Chapter 24

Zhang Yan hummed in acknowledgment: "Mom has invited Aunt Zhao from Sun Family Village."

Aunt Zhou smiled: "Aunt Zhao is the most renowned midwife in these parts. She's delivered no fewer than thirty, if not fifty, children. Jue Geer, you should invite her when your time comes—she's very reliable."

That said, the pregnant man himself was still anxious. The closer his due date, the more worried he became. He couldn't help asking again: "Mom, I know she's skilled, but I've also heard she rarely delivers babies for men like me. I know it's harder for us to give birth than for women—"

Seeing the fear on his face, Aunt Zhou quickly reassured him: "It is more difficult for men, but no one has ever said it can't be done. If you don't believe me, ask your Uncle Liu. He's had three."

Uncle Liu chuckled at that: "The first one is always harder, but the ones after are simple. You don't even need a midwife—you could deliver while cooking a meal or on your way to the outhouse. Take that family, Uncle Zhou's third kid, for instance—born on the way to the latrine. Good thing his belly was big enough to slow him down, or that child would've been born right in the privy."

Uncle Liu only said encouraging things, because with the baby due so soon, they couldn't let him be afraid. There's a saying: what you don't know can't hurt you. Too much worry would only make things harder for the birth.

He urged: "When the time comes, just listen to the midwife. Do whatever she tells you."

Zhang Yan then looked at Chen Jue: "Really?"

Chen Jue was a bit exasperated. It wasn't that Uncle Liu was exaggerating—such cases did happen. Labor often feels like you need to poop, and many people mistake it for needing to go to the bathroom.

Their casual words finally comforted Zhang Yan. He said to Chen Jue: "You need to be there on the day I give birth."

Chen Jue glanced at Aunt Zhang. Around here, they don't let a pregnant man near a birth.

But Aunt Zhou nodded repeatedly: "Jue Geer, we'll ask you to stay with Yan Geer that day."

Not only was Zhang Yan very dependent on Jue Geer, but it was because Jue Geer saved Little Flower and her pups that Aunt Zhou trusted him.

So Chen Jue nodded: "Alright, I'll be there that day."

Zhang Yan finally relaxed, gently resting his hand on his belly.

Chen Jue watched him, his face soft with tenderness as he touched his belly, and let out a deep breath.

He would be there that day. He would make sure Zhang Yan had a smooth delivery.

And may heaven bless him with a safe birth.

He had long since given up on materialism.

Everyone was finally about to take their leave. They'd said they were leaving, but then got pulled into talking about childbirth and sat back down. They really hated to leave.

Zhou Qingshan also took his leave of Huo Lin. It wasn't that he wanted to hear them talk about babies—he simply wanted to talk a bit more with Huo Lin. But it was only a few more words. Huo Lin was as tight-lipped as ever.

Zhou Qingshan remarked with a sigh. He bid farewell to Chen Jue and Huo Lin: "I'll come by to see you both tomorrow. Get some rest tonight."

Chen Jue handed the lantern to Zhang Yan: "Take it slow on the road."

Zhang Yan hummed in acknowledgment, then teased with a smile: "Why aren't you trying to stop us from leaving? So we're just in the way, huh?"

He was saying that for Huo Lin's sake. He'd definitely noticed—all night, Huo Lin's gaze kept landing on Chen Jue more than a few times.

He'd previously only known Huo Lin as a man of few words, a bit cold. Now he saw that it was true. Man, he hadn't spoken much to Jue Geer all night, but at least his eyes kept drifting to Jue Geer now and then. Otherwise, he would've been indignant on Jue Geer's behalf.

Zhou Qingzhu linked his arm with his: "We're all just in the way here. Let's get out of here quick!"

Uncle Liu added his own advice: "Dalin's come back from a long trip, and Jue Geer's had a tiring day. Rest early. Oh, Dalin, I've boiled some hot water in the pot—wash up with mugwort."

The mugwort was hung up during the Dragon Boat Festival and sun-dried well. It's the best for getting rid of bad luck, after all, he's just come back from the war. Uncle Liu had prepared it all.

Aunt Zhou also said with a smile: "That's right, Dalin. It's good you're back. We can relax now. You'd better be good to Jue Geer from now on—he's been seven months pregnant all on his own, going up the mountain every day to pick herbs. It's been really tough on him."

Chen Jue saw that Huo Lin look at his belly again. After looking, his eyes met Chen Jue's. Though the light was dim and his gaze was deep, the surprise in it was unmistakable.

This man didn't believe his belly was seven months along.

He'd been away in the army for seven months. If the belly wasn't seven months, was it six?

Did he want to give himself a green hat?

Chen Jue thought sourly.

But he said nothing.

After everyone left, he closed the fence gate and washed up.

Uncle Liu had boiled a big pot of water for Huo Lin, and Chen Jue sat soaking his feet for a while.

Seeing Huo Lin still standing there, Chen Jue said: "There's another wooden tub over there. You can use that one."

He'd been using this wooden basin for his foot soaks these past days. There was another one for washing hands and face.

Chen Jue didn't want to hog the good one.

Huo Lin glanced at him and gave a slight nod. After he went to the kitchen, Chen Jue finished soaking his feet and climbed onto the kang to arrange the bedding.

There were bedrolls—only two sets. Chen Jue moved his own to the side. He used to sleep in the middle by himself.

Now that the rightful owner of this house was back, he shouldn't be too presumptuous.

After laying out both bedrolls, Chen Jue placed a small kang table between them.

It wasn't that he was guarding against Huo Lin doing anything to him. With his seven-month belly, Huo Lin wouldn't be that beastly. Besides, the man was still full of suspicion.

It was simply that he wasn't used to sharing a sleeping platform with anyone. During the time he'd set up the memorial grave for Huo Lin, Zhou Qingzhu and Zhang Yan had offered to keep him company at night, and he'd refused.

Fortunately, the kang was plenty big. With the small table in place, the distance between the two bedrolls was even greater than the gap between the on-duty beds in a hospital dormitory.

After arranging the bedding, Chen Jue yawned. Over these past months, he'd gotten used to sleeping early and waking early.

The kang was still warm from the big pot of water boiled earlier today. A faint heat seeped through the thin quilt, quite comfortable.

Chen Jue fell asleep before long.

He didn't know that the man who'd wasted an entire pot of water finally finishing his wash stood by the head of the kang, watching him for a long time.

Perhaps the bean-sized oil lamp wasn't enough to illuminate Chen Jue's features clearly. He watched for a long while, his face in shadow bearing an unusually composed expression, his eyes holding depths too dark and complex to fathom.

Chen Jue was sleeping soundly, but being stared at like that made him instinctively uncomfortable. He turned over in his sleep, though his belly made the movement difficult, and he frowned.

The man standing at the edge of the kang reached out as if delayed, but before his hand could touch Chen Jue, Chen Jue had already rolled over, facing the wall, arms wrapped protectively around his belly.

The man slowly withdrew his hand.

A moment later, he climbed onto the kang himself. He glanced at Chen Jue's turned back, then blew out the oil lamp on the small table.

Chen Jue slept well. He'd eaten his fill last night—the kind of fullness that came from plenty of grains and protein—so he slept deeply too.

When he woke up, sunlight streamed through the row of linen curtains he had hung, and the window, which he had modified, let in plenty of brightness.

Chen Jue did a few stretching movements on the kang before propping himself up by his somewhat heavy waist and sitting up.

When he saw the neatly folded, perfectly square quilt at the other end of the kang, he paused for a moment and glanced toward the outer room.

He had almost forgotten—the original owner of this home was back.

Chen Jue pushed open the door and saw Huo Lin in the yard, gripping the goat by the head, while Little Flower was butting against him with her rear raised, pushing with all her might, so hard she even squeezed out some droppings, scattering goat pellets all over the ground.

Chen Jue looked up at the sky. Well, he figured it'd work as fertilizer. Although goat dung was also known as "hundred-grass frost" and was used in traditional Chinese medicine, often combined with other herbs to treat conditions like eczema and skin ailments, it's rarely used in modern medicine since there are plenty of substitutes. So Chen Jue didn't bother using it for medicine.

By then, Huo Lin had already grabbed Little Flower by the horns and shoved her aside.

Huo Lin saw him come out, stood up, and turned to look at him. "You're awake?"

Chen Jue nodded.

Huo Lin glanced at the goat dung pellets on the ground and asked, "Why not tie it up?"

Chen Jue glanced at the goat, which was still acting cheeky and trying to butt Huo Lin again, and shook his head. "If you tie her up, she'll strangle herself."

He'd tried tying her up before.

After her last surgery, she had recovered remarkably well. By the third day, she was already bouncing around, eating everything in sight, with a surprisingly huge appetite. She treated the sliced herbs like snacks, nibbling here and there, with mischief written all over her face.

When Chen Jue called her, she would turn her head to look at him, and no matter how he looked at it, her gaze seemed full of disdain. With her half-raised goat face, it was the perfect picture of "smug and self-satisfied."

Looking at her, Chen Jue got a craving for hotpot.

But of course, he couldn't. Zhang Yan came by their place every day just for her, and eventually, they had to tie her to that crooked tree. The rope couldn't be too long, but it couldn't be too short either.

Too short, and it'd limit her movement, which wasn't good for her recovery. Too long, and she'd manage to get herself tangled up in it—it was ridiculous.

If Chen Jue went up the mountain to pick herbs and didn't come back all day, she'd be in real danger.

Once the scar on her belly had fully healed and new fur had grown over it, Zhang Yan took her back home.

But even at the Huo place, Zhang Yan couldn't stand to keep her tied up. This silly goat, whenever tied to a tree, would circle like a donkey, spinning until she couldn't spin anymore. No matter how long the rope was, it was never enough for all her circling. Even if Zhang Yan had all the time in the world, he couldn't keep an eye on her every second.

So Little Flower would just show up at Chen Jue's place whenever she felt like it, pushing open his flimsy fence gate with her head and swaggering in to munch on the herbs he'd laid out to dry on flat baskets.

Not satisfied with eating by herself, she'd bring along the two little ones. After eating their fill, they'd lie under the big tree, close their eyes, and nap.

When Chen Jue came home, the one big goat and the two little ones would crowd around him—the big one chewing on his jacket, the two little ones nibbling at his pant legs. It was like she'd brought her whole family to eat him out of house and home.

It was much better now—the two little ones had been weaned and were staying at Zhang Yan's place. Only Little Flower was beyond anyone's control and had basically moved in with Chen Jue.

Chen Jue gave Little Flower a gentle kick as she came up to him. His clothes were already nothing but patches—he couldn't afford to have them chewed up any more.

After shooing Little Flower off, Chen Jue walked over to the water vat to brush his teeth.

With the toothbrush still in his mouth, Chen Jue glanced at Huo Lin. This wasn't something he'd made himself—this era, which resembled the Song Dynasty, already had daily necessities like toothbrushes, tooth powder, and soap pods.

This dynasty, apart from being lousy at warfare, had a really rich entertainment culture. As long as you had money, you could watch cuju matches, hit up teahouses for storytelling and tea, or even order milk tea with delivery right to your door.

This was the scene shown in *Along the River During the Qingming Festival*. Song Dynasty culture wasn't just about poetry.

This shouldn't give him away, right? Huo Lin was still watching him. Chen Jue reached into the basket next to him, pulled out another toothbrush, and handed it over. "Here, use this one—it's new."

"Okay." Just one word from Huo Lin.

Chen Jue remembered what Uncle Liu and the others had said about Huo Lin: "Dalin was a good kid, but he was way too quiet. He never hung around with people. I hardly ever heard him speak all year round."

Zhou Qingshan had said, "Don't say you folks rarely heard him talk—even I, who hunted with him every day, barely heard him say a word. He talked more to the animals in the mountains than he did to me"...

Seems he really was a man of few words. That was fine—it saved them from having to make small talk. Chen Jue didn't know what to say to him anyway.

After washing up, Chen Jue headed into the kitchen.

He was hungry again.