Chapter 236: with translation of chapter title

Lin Xueqing, Li Ping'an, the hospital, an unnamed weak wife, and an unnamed wrinkled but loudly crying son.

Although Lin Xueqing was exhausted, under her husband's meticulous care and the relatively stable environment of Yi Yuan, her recovery proceeded fairly smoothly.

Lin Xueqing, Li Pingle, the Li family, and an unnamed brother.

Li Ping'an also felt a myriad of emotions in his heart, and he nodded heavily. The continuation of this bloodline, in these turbulent and difficult times, seemed especially precious, and it made the responsibility on his shoulders grow ever heavier.

Li Ping'an, an unnamed comrade, the West Wing Courtyard, Spirit Spring Water, unnamed daily water, and unnamed chicken soup.

When the rich, strangely fragrant chicken soup aroma quietly drifted out from Xi Kua Yuan, even he himself felt a hint of astonishment. This Spiritual Spring seemed to have an extraordinarily enhancing effect on nourishing things.

Lin Xueqing drank the soup her husband had boiled, feeling a warm current seep into her limbs and bones, dispelling much of the fatigue and weakness of the past days; her milk supply quickly became ample, and seeing her son contentedly suckling in her arms, her pale face finally broke into a relieved smile.

Li Ping'an (nickname Ping'an) and an unnamed child.

Li Ping'an gazed at his son, pondering for a moment. He had originally wanted to pick a simple, sturdy nickname, but realizing this was the legitimate heir of the Li Family, the name needed to be chosen with solemnity.

Yaozong, Li Yaozong, and the Li family.

This name carried the most unpretentious hopes of a traditional agrarian society, and also embodied his deepest aspirations as a father.

Lin Xueqing softly repeated 'Yaozong' twice, nodded, and said, 'Good, let's call him Yaozong.'

After three days of recuperation, once Lin Xueqing's condition was confirmed to be fine, Li Ping'an completed the discharge procedures. He hired a pedaled tricycle and carefully brought his wife and child back to the Siheyuan.

The news of 'adding a son and increasing prosperity' had already spread like wings throughout the compound. When Li Ping'an, holding the tightly swaddled infant, supported Lin Xueqing as they walked into the courtyard, he instantly became the center of attention. All kinds of gazes, carrying different thoughts, shot over in unison.

The first to come over was Jia Zhangshi. She stretched her neck, Sanjiao Yan's eyes scanning back and forth over the swaddling cloth in Li Ping'an's arms and Lin Xueqing's still plump face (actually well nourished by the spiritual spring chicken soup), pursed her lips, and spoke in a sarcastic tone: 'Yo! Section Chief Li, this is a great joy! You had a boy? Tsk tsk, look how you've raised this mother and child, white and chubby—how much good food must you have eaten? Not like our family, Bang Geng was as scrawny as a kitten when born, pitiful!'

Her words, inside and out, were full of sour jealousy and probing, as if the Li family had taken a huge advantage.

Li Pingle: If the child isn't raised well, go find your son Jia Dongxu—see if he's been working seriously, if he passed the fitter grade exam, if the master taught him earnestly! Has the wage increased or not!

Yan Bu Gui also adjusted his glasses, came over, his face piled with a smile, but his eyes kept glancing at the empty chicken soup crock Li Ping'an was holding: 'Congratulations, Ping'an! That… the confinement period is crucially important, nutrition must keep up, and now you have a son—you shouldn't set up two tables to celebrate in the courtyard, that would also count as giving everyone an extra meal to relieve their cravings!'

His scheming is almost ingrained in his bones; even the confinement lady's food he wants to get a share of.

Li Ping'an: 'In these difficult times, we cannot be extravagant and wasteful; we must respond to the nation's call, practice thrift and frugality.'

Liu Haizhong stood with hands behind his back, belly out, putting on an airs of leadership, cleared his throat: 'Hmm! Comrade Li Ping'an, your family gaining a new member is a good thing, a great joy! It shows our courtyard's population is thriving! However, we must also consider the impact—now the whole nation is undergoing hard struggle, these nutritional supplements… should still be moderate, not made special.'

His words were spoken righteously, both wanting to show his presence and secretly carrying a hint of jealousy.

Yi Zhonghai also walked over, his face wearing his usual smile that seemed gentle but was actually aloof: 'Ping'an, Xueqing, congratulations. As long as mother and child are safe, that's good. This child Yaozong looks spirited. From now on the courtyard will have another junior, lively.'

His words were spoken nicely, yet he didn't mention any substantive help or congratulations, keeping a neither-far-near, prudent self-preserving distance, which matches his usual image of 'high moral standing and prestige'.

Xu Damao hid behind his own door, looking through the crack at the bustle outside, spat, and muttered a curse: 'Pah! What's there to be proud about? Having a son isn't that great—who knows if he can even be raised to adulthood!'

He still held in the resentment of marrying a country widow, feeling everyone was mocking him, and toward the Li family's joy he was full of malicious curses.

The most mixed-feeling one has to be Qin Huairu.

She held her own thin, quiet son Bang Geng, who looked especially frail from malnutrition, standing at the Jia family's gate, gazing from afar at the crowd surrounding Lin Xueqing and the newborn in her arms, whose strong cries and thick swaddling showed his health.

An indescribable mix of sourness and intense jealousy gnawed at her heart like a poison snake. As a woman, as a mother, why could Lin Xueqing be so cherished and protected by her husband, have chicken soup to drink during confinement, and give birth to a healthy child?

Yet she herself had to struggle under her mother-in-law's harshness and her husband's inadequacy, even letting her child eat his fill becoming a luxury? She lowered her head, looking at her son in her arms, innocent yet with a hint of timidity in his eyes; tears nearly fell, but she blinked them back forcefully.

In this complicated atmosphere, Sha Zhu and Ma Dongmei's blessings seemed especially sincere. Sha Zhu grinned widely, genuinely happy: 'Brother Ping'an! Sister-in-law Lin! Great! It's a boy! From now on the courtyard will have another buddy to fight with! Oh no, I mean to play, to play!'

Ma Dongmei also smiled and said to Lin Xueqing: 'Doctor Lin, take good care of yourself; if you need any help, just speak up.'

Li Ping'an took in everyone's reactions, his face unchanged, merely responding politely: 'Thank you all for your concern; Xueqing needs rest, the child is also young, so I won't disturb you further.'

He politely but firmly rebuffed all probing and unnecessary small talk, protecting his wife and child, returned to the West Wing Courtyard, and closed that wooden door that could block most gossip.

Inside the door lay the hope and warmth brought by the newborn; outside, the myriad facets of the world, the warmth and coldness of human relations born of hunger.

Li Ping'an knew that in the days ahead he must guard this hard-won tranquility more carefully, in this tumultuous courtyard, to erect a clear sky for his son Yaozong.

The arrival of this new life is like a stone tossed into stagnant water, the ripples it stirs have only just begun to spread.