After a full day in the fields, Shen Xuanqing - a strong laborer, had exerted no small effort. Soon, he was deep asleep. Lu Gu, lying on the inner side, gently patted the fussing little Lingjun until he, too, drifted into dreams.
However, in the middle of the night, the moment the child cried, Shen Xuanqing’s eyes snapped open. Lu Gu also woke up.
"Wet again," Lu Gu said after checking the child. The moonlight was bright tonight, seeping through the window paper. He pulled out Lingjun’s wet diaper.
Shen Xuanqing grabbed a clean one from the head of the bed, his voice hoarse with sleep but still saying, "I’ll change it. No need for you to get up."
As he spoke, he got to work. Lu Gu had no choice but to lie back down, thinking that tomorrow night, he’d sleep on the outer side so Shen Xuanqing wouldn’t have to rise.
Fortunately, little Lingjun was easy to soothe. Once changed into a dry diaper, no longer uncomfortable, he stopped crying after a few gentle rocks in his father’s arms - not tormenting his poor, drowsy dad too much.
Children were like this, unconcerned with time. They cried if they wet themselves or dirtied their diapers at night, or if they were hungry, all without a fixed schedule. Tonight, it was because a wet diaper, not hunger. Before, Shen Xuanqing had even had to feed him milk fruit in the middle of the night.
At night, there was no fire in the stove or under the earthen stove. On moonless nights, they’d have to ask others to strike a light. For this, Shen Xuanqing had even spent money on a fire striker from town, he only needed to blow on it, and sparks would appear. It was much more convenient, though the fire striker was a bit expensive, even the cheapest one cost sixty copper coins.
[火折子 (huǒ zhézi): lit. Fire folder/striker; fig. A traditional tinder pouch or portable flint-and-steel fire-starting kit. Historically made of treated paper or hemp, it could be blown on to ignite embers.]
After putting the child down, Lu Gu instinctively patted little Lingjun a few times and murmured, "Sleep now."
Shen Xuanqing mumbled an "Mm" in his drowsiness before falling silent again, truly exhausted.
Sure enough, the ewe gave birth to lamb right in the middle of the firewood bean and peanut harvest. Shen Yaoqing was promptly called back by Ji Qiuyue and stood by attentively. Fortunately, the weather wasn’t cold lately, and the black-hoofed ewe wasn’t a first-time mother, the birth went smoothly without complications.
He had rushed back from the fields in a fluster, but all that turned to joy once the lamb was born. This was their family’s first lambing. Beside him, Ji Qiuyue held Zhao’er, her face equally bright with happiness. If they kept breeding more, they’d eventually have a whole flock to herd. Though these black-hoofed sheep hadn’t been raised for long and still had some wildness from the mountains, making them hard to pasture.
In the evening, when Wei Lanxiang, Shen Yan, and Shen Xuanqing returned, they were just as delighted to see the lamb.
During the dog days of summer, the family had taken last year’s grown lamb to town to slaughter and sell, leaving only the ram and two ewes. Perhaps because the first ewe had been with the ram longer, it had conceived. The later ewe never showed signs of pregnancy. Shen Xuanqing and Shen Yaoqing had once joked that the ram was picky, perhaps because it had been penned with the first ewe for so long, it refused to go near the second. They didn’t force it. Next year, they’d keep more sheep together, and they’d all breed then.
After the busy harvest of autumn firewood beans and peanuts, there was still daily work like drying and threshing, but no one complained. By month’s end, Little Lingjun was a full month old, and Lu Gu could finally go outside.
Little Lingjun was born, and the lamb was thriving - one happy event after another. Wei Lanxiang had been in high spirits lately, cheerful to everyone she met.
On the day of the full-month celebration, Shen Xuanqing was overjoyed. Since Lu Gu had no maternal family, he had long prepared a silver longevity lock for the child, no less impressive than others’. The feast for relatives and friends was lavish, with all kinds of fruits, pastries, wine, and meat, making for a lively day.
Since coming to the Shen family, Lu Gu had eaten well and slept soundly, his health gradually improving. After giving birth, he suffered no complications, having rested fully for thirty days to recover. The day after the celebration, while little Lingjun slept, he and Ji Qiuyue strolled by the village river to unwind.
On their way back to the new house, they ran into Granny A-Jin and stopped to chat for a bit.
After they left, Granny A-Jin watched Lu Gu's retreating figure with envy. She had lived in Qingxi Village for years, and few people could afford to hire help during confinement. She used to think Ji Qiuyue was fortunate, not having to work during pregnancy or after birth. Lu Gu's situation seemed even more blessed. Even the most gossipy villagers couldn't help but voice some envy when talking about him.
The moment they stepped into the courtyard, Guaizi pounced over. Lu Gu smiled and rubbed his head. He had only heard Shen Xuanqing talk about the lamb, and today he could finally see it for himself. Not to mention the chickens and ducks, he hadn’t seen the calf in ages and the pigs in the pen, they had grown and fattened considerably over the past month.
After summer, the heat had lessened, and the stench from the manure pile had faded. The threshing ground was spread with firewood bean and peanut stalks. A few more days of drying, and they could be gathered up.
Ji Qiuyue went straight to the backyard to work. Zhao’er was at home with Wei Lanxiang - already a year old, he could gnaw on steamed buns by himself. With milk fruit at home, she didn’t have to worry much if he got hungry. Back when she had given birth to Zhao’er, her milk had been plentiful, so she hadn’t made Shen Yaoqing gather milk fruit, she thought it was better to leave some for other families’ children.
Lu Gu went to the sheep pen first to see the lamb, Guaizi wagging his tail and following him closely.
"Growing so well," he said, standing outside the pen. The moment he spoke, the lamb let out a soft "baa," making him chuckle. "Are you talking to me?"
The lamb's "baa" brought a silly grin to his face. Then, from the ox pen came a "moo" - the calf had recognized him and was calling.
Lu Gu’s heart swelled with joy. After a month apart, the calf still remembered him. He went over to refill its water trough. Instead of drinking right away, the calf nudged his hand with its big head before lowering its muzzle to gulp down the water.
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