Chapter 1: Production

Chapter 1: Childbirth

The west wind rustled, blowing the last few leaves from the trees. The cold made people instinctively tuck their hands into their sleeves.

From a small courtyard at the entrance of Guihua Lane, the cry of a newborn suddenly rang out, followed by the midwife’s jubilant announcement: "Congratulations, Master Su! It’s a big, healthy boy!"

At the doorway of the side room, the heavy curtain was lifted just a crack. Master Su stood on tiptoe, peering inside with a face full of joy, not forgetting to respond to the midwife, "Many thanks, many thanks! How much does my boy weigh?"

Seemingly afraid of the cold wind slipping in, he let the curtain fall back into place, beaming. "No rush... no rush..." He turned around and said to a six-year-old girl, "A-Jin, your mother has given you another little brother. Aren't you happy?"

This wasn't a question; it was a statement of pure excitement. Master Su, just turned thirty, rubbed his hands together and paced in circles, immersed in the joy of having many children and much happiness.

Su Ruojin really couldn't bear to dampen his spirits, but seeing that the midwife in the side room was about to finish tidying up and come out to collect her "happy money," she, the unlikable one, had to be the one to do it.

"Father, how much happy money have you prepared for Mother Ma?"

Master Su:...

Looking at the three children standing before him, ranging from tall to short, the joy on Master Su's face turned into helplessness. He reached out to pat his second son, the shortest of the three, and said to his eldest son, "You and your sister keep Mother Ma waiting for a moment. I’ll be right back."

With that, he turned, crossed the corridor, descended the steps, pushed open the courtyard gate, and stepped out of the house.

The three siblings watched their father, hunched against the biting cold, disappear into the bleak wind. They looked at each other in silence, a sense of heaviness settling over them.

Su Anzhi, the eldest, wore a look of melancholy beyond his years: "Sister, what do we do now?"

Winter had arrived, but it wasn't yet the end of the month when their father received his salary. The rice jar, the oil pot, and the firewood in the kitchen were all about to hit bottom—they had enough for two days at most. Now that their mother had given birth to a fourth child, Su Ruojin didn't know how they would survive.

It was a headache.

Su Ruojin was not truly a six-year-old girl inside. She didn't know how it happened, but after falling asleep, she had woken up as a baby in the Great Yin Dynasty, a period similar to the Song.

That’s right, she was a transmigrator from birth, possessing the memories of her past life.

With her father out borrowing money and her mother just having given birth, she was the only one who could hold things together.

She instructed her eight-year-old brother, Su Anzhi, to watch the stove fire in the kitchen and told him to bring their younger brother there as well. It was cold in winter, and because they lacked money for thick enough clothes, they could only huddle by the stove to keep warm.

Su Ruojin herself entered the side room where the birth had taken place. Seeing the midwife had already wrapped the washed newborn, she grinned and said, "Grandma, my father had some business and went out, but he'll be back soon. Sorry to keep you waiting."

While speaking in a charming manner, she warmed her hands over the fire brazier by the bed. Only after they were toasty did she walk over to her mother, gently smoothing the sweat-dampened hair at her temples. After tidying her up, she checked the quilts and bedding beneath her.

The midwife, Mother Ma, saw the little girl checking her work like an adult. Instead of being offended, she laughed. "Except for your eldest brother, I delivered you and your second brother. Haven't I always left your mother clean and comfortable?"

So, Mother Ma was truly a good person.

"Thank you, Grandma. I’m just worried because Mother has had so many children; I fear for her health, so I wanted to take a look."

Hearing this, Mother Ma couldn't help but sigh inwardly. Although Master Su was a scholar who had passed the imperial examinations and served as a professor at the Imperial Academy, in the capital, his rank-eight salary was likely only slightly better than that of unskilled laborers or peddlers. Now with another mouth to feed, she feared they would struggle even to put food on the table.

Thinking this, she glanced toward the door, wondering if Master Su had gone out to borrow money since he hadn't called for her to collect her payment yet.

Su Ruojin smiled helplessly. Mother Ma looked surprised—had she really guessed right?

This... Mother Ma bent down to pick up the blood-stained bedding she had replaced. "Take good care of your little brother."

Seeing her about to leave, Su Ruojin glanced at the baby in the swaddling clothes. Seeing him sleeping peacefully, she followed her out.

"Grandma..."

Mother Ma had delivered for the Su family several times, but they had moved twice in the last few years. She didn't know where to put the soiled bedding.

Su Ruojin trotted on her small legs and led her to a small utility room. "Thank you, Grandma."

"I remember your family had a maid who did the cooking, didn't you?"

Hearing this, Su Ruojin felt a pang of sadness, though she kept her expression indifferent. "The courtyard is too small, so Mother didn't have her come along." In reality, they owed rent, and the maid had been taken by the previous landlord to work off the debt; she wouldn't be back for a year.

Mother Ma, in her fifties or sixties, was a true veteran of the capital. She understood everything. Once the little girl said that, her mind made the connection, and she immediately understood the rumors she had heard.

She let out a long sigh. "This is really..." She didn't know what to say. "Alright, I understand." She looked at the courtyard; the sky was growing darker, and there was no sign of Master Su returning. She looked at the side room, then at the little girl, bent down, picked up the wooden basin containing the blood-stained bedding, and headed toward the well.

Seeing that she intended to wash them, Su Ruojin quickly pulled at her. "Grandma... Grandma... leave it. My... my father will wash them when he gets back..."

Mother Ma was stunned. Make Master Su wash blood-stained bedding? She almost shrieked.

Su Ruojin stood there, looking more like an old woman than Mother Ma, her face full of worldly weariness. If he was going to have children, he had to raise them. If he didn't wash them, who would? It couldn't be eight-year-old Su Anzhi, her six-year-old self, or her three-year-old brother!

If it were some deranged man, he might actually make a six-year-old wash them, but fortunately, Su Yanli was not that kind of man. After the maid was taken to pay the rent, the outdoor chores were done by his servant, Shutong. Indoors, once her mother became too pregnant to move, Su Yanli had washed all the personal items himself, never letting the three children lift a finger.

Su Ruojin didn't take the task upon herself either. Not to mention that her current body was a frail six-year-old, she had been born weak and sickly. Fortunately, she hadn't caught any major illnesses; otherwise, in these ancient medical conditions, a single cold could have claimed her life.

Mother Ma had a kind heart. She not only washed the blood-stained bedding but also helped wash the mother's clothes, working until it was nearly dark.

Seeing that her father still hadn't returned with the money, Su Ruojin stood at the gate, looking out anxiously. She didn't see Su Yanli, but she did see his servant, Shutong.

"Uncle Shutong..." Su Ruojin started to step over the threshold, but he stopped her with a smile. "Did the Mistress have a boy?"

"Yes." She looked at the sack he was carrying. Seeing it was empty, her eyes lit up with joy. "Uncle Shutong..."

Shutong’s eyes crinkled with a smile. "They all sold."

"Amitabha." Su Ruojin pressed her palms together in excitement, bowing just like an old woman.

(End of chapter)