CHAPTER 30: CHAPTER 30: DESCENDANTS OF HEROES

"Genzi, your wife is in premature labor, it’s too late to get to the hospital,"

The county hospital is too far from here, by the time a tractor bumps its way there, everything would have gone cold.

"Then she’ll give birth at home."

Li Genshu steadied himself at the crucial moment, replying resolutely.

Uncle Yaozi’s heart settled, "Let me be frank, I can’t guarantee the child’s survival if we do this at home, you..."

"I want my wife, as long as you can save her, that’s enough."

The baby is barely six months along; even if born, it might not survive.

Compared to a child not yet born for six months, his wife is naturally more important.

He knows what’s important; as long as his wife is there, she can recuperate and have more children later.

"Yaozi, you must save my wife."

Yi Chichi looked at Yaozi and saw the difficulty in his expression, but still, he nodded firmly, "I will do my utmost to ensure your wife’s well-being."

As soon as he finished speaking, he opened the medicine box and took out some silver needles, swiftly administering a couple to the pregnant woman.

Then he arranged for Chen Erhua to be moved inside the house and assigned tasks like boiling water to the women present.

Yi Chichi, who had come out of curiosity, was also roped in by him.

"Miss Yi, go to the team clinic and get some medicine for me, be quick."

He rattled off a list of medicine names, mainly hemostatic herbs like Sanqi and Puhuang.

Yi Chichi understood immediately; it was to prevent massive bleeding from a difficult labor, making preparations in advance.

"Okay."

Yi Chichi turned and ran, encountering the team captain and others coming after hearing the news along the way.

"Yi Zhqing, you..."

"I’m going to get medicine!"

Before the words were finished, she had already run off into the distance.

The team captain and others, who were initially going to ask her about the situation with Chen Erhua, looked at each other in perplexity upon hearing her response.

Afterward—

"She’s getting medicine? Can she treat and save people?"

Liu Dageng was baffled, and the team captain and others shook their heads, having no idea.

"Never mind her, let’s go see how Old Gen’s wife is doing."

"Let’s go!"

The few of them rushed towards Li Genshu’s house, while Yi Chichi ran to the team clinic with the speed of a sprinter, opened the cabinet, and began gathering the medicine Uncle Yaozi needed.

Once the medicine was selected and packed, she sped back to Li Genshu’s house, as if riding the wind and fire wheels.

"Make way, the medicine’s here!"

She shouted loudly, and the crowd, hearing her, instinctively made way and directed her to the correct room.

Ignoring any conversations, Yi Chichi rushed in with the medicine, the miserable cries of Chen Erhua sent a shiver through her body.

She was about to call Yaozi when the door creaked open, and Uncle Yaozi poked his head out to ask, "Miss Yi, do you know how to make a qi and blood-tonifying decoction?"

The pungent smell of blood wafted through the door crack.

The situation seemed quite serious.

"Erhua, put in more effort."

An elderly woman’s voice came from inside, warm and strong, alleviating Yi Chichi’s restlessness and anxiety upon hearing it.

"I do, uncle, which kind do you need? Acute warm or...?"

"Warm, brew a bowl."

The midwife was a capable woman, and after she took over, Erhua’s situation improved beyond his expectations.

Warm would suffice.

"By the way, which year’s ginseng slices did you bring?"

"I brought them all."

Just in case, she took a few slices of each kind.

Uncle Yaozi glanced back into the room, thought for two seconds, "Give me the three-year ones, use the warm ones as needed."

"Okay."

She handed over the three-year ginseng slices, which Uncle Yaozi took and returned inside.

Yi Chichi, under the curious eyes of the crowd, headed to the kitchen, where Aunt Ma and the others were boiling water.

"Aunt, I need to brew some medicine."

She looked around, seeking a suitable vessel for decoction.

Aunt Ma quickly opened the cupboard and took out an earthen pot, "Will this do?"

"It’s perfect!"

Yi Chichi, unexpectedly thrilled to find an earthen pot, accepted it with delight, "I need fire."

"We’ll get it for you."

The stove was unsuitable, with too large an opening for anything other than a pot; no coal stove was available, so they improvised.

Soon, a fire was set up.

Yi Chichi placed the earthen pot on the fire, personally controlling the heat.

Outside, it was noisy, and inside the kitchen, Aunt Ma and the others were restless.

Aunt Niu ran back and forth between the kitchen and the room to check on the situation.

The tension was unbearable, and Aunt Ma couldn’t help but lean towards Yi Chichi, "Miss Yi, how long until the medicine is ready?"

"Not for a while yet."

It would take some time; the warm, hemostatic, qi, and blood-tonifying decoction needed to be simmered over a low flame and then boiled for a bit longer.

She had no other thoughts, only hoping Erhua could hold on until the medicine was ready.

Time ticked away, and Aunt Niu’s expression grew increasingly anxious as she ran between the kitchen and the room.

Then suddenly—

"Miss Yi, is the medicine ready? Yaozi needs it."

Calculating the time, Yi Chichi had just taken the earthen pot off the fire, and before she could pour out the medicine, Aunt Niu darted in, urgently asking.

"Yes."

The timing was perfect, "I’ll take it over now."

"Hurry, they need it urgently."

Soon, the medicine was in Uncle Yaozi’s hands.

Then there was nothing more for Yi Chichi to do; she joined the crowd and stood with Wang Nan and the others, waiting.

"How did she fall so suddenly?"

Once stable, Wang Nan and the others, assuming she knew something, started inquiring.

The villagers, who arrived late and didn’t know the details, perked up their ears.

"There was a Black Eyebrow snake coiled on the wood stack, and she got startled while fetching firewood."

The world fell silent.

Wang Nan and the others went quiet; if they remembered correctly, Black Eyebrow Snakes were non-venomous.

The villagers exchanged complicated looks, unsure of what to say.

"How’s the situation now?"

The family protector couldn’t be mentioned, so they changed the subject.

Yi Chichi shook her head, "I don’t know."

She hadn’t gone inside, she wasn’t brewing, she was one of those waiting for news in the crowd.

The specifics of what was happening inside could only be known once Uncle Yaozi came out.

Touching Aunt Gui Xiang’s hand, Yi Chichi whispered when she looked over, "How come none of Genzi’s elders have shown up?"

"There are no elders."

"Huh?"

How could there be no elders?

Seemingly understanding the doubt in her heart, Aunt Gui Xiang sighed heavily, "During the Anti-Japanese Alliance, they all sacrificed, leaving only Genzi’s father. His body was wounded; after having Genzi, he passed... A few years later, Genzi’s mother also died, leaving Genzi a child raised on shared sustenance."

At this point, Aunt Gui Xiang added, "Erhua has a similar situation, both children without parents or relatives, only the people from this village."

Yi Chichi and the others were filled with reverence, children of heroes.

No wonder when something happened to Erhua, the whole village came.

"I hope she’ll be safe!"

She prayed silently.

Aunt Gui Xiang and the others nodded, saying, "She will be."

The wait was extraordinarily agonizing until everyone started getting uneasy, then Uncle Yaozi came out with a grim expression.

"How is it?"

The team captain was the first to approach, Uncle Yaozi sighed, "Erhua made it, but the child..."

Taking a deep breath, he said helplessly, "We couldn’t save it!"