Chapter 1857

Grandma Lu arrived, and Lu Xiaoya was overjoyed. She had been raised by her grandmother since she was a child and shared an extremely close bond with her, so she immediately busied herself with arranging for her grandmother to stay at their home.

There was indeed space in the house. The Standing Committee apartment was quite spacious, featuring three and a half rooms and a living room. The "half room" was a storage room, though it was actually quite large, measuring over ten square meters. Su Xinghui had turned this storage room into his study, where he wrote, painted, and read.

This way, Su Xinghui and Lu Xiaoya shared one bedroom, Grandma Lu had one, and the nanny, Li Shuqin, had the third, which worked out perfectly.

Li Shuqin regularly cleaned all three bedrooms. Even for the guest room that wasn't often used, she frequently took the bedding out to air and sun, so Grandma Lu could move in right away.

After Grandma Lu arrived, Lu Xiaoya said to Li Shuqin with a hint of apology, "Auntie Li, now that my grandmother is here, your workload has increased a bit. Thank you for your hard work; perhaps we should increase your salary?"

Li Shuqin smiled and said, "No need. This little bit of work is less than the housework I do at my own home. It's just one extra pair of chopsticks to set, so why add to my salary? You already pay me so much that I feel quite embarrassed as it is."

Grandma Lu's rheumatoid arthritis had eased significantly, and she had regained her ability to care for herself. Aside from the arthritis, she had no other illnesses, so she truly didn't add much to Li Shuqin's workload.

Lu Xiaoya said, "Then thank you for your hard work, Auntie Li."

Li Shuqin replied, "It's nothing."

That evening, after dinner, Grandma Lu returned to her room. She called both Su Xinghui and Lu Xiaoya over and had Su Xinghui close the door before she cautiously took something out of a bag she carried with her.

The item was wrapped in a piece of soft red cloth. Grandma Lu opened the cloth to reveal a jade pendant, which she handed to Su Xinghui, saying, "Xinghui, give this jade pendant to your child to wear around their neck when the time comes. This pendant was passed down to me by my own grandmother."

Grandma Lu's words made Su Xinghui's expression turn solemn. If it had been passed down from her grandmother, this pendant was quite old.

He took the pendant respectfully. It was carved from mutton-fat jade. To Su Xinghui's eye, the quality of the jade wasn't top-tier, but it was clearly of great age. Having been handled frequently, the jade was very warm and lustrous, with a soft, gentle color.

Regardless of its current monetary value, the most important thing was the old woman's heartfelt gesture. Su Xinghui took the pendant and said to Grandma Lu, "Thank you, Grandma!"

Grandma Lu grinned and said, "What are you thanking me for? Grandma is old and doesn't have much money; this pendant is my most precious possession. It might not be worth much, so please don't look down on it."

Su Xinghui and Lu Xiaoya said together, "Grandma, how could we look down on it? This gift is very precious, and the child will surely love it in the future."

Grandma Lu had moved to Changshan, and Lu Xiaoya's due date was not far off. About ten days after she arrived, with only about a week left until the due date, Lu Xiaoya officially began her maternity leave.

After Lu Xiaoya started her leave, Guo Suhua and Song Qiaoli also rushed to Changshan. A pregnant woman's due date isn't always precise; it was very possible for the baby to arrive a few days early or late. Since Lu Xiaoya could go to the hospital to give birth at any moment, they naturally had to come.

With them there, Su Xinghui felt much more at ease. They were experienced, and with Li Shuqin also at home, they could just call the hospital the moment Lu Xiaoya went into labor, and the hospital would immediately dispatch an ambulance.

The hospital director took the birth of the Deputy County Magistrate's wife very seriously. On the very first day of Lu Xiaoya's maternity leave, he personally led the head of the Obstetrics and Gynecology department to the Su residence to perform a check-up. He told Su Xinghui very attentively that their ambulance was on standby twenty-four hours a day, and as long as the Su family called, the ambulance would arrive within five minutes at most.

Su Xinghui accepted the director's good intentions. Although it looked a bit like abusing his privilege, when it came to his wife and child, Su Xinghui certainly didn't dare to be careless. He would use this privilege just this once in his life.

The director had originally wanted Lu Xiaoya to be admitted to the hospital right then, but Lu Xiaoya didn't want to go in so early; she felt she wasn't as comfortable in the hospital as she was at home. Su Xinghui also didn't want her hospitalized so soon; they didn't know how long it would be until she gave birth, and being admitted now would be a waste of medical resources.

One had to know that Changshan County only had this one decent hospital, and many patients couldn't even get a bed when they were sick.

The director then said he would have the head of the OB-GYN department come to the house for check-ups over the next few days, but Su Xinghui politely declined this offer. Lu Xiaoya had a check-up every week, and the department head had just examined her; she was very healthy, the fetus was healthy, of moderate size, and in the correct position, so there was no need for excessive check-ups.

The director hadn't expected Su Xinghui to refuse and was somewhat stunned. Su Xinghui understood his thinking—he definitely wanted to curry favor—but he hadn't expected a refusal. Yet, precisely because of that, Su Xinghui couldn't accept it.

It was necessary to be able to call an ambulance at any time, but if Su Xinghui accepted unnecessary, excessive check-ups, he would be violating his own principles. If he criticized others for abusing power in the future, what standing would he have?

The director wanted to say more, but Su Xinghui said gently yet firmly, "Director Wang, there is no need to say more. You know as well as I do that such excessive check-ups are unnecessary. I am already very grateful that you can keep the ambulance on standby. However, I hope your hospital will always put the patients first and keep your ambulance on standby for every patient."

Seeing Su Xinghui's firm attitude, the director nodded quickly and said, "I understand, Magistrate Su. Our hospital will certainly serve every patient well."

This matter reminded Su Xinghui that Changshan County had yet to establish 110, 120, and other emergency hotlines. This issue needed to be put on the agenda. He planned to bring it up at the County Magistrate's office meeting after Lu Xiaoya gave birth.

110 and 120 numbers had long been popularized in coastal cities, but in a county with a relatively backward economy like Changshan, they hadn't been established yet. It was truly time to set them up.

Lu Xiaoya was truly treated as a high-priority protection object at home. One nanny and two mothers revolved around her all day long, and even Grandma Lu followed her around. Any minor issue she had made everyone extremely nervous.

However, time slowly reached August, and the due date was almost here, yet Lu Xiaoya showed no signs of going into labor. This made everyone very anxious. That's how childbirth is; premature birth is bad, but going past the due date without giving birth is equally worrying.

When they called the OB-GYN department head to ask, she said this phenomenon was normal, noting that there had been cases where a mother's actual delivery date was a week past the due date.

Although she said this, she still took the initiative to come over and give Lu Xiaoya a check-up. Only after confirming everything was normal did everyone feel completely at ease.

Although Su Xinghui's child was a bit mischievous and didn't want to come out so early, he didn't arrive as late as that child who was a week past the due date. On August 5th, three days after Lu Xiaoya's due date, she finally felt labor pains.

She felt the pains after her afternoon nap. Just after waking up and eating some snacks, she felt intense abdominal pain and cried out. Fortunately, there were four experienced women in the house, and they immediately realized Lu Xiaoya was going into labor.

Guo Suhua called the hospital immediately, and the hospital promised to send an ambulance right away.

Next, Guo Suhua called Su Xinghui. Su Xinghui had only just arrived at his office when he received the call. As soon as he heard Lu Xiaoya was going into labor, he said he would rush to the hospital immediately.

Subsequently, Guo Suhua called Su Wenjun, and Song Qiaoli called Lu Zhenghong. They all said they would rush to Changshan County immediately.

The ambulance arrived downstairs within five minutes as expected, and the medical staff helped Lu Xiaoya onto the ambulance and laid her on a stretcher; the four women from the house grabbed the various supplies they had prepared long in advance, boarded the ambulance together, and accompanied Lu Xiaoya to the hospital.

Just as the ambulance arrived at the hospital, they saw a Mercedes-Benz pull up downstairs at the inpatient department. Su Xinghui stepped out of the car, and Guo Suhua poked her head out of the ambulance window and shouted, "Xinghui, over here!"

Su Xinghui ran to the side of the ambulance and asked, "How is the situation?"

Guo Suhua said, "Xiaoya's stomach is hurting; it's estimated she's going to give birth."

In truth, when labor pains begin, the time until delivery is uncertain. It might take only a few dozen minutes, but for some slower cases, it can take several hours or even a whole day to give birth. Now, they didn't know when the child would arrive. Su Xinghui could only look at his wife, who was moaning in pain, with a heart full of ache. He held her hand and accompanied her upstairs.