Mingshan to write her a note proving that these products were from the village collective.

Then she took the soap to bigger and farther places to sell. Since those areas hadn’t been reached by Yujie Soap yet, Lin Xiaomeng seized the opportunity.

She wholesaled them to department stores and supply cooperatives for eighteen cents each.

She made three cents profit per bar, and over the summer sold five thousand bars, netting one hundred and fifty yuan—more than several months’ salary combined.

But this was something only she could pull off.

First, she had the gift of gab and a sharp eye for business, able to persuade people to buy.

Second, she had space (in her bag), so she could physically carry so much soap—anyone else would have found it a hassle.

Gu Qinghuan told Xu Huainian to just turn a blind eye and let her be.

There’s no end to making money. Even though Lin Xiaomeng was doing it for herself, she was also bringing in revenue for them and expanding their product’s reach—a win-win situation.

If this were in modern times, Lin Xiaomeng would be a classic top salesperson—silver-tongued and wasted in her current role.

One day at the end of July.

The weather was scorching, and everyone liked to go soak in the shallow part of the river in the evenings to cool off and relax.

Gu Qinghuan was bringing four kids back from playing in the river when they passed by Xu Meiling’s house.

They saw a group carrying the heavily pregnant Xu Meiling on a door plank.

Seeing her lying there, Gu Qinghuan was shocked.

What happened to Xu Meiling?

She’d always been a bit chubby, but it never affected her much.

Now she was as fat as a pig, lying on the door plank with a belly almost as wide as the plank itself.

Her face was puffy, bigger than the big noodle bowls the men used at home, her eyes squeezed into slits.

She was clutching her belly in pain, unable to even make a sound.

Liu Guifang was crying and calling her daughter’s name, as if someone had died.

“My poor Meiling!”

“Hang in there, daughter!”

“Heavens, please save her!”

Chen Jianghe, Xu Mingshan, Xu Huaiyu, and a young man from the village were struggling to carry her to the commune clinic.

The village midwife, Granny Yang, came out but didn’t follow them—she just got ready to go home.

“Granny Yang, what’s going on?” someone asked, eager for gossip.

Granny Yang shook her head helplessly.

“I’ve delivered babies for years, but I’ve never seen anyone this fat. She’s too pampered, eats too much, and never exercises.

The baby’s grown too big to come out, and she doesn’t have the strength to push. It’s stuck. There’s nothing I can do.

Take her to the commune clinic. If it really can’t be helped, they’ll have to save the mother first.”

Everyone sighed.

“If you ask me, women shouldn’t be spoiled like this. When I had my eldest, it was harvest time, and I gave birth right in the cornfield—quick as laying an egg.

Look at my daughter-in-law now, still working with a big belly.

But Xu Meiling, lazy as a pig, eats well and does nothing, grew all that fat for nothing, and now can’t even give birth.”

“Exactly. She’s the laziest in the whole village. Every other daughter-in-law works.

She only got away with it because she married Chen the educated youth. Any other man would’ve slapped her silly.”

“Chen the educated youth is really unlucky to have married someone like her.”

“Do you think Xu Meiling will survive?”

“Doesn’t look good to me.”

“If Xu’s daughter dies, do you think Chen Jianghe will remarry?”

“Even if he does, it won’t be to someone from your family…”

…

The village’s group of gossipy women tore into Xu Meiling from top to bottom, some even with a hint of schadenfreude.

Of course, they only dared talk like this because Xu Mingshan and Liu Guifang weren’t around.

Listening to their criticisms, Gu Qinghuan felt a wave of sadness.

No matter how flawed Xu Meiling was, as fellow women, they shouldn’t be saying such things when she was at death’s door.

She cleared her throat. “Some people really ought to watch their mouths. Karma is real, and retribution never misses.

I’ve heard that those who always gossip and slander others will end up in the Hell of Tongue-Pulling after they die.

Everything fades away, only karma remains. Bad speech brings disaster to your descendants, and if it’s serious, it can even rebound and cut off your family line.”

Gu Qinghuan looked very serious, speaking as if it were the absolute truth. The gossips were startled, thinking back on their own words and actions, and couldn’t help but shiver.

Even though people said not to believe in superstition these days, most folks still did.

In no time, the crowd dispersed.

“Mama, what’s ‘bad speech’? Is there really a Hell where they pull out your tongue?” Dabao asked curiously on the way home.

“Speaking kindly brings happiness.

There are several types of bad speech.

First, twisting right and wrong, saying things that aren’t true, slandering, mocking, attacking, cursing—these all hurt others’ self-esteem.

Second, swearing and cursing, whether true or not.

Third, stirring up trouble, gossiping, breaking up relationships by carrying tales from one person to another, causing suspicion and slander.

Fourth, saying things that sound nice but are actually deceptive or manipulative.

Anything like that counts as bad speech.

As for the Hell of Tongue-Pulling, Mama doesn’t know if it’s real, but as long as we don’t hurt others, we don’t need to be afraid.”

“Mama, I get it. Those grannies just now were gossiping—that’s not right,” Dabao said thoughtfully.

Beibei covered her mouth with her hand. “Mama, does the Hell of Tongue-Pulling really pull out people’s tongues? That must hurt!”

Gu Qinghuan was amused by her cuteness and gently tapped her nose.

“Mama, will Auntie really die?” Dabao tugged nervously at Gu Qinghuan’s sleeve.

“She looked like she was in so much pain. Is having a baby really that scary?”

For a moment, Gu Qinghuan didn’t know how to answer. Rationally, she didn’t like Xu Meiling much, but as a woman, she didn’t want to belittle her at a time like this.

Giving birth really is like walking through the gates of hell.

“Your aunt will pull through, because there’s a saying: ‘A mother becomes strong for her child.’

Having a baby is scary, but every mother is willing to go through it.”

Is that so? Dabao suddenly felt at ease.

He was older, so he thought more deeply. Sometimes he wondered who his real mother was, and why his father never mentioned her.

Was she still alive? Did she love him and his sister?

At that moment, he suddenly let it go. No matter who she was or where she was, he should be grateful—after all, she gave everything to bring him into the world.

It wasn’t until the next morning that news arrived: Xu Meiling had given birth to a big, healthy baby girl—ten jin (about 5 kg)—and both mother and daughter were safe.

They’d taken Xu Meiling to the commune clinic, but the doctors there were helpless and had to rush her to the county hospital overnight.

A female doctor there happened to have seen a case like this before. Treating it as a last resort, she tried everything and finally managed to help Xu Meiling deliver her daughter by manually pressing on her belly.

The baby was still breathing, though she’d been stuck for a while and was a bit blue and short of breath.

Mother and daughter were safe—that was the best result, and everyone quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

On the way there, Xu Meiling had been so exhausted she couldn’t even groan, and everyone thought she and the baby wouldn’t make it.

Liu Guifang held her granddaughter and said regretfully, “Too bad it’s a girl. I thought Meiling was having a boy.”

If it had been a boy, her daughter would finally have had her status secured.

Chen Jianghe still hadn’t told his family—he just didn’t think much of Meiling!"