“No, no, I did not know it!” Du Mingyang stammered with joy. He had always wanted to have children.
“What did you just say?” Zhang Xiuying came out of the room after hearing Wang Yao’s words.
“Your sister is pregnant. Is that what you mean?”
“Yeah.”
The family was very happy after hearing the good news. It was a delightful surprise out of their expectations.
“Is it a boy or a girl?” Du Mingyang didn’t ask, but Wang Yao’s mother did.
“Well, I cannot see that since I don’t have X-ray vision. Only God knows that,” Wang Yao said with a laugh.
“Mom, I love it no matter if it is a boy or a girl,” Du Mingyang hurriedly said. He did not have any traditional patriarchal ideas.
“Let me check you to see what kinds of nutrients you need to replenish,” Wang Yao said.
“OK, Sister, have a seat.”
Wang Yao carefully checked his elder sister.
“There are no problems. My sister’s body is great, and the child has nothing unusual. You can rest assured.”
“What do I need to pay attention to?”
“It’s enough to check about it on the Internet. There is a lot of information out there,” Wang Yao said. He still told his sister to pay attention to some things.
“No more cooking. I’ll do it myself,” Zhang Xiuying said.
“Mom, didn’t Xiao Yao just say that it’s less than two months and proper activities are alright?” Wang Ru asked.
“No.”
“I’m here to help,” Wang Yao said. “Sister, just have a seat and rest.”
Wang Ru did as she told. She felt like she was being protected as if she was a giant panda. She did not even need to serve the food.
“What are you doing?” She felt unhappy. She was less than two months along.
“No, my darling, listen to me,” Du Mingyang said. “During the first three months of your pregnancy, you must pay attention to avoid any danger.”
“Will I have to take three-month leave? No, will it need to be nine months to take care of myself and the baby at home?”
“Since you mention it, I think it’s feasible. You can tell your boss next week.” Wang Yao was just joking, but Du Mingyang took it seriously.
“Du Mingyang, what are you thinking about?” Wang Ru’s complexion changed. She could not stand resting at home all the time while setting her work aside. Besides, proper activities were good for her baby to develop and grow up.
“I will listen to you no matter what you want.” Seeing his wife’s complexion change, Du Mingyang immediately agreed.
“Well, enjoy dinner. Mingyang said that for he is concerned about your health,” Zhang Xiuying said.
The family was very happy. Wang Fenghua drank two more glasses of wine, and Du Mingyang accompanied him to drink a few glasses of spirits.
They were going to stay overnight and go home the next day. Besides, it was Sunday.
Another week has passed in a flash, Wang Yao thought.
After dinner, he called Su Xiaoxue. He really missed her.
It was a special kind of happiness to have a person one missed so much.
In the village, Jia Zizai and Hu Mei were happy. They drank two bottles of wine to celebrate.
As evening approached, Jia Zizai went with Zhong Liuchuan for a run. Zhong Liuchuan also taught him the breathing method he had learned from Wang Yao.
Jia Zizai was smart. He knew things that looked ridiculous often came from the most basic things, such as the legendary Taoist method of immortality, which was based on the method of breathing guidance. He listened carefully to remember it firmly in his mind.
After seeing him light another cigarette, Zhong Liuchuan said, “Mr. Wang doesn’t smoke, so I advise you to smoke as little as possible in his presence.”
“OK, I’ll keep that in mind.” Jia Zizai put the cigarette back into the cigarette case. He was quite addicted to smoking. Because of his prior job, he smoked to relieve stress.
“Are you free this evening to come to my house for dinner?” he asked.
“No, thanks. Anxin will be back, so I would like to accompany her,” Zhong Liuchuan said.
“Ask her to come with you,” Jia Zizai said. “Hu Mei will cook for us.”
“Ah…”
“Well, that’s it.”
“OK, thank you.”
“Hey, we are all in the village now, so there is no need to be so polite.”
As sunset fell, the sky gradually darkened. The moon was large and bright.
After 9 p.m., Wang Yao left home for Nanshan Hill. It was silent as he walked up the mountain road outside the village. Even the sound of insects had disappeared. After the frost, there were few insects.
Within the blink of an eye, he was already more than 60 feet away. It was like he had the legendary ability to shrink the land within a foot. After a while, he was on Nanshan Hill.
“San Xian?”
The dog was squatting beside its kennel. It was looking at the sky, thinking of something, but no one knew what it was.
“What are you thinking about?”
Woof!
OK?
A meteor was shooting across the sky.
“Make a wish.” Wang Yao smiled and rubbed the dog’s head.
Woof!
“Go to sleep. It will be a sunny day tomorrow.” Wang Yao laughed. The dog stayed where he was, looking at the sky as if he had not heard what was said.
“Hey, San Xian, are you also watching the star patterns in the sky?” Wang Yao, who had just arrived at the door, suddenly stopped and turned to look at the dog.
“Is this too mysterious?”
Wang Yao went over to the dog and looked at it.
“San Xian, tell me, what do you see?”
Woof! Woof! The dog barked twice, raised a paw, and pointed to the sky.
“Do you really understand it?”
“OK, do what you would like. Good night.” After sitting for a while with this fast-growing dog, Wang Yao entered the room and read a Taoist scripture. Before long, he turned the lights off and went to sleep.
In the village, at Wang Yao’s home…
“My darling, have you ever thought about a name for the baby?”
“It’s 9:30, go to sleep.”
“How about Du Ziteng[1]?”
“That’s not good. Have you drunk too much? If you suggest Du Ziteng, why not Du Zipang[2]?”
“I like girls. It would be best if the first child was a girl. That way we can have a second child.”
“What if the second child is a girl?”
“I don’t mind. Boys and girls are the same.”
They laid in bed and talked until 10 p.m. Wang Ru couldn’t stand it anymore and wanted to sleep.
“Pregnant women need plenty of rest.”
“OK, don’t talk anymore. Have a good night’s rest.” Her words worked well. Du Mingyang immediately shut up.
The night passed quietly.
In the morning, not many people visited the clinic. Around 11 a.m., at mealtime, a foreign car drove into the mountain village and stopped outside the clinic.
“Dad, here it is.”
Three people got out of the car. Two of them had been to the clinic twice. One of them even went around the village with gifts and tried to persuade Wang Yao to pay a home visit. The third was an old man with a bad complexion. He wore a lot of clothes, including a down coat and a hat. He seemed to be afraid of the cold. His steps were not stable. He needed some help.
“Slow down.”
The two people beside him helped the old man go into the clinic. Coincidentally, there was no one there, so they didn’t need to wait in line.
“Hello, Dr. Wang, sorry to disturb you again,” the middle-aged man said.
“Please check my father. He always has a headache. It is getting serious, especially when it’s cold. He can’t eat or sleep due to the pain.”
The old man had sudden shivers as if it was to confirm his son’s words. He covered his head with his hands. His expression looked pained. Beads of perspiration appeared on his forehead.
“Dad.” The middle-aged man hurriedly helped his father sit down.
“Excuse me.”
Wang Yao pulled a silver needle from his pouch and inserted it into the old man’s head accurately and steadily. The needle made the old man’s body pain immediately stop, which also stopped his tremors.
“It doesn’t hurt anymore!” The old man was surprised.
“Really?” The middle-aged man was also stunned. The pain went away after being stuck with a needle. It was amazing.
“It’s only temporary,” Wang Yao said.
The old man was suffering from chills into the brain. The needle could only temporarily stop the pain. It could not cure it.
“Do you have a cure?”
“Yes,” Wang Yao said.
It was not difficult to cure this old man’s disease, which was to expel the chills that entered the brain.
“That’s great! Please cure my father.”
“He needs to take medicine, which is not cheap!”
…
[1] Du Ziteng sounds like having stomach pain in Chinese.
[2] Du Zipang sounds like a fatty belly in Chinese.
