Chapter 184: Mother-in-law's Shock
The next day, in New Dock Village.
After the family had breakfast, Zhang Shouguo and Zhang Shoumin each rode a bicycle, taking their wives to Dragon Lake Street. Every day, they would first drop their wives off at the shop to handle business, and then the two brothers would ride their bicycles to the countryside to collect goods.
Since today wasn't a market day, Mr. Zhang, Zhang Shoujun, and Zhang Shoushan didn't need to go to the store to help.
Zhang Shoujun and Zhang Shoushan had stopped studying a long time ago. As young men, they couldn't just stay at home. Seeing their eldest brother and his wife, as well as their second brother and his wife, busy with business, the two brothers excitedly headed up the mountain with their slingshots to shoot birds.
When Mr. Zhang had nothing to do, he would take his eldest grandson and granddaughter for a stroll around the village.
As for Mrs. Zhang, she would carry one child on her back and hold another in her arms as she visited neighbors and chatted about family matters.
Around 10:30 in the morning, while Mrs. Zhang was happily chatting with her neighbors, someone called out, "Auntie Afa, your son-in-law is here!"
Mrs. Zhang smiled instantly, said goodbye to her neighbors, and hurried home.
"Yuntai!"
"Mom!"
After returning home and exchanging greetings, Mrs. Zhang had just placed the child in a homemade child chair when she saw her son-in-law handing over a pig's butt weighing more than ten pounds and a bag of candies and biscuits. She couldn't help but complain, "Yuntai, you could've just brought some candies for the kids. Why did you bring such a big pork butt?"
"This is what my dad prepared," Deng Yuntai explained.
"Your father-in-law is too polite," Mrs. Zhang said, taking the pork butt and candies. She asked her son-in-law to sit down and hung the pork butt on a bamboo pole.
"Did your dad go to the store to help?"
"No, today isn't a market day. Your two sisters-in-law can handle the store on their own. Dad took the two younger ones out to play somewhere."
After chatting for a while, Mrs. Zhang turned the conversation to her daughter. "Yuntai, according to the date, Xiuping should be giving birth soon. As her mother, I need to go over and take care of her in advance. Otherwise, if her labor starts, you won't know what to do."
"Mom, I came here today to talk to you about this!"
Deng Yuntai smiled and shared his father's decision. "My dad said that giving birth at home can be risky. On one hand, there are no professional midwives, and on the other, there's no medical equipment. If something goes wrong, it'll be too late to regret.
So, my dad wants Ah Ping to give birth at a hospital in the county town. It's the safest option."
Hearing this, Mrs. Zhang was overjoyed!
Although most rural women of this era gave birth at home, it didn't mean they didn't understand that giving birth in a county hospital was much safer.
It's just that most people didn't have the means to afford it.
After all, to give birth in a county hospital, you had to go to the county town in advance. You couldn't wait until labor started to rush there. The expected due date was just an estimate based on the women's experience, and it was normal for the birth to be a week early or late.
Staying in a guesthouse in the county town for so many days wasn't cheap for an average rural family.
Then, there were the various hospital expenses, which added up to a significant amount.
For rural families, this money seemed unnecessary. They could save it by giving birth at home. Who would want to go to the county hospital?
As for the risks of giving birth at home, compared to spending so much money, taking a little risk was nothing for rural families. After all, most women in the village had gone through it, and accidents were rare.
Now that her in-laws had taken the initiative to arrange for her daughter to give birth in the county hospital, Mrs. Zhang, as a mother, was naturally thrilled. She praised them repeatedly: "Your father-in-law is very thoughtful. If conditions allow, it's definitely best to go to the county hospital for the birth."
Deng Yuntai said, "According to calculations, Ah Ping will give birth in about half a month, but my dad said that these things can be unpredictable. We can't wait until the last minute to go to the county town, so he asked me to tell you, Mom, that we're preparing to take Ah Ping to the county town tomorrow to give birth."
Mrs. Zhang was surprised. "We're going to the county town so early? How much will it cost to feed and house so many people?"
Deng Yuntai smiled. "Don't worry about that, Mom. My dad has already rented a house in the county town in advance." This was what Deng Shirong had told his sons, daughters, and daughters-in-law. To keep a low profile, the fact that they had bought a house was to be treated as a rental for now.
Mrs. Zhang was even more shocked. "Just to give birth, your father-in-law rented a house in the county town?"
Deng Yuntai hinted, "Mom, my dad rented the house not just for Ah Ping's childbirth. He wants us to start a business in the county town next year, so this house is like renting it in advance for us."
Mrs. Zhang was stunned. "Yuntai, are you going to the county town to start a business next year? Are you quitting your job at the tile factory?"
Deng Yuntai nodded. "Yes, I won't be working at the tile factory anymore. In my dad's words, being a big vat master at the tile factory is a dead-end job. Even though I can make a lot of money every month, I'll still be a worker for life.
If you want to make a fortune, you have to start a business and become a boss."
If it were her own son who dared to quit a job that paid over 200 yuan a month to start a business, Mrs. Zhang would've slapped him to knock some sense into him. But these were her son-in-law's words, and the suggestion came from her capable in-laws, so it was a different matter.
She knew very well how sharp her in-laws' vision was. Before, they had just given some advice to her family for her daughter's sake, and their business had flourished. Now, they were giving advice to their own son—how could it be bad?
Thinking this, Mrs. Zhang said with conviction, "Your father-in-law is right. No matter how high the salary of a big vat master is, you'll still be a worker for life. If you want to make a fortune, you really have to go out and start a business, become a boss. What kind of business are you planning to do in the county town, Yuntai?"
Deng Yuntai wasn't afraid of revealing too much and replied, "I'm planning to open a restaurant like the Dragon Lake State-owned Restaurant, but on a larger scale."
Mrs. Zhang was secretly amazed. Her in-laws were as bold as ever!
"But that's all next year. It's too early to talk about it now."
At this point, Deng Yuntai changed the subject. "Mom, if you're free, you can come back with me today, and then we'll go to Bobai together tomorrow. You can have a good time in the county town for a while."
Mrs. Zhang's eyes lit up, and she nodded repeatedly. "I'm free, of course I'm free. Yesterday, I mentioned to your two sisters-in-law that I'd go and take care of Xiuping during her childbirth. They were very supportive. It won't make a difference whether I'm at home or not."
(End of this chapter)