"Wife, you sleep. I’ll go check it out." Zhao Tianlei saw that his wife seemed to be awakened by the noise too, patted her, and told her to sleep while he went to check what exactly was going on.
Cao Dali’s shouting not only woke up Yun Xiaoxiao and his family but also some of the neighbors next door.
Cao Dali said urgently, "Third Brother, my wife is giving birth, and I don’t know what to do?"
His first instinct was to seek out Third Brother and his wife.
"Send her to the hospital quickly?" Zhao Tianhe and Fang Chaoyang also came out.
Mrs. Zhao and Grandma Fang had gotten up as well.
Aside from Da Bao and Xiao Bao, who were sound asleep, even Er Dan was woken up by the noise.
"Do you have a pushcart?"
Mrs. Zhao followed, "I’m going to take a look."
What could a few young men do in the middle of the night? Aside from taking someone to the hospital, they all had to go to work the next day.
In the city, there were no midwives, only hospitals.
When Zhao Tianlei and the others reached the place where Cao Dali and Zhang Lanhua were staying, they found Zhang Lanhua lying on the Kang bed, her face covered with sweat from the pain.
"Quickly, carry her to the pushcart. Where are the baby’s things?"
Zhang Lanhua was in so much pain she could hardly speak.
Struggling, she managed a few words, "Sister-in-law, that flower-patterned bag."
A new wave of contractions hit, changing the color of her face with pain.
Grabbing the things and locking the door, they hurried to catch up.
The rest of the people in the courtyard had been awakened as well.
But seeing that quite a few people had come to their area and were pushing the pregnant woman to the hospital, they all went back to sleep.
Cao Dali kept comforting her, "Lanhua, Lanhua, does it hurt?"
What a silly question.
But Zhang Lanhua didn’t want to talk; the pain came in waves across her abdomen, truly unbearable.
Zhao Tianlei and the others pushed the cart rapidly, as Zhao Tianhe and Fang Chaoyang were both single young men.
Having been through it before, even Zhao Tianlei did not know how to advise Zhang Lanhua to endure it.
"Lanhua, all of us women have to go through this when giving birth. Once the baby is born, the pain will stop."
It really hurt so much.
The hospital wasn’t too far away.
And they were moving quickly.
Fortunately, there were street lights, though in the middle of the night, not a single taxi was in sight.
After reaching the hospital and getting the pregnant woman into the operating room, they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Third Brother, was it the same when your sister-in-law gave birth to Da Bao and the others?"
Zhao Tianlei thought back to when his wife gave birth to their two children.
When Da Bao was born, they hadn’t separated from the family yet, but when Xiao Bao was born, they were better off; she had eaten well, and the childbirth was particularly hard.
"Everyone has to go through this phase."
"Alright, you guys go back. I’ll stay here. You all have to work tomorrow."
Mrs. Zhao looked at the three of them, advising them to go back since they couldn’t be of much help staying there.
Zhang Lanhua’s voice could be heard from inside; Cao Dali’s mind was all on the person inside the room.
Mrs. Zhao had given birth to three children and looked after several grandchildren; she was very experienced.
"Da Li, we’ll head back first."
Only then did Cao Dali look at them, "Third Brother, Xiao He, Xiao Yang, sorry to trouble you."
"We’re all brothers here, no trouble at all. Just take good care of your wife and child, don’t worry about the shop."
Cao Dali also knew that for the time being he wouldn’t be able to manage the shop.
After they left, Mrs. Zhao stayed behind.
"When it gets light, you go to the market and buy a chicken. Do you have millet at home? Take it home and let Grandma Fang make a stew for you. After giving birth, you must stay in the hospital for at least a day before being discharged."