Yun Dame and the others had so hoped for Shi Xiaolan to give birth to a boy, yet it turned out to be a girl. The higher their hopes had been at first, the greater their disappointment now—they truly couldn’t find it in them to be happy at all.
But when visitors came to offer congratulations, they still managed to force a smile.
Shi Xiaolan had also very much wished for a son this time, looking at Yun Dame and their unhappy faces and then at her newly born daughter. Shi Xiaolan felt so bitter she wanted to cry.
Because Shi Xiaolan had just given birth, men from outside could not enter to see her, so Xiao Changyi was waiting outside; An Jing, however, had come in. Seeing Shi Xiaolan looking like she could burst into tears at any moment, An Jing suddenly felt a bit uncomfortable.
It was supposed to be a joyous occasion...
An Jing first sighed softly to herself. Once everyone in the room had left and only she and Shi Xiaolan were left, she was about to console Shi Xiaolan, but as soon as she opened her mouth and just said the word ’Xiao,’ Shi Xiaolan started to cry profusely.
"An Jing, I... Fu Zi is definitely going to remarry..." By the end, Shi Xiaolan was weeping inconsolably.
An Jing really wanted to shout, was having a son really that important? But she thought that it was just the way things were here; having a son meant the family line would continue, while not having one meant extinction. Moreover, in her own world, many people still held onto such archaic thoughts, so she held back from shouting out loud.
"Why is my womb so weak... Why... Why..." Fearing that the people outside would hear her, Shi Xiaolan covered her mouth and wept bitterly, extremely disappointed in herself.
An Jing really wanted to say that whether a child is male or female is determined by the male, not by the female, but this place was so backward, they had no idea that a woman’s sex chromosomes are two Xs. Even if she were to say it, no one would believe her.
All An Jing could do was sigh deeply again in her heart, feeling both helpless and speechless.
While Shi Xiaolan was crying, Yun Dame came in. Seeing Shi Xiaolan crying, she didn’t say anything to Shi Xiaolan and instead handed a bowl of noodles to An Jing, asking her to feed Shi Xiaolan.
Then, Yun Dame left again without even glancing at the baby girl in the swaddle beside Shi Xiaolan.
Shi Xiaolan’s weeping intensified, shaking her whole body. She covered her mouth even more tightly to keep her painful sobs from spilling out.
Watching Shi Xiaolan cry so painfully, An Jing felt even worse on the inside and tried to comfort her, "Xiao Lan, you are still young; there will be opportunities to have a son in the future."
Shi Xiaolan kept crying and shaking her head in pessimism, "There are no more chances, there definitely aren’t. Fu Zi is surely going to marry another girl this year, and Father and Mother will definitely want Fu Zi to always be with that girl. The one who will bear Fu Zi’s sons will certainly not be me... but that girl... that girl..."
Regarding whether An Fu would remarry, that was An Fu’s family business; An Jing wasn’t going to interfere.
Besides, she knew that even if she did interfere, An Fu’s family definitely wouldn’t listen to her. Without a son, the family would face extinction; how could they possibly let their line end?
"That’s not necessarily true! Even if Brother An Fu can’t come to your room every day in the future, you might still get pregnant—"
Before An Jing could finish her sentence, Shi Xiaolan cried out, "An Jing, you don’t have to console me. It took me over a year to get pregnant this time. If Fu Zi can’t come to my room every day, and just occasionally, I simply won’t be able to conceive... won’t be able to..."
Seeing Shi Xiaolan so stubborn, An Jing ran out of comforting words to say.
Because she knew that no matter what she said, the current Shi Xiaolan simply couldn’t hear it. It was better not to say anything at all, to spare Shi Xiaolan from feeling even worse.