Chapter 310: Rumors in the Siheyuan

He Yushui's little joy that came with her marriage, like a stone tossed onto a lake's surface, after the ripples faded the lake water quickly returned to its original calm, and even because of some new undercurrents it appeared even more turbid than before.

This new undercurrent focused on the Front Courtyard Third Elder Yan Bu Gui's family, more precisely on his eldest son Yan Jiecheng and daughter‑in‑law Yu Xiulian.

Yan Jiecheng and Yu Xiulian have been married for half a year. Yu Xiulian is a diligent, fairly gentle girl; after marrying in she attends to Yan Jiecheng attentively, is respectful to her in‑laws, and by all accounts should be a satisfactory daughter‑in‑law. Yet after these six months Yu Xiulian's belly shows no sign of any movement.

In the Siheyuan at that time, this was a momentous affair.

At first no one cared; newlyweds were still in the honeymoon phase, the days were long. But after half a year, idle gossip began to spread silently like mold growing in a corner.

"Hey, you say the old Yan family's daughter‑in‑law, she's been in the house for half a year, right? Why hasn't there been any sign at all?"

"Exactly! Her hips aren't small, doesn't look like she's unfit for bearing children..."

"Who can say for sure? Look at the back courtyard's Xu Damao, he's been married to Wang Cuihua for several years, hasn't any egg come out?"

"And the Front Courtyard First Elder's family, isn't it also..."

"Tsk tsk, seems this woman is useless, marrying her back is just a decoration!"

These remarks, mostly occurring by the well platform and under the porch, among the women who collect shoe soles and pick vegetables, were spoken in lowered voices, exchanging knowing glances, their tone carrying an indefinable mix of sympathy, curiosity and a secret sense of superiority. It seemed that failing to quickly bear offspring for the husband's family was a woman's greatest sin.

Naturally, everyone's gaze and blame fell on Yu Xiulian. People seemed to tacitly accept a "truth"—having children is a woman's business; if she cannot conceive, it must be her own uncooperative womb.

Just as in the back courtyard Xu Damao's house, everyone thinks Wang Cuihua, the rural widow, is "Saline‑Alkali Land", unable to sprout seedlings; likewise in the Central Courtyard Yi Zhonghai's house, although no one dares to say it aloud, privately they all think San Dama has a problem, which caused Old Yi to have no heirs.

This deep‑rooted prejudice, like an invisible mountain, weighed heavily on Yu Xiulian's tender shoulders.

Yu Xiulian herself began to panic. She heard the faint gossip, felt her mother‑in‑law's increasingly cold stare and occasional veiled rebukes, and her heart felt like a clogged ball of cotton, unable to breathe.

She secretly returned to her natal home to ask her mother, who could only sigh, offering comforting words like "relax" and "the fate hasn't arrived", and finally handed her a packet of supposedly fertility‑boosting herbal remedy; the medicine was bitter and hard to swallow, yet she forced herself to drink it.

Yan Jiecheng initially comforted her with a few words, but as time passed, hearing the courtyard gossip and seeing neighbors flaunting grandchildren, a knot gradually formed in his heart.

He is a man without much opinion, swayed by his parents and public opinion; when he returned home his expression toward Yu Xiulian grew increasingly sour, sometimes even impatiently complaining: "Are you capable or not? Look at Sha Zhu, he's already on his second child! Our…"

Whenever this happened, Yu Xiulian could only lower her head further, letting tears flow into her belly. She felt immense grievance and terror, as if she had truly committed an unforgivable grave mistake.

And all this, Li Ping'an and Lin Xueqing of the Xi Kua Yuan, saw with their own eyes.

Lin Xueqing, as a doctor at Union Hospital, having received systematic modern medical education, knows clearly that conception is a matter for both spouses, and any party's bodily reasons may cause infertility.

Male infertility is not a rare case in modern medicine. Seeing Yu Xiulian's increasingly haggard complexion and evasive eyes, she couldn't help feeling some sympathy.

During dinner, she couldn't help mentioning to Li Ping'an: "The Front Courtyard's Jiecheng's wife looks under a lot of pressure. The courtyard gossip really... has no scientific basis at all."

Li Ping'an fed his daughter a small spoonful of egg custard, his expression calm. He possessed a perception ahead of his time, naturally understanding the principle better. He said lightly: "It's just ignorance. Having children is a matter for both, how can we blame the woman entirely. As for Xu Damao, I think the problem is most likely on his own side, and Yi Zhonghai..." He didn't finish the sentence, but the meaning was clear.

"Should I... find an opportunity to subtly mention it to Yu Xiulian or San Dama? Let her persuade Jiecheng to go to the hospital for a check‑up?" Lin Xueqing, driven by her medical instinct, suggested.

Li Ping'an shook his head: "No need. If you say it now, they won't believe you; they'd think you're meddling, even think you're covering for Yu Xiulian, making a joke of their family. Some people only choose to believe what they want to believe."

He saw through it. In this era, especially in a Siheyuan's closed traditional micro‑environment, entrenched notions are as solid as rock.

The voice of science is often drowned in the spittle of ignorance. Challenging this consensus is not only futile, but may also backfire.

Lin Xueqing thought for a moment, sighed, and stopped insisting. She knew her husband was right. Even the seemingly most cultured Third Elder Yan Bu Gui in the courtyard could not escape the old notion "Among the three unfilial acts, having no descendants is the greatest", and would only pour double the pressure onto the daughter‑in‑law.

Sure enough, no one thought of consulting Lin Xueqing, the ready‑made doctor. Perhaps in their subconscious, bearing children is a woman's "calling", so any problem naturally falls on the woman, unrelated to the man, and even more unrelated to modern medicine.

Yi Zhonghai might have his own speculations, but he would never voice them, as that would shake his own (childless) sense of legitimacy. Xu Damao is even more secretive; anyone who brings up children makes him anxious.

Thus, in the Front Courtyard Yan family, the invisible pressure grew heavier. Yu Xiulian's smiles became fewer, her steps heavier. Yan Bu Gui and his old partner's disappointment grew more evident, perhaps still muttering in their scheming hearts whether they had been shortchanged by this daughter‑in‑law. Yan Jiecheng also gradually could not lift his head in the courtyard, as if he were a notch shorter than his peers who had become fathers.

In the back courtyard Xu Damao's house, occasionally hearing similar remarks from the front courtyard, Wang Cuihua would become even more irritable, lashing out at the "long‑tongued women", while Xu Damao's face turned ashen, slamming the door so loudly it shook the heavens, seeing it as another humiliation.

In the Central Courtyard, Yi Zhonghai, upon hearing this gossip, would have a deeper gaze; when alone, a trace of indescribable loneliness and complexity would flash across his face.

Only the Xi Kua Yuan still retained that rare clarity and tranquility. Li Ping'an continued teaching his son martial arts and literacy, Lin Xueqing devoted herself to work and caring for the family. They watched the courtyard's myriad lives with a cold eye, understanding yet choosing silence.

This chasm between science and ignorance, in the 1960s Siheyuan, appeared so profound and hard to cross. And the joys and sorrows under the childless pressure still brewed silently beneath each household's eaves.