37

Chapter 37: His Women

Back to the Beginning of Ming to do Charity

Brother Dao and Zhu Yuanzhang have not returned yet, but Lin Yuan had encountered the most serious thing after transmigrating——several of the women who were rescued were about to give birth, and they weren't full-term. All those who were about to give birth were premature, and Lin Yuan fearing a chain reaction, moved them to a separate room that was kept clean and sanitary. They were in labor pain for three days, and Lin Yuan was terrified for three days.

He was not a gynecologist in his previous life. He didn't know how a woman gave birth!

Yang shi with Mother Chen and the Lin family servant women took care of those women. After all, they were the only experienced people in the farmstead now. Guo er's birth mother, Yang shi's personal maid, had experience and asked people to prepare scissors and hot water, as well as ginger——without ginseng slices, ginger slices would have to make do, although Lin Yuan doesn't understand the scientific principle of the whole thing.

"Why do you want scissors?" Lin Yuan swallowed, feeling that the whole thing was rather bloody and violent. At this age, there was no suture operation. Can people still live if they cut their stomachs with scissors?

Mother Chen said while directing people: "If the fetal position is not correct, it must be cut out."

Lin Yuan was taken aback: "Cut the belly?"

Mother Chen was also taken aback: "Don't scare people, young master, that's the belly. Can you survive if you cut it?"

Lin Yuan: "...Then where is that cut?"

Mother Chen was old after all, and she wasn't like a young woman with thin skin, but she didn't explain to Lin Yuan in detail, she just said: "There is always a place to cut, I just hope it won't be used."

Lin Yuan also said: "It's best not to use it."

If one bleeds heavily now, there was no way to survive.

He can only hope that the fates of those women will be good, and the heavens don't let them suffer too much.

In the middle of the night, before dawn, someone in the yard called: "It's broken! They're about to give birth!"

Lin Yuan hurried out putting his outer clothes on the way.

It was obviously not his child, but he had the illusion that he was going to be a father. He was too nervous. He paced outside the door, and clutched the servant girl who walked out and asked: "Did they give birth yet?"

The servant girl looked anxious, but after all the question was from her own young master, she stopped and said: "There are two fetal positions in the right position, and one...the feet came out first."

Lin Yuan's vision went black.

Feet out first...

Isn't that an incorrect fetal position?

If one didn't handle it well, it could be deadly.

When a woman give birth to a child it was not the business of just one night sometimes. It was only when the rooster crowed and dawn arrived that Lin Yuan heard the first cry.

"It's out! It's a girl!"

The woman with the strongest body gave birth first.

Lin Yuan breathed a sigh of relief.

The second one was born in the afternoon and was a boy, but the boy was small and pitiful. Lin Yuan even felt that he was not as big as a puppy. The two women were still sleeping as they had spent too much energy on giving birth and were too exhausted to stay awake. The two infants were also cleaned up and placed next to their mothers. On the side a Lin family servant girl took care of them.

There was only the last one, who didn't give birth even by the time it was night.

Mother Chen took out the scissors.

Lin Yuan was sitting in the yard with a dazed expression. Last night, he could still hear the hoarse scream of a woman, but today, the woman seemed to have little energy. The servant girl said she couldn't even drink water. After about two hours, he heard a very low sob.

The servant girl walked out with a basin full of blood. She bowed to Lin Yuan and said in a very low voice, "Both mother and child are gone."

Neither the child nor the adult survived. Lin Yuan fell and sat directly on the ground.

"The blood wouldn't stop." The servant girl had obviously never seen such a situation, her expression was similar to Lin Yuan.

"She told us to save the baby."

"But even the baby wasn't able to be saved."

It was just an incorrect fetal position!

In modern times, it can be solved by caesarean section at most.

Even if there was heavy bleeding, modern medical treatment can save her life.

But now, when a woman gives birth, it was as if her child welcomes life while she welcomes death. On the day the woman was buried, even the heavens seemed to feel the sorrow of the loss of life. The pattering rain began to wet the soft land after the beginning of spring.

Lin Yuan had someone make a coffin and put the woman and her child to be buried together.

Lin Yuan heard the woman's friend mention that she was the daughter of a carpenter's family. She had already been engaged with a waiter in a restaurant, and only waited for the waiter to save up enough for a marriage.

The two of them were also childhood sweethearts. The people at the bottom level class were not as strict about men and women keeping a distance.

It was not unusual to talk to each other sometimes.

But in the end, the bandits came down the mountain. Her father died and her mother died. She was snatched to the mountains and defiled by the bandits.

The only conviction that supported her to continue living was to see the man who almost became her husband again.

She could not make it.

She finished the last journey of her life with regret.

Don't know what she thought at the moment of her death. Lin Yuan stood in front of her tombstone, though it was called a tombstone, but it was actually just a wooden sign that could not stand up against the wind and rain and had to be replaced after a short time. Lin Yuan did not cremate her. People now think that cremation was a form of torture and curse, and after death the soul would be scattered and unable to be reincarnated so Lin Yuan respected the custom.

"The fate of humans is to be born, to grow old, to get sick and to die." Old father Lin stood beside Lin Yuan and put a dish of wild fruit as an offering in front of the tombstone.

Old father Lin seemed to think of something, and said, "Your mother went like this back then."

She gave birth to the baby, but she didn't make it through herself.

Lin Yuan: "She was too young."

When the baby was born, the mother of this body was only fifteen years old.

Old father Lin sighed.

In this age, fifteen was no longer young. Many people have already become mothers, and maybe their children were already one or two years old.

But they themselves have not even grown up yet.

Old father Lin: "I have already forgotten what she looked like."

Lin Yuan turned his head to look at old father Lin. This was an authentic ancient Chinese traditional man. He had all the shortcomings of this type of man, as well as the strengths of this type of man. He was not a purely good person nor a purely bad person.

He was the type of person who can be seen everywhere while walking on the streets.

Old father Lin: "Fortunately, she had some good days before she left."

At that time, the Lin family was at its most prosperous, they wore gold, silver, and silk, and had whatever they wanted. Old father Lin was never stingy with his women, and the mistress Yang shi would not treat them harshly.

Lin Yuan said: "Father, you are at this age already, from now on you should just be content with Mother and the others."

Old father Lin pretended to put on a stern face: "You are bossing around your old dad!"

Lin Yuan: "I'm afraid you will commit a sin."

Old father Lin did not speak.

He still remembered Lin Yuan's mother, she was the worst sin he had made.

He believed in the underworld and the heavens, and also believed that Lin Yuan's mother might be waiting for him below.

With that pair of big eyes she would ask him: "Master, what about the jewelry you promised for Xing Niang?" Xing Niang was a bought servant. She entered the Lin family at the age of six. She started in the kitchens and over time, she might have become a skillful lady on the stove, marry a male servant of the same background, and give birth to a child in the Lin family.

But she was taken by old father Lin. The newly grown girl had big and bright eyes, as if she had never had any troubles, she would sing beautiful country tunes, and still be beautiful and lovely without any makeup and powder.

After being with old father Lin, Xing Niang went to the inner courtyard to take care of Yang shi's food. She would massage Yang shi's leg and act like a baby to Yang shi, telling her that she had learned how to make a new type of cake.

Yang shi occasionally rewarded her with some jewelry. At that time, Xing Niang seemed like she had received the best thing in the world.

Before giving birth, she even said to Yang shi: "Mistress, if I have a baby boy, then I will give him to be raised by Mistress."

"Mistress, have him show you filial respect."

Old father Lin sighed and touched the corner of his eye: "I'm getting old."

Lin Yuan patted old father Lin on the shoulder.

Old father Lin: "Cheeky." (TN: Literally he said 'no big no small' which is an expression for referring to someone who treat their elders as if treating their peers, hence cheeky or impudent)

Both newborns were born prematurely, and their bodies were not comparable to those of full-term infants. The girl infant was healthier than the boy infant. The boy was born two days ago and still did not open his eyes. Most people felt that the boy might die.

The women still with big bellies were frightened by the woman who had died in childbirth. They occasionally held their stomachs in a daze.

Lin Yuan heard that many women have told their friends their last words.

For example, if they want to offer offerings after they die, which fruits were best.

If possible, could their friends burn more paper money for them during the holidays.

Lin Yuan felt very sad when he heard that.

It would be nice if he was a gynecologist, even if there were no surgical instruments here, he could still help a little.

Mother Chen comforted him: "Young master, women have to pass this hurdle eventually!"

"When I gave birth to Niu Dan, I also felt that I wouldn't make it, but when I saw Niu Dan, I had the strength to continue."

Lin Yuan didn't give birth to a child, he couldn't empathize at all!

But in this era where death was common, there was no such thing as holding sorrow for the dead for too long. Life must still continue. If one person died, even if all people died, the earth will not stop turning.

Just when it was still two days away from the promised tenth day of brother Dao and the others' return, the people on the observation deck suddenly sounded the horn.

In the middle of the night, everyone ran out of the bed.

Both the men and women were frowning, standing on the center square of the farmstead without saying a word.

Lin Yuan: "The men follow me to get weapons, pregnant women hide in the house, and those who are not pregnant follow me to get weapons as well."

Although a woman can't have the strength of a man, having a weapon will still mean an extra layer of guarantee.

Fortunately, there were still a lot of knives in the warehouse.

Most of the men who stayed in the farmstead now have been part of the raid on the bandits last time. After the experience, they were not particularly flustered now.

"We have a city wall. They won't be able to break in for a while. Even if they do, our people are not less than them." Lin Yuan cheered them up, "Li Congrong and Zhu Yuanzhang are also on their way back, as long as we hold for these two days. When the time comes, we will act together to attack from inside and outside, eliminating the enemy outside in one fell swoop. You can once again eat your fill for several days."

There was nothing more motivating than food.

The men shouted in excitement.

The women seem to be much more at ease as well.

Lin Yuan climbed up to the observation deck. Sure enough, when he ascended to take a look he saw a group of people not far from the farmstead. Although there were not many people in this group, all of them were strong physically, their hands holding onto all kinds of weapons. Lin Yuan actually saw a strong man holding two huge hammers in his hands.

Could this person have heard too many wuxia stories and decided to cosplay Li Yuanba?

Don't know if he had named his hammer.

Was it also called the Golden Drum Hammer?

Fortunately, the people in the farmstead couldn't see them, otherwise they hadn't even faced the enemy head-on but have already given up.

Sometimes physical strength can intimidate the opponent to a great extent.

Lin Yuan also saw those people seemed to be pulling a cart, which was very tightly obscured. He guessed that it was food. If he thought about it carefully, the area around the farmstead had no more bandits, at least within three days distance. This meant that this group of people should have come from afar, likely passing by here. If the motive was to attack, they wouldn't bring so many things.

But these people were all mature men, no women, and no children, which proves indirectly that they were desperate criminals.

Lin Yuan also began to get nervous. These people likely won't make a move in these two days. At least they will have to wait until they understand the surrounding environment and know the approximate combat power in the farmstead.

Lin Yuan can only hope that brother Dao and Zhu Yuanzhang can come back quickly.

Although tense, but life still carried on these two days. The atmosphere in the farmstead was not good. It seemed that there was a knife hanging above their head. Everyone could barely taste the food they were eating, and even can't sleep well at night. Many people climbed up to the observation deck in the middle of the night just to stay alert of those people's movements.

Lin Yuan couldn't sleep well either. He also sat on the observation deck. Fortunately, the space in the observation deck was quite large, and it was not a problem to sit three or four people.

In addition to the night watchman originally arranged, there were two others who came up with the night watchman. Lin Yuan was the fourth uninvited person.

"You all can't sleep well too?" Lin Yuan asked.

The three people, including the night watchman, nodded in nervousness.

They haven't had close contact with Lin Yuan, nor have they spoken to Lin Yuan alone.

For them, the landowning class was an existence that they couldn't touch.

But the most courageous one said: "We...we are also worried that they might take advantage of the night..."

Lin Yuan nodded: "I am worried too."

The three of them breathed a sigh of relief. Lin Yuan smiled: "Don't be too scared. Our city walls are still very strong. Even if they really attack, as long as we don't open the city gates, we can hold on for a long time with the food we have. Besides, Li Congrong and Zhu Yuanzhang will be back in two days. As soon as we see them, we will rush out to meet them, our three parties will then act together to eliminate the enemies. The enemy is not too many either so it will not be a difficult task."

Probably because it was Lin Yuan who said this, the three of them believed it easily, and the expressions on their faces relaxed a lot.

Since Boss said it was okay, it must be okay. They breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fortunately, Boss did not go out this time."

"Yes, if Boss went out, we really don't know what to do."

"When Brother Li and Brother Zhu come back, we will charge out to let them know that we are not easily bullied!"

All three of them have fought with bandits and have the blood of bandits on their hands. They were not so afraid of fighting.

On the contrary, they also saw the benefits of victory. On the day they defeated the bandits, they ate a lot of good things.

White rice and smoked meat were things they couldn't eat before the country had fallen into upheaval.

But in fact, even though Lin Yuan comforted them personally, he didn't feel much assurance in his heart. They sat on the observation deck until dawn, standing up from time to time to look at the group of people outside the city wall. The group seemed to have settled down in a camp. Although there was no tent, it was still fine to sleep in the wild in this weather. They started a fire and slept surrounding it, like a group of wild people.

But they still have working brains, not everyone slept, but divided into two shifts, one sleeps in the first half of the night, the other sleeps in the later half of the night.

If the farmstead had any movement, they would immediately be able to react back.

He estimated that the leader of this group was not an ordinary person.

At least compared with many farmers and commoners, he was more suitable for this kind of survival situation.

In the past few days, Lin Yuan discovered one thing, that the women were actually better at adapting than the men who had never fought with bandits. They were divided into two groups, one group was pregnant women, waiting in the house for the situation to pass, another group was women who were not pregnant. They were very calm these days. Apart from the initial panic, they spent more energy on asking men how to fight their enemies.

Sometimes Lin Yuan could see women practicing swinging knives in the open area.

Lin Yuan had to admit after watching it a few times that women seem to be naturally able to survive in various environments.

He still remembered the reality show he had watched before in modern times. It was a show of survival in the wilderness in which men and women were put on different parts of the deserted island.

The women almost immediately started assigning everything as soon as they arrive, discussing what everyone should do. As for the men they at first had fun and enjoyed themselves carefreely. As a result the first few days they were practically hungry and starving all the time, because compared to survival, the first thing they did was to compete for the position of leader, no one was willing to follow another's lead.

The men wasted more than a week in comparison to the women, and only slowly got on the right track after having suffered.

If a woman was depressed, other women will comfort her and encourage her.

If a man was in a depressed mood, the other men would give up after one or two persuasion, and even started accusing each other on who was lazy at work, and even escalating into physical fights.

When the men and women meet up, the men seem to regain their sanity, and the depressed instantly cheered up.

It was a good thing that there were women in the farmstead.

If it were all men, conflict would accumulate deeper and deeper.

The positive mutual relationship between men and women was very complicated.

No wonder human beings were matriarchal in the beginning.

Of course, Lin Yuan didn't think about asking these women to fight with the men.

He gave them knives, hoping that they could protect themselves when the men had no time to take care of them.

And this group of women seem to have automatically selected a leader, that was, the woman that brother Dao had unrequited love for.

Compared to other women, she looked more imposing. She changed into shirt and pants and tied her hair high up in a ponytail, unexpectedly having a somewhat distinctive aura.

"We can't be burdens that hold you back." This is what the woman said to Lin Yuan.

She was the only one with a formal name among these women——Wu Yuelian.

Wu Yuelian was actually a bandit. Her father was a bandit and even a bandit leader. Her mother also grew up in the bandit villa and was considered the wife of the bandit leader. She grew up in such an environment so naturally thought differently from others.

She was the only daughter of her father and mother. She should have found a husband to ruzhui (TN: a man who marries into his wife's family), and be a half leader of her own villa.

It was a pity that their villa was too small, and she was also taken away after they lost.

It wasn't that she had never conceived a child, but when she was pregnant, she tried her best to get rid of the child.

Maybe for other women, it was just a piece of meat in their belly.

But for her, it was a shame engraved in the flesh and blood. She had always wanted to avenge her parents and brothers and sisters back in her villa.

The dream of revenge supported her to continue surviving.

Wu Yuelian said to Lin Yuan: "If the fight really starts, you don't have to worry about us, life and death are destined, if Yanwang want people to die at 3 o'clock, he never keeps them up to 5."

Lin Yuan smiled at her: "It hasn't reached that point."

Wu Yuelian shook her head and said: "When our villa was raided, everyone didn't think that it reached that point..."

"But they all died in the end."

Lin Yuan took a deep breath, and suddenly felt that he was able to hold up heaven and earth and could support the woman in front of him. He said with machismo: "Don't be afraid, with me here, they have to step past our bodies if they want to come in."

Wu Yuelian smiled and said, "Boss, what you said, I don't know how to respond."

"Then don't respond." Lin Yuan said heedlessly, "There are two things for men in this world that must not be violated."

Wu Yuelian asked strangely: "Which two things?"

Lin Yuan: "His dignity, and his woman."

Wu Yuelian: "..."

Lin Yuan smiled and said: "Although I don't have any intentions towards you all, but you all are now part of my farmstead, that means you are my women."

Wu Yuelian didn't know why, her eyes suddenly reddened, and she took a deep breath. It was obvious that the young Boss in front of her did not have a sturdy figure, nor did he have strong arms or thighs, but she just felt that this was an indomitable man who could hold up heaven and earth.

"How can you be like that..." Wu Yuelian whispered, but her face was clearly smiling.

Lin Yuan: "Is it all right now? Are you less scared?"

Wu Yuelian shook her head: "Much better."

Lin Yuan wanted to pat her shoulder, but thinking about the problem of the times, he retracted his hand halfway up, and said embarrassed: "In fact, I think brother Dao is pretty good."

Wu Yuelian looked at Lin Yuan blankly.

Lin Yuan: "I mean Li Congrong."

Wu Yuelian smiled again: "Boss, I have been pregnant before, no longer intact, I don't want to marry in this life."

Lin Yuan: "It depends on you, maybe you will change your mind later?"

Wu Yuelian didn't speak any more, she seemed to have made up her mind.

Lin Yuan was not good at persuading people, regarding the matters between men and women, the forcefully pulled up melon was not sweet (TN: expression for force will not result in good things).

It was probably because the women appeared so calm that the men were no longer worried. They began to discuss how they should respond if people outside really want to attack.

Lin Yuan also counted the days, waiting for brother Dao and Zhu Yuanzhang to appear in the area.

On the last day, before dawn Lin Yuan ordered San zi to guard the road where brother Dao and Zhu Yuanzhang will come back from, and tell them the time to cooperate attacking on both sides.

San zi trembled, he was so frightened that his legs felt like jelly and didn't dare to accept.

"Boss, I'll go." Wu Yuelian appeared with mud on her face and her hands. She was also wearing rags, and said, "I will go out from the back."

She looked at Lin Yuan with determination, and Lin Yuan was speechless for a while.

The women do not concede to men, this must be refering to such women.